Chapter four: A new home
Flying silently above the Forest Kingdom of Tyto, Eve could feel the frosty wind curling around the tips of her flight feathers as she glided effortlessly through the midnight sky; inhaling the fresh air she breathed it out slowly creating soft smoke that faded into the frigid air. The air was bitterly cold yet energizing, she felt free as any fully fledged owl. Feeling calm her gaze leisurely moved smoothly across the immense canopy of fir trees, they seemed endless to her as they faded off into the mist. She never realised how remarkable it felt to be able to soar through the sky. Mist rose up from the darkness blurring out the waning gibbous moon and stars. Looking across her wing she saw no down. Her flight almost seemed to move in an automatic fashion as she didn't have to think about it.
"I- I Am flying!" exclaimed Eve excited as she peered down into the darkness below, looking at the vegetation through the canopy of trees. With her acute hearing she could make out various noises being made under the vegetation below.
Suddenly the moon began to slowly turn a deep blood red, small droplets of blood appeared on its surface. Horrified, Eves gaze slowly looked towards the moon as if she hesitated to look at first; blinking a few times she saw blood pouring down the moon, dipping off its rim as the droplets fell through the sky and disappearing into the darkness of the forest. Suddenly she heard an ominous screech that filled her head, echoing it surrounded her, her ears could not locate the sound. She suddenly snapped her head towards the moon in fear as she thought the moon was making the noise. Squinting she suddenly saw an almost completely white barn owl with feathers in tatters come forth out from the gory blood red moon. He had the eyes of a blood thirsty killer. Eve's thoughts took a confusing spin inside her head as she could have sworn she had seen this owl before. Everything was unreal, her body began to shake with fear that she could not control, the same fear she felt when she saw Arxcis killed her brother. Watching the owl come closer to her with his legs out stretched in front of her, with his talons spread out encased in gleaming metal claws that where drenched in blood that shone in the red glow of the moon. Seeing that same murderous glint in his eyes Eve instantly knew it was Arxcis, there was no other owl like him, and he was pure evil. Her eyes grew wide as she instantly began to panic, she desperately felt the need to fly away as fast as she could, but she felt her body lose its weight and her wings fixed in their places.
"There you are, you cannot fly away from me forever you belong to us," sinisterly said Arxcis as he reached out for Eve.
"No, no, go away!" screeched Eve as she frantically tried to fly away but she was going nowhere, time around her seemed to have stood still, and it was as if the air itself had a grip of her.
Before Eve could go yeep she began to feel very warm, a strange warm heat began to make its way through her feathers, warmer than her cuddling up to Zava; this heat was as warm as when she roosted outside the hollow in the sun. The heat began to wrap all around her, it made her feel safe as Arxcis began to disperse like sand in the wind.
"Is he a scroom?" softly asked Eve in bewilderment as she blinked a few times, clearing the dirt from her eyes with her third eyelid she felt herself became calm but also speechless from what she was seeing unfold before her.
As Arxcis's battle claws where just about to dig and tear into Eves flesh his whole body turned into sand that rained down on her as it was blown and tossed away in the wind. She began to feel her wings grow heavy as she started to plummet, falling out of the sky the forest became bigger and vaster as she fell, tumbling through the air. Feeling her panic picked up again.
"Ah, what is going on?" screeched Eve in fear as she desperately tried to get a grip of the air with her wings but it was if there was none. It was almost as if she were just an owlet again.
Eve splashed into the canopy of trees as they turned to water, sinking through the water the forest around her began to slowly fade to black. This water was strange, she could see bubbles and the off tint of blue but she could breathe. She remembered seeing a large body of water from her hollow, her parents would often say that large bodies of water like that where dangerous to an owl such as herself because of the oils in the feathers. She thought that she should have hit the floor by now but she kept trying to cling onto the image in her mind, but the details began to wash out as they blurred into a single colour, black. Then a striking noise of something heavy hitting metal every second became louder and louder as if it was fast approaching, echoing in her mind, with each hit she shook and the feeling of sinking faded. As the noise rang in Eves ear slits the image of the forest slipped from her mind as her gizzard twisted with dread. Jolting her eyelids open the first thing she saw was grey stone glowing ambient orange in front of her. She cocked her head to the side in awe. What a strange colour. Where was she?
"A dream?" said Eve questioning herself as she started to breathe heavily. "That noise," added Eve whispering in wonder as she began to bob her head about. "Where am I?" added Eve whispering again as she began to slowly look around as if she was scared to move. Did Arxcis and Tytoden take her away? Did they kill Ignite to take her while she fell unconscious?
She looked down and noticed she was sitting in a poorly constructed twig nest covered in caramel down which was very different from before. The down wasn't as soft as back at home, it had a slight wire feel to it and the twigs where different too. She remembered her parents saying to her one time that it was very rare for owls to make nests and that they would often make nests out of those already made from other birds. Looking up Eve felt a little braver as she slowly spun her head all the way around scanning the walls carefully, it was the same colour all around her, light grey, stony walls with patches of charcoal coloured soot that had layered over time on the small cropping's and ledges in the stone. The walls where made up of lots of stones put together to make a dome. Directly above here small roots grew through the stone and hung down.
"Wa, w-where am I?" stuttered Eve daring not to utter a word at first just encase Arxcis was nearby. Taking another look around the wall she whispered, "This is funny lookin'," something which Eve and her brothers would say often, first said by Avia.
Eve felt like she was safe, at least she was away from her horrid dream, she had never had a dream like that, and it was so very surreal. This place was very strange and new to her. She had never seen anything like it. Turning her head to the direction of the hammering she saw a small entrance about the same size as her coated in soot, light and heat steadily flowed from it. A large flat stone acted as a wall separated the two compartments next to the entrance; the compartment she was in was very small, just big enough for Eves nest. The second compartment was much larger and it was there the hammering had echoed from.
"Is this also part of the dream?" Eve asked herself as she slowly picked herself up from the nest.
Taking everything slowly Eve began to gawk at the entrance, thinking weather or not she should move from her place; standing on shaky legs she gradually approached the entrance. Bracing herself of what she might see around the corner. She cleaned her eyes with her third eyelid and slowly poked her head around the corner with wide eyes that watered slightly from sensitivity to the bright light. The first thing she felt was scorching heat and light that shone brightly onto her face, lighting her facial disc. She saw a huge black and brown owl who stood before a glowing flat tray of coals with a shovel at the side, he was engulfed in the light and heat in which began to dry Eves eyes out. Looking close at the owl she saw two strange feathers on his head that moved about each time he struck a glowing sheet of metal over an anvil with his flat face hammer in one foot and in the other he held flat jawed tongs that he used to keep the sheet of metal in place. The anvil was placed on an old tree stump that had been smoothed down on the top to fit the anvil on a flat surface.
A flashback hit her like lighting when the images began to fade into her mind. Images of seeing a large owl sitting in glare of the sun on a branch opposite from her family's hollow. The light burned into her dark eyes. She remembered how odd he looked, it was the first time she had ever seen an eagle owl or any owl other than a tyto. Then another memory of her laying on the floor crept in, fading into her mind, feeling the gritty dirt in her feathers of her facial disc she turned her head to see Ignite standing in the hollows entrance and Altair beside her with Zava dead in the corner.
This owl was the same owl who saved her from Arxcis and Tytoden, she remembered him carrying her across The Forest Kingdom of Tyto then across a strange blue plain that looked like what she saw in her dream, it made a strange noise, the noise of bad feather and choppy ocean. Ignite had travelled all night across the vast unknown, south from the Forest Kingdom of Tyto in the pouring rain and blustering winds that lashed at the ocean. Arxcis and Tytoden did not dare to cross the vast ocean as from the edge of the Forest Kingdom of Tyto no owl knew what was across the water. Most said an endless ocean and nothing more. Arxcis and Tytoden expected that Eve and Ignite where going to die attempting to cross the ocean.
Eve squinted one of her eyes, the dry heat scorching her eyes became too much. She turned away back into her small section of the cave, the heat lifted off her feathers as it became cooler. On her part of the cave there where small gaps between the stones, cold air would seep in. She could breathe normally again, she began to question herself how that owl could ever withstand the heat, she had never felt anything like it.
"Ignite!" cried out Eve from behind the wall trying to grab his attention without stepping out into the heat. The heat was too much for her.
"Ah! Eve! You're awake!" joyfully said Ignite leaving the glowing sheet of metal and tongs on the anvil he walked over, turning to Eve he hung his hammer up on a metal hook behind him on the wall that divided the two sections. He could only see the side of Eve as she tucked herself on the inside wall. "You know you've been asleep all last night and all day," continued Ignite trying to peer in a little.
"Really?" wondered Eve in wonder.
Ignite then walked back over and picked his tongs up then swapped them over to his other foot to pick up the now straightened sheet of metal, he turned it over a bit to have a look at the job he had done before bringing it across the anvil and completely submerging it into a metal bucket of water on the left of his anvil.
"Yes, it was tough, nasty weather out north from here. The worst night I could have brought you back," said Ignite, his voice was than engulfed by a loud sizzle was let out as the hot metal caused the water to bubble ferociously.
"Those owls wouldn't dare to cross the Zephyr Ocean in that weather, not with the condition of their feathers where in anyway. I don't think they have ever preened themselves," said Ignite in a louder tone of voice to talk over the dying sizzling from the water as the metal cooled down.
Eve did not listen as she instantly wilfed from the loud noise, pressing her body against the flat stony wall trying to make herself as slim as possible, the wall was much cooler then she thought and it made her relax.
"So I battled against the weather to bring you here, it was hard but I knew it had to be done, the wind currents almost took me in at one point," continued Ignite, talking about his journey back as he pulled the sheet of metal back out of the water and placed it on top of the bucket and placed his tongs on top of the metal sheet.
"What was that noise?" anxiously questioned Eve with her eyes closed. She had no idea what Ignite was doing and all the heat, light and noises scared her. She wasn't even sure what he was talking about. Battling the weather? Wind currents? She couldn't see how you could fight weather or knew what a wind current was.
Ignite sighed as he began to think it was a bad idea to bring Eve into his forge, he had tried to protect her from it all by placing her in a small section of the cave. But it was either here or out in the misty freezing cold. Ignite then walked over to the entrance of the small cave and poked his head in, twisting it to the side he looked at Eve. His face was covered in soot, just his orange eyes beamed from his face. Eve slowly opened her eyes and gazed at him as her feathers slowly puffed back out into her usual shape, gently taking herself away from the surprisingly cool stone wall she didn't take her eyes of Ignite. Her eyes fixed onto the dirt on Ignites face.
"W-w-what is it?" laughed Ignite amused at how shocked Eve looked; she was so still, her dark unblinking eyes stared right at him.
Eve was still amazed by the sight of Ignite, he was huge, and his eyes and ear tuffs look funny to Eve.
"You look funny," giggled Eve, wiggling about as she usually did when she was excited, laughing at the soot on Ignites face.
"Oh, what, this?" questioned Ignite lifting a foot, pointing a talon to his face. Eve gave an exaggerated nod, shaking her whole head.
Ignite thought it would be a funny idea to copy Eve and rapidly shook his whole head completely from left to right till it became a blur. Black soot from his feathers flew in all directions creating a thick haze, through the haze Eve giggled since she couldn't see Ignites face through the soot. The soot quickly settled on everything, even on the small ledges of stone within the cave and on Eve's white feathers turning them charcoal in colour. Eve titled her head, gazing in wonder at Ignites fuzzy head, his feathers where all ruffled up. The true colours of his brown and black plumage could be seen for once. Eve then broke into giggling again as she wiggled her tail feathers about. Ignite noticed this was a habit of hers whenever she got excited; it was odd because he knew another owl that did the same thing but he was a northern hawk owl. They would often flick their tail when excited like a hawk.
"Now you are covered in it, you look like a tiny fluffy sooty owl," said Ignite laughing, suddenly he fell dead silent and suddenly pulled his head back out of the cave. He heard the sound of an owl landing on the damp grass outside.
She was completely covered in soot from feet to head. Her white feathers where now patches of grey. Eve jumped up and down flapping her wings in excitement shifting most of the dusty soot off her. She watched it as it flew off and landed on the nest. Although the soot started to make her feel itchy and using her foot she twitched to give the side of her facial disc a scratch.
Ignite walked over to the side of his forge and picked up a metal over and covered the coals with it and then walked around his forge and out of the stony half circle entrance of his cave. A northern hawk owl stood in the mist with the damp grass covered in dew up slightly past his grey feathery legs hidden under his thick plumage. He was slightly taller than a barn owl. His grey breast feathers where heavily bared with black and white all the way up to his neck which was light grey. He had pale yellow eyes surrounded by a grey and rimmed with black. His wings where mostly back with white barring. His head was spotted with black and white with strips of black down the back of his head.
"Hey, Zoltus, it's been a while, where have you been?" Asked Ignite overly joyed to see his good friend back.
Zoltus looked happy to see Ignite as well, although Ignite could tell there was great sorrow behind his pale eyes.
"I took a flight to the Forest of Tyto to visit Eve's hollow and placed Zavas body in a more appropriate place after the owls left. There were three owls, Arxcis, Tytoden and another one which the two called High Tyto Solaris," said Zoltus saying the High Tytos name darkly.
Ignite suddenly became very shocked from the news, speechless, he couldn't believe it. He thought that Zoltus must have misheard the owls.
"Racdrops, no way, the Pure Ones all died eight years ago, you should know this Zoltus, don't be silly ,you were there in the War of the Embers," said Ignite under his breath so Eve wouldn't hear.
"Oh, they exist, but that seems to be all of them, only three left. They said they were after her. Solaris sent out Arxcis to track her down, he left in this direction. I had to take a different route that's why I was so long." said Zoltus as he gave Ignite a worried look.
"Let's just hope he cannot track to save his life," hoped Ignite. "If he comes here I will rip his gizzard out, that's if he has one," added Ignite in a slightly angry tone.
Zoltus waved a wing at Ignite to tell him to keep it down; he didn't want Eve to know.
"I don't think he could even make it across the Zephyr Ocean, it's always windy out that way, he'd never make it," explained Zoltus as he remembered seeing the old owl.
Eve heard Ignite outside talking to another owl; she then began to wonder who it could be. Getting up she noticed that the scorching head had begun to slowly fade from the cave and be replaced by a very cold chill, the same chill from her dream. Listening in carefully she could hear the cracking and spitting of hot coals, it was a noise in which she had never heard before. It interested her far more than what Ignite was talking to the other owl about. Looking around her section of the cave she noticed the warm glow had disappeared and replaced by shadows. Puffing her feathers out a little she tried to cover her wispy legs and tucked her wings tighter into her sides as she sat back down in her nest. Looking around in the darkness with only one wall with the dim glow from the forge she began to wonder about the past. She remembered how lovely it was to warm up against Zava on a cold day, she remembered how her soft down use to keep her warm. Now, she missed her Mum terribly and her down had mostly fallen off. Shaking her head she set her mind on thinking about other things, she began to listen carefully into what Ignite was talking about, he was talking about her. Wanting to investigate Eve stood up and walked out from behind the wall, it was the first time she had left the cave. She began to wonder how Ignite had got her in there if she had fainted. But then her thoughts where interrupted by the cold air that grabbed her attention; she had missed the warmth of the heat she felt before. Steadily Eve walked closely around the forge which still had warmth seeping out from under the metal cover. The warm ambient light from under the cover glowed on the stony walls. She looked at the forge and wondered what made it so warm, she dared not to touch it as she had no idea what it was, it could have been dangerous for all she knew. Then looking over the forge and up at the wall she paid careful attention to the objects hung up as she walked around the forge towards the entrance. On the wall hung two pairs of battle claws side by side, looking at them ran chills through her gizzard, the screeching of her family could be heard faded in the back of her mind, and the battle claws reminded her of Arxcis from her dream. She only knew what battle claws where after she had seen Arxcis and Tytoden wearing them, she remembered Arxcis battle claws being covered in blood of her father. She found it hard to image an owl could have weapons to kill one another. One pair was larger than the other and was made of metals which where deep red and chrome. The other pair where much smaller and made from metal which looked like chrome. The deep warm glow from the forge made their chrome like razor-sharp edges and acute points glimmer in the ambient darkness. Feeling as if she was going to yarp up a pellet out of fear her gaze peeled off the battle claws and rested on the other objects that sat on a metal shelf lodged into the stone. Two of the objects looked like metal owl poppins, one smaller than the other, they looked like tytos, one of them looked like herself. They were very well made; all the details could be seen. The other objects being various blacksmithing tools she had no idea about. Eve then made it to the entrance of the cave; the northern hawk owl then spotted her and stopped speaking to Ignite as he watched Eve step outside in wonder and look at everything around her. There wasn't many tytos in this strange land and this is why Zoltus was so intrigued. The cold seeped through her feathers as she stepped out on to the damp grass that came half way up her body. Looking at the grass all around her she was shocked, it was wet, the ground felt almost spongy. At first she hesitated to move, seeing Ignite looking at her she suddenly started pushing through the grass and cuddled up to ignites fluffy feathery side under his wing. She felt it was much warmer there. Ignite twisted his head around to look at Eve.
Looking around Eve saw a large clearing of grass that surrounded by tall dark evergreen conifers shrouded in thick mist that smudged into the darkness of the forest. The mist hung low across the luscious green grass. The trees where so tall they stretched out towards the moon in the middle of the darkness covered in glittering stars of all sizes and brightness. In the distance on the right stood a huge mountain above the canopy, the white peeks faded into the mist. The clearing was very quiet compared to the Forest Kingdom of Tyto, the odd bird or could be heard singing their songs all around her.
"Oh, you woke up young'un," said Zoltus looking over joyed at Eve. He had heard of her story and it saddened him.
Zoltus churred as Ignite pushed Eve out from under his wing with his head towards Zoltus. Eve began to shiver as the cold creped under her feathers; sitting down on the damp grass to keep her legs warm Eve began to bob her head about to get a good look at Zoltus. She had never seen an owl like him in her life, and he was a completely different colour from herself and Ignite. This owl was grey, white and black with pale yellow eyes! Eve then ruffled her feathers, she shook all the leftover soot from earlier and then her gaze fell on Zoltus again.
"You are all covered in dirt, have you been trying to build something at Ignites forge?" asked Zoltus as he churred, he thought Eve was really adorable, the opposite from her past.
Eve then wiggled her tail feathers as she usually did when she was excited even though she had no idea what Zoltus was talking about.
"Oh, we northern hawk owls do that when we are excited too, look," joyfully said Zoltus who also started wiggling his tail pushing the grass from side to side. Ignite sighed but couldn't help but laugh at the two.
Ignite then gave Zoltus a hard stare, Zoltus picked up on it quickly and stopped moving his long tail feathers about. Zoltus knew what Ignite was thinking about, no words needed to be exchanged. When Eve had been asleep, resting from the long journey south back from over the vast ocean that separated the Forest Kingdom of Tyto from the mysterious island of Zephyr. Ignite told his best friend everything what had happen to Eve, the owls, how the family where killed, everything.
"It's good you brought her back here, they do not know of this place, it's pretty isolated being an island and all," gravely said Zoltus glancing at Eve who was looking at a ladybug in the grass.
But Zoltus and Ignite both knew that if Arxcis was a skilled tracker he would soon find Zephyr. They hoped the ocean and its notorious weather was enough to part the lands enough so he and his squad wouldn't travel across.
"That's true," said Ignite feeling reinsured.
"Even when I was a Guardian at the Great Tree I said nothing of this land. The other Guardians do not know of it either. Also they are still in very small numbers; they cannot do much right now. I think they are after Eve simply because she's a young tyto. But they also have you in their sights too it seems, after you attacked Arxcis, Solaris wants your gizzard," said Zoltus taking a deep breath looking away from Ignite and over to Eve.
"I hope they stay in small numbers, for Eve's sake, for the sake of all the creatures that live here," said Ignite looking over at Eve in worry; he couldn't understand why any owl would want to hurt her.
"I also overheard them talking of an owl called Mark, a masked owl who had joined them while I was there. Solaris said to Mark that he was good to tell him of Eve's family. Mark also said that Eve had often spoke about you know to him and Eve said that one day she would join them too," explained Zoltus.
Ignite sighed deeply and looked over at Eve again, he hoped that what Zoltus said wasn't the case.
Ducking down to peer in at what Eve was looking at in the grass Ignite asked cheerily, "Eve, what have you got there?"
Eve twisted her head around looking up at Ignite. Ignite noticed that most of the down had fallen off Eves body and head, her flight feathers almost completely grown out and her facial disc had fully developed. She had a distinctive plumage to her with ruddy brown patches on the top of her head that faded down her back with a pure white facial disc. Some feathers on the back of her head where curved up a little and where not so flat like her parents even though she had the same colours as her mother she was still darker. But she had kept her white facial disc and body, the upper body was just a tad darker.
"Not sure, have a look," said Eve looking at the ladybug again as it began to crawl up a blade of grass.
Zoltus then came up beside Ignite and leaned in to have a look.
"Oh, it's a ladybug," said Zoltus simply as he turned his head to look at Eve intensely staring at the ladybug with her dark eyes.
Suddenly Eve pushed it off the blade of grass with her half folded wing, snapping her head to where it landed on its back and pounced on it, ripping the grass and dirt up with her talons. Zoltus gasped in shock. Ignite nudged her with her wing that made her stop.
"What did you do that for?" strictly asked Ignite giving Eve a serious look.
Eve said nothing and looked at the crushed ladybug in the dirt.
"Am sorry," quietly muttered Eve looking across the ground.
"Oh, Ignite, you shouldn't have hit her like that," softly said Zoltus taking a step forward. He was being almost like a mother figure.
"Your right, I didn't mean it Eve, I just don't want to see anything be…" paused Ignite searching for the right words, he wanted to say 'murder'. "Be killed like that," added Ignite.
"Jax said I had to get my own catch next time," explained Eve looking up at both Ignite and Zoltus.
"Oh, you are hungry," said Zoltus as he just worked out why Eve had acted like that. "What about we both go together to get something now, I'll show you how to fly as well," said Zoltus on an even higher note of excitement.
"Really?" exclaimed Eve excitedly as she jumped up and down. "I have been waiting for this for so long, Altair can already fly, but not me," said Eve as she looked down at the ground in woe.
The memories of all the terrible things that she had seen began to flood into her mind again, one stood out from the rest. The moment when Altair hopped across the hollow and took off into the sky, slowly he faded into the darkness, never to be seen again. It brought a tear to her eye which was then swallowed up and taken over by a warm hatred in her gizzard for her brother.
"Eh, Eve, what's wrong?" panicked Zoltus as he had noticed that Eve did not pick her head up for a long time to look at him.
Eve then finally looked up at Zoltus, she had been crying since her black eyes where glossy from tears.
"I am crying about my brother, he left me, he didn't care for Mum," sobbed Eve as Zoltus wrapped his wings around her.
Ignite watched the two, he thought they got on so well, he was happy for them but he didn't know how to show it. He was still finding it hard to cope with Eve and what he had been through with her. He thought if it wasn't for him Eve would be dead or just as bad, with those evil owls. When he had come back from flying in the awful weather his weathers where soaked to the skin, he was very surprised with himself that he even made it across with Eve.
"You are very soft Zoltus," said Eve on a happier tone as she tried to speak through Zoltus's layered breast feathers. Zoltus was an owl of the South and North Peaks of Zephyr.
"I am going back to my forge Zoltus, look after Eve. Make sure nothing happens to her OK?" told Ignite as he walked through the mist and grass towards the soft warm glow of his forge.
Zoltus took note of what Ignite said as he turned his head while hugging Eve and watched him disappear into the midnight mist.
"Don't worry Eve, you are safe now, we will protect you, this is your new home now Eve," reinsured Zoltus as he folded his wings back into his sides. "Did you know that I am an ex Guardian? Search and rescue chaw is the chaw I was in, with Twilight," said Zoltus as he knew it would cheer her up, every owlet loved the Guardians.
"Really!" said Eve in awe.