Guardians of Ga'Hoole 06 - The Burning

Twilight, and Martin continued the chase with Gylfie and a small unit of the Frost Beaks. The owl they were chasing, a Masked Owl, was proving tough. They would almost catch up with it and then it would somehow get ahead. The owl was an excellent flier, taking tight, steep banking turns at very high speeds.
    Soren was not sure when he started to get the funny feeling in his gizzard, but there was something wrong about this chase. This owl was not simply flying away from them. She was leading them someplace. Then it seemed as if one of the canyon walls suddenly opened up in the night. In front of them was an immense cave entrance. Of course! Soren thought. Masked Owls are also called CaveOwls, and they knew how to fly the cave routes that tunneled under the mountains.
    But it was too late. Soren was not sure how it had happened. They were flying at terrifically high speeds but it was almost as if the cave had reached out and grabbed them. He felt he was being swallowed into a new kind of darkness.
    Suddenly, an anguished voice split the blackness. “Don’t come in! Don’t come in!”
    “Digger! It’s Digger!” Soren gasped.
    Gylfie felt a tremendous shiver pass through her gizzard as she spied Digger. He was standing on a ledge, his strong legs tethered with vines to a large rock.
    At the same moment the Guardians caught sight of Digger, there was an awful glare in the cave, a horrific, terrible glare. There was only one thing that glared in this way. It was the metal mask of Soren’s brother, Kludd, High Tyto and leader of the Pure Ones.
    One thought raced through Soren’s mind. I am going to have to kill him. I am going to have to kill my own brother or else it will be the end of owlkind. The two brothers began to advance warily upon each other, Soren with an ice sword which seemed much too long for the tight space, and Kludd with his battle claws. The battle claws glowed red-hot at their tips. They had been fired! Fire claws. Soren rememberedwhat Bubo had said about the damage they could do to the talons of the owl who wore them. But Kludd must think it a small price to pay in order to kill his brother.
    “He’s got fire claws!” Digger said.
    “We’ve all got them!” Kludd roared.
    Suddenly, six more owls emerged, the tips of their claws burning a bright orange in the blackness of the cave. There was no choice. I’m going to have to try and kill my own brother! There was something unreal about what was happening. Time seemed to slow for Soren.
    The two owls began to face off. The others, the Pure Ones, the Guardians, as well as the Frost Beaks were fighting closer to the cave mouth. But this battle, Soren realized, was his and Kludd’s alone. Soren had raised his ice sword, its clear edge honed to an incredible sharpness, into attack position. The two owls flew in wide circles, delivering quick feinting thrusts meant to distract rather than cut. Soren knew what Kludd was doing. He was trying to lead him farther into the depths of the cave. Kludd knew the lay of the cave. Soren didn’t. He could lead me any-place, Soren thought. He knew that there were dangerous pockets of poisonous gas in caves where animals often died of suffocation. I must keep this at a standoff as long as possible. Maybe he’ll get tired. I can’t kill my own brother. Oh, please, Glaux! Let him just give up and fly off. Soren knew that this waswishful thinking. Suddenly, there was a loud crash, and both Soren’s and Kludd’s concentration was broken. Digger was in the air! Digger with his immensely long and powerful legs had actually broken free of the rock to which he had been tethered. He was flying with the vines still attached. But he was without a weapon. At least the odds were better, Soren thought.
    Then something sparkled like a brilliant trace in the blackness of the cave. It was Gylfie and Frost Blossom, armed with ice slivers. They were suddenly directly underneath Kludd. It was quick. Soren couldn’t tell who delivered the wounding blow to Kludd’s soft underbelly. But he saw his brother’s blood spurt toward him and catch the bright edge of his own sword, turning it red.
    Then something happened.
    “Gylfie!” Soren shrieked. The smell of singed feathers swept through the cave. He saw the little Elf Owl struggling to fly with the primaries on her starboard wing, burned black and smoking. Kludd had done this to her, Soren thought.
    I can kill my own brother! The words exploded in Soren’s head. His gizzard