Hey readers! As you all know Allomere gets double crossed by Metalbeak. I was a bit sad when he got dragged away and disappears with the appearance of death. Great grey owls are awesome and for that reason I wrote a different ending to Allomere's existence in the movie, one in which he survives. Have fun reading!

The story of Strix Nebulosa

"You should know Allomere! There is only room for one king!"

The voice echoes through his head ending up in a long screech. The great grey owl opens his eyes to see where he was. It is dark and unfamiliar. After the feeling of bats clinging on to his wings and head, dragging him across the rocky floor, all is blanc. Then out of the blue, he could clearly hear two metal surfaces colliding, and again, and again. Dazzled by the force of his capturers, he had briefly forgotten the situation.

´What is this, where am I.'

Again the tones of combat, crying through the air. His memory was slowly coming back. How he betrayed the guardians of Ga'Hoole, the metal flecks, Metal Beak betraying him. Yes! That's why he is here, he has been set up! Metal scraping over stone rumbled through the entire mountain.

"Your flecks seem have failed you, Metalbeak" he laughs scornful.

Allomere turns his head around to pinpoint the exact location of the sound. Great grey owls, like himself, have their heads shaped in a cone so they can determine the location of a sound with extreme precision. This helps them hunting prey, but also allows them to spot danger relatively quickly. The noise of the ferocious battle appears to come from above him. While looking up, he spots a wooden hatch through which he was probably brought here. The owl stretches his wings, but finds his whereabouts to be constraining him in doing so. With his wingtips he senses the edges of his prison and concludes that he cannot reach the hatch by flight. Then his feathers meet another piece of wood, a barricaded door.

"Interesting" he lets out, after some of it crumbles as he scratched the door with his claw.

The cunning elder then pushes different parts of the door and nods as it confirms his suspicions. He places his sharp talon in the middle after which he starts to scrape of wood in a square formation around this spot.

"Nóóóóóóó!"

Allomere freezes and listens carefully to this new, yet familiar sounding voice. A silence followed and the old flyer holds his breath. Is it over? But then again the sounds of combat. He sighs and continues his odd scratching pattern for a few minutes until he judged the result satisfactory for a first try. He leans back them throws himself against the obstacle, which creaked in reply to this abuse. Then again he notices an uncomfortable silence, but this time a female voice evidently showed that the battle was now at an end.

"Pure ones! Fall back, to me!"

Allomere realizes he needs to hurry, if the guardians find him, they would surely make him pay for his treachery. He starts leaning against the door with his full weight. Sadly, great grey owls have in fact small bodies, but their light feathers are bulky, thus he has not a lot of weight to use. He tries the bash the door in by leaning back and throwing himself against the door. The crunching of the wood intensifies with each hit.

'Just one more hit and…'

*Crrraaaack*

The support beam that was one the other side punctured the door. The clever bird's scratching pattern had weakened the spot against which it had been leaning, making it unable to withstand the blow. Victory cries descend from the room above him, Metalbeak was no more and the battle was over! The fugitive, however, has no time for celebration.

'Time to go. '

He clambers through the opening which was on the tight side, but wide enough for him to pass through. Upon reaching the corridor that leads to the surface, he rushes up, but then almost slips. The iron grip of his talons is once again his saving grace. The grey one continues, slower this time, but not relaxed, as he knows it is only a matter before the owls of the tree find him. The moon shines its light on the face of the escapee as he pops his head above ground. The friendly brilliance of the nightly sun is returned with a smile of the animal who thought never to see it again.

"Well, well, if it isn't our trusty search and rescue captain."

Allomere tries to turn his head to identify the speaker, but before he could see a face, talons seize his wings and force him on the rocky floor. He feels the pressure of the cold steel, pushed into his feathers.

"We hoped to meet you in battle, friend. We should've known that you would cower in some hole and sit out the battle."

"I did not…"

"Silence! Traitor!" another voice screeched in his ear.

"Perhaps we didn't get a chance in the field, but that doesn't mean we won't kill you right now."

"Stop!" an old whiskered screech owl appears before him.

"But Ezylryb…" the voice tries to reply.

"Enough! We will bring him to the king."

The pressure disappears and the captive manages to get up. A burning pain in his cheek occured as he got smacked in the face by the small nocturnal bird. That guy has more power than he ever gave him credit for.

"What were you hoping to gain, hm? Power? Glory? Whatever it was, you can kiss it all goodbye."

The old flyer stood in front of him and stares with disbelief at the great grey owl who used to be his ally.

"You are not killing me?" Allomere asked surprised.

"Who said we won't kill you? I only said we're not doing it now. Bring him along."

The two owls pushed their prisoner the entire way to the point where they were told to wait for the royalty to arrive. Some guardians came to see what would become of the turncoat, others don't even turn their heads to him. Meanwhile Allomere impatiently taps the floor with one of his talons. What could he say to plead for him? He had betrayed their trust and led them into a trap. No, there is nothing he could do other than wait for the judgement and embrace it with dignity. He isn't the kind of bird that will beg for his life. He stops tapping as the snowy owl appears and the crowd mutes.

"As eager as everyone is to sentence you right away, I first want to know why?"

"Why betray you?"

"Why did you join the pure ones?"

"Join them? I never joined them, I negotiated with them to get what is rightfully mine! I worked hard and have given my life for the guardians when I was young, all in the hope of someday becoming a general! Leading armies into combat has always been my ambition, you knew that. But instead you gave me the search and rescue chaw! My disappointment at the time turned to hate, enough hate to bargain with Metalbeak to get my position as commander of the regiments."

"Then why didn't you ask me back then? If you had…"

"Don't be absurd!"

His sarcastic remark cost him dearly as he feels a grip on the back of his head, forcing his beak on the floor.

"You dare interrupt the king?" one of the guards sneers.

"I'm sorry… don't be absurd your majesty." he replies provokingly.

The guard braces to hit him with his other talon, but Boron stops him and gestures to release the owl of its cramped position. The scoutleader is given room to get up and he turns again to the royal, ignoring the deadly glare of his tormentor.

"Suppose I had asked you at the time, would I really have gotten the position? Or would I have been labelled as ungrateful and be cast aside? I had no choice but to accept! You drove me to treason, because you were the one that betrayed me in the first place."

Again the guard owl tends to hit the defendant, but the disapproving glance of Ezylryb stops him.

"Allomere, you have disappointed not only me and everyone in the tree, you have led us purposely into a life-threatening situation. This is a crime I can and will not tolerate. Still, you have been a worthy head of the rescue chaw for a long time. Your trainees are delivering excellent work. However, I shall not forgive you for what you have done."

"I do not ask for forgiveness." Allomere replies without a sign of remorse.

"Very well, but I will not sentence you to die. You will be banished from the tree and its surrounding lands forever..."

The old grey owl smiles depreciatingly. It strikes him as ridiculous that they believe to be punishing him with banishment. He intended to leave his miserable existence at the great tree, no matter what the verdict. Only execution, but then too he would be gone, in a way.

"… but if we find you on our lands after tonight, you will still be put death!"

Boron flies up and the rest of the hostile crowd that had formed around them follows. The guard gives him a last smack against the back of the head and leaves as well. Being left alone on the ground Allomere stares at the departing flock of guardians. He rubs his neck, which is painful from the grip of the iron battle claw and now the blow. He stretches his wings and shakes his feathers before taking off into the opposite direction. He is glad to be able to leave everything behind. Then his keen eyesight spots movement at Metalbeak's corpse.

'It's the tyto that stood next to him when he got taken by the bats! Soren's brother! What was his name…'

He curses himself for being old. Allomere glances back at the guardians fading in the distance, contemplating whether or not to tell them. Then he turns his head forward again, flaps his wings and relinquishes his past life.

The end.

There Allomere heads off, to pastures new. He survived and the great grey owl flies away in a graceful manner. I hope you liked my short story. Please share your opinion in the review!