The Dragon Magic (The Origin Cycle Book 1) by James Wheeler

In a perilous world that is destined to become magical, its heroes rise. Aether walks a precarious path, his future in the hands of an unscrupulous aristocracy that can cast someone like him aside without blinking. Still, he forges ahead, driven to make something of himself, to earn the love of a young noblewoman who should, by the traditions of their people, remain forever out of his reach. When the unthinkable happens, Aether’s friends, the only family he has, must figure out how to put together an unprecedented expedition to rescue him. And Aether faces an even more daunting challenge; surviving the ancient homeland of his people, which for the last two centuries has been the perilous domain of several invasive species of dragon. Can his friends find a captain daring enough, and a tracker freethinking enough to help them mount an impossible rescue? Can Aether harness mysteries about the dragons that have puzzled his people for centuries? And if Aether does survive, and is able to grasp the power of the dragon magic, then what will befall those who made the corrupt decision to sacrifice him?