Hello again everyone and welcome back! Glad to see so many people continuing my story! Please, don't be afraid to review; I have it set to even anonymous reviews are aloud! Well, anyway, here's chapter 3: Kaiden's Arrival.
The days and nights kept passing in the hollow to the point that I couldn't remember the days any more. Though, from my own intuition, I could tell that the week was over and that the trip had ended. Anyway for me to get home once I became human again was now gone. I wondered how my mother and father are taking our disappearance. I just hoped that they weren't hurting too much.
"Spread your wings out! Try to remain quiet!" yelled Hlodir to me, huffing in annoyance. We'd been trying this for hours now. These wings and I were never meant to mix, because I can't fly. I can hardly even glide.
I stood on a branch, staring down to the next one below. "Try taking your own advice!" I shouted back defiantly. He was staring to really get on my nerves. My mind was racing as I leaped from the limb; my wings twitching and not flapping together. I set myself down ungracefully on the next branch below.
Suddenly, Faith landed on the branch next to me. She gave me a soft look, trying to be encouraging. "You're thinking too hard. Use your gizzard. Let yourself go to the wind. Feel it pulse around you."
I huffed, tiredly. Half the things she said I didn't even understand. "Use my what?" I asked, dreary eyed and exhausted.
"Your gizzard. It's that little voice inside of you that tells you right from wrong. It'll help you in any situation as long as you trust it." Surprisingly, her words were comforting. I turned, spotting the next limb down. Maybe, just maybe she was right, and so I leaped from the branch yet again.
My first instinct was to widen my wing span, and I followed. I stretched the span as long as I could, till the tips curled at the tops. I then visualized myself landing with poise and grace. I hadn't even realized that I had already done so.
"That's it!" shouted Hlodir, almost sounding excited. "That's how you branch! Maybe we can just make a Guardian out of you yet!" The old owl was dancing back and forth where he was perched, feeling extremely victorious.
"A Guardian?" I questioned. "Now, I made no deal about that." I didn't realize how much I used to protest to everything. The way the owls see the world is much different from my point of view, and I'm pretty sure I'm this way because I was once human.
"That's part of the prophecy, James. You will need to learn the ways of the owls. You will learn to fly, to trust in yourself, and to fight for others- the ways of the Guardians. After what I've seen in you, right there moments ago, I think you really are the chosen one. After you can fly, I'm taking you back to my true home; Ga'Hoole- to the Great Tree. I've been living here for ages, waiting for you. The King ordered it, for he believed in my prophecy. I'm so glad he trusted me." replied Hlodir, flying down to me and perching on the other side of me.
Wait… The Guardians of Ga'Hoole… My dad's stories were true… They were true! How did my dad know about this all? Surely, he can't speak to owls… I nodded, trying not to look as surprised as I was. "Anything else in the prophecy I should know?" I asked, shrugging my wings.
"Not that you need to know now." He replied to me. Even though I didn't like that answer, I let it go and kept practicing.
A few nights later and I could hold myself in the air; I was progressing quickly, according to what Hlodir was saying. I still, to this day, don't know if he was more excited about finding me or being able to return to the Great Tree.
The sun was rising over the tree line and we were all getting ready to go to sleep. Hlodir looked over to his niece, asking "Will you been joining us at twilight, Faith. Tonight is the night we depart for Ga'Hoole."
"Of course, uncle. They say anyone who enters Ga'Hoole must then become a Guardian. If they're willing to accept me, it would be an honor." replied Faith, tiredly tucking her head under her wing. Her breath slowed and her chest began to slowly rise and fall as she fell asleep.
"James… Listen to me… Once we get to Ga'Hoole, there's no turning back for either of you... Both you and Faith will start training almost immediately... You will be greeted by the king, and then you're real training will begin…" He spoke to me like we were both equals, something he hadn't done before. "I'm just saying, it will be vigorous. This training is going to prepare for the trials ahead. I will no longer be your only teacher. I'll keep teaching you the ways of flight, but not the other things you'll be learning." He closed his eyes, yawning a little.
"King Soren… I am glad I have not disappointed you…" murmured Hlodir, before drifting off into his own slumber. Soren… Where have I heard that name before? It's so familiar… I think I heard my dad say something about a Soren… No; it can't be… I'm delusional… I gave up trying to convince myself that my dad had known a Soren at one point and closed my eyes, beginning to fall asleep. Suddenly, the silence was broke by a loud shout.
"Take them out! Don't let the chosen one escape!" It was a well-known voice to me, but I couldn't put my figure on it. Why did everything in this world seem so familiar? I just didn't get it.
"What? Hmm…" mumbled Hlodir, jumping up from sleep. "Who goes there?" Without an answer, a large, dark owl wearing an iron helmet pulled himself into the hollow. His talons where dressed in gleaming iron blades, like he was prepared to murder all of us.
"Pure One!" screeched Hlodir, causing Faith to jump awake. Hlodir lunged forwards, pouncing on the other owl and sinking his beak into his shoulder. With wide eyes, I jumped up, taking a few hesitant steps back.
The dark owl grabbed Hlodir with his talons, pulling him off of his side and tossing him across the hollow. A loud snap was heard as Hlodir slammed his wing into the wood. "Grah!" He gasped, turning his eyes to me and Faith. They were full of sorrow and broken dreams. "Fly… Fly to Ga'Hoole!" He screeched to us.
"Uncle!" Faith screamed about ready to jump into the fray, but I held her back with my wings. "Faith… Hlodir knows what he's doing… We need to get out of here…"
She was crying as I forced her out of the tree, but unfortunately, he wasn't alone. Two more large owls circled over head, behaving more like vultures than owls. They had red paint designs all over their bodies, like they were from a tribal civilization. "Fly quickly!" I heard Hlodir gasp behind us as the large owl turned around and started in our direction, his eyes blood red.
"Jump!" I shouted, as we leaped from the hollow together. We dashed across the forest floor, flying side by side. The three Pure Ones behind us screeched and squawked as they tried desperately to catch up. We rounded trees and flew through tight spaces, anything to escape the closing owls. Hope was bleak, and the sun had raised high in the sky. I felt so drained of all energy.
"I have to stop, Faith… I've never flown for this long, during the day before…" I huffed, landing down on the forest floor. Faith landed beside me, pushing me into a nearby bush. "Then hide!" She squawked, somewhat in anger and the rest in desperation.
I heard the three large owls land heavily on the ground nearby. Their armor and weapons were clanking together with rocks and wood. "Come out, little brother…" I heard one of the owls say. "James… Kludd, the dark lord, has shown me the light… This gift is ours… Join us, James…" One of the owls spoke; the dark one that harmed Hlodir. It… It can't be…
"Our father is a liar… He's known about everything… He's always known… He even knew we would not be returning…" It was Austin's voice. It was unmistakably his.
"Austin?" I called, pulling myself out of the shrub. The two birds stood around my brother.
"Ah… James… Don't call me by my weak human name anymore… I am Kaiden of the Pure Ones… You are destined to be one of us for we are Tyto…"
"We are the Pure Ones…"
Oooooh! Cliff Hanger! Haha! Hopefully, you've all enjoyed what you've read, for right now, I'm not completely sure if I've been writing well or just very bad. Good luck all and happy (soon) New Years!