Emma Sparrow runs out of her house - she's upset because her father's disappeared. She meets Flutterbright, a 'Guardian' Goldcrest, trapped in a ringers' net. She frees him, then finds she has the gift of talking to Guardians; he explains that they exist to keep the 'Order' of Nature - to prevent extinctions. The men who'd put the net up argue about someone called The Lord of the Air and his genetic Project Cryption.
Flutterbright introduces her and her friends to other Guardians of nature. Together they take on school bullies, but then battle to help wildlife against the evil Lord of the Air, and Project Cryption. He sets traps for them - bird attacks, a flood, vicious dogs, even fire. Will Emma and the Guardians defeat him and find out where her father is?