Eglantine was falling. Just like her brother, Soren, she was going to break all her bones in the ground and become some tasty morsel for a fox. Tears sprang to her eyes at these very thoughts.

Any second now, she thought. Any second till I die. Any second till a raccoon finds me and eats me up with teeth. Any second till … A rush of wind, and the bitterly cold winds pierced her down. She was rising, faster and faster. Mum? Da? But no, as she watched, her hollow, the tree containing her brother Kludd and dear Mrs. Plithiver, it was disappearing before her very eyes. If this owl had been her mum or da, then they would not be flying her away from home. Eglantine looked up fearfully.

Yellow eyes! Was the first thought that crossed her mind. After all her life looking at warm black eyes, the sight of this pair of cold yellow eyes was absolutely nauseating. 'What are you?' croaked Eglantine feebly. The owl snapped its beak at her.

'What am I?' the voice that crashed in her ears was harsh and angry. Eglantine watched as the owl turned its head toward another owl, barking, 'I catch an owl. She seems promising. And she asks … get this, Kaely, she asks what I am.'

The owl Kaely laughed. By the looks, this owl was a female Grass Owl. 'Bounce one of those gigantic pellets of yours off her head.' Both owls chuckled. Eglantine shivered and tried to shrink away from this owl. The laugh grated in Eglantine's ear, and with her excellent Barn Owl's ears, the sound was immense. It didn't even sound like a normal laugh! Eglantine hoped her head wouldn't explode from all this noise.

'Hush now!' Kaely suddenly snapped, and Eglantine's captor immediately shut his beak and began a slow downward spiral. Eglantine looked down and gasped. They were going down into a huge stone face, sand dancing across the surface. Eglantine squeezed her eyes shut, trying not to imagine what would happen to her.

Suddenly, she was released. Eglantine screamed, but she only plopped a few centimeters. Eglantine got back up and glared at her captor, who smirked at her. Eglantine grunted and turned to the other owlets, who were all looking as terrified as she. 'What's going on?' Eglantine asked the nearest owl.

'I don't know!' the owlet squeaked back. Eglantine was about to say something else when a bark echoed strongly around the stone walls. Eglantine and the owlet jumped and swiveled their heads to look at the speaker.

A small owl was standing on a huge boulder that towered over them all. The owlet next to Eglantine gasped, and the Barn Owl turned to look curiously at her. The owl's eyes were brimming with tears, and the expression on her face was of shock. With an anguished groan, the owlet looked at Eglantine. 'That's my sister. She…died some time ago, after she tried to fly before she was ready. We thought she'd been eaten…but it seems as if she's had the same fate as us.'

Eglantine looked softly at the owlet. 'I'm sorry.' She whispered, then added, 'What's your name? Mine's Eglantine. Barn Owl.'

'I'm Sand, and I'm an Elf Owl. That's why we're so tiny.' Sand sighed again and turned to look at her lost sister, who was now speaking in a very powerful voice that didn't fit her puny size.

'…You are orphans, and we have rescued you. You will now live here, in St. Aegoulis' Academy for Orphaned Owls. There are very strict rules here, and you will go see Copper and Stone for that.'

The crowd of owls was jostled into another crack, and Eglantine and Sand were facing two more owls. These two were Barn Owls, but Eglantine saw nothing comforting about these two.

'As already explained to you, you have a set of rules to live by…'

Eglantine listened, eyes widening with every sentence spoken. They were taught how to sleep. How to laugh. What kind of place was this, anyway? YOU CALL THIS RESCUE?! Eglantine inwardly screamed. She exchanged a long glance with Sand.

'You will now receive your pit guardian and number.' Sand and Eglantine ended up being in the same pit, which was a huge relief to the young Barn Owl. Eglantine was number '408-3', and Sand was number '301-1'. Then they were taken to yet another chamber to listen to the Ablah General of St. Aegoulis. This owl was yet another Barn Owl, a male.

When he spoke, Eglantine thought the voice was slightly softer than those she had already heard, and the owl seemed familiar. Where…where…She leaned forward and peered at the owl. He was big, and he seemed rather young. The feathers around his chest looked rather ruffled. Eglantine focused on the voice, listening but not catching any words. Like the owls before, his voice was still hard and his bark made the pebbles in the chamber rattle. It hurt Eglantine's ears, but still she listened.

Then she looked over his features carefully. Eglantine wraked her brain, trying to find out where she'd seen this owl before. Where…where…

Suddenly, a waterfall of memories crashed down on her. She remembered her first meat ceremony, listening as Soren sang the centipede song. She remembered his warm body as they pressed close together as they slept. She remembered Soren telling her all these wonderful stories.

Eglantine looked even more intensely at the Barn Owl addressing them and let out a very audible gasp. Every owl turned to her, and the Barn Owl glared. He said something, but Eglantine wasn't paying attention. The owl barked, and Eglantine cried out in surprise.

'SOREN!'