The Tarman expedition has at last found Kelsingra, a city filled with ancient treasures. Here, the dragons and their Elderling keepers may discover their full potential, but only if the magic of Kelsingra can be unlocked. Already rumours of the city have floated down the Rain Wild River. Adventurers, pirates and fortune hunters will soon be coming to pillage what they can. Among them, Hest Finbok, determined to claim back his errant wife, Alise. Meanwhile, Selden Vestrit finds himself a prisoner of the ailing Duke of Chalced, who believes him to be some sort of dragon-man whose flesh and blood may work miracle cures. Soon Tintaglia's singer will be sacrificed to keep this vile old tyrant alive. Where is Tintaglia, the greatest of all dragons, when there is such need of her? Attacked, dying of a poisoned wound, can she survive? She holds the memories that will unlock the mysteries of Kelsingra, and the power to defend it, and her own. Without her, all may be lost.