The unflatteringly nicknamed Flitter-Flutter may look nothing like her father, but as far as the Eldests are concerned, she shares an identical trait from his youth--a stubborn reluctance to learn the use of her powers. More galling to them is Farseeker's steadfast refusal to pressure her--he had promised a very young child that he would wait until she was ready to learn, and he keeps that promise.

Moth's enduring annoyance is that she physically doesn't take after her father. She wants to be tall, slender, and blond, not short, snub-nosed, and brown-haired. Loving Redclaw's stories of her father's youth, Moth wants to prove she is her father's daughter. She loves the physical -- air-dancing, stick-fighting and hunting, and works hard to try and match that mental image of her father's onetime abilities.

But the cost of not learning to use her magic gifts may be more than she ever dreamed she would pay...