Faolan. This is your cairn, and your watch is Stormfast. Winks will lead Edme to the cairn for Morgan. Scramble up, and I will join you shortly.”
There was much to learn that first night.
“I am your
taiga,”
Twistling said, “but so is Stormfast.” He nodded toward the volcano, whose crater was belching great rolling plumes of steam that unfurled and stretched across the night. “You’ll learn how the scent of the sulfurous steams varies through the seasons.
“Lava flows are rare,” Twist continued, “but you will learn the difference between flows from Stormfast or from Kiel on the opposite side of the Ring.”
In the eastern sky, the first bright shadow of the moon clawed its way over the horizon and began to climb. It was then that Faolan spotted the owls. Their broad wings printed against the dark, their tip feathers silveredby the moon’s light, the owls of Ga’Hoole came silently through the night — ghostly and majestic.
“They usually arrive when the moon is rising. And from the cairns of Stormfast and Morgan, you have the best view of them. On the Bone of Bones, you will learn about the truly great owls, beginning with the first more than a thousand years ago.” Faolan felt something in his marrow. His eyes widened and he shoved his ears forward. He, as all wolves in the Beyond, knew of the ember that lay buried in the volcanoes and how it often traveled through the lava tunnels from one crater to another. He had been told the legends of the Ring and was aware that the first King Hoole had known about the ember’s strange power before he retrieved it. The King named it the Ember of Hoole and warned the first collierthat this ember was not for any Rogue smith’s fires.
“I know,” Faolan said quietly.
“You know.” Twist cocked his head and looked at Faolan with curiosity. “You’ve already read that part of the Bone.”
“No. Not yet.”
“Then how do you know?”
Faolan looked at Twist. There was confusion in his eyes. “I’m not sure. I just know.”
Something stirred in Twist. It wasn’t a feeling so much in his marrow as in his heart. He continued, “As I said, you’ll learn about the Fengos as well as the great colliers — like Grank, the first collier.”
Faolan gave a start as he heard the name.
“Are you all right?” Twist asked.
“I’m fine. Please go on.” When Twist had said that name — Grank — there was a shiver deep in Faolan’s marrow. The kind of shiver that wolves felt when another wolf walked over the place where they would take their last breath.
“Let’s begin with the scanning leaps.”
“Scanning leaps?”
To answer the question, Twist shot up as fast as any burning ember and spun around at the highest point of his leap. He did a forward somersault and landed neatly back on the cairn. Faolan blinked in astonishment.
“That was a full gainer with a double spiral and a little something of my own devising at the end. But the real point is not how fancy you can get but how much you can see while you’re up there. How much you can scan in theshortest amount of time. We can’t fly like owls, but …” Twist chuckled a bit. “Well, we try!
“Right now, your job is to learn about the good owls, not the graymalkins yet — how to recognize them, who they are.
“And now,” Twist said. “Time for your first jump. The trick is to spring from your back legs and immediately tuck your front legs under. Don’t try anything fancy on this first one. Just up and down and land on your hind legs.”
On the count of three, Faolan sprang. Burning embers whizzed by him and he could feel the heat of the flames from the volcano and smell the lava thick and boiling in the crater. Hot gusts brushed his pelt, and for a few seconds, he felt as if he were one with the sky — the stars, the moon, the racing clouds — until he saw an owl high above him.
What a world they live in!
he thought. Before he knew it, he was back on top of the cairn.
“Your
There was much to learn that first night.
“I am your
taiga,”
Twistling said, “but so is Stormfast.” He nodded toward the volcano, whose crater was belching great rolling plumes of steam that unfurled and stretched across the night. “You’ll learn how the scent of the sulfurous steams varies through the seasons.
“Lava flows are rare,” Twist continued, “but you will learn the difference between flows from Stormfast or from Kiel on the opposite side of the Ring.”
In the eastern sky, the first bright shadow of the moon clawed its way over the horizon and began to climb. It was then that Faolan spotted the owls. Their broad wings printed against the dark, their tip feathers silveredby the moon’s light, the owls of Ga’Hoole came silently through the night — ghostly and majestic.
“They usually arrive when the moon is rising. And from the cairns of Stormfast and Morgan, you have the best view of them. On the Bone of Bones, you will learn about the truly great owls, beginning with the first more than a thousand years ago.” Faolan felt something in his marrow. His eyes widened and he shoved his ears forward. He, as all wolves in the Beyond, knew of the ember that lay buried in the volcanoes and how it often traveled through the lava tunnels from one crater to another. He had been told the legends of the Ring and was aware that the first King Hoole had known about the ember’s strange power before he retrieved it. The King named it the Ember of Hoole and warned the first collierthat this ember was not for any Rogue smith’s fires.
“I know,” Faolan said quietly.
“You know.” Twist cocked his head and looked at Faolan with curiosity. “You’ve already read that part of the Bone.”
“No. Not yet.”
“Then how do you know?”
Faolan looked at Twist. There was confusion in his eyes. “I’m not sure. I just know.”
Something stirred in Twist. It wasn’t a feeling so much in his marrow as in his heart. He continued, “As I said, you’ll learn about the Fengos as well as the great colliers — like Grank, the first collier.”
Faolan gave a start as he heard the name.
“Are you all right?” Twist asked.
“I’m fine. Please go on.” When Twist had said that name — Grank — there was a shiver deep in Faolan’s marrow. The kind of shiver that wolves felt when another wolf walked over the place where they would take their last breath.
“Let’s begin with the scanning leaps.”
“Scanning leaps?”
To answer the question, Twist shot up as fast as any burning ember and spun around at the highest point of his leap. He did a forward somersault and landed neatly back on the cairn. Faolan blinked in astonishment.
“That was a full gainer with a double spiral and a little something of my own devising at the end. But the real point is not how fancy you can get but how much you can see while you’re up there. How much you can scan in theshortest amount of time. We can’t fly like owls, but …” Twist chuckled a bit. “Well, we try!
“Right now, your job is to learn about the good owls, not the graymalkins yet — how to recognize them, who they are.
“And now,” Twist said. “Time for your first jump. The trick is to spring from your back legs and immediately tuck your front legs under. Don’t try anything fancy on this first one. Just up and down and land on your hind legs.”
On the count of three, Faolan sprang. Burning embers whizzed by him and he could feel the heat of the flames from the volcano and smell the lava thick and boiling in the crater. Hot gusts brushed his pelt, and for a few seconds, he felt as if he were one with the sky — the stars, the moon, the racing clouds — until he saw an owl high above him.
What a world they live in!
he thought. Before he knew it, he was back on top of the cairn.
“Your
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