Guardians of Ga'Hoole 06 - The Burning

winds. I have been training some of the weather chaw in this, as well as a few other owls.”
    “Did Soren agree to be a part of a system to protect Skench and Spoorn and the others?” Barran, the other Snowy monarch, asked in her soft voice.
    “He did indeed, madam,” Ezylryb replied. “Soren is a much-misunderstood owl these days. Believe me, Soren will do whatever is required in this invasion.”
    “So, are we to understand”—Sylvana, the lovely tracking ryb, spoke now—“that although our attempts to enlist forces from the Northern Kingdoms in our invasion have failed, we are still planning to go ahead?”
    “Absolutely,” Boron and Barran answered at once. Then Barran continued. “We have the Chaw of Chaws, who have been trained in the use of ice weapons. And they, in turn, have trained others.”
    Sylvanaryb broke in. “But how many ice swords, ice splinters, scimitars, and daggers do we have?”
    “Not enough,” barked Ezylryb, “but we must go forward. It is now or never. What ice weapons we have cannot be kept sharp indefinitely in the Southern Kingdoms, and the storm system shall pass by. We cannot afford to wait.”
    “Are you saying we must attack soon?” Sylvanaryb asked in a very quiet voice. The owls listening at the roots could barely hear her.
    “I say we attack at First Black. I believe that is two hours from now,” Ezylryb replied.
    “Now, Fenton,” Boron said. Fenton was a Barred Owl who was the steward of the parliament. “Please call in Audrey.”
    “Audrey? Why Audrey?” Otulissa beaked the question, not letting a sound pass from her. But the other owls understood perfectly what she was saying. Audrey was a nestmaid snake who had worked for Otulissa’s family before the Spotted Owl had been orphaned. She had come with Otulissa to the great tree and had become a member of the weaver’s guild, one of the many guilds that nest-maid snakes could join. The young owls pressed their ear slits closer to the roots. All they heard from inside the parliament hollow were “oohs” and “aahs” as if the members were exclaiming over something. Which indeed they were.
    “Exquisite work, Audrey,” Barran was saying. “Simply exquisite.” The young owls’ eyes swam with confusion as they tried to figure out what this exquisite work might be.
    “Thank you, ma’am. Our pleasure to serve.”
    “They look exactly like owls in their shape. You have really captured the form.”
    “Well, thank goodness we had enough feathers,” Audrey said. “The molts from this past spring were quite good, and you know we store them away for extra bedding in the infirmary. Who knew we would be using them for making owlipoppen?”
    Owlipoppen! The young owls were astounded. Owlipoppen were little owl dolls that parents often made from down and molted feathers for chicks to play with in the hollow. Suddenly, they realized what was being planned—a deception scheme!
    “Operation Double Cross!” Boron exclaimed.
    “Yes,” replied Bubo. “They’re already halfway across Hoolemere heading for the Great Horns. Percy, ably assisted by Nut Beam and Silver.”
    Nut Beam and Silver! Soren almost gasped aloud, as did Otulissa. The same thought flashed through both their minds. Nut Beam and Silver—they’re hardly more than chicks. Otulissa and Soren had minded them on their first flight with the weather chaw. But that had been summers ago, and they had all grown older.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
The Beginning of Forever
and a Day
    I t would be an hour before First Black, but in that sliver of evening between the sun setting and the moon rising, a squadron of twelve owls had set out. These owls had been trained in special high-altitude flying and were extremely adept at negotiating winds of the high-altitude windstream, which behaved differently from the winds of the lower altitudes. In each of the owls’ talons, he or she carried four fluffy owlipoppen. The owls were flying so high they would not be seen by any spotter owls from the Pure Ones, but the owlipoppen, so artfully assembled by the nest-maids in the weaver’s guild, would drift softly, slowly into the lower airstreams and, indeed, be taken up by the prevailing winds and drop into the fortified region of the Great Horns. It was then hoped that more of the Pure Ones’ troops would be diverted to this front.
    The first owlipoppen was spotted in the canyonlandsjust as the moon began to rise. An alarm was sounded. A platoon was diverted to a