Hoole smiled at all the owls crowding around him. Joy was bubbling inside of him, and he felt hyper. Emerilla had an egg! The next king of the Great Ga'Hoole Tree! Looking around, he saw one owl who was sitting a ways off, not in the group that was made of every single other owl living in the Tree. To his surprise the young Spotted Owl recognized the Great Gray as Thyme.
After a little while the other owls began to disperse. Hoole shifted impatiently from foot to foot, looking for a chance to get away from the crowd and go see Emerilla. Suddenly an image flashed into his mind of two Emerillas staring at him, unblinking. Hoole shuddered. That memory was from moons ago, after the battle in northern lands. One of the Spotted Owls had really been a treacherous shapeshifter that Kreeth, a hagsfiend that delved in nachtmagen, had sent to kill him. Shaking his head, Hoole pushed those thoughts away.
Finally all the owls in the Tree were in groups talking or flying in the little while left before mealtime. Except for the Great Gray. She was sitting on a low hanging branch outside sadly.
Hoole flew over to her. "You okay?"
Thyme jumped, then reeled back, her feathers poofing up. "Wha-? Oh… yes… I'm fine." Her eyes flicked back and forth.
Hoole blinked, concerned. "Do you not like the Tree? You can leave if you want to."
"No… it's fine." She turned away. "I didn't think it had been so long that…" She sighed. "Never mind."
"Really, what is it?"
"Emerilla had an egg!" Thyme burst out with more ferocity than Hoole expected. He ruffled his wings. "With you!" She turned sharply so he couldn't see her face.
"But the chick will be the king of the great Ga'Hoole Tree," Hoole told her, confused. "That's good."
Suddenly Thyme looked back at him. Hoole blinked as her wide eyes seemed to blaze yellow-gold, stunning him momentarily. He stepped back.
The Great Gray wilfed. "I can't stay here… but I want to… so much…" She noticed Hoole's paralyzed look. "What is it?"
He shook himself. "You reminded me of some owl from a while ago. In the Northern Kingdoms."
Thyme tensed. "An… owl? Which one?"
"Not really an owl. A shapeshifter. Some evil hagsfiend named Kreeth created her to spy on the Tree… and to kill me."
Thyme looked up, like she was about to protest, then stopped.
Hoole continued. "I met her again in the Ice Narrows after the battle. She was pretending to be Emerilla. Luckily Strix Strumajen, Emerilla's mother, killed her before she could do anything bad."
"You don't say," the Great Gray muttered under her breath. Hoole blinked. He guessed that he was not supposed to hear that, and it confused him. How would this owl from the very southern tip of southlands know anything about the deception and battle in the Northern Kingdoms?
"She turned into Emerilla to trick me. She wanted the ember… except that she said that' it wasn't the ember she wanted'." Hoole ruffled his wings. "Of course she was lying. She was a hagsfiend, really."
"I'm sure Lutta sees it that way," Thyme told him dryly. "Well, thanks. Everything's fine. I'm going to stay at the Tree, don't worry." With an air of a hurt owl she lifted her wings and flew off towards the hollow where her den with Skreel and Thorn was. Hoole cocked his head to one side. She's a strange owl, to be sure… but why does the memory of Lutta keep going back into my head? She's dead and gone for sure. I saw Strix Strumajen defeat her. A flashback swept into his mind.
He opened his eyes. A dark crow-like body was lying on the ice. A Spotted Owl was bending over the shape. "I had to kill her. She pretended to be my Emerilla."
Hoole bent over the shapeshifter. She stared up at him with dimming eyes, then reached up with a talon. Hoole stepped back, bringing the ember out of her reach.
"No Hoole, it was not the ember I wanted." Lutta's eyes closed.
"To hagmire," muttered Strix Strumajen.
Hoole sighed. At least all that was over. Shrugging, he lifted his wings. Now he would go to see Emerilla.
As the Spotted Owl took flight, a thought popped into his head. How did Thyme know Lutta's name? I didn't tell her.