Read Online The Rescue (Guardians of Ga'hoole) by Kathryn Lasky - Free Book Online Page A

Beak—no words at all, just happiness. He tried to imagine his parents and a river of happiness flowing between them and himself and Eglantine. Then he jerked himself back from such reveries. What he had to say next was going to be very difficult. He was going to have to refuse to have Primrose and Eglantine on this mission.
    “Primrose, there will be a time when we will need you and Eglantine.” He paused.
    “What?” Eglantine was stunned. “You’re not taking me? You promised,” she whined.
    “Eglantine, you are not ready. You proved this tonight by blabbing to Primrose.” He then spun his head toward Primrose. “Primrose, you are certainly ready but it was our decision that the fewer the better on this mission. The less chance that we’ll be missed if it is just us.”
    “I understand, Soren. Don’t apologize.”
    “But what about me?” Eglantine whined again. “I’m your sister.”
    “Yes, and someday you will be stronger, stronger in wing and stronger in gizzard. And we shall need you, and you shall be included.”
    Eglantine’s wings drooped by her side. Her black eyes seemed to swim with the reflected light of stars.
    “We must prepare to go now,” Soren said.
    “Good luck,” Primrose said in a full strong voice. “Be careful.”
    “Yes, be careful, Soren,” Eglantine said softly.
    “Eglantine, don’t be mad. A promise is a promise. When you’re ready we’ll both know it.”
    “I could never be mad at you, Soren. Never.”
    “I know,” he replied softly.
    Soren now looked to the south. The wake of the comet was still visible. But it made for a strange light in the sky, a light that could be deceiving. He would have Twilight, whose vision for marginal conditions like these was renowned, fly in the point position. “Ready for takeoff! Twilight, fly point, Gylfie, port side. I’ll fly starboard, Digger, fly tail.”
    They lifted off into the strangely colored night. Why was the night stained red? When he had first seen the comet a few weeks before, it had appeared red because it was dawn and the sun was just rising, but now it was night and there was no rising sun. It gave Soren the shivers tothink about it and the more he did, the more the sky looked not simply rusty, but like blood. And there was another curious phenomenon. The wind was a light head wind and should have slowed them down. But, indeed, it was the reverse. It seemed as if the comet had cleared a path, created a vacuum through which they passed easily. It was as if they were being pulled instead. He was supposed to be the leader of this band. But where was he leading them, and what were they being pulled toward? Suddenly, the night seemed ominous to Soren. He felt something cold and quivering deep in his gizzard.

CHAPTER NINE
The Rogue Smith of Silverveil
    D awn was breaking. They had been flying over Silver-veil for what seemed like hours, scouring the landscape below for any sign of smoke. It was the smoke that had led them to the cave of the dying Barred Owl so many months before.
    “Do you think we’ll ever find him?” Soren called across from his starboard position.
    “Her,” Gylfie said. “It’s a her. ”
    “Oh, sorry, I just can’t get used to a female as a blacksmith.”
    “Well, get used to it,” Gylfie said somewhat testily.
    “Rotate positions,” Soren called out. “Let’s look for a rest spot. Crows will be up soon. We don’t want a mobbing.” Soren, Gylfie, Twilight, and Digger had been mobbed once before on their way to the Great Ga’Hoole Tree. It was not an experience they wished to repeat. Digger had been seriously injured. Owls flying in the daytime are not safe, except perhaps over water. Crows have a systemfor alerting other crows to the owls’ presence and can come upon them in a swarm, often pecking out their eyes, stabbing them from beneath, and making their wings collapse. In the night, it is quite the reverse. Then it is the owls who can mob the crows. Just as Soren was about