I'm back, and with an all-new story now! This is the sequel to Echoes of the Past, so you may want to read that first. Just so that there's no complications to the number of chapters, this chapter has both the Prologue and Chapter 1. The song that Blythe sing at the Harvest Festival is called 'Still the Song Lives On'. And so, on with the chapter!

Disclaimer: I don't own the Guardians of Ga'Hoole.

Prologue

In a dark cave, deep in the Northern Kingdoms, Raegan sat, plotting revenge on Bell. She paced back and forth.

"Ma'am!" Harmony called as she flew in. "We've just raided the Glauxian Brothers retreat. Those peace-loving monks didn't stand a chance against us, but all they had were a bunch of stupid books.

"Well," Raegan demanded. "Did you bring anything back?"

"Yes, ma'am." Neila said as she flew in with a botkin full of books. She began flipping through them. "Let's see… We've got all the books they had on hagsfiends. Oh, here's one!" She held up a dusty old book.

Raegan rolled her eyes. "Oh, please, Neila. You know I can't read! What does it say?"

"The Book of Kreeth." Neila read.

"What could we possibly learn from this?" Raegan demanded.

"Well, Kreeth was a hagsfiend from the time of the Legends, and she wrote down all her experiments in this book," Neila explained. "And one of those experiments is how to transform a normal owl, such as ourselves, into a hagsfiend!"

"Interesting…" Raegan scratched her chin. "Perhaps this book will be a help to us after all."

Chapter 1

"Bell…" Someone whispered into Bell's ear slit. "Bell, are you awake?"

Bell opened one eye. She saw Shard's face very close to her's. She sat up. Shard was hopped off of her. He bounced off the wall and skidded along the floor.

Bell churred. "Shard!" she scolded. "There's no ice here, remember?"

Shard had lived in the Northern Kingdoms with his family, which consists of Nyra's relatives. They'd seemed nice at first, then tried to poison Bell. Shard had realized that these owls were evil, so he came to live with Bell at the Great Ga'Hoole Tree.

"Sorry!" he churred. "It takes a while for me to adjust."

"'A while?'" Bell repeated. "You've been here for six moon cycles now!"

Shard smiled. "Point being?"

Bell shrugged him off. "Anyway, why are we up so early?"

"Well," Shard explained. "It was your sisters' ideas, and they said that we should decorate for the Harvest Festival. You know, to get in the mood."

Bell grinned. "That's a brilliant idea!" she exclaimed.

Bash and Blythe, Bell's triplet sisters, flew with some milkberry vines. "Let's get decorating!" Blythe cried. They all flew around the hollow, hanging decorations and vines.

When Soren and Pelli awoke, they were amazed.

"Happy Harvest Festival!" Shard and the three B's cried.

"You did all this for us?" Pelli asked, looking around at the fully decorated hollow. "It must have taken forever!"

"We've been up all afternoon," Bash explained.

"What?" Soren exclaimed. "You'll be exhausted by the time you have to sing!"

"It's ok," Blythe shrugged. "We're not tired."

"It was very sweet of you to decorate the hollow, but you didn't have to wake up in the middle of the day!" Pelli replied. "Well, what's done is done, and there's nothing you can do about that." She turned and smiled at them all. "Come on," she said. "Now it's time for tweener."

By midnight, the Harvest Festival was in full swing. Everyone was dancing, except for Shard and the three B's.

Bell walked over to Shard. "Would you like to dance?"

Shard looked nervously at his talons. "Uh… I don't dance."

"Oh, why not?" Bell asked, looking downcast.

"I never learned how to dance," Shard replied

"It's ok," Bell lifted his chin. "I'll teach you."

Fifteen minutes later, Bell and Shard were dancing. It was almost time for Blythe's solo, and she was scanning the crowd for her sisters. Her eyes then fell on Bell and Shard. She flew over to them and grabbed Bell. Blythe pulled her over to a perch on the wall.

"Oh, my Glaux!" Blythe cried. "I'm freaking out! I'm so afraid that I'll mess up the song, of hit the wrong note, or yawn in the middle of a phrase, or-"

"There's nothing to worry about, Blythe," Bell comforted. "You're an amazing singer and you've been practicing this song for ever. You'll be fine."

Blythe smiled at Bell. "Thanks. You always know just what to say."

"Hold on to that thought." Bell churred. "You should've seen me when I was at Vienna's lair. I forgot my own name when I first met Shard!"

They both churred heartily.

Just then, a Boreal Owl flew up to Blythe.

"It's time for your solo!" he said.

"Good luck!" Bell cried as she flew back over to Shard.

"What was all that about?" he asked.

"Oh, I was just reassuring my sister. She's gonna sing a solo."

Then, the song that had been playing ended, and Blythe took her place. The Great Grass harp began to play, and then Blythe began to sing.

I take a lifetime,

Turn it into song

To hold it captive

Deep within my chest.

And I call it to me

Whenever I can't see your face

For the words recall

What time can't erase.

And I remember

All the joy and laughter

All the times of gladness

From a life now gone.

And the sweet, sweet music

So pure that I forget to breathe

Though the singer's gone,

Still the song lives on.

I take a life time,

Toss it in the wind.

To watch the sorrows

Falling to the ground.

But the times of gladness

Float above the trees so high

To become as many songs as

There are stars in the sky.

And I remember

All the joy and laughter

All the times of gladness

From a life now gone

And the sweet, sweet music

So pure that I forget to breathe,

Though the singer's gone,

Still the song lives on.

Though the singer's gone,

Still the song lives on.

When the song was over, everyone cheered. "Blythe song beautifully!" Shard exclaimed. When Bell looked at him, he had tears in his eyes.

"I knew she could do it," Bell replied. Tears were stinging her eyes, too.

Blythe flew down and landed next to Bell and Shard.

"Blythe, you sang beautifully!" Shard repeated.

"I know!" Blythe replied, a huge smile on her face. "Everyone's been telling me. I was so sure that I would mess up, but I didn't!"

Pelli flew down and wrapped her wings around Blythe. "It's hard to believe that the owl who just sang was my little hatchling!" She said with tears steaming from her eyes.

"Mum!" Blythe scolded. "I'm not an owlet anymore!

Pelli let go of her daughter and wiped the tears from her eyes. "I'm sorry, dear." She turned to Soren. "They grow up so fast. Seems like just last night they were hatchlings, wishing for their flight feathers to come in, and now, well, they're old enough to find a family of their own." She swiveled her head to look at Bell and Shard, watching them dancing and having a great time. "It's pretty clear that Bell and Shard sjare something special," Pelli told her mate. "Look at the way they look at each other. You'd have to be blind not to see that what they've found is true love." She then noticed Mrs. P slithering past. "Oh, sorry about the 'blind' comment," Pelli nervously churred.

Mrs P. shrugged her off. "It's alright, dear."

Pelli scanned the crowd for her other two daughters. Blythe was being interviewed by Fritha, the main journalist for The Evening Hoot, and Bash was dancing with Tobyfyor, Fiona's son.

Soren noticed Pelli's worried expression. "What's wrong?

"Oh, I'm just worried that Blythe and Bash won't be able to find a mate," Pelli replied, staring at her other two daughters.

"They'll be fine," Soren said reassuringly. "Come on."

Just as they were about to fly off, a Snowy Owl flew up to them. He was extremely out of breath.

"Urgent news, sir," he panted to Soren. "I just got back from the Glauxian Brothers retreat, and it's been robbed!"

Soren and Pelli both gasped at the same time. "What - what was stolen?" Pelli nervously asked.

"The thieves took every book on hagsfiends, and one of the Brothers told me that they were talking about the ember, but luckily, all the books on it are in a private area that they did not find."

"Oh, thank Glaux," Pelli sighed. "That would be terrible!"

"Wait!" The Snowy interrupted. "They gave me a description; said that there were three large Barn Owls with moon-like faces."

Soren and Pelli exchanged glances. They'd been wondering how long it'd be before Nyra's relatives popped back up.

The Snowy ignored their glances and continued, "Also, they managed to get a hold of the Book of Kreeth."

"What?" Soren screeched. "Why didn't you tell us that first?"

The Snowy opened his beak, but Soren interrupted, "Oh, forget it. I should thank you for bringing this information. We wouldn't ever have known if it weren't for you."

"Oh, no thanks needed, Your Highness," The Snowy replied. "It's a pleasure to serve." With that, he turned and flew off.

Pelli nervously glanced at Soren. "What should we do now, Soren?"

"Well, we must tell the Parliament." Soren stated.

"I know." Pelli sighed. "But what do we say? Hi, everyone. We just found out that Nyra' s relatives have the Book of Kreeth?"

Soren blinked at his mate. "What else?"

Pelli shrugged, so Soren agreed. "Then it's settled. We'll have an emergency Parliament meeting immediately."

Pelli flew up to the announcer's perch and whispered the request into his ear slit. When the song was over, the announcer boomed, "I've just got word that an emergency Parliament meeting is being held. Right now!"

"You hear that?" Bell whispered in Shard's ear slit. "There's a Parliament meeting going on! Wanna listen in?"

Shard grinned at Bell, but all of the sudden, his smile vanished. "Wait, don't you have to be a member of the Parliament to go to those meetings?"

"Yeah…" Bell said slyly. "But I know a way that we can hear them without them hearing us."

Shard's smile returned. "I'm listening."

"It's called The Roots. My Da and all his friends always used to listen in to Parliament meetings, and I found that you'll learn a lot just from listening."

"Ok!" Shard agreed

Bell led him down to the area know as The Roots. They began listening: "Recently, we've been alerted that the Glauxian Brothers retreat has been robbed. The thieves stole every book that mentioned the word 'hagsfiends' and were able to get a copy of 'the Book of Kreeth'. They were all described as large moon-faced owls." Soren said.

Shard beaked the words, "My family."

"I believe that these are the same owls who captured my daughter, Bell, earlier in the year. We know that they're capable of murder, as they tried to poison Bell. Because they are related to Nyra, they may have some hagsfiend blood, so they might be able to use the Book of Kreeth. I suggest that we send out a search party to find their new hideout. My mate, Pelli, will lead the search-and-rescue chaw to the Northern Kingdoms. They shall leave at once."

When Soren was finished his speech, Bell and Shard left The Roots. Once they were out, they saw Pelli over on a branch. Bell flew down and landed beside her.

"Hi, mum!" Bell chirped. "why are you out here?"

"Well, the search-and-rescue chaw is going on a mission." Pelli explained.

"Cool," Bell smiled slyly. "Can I come?"

"No!" Pelli cried. She realized that she'd practically screamed the word, so she quieted down. "No. It's too dangerous. I don't want to lose you again."

Bell sighed. "All right. I'll just stay here. Good luck on your mission." She flew up the where Shard was sitting.

Shard held up one talon. "Lemme guess. You're going to stow away on the mission?"

"Exactly!" Bell nodded. "But I'll need you to cover for me. Say I'm… sick, or something. I dunno."

"Ok." Shard sighed. "Don't get killed!"

Bell rolled her eyes. "Like I would?"

So, there's Chapter 1. Please leave a comment, and Chapter 2 will be up soon.