Lark foresaw two things: she would fall in love with a young man with wise green eyes, and he would kill her. Sixteen-year-old Lark Carew loves to stay at home, tend the garden and collect herbs for medicine. But when her Gaze warns her that the village will soon be attacked by monsters called Trots, Lark must set out on a journey to ask the legendary Riders of Tarnek for help. She doesn't expect one of the Riders, Garein. and there is that young man who appears to her in visions. Nor does she expect that the people of Tarnek called her for another reason: Lark - the Guardian of Life, the first of four Guardians who must awaken their powers and restore the stolen amulets. Together, the amulets of Life, Death, Darkness and Light will keep the world in balance. To return the amulet of Life, Lark will discover her inner strength and surrender to the love that she has always considered her defeat.