Guided by the great blue dragon Tintaglia, a tangle of serpents fights its way up the Rain Wild River to the cocooning grounds. But the creatures which emerge from the cocoons are a travesty of the powerful, shining dragons of old; some cannot fly, others are stunted or deformed. To save the dragons, a band of dragon keepers, hunters and chroniclers must attend them if they are to find their true home--the legendary Elderling city of Kelsingra.

As the malformed, disabled dragons, their keepers, and their supply barge forge their way deeper into uncharted wilderness in search of the ancient city of Kesingra, human and beast alike discover they are changing in mysterious and dangerous ways.