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black of the night. She felt her gizzard quicken. This must be the place! It has to be one of Grank’s fires! Joy sang through her hollow bones.
“Do you think that’s a fire over there?” the Snow Rose asked. “Do you see that smoke?”
“Yes.”
“We should go see what’s happening.”
“Oh, I’d prefer not. I’m tired. You know, this wing gives me trouble and the wind has changed and we’re flying against it. I’d like to get to the Glauxian Brothers as soon as we can.”
“Oh, yes, I understand…er…” The Snow Rosehesitated, then continued. “Don’t think me rude. But if we are to be fly mates might you tell me your name?”
Name, name, Siv thought in a panic. What’s my name? “Elka!” she said suddenly. She remembered that her dear servant, Myrrthe, who had been killed by hagsfiends, had a sister named Elka.
“Elka, a very nice name,” the Snow Rose replied.
CHAPTER TWELVE
So Near But Yet So Far
B eneath that curl of smoke in the night sky, Grank perched by the forge, peering into the fire. He simply did not understand. Had he lost his firesight? Oh, he could see images, but they were weak, unclear, and impossible to read. How had this happened? Was it old age? Had his eyesight simply dimmed? His eye tubes shortened up? Had his third eyelids thinned out, letting too much flight debris scar his eyes? It was a mystery and a frustrating one at that for although he could not read the images, the blurry suggestions of contours and shapes set his gizzard trembling. He felt that danger lurked nearby but the images themselves seemed too frail to show him more. It was almost as if the life had been sucked out of them, rendering them hopelessly obscure. When he did see something, it seemed nonsensical. Right now lurking in the bottom part of one very weak flame, he saw what appeared to be a truly immense tree and there were theimages of owls hunched over a book of some sort. But what did it all mean?
What Grank had surmised was true. The fire had for him been leeched of its power. For there was another who had firesight. A fire can only yield its images to one fire reader, and it offers them to the reader with the strongest sight. And that was Hoole. For even though his sight was undisciplined, it was amazingly powerful and what was left for Grank were only dim shadowy shapes. Each morning when Grank and Theo slept, Hoole flew down to the forge to watch the image that stirred his gizzard with emotions he had never experienced. He was so obsessed with his vision that he had ignored the other images in the fire.
But had the fire not been drained by Hoole, Grank would have seen much to disturb him. There was no telling if he would have recognized Siv clad in the geegaws of a gadfeather but he certainly would have recognized Pleek and would have surmised that the Horned Owl with whom he flew was none other than Ygryk. Grank knew of the “guise charms,” as they were called, of which hagsfiends were capable. And he also knew no other female Great Horned Owl would dare to fly with Pleek since he had taken Ygryk as a mate. He would have also seen Ullryck the assassin following well behind Ygrykwith two powerful Great Grays. Indeed, he would have been so agitated that he would have made plans at once to flee this island in the Bitter Sea for Beyond the Beyond. But Grank saw none of this. Yes, he had vague and disturbing feelings in his gizzard but nothing was clear enough to suggest a course of action. He only hoped that his firesight had not left him for good.
“Ah, the Snow Rose!” Brother Fritzel exclaimed. “Our pleasure, madam.” A shiver of delight stirred the Snow Rose’s white plumage and set the red berries woven through them to jiggling prettily. She had forgotten how polite these brothers were. Treat me like a queen they do. Might as well be Queen Siv herself.
“Thank you, brother,” she replied.
“You’ve come at a wonderful time—not a time for silence. So we would love to
“Do you think that’s a fire over there?” the Snow Rose asked. “Do you see that smoke?”
“Yes.”
“We should go see what’s happening.”
“Oh, I’d prefer not. I’m tired. You know, this wing gives me trouble and the wind has changed and we’re flying against it. I’d like to get to the Glauxian Brothers as soon as we can.”
“Oh, yes, I understand…er…” The Snow Rosehesitated, then continued. “Don’t think me rude. But if we are to be fly mates might you tell me your name?”
Name, name, Siv thought in a panic. What’s my name? “Elka!” she said suddenly. She remembered that her dear servant, Myrrthe, who had been killed by hagsfiends, had a sister named Elka.
“Elka, a very nice name,” the Snow Rose replied.
CHAPTER TWELVE
So Near But Yet So Far
B eneath that curl of smoke in the night sky, Grank perched by the forge, peering into the fire. He simply did not understand. Had he lost his firesight? Oh, he could see images, but they were weak, unclear, and impossible to read. How had this happened? Was it old age? Had his eyesight simply dimmed? His eye tubes shortened up? Had his third eyelids thinned out, letting too much flight debris scar his eyes? It was a mystery and a frustrating one at that for although he could not read the images, the blurry suggestions of contours and shapes set his gizzard trembling. He felt that danger lurked nearby but the images themselves seemed too frail to show him more. It was almost as if the life had been sucked out of them, rendering them hopelessly obscure. When he did see something, it seemed nonsensical. Right now lurking in the bottom part of one very weak flame, he saw what appeared to be a truly immense tree and there were theimages of owls hunched over a book of some sort. But what did it all mean?
What Grank had surmised was true. The fire had for him been leeched of its power. For there was another who had firesight. A fire can only yield its images to one fire reader, and it offers them to the reader with the strongest sight. And that was Hoole. For even though his sight was undisciplined, it was amazingly powerful and what was left for Grank were only dim shadowy shapes. Each morning when Grank and Theo slept, Hoole flew down to the forge to watch the image that stirred his gizzard with emotions he had never experienced. He was so obsessed with his vision that he had ignored the other images in the fire.
But had the fire not been drained by Hoole, Grank would have seen much to disturb him. There was no telling if he would have recognized Siv clad in the geegaws of a gadfeather but he certainly would have recognized Pleek and would have surmised that the Horned Owl with whom he flew was none other than Ygryk. Grank knew of the “guise charms,” as they were called, of which hagsfiends were capable. And he also knew no other female Great Horned Owl would dare to fly with Pleek since he had taken Ygryk as a mate. He would have also seen Ullryck the assassin following well behind Ygrykwith two powerful Great Grays. Indeed, he would have been so agitated that he would have made plans at once to flee this island in the Bitter Sea for Beyond the Beyond. But Grank saw none of this. Yes, he had vague and disturbing feelings in his gizzard but nothing was clear enough to suggest a course of action. He only hoped that his firesight had not left him for good.
“Ah, the Snow Rose!” Brother Fritzel exclaimed. “Our pleasure, madam.” A shiver of delight stirred the Snow Rose’s white plumage and set the red berries woven through them to jiggling prettily. She had forgotten how polite these brothers were. Treat me like a queen they do. Might as well be Queen Siv herself.
“Thank you, brother,” she replied.
“You’ve come at a wonderful time—not a time for silence. So we would love to
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