SciFi and Fantasy Book Club discussion

I'm looking for the name of a book that I read in high school. At the time, there was only one book, but I think I remember that it was going to be a series. In the book, a young lady had been given a bag of dust from her father, who had died or been killed somehow. The dust allowed her to unlock her magic, and the magic system was something about burning pathways through a sphere in her mind or something like that. I am pretty sure there was a dragon that was kept under their castle-on-a-cliff home, and that the young woman would sometimes visit him. He'd appear in human form to talk to her, and near the end of the book I think she somehow set him free. Does anyone recall a story like this? I'd love to reread it, and finish reading the series. Thank you for the help!

Well, many of the plot elements you describe sound like First Truth.

Amazon: Alissa is a headstrong, pragmatic child of the foothills, whose father has been missing since she was five. One morning her mother announces that Alissa must journey to the Hold, the magical place of stories her papa had told her, where gifted people are trained to be Keepers by the mysterious Masters. Her mother has seen signs that Alissa has inherited her father's talents and must be trained. Against her will, Alissa sets out across the prewinter plains. She meets Strell, a light-hearted minstrel who has a penchant for irritating her, but who has a map. A partnership is born. Neither partner knows that at the Hold the evil Bailic has dispatched the Masters and murdered the Keepers--Alissa's father among them. Bailic wants the book of First Truth, and to rule the land with it. When Alissa and Strell arrive, Bailic soon comprehends that one of them can help him find the book.

If this isn't your book, you might want to post in https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/...

Thank you Tim! I think that might be the one, but if not, I will post in that other thread :-)