Guardians of Ga'Hoole 10 - The Coming of Hoole

Hoole looked to theeast where the sun would rise in several hours. “There is an island in that vast boisterous sea of the Southern Kingdoms, and I think that Grank and Theo, Phineas, and Lord Rathnik and his knights of the Ice Regiment of H’rath will fly there with me. The island draws me. It is a special island, I think, with a special tree. And it is there that I shall have my court.”
    “Well, Glaux speed you, Hoole,” Fengo said.
    “Yes.” Namara came up to Hoole and laid back her ears.
    “No. No, Namara. Stand tall and wish me well.”
    “Glaux speed,” the golden wolf said with a tear in her eye.
    And so the owls rose in that star-scattered night and headed east toward the sea, and as dawn lightened the horizon they could see the crown of an immense tree breaking through the clouds that raced above the layers of fog. As the fog cleared away, Grank gasped when he caught sight of this island and its magnificent tree. The tree glowed as luminous as that egg he had taken so long before to nurture and raise on another island in another sea. That island had had no name, nor did this one. He wondered what it might be called. And as if reading histhoughts, Hoole said, “Look! Just look at that island and the tree! What should we call it?”
    This is a good tree…It has…Ga’, Uncle Grank. Yes, Ga’. Hoole’s words suddenly came back to Grank. He swiveled his head toward the young king. “You said the tree had Ga’, lad. We should call it Ga’Hoole. Ga’Hoole,” he shouted to the clouds and to the rising sun.
    The dozen owls flying with them took up the cheer and shouted it to the world: “Ga’Hoole!”
    So ends this story of Hoole forged in the fires of my memory.

Epilogue
    C oryn closed the book and looked at his uncle Soren. “He was so noble! Oh, that I might be as noble.”
    “You will,” Soren said quickly. Digger, Gylfie, Twilight, and Otulissa all nodded.
    “Forged in the fires of his memory,” Otulissa said softly. “I think it was Theo who wrote this down. Theo, the first blacksmith.”
    “But what is the meaning of it all?” Digger asked. “Why did Ezylryb want you to read this?”
    Otulissa answered quickly. “To instill in all of us those ancient codes of honor, of trust.”
    “Perhaps,” Digger, the most philosophical of all the owls, said slowly. “But there is something beyond that.”
    Otulissa began to interrupt with another theory.
    “Quiet, Otulissa,” Soren said. “Let Digger speak.”
    “The ember has great powers, powers that we know that Nyra desperately wanted. But did she want them just for herself?”
    “I think not,” Coryn said. He paused a long time. Hecould not bring himself to tell the others what Soren already knew. That he suspected his own mother was a hagsfiend. “I know,” he continued, “that there are still some hagsfiends that fly about, but they are weak and impotent. They skulk around the edges of the night and are easily dispersed like fog on a sunny day. I know because I have encountered them. But now that the ember is back, they could gain power, especially with Nyra as their leader.”
    Soren now spoke. “Before Ezylryb died, he warned us of the power of the ember.”
    “Perhaps,” said Gylfie, “the final legend will tell us more.”
    “Perhaps,” replied Coryn. He spoke slowly with great reflection. “It is as if for centuries we have lived in a blessed world. Yes, we have had our battles, our enemies. Yes, there were flecks that could destroy owls’ minds and will, but there was no nachtmagen. We have lived in a world of reason, not magic and spells. But now it is as if the fragile, invisible membrane that has sealed off our world so long from the irrationality of spells and charms has been torn—and through that small tear…” Coryn’s dark eyes grew huge and darker. He swiveled his head around to look at each one of these owls. “Through this small tear, I fear nachtmagen is once again seeping into the Glaux-blessed world of owls.”

THE G UARDIANS of G A ’H OOLE
    Book One: The Capture
    Book Two: The Journey
    Book Three: The Rescue
    Book Four: The Siege
    Book Five: The Shattering
    Book Six: The Burning
    Book Seven: The Hatchling
    Book Eight: The Outcast
    Book Nine: The First Collier
    Book Ten: The Coming of Hoole
    Book Eleven: To Be a King
    Book Twelve: The Golden Tree
    Book Thirteen: The River of Wind
    Book Fourteen: Exile
    Book Fifteen: The War of the Ember
    A Guide Book to the Great Tree
    Lost Tales of