Describes the physical characteristics, habitat, food habits, and defense mechanisms of this fruit-eating bat that likes to roost in the Talipot palms of Sri Lanka.
After Poppy's husband dies from pneumonia and she is accidentally carried away by a bat, Ereth, a porcupine, starts planning her funeral service, but Spruce--Poppy's grandson--does not believe Poppy to be dead, and goes off to search for her.
Gracie Gillypott and Prince Marcus embark on a dwarf-watching outing, not knowing that the dwarves are working frantically making crowns for a royal wedding and that they have enlisted some unreliable trolls to help them, thus putting the humans' expedition in peril.
As a series of dark wars between the bats and the squirrels rage, Vesper, a young bat, and the squirrel maiden Ysabelle are unaware of the events that are unfolding, but they will soon be drawn into a journey and an attempt to save their lands from destruction.