After the kidnapping of her mother by the Darkentine Council, Mellia Kelgwyn's life falls apart. Though she is at odds with her father, they are both sent to the Preserve for Enchanted Creatures. There, she quickly makes friends with a troll and a wizard respectively, with whom she must best Darkentine poachers to rescue a highly coveted magical flock of origami cranes that hold the secret to immortality. Will Mellia and her friends survive the journey and save the cranes?