Guardians of Ga'Hoole 06 - The Burning

Strangetalon that spoke so directly to the vanity of some birds. Violet had a philosophical turn of mind and she often contemplated the souls or scroomsaws of witless birds. Those words came back to Gylfie as she heard the soft thuds of the pirates falling on the tundra. Vanity, thief of flight, source of all that is yeep, prison of the scroomsaw.
    How true it is, thought Gylfie. How true it is!

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Gizzardly Matters
    H e’s a what?” Twilight asked. “A gizzard resister,” Digger replied quietly.
    “Explain,” Twilight said.
    “Yes, please, do,” Otulissa spoke now, her voice reeking with contempt.
    Digger pressed his beak shut, closed his eyes, and tried to count to three… well, better make it five, he thought as he tried to quell his rage over Otulissa’s tone. Finally, he spoke. “Soren is what Ezylryb calls a gizzard resister. It means that If something truly violates your conscience, your sense of what is right and what is wrong in matters of warfare, if it becomes too great a strain on your gizzard, then you are a gizzard resister and can choose to serve in another way.”
    “Never heard such a bunch of racdrops in all my life!” Otulissa spat the words out. Digger and Twilight blinked. Otulissa saying a swear word, “racdrops”—as in the droppings of a raccoon—was shocking. Otulissa might be fierce, and she had certainly grown fiercer since the deathof her beloved leader, Strix Struma, but she was still as prim and proper as ever. “It’s almost treasonous.”
    That did it for Digger. He flew up in a rage in the tight confines of the hollow and was about to pounce upon the Spotted Owl, but Twilight intervened.
    “Hey! Hey! Cut it out, the both of you. Cool down Digger. And, Otulissa, take it back.”
    “Take what back?”
    “What you said about Soren,” Twilight said. “It is not true. Not one bit. Shame on you!” He shook a talon at her. The Great Gray had puffed up to twice his size. The hollow seemed so full of him that there was hardly room to breathe. “Take it back right now, or I’ll smack you from here to hagsmire.”
    “All right,” Otulissa said truculently. “I take it back. Soren’s not treasonous, but he sure is strange about not wanting to teach Skench and Spoorn and the other St. Aggie’s owls to fight with fire.”
    “Strange is fine,” Twilight said. “We can live with strange. Now, Digger,” Twilight said, turning to the Burrowing Owl. “Do you have anything to say about this strange predicament? Do you have any idea what service Soren might be thinking about instead?” Both Digger and Otulissa blinked at Twilight. This was so unlike him. He seemed to enjoy this new role of the diplomat. Next thing he’s going to be doing is asking us to share our feelings, Digger thought. “Share” was a popular word among the rybs when they were teaching younger owls.
    “No. I have no idea.” Digger shook his head. “He’s with Ezylryb and Boron and Barran right now. I think Bubo is there, too.”
    “In the parliament hollow?” Otulissa asked with a gleam in her eye.
    “Yes, I suppose so,” Digger replied.
    “Well, then, what are we waiting for?” Otulissa said excitedly. “To the roots.”
    “Great idea,” Twilight said.
    But Digger was not so sure if this was a great idea.
    Nor was Soren sure that he should be meeting with Bubo, Boron, Barran, and Ezylryb in the parliament hollow. These elder owls of the parliament perched themselves on the white branch of a birch that had been bent into a half circle. There were ordinarily twelve parliamentary members. But seeing that now there were only four, Soren surmised that what he was about to be told was top secret.
    How many times had he and the band and Otulissa eavesdropped on the parliament? How many times had they sneaked down to the strange space beneath this hollow where deep within the roots the tree transmitted the sounds of any discussion that was going on above? But Soren could hardly suggest to the parliament that they should have this top secret discussion elsewhere because it could be heard in the chamber below. That would reveal him as an eavesdropper. Twilight, Digger, and the rest were already upset enough with him for being a gizzard resister. He had to think of something and think of it fast. He knew a little of what his alternative service might require. It had something to do with the passive combatant use of fire. He wasn’t really sure what that meant except that he