Her wings are smashed, her groombug gone. No dragon can live without a groombug, so Rumplewing must leave her clan and die. Instead, she reclaims life when she stumbles upon Balfour, a lone groombug, hideously scarred. No groombug can live without his dragon, so they join together. However, their relationship turns uneasy when Rumplewing learns Balfour is only borrowing her until he can rescue his very much alive dragon from outworlders who are capturing and killing dragons. Rumplewing and Balfour are caught up in the struggle to preserve themselves and save their species. The first clue to their salvation lies with two outworlders, an unstable boy and his mother who is married to the enemy. Welcome to Rumplewing's planet.