Long ago, the elementals thought they had defeated the dark sorcerer Laccid. The original five elementals became the first Guardians and created powerful daggers to help ward off enemies in the future. Roughly 500 years later, Rylet has just come into his powers when Laccid makes his return. Will Rylet be able to master his power in order to help protect the world from this dark evil?

The book opens with the historical battle between Laccid and the five elementals before going into Rylet's tale. This would have worked better as the prologue, but still makes for a captivating opening. Readers are greeted with a young boy concerned about his identity and who he will become. Young adults can easily relate to this character. The novella touches briefly on the issue of racism with elementals hating the anima. In this short novella, Rylet changes drastically from a young boy waiting for his element into a strong young man fighting to defend the people he loves.

Pickard utilizes his descriptions and dialogue to effectively move the story along, but it ended too quickly. A longer story could utilize the spirit animals and elemental powers more. There is a lot of action happening in this novella, but not enough time to tell it. That being said, the story is told very well and causes the readers to crave more. Pickard creates an antagonist that is easy to hate and a hero young readers can see themselves becoming. Rylet's tale is a story readers of all ages will come to love.

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