I don't often leave author's notes, but I'm leaving one now.
I would like to dedicate this chapter to Barn Owl Girl. Your encouragement, support and interest in my story really means a lot to me. Keep on writing and I will continue reading.
Chapter Eight: Teleglaux's Mission
Still grieving the loss of my beloved mate, I flew towards the fiercely blazing cluster of trees once know as Tele Town. I was going over the mission the owl god of the telepaths had given me in my head for the third time. The Dining Hollow Tree had been the place where the telepaths had eaten all of their meals. Little did anyone know about the secret trap door located on the Western side of the tree hidden under ages of soil and fallen leaves. I was to retrieve the ancient artifacts that once belonged to Teleglaux himself, otherwise I would stand no chance in the war against these so-called Pure Ones. I felt a tremor of fear in my gizzard as I approached the burning trees. A wave of heat and the deafening sound of roaring flames swept over me. It was not the heavily armoured owls I was afraid of. If I flew undetectably low while avoiding the flames, I could reclaim the objects and the Pure Ones had better hope they didn't spot me and stand in my way of escaping the inferno.
I made it to the dining hollow tree in the middle of town and managed to avoid being spotted by the Pure One Scouts who were perched on the outer perimeter of what used to be Tele Town on trees that had not yet caught alight to ensure that no telepaths were left alive. I made a spiraling decent around the large tree and landed on the ground to the west of it. I wasn't sure where to start digging and I wasn't a burrowing owl either. I remembered that family of telepaths who had rather flat heads and long featherless legs and insisted on living in a burrow in the ground. How I wished they were there to help me. All of a sudden a remarkable thing happened. The ground underneath my talons became transparent and I could see the trap door about four centimeters underground. It glowed an eerie bright blue, the colour Teleglaux had appeared to me in. I knew it was him and that he was with me.
-"Thank you Teleglaux."- I looked up and uttered telepathically. I started digging, my talons glowing bright blue.
I finally finished digging out the trap door and entered the narrow passage, closing the door and the heat and noise along with it behind me. I gave a sigh of relief and leaned back for a few seconds. I continued along the passageway, the bright blue glow of my talons as my only source of light. I didn't want to be ungrateful towards Teleglaux, but my talons were really starting to disturb me. I supposed it was just like having Teleglaux in my talons leading me on the true path of light.
I soon found myself in an underground hollow just slightly bigger than the average tree hollow. Roots from the dining hollow tree hung from the ceiling and weaved along the walls of dirt. The air was stale, cold, moist and smelt like earth. The soil beneath my shimmering talons felt odd, different from the surface soil. I had never been under underground before. It gave me a small abnormal tinge in my gizzard. I looked around. Something at the other side of the room reflecting the light emitting from my talons caught my eye. Was it what I was looking for? I walked over to a crate made of wood and lined on the outside with mu metal. Bright blue streaks had been painted across the metal ages ago. It was defiantly signature telepathic. Mu metal had been used all around Tele Town because of its telepathy blocking properties and bright blue stripes were the mark of telepathy as telepathic owl eggs were striped this way. I flapped my wings in order to send a gust of wind that blew the dust away. An old piece of parchment flew up into the air and landed in front of me. I turned it over and placed my starboard talons on it in order to read it. It was a letter from Teleglaux. I blinked and started to read it.
To my chosen one:
If you are reading this by now you must know there is terrible danger in the owl kingdoms and the existence of all telepaths is under treat. I have trusted you with my power and along with it you must use the contents of this crate and defeat the evil that has risen. You must not forget those whom you loved, but you must also not let them bring you down. I shall not let you be alone in this world.
Forever by your side
Teleglaux
I moved the piece I parchment aside and turned my attention to the crate. My beak dropped to the floor as I opened the lid with my wings. I spread out my wings and executed a small air hop onto the edge of the crate. As I perched, my glowing talons provided a better glimpse at the artifacts. I was truly mesmerized as they reflected the bright blue light.
Meanwhile outside the secret underground hollow the fire raged on and the Pure One Scouts were quite satisfied that they had eradicated the entire telepathic race. They felt that we were one less parliament of owls to worry about. The twenty heavily armoured owls were just about to leave when they saw a strange figure emerge from the centre of what used to be Tele Town. How could they have missed one? It struck fear into their gizzards. 'If this telepath survived this ferocious attack,' they thought, 'he or she was no doubt the strongest of them all.' It was I, Mesmo, the last remaining telepath. My head was equipped with a gleaming helmet that amplifies telepathic brain waves and helps pick up brain activity by 120 times. It had streaks of bright blue all around it and great detail. My talons, which now stopped glowing, were armed with matching battle claws. They amplified and picked up brain waves by 20 times each. And in my talons I held a book. The most comprehensive guide on telepathy written and maintained by Teleglaux as he observed the Telepaths throughout the ages. The cover was made from the hides of Arctic Hares and was also streaked with bright blue lines. It felt like just holding the book enhanced my power as well. All of these things used to belong to Teleglaux, but now they were mine. I could also feel the presence of Teleglaux in a slight blue haze that surrounded me.
The hoard of Pure Ones took wing and flew straight at me, unlocking their battle claws as they came close. There was a loud THUD as the Pure Ones slammed into each other. I watched and churred while hovering ten meters above as seven Pure Ones, injured by the battle claws and the impact plummeted into the fiery furnace. It was telepathic battle tactic which I just invented. I made all the owls see me in their minds in one place while I was in another. The pages in the telepathy book glowed bright blue like my talons had and then ceased glowing. 'Teleglaux,' I thought. 'So every time new telepathic information is discovered he records it in this book.' The remaining Pure Ones struggled to power lift to where I was actually hovering. One came up on my port side and I swung the large book at him, causing his helmet to go flying off his head. I dove down, trying to lose them. Five chased me while the other seven were trying to orientate themselves. I locked onto the minds of the Pure Ones behind me and with a mental blow that would normally only cause a major headache, but now with my new battle armour sent them hurtling unconscious in the other direction. I then flew towards the remaining seven Pure Ones. They were ready for the assault. I had to change that and fast! I made their minds swirl with confusion and bright disorientating colours. With a series of blows from the book, head butts, mental blows and unwilling mind control I finished them off.
I decided to give the surviving Pure Ones a new change at life. So I targeted on their minds and erased all their memories of the Pure Ones.
The first phase of Teleglaux's mission was complete and I had a new reason to live. The second phase of the owl telepath god's mission was a lot more complicated and would take plenty more time. I rose off into the moonless night and left my old life behind for good, the pages in the book glowed with new information. I had to find this telepathic wolf and gain his support, and then I would brave the Sea of Hoolemere and find the Guardians of Ga'Hoole.