The story in a nutshell is that a battle in far-away Vermonia resulted in the creation of four animal spirits representing loyal generals that protected the now deposed queen. As these spirits were created, four streams of energy took root in children being born on Earth, who are now teens. Skating, angst-ridden, lovesick teens, of course. In this chapter, when one of their own is captured by forces of darkness and swept away to Vermonia, the remaining three teens follow on a mission to save her. Mel is the unfortunate one, with Doug, Jim, and Naomi rushing to her defense. When they reach Vermonia, they meet a strange native creature, Satorin, that helps them understand what they've gotten themselves into.
It's also at this point that we begin to understand what the Quest for the Silver Tiger really means. Each chapter will involve one of the teens discovering a connection to one of the queen's advisors, in this case Doug. Matched against them are some very bad bad-guy types, and in this chapter, we see that at least one of them is conflicted in her role. The balance of power in Vermonia is complex, and it will take all four teens working together - plus any friends they can recruit along the way - to free all four animal spirits and restore power to the queen. Although the summaries may sound like material that's retreaded from other anime or manga stories, its execution makes it worth reading. It's especially nice for readers that are still tweens, or younger, and not yet ready for more mature content.
