Guardians of Ga'Hoole 08 - The Outcast

you?”
    “Not on my life.”
    Above her, a phalanx of birds closed in, making escape impossible. Below her were walls of wolves and above them all, Coryn flew with the bright jewel of the Ember of Hoole clutched in his beak.
    There had to be a way out of this. She hadn’t lived thislong to die now. She knew every trick. She would figure out something. The wolves were strong and huge, but many of them were missing limbs. That’s where the gaps in the wall of wolves would be. She scanned the legs. If she found a gap and was quick and flew low, she might get out.
    But just at that moment, the sick wolf lunged. There was a flurry as all the birds and wolves leaped back to avoid the flying flecks of foam. One speck in the wrong place could mean death. But Nyra saw her chance.
    I’m free! She spread her wings to rise, but Uglamore swooped down upon her. She tumbled sideways, stunned.
    Uglamore! Coryn shreed silently.
    It was unbelievable. The old lieutenant was now in the foaming jaws of the wolf. All eyes were on Uglamore and the disease-maddened animal. In the desperate confusion of the moment, Nyra flew off.
    “He’s dying! He’s dying!”
    Gyllbane charged the sick wolf, which dropped Uglamore’s body on the ground, howled, and ran directly into the coal beds. In its frenzy, the wolf had thrown itself on its back and was now being consumed by flames.
    The wolves and the owls had raced to Uglamore, who now was dying, for the wolf’s fangs had stabbed right to his heart. “Stand back, stand back,” Fengo, the chief of theSacred Watch, was saying. “You must not touch him. It is sure death.”
    Coryn now lighted down. The owls backed away from him. He did not carry the poison of death, but now seemed wrapped in the majesty of a king. Gwyndor came up beside him with his bucket and Coryn dropped the ember in so he could speak.
    “Uglamore,” Coryn whispered. “You took the fangs of the wolf for me.”
    “I took the fangs of the wolf for a king, Nyroc.”
    “They call me Coryn now.”
    “That is a fine name for a fine young owl.”
    “You left the Pure Ones. But why? I don’t understand. You were one of Nyra’s top lieutenants.”
    “When you hatched, young’un, I began to see things differently.” He was gasping for breath now. His eyes rolled back in his head. “For a long time I doubted the beliefs of the Pure Ones. There is no…aggg…such thing…pure is nothing…It is only the infinite and wonderful variety of owls that makes us rich. Barn Owl, Boreal, Snowy, Elf…”
    “Spare your breath, dear Uglamore.”
    But now the old owl had begun to foam at the beak and his body jerked in death twitches. The wolves looked on in wonder as their king crouched low to the ground.Uglamore stopped twitching. He looked deep into Coryn’s eyes, and Coryn looked deep into his. Around him, the wolves began to whisper in stunned voices, “It’s like lochinvyrr, without predator or prey.”
    “Yes,” said another wolf. “It’s lochinvyrr between a king and his loyal subject who has died for him.”
    Coryn backed away from the body of the dead owl. “Rogue smiths,” he said in a commanding voice that surprised even himself, “colliers, bring your coals. We must burn the body of this noble owl.”
    Within a short time, flames leaped up from the owl that was Uglamore. Sparks began to float off into the night. Gyllbane and Hamish came to stand beside Coryn. They tipped their heads back and howled. The other wolves joined in.
    Coryn blinked. He could see the sparks arcing toward the stars.
    “He goes now on the spirit trail of stars toward the soul cave in the sky,” Hamish whispered.
    “To glaumora,” Coryn said.
    “Yes, to glaumora,” Hamish whispered.
    When Coryn looked at his wolf friend, he blinked in disbelief. “Hamish, what has happened to you? Your leg is no longer crooked.” He looked at the other gnaw wolvesof the Sacred Ring. Fengo, the chieftain of the Sacred Watch, now had all four of his paws, and Banquo, who had been born without an eye, now had two glistening green ones. Wolves without tails had mysteriously grown them, wolves with misshapen hips now walked straight.
    “What has happened?” Coryn asked, stunned by these transformations.
    Fengo stepped forward and lowered his body in a submissive posture. He then put his head so it almost touched the ground and twisted his neck to look up at Coryn. Flashing the whites of his eyes, he said, “The Ember of Hoole has been guarded