Most Pernese are grateful to dragonkind for keeping Holds and Crafthalls safe from Threadfall. But some, resenting their obligations to the weyrs, have begun to complain about the privileged status of the dragonriders.

Dragonrider F'nor, brother of F'lar, is intrigued by the suggestion that the dragonriders teleport to the Red Star to destroy Threadfall at its source. But his brown dragon needs an image of a place in order to go there, and the images F'nor picks up - from an unexpected source - are terrifying.