A poet and a draconologist are traveling together in the Far, a dangerous land where dragons are rumored to dwell. They are the last survivors of a group of five; the others travelers have perished on the journey. The poet possesses great magic; her responsibility on this trip is to project the stories of her people into the mind of a dragon, to convince it to become the new bearer of memories for her culture’s people. The current dragon guardian of their home is dying, and as they forget memories in their old age, so do the people of their city. 

The poet finds a dragon feather, but in her book, she records that Nihla, the draconologist, is the one to find it. The poet writes a more triumphant version of their journey, in which the feather Nihla finds invigorates them with hope. As the poet writes, the words burn themselves onto her skin, which she finds unusual. 

When Nihla and the poet begin climbing a mountain, Nihla finds out about the poet’s injured hand; on it, the words she wrote are rotting. The poet confesses to have written down a false record of the day they found the dragon feather, as she thought their bitter and sad story would not nourish a dragon. One night, the poet destroys her book with her elemental power. The book burns, severing the connection between the two travelers and their home city, their current guardian dragon, their language, and their people’s collective memories. The begin to forget the purpose of their journey, so the poet recites stories as they walk to try keep themselves centered.

Nihla and the poet manage to make it to a dragon’s lair. It is the owner of the black feather they found days before. Nihla cannot speak at this point, so the poet tells the dragon a story, starting with the name of her second mother.