A/N: OK. I bet most of you are wondering what is going on with the last chapter. Well, as you read in the last sentence of the chapter, there is a wedding going on between our two favorite Pure Ones...but not just yet. So let us begin!

REVIEW RESPONSES

FtDLutz: Your very welcome.

sonicfighter21354: Your welcome. As for the profane words...I am sorry to say that curse words will be uttered throughout this story, but not a whole lot. And remember, hawks do not use owl's vocabulary. And yes, the wedding will be...entertaining.

Crazybird101: Thank you. I do not know what added humor you meant, but thanks...and yes, there might be some wedding crashers, just maybe.

Godzilla Fan 2012: Thank you.

1-1 Marines: Yes, that image does look funny, improbable, but funny. As for Uglamore, no comment. As for who Gruff Voice is...well it will be revealed later on.

Elete12: The plan? Oh, I am sure it won't be anything theatrical.

X1Mobius: Thank you, that means a lot coming from you. But as to who Gruff Voice is, I never said he was out to take down the Guardians nor that he held a grudge...but your guess is quite viable.

ashthetyto: Yes, Uglamore and the others will make a appearance later on.

Synchronized Harmony: Thank you, Sync. I'm sorry if the swear words bothered you, but I want to try to extend my reach into a mature fic. Don't worry though, as I told sonicfighter21354, the curse words won't be completely constant, and it's not like I'm going to use it repeatedly in one sentence or something.

TearfulFriend18: Indeed it does, my friend, indeed it does.

I do not own Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole and their beloved characters

I do own the OCs set to appear in this chapter

Warning, the first few paragraphs does contain a bit of gory detail.

Chapter Two: The Darkness That Binds

INSIGHT INTO THE THEOLOGY OF DARKNESS

DATE: White Rain, Month 3, Day 28, Year 703

SUBJECT: Fear

In my third year of studying this matter, I could not help but wonder this question:

Why are we afraid of the darkness?

The fear of the dark, or Nyctophobia, as they call it, stems from the fear of the unknown, for when one is in the dark, they cannot see anything, and when one cannot see anything, their imagination run rampant, causing our minds to assume the worse would spawn from it's unforgiving depths. This, however, is justified, as the world we lived in is fraught with predators, and to not know when one would reveal itself from the shadows can be gizzard-wracking when flying at night.

They say that the darkness act as a breeding ground for all monsters and nightmares…but isn't the light any different? Is it best that we not see the monsters and not live in fear of the horrendous creatures that thrive in the light?

And what of us? We are owls, creatures birthed to fly in the night. Would that make us the monsters they speak of? Or is there a deeper meaning of darkness lying underneath our feathers, so deep, that we are afraid of what our own selves have to show? And what of owls who had flown with darkness? Do they accept darkness because they are not afraid? Or is it that they fear it so much that they dare not to deny it?

I hope to learn more of this when I go to seek out the kingdom of the Pure Ones…maybe then, I can see what creates this apparent fear of darkness…

Entry End

V.

Haze...that was all that Kludd could see. The scarred Tyto had no idea as to where he was, or how he got there, but as simple as that, he was there. Although he could not see anything, his sense of smell told him a bit of his surrounding. As he took a whiff, he smelt something perturbing...he did not recognized it at first, but as he continue to sniff it, he felt a memory suddenly strike his mind.

"Kludd! NO!" The voice of his brother echoed in his head.

Fire. The smell he sensed was smoke from fire, much like the ones back in Beaks before...Kludd gingerly placed a wing on his scarred cheek, shivering at that memory of which he was almost burned alive. But then, as he stood there, he sensed another smell invading his beak, one that was nauseating and sickening, one that reminded him of yet another scene...

"What exactly are they eating?" Digger's voice said in his mind, "Pee-ew! Whatever it is, it is ripe!"

The image of the helmed head of one of his soldier flashed his mind, causing Kludd to flinch in horror. It was the smell of decay and death. Why would he smell fire and death? Especially given how all he could see was a thick mist that prevented him from seeing anything...or at least, it did, before suddenly, it began to dissipate, much to the Tyto's confusion. But that confusion turned to horror as his location was revealed to him...

He was in the tree of Ga'Hoole...but it looked way horribly different. At first, he knew that he was in the main hall, but it was hard to recognize it as parts of the room were completely devastated, fires burning all around him, showing no signs of dying out.

"Oh Glaux..." Kludd uttered, unable to comprehend what was going on. He hesitantly took a few steps forward as he surveyed his surroundings...and stops suddenly as he saw a limp body of an owl. Curious, not to mention horrified, he slowly approached the body, and seeing how the somewhat-small owl was face down, he slowly turned it over...only to jump in fright.

It was Pip, a well-acclaimed member of the Search and Rescue Chaw...except his body was now mangled, as his chest was practically ripped open, as if done by one swish of a claw, most of his vital organs either badly mutilated or missing, and the eyes of the Little Owl were blank and without life. Kludd could only gaped in horror and sadness of what befell the poor owl...but as he examined the body, he noticed a trail of blood leading from him, too long to have simply trickled from his body.

With hesitation, Kludd looked at where the trail lead, only to tremble in more shock as more bodies of owls laid in its path. The scarred Tyto did not recognize them, but it was sickening nonetheless. And to make matters worse, the trail did not end there; it seemed to lead out of the main hall and into the corridors. Needing to know what could had done this, the owl followed the blood trail, ignoring the bodies in order to prevent himself from growing ill, as he went further into the tree. Unfortunately, the devastation only grew worse, as many of the branches were splintered off or were caught ablaze. And the bodies...oh, the bodies...they were scattered throughout, covered in gruesome gashes, some of them missing a few of their body parts or their internal organs spilled out of them. Growing more scared by the second, Kludd took to the air as he quickly tried to get to the end of the trail before his body grew completely yeep with terror.

Eventually, Kludd found himself in the hall leading up to the parliament chamber. Deciding to make his approach by foot, he slowly approached the doors, but as he did, he noticed that the blood spatters were much bigger. Kludd looked around to see where they came from...only to stop in heartbreaking shock. To his left, he saw a barn owl couple, much like himself, thrown against a wall, as the smaller one had her throat sliced and a hole in her chest, while the male...Kludd shuddered... had his wings ripped off and his head smashed in. To make things worse...he knew them. They were his parents.

"Ma...Da..." The Tyto whispered, as he looked to his right, only to be met with more hurt, as he saw the body of a snake, severed in half, and next to her, the small, petite figure of an owlet, who unlike the others, had her throat simply slit, her blood staining her fluffy down. "Mrs. P...Eglantine...no..." Kludd whimpered, as tears threatened his eyes...they were all dead...he could only shakily ask, "Who...who could...could...have done this?"

There was no answer as expected...but he knew that the answer lied behind those doors that were in front of him, where the trail lead...summoning up his courage and strength, he slowly walked towards the doors, his gizzard growing numb with each step, unable to take his mind off all the carnage that was caused here. As soon as he was in front of them, he took a deep shaky breath, and with all his might, he gave the doors a push, immediately opening them...as Kludd only gasped in horror and mortification.

If he had thought the many corpses scattered throughout the tree was bad, this room outmatched it. The Parliament Chamber was practically destroyed and there were dead corpses everywhere, strewn all over the place. Even the smell was vomit inducing, as Kludd struggled to keep it in his stomach. He slowly walked in as he examined the room, and instantly recognized the bodies on the upper parts of the chamber. There was Strix Struma, the navigation and warrior ryb, deep gashes lacing her chest, Bubo, the blacksmith, his neck broken, as well as Madame Plonk, the singer of the tree, her neck twisted an odd angle, and Dewlap, the Ga'Hoology and tracking ryb, her wings now gone. And next to Dewlap's dead body, there was a big splatter of blood. Normally, Kludd thought it was from Dewlap, but he took note of a piece of skull of an owl...one that had a moon scar on it...LaRoche, the new search and rescue chaw ryb and replacement for the traitor Allomere, was seemingly reduced to paste, a fate that not even he deserved.

Even worse so, the king and queen of the tree, Boron and Barran, were dead, as Barran's gizzard was gutted while Boron's throat was ripped out. Kludd's heart beat rapidly...and it grew worse as he noticed the bodies on the floor. To his left, he saw the band: Digger, Gylfie, and Twilight, as they all had deep gashes in their bodies, blood staining all their feathers. The Tyto quickly looked away to avoid seeing their carcasses, but as he did, he saw another body...a Whiskered Screech Owl who had both his claws ripped off as well as his beak, and a gaping hole where his heart was...Ezylryb. Kludd instantly backed away, his level of fear growing more, not noticing the irony in his death, unable to fathom who could have been able to best even he, the Lyze of Keil, one of the legendary heroes, as he couldn't bear to look at his mangled corpse at he turned away towards the center...where his blood ran cold.

In front of him, in the middle of the room, surrounded by all the awful decay, was a singular owl. But what made this owl special was the fact that he was a barn owl like him, as Kludd approached the body, feeling his gizzard fall to a new low, whispering, "Soren..." Indeed, it was his brother, Soren...but his body, in comparison to all the other bodies (excluding LaRoche, of course), was mangled the most, as both his talons were twisted beyond their natural reach to the point of which the tendons were ripping, as well as his left wing, while half of his right wing was ripped off, leaving a jagged, uncomforting edge to the remnant of it, and his chest was clawed up like a tree used for sharpening, and his spine was sliced, a horrid, gruesome gash running from his tailfeathers up to his neck (cough...tribute to Book Kludd...cough). But what disturbed him the most was the look in Soren's eyes, which unlike the others which were blank, his eyes were transfixed in horror, as if he was alive as all these wounds were dealt to him, and it only became more apparent as Kludd saw the object stuffed in his beak, slightly pulsing still...Kludd gaped...it was an owl's beating heart...and as the scarred Tyto looked to see where it came from, he noticed the limp figure of a short-eared owl next to him, with a still bleeding hole in her chest...

Kludd could not begin to comprehend who could have done all of this...everyone in the tree was slaughtered indiscriminately and without mercy...even the Parliament were killed...no…destroyed...and his friends...his family...they were all dead, never to breath the fresh air ever again...and his own brother, Soren, he had died the most gruesome of deaths, his last breath taken as he was forced to choke on his to-be mate Otullisa's heart. Why...Kludd's eyes began to tear...why would someone do something so horrid? So Glaux awful?

His question was answered as a loud bone-crushing sound was made, causing the barn owl to look up from his deceased brother, only to have his heart stop as he screamed, "NOOOOOOO!"

In front of him, standing on the perch that belonged to the king and queen, was a completely black-feathered owl, about the same size as him, with eyes of an unsettling gold, staring into his soul...but what truly broke him was the white-feathered body of a female owl lying in it's talons, her neck slit as blood leaked out steadily, staining her snowy-white feathers, her blue-green eyes blanked in horror. The now deceased owl was none other than Nyra, the once queen of the Pure Ones, once mate to the infamous Metalbeak...and was to be his mate. Words got caught in the scarred Tyto's throat as the black owl simply dropped her body onto the ground nonchalantly, as if she was a bit of scrap.

The male owl instantly dashed to her side, scooping her body into his wings, jostling her, "Nyra! Wake up! Please! Don't die! Please!" He shouted, hoping it would keep her awake, but his grief prevented him from seeing that the white barn owl was dead the moment he saw her. He kept shaking her, "No! You can't do this! You can't die! You can't! You can't..." Kludd demanded shakily, for the weight of everyone dying, including his own fiancé, finally affected him as he burst into tears, crying horribly into his now dead lover's feathers, ignoring the blood staining his own feathers, letting out loud screams of anguish, feeling the crushing sense of loneliness surround him...he wanted to know why this had to happen, why everyone except him had to die? It wasn't fair...it wasn't fair!

"How pitiful...this is what had become of you..."

Kludd looked up at where the black owl was, given how he was only other breathing owl in this entire tree, as he felt his anger flared viciously, muttering, "You...you are responsible for all this?"

The black owl darkly chuckled, "Yes. And I got to say, I never had so much fun slaying all these fools and their sprinking principles."

The scarred Tyto gritted his beak, as he gently placed his dead fiancé on the ground, "Why…why would you do this?" He then screamed, "WHAT DID ANYONE HERE DO TO DESERVE THIS?! WHY DID THEY ALL HAD TO DIE?!"

This bout of anger did not affect the dark being, as he explained, "It is quite simple. They dared to believe that they deserve to breathe the same air as us. I was just simply puttting them in their place as inferior pieces of filth compared to us mighty Tytos."

"Inferior? Tytos?" Kludd shakily growled, "WHAT ABOUT NYRA?! WHAT ABOUT MY FAMILY?!"

"Your family were a lost cause, their minds poisoned by these mongrels...as for Nyra, it was a pure shame...she would had made a promising mate to you...but instead, she became nothing more than a filthy-lower species loving whore!" The black owl spat with malice.

"YOU SON OF A BITCH!" Kludd screeched, not willing to let anyone insult his love, as he lunged at the black owl with his wings spread wide and his claws splayed open, hell-bent on ripping him apart, his shattered heart begging for nothing more than vengeance. But the ebony-feathered owl anticipated his attack, as the owl merely caught the angered Tyto by the neck with his right talon, equipped with a bloody battle claw. Kludd struggled to get free, swinging his claws like crazy to hit him, as he felt his windpipes being crushed, gasping, "Damn you..."

An insane and dark smirk grew on the murderous owl's face; as he let out a terrifying laugh, "Look all around you, Kludd...this..." He gestured to the dead bodies in the room, "All of this...is punishment for turning away from everything that was bestowed upon you. You should had listened to Maurice...you can't escape your darkness. Darkness is a part of you, it's your hatred, your anger, your lust...you gave into it and it becomes you. You don't belong in the light, boy...and it is only a matter of time before your darkness comes back and consumes you once and for all...it is only better that you accept the truth of your true destiny..."

Kludd could only snarl as he tried to break free, trying to ignore the dark words the being uttered...but he could not helped but wondered, as he looked him in the eyes, "Who...who are you?"

"Me?" The dark being asked...before breaking into another mad laugh. Before Kludd could ask what was so damn funny, he realized that the black feathers were withering away from him, as if he was instantly molting. However, as the feathers quickly blew away, new ones took it's place and when all the blackness had been shed, Kludd let out a gasp of terror. This owl, this murderer, this epitome of all that was evil...he was faced with himself, as the barn owl with the golden eyes bellowed, "I AM YOU!" With that scream, he took his other talon and rips his head off...

The scarred Tyto jolted upward in horror, "GAH!" his heart beating rapidly as the terror had caught a hold of it, as he could not comprehend his surroundings. However, he then glanced over himself, especially over his neck, and let out a huge sigh of relief; it was just a horrid daymare.

He looked around as he remembered where he was: in his hollow in the Great Tree of Ga'Hoole, home to the legendary group of knights known as Guardians, ruled by their venerable rulers, Boron and Barran, and their group known as the Parliament, consisted of the rybs of the tree, Strix Struma, Dewlap, and LaRoche, as well as the tree's blacksmith Bubo and singer Madame Plonk, and the hero Lyze of Keil, or as everyone called him, Ezylryb. It also happened to be the newfound home of his, along with his brother Soren, who was a Guardian himself now, his sister Eglantine, as well as his parents Noctus and Marella, and nursemaid Mrs. Plithiver, or Mrs. P for short as well as a plethora of other owls that he learned to call friends, Digger, Gylfie, and Twilight. This tree had been his home for about a few months now, and he had grown to like it here, especially given all he had to go through to be here now.

He was Kludd Alba, a barn owl hatched in the Forest Kingdom of Tyto, where he had lived up till eighteen, until one night, while branching with his brother without parental supervision, his jealousy got the best of him as he inadvertently sent his brother and him to the forest floor, where they almost got killed by a wolverine, had not two bumbling Long Eared Owls saved them...only to find out that they were being kidnapped and taken to St. Aggies, a group of barren canyons and crags, along with many other owlets, where they were first met the Pure Ones, a group of owls consisted of only the Tyto genus who believed their kind were above all others, and were willing to put down anyone who said otherwise. It was there that he met Nyra Camille, the Ablah General of the Pure Ones, and mate to the Lord High Tyto Metalbeak, formerly known as Surtr Camille, the leader and king of the Pure Ones. Nyra attempted to appeal to the crowd of owlets by telling them that the Pure Ones were their new family, when an Elf Owl by the name of Gylfie tried to plead to release them, which resulted in his brother, ever the noble owl, to stand up for her. Agitated, Nyra branded them as pickers, and when Soren, seeing he was about to be separated by his brother, tried to reach out to him...but Kludd, for some reason he could not name to this day, denied ever knowing him.

Upon that denial, he had begun down his path as a Pure One, as he had grown from a defense-less owlet into a tempered, loyal, and possibly ruthless soldier within the army, capturing the attention and approval of the Metalbeak and Nyra, while developing a rivalry with a grass owl he met during training named Nix...but all the while, unbeknownst to him, he felt something else grew within him...something that frightened him. It was this something he felt as he had gotten Grimble, a Boreal Owl who was forced to work for the Pure Ones for the sake of his family, killed as he helped his brother and the elf owl escape, denying himself it when given the chance, and even went on to moonblink (a method used to enslave owls by forcing them to sleep under the moonlight, nullifying their mind) his sister. That feeling continued to haunt him when the Guardians, after learning of the Pure Ones' stealing of owlets, went to stop them, getting caught in the blue tendrils of the flecks (a magnetic material that tampered with an owl's gizzard, rendering them useless to do anything), conspired by Metalbeak and a traitorous Guardian by the name of Allomere, and when Soren came to save them, flying through a burning forest with a lamp of fire and sending it upon the mechanism that exposed the flecks, and freeing him.

As he saw Soren, he felt a different set of feelings that all circulated in his heart: anger, hatred, envy, and most of all...pain... all of which pushed him to confront as the two owls fought within the burning forest of Beaks. As hard as the barn owl fought, he was eventually defeated, his wing broken, and hanging off his brother over fire. He tried to plead his brother to help him up...but as if another owl had taken over him, he appealed to the good owl's heart, and when he saw a branch he could grab on, he attempted to kill him once more...but he failed...and as a result, he fell into the fire, barely surviving with nothing more than a bad burnt scar that now marked his face.

When that happened, Kludd felt himself become a new owl...an owl who desired two things beyond everything else...power...and vengeance, and everything else, his parents, his nursemaid, even his little sister Eglantine, became obsolete...and his brother...he became the sole object of all his hatred. He returned to the Pure Ones, forced to hide away as their king was slain by his brother, leaving them as a ship without a captain, a position not even Nyra, who herself was devastated by her mate's death, could fulfill. However, fate was at play, as Kludd, returning with the helm of their dead ruler, was made king. This began a whole new chapter in his life, as over the year that followed, he tried with all his might to carry out his plan of vengeance and destroy his brother, the first time by taking a group of the Ga'Hoole's Search and Rescue chaw captive, just so he could face him one on one. Even though it was a good plan (in a evil sort of way), it failed, mostly to the complication of Soren trying to appeal to him, trying to bring out the side of him that he thought dead, and when he mentioned his parents...he losted it, and was so focused on killing him, that he was blindsided by his crush, a Short Eared Owl named Otulissa, and with her, a group of Guardians.

Even though that plan failed, it did not stopped Kludd, as he spent the remnant of the year contemplating his thoughts as to how he would defeat him once and for all. As the year progresses, he felt himself grow more and more numb, anger and pain nearly consuming his heart, turning him into an owl that was almost as heartless as Metalbeak was...and it would seem that his heart would be consumed by those emotions, sending him into complete and utter devastation...had it not been for the intervention of fate once more.

It all started one night, almost exactly a year after Metalbeak's death, when Kludd, merely pondering his corrupted thoughts, was visited by a strange snowy owl known as Samuel. He claimed to be a starseer, an owl gifted with the ability of starsight, the power to see the future through dreams, and even goes on to tell him that he knew everything about him. Furthermore, he went on to tell him of his future, saying that a being with darkness much greater than himself, would come here and take over, and that he and Nyra (who he had grown to love) would have to band together with the brother he hated oh so much in order to defeat him…and in doing so, would find what his heart truly desired.

Of course, Kludd did not believe him, and arrogantly brushed him off, refusing to accept this so-called 'prophecy'. However, he was proved dead wrong when an intruder came into the kingdom, an owl that was known as Skarmoris, who had slain a good number of their soldiers on his way in, and despite all his efforts, he and Nyra were defeated by him and his two soldiers, and to make matters worse, when he tried to plead to Nix for help, the grass owl betrayed them, and all the other Pure Ones, greatly intimidated or awed by his battle prowess, bowed to him, forcing him and Nyra to escape (with the help of the old starseer, of course).

Shocked that a part of the prophecy came true, Kludd and Nyra, seeing how there was no other way, went to Ga'Hoole, again led by Samuel (who only Kludd could see), only to accidentally run into Soren, who had been visited by the old owl as well that night, and crashed into the feast celebrating Metalbeak's defeat. After the dust settled, Kludd managed to meet with the Parliament, begrudgingly pleading for their help…but in the end, despite his objections, he was joined by his brother and the band, as well as the Lyze of Keil, and the hour that followed, the group of seven was soon sent off to the Pillar of Supremacy, the old training grounds of the Pure Ones shortly before Metalbeak's uprising.

The alliance was very shaky at first, as Kludd wanted nothing to do with his brother and the band and was more focused on getting his vengeance upon Skarmoris. But their adventure had really sent them for a loop, as they were nearly eaten by a black racer, retelling his favorite story of his as an owlet, 'The Two Brothers of The North', captured by a group of bandits led by a bad red-tailed hawk named Harris, and caught in a thunderstorm within the infamous crags of Labyrinth Peaks, and over those events, Kludd actually grew to get used to the group and actually began to feel the same way he did before the whole Pure Ones incident…but that did not changed his goal to take back his kingdom, and it was only hardened when he overheard the words spoken by his love Nyra, who was faced with her own turmoil of emotions regarding his past before Metalbeak, and feared that Kludd would become as heartless as her mate after he became Metalbeak, and his brother Soren, who had recently learn that he had starsight, receiving an image of his brother killing him, and deeply upset that he would lose his brother again, he went on to call his brother a monster. These words he heard nearly broke him, and seeing how there was apparently nothing left for him, he was more than willing to take back his kingdom.

Eventually, the group made it to the Pillar of Supremacy, and after sneaking past the soldiers, and settling the score with Nix, who had wanted an equivalent amount of vengeance on him ever since his days as a soldier, they finally met Skarmoris again. But the dark owl was actually anticipating their arrival, and went on to reveal himself as Maurice, an owl who once served alongside Nyra and Metalbeak as a Pure One, before he was banished for trying to convince Nyra to abandon her mate, who had grown into a owl so evil. He even told them about himself, how he was abandoned as a baby owlet, and how he grew up being feared because of his roots to his father, who was revealed to be the Deathbringer, an evil owl who had once terrorized the kingdoms thirty years back, and how after his banishment, how he had grown into the owl the seven heroes saw before them. He also revealed that he held deep feelings for Nyra, and requested that she joined him in his ultimate conquest. Nyra refused, seeing that the owl she once knew was no more. Hurt, but nonetheless undeterred, he sent his two men who lied in waiting upon the heroes, capturing all but the three barn owls, as Skarmoris was prepared to initiate his ultimate plan, and Kludd was about ready to stop him...but the dark owl had an ace up his sleeve...

Earlier that night, he had sent Nix and the two Long Eared Owl cousins to bring his and Soren's family here to the pillar, so that at the right moment, Skarmoris could break the once Pure One owl down further by revealing Kludd as Metalbeak, a secret that was kept by his brother and the band in order to spare his parents the horror and shock of his evil doings, ripping off the helm of an owl he respected and smashing it into two fragments. Naturally, the family was shocked, but most of them were actually pleased to see him again...the key word being 'most', as Noctus, his father, was outraged, not to mention disappointed. The father even went on to ask him why he would do such a thing...that question was what did it for Kludd, as many years of pent-up anger, jealousy, and pain within him finally released. Kludd practically screamed that everything that he had done was to finally be recognized...and one thing led to another, and before he knew it, he had his brother at sword point (with a sword he looted from Nix), ready to finish what he had started a year ago, thinking it would finally make him happy...

But when it came down to it, Kludd...simply couldn't do it...no matter how much he tried to focus, he could not do it...it was as if his heart had finally reached out to him after all these years, and as memories of all the good times in his life flowed into his mind that moment...he broke down. For the first time in a long time, he cried...and now as he looked back on it, it was the first step to healing his pain. While everyone else were quite surprised by his 'vulnerability', Skarmoris merely mocked him, saying he was weak, going on to knock him down and prepare to end him...had not Eglantine, not willing to see her brother die, stood up for him. Despite her courage, this diverted his attention towards her, as he was going to eat her…but Kludd, his mind and heart finally set straight, valiantly attacked Skarmoris, saving his sister and revealing the side of him once lost to his family and friends…but this moment of selflessness lead to a catalyst of events, as Kludd and Skarmoris squared in what could be one of the most grueling fights in his life as his family and friends escaped the pillar (after of course dealing with some lingering nuisances), and soon enough, Soren, unwilling to leave Kludd alone with the monster, joined him in his fight. It wasn't before long that Soren and Kludd had Skarmoris in a corner, weakened by exhaustion, only to grow worse as his entire army was decimated, crushed by the pillar, whose base was finally eroded away from the constant waves. Defeated, the Sulawesi Masked Owl fell to the sea, prompting the two brothers to think he committed suicide…

But, what happened next still baffled the scarred Tyto to tonight, for Skarmoris, during his fall to the ocean, was taken over by an evil deity that was within Skarmoris's soul since a few years back, a being who once terrorized the kingdom…a hagsfiend known as the Deathbringer. It was then that Kludd and Soren was thrown into yet another awful fight, as the unholy owl proved to be more than a match for the two…but it wasn't till Kludd and Soren intertwine their attacks and utilize the ability of gizzard flight, passed down by the wise Ezylryb, that they bested the beast, bringing Skarmoris back to his normal self, and after a bit of bitter remarks, the two brothers went to return to their family, leaving the broken owl to his own device…but the Deathbringer was not finished, as in one last attempt to kill them, he taken over Skarmoris's body again, and against his will, he charged at the two brothers with his silver sword in talon. They tried to get out of the way, but Soren, extremely weakened by the fight, tripped, and unable to flee in time. Seeing how his brother would die, Kludd retaliated by stabbing the owl, effectively killing both Maurice and Deathbringer…but in the process, suffering a nearly fatal wound.

Kludd took a glance at his abdomen, where a minor scar was, and let out a relieved sigh, he was lucky to have Soren and the others, for they were un-willing to give up on him, even though he lost a lot of blood, and an hour later, by utilizing a thermal that happen to be blowing that night, he was taken back to Ga'Hoole, where a kindly elderly Whiskered Screech Owl named Alice tended to him, much to the objections of the other owls, namely LaRoche, who had revealed that he was Metalbeak to the old tree…well, at least, from what Soren and the others told him, as he was already unconscious before they found the thermal. It was only a few hours (according to them) later that he had woken up, with Nyra crying into his feathers. It was a joyous reunion, as he was with everyone he loved again…but it was short-lived, as Ezylryb, who was talking to the Parliament about him in his slumber, brought Boron, the king of Ga'Hoole, to speak with him, his brother, and Nyra. Despite how intimidating he was, in both appearance and tone of voice, he simply explained that both Kludd and Nyra's noble deeds that night that drawn the attention of the Parliament and after much deliberation, a verdict was made: Kludd and Nyra would be permitted to take up residence in the Ga'Hoole Tree, and even more so, to train under them to become Guardians.

It had been about six or so months since that night, as he was now a Guardian-in-training, learning the ropes of being a noble knight. Heck, he was actually living in a hollow of his own, alongside with the most beautiful owl he had ever…Kludd's thoughts stopped when he realized something…Nyra was not in the hollow with him. Kludd took a quick glance around as the terror he felt from that nightmare returned momentarily, even glancing out his hollow in hopes of finding her…

Then suddenly, he remembered when he was, prompting Kludd to let out another heavy sigh…tonight was the night of his and Nyra's wedding.

It was when he was close to waking up when he heard Nyra's proposal to him to be his mate, and given how much he cared for her, even willing to lead the Pure Ones to be worthy of her, the first word he said when he woke up was 'yes'. Sure, one would find it odd that an owl like Nyra, who was much older than Kludd, would fall in love with each other, but there were so many things that brought the two together, as they were both there for each other at their darkest moment, and even though they were both on a dark path, they trekked it together, rather than on their own. It was this adventure they had six months back that brought a side of Nyra that not even he knew she had to light, a side that was actually…caring and loving. With all that said, Kludd had secretly been waiting for this night.

Wedding plans were starting to be arranged a month after the proposal, and positions were given. Twilight and Madame Plonk would serve as musical entertainment, Boron, to serve as a priest to wed them, Gylfie, Otulissa, and Strix Struma to serve as bridesmaids, as they were the sole three females that Nyra had grown to get along with (Otulissa, he still wasn't sure of), and to serve as his best owl, his brother Soren. It was over the next few months that it was coming together, for despite his past as a Pure One, many of the owls in the tree were willing to lend a talon in helping, especially Bubo, who would be one of his favorite rybs, as he was actually the most friendliest to him out of the other owls, treating him like a friend would to another. And even more surprisingly, LaRoche, the owl who was strongly against him and Nyra (and still was), had been making his job to see that was everything was planned perfectly.

And now, Kludd remembered when he was told that it was customary that the groom and bride are separated a few nights before the wedding. The scarred Tyto did not know the details as to why that was so, but nonetheless, he hadn't seen his Nyra much that week. But luckily, that was about to change, as tonight, was the night he would finally fulfilled the promise he made to Nyra over a year ago to make her his queen…although it would only be metaphorically, he still meant it. This was going to be his night…and he was happy…

At least, he was…the daymare he just had made sure of that.

Kludd merely glanced to his right towards a wall. It was nothing special with the exception of a sole piece of metal hung on the wall…this said metal was none other than the remaining fragment of Metalbeak's helm (the other one being destroyed by Skarmoris when he smashed it), it's copper-like blackness shining from the little bit of sunlight that shone through. When Kludd and Nyra first nested here, it was under a mutual agreement between them that they hung Metalbeak's helm there, for despite all the evil that came from it, it was the only remaining piece of memory of the owl they both respected and loved, Surtr. The scarred Tyto slowly approached the metal piece, and shuddered…that daymare he had witnessed was not the first one he had…the thought of his darkness turning him into…whatever it was he become in that dream, had plagued him for months. It all started when he heard those words from Maurice before his death…

"Mark my words, Kludd…your darkness will find you, no matter where you go…and when you least expect it, it will burn you from the inside…and you won't even recognize yourself when it does."

Although he chalked it up to him just trying to get into his head…he could not help but feel that something about those words could be true. The Kludd he saw, the one with the golden eyes, much like the Deathbringer…he slaughtered everyone without as much as a second glance, even Nyra meant nothing to him. As he looked back, he saw what it had done to both Surtr and Maurice…Surtr was once an venerable and kind owl…but when he lost his beak and his dignity, darkness, ever the one with false promises, seized him and thus birthed Metalbeak, who terrorized the kingdoms the next few years…and then there was Maurice, who's love for Nyra became riddled with envy and hatred, making him a perfect host for the Deathbringer to take over him. It frightened the barn owl that had not Samuel came to him that night, he would have ended up like them…but what to say he still won't? What if darkness was not through with him yet? What then?

Kludd merely slapped himself out of that thought; he was being ridiculous. He had changed, he was now working to become a Guardian, and tonight, he was going to be mated with the owl who had kept him from succumbing completely to this 'darkness', as he had for her, and he had his family and his friends behind him as well. He remembered what Samuel said before he ascended to the afterlife, that they would always be together. Besides, he had made a lot of progress since then, and it was just plain stupid of him to just assume that darkness can change all that.

Seeing how it was still early out, the barn owl simply went back to his nest of moss and letting out a deep sigh, he simply laid in it. It was still a hour or so before he would start preparing for what will be one of his greatest moments in his life, and it would do anyone no good if he just stayed up fretting about meaningless things. So, with a yawn, he returned to his slumber, secretly praying that he would not meet that demon with the yellow eyes again, that he would continue his new-found life without so much as a problem…but little did he know that there was another storm coming…

A/N: Okay, that's chapter two biting the dust! TearfulFriend18, if you are reading this, I must confess…it was your daymares in Skies of Darkness that inspired the daymare you had just read. I don't know whether to give this story a M-Rating right now or when we get to the even scarier parts that might follow. Please take note that the entries of ITD will not be in chronological order, as you will see later on. Also note that I made a change to the OC cast list in the last chapter, as I do not want to give anything away yet. For those wanting to see the wedding, that will be in the next two chapters…and you are all invited. :) READ AND REVIEW!

Artworks stuff is appreciated, deeply appreciated.