Book 12 - The Golden Tree (13 page)

Otulissa were here. The Spotted Owl was a superb
strategist. He closed his
165 eyes and tried to think of how she would have planned the attack. Once again he felt that deep twinge in his gizzard. Why is it that every time I think of Otulissa I feel something like dread? It was a race with the moon. When the wolves came out under the ful -shine moonlight they would become monsters. But with the eclipse, would they lose their power or would a worse one arise? If Soren could have flown up and stopped the moon he would have. He looked up and blinked at it. Two great forces were coming together on their inevitable course. Would he try if he could to stop the moon or stop the Earth? Stay the night or wish for the day? For it was the night of a lunar eclipse when the Earth in its orbit would come between the moon and the sun. He imagined that first bite that the Earth's shadow would take from the moon as the eclipse began. He imagined ... and in that instant his dream came back. The slits in the ether veil! The black feathers piercing through. "Don't wait for me!" That voice -- it was Otulissa's! "Go! Go!" Soren turned to Coryn. "We gonow" Behind them

in a shal ow trough in the rocks were dozens of
smoldering coals. Nearby were neatly stacked dried twigs and limbs gathered from the Shadow Forest. When Gylfie had met up with the Band and the wolves in the Shadow Forest
154 166 and given her report, with the help of the wolves the Owls had begun to gather their arsenal, for they knew that trees were sparse in the canyonlands, especial y since the Battle of the Great Burning. From the Beyond they had brought coals in their botkins and buckets.
Coryn watched nervously as the Band chose their weapons - two light spruce twigs with fine tufts of needles on their tips for Gylfie; a larger limb for Twilight, who could handle the heft of the wel - seasoned oak branch that would burn slowly and maintain a glowing, fiery tip. Soren chose a pliant limb from a fir tree. He knew firs, and this particular limb had an abundance of needle clusters. It would be the most strategic weapon of al . With his superb flying skil s, Soren would be able to clear a path as if he were brandishing a comet. Digger, who had the strongest legs of any of them, would carry a double-fired birch limb. With flames at each end of

double-fired birch limb. With flames at each end of
the branch, he would grip the limb from the middle and wield it like a. stave. After selecting the right weapon, with a near ritualistic serenity each owl would dip it into the coals to ignite it. The Band had al been tested in battle. But Coryn, though he had survived more than his fair share of tests of courage, had never real y been tried in ful battle. And although he was perhaps one of the greatest col iers who ever lived he had never fought with fire. How the young
167 king envied the four owls of the Band their confidence, their single-mindedness, their unswerving determination. From the smal est to the largest, they seemed so resolute, so ready. And yet who had more at stake than himself? Fie was about to face the mother who once tried to kil him. He was the king of the Great Ga'Hoole Tree. But did he have Gad that elusive spirit he had read, about in the legends? Hoole's mother. Queen Siv, was said to have had it Coryn suspected that his uncle Soren possessed Ga'. Fie looked, at his uncle now as he stepped forward to ignite his branch. Coryn would be next. Would something fire within him to steady his nerves, to trim his gizzard for this battle? Yes, he

had retrieved the ember, but did he have Ga? That,
was the question.
156 chapter twenty -two
The Book, the Battle, and the Band
There were two thoughts in their minds as they flew with their burning branches toward the cave: Don't let the wolves or Nyra leave the cave and don't let them go deeper into the tunnel. That was their strategy, coupled with the element of surprise. There was one other thing that they had to accomplish, and indeed, this was the entire purpose of the attack: to take The Book of Kreeth. Gylfie had managed to see where Nyra had put the book. It was in a niche just above the fire pit where Kludd's bones had been burned. The ashes of those bones were stil there in a smal pile encircled by stones - an altar to a tyrant.
And now, deep in. the bowels of the earth, Nyra perched near the tyrant's ashes, hoping with Kreeth's book of charms and spel s, to re-create

herself as a hags-fiend and ultimately regain and re
create her son. And then - the ember.
157 169 Outside the cave the twelve wolves were crouching on top of boulders, ready to pounce should a vyrwolf charge from the cave. The Band had remembered how in the legends Hoole had used the wolves and the intense green light of their eyes to cut through the fyngrot of the hagsfiends. If the wolves in the cave escaped into the light of the ful moon, could this weapon of green light be used now? Would it work? They al hoped that there would be no need to find out, that the vyrwolves would be contained within the cave and be brought to a quick end.
The moon was slipping up over the horizon in its unstoppable ascent. Another thought flitted through the minds of both Soren and Gylfie. How deadly the moon could be! Years before as near hatchlings - when they were both imprisoned not far from this very spot in the canyon lands in St. Aggie's - they had been forced to remain under the light of the ful moon as part of those tyrannical owls' attempts to moon blink them. Somehow they had survived and now the memory emboldened them.

now the memory emboldened them.
"Hi-yiiiiii!!" Soren gave the shril shriek of a Barn Owl as he whizzed into the cave with his burning firebrand. A fiery blizzard of snarks crackled through the darkness. He flew in steep, ascending and plunging loops until the cave was criss
170 Criss-crossed with trails of sparks. The wolves began to howl. Nyra and her owls screeched and flew for their battle claws.
Under the cover of this fiery melee, Gylfie flew with two ignited spruce twigs, one in each talon. Steady, steady, she told herself as directly ahead she saw a wolf's jaw drop, opening a pink cavern that could easily swal ow her whole. She flew right for the throat and crammed one of her flaming twigs down the wolf's gul et. A tremendous gagging howl ripped through the cave. One twig gone but she stil had one left. She wheeled around and saw Nyra come toward her. Nyra had only had time to put on one battle claw. It shot out toward Gylfie, but it merely raked the air as Gylfie darted out of Nyra's path. Because of the single battle claw Nyra was flying unbalanced. Gylfie realized that this was to her own advantage. She must continue to distract Nyra by

leading her away from the niche where the book
was hidden. It was Cody's job to retrieve the book. With her remaining twig, Gylfie feinted and jabbed at Nyra, who was maddened by the little owl. She then wheeled around to come in for a new, angled attack. That was when Nyra spotted Coryn. He was backing a snarling wolf into a corner with a double- fired branch similar to Digger's.
"You!" Nyra screeched.
159 171 And then a searing taunt seized the air. It was Twilight bel owing at the top of his lungs. General Mam, she don't scare me,
she ain't gonna make me flee.
General Mam, she so dumb,
she don't know which way to run.
Fly by night, fly by day -
she ain't gonna get away.
She so ugly, thatfrinkin face,

she ain't nothing but a fat disgrace.
Disgrace in word, disgrace in deed,
Monster Mam is what I see!
Nyra staggered in flight, then tore off her battle claw and, seizing it like a flail, began to swing it wildly at Twilight. Suddenly, blood and sparks flew through the air. Twilight began to plummet. "No!" An anguished cry tore through the cave.
"Yes! The mighty Twilight fal s!" Nyra screeched. There was a blur as Nvra flew toward the back of the cave. "Death to Twilight, kil er of Kludd!" "Stop her!" someone cried out. The Tunnel, the Tunnel of Despair. They can't go in! That was al that Digger could think of as he tried, with his
160 172 double-fired staves, to block the part of the cave that led into the tunnel. Digger was quick but not quick enough. Nyra slipped by him and now three wolves were charging him. He clipped one,

setting its tail on fire. But he knew he had failed to
block the tunnel.
"I'm after them!" Coryn shouted as he flew by with his fir branch spitting fire.
Furious, Digger cracked his long stave on a sharp edge of a rock, splitting it in half so he could fly down the narrow passageways of the tunnel. He had to go. Despite their narrowness, he knew best how to navigate the twisting channels of the cave. Gylfie had been there before, of course, but she was occupied with helping Cody retrieve the book. So he flew in the wake of Coryn, a burning stump of stave in each talon. The defense of blocking the tunnel entrance had failed. This was a battle that was going to be carried deep into the earth. But perhaps not deep enough. Through a slit in the rock, a filament of moonlight seeped, a sliver of light no bigger than the thread of a plummel. 161 chapter twenty-three
Mysticus!

Strange!"Doc Finebeak muttered as he alighted
on a rock outcropping a short distance from the cave where the lighting had erupted.
"'What?' Madame Plonk asked.
"I had the trail I mean, we're stil on their track but I get the oddest feeling that it has doubled back ... back to where we are right here."
"But how could that be?" Madame Plonk hesitated. She was not sure exactly how to address this handsome, distinguished Snowy. They had been flying together for more than two nights. To cal him Doc Finebeak seemed rather formal, and also was a beakful. Fie had not given her any other name., however. "Doc" seemed too casual. Beakie? Too familiar. Madame Plonk blinked and blinked again. Something was visible above a, depression in the very rugged terrain not far ahead. "What in the world is that?" she whispered. In the light of the moon, two bright yel ow slashes seemed to float just above the ground.
162 174 They rose and winged cautiously closer.

"It's ... it's ..." Doc Finebeak hesitated, then
whispered, "a wolf!" There was more movement close to the ground and then a plume of sparks. A volcano, here? Finebeak wondered. It was not a volcano, but the earth seemed to be erupting. Sparks, wolves, and owls spouted from the ground. "A cave battle!" Doc Finebeak exclaimed. Some owls were fighting each other with burning branches, some were chasing the wolves and were brandishing fire as wel . The battle was both above and below ground now.
"It's Coryn!" Madame Plonk gasped. "Coryn, our king." They watched in stunned silence. But now something even more peculiar was happening. Some of the wolves stopped fighting and were gamboling in the moonlight. They were growing larger before Madame Plonk's and Doc Finebeak's very eyes. They were becoming enormous.
"Great Glaux!" Madame Plonk exclaimed. "They need our help!" Doc Finebak said. Four simple little words, but nearly incomprehensible to Madame Plonk. What? What in the world could she

possibly do in a situation like this? Me, fight? Fight
with fire? Fight with anything?
Ahead of them two Barn Owls rose higher, above the fray - Nyra and Coryn.
Doc Finebeak roared, spread his great wings even
163 175 wider and powered forward. "I let this female almost kil her own son once. I shal not stand by this time! Never again!"
Me? Madame Plonk thought desperately again. Panic wel ed in the back of her throat. I'm a fiat owl with a cracked voice. She opened her beak to protest her helplessness. And from it a note came pealing into the night. Madame Plonk had sung many high notes before in her life. High C was an ordinary vocal experience for the singer of the great tree but right now in this moment, under the ful moon with the shadow of the Earth creeping in front of it, she hit an unbelievable note. It was not simply high C. It was C-sharp in the eighth octave, the note sometimes referred to by other singers as mysticus. High enough to shatter glass. And now its vibrations

shimmered out into the night. The wolves who had
been yelping and howling fel to the ground writhing in pain. Chips of mica split off rocks. But the moon was not stayed.
Digger flew up. "Plonk, keep singing, but go to Twilight. He's ... he's dying.'
"What!" she shreed, and a vyrwolf fel dead. Gyl bane and her pack fought on and above the writhing vyrwolves, who seemed vastly more affected by the mysticus than the dire wolves, Coryn and Nyra began to circle each other in flight. The merest sliver of the moon disappeared
164 176 as the shadow of the Earth began to slide across it. Nyra swung her head toward her son and hissed. "We belong together, Nyroc. We were both hatched on a night such as this. Our power is great and wil become greater tonight." "That is no longer my name. I am Coryn." "You are Nyroc and you are nothing without me." The night was growing dimmer as the Earth's shadow ate away at the moon, gnawing it like a

fanged animal tearing flesh from bone. Nyra held
the single battle claw in her two talons, and Coryn knew she could swing and attack with great accuracy. He stil had the drops of Twilight's blood splattered on his face, and he would never forget the sight of the Great Gray plummeting in a fiery red rain of blood and sparks. Coryn's own double-fired branch was losing its heat. One end was nearly extinguished. If only the wind would rise and breathe some life into the remaining fire. If only ... my life is fil ed with "if only s."
Suddenly, Nyra was nearly upon him. She now had the battle claw in her teeth and a flaming branch in her talons. She was advancing upon him, pressing him against a sheer cliff wal . He hovered, backstroking as she continued to advance. He could feel his tail feathers graze the wal . He was alone. There was no Twilight to begin a taunting chant. Where was Soren? That excruciatingly 165 177 high note continued to scratch the night and the flames of Nyra's branch were singeing his breast feathers. He could feel their heat. But it was not the heat of flame he felt. What heat was that? It

was coming from within him. His gizzard felt on fire.
Nyra suddenly stopped advancing. She blinked. What is this? she thought. My son's eyes ate burning green, green like those of a wolf but not a vyrwolf The light flowing like a liquid green flame from Coryn's eyes was overpowering. Deep within that light was a flicker of orange with a lick of blue at its center. But the mysterious light was coming from that ring of green. The orange, the blue, the green - was not that like the Ember of Hoole? Coryn saw Nyra begin to go yeep. Yet he hardly noticed. He just felt this overpowering glow within him. Impossible, he thought. He was here and the ember was far away.
The world went black and silence fil ed the night. The singing stopped. Coryn looked around. There was no one. Nyra had vanished. She was not on the ground or in the air. He flew down to have a closer look. No sign of her. In the back of his mind, there was a fleeting thought: Could she have fal en into one of the openings of the Tunnel of Despair? The wolves, too, seemed to have vanished. Were they in the tunnel as wel ? Had the earth opened to swal ow this evil? May it stay in the tunnel forever, he thought.