Guardians of Ga'Hoole 10 - The Coming of Hoole

“Grog seller, cut off the bingle juice. Sober up, all of you!” A sudden silence fell on the tree. A sorry lot, she thought, but they’re all I’ve got to work with.
    “I am no scroom. My husband, good King H’rath, is dead. But we have a son and his name is Hoole,” Siv spoke in a firm voice.
    “Aaaaaaaah.” The sound rolled through the tree.
    “I know that many of you here fought with King H’rath and were part of the old H’rathian troops. I am your queen and I now come for your help. The rest of you are perhaps from elsewhere and I am not your queen, but still I ask for your help in fighting for a just cause. Hoole is in danger now, grave danger. Lord Arrin and an elite unit of hagsfiends are flying this way and on to Beyond the Beyond, where they plan to destroy young Hoole, heir to King H’rath.” There were more gasps.
    “The hagsfiends are coming to the Southern Kingdoms?” a Burrowing Owl asked.
    “Yes. This is the brutal truth. Furthermore, Lord Arrin has made significant advances in the N’rythghar. He is within striking distance of capturing the Glacier Palace. We are losing the war, and we shall definitely lose if he captures or kills young Prince Hoole. I know you owls of the Southern Kingdoms. You are good owls. You feel withyour gizzards and think with your brains. You are compassionate, smart owls and would never rely on the cheap yet deadly art of nachtmagen that has beguiled so many. Together, we stand for decency, compassion, and honor. So I ask now who will join me in the fight—this battle that is a battle against tyranny, a war against nachtmagen. This a war to save the very soul of owlkind.”
    “I will!…We will!…Hail,” a huge cry went up. “Siv, our queen, lives. Our queen lives!” Never had the grog seller seen so many of his customers sober up so quickly.
    The news that the queen was alive swept through the forests of Tyto, of Silverveil, of the Shadows, Ambala, and even as far as the Desert of Kuneer. With the scimitar of H’rath clutched in her talons, Siv led a ragtag company of veteran owls made up of hireclaws and finally the H’rathian troops, which Joss had gathered as soon as he received word from Svenka. Joss and an old lieutenant, Lord Rathnik, flanked her on either side, protecting her from adverse winds and making her flight easier. But she steadfastly refused to have any owl fly in front of her, which would have eased her flight considerably. She knew that no leader worth her gizzard went into battle anyplace but in the front line. And on her tail flew none other than the Snow Rose, who had given up her gadfeather ways for a short time and joined the order of the GlauxianSisters. She soon found that meditation was not a vocation for her. So when she heard of Siv’s mission she decided that the time had come to put aside meditation, wandering, and singing alike, and she set forth. For years, she had flown hither and yon not knowing precisely why or where she was going. So she joined a group heading south and when they met up with the swelling troops heading for the Beyond, she nearly staggered in flight, in a manner most embarrassing for a former gadfeather, when she discovered that their leader, Queen Siv, was in fact her old friend Elka!
    They flew fast on a route that Joss was certain would avoid an encounter with Lord Arrin. They entered the Beyond at dawn and then flew to the ring of volcanoes where Siv knew Grank and Fengo often stayed. She asked that the hireclaws and the H’rathian troops except for one unit, the Ice Regiment of H’rath, wait behind. She wanted to greet her son and Grank alone and to prepare them with her news.
    As she approached the volcanoes, she gasped. It was twilight, or tween time as owls called it, that time between the last drop of the day’s sun and the first shadows of the night, but never in her life had she seen such a beautiful tween time. The sky was beginning to purple as the sun sank beneath the horizon and soaring up against thepurple of the sky were the fiery reds and oranges of the volcanoes’ flames. All five were now erupting. And between the towering flames a lone owl flew, flew so magnificently it took her breath away. “It’s Hoole,” she whispered to herself. His face was aglow as he caught one bonk coal after another.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
The Ember Beckons
    H oole saw her at the same time Grank did. They both flew to her. Then in mid-flight, Hoole shouted, “Mother!”
    “Yes, my dear,”