The Capture

Great Ga'Hoole Tree. For when the world one knew began to crumble away bit by bit, when not only your memories but the memories that others might have of you grew dim with time and distance, when, indeed, you began to fade into a nothingness in the minds of the owls that you loved best, well, perhaps that was when legends could become real.

    But at the heart of this nightmare was another deeper

    truth. Soren had become something else. He turned slowly to look at the three other owls in the cool moonlight. Their eyes burned with a new intelligence, a new understanding. Yes, thought Soren, and so had Gylfie and Twilight and Digger become something else. No words were spoken. No words were needed. But a silent oath was sworn in that desert river of moonlight and the four owls all nodded. In that instant they knew that they were a band forevermore, bound by a loyalty stronger than blood. It was as a band they must go to Hoolemere and find its great tree that loomed now as the heart of wisdom and nobility in a world that was becoming insane and ignoble. They must warn of the evil that threatened. They must become part of this ancient kingdom of knights on silent wings who rose in the blackness to perform deeds of greatness.

    And, indeed, Soren knew still another truth: Legends were not only for the desperate. Legends were for the brave.

    "Let's go" said Soren.

    "To Ga'Hoole!" cried Twilight.

    "To Ga'Hoole!" echoed the others.

    "All for owls and owls for all!" shouted Soren.

    And in the still, deepest part of the night, four owls lifted into flight, their shadows printed on the hard desert sand below by the last spray of the moon's light. A Great Gray flew in the lead, to windward a handsome Barn Owl, downwind flew a minute Elf Owl, in extremely quiet flight for such a talkative owl with no fringe on her feathers. Flying in the tail position, grappling with his talons across the windy wake of Twilight, flew Digger. All flew toward the River Hoole, which would empty into the great sea of Hoolemere, and an island where the Great Tree of Ga'Hoole grew and where, once upon a very long time ago, in the time of Glaux, there was an order of knightly owls who would rise each night into the blackness and perform noble deeds.

    And Soren knew in his heart that now was the time for the legend to be true.

    THE OWLS GUARDIANS of GAHOOLE The Capture

    SOREN: Barn Owl, Tyto alba, from the kingdom of the Forest of Tyto; snatched when he was three weeks old by St. Aegolius patrols

    His family:

    KLUDD: Barn Owl, Tyto alba, older brother EGLANTINE: Barn Owl, Tyto alba, younger sister NOCTUS: Barn Owl, Tyto alba, father MARILLA: Barn Owl, Tyto alba, mother His family's nest-maid: MRS. PLITHIVER: blind snake

    GTLFIE: Elf Owl, Micrathene whitneyi, from the desert kingdom of Kuneer; snatched when she was three weeks old by St. Aegolius patrols

    TWILIGHT: Great Gray Owl, Strix nebulosa, free flyer, orphaned within hours of hatching DIGGER: Burrowing Owl, Speotyto cunicularius, from the desert kingdom of Kuneer; lost in desert after attack in which his brother was killed by Jatt and Jutt

    SKENCH: Great Horned Owl, Bubo virginianus, the Ablah General of St. Aegolius Academy for Orphaned Owls

    SPOORN: Western Screech Owl, Otus kennicottii, first lieutenant to Skench JATT: Long-eared Owl, Asio otus, a St. Aegolius sublieutenant, warrior, and enforcer JUTT: Long-eared Owl, Asio otus, a St. Aegolius sublieutenant, warrior, and enforcer; cousin of Jatt AUNT FINNT: Snowy Owl, Nyctea scandiaca, pit guardian at St. Aegolius UNK: Great Horned Owl, Bubo virginianus, pit guardian at St. Aegolius GRIMBLE: Boreal Owl, Aegolius funerus, captured as an adult by St. Aegolius patrols and held as a hostage with the promise that his family would be spared

    47-2: Western Screech Owl, Otus kennicottii, picker in the pelletorium of St. Aegolius HORTENSE: Spotted Owl, Strix occidentalis, originally from the forest kingdom of Ambala, snatched at an indeterminate age by St. Aegolius patrols; trained as a broody owl in the eggorium of St. Aegolius STREAK: Bald eagle, free flyer

    ZAN: Bald eagle, mate of Streak

    Look for the next book in the GUARDIANS of GA'HOOLE series, coming soon.

    Soren, Gylfie, Twilight, and Digger -- along with Mrs. Plithiver -- search for the Great Ga'Hoole Tree...

    They had left the hollow of the fir tree at First Black. The night was racing with ragged clouds. The tree covering was thick beneath them, so they flew low to keep in