Guardians of Ga'Hoole 08 - The Outcast

it?” replied the other.
    “Yeah, it gives me the creelies.” “Creelies” was the owl word for deep, unidentifiable fears.
    “Well, you better get over it, you two. This is our test. Going into battle is going to give you bigger creelies than this. All we have to do is guard these eggs until Stryker and Wortmore get back.”
    Coryn had settled into a tree downwind of the three owls guarding the eggs. He hoped the wind would carry away any sound he made and would carry to him all the words and sounds coming from the three owls guarding the egg cache. And, at this moment, he seemed to be bombarded by sounds. There were the voices of the three owls and then there were the stirrings of the eggs. These eggs sounded close to hatching. He did not think there werethat many, maybe three or four. But still there was the problem of which one was the Burrowing Owls’ egg. He needed to listen more closely. The more he could learn, the better off he would be. But he did not have much time if Stryker and Wortmore were expected. What he had already learned was valuable. There were three of them. They were all Barn Owls, which meant that they were in training for higher jobs and would not be assigned to the lowliest ranks of the Pure Ones like his dear friend, Phillip. And they were nervous. Even the one who sounded so bold was nervous. Coryn could tell. He could hear the young recruit’s heart beating rapidly.
    Coryn’s hearing had never been so sharp. He could hear things he had never before heard. He continued to cock his head and scan with his ear slits for any new scrap of information. He was almost sure that there were three eggs in the cache, for he could hear the dim but slightly different heartbeats of the unhatched chicks. They were more like soft pulses than real beats. He cocked his head, and then again. Was there another pulsing sound coming from beneath the hollow that the three Barn Owls guarded? He stilled his own heart and quieted his breathing. It was as if Coryn had transmuted his entire body into one big ear. He opened his eyes wide in amazement. Thereis an egg at the base of the tree. Perhaps in a shallow pit covered with something. Of course! This is the egg of a Burrowing Owl. This is where a Burrowing Owl’s egg would be kept.
    “Did you hear something, Flint?”
    “No. You two are just getting jumpy.”
    “It…it…sounded like a very soft wind.”
    “So, it was a soft wind. Never heard of wind in a forest?”
    “I don’t know. It just sounded different.”
    Coryn made two more passes high above the tree where the three owls were perched, guarding the eggs. He could hear their rapidly increasing heartbeats. He didn’t want to wait much longer. Now was the time. He slowed his flight and spiraled down and then began to hover. It was perfect timing as the cloud cover parted and a misty trail of moonlight slipped through the trees.
    “Nyra!” one of them screamed.
    “Not Nyra! Her hagsfiend’s come to curse you.” And then Coryn let loose with a terrifying shree.

Your gizzards are a-wobble,
    Your gall grot turned to mush.
    I shall take you all to hagsmire
    And rip out all your guts.
    I shall make you my slaves,
    Condemn you to shame,
    Unless you learn to play
    My great and evil game.

    “My Glaux! My Glaux! Save us!” Flint was gasping.
    “We should never have left our parents!”
    “It’s not my fault. I was snatched!”
    The three Barn Owls were fleeing, spiraling upward in flight. They could not leave their post quickly enough. It had worked!

CHAPTER NINE
The Egg Restored
    C oryn tore off the scarves of moss. The great ruse had worked better than he had ever dreamed. He lighted down at the base of the tree and carefully cleared away the leaves from the shallow pit. There was the egg, perfectly round and gleaming white, with still a little bit of dirt from The Barrens stuck to its shell.
    Ever so cautiously, Coryn wrapped his talons around the precious egg. Then he spread his wings and, with a powerful upstroke followed by a downstroke, lifted off the ground. He felt bad that he could not save the other three in the nest, yet he would not even have known where to take them. All he knew right now was that he had to get out of this forest before Stryker and Wortmore came back. The wind had shifted and was against him. It would be a hard flight back to The Barrens but he had to do it. There was little left of the night. He might have to risk flying into the morning, but there was