(In this fan fiction, Coryn never died.)

"What?" Soren asked, demanding that Coryn repeat what he had just told the Band.

"There is another race of owls, somewhat like the blue owls that we have encountered before," Coryn sighed, he perched himself on what he considered a comfy spot in his hollow. He had enough patience to answer the Band's questions. The barn owl slowly looked at all of them, most of them had their beaks wide open with shock.

"H-How can that be?" Digger, the burrowing owl who usually tried keeping the peace, asked in disbelief, "How do you know?"

Coryn's gaze fell upon Digger, a knowing look in his eyes, "Otulissa told me. She had met a blue owl on…" he hesitated for a moment, about to reveal something that none of them would expect, "…her journey to learn more about them - which occurred a couple nights ago. He had told her about them, the other species of owl lives deeper within the Middle Kingdom."

"What exactly did the owl tell her?" Gylfie, the elf owl and the only calm one at the moment, asked, her gaze was clouded with slight confusion as she assessed the situation.

"That the other species can…" Coryn trailed off, unable to continue. Silence filled the hollow, and finally someone spoke.

"JUST TELL US ALREADY! THE SUSPENSE IS HORRIBLE!" Twilight bellowed, every owl in the hollow, except for Coryn, looked at him in surprise.

"Like I was saying," Coryn began again, his gaze shifted to the entrance of the hollow when a female spotted owl fluttered in.

"Did you tell them yet?" Otulissa asked, her eyes flickered across the owls in the king's hollow who looked at her with a questioning look, she let out a rather loud sigh, "I guess not."

"Continue," Twilight urged Coryn, unable to keep in the excitement of a new species of owls.

Coryn simply nodded and took a deep breath and began once more, "They're like hagsfiends and the blue owls in a way, they can change their appearance, do natchmagen, or so Otulissa told me, and -" he hesitated once more and Twilight gave him an impatient look and he finally managed to say, "- manipulate fire and water."

Eglantine, who had asked to come along, gasped in shock. Soren cast a glance at his sister who gave a slightly sheepish grin and motioned for their nephew to continue.

"They're completely harmless," Otulissa insisted, before she said in a voice that was barely above a whisper: "Not that I've met them…"

"Wait - you don't know if they're harmless?" it was now Coryn's turn to be surprised.

Otulissa seemed to shrink at the king's outrage, "..No."

"May I suggest something?" Digger suggested, all of their gazes traveled to the small owl, "How about we go on… how shall I say this? A quest to find out if these new species of owls are good or bad?"

"I'm in," Eglantine piped up, "I'd love to meet these new owls!"

"I'm in too," Twilight agreed, the great grey ruffled up his feathers, "I'll take on any challenge that you throw at me!"

"Although I don't like this suggestion at all…" Otulissa pointed out in a matter-of-fact tone of voice, "But I'd want to go too."

Soren and Coryn looked at each other and they both knew what they were going to do, Soren nodded and Coryn cleared his throat and announced, "It has been decided by everyone that we shall go meet this new species of owls!"

A chorus of cheers erupted from the Chaw of Chaws and Twilight flew out of the hollow and began one of his chants again, but this time the Band was too excited to really hear what he was singing about.

If Twilight hadn't been so caught up in his chants, or if any of the other owls looked outside of the hollow, they'd see a barn owl, whose name the hatchlings dreaded whenever a story was told about her.

Her eyes darkened with the realization of a new species of owl, ones who would help her take over the Great Tree, and their inhabitants, and perhaps the entire world.

She'd get her son back, and force him to join the Pure Ones and rule it along with her - even if it was the last thing that she did.

She spread open her wings and took off into the night, an evil, vicious, and cruel plan forming inside of her mind.