Guardians of Ga'Hoole 10 - The Coming of Hoole

knew theywere coming in for the kill. But still she would not bow. Fengo slowly walked around her, never taking his eyes from hers. She wobbled and then collapsed onto the ground, but she was not dead. Fengo signaled Hoole to come up. And then began the part of the death ritual that Hoole could never have imagined. He saw Fengo bow his head and make all the signs of submissive behavior as if this animal he was about to kill was superior to him in rank, and while he did this, Fengo’s eyes and that of the dying caribou locked together. An agreement was being made between predator and prey. It was a moment of great dignity. Something was being agreed upon. Fengo nodded and then sank his fangs into her neck.
    “Lochinvyrr” was the wolf word for this odd yet beautiful ritual of death in which the predator respects and recognizes the valor of the dying animal. It would be one of the most valuable and important lessons that Hoole would ever learn.
    When Hoole finally returned from the hunt he spent much time alone reflecting on all that he had learned in the time his spirit had become that of a wolf. He thought about the wolves and their strategies, their organization, the way they combined strength and planning; their tactics for traveling, hunting, and sharing food. He would never forget the flawless movements of that chase. Hewondered if some of their strategies could be used by owls. He must discuss this with Grank, for although owls and wolves inhabited different realms, why couldn’t one learn from the other? He most especially revered the code of lochinvyrr. He had learned all about knightly codes of honor and behavior from Grank but there was nothing quite like lochinvyrr, which honored the prey that was giving up its life so another could live.
    But it also seemed to Hoole that the wolves moved through their lives as easily as the stars in the night, as smoothly as the constellations that wheel through the sky. And yet they were deeply superstitious and often distrustful for no reason.

CHAPTER TWENTY
Two Wolves Head North
    “ I can’t believe it!” Theo exclaimed. “You caught a bonk coal on your first try! I’ve been practicing all summer.”
    They had been in the Beyond for three cycles of the moon, and when Hoole returned from his hunting trip with Fengo and was completely restored to his old owl self, he began to take more interest in the volcanoes, not so much for their fires but for the coals they spewed forth He had quickly learned how to retrieve the cooler coals that lay on the ground. But it had taken him only one try to catch one of the hottest of coals, the “bonk” ones, that were caught on the fly.
    “Look, Theo, I can catch them, but you know what to do with a bonk coal. I am not good at smithing.”
    This certainly was true. Theo had tried to teach Hoole how to make one of the simplest utensils, a small container that he called a bucket, and Hoole’s bucket wound up completely flat and hammered as thin as a leaf. Phineas, trying to be encouraging, said, “Well, it’s not that bad. Wecould use it as a decoration in our cave.” The four owls were all living together once again.
    Dunmore MacDuncan, to whom Hoole had become very close on the caribou hunt, now trotted up to him.
    “Ready for today’s lesson?” Dunmore was now in charge of Hoole’s education, which focused largely on the activities of the volcanoes.
    “I just caught a bonk coal. Isn’t that enough for one day?”
    “Do you know what a bonk coal sounds like?” Dunmore asked him.
    “Sounds like?”
    “Ah, so you are in need of a lesson: A bonk coal has a very distinct sound compared to other coals. Now listen.”
    Hoole crouched down and put his ear slit close to the bonk coal. “It sounds like water! Running water! How can something so hot sound like water?”
    Dunmore shrugged. “Don’t know. But coals, the lava, the fires of the volcanoes, all have different sounds, and they combine in different ways so that each volcano has a unique sound and even that varies according to weather and certain conditions we don’t yet understand.”
    Dunmore probably knew more about the volcanoes than any other wolf, including Fengo. Fengo had decided to form a guard—a watch—for the volcanoes, and hehad made Dunmore the chieftain of the watch. But whenever Hoole asked Fengo or Dunmore why there needed to be a watch, they were evasive in their answers. Hoole sensed that they were watching for something more than just