Max, the Dragon Emperor, is poisoned and crippled by his wife Cassia and adoptive son Lucius, then thrown into the abyss to die. He survives, resurfaces five years later as a mute fisherman, and is forced into the gladiator pits where a duchess stakes her entire bloodline on him. Fighting his way back through the arena, Max exposes proof of the betrayal, reclaims his throne, and executes Cassia and Lucius before the entire empire.
