Skreel shifted in the moss as the sky outside the hollow darkened. The head of the Barn Owl in the shadowy corner of the den snapped around at the faint sound. Quickly the owl lifted its wings and swooped back to an empty spot in the moss. As it landed, the pale feathers on its body changed to a deep gray, until instead of a Barn Owl there was a Great Gray.

Just as she stilled to feign sleep, Skreel twitched and blinked his eyes open. The Screech Owl rustled his feathers and hopped to the edge of the hollow. He whooed softly and soared off into the sky.

Glaux, that was close, thought Lutta. She had forgotten that it was nearly tweener. The shapeshifter practiced turning into different types of owls while Skreel and Thorn were resting, but she sometimes forgot to check the color of the sky. One night some owl will see you… whispered a voice in the back of her mind, but she shut it out. Every owl thinks I'm dead, Lutta told herself bitterly. I never thought that would be a good thing.

She stretched her large wings tiredly as a small shape on the other side of the hollow jerked and looked up. Thorn, a Pygmy Owl, stood sleepily. "Hi, Thyme," she mumbled. "It's twilight already?"

"Yes." Lutta dipped her head. "The Snow Rose'll sing soon. Skreel already woke."

"I'm going to fly around, then," said Thorn, spreading her wings. In a moment the tiny owl had flown into the dusk.

Lutta sighed and stared up at the sky. All the other young owls were happy here. She wasn't. She couldn't belong anywhere. Angrily she kicked a pile of moss.

Just then the Snow Rose's voice echoed through the tree. It was the same song that the Snowy Owl had sung when Lutta had first arrived at the Tree four nights before.

Day is done

Wake and fly

In the time of night.

Rise and soar,

As sun fades away,

To starlight.

Stretch your wings

In your gizzard

Know you're free.

For we are strong

We are of the

Great Ga'Hoole Tree!

Outside stars were beginning to appear in the sky. Lutta shrugged and jumped out of the hollow, catching a breeze. She rose higher on the draft and wheeled around to face the Ga'Hoole Tree.

The other owls were landing in the space used for meals. Lutta followed Thorn to a nest-maid snake with three other owls around her. The Great Gray perched next to the Pygmy Owl, and Skreel sat at the other side of the table. The other three owls were named Oki, Raptor and Cyrum. Lutta had learned this the night after she had come to the Tree.

Raptor, a Great Horned Owl with unusually long talons, shifted from foot to foot excitedly as he pecked at a milkberry. "Did you hear? Did you hear?"

"What?" demanded Skreel. He blinked his large eyes at the other owl.

"Hoole's so happy," murmured Raptor. "So's Emerilla."

Lutta felt her feathers change color slightly, becoming just a shade darker. Luckily no owl noticed as she regained control over herself. "Well, Emerilla can go to Hagsmire," the shapeshifter muttered to herself once she was sure that the others wouldn't hear.

"Just tell us what the frink it is!" snapped Oki. The owls flinched; one of the things that Lutta had found out was that Oki used swear words freely, and the Ruby Owl had a voice twice her size.

"It's finally happened!" said Raptor. He wasn't very good at listening to others.

"What is it?" growled Cyrum.

The Great Horned Owl looked up, his eyes wide. "Emerilla's going to have an egg!"

"What?"

The table fell silent. Lutta had knocked her milkberry off the nest-maid snake. She wilfed, her feathers lying flat against her body. Suddenly they poofed up again. "An egg?"

"I know!" whooed Raptor. "Isn't it great?"

"Glaux," squeaked Lutta. Not Emerilla… She sat down heavily, concentrating very hard on not releasing her anger and turning into some huge monster bird. "Oh, Glaux."

Ha ha! An egg! Yep, Emerilla's having an egg! This is going to be really crazy! Poor Lutta.