Chapter 29: One More Death
The day following when she had laid her two eggs, Elanore rests in her room silently sleeping. Nyroc isn't there as he is busy with some business to do with some news from the enemy side. He had heard that the six kingdoms have banded together. Ambala, Ga'Hoole, Middle Kingdom, Northern Kingdom, Silverveil and Tyto Forest have joined forces and the Pure One king is thinking things through. He knows that they will attack soon, but he wants to make sure his children end up hatching. The two owls want their own owlets to inherit the Pure Ones and nothing will stand in their way.
Nyroc and Elanore have built their empire and will want their sons and daughters to rule it. Elanore rebirthed it from the ruins after the War of the Ember and now Nyroc has redefined their purpose and main desires once again. They have been close to Tyto supremacy several times and they know that their owlets will be ambitious and will follow in their claw prints. They don't really have names for their children yet, but they have been thinking.
It has only been one day and Elanore quietly is sleeping until she hears a soft voice calling her name. She then wakes up and sees the scroom of Nyra in front of her perch. Nyra gets up onto the perch and gives her a hug.
"Hi, Nyra." Elanore yawns
"Look at you, you are becoming a mum. I am so proud of you." Nyra smiles
"What is it this time?" Elanore asks the scroom
"I want you to do something that will ensure that Ambala won't be part of the enemy team." Nyra says
"What?" Elanore asks
"Kill Sabyna Kin, Elanore Camille Canner." Nyra orders
"You want me to kill Sabyna?" Elanore asks
"Ambala won't have a queen and their next in line is a six year old. They will have no choice but to pull out of the battle." Nyra explains
"Seems reasonable enough." Elanore replies in agreement
She gets up and suits herself up. It may be late, but she ends up getting a group of soldiers to follow her to enable the Ambalan Army to be distracted long enough for her to fight Sabyna. If she had killed her aunt, how hard is it to kill a Kin? She ends up flying off into the daylight and Nyroc doesn't notice, as he thinks she is out for a walk or something. They fly over the boarder to the north of the canyons to Ambala.
Unbeknownst to her of the Pure One threat coming for her Sabyna and her daughter, Elysa are reading a book together as the owlet is going to bed.
"…And they all had lived there until this very day, watching over us and making sure that Mordecai doesn't escape Hagsmire, ever again." Sabyna reads before she closes the book "Alright, darling, time for bed. We will start a new book tomorrow if I am not busy."
"Mama, will the Battle of Eternal ever happen again?" Elysa asks
"I am not too sure, but we know that Mordecai cannot escape Hagsmire, ok." Sabyna replies
"Good light, mama." Elysa says before she yawns
"Good light, darling." Sabyna says as she ends up walking out of the room
Sabyna is placing her book away. She had been reading it on and off for at least three months. She finds herself always too busy being the Ambalan Queen to even be around her daughter. She has been in and out of meetings lately since the War of War's End will become a reality soon. She knows that Elanore will fall and she might be the one who will end her, on the behalf of her deceased aunt whom the Tyto Alba killed those years ago. She would gladly let Coryn fight his son while she takes on his daughter in law.
Elanore and her troops are on the close as the palace guard heed notice of the battalion and go for the attack. Sabyna is clueless until a soldier bursts into her study in a fluster.
"Pure Ones are attacking the palace, Queen Sabyna." The guard panics
"Get the evacuation started. Take my daughter to refuge somewhere… To Ga'Hoole." She orders as she picks up her katana
"Yes, your grace." The guard says
The guard takes off down the hall and a moment later, the nursemaid of Elysa is chasing after the young'un as she rushes into the study and clings to her armed mother.
"Mummy, mummy, I don't want to leave." She cries
"Elysa." Sabyna says as she kneels to her level, "Mama will have to fight Elanore and I don't want you getting hurt. Be a brave girl and go, my baby."
"But… Mama…" She replies with tears beaming down her face
"Take her out of the palace, now." Sabyna orders the nursemaid
Elysa is taken away from her mother and she can hear her calls in Naya'va. Sabyna runs down the hall as fast as she can go and the Pure Ones are storming the palace. Sabyna is looking out when she sees the evacuation going ahead and he daughter leaving with a crew of guards and her nursemaid. Heading toward them is Elanore and Sabyna blindsides her before she even comes close and both she-owls let out an exclamation of how much that collision hurts. Sabyna's helmet also falls off in the same direction that Elanore did.
Elanore laughs her evil laugh, which echoes around the area.
"Hello, Elanore." Sabyna says with spite
"Well, hello, Sabyna. How nice of you to consider blindsiding me?" Elanore sadistically replies
Sabyna lands on the forest floor and she is looking around for Elanore as she had done a fall from grace indeed. She knows she is ok, since she didn't take too much of a fall. Without warning, Elanore emerges from her hiding place and Sabyna intercepts her sword with her katana. The two owls relay strikes repeatedly and Elanore is knocked to the ground with a push. Sabyna has her pinned before Elanore flips her and they both are unarmed. They go into talon-to-talon combat. Slashes, wing hits, slaps, chaw punches and throws are a main weapon of their advantage. Elanore takes out a dagger and she charges toward Sabyna. She then barrow rolls to the left and Elanore collides with a tree stump.
"Going to give up yet, Elanore Camille?" Sabyna asks in a childish voice
"Never!" She screeches as she pulls the dagger out with brute force.
Elanore comes toward Sabyna brandishing her dagger in her claw as they engage in combat. Sabyna dodges her claw and dagger attacks. Elanore is getting furious and she goes for the kill, but Sabyna takes her by the claw and throws her aside. She rolls off into some bushes. The two owls are panting, but Sabyna cannot see Elanore anymore and she didn't look to where she did throw her.
Sabyna goes to pick up her dagger and Elanore busts out of her hiding place. Sabyna reacts to the sudden attack with a claw punch to her face and it sends her battle claw flying off with the barn owl. She goes to pick it up and collects it while Elanore weakly lies there breathing heavily as she is writing in pain.
When she collects her Katana… FWOOP! She suddenly drops to the ground behind us, we see Elanore holding her bow and she had launched three arrows in a line straight into Sabyna's spine. They are all spaces apart by a bit and Elanore looks at her with malice still.
"Looks like you failed your aunt Autumn, Sabyna." Elanore quips
Meanwhile in Ga'Hoole a celebration Lydea is hosting for two occasions, Maria and Caspian's engagement and the party in honour of the newborn prince is going on. All of Ga'Hoole is happy to have heard that Caspian, a Charid Royal and relative of Goddess Cheyenne is engaged to be wed to his beloved Maria. They are also happy to meet their new prince of the Ga'Hoole Tree. Princesses Sina and Barran are hanging around their little brother, Winter while Josh and Lydea are talking with other guardians. Outside the group of owls land within the vicinity of the Great Tree and they open the doors to the main hall with a burst.
"What is Glaux's name is the meaning of this?" Josh asks
Princess Elysa runs forward, Caspian sees her, and she clings to him with tears running down her face. Lydea thinks of what it could be and she steps outside into the falling snow. She sees the events that only had played out a few moments ago and she comes back in with a look of worry and confusion on her face.
"The palace in Ambala was attacked by Elanore Canner and her Pure Ones. We had followed orders to evacuate Princess Elysa here." The Ambalan Royal Guard explains
"Josh…" Lydea speaks up "Sabyna is dead."
"What?!" Everyone exclaims
"I saw it; it must have been in the past hour or so. I saw the three arrows piercing her back and in her spine and the blood pouring from them. I saw the glowing red eyes of Elanore. She is dead…" Lydea exclaims
"No." Elysa doubts
Within the next hour, another guard arrives and confirms the death of Sabyna. Elysa then bursts into tears and Caspian holds his surrogate niece in his wings. He remembers how hard it was when he lost his mother and now Elysa; a young'un of age 6 is experiencing the pain he once felt. He says that he will be her legal guardian, because he is the closest she has to a brother and an uncle.
