The Beaks

A lone tyto flew through the cliffs and caverns of the desolate wasteland known as The Beaks. His helmet and battle claws glistened in the setting sun, the dust kicked up by the evening winds did nothing to hinder this birds movements. The bird spotted a large cavern through the dust and dived for it. He landed inside the shelter with a loud crash.

"My Lord" said the bird as he kneeled, "The guardians are preparing to send out Sorren and his team tonight to scout our territory.". The Lord turned around, revealing a metal mask covering his face. "Excellent, go prepare for battle".

The soldier nodded and left the cavern. As soon as he left, a snow white barn owl with red markings on her face flew in. "9 long months Nyra" announced Metal Beak, "9 long months of plotting and scheming may come to fruition.". Nyra nodded. "Not maybe my love, they will come to fruition". The 2 gazed upon the setting sun, waiting for the moment they would strike down and vanquish their sworn enemy.

The great tree

Soren was walking through town square with Otulissa, they were enjoying the moonlight and spending some time together before Soren had to go to the Beaks to patrol. Soren had been to every one of the owl kingdoms to patrol except the Beaks. The Beaks was the patrol route only very well trained guardians were given as assignments. Soren already had his helmet and battle talons so he had 3 hours to spend with his girlfriend.

The 2 walked into the cafeteria, where Digger was with Gylfie, gorging himself on worms. The 2 owls looked at the newcomers. "Hey guys" greeted Gylfie. "Hey Gylfie" replied Soren. Digger tried to say hi but upon attempting to he spat several worms out. "Heh, sorry". Soren and Otulissa laughed. After a minute Soren was finally able to regain composure. "So what's up with you guys?". Gylfie shrugged her wings, "nothing much, just eating breakfast.". Otulissa stopped laughing "mind if we join you?". DIgger replied. "Sure thing".

The 2 love birds sat down and began to eat. Soren enjoyed a rat, while Otulissa ate some fish. Otulissa brought up an interesting point. "Have you heard about the blood moon that's happening in a couple days". Gylfie nodded. "Yeah, it only happens once every 30 years". Replied Gylfie.

The 4 friends chatted and laughed together for several hours, enjoying eachothers company. After an hour Ezylryb strolled into the cafeteria, looking for Soren. "Ah Soren" he greeted "it is time for you to go on patrol.". Soren nodded, "Yes sir". Digger and Gylfie dawned their battle gear, their helmets glistening. "Twilight can't come". Said Ezylryb. "You 3 are on your own". Soren nodded, before turning to Otulissa.

"See you babe. Wish me luck". The two shared an embrace before Soren and his team left. Their figures slowly fading into the distance, until they completely disappeared from sight. Otulissa sighed and went about her business.

Soren

The ocean winds lifted Soren, Digger and Gylfie high into the sky, above the clouds. The helmets on their heads threw them slightly off balance but it did little to affect the speed at which they flew. Their weapons glistened in the moonlight, having the appearance of crystals. Our heroes flew in a triangle pattern. Gylfie and Digger flanking Soren. Soon the gentle waves of the sea of Hoolemere turned into the bone dry landscape of the Beaks.

The trio of guardians came to a rocky outcrop, with a perfect view of the Pure One citadel. This is where they would stop to observe the Pure Ones actions in secrecy. Soren stood watch while Gylfie and Digger rested from the long journey. The citadel was silent, almost as if it was abandoned.

The same could be said for the outcrop they rested upon. The only sounds were the breathing of our guardians and the wind blowing through the cliffs and caverns of the beaks. The silence gave Soren time to think.

Is Kludd still alive? We never found a body. If he is, why hasn't he come home yet?. These questions bounced around his head for a solid hour. After having been on patrol for 2 hours the boredom was starting to get to Soren. The boredom and silence of the beaks was shattered by a loud screech.

The trio of friends began scanning the horizon for anything, but only found emptiness and silence. Soren's eyes rested upon a white figure standing on top of the citadel, staring at them. "Nyra" murmured Soren. Almost on cue 30 Pure Ones rocketed towards the outcrop. "Pure Ones!" yelled Gylfie "12 o'clock high".

The guardians returned the charge, going headlong into the Pure Ones. Gylfie and Digger dodged and weaved their way through the Pure Ones talons, causing several soldiers to crash into each other. Soren used his battle claws to cut the wing off one soldier, causing him to plummet to the ground below.

Soren was about to claw the chest of another soldier when a great force from behind sent him crashing into the outcrop below. Soren's back met the stone like a bullet. But our hero managed to get back up onto his talons, instantly back into his battle stance. Gylfie and DIgger rushed down to him, landing to his left and right. All three guardians now stood against 10 times as many Pure Ones. Metal Beak landed in front of his force. "Hello Soren" greeted the dark voice. "I believe you remember me". Soren was dumbfounded. "I killed you!". Metal Beak laughed. "Not me but my predecessor".

Metal Beak launched himself forward, aiming to claw Soren's chest. Soren would not give him that satisfaction. Soren ducked to the side. Insted clawing Metal Beaks legs causing the masked murderer to scream in pain. Gylfie and Digger attacked the force behind Metal Beak, charging straight into the group of Pure Ones. They were doing well, killing several soldiers, but that went south when Nyra joined the battle. She clawed at Gylfie, finally managing to claw chest, and face. Nyra then hit Gylfie with her wing sending the elf owl to the ground. "Gylfie!" screamed Digger. Digger dived to Gylfie.

The Elf owl was knocked out cold, a slight trickle of blood escaping her beak, and a huge gash on her chest. Nyra was about to strike Digger when Soren came to the rescue, taking a break from his fight with Metal Beak. Soren crashed right into Nyra knockin her to the ground.

Nyra fell to the side, scrambling to get up. "Get her out of here!" screamed Soren. "NOW!" Digger nodded his head and obeyed. Digger grabbed the unconscious Gylfie by the wings and flew away as fast as possible.

The Pure Ones were prepared to give chase, but Nyra told them their only target was Soren. Metal Beak and Nyra took a step back, allowing their minions to attack Soren. Soren charged the soldiers. Fighting against 40 odd soldiers had never been an easy task for anyone, even a guardian.

For every one he downed with a slash of his talons, another one would just strike him. As the fight progressed, the number of wounds on his body increased with it.

His blood began to drip to the floor, staining the stone. Soren managed to make some space between him and the soldiers by slashing and jumping back. He was about to leave when Metal Beak knocked Soren to the ground, knocking the snow owls helmet off. Soren tried to slash at Metal Beak but his legs could not reach his assailant. Metal Beaks talon pushed on Soren's throat, cutting off his air flow. Soren slowly passed out from lack of air. "Good night brother" chuckled Metal Beak. Those were the last things Soren heard before the gentle embrace of unconsciousness grabbed hold of him.

The tree.

Parliament

The King and Queen of Ga'Hoole stood atop their perches for the parliament meeting. The topic? Soren's missing patrol in the Beaks. Otulissa was viewing the meeting as a scribe. She made sure to write down everything the council said. They had not sent the mandatory updates to the guardians, and the council feared the worst. The Pure Ones had been relatively silent for the past months, but that just made the possibility of them coming back now more likely.

Ezylryb tried to voice his opinion on the matter. "We must send out a search party for the missing guardians, they could have been captured, or worse.". The King spoke up. "I agree with Lyze. Soren knows the location of the tree, he may tell the pur-". The king was interrupted by a guardian from the guard tower bursting through the door. "Sir, 2 owls inbound. One seems to be injured.". At the mention of wounded the entire council left to check the situation. "The meeting will resume later. Otulissa ran outside to see Digger carrying Gylfie. Gylfie had a long red gash on her chest. Several guardians were yelling out orders. "Guardian down!" "get the paramedics" and "get this bird to the infirmary, NOW!". Otulissa walked up to Digger who was cradling Gylfies head. "What happened?" aske Otulissa, fearing for her boyfriend. "Ambush" was all Digger could say, Otulissa wore a face of worry. The love of her life could quite possibly be dead right now. She shook the thought and began helping Digger to get Gylfie to the infirmary. She looked up to the moon to see it was a pinkish color. Blood moon is tomorrow. Otulissa set Gylfie down in a medical nest, and left the room so that the doctors could help Gylfie. She stood outside the hollow, I hope you're safe Soren. She prayed may Glaux protect you.