Guardians of Ga'Hoole 02 - The Journey

edges and saw invisible connections, the joinings in a world that had turned foggy and confusing. Maybe Twilight could find the current again.
    Soren drifted back as the big owl stroked by him to the point position.
    It seemed as if they had flown for hours since they had last seen the current. Gylfie was getting very tired and Digger’s wing, the one injured by the crows, had begun to hurt. The wind was kicking up again and not in a favorable direction.
    “I can’t believe that a current can just disappear. The puffins said it would lead us right to the island,” Soren muttered.
    “What do they know?” Twilight hooted. “They even admit they’re dumb.”
    “I don’t think they’re all that dumb,” Soren said. “We’ve got to be able to find it.”
    “And there’s no place to even fetch up out here and rest,” Gylfie sighed.
    “We got to go back,” Twilight said.
    “Go back where? Not to The Beaks,” Soren spoke sharply.
    “To any dry land. If The Beaks is the closest, then The Beaks it is,” Twilight replied.
    “No!” Soren said more fiercely. “Look, I’m going to fly down close to the water.”
    “That could be dangerous,” Digger said. “Soren, that wind is kicking up big waves. You could be caught by one, and believe me, I don’t think that you’re the swimmer that the puffin was. You could be dragged right under.”
    “I’ll be careful. Mrs. P., if you want to slither onto Twilight, you can.”
    “No, dear, I’ll stick with you. I’m not frightened.”
    “Good.”
    Soren began a banking turn down toward the water.Now, amid the blizzarding snow, the spume from the crests of waves spun up. How would he ever see a current in this mess? He flew lower. Still nothing. What if the others had flown off? Just given up. Could he truly blame them? He had the most dreadful feeling in his gizzard. What if he was left alone out here—just him and Mrs. P.?
    Suddenly, Soren felt something stir in his gizzard. He said nothing but contracted and expanded his pupils. The world was absolutely white now. Oh, this was when he needed Twilight!
    “Right here, Soren.”
    “Twilight! You followed me down.”
    “Call me a fool.” Twilight peered into the whiteness, stretched, then shortened his actual eye tubes so that one second he was focusing near and the next far. Within the depths of the impenetrable white, Twilight saw two even whiter patches.
    “Come, young’uns. You’re right over the current. Can’t tell it on a night like this, though. So, welcome to the Island of Hoole.”
    Two giant Snowy Owls had melted out from the night and they were so white that by comparison the mist seemed gray.
    “I am Boron and this is my mate, Barran.”
    “You are the king and the queen of Hoole.” Twilight whispered.
    Digger and Gylfie, exhausted, plummeted down near them.
    “Yes, my dears. But we prefer to be called teachers, or rybs. The word ryb means teacher and deep knowledge,” said Barran.
    “We’re not keen on titles,” chuckled Boron.
    “But you came out to meet us?” said Soren.
    “Of course,” replied Boron. “You’ve done the hard part. Now let us guide you the rest of the way. It’s not far.”
    The blizzard had been swallowed by the mist and the mist now seemed to melt away against the whiteness of Boron and Barran. The night turned black again and the stars broke out. As a half moon rose, the four young owls looked below and saw the vast sea glinting with silver spangles from the moonlight and then, directly ahead, spreading into the night, were the twisting branches of the largest tree they had ever seen, the Great Ga’Hoole Tree.
    “We are here, Mrs. Plithiver. We are here!” Soren whispered.
    “I know, dear. I feel it. I feel it!”
    The four young owls, led by Boron and Barran, threaded their way through the branches toward the center of the tree where the opening of a hollow was revealed. Two Great Horned Owls held the moss curtains apart using their beaks as the young ones flew through. They alighted down inside. Soren thought that this hollow was not only huge but different from any other tree hollow he had ever seen, for it was light even though it was night. On the inside were strange flickering things.
    Boron came up to Soren and the other three owls. “I see you have noticed our candles. You see, here in Hoole we have discovered how to capture fire and tame it for our own uses. You shall learn all about this, young ones. And who knows? One of you might