Lost Tales of Ga'Hoole (Guardians of Ga'Hoole) Read online

  “I’m starving, brother. I’m beginning to wonder if I can eat a cactus,” Tavis said to Cletus.

  It was another night, and the two brothers were out on another hunt. It seemed as if they had been searching for prey for ages, flying low over the land in wider and wider circles. They had been used to the scarcity of food in their part of the desert, but this was becoming exhausting. There was not a mouse or a gopher to be found. They’d even settle for insects if they could find any of those. The last time they had seen their neighbor Saul, he told them he was afraid there wouldn’t be enough food to feed his chicks when they hatched. It was a subject that worried all their fellow desert-dwelling owls.

  All they had to do to figure out what happened to the prey was look down at the desert landscape. More new burrows had cropped up since their reconnaissance flight. There must be an influx of Burrowing Owls in this part of the desert. But it was baffling—owls usually went where the food was. Why on earth would all these owls move to this area when it had so little food to begin with?

  Before they knew it, they found themselves at the southern edge of the desert. Tavis and Cletus landed on a cactus to rest. They had been flying for far too long on empty stomachs. The tumbleweeds were beginning to look like fat squirrels to them.

  Out of the corner of Cletus’s eye, he noticed movement from one of the burrows. He instantly turned his head to focus on whatever it was that moved. What he saw startled him—dark eyes on a white, heart-shaped face—the unmistakable face of a Tyto alba. This was most unusual—not only because Barn Owls were almost never found in the Desert of Kuneer, but also because Cletus recognized that particular burrow. The Barn Owl took off in silent flight toward the north, having not spotted the two Great Grays that perched nearby.

  “Hey, Tavis,” Cletus whispered to his brother, “ain’t that Hiram’s burrow over there?”

  “I’m certain it is,” answered Tavis.

  “I must be seeing things on account of my being so hungry. I swear to Glaux I just saw a Barn Owl fly outta there.”

  “No, you ain’t seeing things. I saw it, too.”

  As Cletus looked at his brother, Tavis wilfed ever so slightly. Cletus, too, felt an alarming twitch in his gizzard.

  Silently, the two owls approached the burrow. They made themselves as small as they possibly could, which, by desert standards, was still huge, and crouched near the opening. They couldn’t get a very good look into the burrow, but they heard an earful. It sounded as if there were dozens of owls in that burrow! They knew the burrow to be very small. But tonight, it sounded as if it stretched across the desert, underground.

  Tavis and Cletus looked at each other. They knew that if they talked aloud, they’d surely be found out, so they kept quiet.

  There was quite a commotion in the burrow. Several owls were trying to speak at once, and it was hard to make out what they were all saying. After a little while, however, the owls in the burrow began to settle down. One voice rose above the rest.

  “What are we supposed to do about these desert dwellers?” an owl asked. “While they’re here, we can’t even go outside to stretch our wings without fear of being seen.”

  “Yeah!” another owl added. “This part of the desert is ours now, why are we still hiding?”

  Hoots of agreement ensued.

  “Quiet!” a voice called out.

  Both Cletus and Tavis instinctively ruffled their feathers, lowered their heads, and assumed a defensive posture. They recognized that voice. Tarn! That nasty Burrowing Owl neighbor of theirs.

  The owls in the burrow heeded Tarn’s command and instantly became quiet.

  “You are right,” Tarn began. “This part of the desert is ours. We have worked tirelessly, excavating day and night. We have built up our forces without anyone knowing. From this hidden fortress we will launch a new assault on the kingdoms. We are on the brink of domination, once again!”

  Cletus and Tavis wilfed. They knew they were on the verge of discovering something terrible.

  Tarn continued. “It is time that we get rid of these desert-dwelling lowlifes for good! The Tytonic Union of Pure Ones has risen once again!”

  Cheers erupted from all the owls in the burrow. Now, instead of dozens, it sounded like there were hundreds of owls.

  “Should we begin driving out the remaining desert dwellers?” an owl asked.

  “No!” Tarn answered definitively. “We cannot allow them to escape and tell other owls of our presence here. General Mam has ordered us to remain hidden. The rest of the owl world must not know that we have amassed our forces here. We still need time to prepare, per General Mam’s instructions.”

  “Then, does that mean…”

  Before the owl could finish asking his question, Tarn answered it. “Kill them, and take their burrows, just like we did to that old fool who lived here. Exterminate them!” he bellowed.

  The owls in the burrow hooted eagerly. Outside, Tavis and Cletus felt a hollow pull in their gizzards. Hiram!

  “In two nights’ time we will have finished connecting the southern and eastern networks of burrows.” Then Tarn added, “With our tunnels linked we will be able to burst into all the remaining burrows at once. We’ll slaughter these yokels and the desert will be ours. I want all squads in position the moment the tunnels are complete! We’ll strike at dawn two days hence!”

  Cletus had to keep Tavis from storming into the burrow then and there.

  “Try to kill me? That bad-butt, skinny-legged, lousy owl wants to kill me? Well, I’d like to see him try! Why, I could just tear that owl wing from wing!” Tavis’s anger was brimming. He couldn’t believe what he had heard and seen. He and Cletus snuck their way to another burrow opening near Hiram’s old home and looked in. They saw what must have been hundreds of owls—mostly Barn Owls, some Sooty Owls, Masked Owls, and a few Burrowing Owls—gathered in a freshly excavated chamber. Tunnel mouths pocked the edges leading to what had to be a vast network of burrows. The Pure Ones—that loathsome lot was here, near his home, AGAIN!

  Cletus tried to calm his brother down. He practically had to wrestle Tavis away from the burrow. He was just as furious as his brother, but he knew that rage would do them no good now. The brothers flew toward their burrow. Something had to be done.

  “Think, Tavis, think! We can’t just go attacking without a plan,” he said. “We have more than ourselves to think about. They were talking about killing every owl who lives here! Think of the hatchlings, not to mention the eggs. Think of Saul and Trixie.”

  Cletus knew that, as big and powerful as they were, he and Tavis were only two owls against hundreds. Besides, where would that leave the rest of the desert dwellers? Most of them were Burrowing Owls who lived peaceful lives. Like Hiram, Glaux bless his scroom, many of them were old and weak. Others were mere hatchlings who had yet to take their first flight. They could never defend themselves against the forces of the Pure Ones. Cletus knew that he and Tavis would have to use their brains instead of talons in this situation. He was sure that, deep down, Tavis knew it, too.

  When they reached their hollow, Tavis had come to his senses. Though the thought of giving Tarn a thrashing was still very much on his mind, he agreed with Cletus that they had to help their fellow desert dwellers. The brothers agreed: They had to get everyone out safely before the Pure Ones began their assault.

  When Tavis was in the right frame of mind, he was a brilliant owl. The plan was his. They had two nights to carry it off. First, he and Cletus would begin a warning relay. The two of them would fly to the southern edge of the Broken Egg. They would tell the owls who lived in the outlying burrows that they must leave their homes immediately. Then those owls would fly or run north to warn two more owls each. Each little group of owls would hop from burrow to burrow, working their way north toward Tavis and Cletus’s burrow. That way, not too many owls would be in the sky or on the ground at one time, and they would not arouse suspicion from any Pure Ones who might be keeping watch. They figured it
wouldn’t take them more than one night to get the word out to everyone. While the other owls were relaying the information, Tavis and Cletus would begin excavating. With their powerful talons, they reckoned they could dig through the earth pretty fast. They would dig a tunnel from their burrow to just beyond the earthen ridge of the Broken Egg’s crater, near the border of Ambala. Then all the desert dwellers would escape through this tunnel and into the forest, hidden by the ridges from any aerial patrols, before the Pure Ones knew they were gone.

  Neither Tavis nor Cletus wanted to think about what might happen if the plan went awry. Nor did they have the time. They had to act immediately for it all to work. They flew as fast as they could to deliver the first warnings. Then they returned to their burrow and began excavating. The plan was in motion.

  Excavating was not as simple as the two Great Grays thought it would be. It looked easy enough when they watched Burrowing Owls do it, but it was hard work! They dug with all their might, and still it seemed they were just inching forward in the earth. As the night went on, a few of their Burrowing Owl neighbors showed up to help. Even then, progress was slower than either Tavis or Cletus expected. They excavated into the next day, and then into the next night.

  Across the desert, two Burrowing Owls had just gotten the news that they would have to leave their home, or else.

  “Should we really leave, Dill?” Jacy asked.

  “I don’t know, Jacy,” Dill replied. “Odell sounded awfully scared. But he hadn’t seen any of these Pure Ones, just got the word from those two Great Grays who live up north.”

  “He said we had to leave tonight.” Jacy bobbed her head nervously.

  Jacy and Dill had been living in the desert for years, ever since the two became mates. Because leaving their home was a big decision, they decided that they needed to think about it and talk it over. They knew that they had to pass the warning on to their neighbors—that nice young couple sitting their eggs—but that would have to wait until they came to a decision. The two owls talked and talked; they just didn’t know what to do. They were in such a tizzy, they didn’t even notice the sound of digging coming from just beyond their burrow. Suddenly, the two Burrowing Owls were thrown off their feet. There was dirt and sand every where. The last thing that either owl saw before they died was the gray face of a Sooty Owl.

  The sun had lit up the desert in a soft pink light. Tavis and Cletus emerged from the long tunnel they had been digging for the past two nights. Behind them the ridges of the Broken Egg rose into the sky. Across the desert to the north, a smear of dark marked the Forest Kingdom of Ambala. They had checked a few nights ago for signs of the Pure Ones in this area, and couldn’t find any. They checked again. The coast was clear. The first of the desert dwellers began to exit the tunnel behind the brothers. One by one, the owls filed out of the tunnel, a little frazzled, but mostly relieved.

  “We’ve done it!” Tavis said to Cletus, elated. “We’ve done it, brother!”

  The two Great Grays rose straight into the air and did mirror-image spiral dives in celebration. They couldn’t believe they pulled it off. They had discovered the Pure Ones’ secret plan, formulated a plan of their own to save their neighbors, and carried it out without so much as a hiccup. They were proud of all their neighbors, too. They delivered the warning relay just as the brothers had hoped they would, and many of them helped by taking turns excavating. Cletus and Tavis bumped talons triumphantly.

  As the last of the owls began to trickle out of the tunnel, Cletus and Tavis began to think about what to do next. They had to find a new home, obviously—all the owls did. Cletus reflected that it should be easy for him and Tavis. Being two grown owls, they could nest almost anywhere. But many of the Burrowing Owls from the desert had hatchlings, and that made finding safe, comfy nests all the more important. Cletus suddenly thought of something.

  “Hey, Tavis?”

  “Yes, brother?”

  “Have you seen Saul and Trixie?”

  Tavis looked at Cletus, dread growing in his eyes. “Not since a few days ago,” he answered fretfully.

  Cletus wilfed to what seemed like half his usual size. He hadn’t seen them since the day he and Tavis met Tarn. They had not come through the tunnel. Saul and Trixie and all their eggs were still back in the desert. Either the warning relay was broken, or they just did not leave their burrow fast enough.

  “Do you think…?” Cletus couldn’t bring himself to finish the question.

  The brothers stared at each other for a long moment, trying to figure out what they should do. They had saved all the other owls from certain death, but their friends were left behind. There was a chance that they could not help them at all, a chance that Saul and Trixie were already dead. Should they risk their lives just for a chance to help them?

  “I’m going back for them,” Cletus said, and without waiting another moment, ducked his head into the tunnel.

  “Not without me, you’re not!” Tavis followed.

  They didn’t dare take to the sky, even though it would have brought them to Saul and Trixie’s burrow faster. That dastardly Tarn knew them, and boldly flying into what was now the Pure Ones’ territory would attract too much attention. The Pure Ones were sure to have guards keeping watch around the perimeter. So, the two Great Grays walked through the narrow tunnel as quickly as their legs would take them, which, for owls unaccustomed to walking, was rather slow.

  They emerged in their old burrow at the end of the tunnel. Cletus peeked out carefully. It was midday and, as he expected, he didn’t see any Pure Ones in the sky above. And they clearly hadn’t breached their burrow underground. It was a short flight from here to Saul and Trixie’s burrow, so the brothers decided they would fly low to the ground. They didn’t have much of a choice; this wasn’t the time to start digging new tunnels.

  Cletus and Tavis quietly exited the burrow. As soon as they lifted off, they spotted trouble. Two Barn Owls appeared out of Tarn’s burrow and headed straight for them. As they approached, more Pure Ones emerged from other burrows.

  “Go on, Cletus! Go! I’ll cover you!” Cletus heard Tavis shout.

  He lowered his head and flapped his wings hard, driving himself toward Saul and Trixie’s burrow. He saw Tavis dive and swipe at the two Barn Owls closest to them. Luckily, Tavis’s enormous size made it an unfair fight. One after the other, the Barn Owls fell to the desert floor. Cletus didn’t see how exactly Tavis dispatched the other oncoming Pure Ones; he left his brother to deal with them, and dove for Saul and Trixie’s hollow. He spotted it easily because it was surrounded on three sides by some of the largest boulders in the desert.

  Trixie sat atop her clutch of three eggs. The first should hatch any moment now, she could tell. It was an exciting time for their little family. Saul thought he had heard a ruckus outside earlier, and wondered what was going on. But he decided he would stay in his burrow today because he didn’t want to miss the hatching of his first chick.

  “Yee!” Trixie jumped up from her nest. “I think I just felt one move!” she exclaimed.

  She and Saul leaned in to take a closer look at the eggs. They were concentrating so hard on them that they didn’t notice when a big gray face poked into their burrow.

  “Saul! Trixie! It’s me, Cletus. Y’all in there?” Cletus asked with desperation in his voice.

  The two Burrowing Owls almost jumped out of their feathers.

  “Cletus!” Saul cried out. “You almost scared us half to death!”

  “Well, half to death is better than all the way to death,” Cletus quipped nervously, relieved to find his friends alive and well.

  “What are you doing here?”

  “The Pure Ones…we had a relay…the tunnel…” Cletus couldn’t tell the story quickly enough. Finally, he just said, “No time, you all have to leave your burrow—for good. Come with me, right now!”

  “WHAT?” Trixie was bewildered. “Our eggs are going to hatch any minute now, we can’t leave!”

  Cl
etus took a deep breath. “The Pure Ones are here. They’ve been building up their forces in the desert for Glaux knows how long now. They’ve built a massive system of burrows and underground tunnels. They’re killing all the owls who live here. They’ve already killed Hiram, and Glaux knows who else. If you want to live, you have to come with me!”

  “Our eggs!” Trixie said helplessly. She had wilfed to the size of a mouse as she listened to Cletus.

  “You have to leave for your eggs!”

  The Burrowing Owl pair nodded to each other, and then to Cletus.

  “Quickly. I’ll help you with your eggs. The Pure Ones are out there. We will hold them off. You must flee as best you can. Run or fly! Head for our burrow, there’s a tunnel that will lead you to the northern edge of the desert. Once you’re in the tunnel, run and don’t look back,” Cletus instructed.

  Just then, Tavis arrived at the burrow with splatters of blood in his feathers.

  “I took care of them. I didn’t let any of ’em get back to call for reinforcements,” Tavis said proudly. “These boulders here may have saved your lives!” he added.

  It was true, Cletus realized. The boulders that surrounded Saul and Trixie’s burrow kept the Pure Ones from digging through. They were lucky. But it wasn’t going to keep them safe forever.