Chapter Seven: Battle Armour

I slowly regained consciousness Glaux knows how many moons later. I felt another brain in the room. 'Silvaria' I thought. But something was wrong... The thoughts of this mind were not pure and innocent like Silvaria's. No, it burnt brightly with evil, hate and rage and demanded purity. Not of heart and gizzard, but purity of Tytos. That they were superior and would stop at nothing until they ruled over all other species of owl. Something was very wrong. I strained and forced my vision to recover. I jolted wide awake at the sight I had seen. My gizzard plunged into grief as I hazily saw my beloved mate Silvaria dying on the floor of our hollow. I looked up the enormous Barn owl whose mind I had sensed. He was wearing battle armour like the ones on that owl I had seen in Silvaria's memory. They were covered in blood.

"What have you done to Silvaria?" I stood up, my eyes narrowed. The grief in my gizzard had now had now turned into absolute rage.

"Oh, was this pathetic owl your mate? Don't worry you'll soon join her." The bloody Tyto replied.

I looked down at my mate who was now gasping for air, still deeply in tune with brute's mind. These were to be her last breathes and then she would be gone forever. While the anger in my gizzard rose to my brain, I heard screams of owls outside and battle claws slashing the air. The telepaths were being slaughtered by the second and my parents were probably already dead. These owls could not even begin to comprehend exactly who they were dealing with. The time for peace was over. My eyes shot toward the Tyto's to gain a better link to his brain. His mind was the complete focus of my fury. I saw him quiver a little. I closed my eyes and remembered Silvaria screamed, telepathically and out loud, still holding a firm mental grasp on this 'pure' Barn owl's mind. In that instant I unlocked the utmost full potential of my telepathic abilities. A lifetime of training could not bring me what this anger in my gizzard brought out. I was more powerful than the best Telepathic Grandmaster, even more powerful than the greatest Cortex Silencer. I was ready to take on Teleglaux himself. The mu metal lined outside our hollow exploded off the tree bark and went flying in all directions, making the owls it didn't strike and kill go yeep and plummet to the ground. I stopped... I could no longer feel his brain. I opened my dilated eyes. The Barn owl whose battle armour was covered in my mate's blood now lay on his back. I blinked. He was brain-dead. Exhausted mentally and physically, but with a new found strength I walked over to Silvaria and collapsed beside her. Blood flowed from the deep gash made by the battle claws. I held her in my wings as she reached her dying breath.

"Silvaria, I'm so sorry. This is all my fault. I shouldn't have..." I began to say, but I was cut short by her final words which she had to fight for.

"Don't... Blame yourself Mes..." She touched my cheek feathers with her starboard wing. "I wanted you to... Your strong now, and can take care... Of yourself. I'll always be with, you in scroom..."

She closed her eyes and managed to telepathically hoot, -"I love you Mes"- before she died.

-"I love you too Silvaria. I'll never forget you and will always keep you in my heart and gizzard."- I promised her dead brain which only perhaps her scroom could hear. I could have sworn I felt something touch my port shoulder. I swiveled my head, but there was nothing to see.

-"Be at peace Silvaria."- I thought telepathically.

A tear escaped my eye and I swept it away with my blood-stained wingtips. Something to remember her by for a while. I knew it was rather sickening, but I rather liked the new look.

I had to get out of there before more of these "Pure Ones" as they called themselves came for me. I hobbled to opening of the hollow and saw all of Tele Town set ablaze. The Oak Trees and all of their knowledge burning high into the sky. Fire crowned from treetop to treetop and all of the fir trees used as houses by the telepaths were clothed in bright red feathery flames.

I might have been fire blinked had I been flying. I looked back at my mate. She would be cremated. 'But along with him?' I thought. So I shoved him out of the hollow, breaking his neck as he fell head first to the ground and lay in the pile of pellets Silvaria and I had yarped. I spread my wings and stole one last glance at the most beautiful creature in these Glaux-forsaken owl kingdoms and flew off into the darkness of the night with a heavy heart.

I had not flown very far when I came to alight down atop a branch of a tree I was too weary to identify. I had no idea where I was going or what I was supposed to do. I had lost my mate and my old life was burning to a crisp.

I began thinking about everything on that branch.

'It all made sense now. The owl that I had seen in Silvaria's memory was one of them and he must have told them about Tele Town. If only I... No Silvaria wouldn't want me to blame myself.'

'Poor Silvaria. By the time I woke up her mind was too weak too weak for me to detect'.

I could still feel the minds of the division of Pure Ones doing Glaux knows what in my old home. 'Would I let these owls get away with this? With my new powers I could surly defeat this evil. But would my powers be enough? And were there more of these owls?'

-"You cannot let them get away with it Mesmo, but leave those owls for now."- A powerful voice said in my mind.

-"Who said that?"- I blinked and frantically looked around.

A bright blue transparent figure shaped like a Barred Owl appeared before me. He was wearing the most marvelous and mesmerizing battle claws I had ever seen.

-"I am Teleglaux's scroom"- The voice boomed in my mind.

-"Teleglaux?"- I repeated. My wings locked and had I been flying I would have gone yeep. I suddenly felt really bad for thinking I could take him on just before I silenced the Tyto's mind.

-"Do not worry about that Mesmo."- Teleglaux read my mind. -"Never before have I seen such remarkable telepathic power and skill."-

-"Thank you, sir."- I replied quietly.

-"I saw this night coming and I knew that force was too great for even I to control. So I entrusted my powers in you upon your hatching, Mesmo. Telepathy persists better in Barred owls and as you know I am a Barred owl and all telepathy spawned from me. You might be the last telepathic owl left in this world Mesmo, but there is another creature that I have given telepathy to be your friend. You shall meet him soon, he is a wolf. To defeat these brutal Tytos you must train him and find the Guardians."-

I nodded. It was a lot for me to take in especially after what happened to me tonight, but I listened attentively. I wasn't sure what a wolf was and I thought the Guardians were just a legend.

-"Tonight however, you will need to go back to Tele Town and retrieve something I hid eons ago under the dining hollow tree when it was just a little plant."-