Chapter 5: News From Kuneer
'Hey, Andrew. We are back.' a weary voice said behind Andrew.
It was dawn, Andrew and Athena were in their 'dorms' which were more like tiny cells.
Andrew turned his head, it was Antony. He sounded so tired that Andrew could barely recognise his voice.
'How did it go?' asked Andrew.
'Terrible.' he replied. 'But I have news.'
'What kind of news?' Athena poked out her head.
'Well, there are rebellions out there.' he murmured. 'They are very small and nobody is certain on how many there are.'
'Stop muttering you spots!' said a large female grass owl walking by, glaring at the triplets. Then, she continued to hum a ditty.
'So sorry!' Antony apologized.
They waited for the grass owl to walk away.
'There are more?!' Athena gasped. 'Well, we met a bunch of rebels here called Warriors of Equality and they have 150 members in total. They actually invited me and Andrew to join them.'
'As crazy as it sounds, it is true. During our stay in Kuneer, we met a rebel who is part of SOS. It became a rebel group fairly recently, their leader was said to be the sister of aunt Gylfie.' said Antony.
'I wonder why they become rebels.' thought Athena out loud.
'I assume that they don't like to be treated as lesser beings? Just guessing.' said Andrew.
'Perhaps you are right.' said Antony.
'I am tired. Good light.' yawned Antony as he went to sleep.
'Good light!' the other two siblings replied and slept.
Noon arrived. The sun was shining brightly through the gaps of the dull cayons, all the inmates were going out of their 'dorms' unwillingly.
Andrew and his sister had enough rest but Antony and their parents were still very tired.
On that day, the family was assigned to push carts.
The place that they were assinged to were filled with groans, cries and the sounds of whipping.
'Everyone! Sir. Oliver ordered all inmates to go to the Central Hall immediately!' a hagsfiend shouted.
All the owl in the cart-pulling place walked out of the area one by one quickly.
The hall was once again filled with inmates. But this time, the hall was in dead silence.
Sir. Oliver said with clarity ' This miserable owl up here has committed a grave mistake.'
Andrew twitched his head to look at the poor owl who was helplessly lying next to Sir. Oliver, that owl was tied up tightly, he was twisting and turning like a worm.
'Wait, he looked familiar!' thought Andrew. 'Was he the burrowing owl that was sitting with the rebels during their meals? Hope not.'
Then, Sir. Oliver clutched the rope that was tying him and dropped him from the rock he was standing on.
The burrowing owl was free falling to the ground as he letted out a cry of fear and helplessness.
As if the fall wasn't damaging to his body enough, one of his talons pierced through a spike on the ground.
The poor owl soon lost consciousness and the inmates gasped in terror.
Shortly thereafter, Sir. Oliver flew out of the hall.
It was half an hour before everyone had to go back to their respective 'dorms' and all the work for the day was done, therefore Andrew, his brother and father decided to go for a short walk.
The three passed through the only infirmary in all of St. Aggies which was unstaffed at the time.
Instead, Bess, Paro and the male short eared owl that Andrew saw with WE the other day were there.
'Hi Carl! Long time no see!' said Cleve when he saw his old friend.
'Good Lord! I haven't seen you since we fought in the war!' exclaimed Carl.
'So, the short eared is called Carl.' thought Andrew.
'Why are the three of you here?' asked Andrew.
'You see, Larry was punished for communicating with other members of WE that did not get caught along with a few other rebel organisations such as SOS and a few others.' answered Paro, pointing to the burrowing owl.
'Does that mean that the governors now know more about the rebels now?' asked Andrew.
'Unfortunately, this is highly possible.' sighed Paro.
Cleve volunteered to stay and take care of Larry, and the brothers flew back to their respective 'dorms' after saying goodbye.
