Guardians of Ga'Hoole 15 - The War of the Ember

Palace of Mists with coals, bonk coals…”
    “What?” Bubo said. “I mean, you’re welcome to any bonks from my forge, but why?” Then the light began to twinkle in the Great Horned’s amber eyes. “Oh! I get it! The old shell game!”
    “Precisely!” Soren said. “Who has the Ember of Hoole? When these three owls fly out, each one will be carrying botkins, each botkin filled with several bonk embers. As we know, bonk coals are nearly indistinguishable from the true Ember of Hoole. It takes a careful eye to detect the true ember.” He glanced over at Bubo who, indeed, had such an eye. “So who’s to know which owl has the real Ember of Hoole?”
    “Brilliant!” Digger exclaimed. “But a note of caution here. These owls should not be—well, how should I put it? High-profile owls.”
    “In other words, not the Band,” Otulissa said.
    “Yes,” Soren replied. “Not the Band, and certainly not Coryn.” He paused. “But there is another suggestion that I would like to make. None of the three, nor any of us, for that matter, should know who carries the true ember.”
    “Why?” Twilight said.
    “These are young owls. We don’t know how they’ll conduct themselves if captured, for one thing. But more important, it is always better in a situation like this if the main operatives do not have the full story. Divide up the information, so to speak, and then there is less to divulge. It’s a security measure. If, and for now let’s call him or her Owl X, is captured, and the captors demand the ember, Owl X can say, ‘I’m not sure if I have the ember. Several owls were sent out, only one has the real ember.’”
    “Ingenious!” Digger exclaimed. “That will throw them off their game.”
    “That’s the idea,” Soren replied.
    “Now.” Digger stepped forward. “It is my feeling that Owl X and Owl Y and Owl Z should all be owls that are double chawed.”
    Double chawed was a term used for those young owls bright enough and talented enough to be assigned to two chaws. Soren and Otulissa had been double chawed when they were young.
    “Well, there are Fritha and Wensel,” Otulissa offered. “They are both very reliable.”
    “I wish we could send a third owl who is older to look out for them,” Soren said. “You know, someone really experienced.”
    “What about Ruby?” Coryn said. “She’s not exactly low-profile, but she’s not as well known as the Band, and she is the best flier in the tree.”
    “But wouldn’t she be recognized?” Twilight said. “I mean, all those ruddy feathers.”
    “Not if you dipped her in a bit of bingle juice mixed with ground pellets.” It was Octavia who spoke, the ancient, portly nest-maid snake. She had slithered into the hollow unnoticed.
    “What?” several of the owls blurted out.
    Cleve cocked his head. “Yes, of course. I’ve heard of this. It’s a dye. It is also used in a very diluted form for gizzard mites. Provokes yarping.”
    “Are you saying, Octavia,” Soren swiveled his head toward the old nest-maid snake who had spiraled herself into a plump coil in the middle of the hollow, “that Ruby could dye her plumage a different color?”
    “Yes, then she wouldn’t be recognized.” She paused. “At least not by her feathers. Perhaps her flying style might give her away.”
    “Interesting idea,” Digger said.
    Soren turned toward Digger. “I think that it is a very good idea. We have Fritha and Wensel, extremely talented. Fritha, a little older, a bit more experienced. But Wensel is fantastic in all sorts of weather conditions.And he has an artist’s imagination. Somehow, I think we’ll need someone like Wensel.”
    “Where does art comes into it?” Twilight said gruffly.
    Gylfie snapped, “You were just talking about the artistry of Bess sending that owl to hagsmire instead of glaumora.”
    “Oh, so I was.” Twilight blinked.
    “And so it is decided. Fritha, Wensel, and Ruby will be the three owls to fly to the Palace of Mists and initiate the shell game,” Soren said, turning to Coryn.
    Coryn nodded. “And now the question is, where are they to take the ember?”
    “Before we get to that,” Soren said, “there is one more part to the plan. If these three owls are followed by anyone, we want to know who that is. The beauty of the weather that I see setting in is that it will allow the perfect cloud cover for the HALO drop not only for the three owls but for us, as well.”
    “For us?” Twilight asked.
    “I