Guardians of Ga'Hoole 13 - The River of Wind

now.
    “They’re asleep! Sound asleep. We can escape!”
    “Escape!” the blue owl said.
    “Yes, Striga, escape!”
    A few minutes later, they emerged from the desert burrow into the light of the newing moon. It had grown much fatter since they had first arrived in the Desert of Kuneer. It felt good to spread their wings after the tight confines of the tunnel spaces of the underground burrow. The breeze stirred their facial disk feathers, and Bell tipped hers toward the velvety darkness of the sky. “Stars, wind,” she whispered softly to herself, and wondered how one could bear to live underground.
    “I thought I was going to have to go in there and drag you out.” It was an Elf Owl, the same voice that they had heard offering the bingle juice to the guards. “Come on, follow me. Let’s get out of here. I have to get you to somewhere safe from these terrible owls.”
    “Are you sure it’s safe to go?” the blue owl asked.
    “Yes, the top command is gone. The other owls around here have no idea that you are prisoners. Follow me.”
    “He can’t fly too well,” Bell said.
    “No, no. I’ll be fine,” the blue owl assured them both.Cuffyn looked at him and wondered. What in the name of Glaux had this owl eaten or drunk to make him blue and weak of wing? No time to inquire. They had to get out—now.
    “Where will you take me?” Bell asked the Elf Owl. “I want to go home.”
    “First, let’s just get you to safety, and then we’ll figure out the rest,” the Elf Owl replied. “We don’t want this old sot of a snake to wake up before we’re out of here.”
    Bell looked down. She saw the fat old snake, the one she had heard called Gragg. She had to resist yarping a pellet on him for fear of waking him up. There was something about that snake she absolutely hated. He seemed so different from any nest-maid snake. He had given Bell a hard whack when she had first arrived. Apparently, she had not moved down the tunnel quickly enough. And he had called her a really disgusting name—seagull splat.
    Oh, Bell could hardly believe it. She was going home…home…home to the great tree! Home to see her mum, her da, her two sisters, her auntie Plonk and her auntie Ot, for that was what the three B’s called Otulissa. Then she remembered, Twilight had promised to give her her first battle claws lesson. And Bubo. Oh, my! How I have missed Bubo! What did she want to do first? Curlup in the hollow with Mum and Da and hear stories or go drink milkberry tea with Bubo? Oh, be with Mum and Da, of course. They flew on, hours passing like minutes while happy anticpation warmed Bell’s gizzard.
    Suddenly, she noticed how well the blue owl was flying. “Hey, you’re doing great. How did you learn so fast?”
    “I’m not sure…” the blue owl answered honestly.
    Then Bell saw something that made her gizzard tremble with joy. “The great tree! The great tree! I can see it from here!” she called out.
    “B-b-but…but what’s that?” Cuffyn asked, gesturing to dozens and dozens of owls flying toward them.
    “Strix Struma Strikers!” Bell gasped, then blinked. “And the Flame Squadron, the Bonk Brigade with Bubo in the lead—and there’s Doc Finebeak!”
    Doc Finebeak split off from the tracking unit he was commanding. “Take over, Sylvana.” He swiveled his head. “I’ll catch up.”
    “It’s little Bell!” A cheer from the Guardians roared up into the night.
    “What’s happening?” Cuffyn asked.
    “It’s war…” Doc Finebeak replied. “In the sixth kingdom.” Then he seemed to notice the blue owl. “You’refrom there, aren’t you?” The blue owl staggered in his flight.
    “Yes,” he said softly, and turned to Bell. “I lied, letting you think I was from the Northern Kingdoms. I didn’t mean to.”
    “More important, you helped to save this little owl,” Doc said. “Her mother was gizzard-broken.”
    Something swelled within the blue owl. “I can help you. I will get you to what you call the sixth kingdom. I know the way of the Zong Phong and how to fly through the hole in the wind.”
    “We were to seek someone called Bess, in the Shadow Forest,” Doc Finebeak replied. “She was to tell us where this place is.”
    “No. I’ll save you time. I will lead you there. I know the moonfaced owl has gone there. She is terrible.”
    “You needn’t tell us!” Doc Finebeak said, then turned to Cuffyn. “Can you get this little one the rest of the way