Guardians of Ga'Hoole 10 - The Coming of Hoole

around the volcanoes. Grank and Theo had more bonk coals than they knew what to do with. Grank himself had never seen such a flier as Hoole. He negotiated the fickle hot drafts and vexing cool spots above the craters nimbly and with such grace! Hoole far surpassed Grank’s own skills of colliering. He had even taught Phineas and Theo how to catch a few bonk ones, and most extraordinary of all, he had taught some of the wolves on the watch how to jump high and catch coals.
    Occasionally, he would ask a few questions of Dunmore about the watch, but he did not seem curious any longer as to what they might be guarding. Had Grank made a mistake about the young’un’s destiny? Was Hoole perhaps not the owl he thought he was? A prince by blood, by accident of birth, by name but perhaps not of gizzard?Perhaps his gizzard was a very ordinary one like most owls in which the seeds of Ga’ were lodged but still, doomed never to sprout. But when he remembered that seedling in the middle of the island in the Southern Sea, he took hope. He had not imagined it, for Phineas and Theo had seen it as well. The seedling had grown more in a few hours than most do in a full circle of seasons. They never discussed it. It was as if the strange seedling was a secret that they all kept in their gizzards and that talking about would make less real.
    Svenka had left MacHeath just north of the Ice Talons. It would still be a long haul for the wolf to reach Lord Arrin’s stronghold. Svenka neglected to tell him that swimming there would be much quicker. Nor did she tell him that she knew an inlet through which she could pass that would get her there a good day before MacHeath would arrive. Once there she planned to find an old friend of hers, Svarr, the father of Anka and Rolf. It was not yet mating season but she knew where Svarr usually denned this time of year. It was not far from Lord Arrin’s stronghold. So she climbed out of the sea and headed inland.
    “What are you doing here? It’s not mating season yet. I’m not really in the mood,” Svarr said.
    “Don’t be ridiculous,” Svenka replied. “I’m not here for that.”
    “What are you here for?” Svarr looked at Svenka blankly.
    “Look, Svarr, I know you might have trouble understanding this because…well…you’re a male polar bear and you don’t care really all that much about young’uns and cubs.”
    “That’s for mothers.”
    “Yes, exactly.”
    He interrupted before she could continue. “But, by the way, did you have any cubs last season?”
    “Yes, three. One died. But the other two are fine.”
    “Good. Now what is it you’ve come for?” he asked.
    “Well, I’ve made friends with a lovely female owl. And she is most worried about her young’un. She thinks that Lord Arrin or one of his hagsfiends wants him for some reason.”
    “Oh, Great Ursa, the way those owls and hagsfiends carry on.” Svarr sighed. “This stupid war. Too bad about King H’rath. He was a good bloke. And Lord Arrin’s lieutenants are always trying to get young’uns who fought with H’rath to join them. He’s a very bad sort.”
    “Yes, that’s just the point. My friend wants to know exactly what Lord Arrin is up to these days.” Svenka hadto be careful. She didn’t want to say too much, but she was actually tempted to tell him a little more. Svarr was a good fellow and she knew that in his own dull way he had really admired H’rath. The only reason Svarr had ventured so close to Lord Arrin’s stronghold was that the seal hunting was good.
    “Look, Svarr, can you keep a secret?” Svenka asked.
    “Who do I ever see, except you once a year?”
    “Well, I know sometimes you see what’s her name, Svaala?”
    “Gone!”
    “Oh, too bad.”
    Svarr shrugged his shoulders. “So, what is the secret?”
    Svenka proceeded to tell him that her special friend was Queen Siv. She continued with the story of the young owl prince and the traitorous wolf from the Beyond.
    “Your close friend is Siv? My, you’ve come up in the world.”
    Svenka was shocked. “How dare you, Svarr! I was up just fine in the world even before I met Siv. Just remember, friends don’t make the animal. Animals make friends.”
    Svarr blinked. She is pretty smart, he thought. Always had a way with words.
    “So do you want me to take out the wolf?” Svarr asked.
    “Maybe later, but right now I want to know what that wolf is telling Lord Arrin, and what Lord Arrin is up to. So, I was wondering…are