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

for her. But Kalo had befriended him and, in fact, he had saved the egg that would hatch to be her baby brother, whom they named Coryn in his honor. Kalo, young Coryn—or Cory as hewas called—and Kalo’s mate, Grom, now all lived at the tree.
    Coryn reflected on the owls who would accompany him on this mission. Clever, diplomatic—that was essential—and strong. When they arrived in the hollow, he wasted no time. “Would you, Kalo, Gwyndor, and Cory, go with me to the Northern Kingdoms?”
    Just then Octavia slithered in with some milkberry tea. Coryn blinked. Odd time for tea, he thought.
    “Yes,” Octavia said quietly. “I sense your surprise. But you know us nest-maid snakes. I sensed that you were agitated, Coryn. And now I have a feeling you are going to the Northern Kingdoms.” Before Coryn could reply to Octavia, Kalo answered his question.
    “The Northern Kingdoms!” Kalo exclaimed. “Oh, I have always wanted to go!”
    “I don’t suppose you might consider taking an old Northern Kingdom creature along?” Octavia interjected. “I do know the lay of the land, so to speak. And unlike the other nest-maid snakes I was not always blind.”
    “You weren’t, Octavia?” Kalo asked.
    “Oh no, my dear.” She paused.
    Gwyndor broke in. “Octavia flew with the original stealth unit of the Kielian League. She and Ezylryb.”
    “Great Glaux!” Kalo’s beak dropped open in surprise.
    “I know what you’re going to say, Coryn—that was ancient history. Well, it was. We live long, we Kielian snakes. I flew with Ezylryb in the War of the Ice Claws—double wing commander and tail launcher in the Glauxspeed Division.”
    Kalo was in awe. “Glauxspeed Division! That was legendary.”
    “Didn’t seem much like a legend or a fairy tale when I was flying tail, believe me!”
    “What did you launch?” Kalo’s brother Cory asked.
    “Ice rockets. Can’t be blind to do that. Quite a team we were back then. But we were both wounded. I, actually, the worst. Lost my eyes. So we hung up the battle claws—literally—and, well, to make a long story short, we sought a more quiet, scholarly life. We went to the Glauxian Brothers’ retreat and eventually came here.”
    “But Octavia,” Coryn said, “do you really want to go back there? I think bad times are coming.”
    “Yes, I sensed that. Your gizzard’s in quite a turmoil. Mrs. P. sensed it, too.”
    “But you haven’t done anything like this for years,” Coryn said. The anxiety in his voice was clear. “And frankly, we’ll need to move fast. This is no holiday jaunt.”
    Gwyndor felt a wince in his gizzard. No owl or snake liked being reminded of its age. He sympathized withOctavia. She had a depth of knowledge about the Northern Kingdoms that none of them possessed.
    “Look, Coryn.” Octavia wound herself into a plump coil. “I know I am old. I know I can’t fight the way I used to. But I know the Northern Kingdoms. Hoke of Hock is a distant cousin of mine. We go back. I know a lot of the owls in the Frost Beaks division and, of course, the old Glauxspeed. Not to mention that I speak fluent Krakish. Look, I know I’m fat. But I’ll go on a diet immediately.”
    “You’re not too fat for me to carry!” Kalo said enthusiastically. “You know how strong we Burrowing Owls are. And there are four of us. We can trade off.”
    “I can carry you, too, Octavia. I insist on doing my share,” Cory quickly said.
    Coryn didn’t reply immediately. Cory was young, but bold and energetic. He rose to challenges. He had proved this already on two different occasions when he was determined to find and rescue his sister. “All right. You can come, Octavia.” He paused and looked into the empty sockets of her eyes. “You are valuable. I should never underestimate your knowledge of the Northern Kingdoms and its creatures.”
    Had she not been eyeless, the old nest-maid would have shed tears. This, she thought, is not just a noble king, but an owl with a generous gizzard.
    Plans were made for an immediate departure. Had Coryn cast one last glance at his fire he would have seen something of interest. The images flared in small tongues, looking owlish with roundish heads and the radiating facial feather patterns of Great Grays.
    “Sir!” It was the page who interrupted Coryn just as he was about to look into the fire.
    “Yes, what is it?”
    “A coded message from Silver.” The page handed him a piece of paper.
    Coryn unfolded it and quickly