Read Online (GoG Book 08) The Outcast by Kathryn Lasky - Free Book Online Page A

make sense, especially when she compared it to her own experiences with Strix Struma’s scroom. In particular, the book described a kind of mutism that seemed to afflict many scrooms, rendering them speechless at times when explanations were most urgently required. At the same time as the hauntings by Strix Struma, Otulissa had been involved in a deep study of the Fire Cycle cantos in the legends of Ga’Hoole. She had been prompted by Ezylryb to take another good hard look at the fourth canto, the meaning of which had always been considered obscure and controversial. She came to suspect that therewas some connection between Strix Struma’s scroomly visitations and the Fire Cycle, which told of the Ember of Hoole. She had previously thought that the Fire Cycle pertained only to King Hoole, but after several readings she began to suspect something more in it: that there was another king yet to come who would rule by the grace of the ember. It was a staggering thought. But there was no escaping it. And when the scroom had last come to see her, she had broken out of her mute state long enough to tell Otulissa that she must go to Beyond the Beyond, a journey that, in living memory, no Guardian of Ga’Hoole had ever made.
    Nonetheless, Otulissa knew deep in her gizzard that she must go. What she must do once she got there would be revealed. For now, she simply had to fly on faith.
    So, near the end of the season of Golden Rain, as the sun was rising and the great tree slept, she left. It was essential that her mission be kept secret. The Chaw of Chaws, her best friend, could not know. She had been picked for this mission by the scroom of Strix Struma. She flew to the cliffs on the far side of the Island of Hoole so that no one would see her departure. She had been preparing for this strange journey for nights on end—reading about wolves, studying their culture, the geography of the strange land. But as she spread her wingsand caught the billows of salt air under her primaries, she felt a terrible loneliness. She missed her chaw mates. And the responsibility of her task weighed heavily. To this was added the uncertainty of the task itself. She knew she must go, but she still was not exactly sure why. It had to do with the Fire Cycle, the Ember of Hoole, and an owl who needed her help. The sun struck her wings and gilded the tawny feathers a bright gold. Resolutely, she banked into a starboard turn and headed off across the Sea of Hoolemere.
    She anticipated arriving at Cape Glaux at night. She was a strong flier and would keep going through the night on a northwesterly course straight across Silverveil and the Shadow Forest. With luck, she would arrive at Beyond the Beyond within a few days. Glaux knew what she would do in that vast and desolate region frequented by hireclaws, dire wolves, and other desperate characters. She knew that no one was very social. Names were avoided for the most part. Good. She would not be bothered.
    She had learned much about the dire wolves from Ezylryb’s private library, which had a few very rare books on the creatures. The wolf clans were different—they had names and were social and highly organized, although they often fought among themselves. Dire wolves,however, had a strange code of conduct that required that they give sanctuary to any creature in need. Any wolf who broke this code by denying such sanctuary risked his life and that of his clan, for they would be set upon and killed by other wolves.
    There was one more vital piece of information that Otulissa had learned in her extensive research, and that was about the Sacred Volcanoes where it was said the Ember of Hoole lay buried. The Sacred Volcanoes formed a ring and no one knew precisely in which volcano of the ring the ember lay buried. Mostly, the ring itself was guarded by dire wolves that were all descendants of the MacDuncan clan, but a few exceptions were made. Wolves from other clans could petition to become guards. These