Lost Tales of Ga'Hoole

the brothers were able to tell, this Burrowing Owl lived alone in his burrow. They never saw any signs of a mate or chicks. Even if there were chicks, twelve mice were more than enough to feed several families.
    “This desert’s never had too much in the way of prey; he may as well be taking those mice right out of some chick’s beak,” Travis said.
    “Let’s go have a little talk with our greedy neighbor,” Tavis replied, angling down toward the owl.
    The Burrowing Owl had spotted the two Great Grays a ways back. He was going as fast as his featherless legs would take him while hauling his heavy load. There was no place to hide around here. And now, there was no avoiding the interlopers.
    “Pardon us, neighbor,” Cletus began politely as he landed. “Remember us? Cletus, and my brother Tavis?”
    The Burrowing Owl dropped his bundle of mice from his beak. “I remember. What do you two want?” he responded brusquely.
    “That’s an awful lot of mice you have there,” Cletus continued in as polite a tone as he could manage.
    “Yes, what of it?” the Burrowing Owl said, not hiding his annoyance.
    “What army are you feeding?” Tavis tried to jape.
    The Burrowing Owl’s yellow eyes widened. He seemed alarmed, just for a second. Then, he regained his composure. “What does it matter? I’ve caught them. They’re mine.”
    Tavis and Cletus looked at each other, not sure how to continue their line of questioning. Cletus finally asked, “You live alone in your hollow? That just seems like an awful lot of food for one owl. Prey is scarce around here, and…”
    Before Cletus could finish, the Burrowing Owl interrupted. “What I do with the prey that I catch is my business. I suggest that if you’re hungry, you go off and do some hunting of your own, instead of standing here and questioning me.”
    Tavis was getting angry, and without even realizing it, he began to puff himself up in a threat display. “We just figured we should know what’s going on so close to our home,” he said, gritting his beak. “We’ve been living in this desert for a long time, and when a stranger shows up and starts digging new burrows and hunting up all the prey, we have a right to know what’s going on.”
    Tavis’s and Cletus’s sheer size should have intimidated any owl. But this Burrowing Owl, who was a fraction of the size of a Great Gray, was unmoved. With a steely glare in his yellow eyes, he told them, “All you need to know is that I’m an owl who does not take kindly to being interrogated.” With that, he resumed hauling his heavy load.
    Cletus and Tavis were once again at a loss. They just did not know what to make of this strange owl and his infuriating attitude.
    Tavis realized that after two meetings, the owl still hadn’t told them his name. He called out after the owl, “Hey, the least you can do is tell us your name!”
    The Burrowing Owl decided that he would give them this much. Without turning around, he dropped his mice momentarily and said, “If you must know, the name is Tarn.”
    At the southwestern edge of the desert, Hiram was getting ready to turn in. He tucked himself into the back corner of his burrow and shut his eyes. As he began to drift off to sleep, he heard a loud and familiar scratching. His new neighbors were excavating—again!
    “The nerve of some owls!” Hiram said to no one in particular.
    He noticed that the source of the noise sounded closer than ever. He leaned his head toward the back wall of this hollow.
    “It’s all going as planned,” Hiram heard an owl say.
    “Excellent,” replied another.
    His beak dropped open in outrage. Hiram could hardly believe it—they had dug so close to his burrow that he could hear their voices right through the earth! He couldn’t help but listen.
    “Tarn will be pleased. As will Her Pureness. The army of the Pure Ones will be stronger than ever.”
    “The PURE ONES?!” Hiram couldn’t help but say out loud.
    The Pure Ones were infamous all over the Northern and Southern Kingdoms these days. Word had spread about their monstrous moonfaced leader and the terror she brought with her. Hiram had heard that they had recently been defeated, that what remained of them had been scattered throughout the Southern Kingdoms. Could it be that some of them were here in the Desert of Kuneer, just a thin earthen wall away?
    As Hiram contemplated this, the owls on the other side of the wall fell silent.
    Suddenly, dirt and sand exploded in