Renewal
Once again, the Guardians were tasked with defending their legendary home, for their most hated enemies were upon them. A sizable force of Pure Ones, spotted by the returning navigation chaw, were flying in from the direction of Cape Glaux.
Comprised mostly of various species of Tytos, a fair number of non-Tyto owls had been recruited for the assault on Ga'Hoole as well. It was a clever tactical decision that signified the Pure Ones were far more than mindless brutes.
Great gray and great-horned owls possessed a distinct advantage in terms of size and strength.
Saw-whet, whiskered-screech, and elf, on the other hand, were small, agile, and highly maneuverable.
Spotted, short-eared, long-eared, masked, and sooty owls rounded out the militant group advancing on the Great Tree.
They'd launched their offensive in the dead of night; the full moon's pure light reflected off their helmets and battle claws like countless mercurial flashes. What they sacrificed in terms of stealth they made up for in terms of visual display and intimidation factor.
Moments after the threat was reported, the Guardians had swiftly clothed themselves in armor and equipped themselves with weapons.
All the owlets, nest maid snakes, and owls incapable of participating due to illness were crammed into the Great Hollow. In addition, its entrances had been sealed with makeshift barricades to protect the vulnerable beings within.
Having amassed in its branches and gathered in the outermost hollows, their noble comrades were prepared for the upcoming battle.
The Guardians were more bothered by the audacity of the Pure Ones; their imminent intrusion of the Hoolian owls' sacred territory was considered an act of desecration.
Soren and Pellimore, the seasoned leaders of the Guardians, along with their three adult daughters, sat together on a crown branch, their glossy black eyes trained on the fast-approaching invaders.
The queen wanted to believe she was only experiencing a daymare and her mind would soon be freed from its clutches.
The muffled sound of scores upon scores of wings churning the air, the sensation of the light wind rocking the limb she perched on, and the dazzling light show before her convinced Pelli otherwise.
Her gizzard churned, her pulse quickened, and her grip on the bough tightened.
The time has come, she told herself silently, for me to uphold the Guardian's Oath once more.
She cast a sidelong glance at her mate and children; her gizzard-borne perception revealed that they were determined to do the same.
A tingling sort of energy hung in the air, no doubt spawned by the Guardians' steadfastness and courage in the face of adversity.
The Pure Ones, undeterred by the Hoolespyrrs dancing above the Hoolemere Sea, increased their flight speed as they closed the gap between themselves and their target.
Nyra, their haggish, cruel warlord, fractured the night with her shrill attack command as their shadows fell upon the island's sandy outskirts.
The Great Tree's monarchs responded with their own piercing screeches and the entirety of the Guardians dove like a waterfall at their enemies.
The great conflict erupted in an instant, giving rise to the voluminous, disorienting clamor of countless metal-upon-metal impacts.
The Guardians, putting into practice a newly-developed strategy, fought in pairs or even in groups of three.
This novel method of combat was both offensive and defensive in nature: it facilitated the neutralization of lone Pure Ones while simultaneously protecting the members of a given team from flankers and surprise attacks.
Though the Pure Ones outnumbered the Guardians by a notable margin, the latter's battle strategy was proving to be quite effective and essentially evened out the playing field.
The king and queen, fighting alongside each other in the very core of the clash, were a testament to its tactical superiority.
Communicating silently via a suite of gestures, they synchronized their efforts flawlessly in real-time as conditions changed. Their tandem dance proved disastrous for any foe unfortunate enough to draw near or foolish enough to challenge them.
Soren, armed with a dagger and shortsword, and Pelli, armed with a scimitar, injured or outright killed any Pure Ones they encountered.
As the skirmish raged on, Nyra and her best wingmen opted to eliminate the Ga'Hoolian monarchs, certain that their demise would demoralize the Guardians and enfeeble their staunch resistance.
Then they shall all fall before me, the supreme empress of this world!
The malevolent Tyto located her marks, who were defending a corridor entrance halfway up the Great Tree's massive trunk. Nyra and her elite squad charged at the traitorous Tyto couple while their attention was on the pair of Great Grays hounding them.
The large owls retreated, coercing Soren and Pelli to give chase. Oblivious to the danger, a warning shout from a subordinate halted them in their tracks and caused them to whirl around.
Pelli raised her scimitar just in time to block Nyra's dual, clenched-foot strike. The powerful blow forced Pelli backwards, the shock reverberating throughout her hollow bones.
Her observant mate back-winged while parrying the sooty owl's sword swings to close the gap that had suddenly opened between them. The sooty owl charged into said gap, becoming a physical obstacle between the Tytos that obstructed their view of one another.
As Pelli struck out at her, Nyra clamped down on the scimitar with her battle claws, forcefully dragging Pelli even further away from Soren.
"I have divided my nemeses, and now I shall conquer them!" she cried maliciously.
Pelli stole a glance over her shoulder and panic flooded her system. The masked, elf, and long-eared owl accompanying Nyra had overwhelmed Soren.
Desperate to protect her mate, Pelli released the scimitar with a shove, wheeled about, and raced towards him.
She spread her steel-clad talons wide and barreled into the masked owl from behind, hurling him against the tree. His skull smashed into the dense bark and he dropped like a rock, knocked out by the impact.
Pelli recovered and lunged at the long-eared but only grazed his breast feathers. Nyra hammered Pelli in the upper back with the scimitar, knocking the air from her lungs.
Struggling to breathe, she spun and began wrestling with Nyra.
The elf owl harassing Soren had mysteriously vanished and his focus had shifted to the long-eared.
Wrenching her starboard foot free, Pelli kicked her adversary three times in the gut, temporarily sapping her stamina. Pelli seized the opportunity and pinned her against the bark.
Rapidly jerking her head to port, she saw Soren and the slender owl exchanging blows. Spying a russet blur whisking towards her distracted mate, she realized he had fallen into a trap.
"Soren! Behind you!"
Alas she alerted him a second too late. The female elf owl, brandishing a curved, wickedly-sharp blade in each foot, ambushed the defenseless king.
Purposefully tumbling once mid-flight to boost her angular momentum, she landed two oblique slashes to Soren's rump, which crossed above the point where his tail feathers emerged from his body.
He arched his back and released a shriek of agony that tore through the cacophony and assaulted his mate's ears.
He thrust the shortsword into the long-eared owl's belly and subsequently buried the dagger in his rival's throat. The long-eared owl, choking on the fluid clogging its airway, went limp and succumbed to gravity's pull.
In excruciating pain, Soren fluttered to the nearest hollow and collapsed.
Nyra thrashed about and ultimately broke free.
Glaring at Pelli with eyes as red as coals, she spat, "Your precious king is doomed. May he suffer to the extent I have before his descent into hagsmire!"
At last a troupe of Guardians came to the aid of their superiors. Some pursued the fleeing Nyra and elf owl while a couple others joined their queen.
"Pellimore, are you alright? What in Glaux's name happened?!" spouted the male saw-whet owl.
"I'm fine… they… Soren is…" she stammered, too distressed to speak properly.
"Soren is what? Where is he?"
She sailed into the hollow he'd entered and her allies followed. As she landed, Pelli felt her talons contact something warm and wet.
She looked down and gasped, noticing she'd stepped in a thin stream of blood.
The blood trail coursed across the hollow like a snake, guiding Pelli's eyes to its origin: her dearest mate, who lay sprawled out on the floor.
Angry red liquid leaked steadily from the intersecting wounds marring his rump. His tail feathers were completely soaked and matted by this point, their tawny color rendered invisible.
The blood running down his tail formed droplets at the ends of the feathers before plopping into the gradually-expanding pool beneath him.
Pelli's gizzard cramped at the awful sight and she staggered, almost going yeep where she stood. Luckily, the short-eared owl caught her and she came to her senses.
"Th-thank you," she said.
"If the bleeding isn't stopped he will not survive. I must go and fetch my supplies!"
The tiny saw-whet took off down the adjoining corridor.
"What do you need me to do?"
"Stay here and protect him until I send reinforcements."
"Understood!"
Pelli strode up to her incapacitated mate and bent over to stroke his nape comfortingly.
"I am sorry, my love, but I must go. I will return as soon as possible, I swear to Glaux."
Incapacitated by the searing pain, he struggled to even look at her.
"P-please… be careful… I cannot exist… without you…" he moaned.
"I will not become a victim of those disgusting Pure Ones. They shall feel my wrath and perish."
Pelli gave him a parting nuzzle and rocketed out of the hollow. She instructed two great grays to guard the king at all costs.
Converting her grief and dread into a fiery rage, she reclaimed Soren's sword from the long-eared owl's corpse. Without a shred of hesitation she entered the chaotic fray.
Fury of a degree she hadn't experienced in her life coursed through her veins, empowering her muscles and rendering her immune to the brutality of battle.
Relentless in her mission, she maimed or slaughtered every enemy owl that crossed her path without pity. She might not have been a Pure One, but her eyes were tinged with a smoldering scarlet hue.
Succeeding in hunting down the elf owl who'd injured her mate, Pelli grabbed the offending creature by her wing. Fracturing the upper wing bones with a mighty squeeze, she flung the elf owl towards the beach.
Stripped of the ability to fly, she tumbled through the air and collided with a spike of rock jutting out of the sand. Impaled through her midsection, she slowly bled out, a fitting demise given the atrocity she'd committed.
Almost as quickly as the carnage erupted, it concluded. The Guardians had lost a few dozen brave soldiers, but in exchange, eradicated the Pure Ones completely.
Pelli personally executed Nyra, ripping out her gizzard along with the rest of her abdominal organs.
Just as she'd promised, she returned to Soren's side to ease his suffering as best she could.
The Great Tree's sole infirmary could not accommodate all the wounded Guardians; the rest were transported to various chambers spacious enough for them and their caretakers.
The owls lacking knowledge of the healing arts acted as assistants to those who did, ferrying all manner of materials and instruments to whoever needed them.
The king was paid special attention; a crude-yet-functional cot was constructed to cradle him and two highly-skilled nurses volunteered to care for him.
A carefully-prepared salve was applied to the grotesque gashes, which swiftly formed a barrier to prevent leakage while the skin healed.
The residual blood on the floor was mopped up and Soren's bloodstained plumage was washed and dried to mitigate the risk of infection.
The deep slices were then covered by a soft drape of cool moss.
Despite the sparing of his life, the terrible condition he was in plagued his partner's gizzard with a sickening heaviness.
Save for his intermittent breathing, he lay so still that one might think he'd traveled to Glaumora.
Indeed, he had to, for even the slightest movement wracked his body with waves of throbbing pain.
Pelli couldn't bear to see him in such a subdued state; despite the power normally associated with her title, she couldn't help him as much as she yearned to.
At one point he quivered and briefly lapsed into unconsciousness. Pelli's gizzard twisted itself into a knot and its owner barely managed to avoid fainting.
"I'm so sorry, my love. I would gladly take your place…" she muttered when he finally came to.
"I know you would… my dear. Thankfully… I shall witness… another sunset…" he mumbled reassuringly.
"If only I was as strong-willed as you…"
Pelli attempted to nuzzle him again, but he, the Great Tree, the land, and the sky dissolved into nothingness and replaced by a featureless black void.
The queen snapped awake, the memory of the disturbing hallucination lingering in the back of her mind. She swept her third eyelids across her eyes in unison, wiping away the blurriness.
Soren slumbered peacefully beside her, his gentle warmth seeping into her skin. Their children were absent, probably sleeping in their own hollows.
Pelli need not see the sky to deduce the current phase of the daily cycle.
The sun is slipping away and the night is coming. It will most likely prove to be a rather busy one.
She nudged Soren twice, rousing him. He yawned and stretched his wings, then affixed his gaze upon her.
"Ahh… greetings, love. Is it time to wake already?"
"Yes," she replied curtly.
Soren inched closer, peering deep into her lustrous eyes and touching her belly with one talon.
"Is something wrong? I sense a strange uneasiness in your gizzard."
She sighed.
"I had an unpleasant daymare. The Pure Ones attacked our home… and you were gravely wounded. I feared that you…"
Her voice trailed off for she dared not conclude such a ghastly thought.
He enfolded her with his magnificent gold-and-ivory wings in a mollifying embrace.
"There is no need to be troubled any longer. It was just an illusion, for the Pure Ones have been vanquished forever."
He paused to draw a breath and then continued speaking.
"Most importantly, I shall not be going anywhere for many, many moons."
Lifting his starboard wing, he caressed the rim of her facial disk with his flight feathers. He then treated her to a kiss as sweet as ripe milkberries.
The queen lifted her port leg and the king lifted his starboard leg. Aligning their opposing feet, the Tyto couple interlocked their lethal talons in a comparatively affectionate gesture symbolizing their unbreakable bond.
Reveling in the peaceful moment, the monarchs blissfully closed their eyes.
"Glaux has blessed me with a most wonderful mate…" the queen whispered ardently.
Her mate gave a lighthearted churr.
"And Glaux has blessed me with a most beautiful companion."
Pelli couldn't resist blushing at his flattery.
"He has great plans for us yet, as there is still so much we must do in this world."
At last Pelli opened her eyes, motivating Soren to do the same.
"Then perhaps…" she began, releasing his talons, "we should get started. After you, my love."
"Your wish is my command…"
With that, the Tytos cast themselves into the young night. The final fleeting rays of the sun dappled their plumage with a myriad of pastel colors.
The playful seaborne breeze held them aloft, making them feel as light as puffy clouds in the throes of the time of the Golden Rain.
This is a young and glorious night indeed, they mused to themselves. How amazing it is to be alive… to be in love… and be a Guardian of Ga'Hoole!