Guardians of Ga'Hoole 07 - The Hatchling

a difference.”
    “It might.”
    “No, I told you I only see pieces, and sometimes I even see those wrongly, as with the vole. I had no idea that when you released the vole, it was an act of desperation and not mercy. So I could tell you something wrong. And besides…” The rabbit stopped midsentence.
    “Besides what?”
    “You have free will. And it is only by making your own choices that the story can be finished. You already know what you must do, Nyroc. You have known since the last snows of winter melted.”
    Nyroc looked at him intently. “I should leave, shouldn’t I.” It was not really a question but a statement. The rabbit nodded silently. Several moments passed before either of them spoke. “I was thinking of going to Silverveil. It is supposed to be one of the loveliest places in the owl universe.”
    “Perhaps,” replied the rabbit.
    Nyroc had the feeling that the rabbit did not quite approve of his choice. The two animals were silent for a long time. Then Nyroc broke the silence. “How do you know my name?”
    The rabbit gave a small shrug. “Oh, names are the easiest part of web reading. I get names all the time. Sometimes, however, it’s hard to match up the name with the creature.”
    “Have you ever read the name Soren in your web?”
    “Nope.”
    Nyroc sighed. He was disappointed. “Maybe Uncle Soren?” he asked.
    “No again. But a name did show up this morning in this web here.” The rabbit cocked his head toward the glistening strands that the spider had woven.
    “What was it?” Nyroc asked excitedly.
    “Fengo,” he replied.
    “‘Fengo’? Is it an owl?”
    The rabbit shrugged again, but this time it was an I-don’t-know kind of shrug. “Could be. Could be something else, something completely different. Could be something that you once saw.”
    “Me?” Nyroc wasn’t quite sure what the rabbit was talking about.
    “You see things in the fire, don’t you, Nyroc.” This also was a statement and not a question.
    “You know that? No one else does.”
    “Oh, I think there might be someone else who knows. But it’s sort of the same with you as it is with me. You see things in the fire and often they are not complete. Just like my pieces from the webs, eh?”
    “Yes,” Nyroc replied in a barely audible whisper. Yes, he had seen things. He remembered his first vision in the flames of the fire at his father’s Marking ceremony. Beneath the hisses and snapping noises of the fire, he had heard low growling sounds and he had seen strange shapes rising in an unknown landscape with weird creatures loping across it. And then there was the odd flame with the lick of deep blue at its center and tinted at the edges with a color that he knew now was truly green. Just as he was thinking about the flame’s color, the rabbit said, “Did you see Silverveil in your fire?”
    “I—I’m not sure,” Nyroc stammered. “Did you see it in your web?”
    “Definitely not. Not even a leaf,” the rabbit replied emphatically. Nyroc dared not ask him if he had seen the same strange place with the odd shapes and creatures that he had seen in the flames of Gwyndor’s fires. He didn’t want to hear about it if he had. “You know, Nyroc, I did not learn how to read webs instantly. I had to practice—all those different webs after all.” The rabbit rattled off the names of a half dozen more kinds of webs. “As I said, it takes practice. I bet there are as many kinds of flames and coals as there are webs. You should find some fires to sharpen up your flame-reading skills. Might learn something of this future that so concerns you.”
    “But how would I do that? I don’t know any Rogue smiths around here.”
    “You don’t need a Rogue smith. Keep an eye out for the occasional forest fire. And, of course, there are always fires burning in Beyond the Beyond.”
    Nyroc started. His eyes flew open at the mention of this place. “You’ve heard of it?” the rabbit asked.
    “Yes. I heard some of the owls telling bedtime stories about it.”
    “Ah, yes. From the Fire Cycle of the Ga’Hoolian legends.”
    “But it’s just a legend, isn’t it?” Nyroc said. “Just a made-up place?”
    “Hardly! No, it’s very real.”
    “You think I should go there?”
    “I can’t do your thinking for you, Nyroc. It’s your decision. But there are lots of fires there. Extraordinary fires. It’s where the first colliers came from. You want to learn about flame reading, that’s the