The Beaks
Pure One Citadel
4 guards dragged an unconscious guardian through the stone hallways of the citadel, leaving a trail of blood on the ground from the guardians wounds. The group soon reached a cell, well not so much a cell as a small cavern with one exit.
One guard unlocked the door, while the others threw the unconscious guardian into the cell. The guardian did not wake up, he bounced along the ground several times before coming to rest in the center of the room. "Enjoy the cell Soren!" taunted the Pure Ones, as they closed the door. The little bit of light in the room came from a hole in the wall, no more than an inch wide. Soren's eyes opened up slightly. He struggled to his feet, the injuries in his fight were now sore. Every movement stung. Soren put his wing to the wall to support himself. Soren inspected his body for wounds, only to find that he was dotted with bruises, cuts and various other injuries. "Dammit" he murmured, pain tainting his voice. Soren struggled to the hole in the wall. He looked through the one inch hole, only to see another eye looking at him. Soren jumped back in surprise. "Ah, it would appear that our *guest* had woken up." said the voice. "Enjoy your room?". "Go to Hagsmire, ya piece of crap" replied Soren. Suddenly another voice, a deeper one began talking through the hole. "Hello brother.".
Soren tried to stay calm, for he knew it was Kludd who spoke to him now. "Kludd, why did you do this?". Kludd put on an angry face, then answered. "Because here I get the respect I deserve from others.". "At what price? The whole world hates the pure ones.". Now Kludd was angry, he looked to the guards. "Open the cell, let the interrogation begin". The guards nodded and opened the stone door. Soren did not dare try escape, the one exit was blocked by guards and his brother. Kludd stepped through the doorway, without his mask. Revealing his burnt and scarred face. 4 guards followed suit, grabbing Soren's wings and legs then restraining him to the wall. Soren struggled but could not escape. Kludd strolled up to a restrained Soren. "Where is the tree of Ga'Hoole?". Soren grinned, "should have paid attention to the stories Da told us". Kludd put on an angry face. He ran his talons down Soren's torso, drawing blood. Soren groaned in pain. "Now tell me, where is Ga'Hoole?". "Never". Kludd smiled. "Bring me the tools". A guard entered the room with a tray, on the tray were knives, needles and various other torture devices. Soren went wide eyed. Oh no.
The tree of Ga'Hoole
The council was back in session. The topic? The ambush in the beaks. Ezylryb was yelling about how they must send out extra guardian's to defend the border. Strix Struma and Otulissa were emphasizing on how important it is to save Soren, "Soren knows the way to Ga'Hoole, they may interrogate him for it. And if he breaks…" Strix Struma explained. Digger piped up "Soren is strong, he will not break easily.". Otulissa did not speak at all. She merely sat, watching her loves fate be decided. The door to the council room opened and all eyes turned to an elf owl, limping in. "Gylfie" exclaimed Digger "how ya holding up?". Gylfie shrugged and said some words that turned the whole council. "Soren must be alive. He stayed behind for us to escape and I feel like Metal Beak would not just blindly kill a guardian. He is most likely interrogating or moon blinking Soren.". The whole council was silent until Strix Struma spoke up. "Metal Beak is alive!?". Digger nodded. "But he did look shorter than normal, and had different feathers.". The council looked at each other before coming to a decision. "Ezylryb, take DIgger and Twilight, and go scout the beaks for any clues.". Announced King Barran. Ezylryb nodded. "C'mon lads, we got a missing guardian to find". Digger nodded before leaving with the old owl. Otulissa stood there. She knew she couldn't go due to not being a guardian yet, but she still wanted to help.
Ezylryb led , with Twilight and Digger flanking his sides. Their armor and weapons glistened in the crimson moonlight. Twilights lute was clutched in his talons. They flew for several hours until coming to the rocky outcrop they had been stationed on. Ezylryb stood watch while the rest of the group searched for clues. The blood moon made it very easy to see anything on the ground. They saw mostly feathers and pieces of metal talons, the stench of blood flooded their noses. Digger walked along the outcrop before tripping over something. He helmet slammed against the ground with a great thud. He shook his head and looked to see what he tripped on. A blood stained helmet, lay on the ground. Digger inspected the helmet and gasped when discovering who's it was. "Soren" he whispered. A sharp scream pierced the air. All eyes turned to the citadel. "That sounded like Soren." exclaimed Digger. "We gotta help him!". "Agreed" yelled Twilight. "Lets go!" yelled Ezylryb. And the group set out for the citadel.
Citadel
Soren screamed in pain, the knives in his wings causing a great deal of blood to spill onto the floor. Kludd asked Soren once more. "You can make all this pain go away, just tell me the way to Ga'Hoole.". Soren stared down Kludd, blood flowing over his eyes. "Never". Kludd shrugged. "Very well, if I can't make you tell me, I guess I'll just have you lead us to it.". Kludd looked at a guard and nodded. The guard returned the nod and pulled a lever. A loud clanking sound was heard as the roof of the room opened up, revealing the blood moon. Kludd smiled a grin of pure evil. The mad king took the sword from one of his guards and walked up to Soren. Using the sword he traced several images into Soren. A circle around the right eye, an X on top of his heart and a sword along the center of his chest. "What are you *ah* doing?". Asked Soren. Kludd chuckled.
"I am going to turn you into the ultimate warrior. To serve me". Soren went wide eyed. "No, no,no,no,no!". He began struggling to get free, but when the sword was done being drawn he felt something hold him. Soren looked at his chest to see the marks glowing in the red moonlight. A red mist began to encircle his body. "Ah the blood moon is changing him" chuckled Kludd. His body began to vibrate, a great scream erupting from his beak. His talons began to grow, stretching the skin causing blood to be spilled. His feathers began darkening to s dark grey. I'm sorry otulissa. The marks began to cauterize. Soren's normally black and yellow eyes began turning red with black irises. Soren eventually passed out from pain, his head hanging down. "Excellent" announced Kludd. "Let's allow my sibling to enjoy his beautyrest".
He was about to leave when several figures. He turned his head to see 3 owls standing there, clad in battle gear. "Pure Ones, attack!". The guards charged out heroes. Twilight and Ezylryb charged forward, clashing with the guards.
Twilight used his lute to knock Pure Ones to the side, one of the soldiers hit the wall a sickening crack filling the air as the soldiers back cracked. Ezylryb was slashing at the tyto infantry, trying to keep them off Digger while he freed Soren. Digger fiddled with the harnesses that held Soren before finally getting him free. Soren's body fell to the ground. "C'mon man wake up". Soren's eyes shot open revealing red eyes. Digger got straight to the point. "Soren, we need to get you home. Right now.". Soren glared at Digger before saying three words."I am home.". Soren swatted Digger with his wing, sending the burrowing owl across the cell. "DIGGER!" exclaimed Twilight. Soren's red eyes glared straight through Twilight. Digger staggered up and charged Soren, attempting to restrain his friend. Soren easily grabbed his former friend before flipping him over. Twilight ran to Digger and helped his friend up. Twilight attacked Soren, hitting him over the back with his lute.
The strike sent Soren flying into a stone wall. Soren retaliated by using his scythe like talons to grab Twilights lute on the grey owls next strike. Soren tore the instrument from Twilights grip, crushing the wood in his talons. He let the hunk of wood fall to the ground. "Run!" commanded Ezylryb.
The 3 guardians recomposed themselves and made a hasty escape. They just got past the stone ceiling when the roof closed, shielding the room from the crimson light of the moon.
In the darkness Soren's eyes glowed a blood red. Kludd, with several guards walked up to Soren. He expected Soren to try and kill him, but instead the monster barn owl bowed. "My king" he declared "I apologize for allowing the targets to escape.". Kludd was taken back by his brothers behaviour but snapped out of his thoughts. "No problem" he declared "let them run. They can tell their friends of the new weapon the Pure Ones have.". Soren did not smile at the comment, but he did step out of the cell with his brother. "Now" started Kludd "let's get you suited up for battle.". And the 2 strolled down the stone halls, all the way to the armory. As they strolled they discussed ways to attack the guardians. Soren gave Kludd the exact coordinates of the tree of Ga'Hoole. "Their days are numbered now" declared Kludd, the rising sun casting his shadow across the stone floor, his mask adding an animalistic aspect to the silhouette.