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day.”
“You mean they’re gone?”
“Not gone. Regrouped. They’re all fighting for the spoils. It’s a feast for vultures up here in the N’yrthghar. Before the Battle in the Beyond, Lord Arrin had taken old King H’rath’s Ice Cliff Palace on the H’rathghar glacier, but now some upstart, with a force double the size of Arrin’s, laid siege to it and drove Lord Arrin’s forces out. Then Ullryck, a horrible hagsfiend if there ever was one—and Lord Arrin’s best assassin—well, she up and starts a division of all her own hagsfiends. No owls at all.”
“New alliances, eh?”
“Yes, new alliances. They are all struggling for power.There is even a gang of old gadfeathers who have decided to fight.”
“Gadfeathers fighting?” Theo was aghast.
“Shocking, isn’t it? They don’t call themselves gadfeathers anymore. They call themselves kraals. They’re not so much interested in power or killing. They just like to steal, mostly.”
“Kraals.” Theo repeated the word. It must have come from the old Krakish word “kraalynk,” which meant to attack for treasure.
“They’ve traded in their gaudy bits and bobs for paint and live in ground nests out on the tundra. They figured out how to make colored paints from berries, mosses, and the like. You’ve never seen anything like them. All painted up. Makes a gadfeather look plain, I tell you!”
“And you say that some other group has taken over the palace on the H’rathghar glacier?” Theo asked.
“Yes. Can’t remember the fellow’s name. And he has hagsfiends with him. Young ones, from what I hear.”
Svarr had definitely heard a lot, Theo reflected. But the most important piece of information was that the N’yrthghar was in shambles. A feast for vultures, indeed, with outlaws and kraals and hagsfiends and tyrants all competing for the spoils. He needed to visit the Ice CliffPalace now to find out just how many owls and hagsfiends were holding it.
“Oh, I nearly forgot,” Theo said shortly before he left. “Have you heard of a Spotted Owl named Emerilla?”
“Emerilla, daughter of Strumajen and Hurthwel?”
“Yes! Yes!”
“Oh, indeed I have. She was said to be one of the finest young soldiers in the Ice Regiment, but it is thought she was lost in a battle. Never heard from again.”
“You know nothing further of her?”
“No. But they talk about her all the time. Lord Arrin is obsessed with her. I think he’d like her for his mate. Some say she’s gone off with the hagsfiends. Others claim she’s with the kraals.”
“Well, thank you, Svarr. You have been most helpful. And if you hear anything, might there be a way you could get news to us?”
“Well, as you know, we are a solitary sort. But I suppose I could get word to Svenka.”
“That would be fine, because we will be checking in regularly with her.”
“She’s a good lass. I miss her sometimes. Tell her I’ll look forward to our meeting in two years. Wish her well with the cubs.”
“Would you like to send a special message to Rolf and Anka?”
“Rolf and Anka? Now why in the name of Ursa did she name them that? Those are the two most un-bearish names I’ve ever heard. We are always called good north-country names like Sven or Svarr.”
“Maybe she just wanted to try something different, original,” Theo suggested.
Svarr crinkled one eye shut and pawed at his chin fur. “You know, sometimes I think these females try to be just a little too original, don’t you?”
“Oh, I wouldn’t know, really. But is there anything you want to tell the cubs?”
“No, not really. Cubs rather bore me.”
Theo blinked. No doubt, polar bears were an odd species. He thanked Svarr again and took off. Now, he wondered, should I fly on and see them, Mum? Da? Shadyk?
The mere thought of his father made him flinch and his wings feel heavy as stone.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Home?
T he Firth of Grundenspyrr was as crooked as a wolf’s hind leg, and it was one of the few
“You mean they’re gone?”
“Not gone. Regrouped. They’re all fighting for the spoils. It’s a feast for vultures up here in the N’yrthghar. Before the Battle in the Beyond, Lord Arrin had taken old King H’rath’s Ice Cliff Palace on the H’rathghar glacier, but now some upstart, with a force double the size of Arrin’s, laid siege to it and drove Lord Arrin’s forces out. Then Ullryck, a horrible hagsfiend if there ever was one—and Lord Arrin’s best assassin—well, she up and starts a division of all her own hagsfiends. No owls at all.”
“New alliances, eh?”
“Yes, new alliances. They are all struggling for power.There is even a gang of old gadfeathers who have decided to fight.”
“Gadfeathers fighting?” Theo was aghast.
“Shocking, isn’t it? They don’t call themselves gadfeathers anymore. They call themselves kraals. They’re not so much interested in power or killing. They just like to steal, mostly.”
“Kraals.” Theo repeated the word. It must have come from the old Krakish word “kraalynk,” which meant to attack for treasure.
“They’ve traded in their gaudy bits and bobs for paint and live in ground nests out on the tundra. They figured out how to make colored paints from berries, mosses, and the like. You’ve never seen anything like them. All painted up. Makes a gadfeather look plain, I tell you!”
“And you say that some other group has taken over the palace on the H’rathghar glacier?” Theo asked.
“Yes. Can’t remember the fellow’s name. And he has hagsfiends with him. Young ones, from what I hear.”
Svarr had definitely heard a lot, Theo reflected. But the most important piece of information was that the N’yrthghar was in shambles. A feast for vultures, indeed, with outlaws and kraals and hagsfiends and tyrants all competing for the spoils. He needed to visit the Ice CliffPalace now to find out just how many owls and hagsfiends were holding it.
“Oh, I nearly forgot,” Theo said shortly before he left. “Have you heard of a Spotted Owl named Emerilla?”
“Emerilla, daughter of Strumajen and Hurthwel?”
“Yes! Yes!”
“Oh, indeed I have. She was said to be one of the finest young soldiers in the Ice Regiment, but it is thought she was lost in a battle. Never heard from again.”
“You know nothing further of her?”
“No. But they talk about her all the time. Lord Arrin is obsessed with her. I think he’d like her for his mate. Some say she’s gone off with the hagsfiends. Others claim she’s with the kraals.”
“Well, thank you, Svarr. You have been most helpful. And if you hear anything, might there be a way you could get news to us?”
“Well, as you know, we are a solitary sort. But I suppose I could get word to Svenka.”
“That would be fine, because we will be checking in regularly with her.”
“She’s a good lass. I miss her sometimes. Tell her I’ll look forward to our meeting in two years. Wish her well with the cubs.”
“Would you like to send a special message to Rolf and Anka?”
“Rolf and Anka? Now why in the name of Ursa did she name them that? Those are the two most un-bearish names I’ve ever heard. We are always called good north-country names like Sven or Svarr.”
“Maybe she just wanted to try something different, original,” Theo suggested.
Svarr crinkled one eye shut and pawed at his chin fur. “You know, sometimes I think these females try to be just a little too original, don’t you?”
“Oh, I wouldn’t know, really. But is there anything you want to tell the cubs?”
“No, not really. Cubs rather bore me.”
Theo blinked. No doubt, polar bears were an odd species. He thanked Svarr again and took off. Now, he wondered, should I fly on and see them, Mum? Da? Shadyk?
The mere thought of his father made him flinch and his wings feel heavy as stone.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Home?
T he Firth of Grundenspyrr was as crooked as a wolf’s hind leg, and it was one of the few
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