Lessa and her golden queen dragon may have given their world a fighting chance against the deadly Thread by bringing several hundred dragons and their riders forward in time, but this has also caused other problems to arise. The Oldtimers, as they are known, are having a difficult time adjusting to their more modern world, and tensions are rising. Worse, Threadfall is becoming more unpredictable, which makes it harder to combat. Inspired by Lessa´s example, brown dragonrider F´nor hatches a bold plan to cut through these growing tensions by destroying the Thread at its source: the mysterious Red Star. But his quest to go where no man-or dragon-has gone before will risk not only his life, but the heart of a woman who has already lost far more than she can bear.