The third Dragonriders of Pern novel from the New York Times bestseller Anne McCaffrey.

There has never been a dragon quite like Ruth - he's small, agile, able to communicate with fire lizards, and has an uncanny ability to know exactly when he is. His bond with the young Lord Holder Jaxom is uniquely strong thanks to their unlikely connection, and the fact that nearly everybody else on Pern thought the diminutive dragon wouldn't survive to adulthood. With Jaxom set to inherit control of his Hold, the pair are banned from fighting Thread, their flying time strictly limited at the insistence of the Weyrleaders and Lord Holders.

Stuck halfway between the Holds and Weyrs, Jaxom and Ruth decide to train in secret, learning how to fight Thread and how to fly through time. Their illicit flights seem like a small rebellion against the expectations of their elders, until they find themselves in the path of danger, and in a position to prevent the biggest disaster of all...