In the first book in the Guardians series, Soren, a barn owl is pushed from his family's nest by his older brother, Kludd. He is rescued from certain death on the forest floor by agents from a mysterious school for orphaned owls, St. Aggie's.

When Soren arrives at St. Aggie's, he suspects there is more to the school than meets the eye. He and his new friend, the clever and scrappy Gylfie, find out that St. Aggie's is actually a training camp where the school's leader can groom young owls to help achieve her goal of dominating the owl kingdoms.