Guardians of Ga'Hoole 11 - To Be a King

become vulnerable to ambush. Instead, let us try the unexpected.” There was a low mumbling of assent among the ten other members of the parliament.
    “Surprise can be as deadly as any weapon,” Lord Rathnik said.
    “Indeed! Indeed!” echoed several owls.
    “My plan is this,” Hoole continued. “Even though the Ice Narrows is the shortest and the most direct route, with the N’yrthnookah blowing we would be flying dead into the wind and arrive pretty ragged and exhausted. If we flew off the wind a bit, taking a long way around, we would conserve our energy and also have a better chance of escaping detection.”
    “A question here, Your Grace.” A Northern Hawk owl, Sir Tobyfyor, raised a talon.
    “Yes, Sir Toby?”
    “I presume you are talking about going by way of Broken Talon Point, but hundreds of owls flying over Broken Talon Point will not go unnoticed.”
    “We will go by three routes: Broken Talon Point, as well as the point off the spirit woods, and due east to the far shore of the S’yrthghar sea. I know that eastern route is a rarely used one, but once over that shore we could clawnorth on a close-wing reach and fly around the end of the Ice Narrows. If Sir Bors and his students in the navigational chaw would provide us with the star maps, it would be most useful. These routes have rarely been flown.”
    “Aaah.” A sound of approval rolled through the parliament.
    “Strix Strumajen, can you give us any insight into atmospheric pressure changes that we should be expecting?”
    “It’s a little far in the future for accurate predictions. But there is a series of smee holes just inland from that eastern shore. They are quite active this time of year and should provide a robust thermal boost that could give us a nice bounce right over the N’yrthnookah. Indeed, I would suggest dispatching at least two regiments in that direction. There is ample territory for them to spread out so they won’t draw a lot of attention. And the eastern shore region is little inhabited, save for some eagles.”
    “Brilliant, Strix Strumajen!” Grank exclaimed.
    Perhaps, she thought to herself. But I wish Emerilla could help me here. She used to be so sensitive to any atmospheric pressure variation. It must be that blow on the head!
    So an invasion strategy was devised. There would be three contingents, the smallest of which would be a squad of eight or nine owls to fly through the Ice Narrows, hopefully not drawing too much attention. They would departin relays, leaving time in between each group. Then several platoons would fly to Cape Glaux and turn north, threading their way through the spirit woods to meet up with platoons that had flown over Broken Talon Point. Together, they would form a regiment. Finally, an entire division would fly due east from the island to the eastern shore and then turn north. They would hold these formations for the attack in the H’rathghar. Whether Lord Arrin would be holding the palace was unknown. The battle might in fact occur in the ridge lands of the H’rathghar glacier. The location of old stashes of ice weapons—for they were not depending entirely on battle claws—had also been discussed. The first squads, those bound for Broken Talon and Cape Glaux, would leave at daybreak. Shortly after, the rest would depart.
    Later that evening, Hoole told Lutta that he had assigned her to fly in what was now being called the Eastern Regiment.
    “But that isn’t really the right assignment for me, Hoole,” she protested.
    “No?” He blinked at her. They were alone in his hollow once again.
    “When I came here, I flew through the Ice Narrows. The wind was blowing fiercely from the south for several days before I arrived. I was forced to take refuge in an icehollow with a family of puffins—not the brightest, mind you—but they showed me something fascinating.”
    “What was that?”
    “A huge weapons stash.”
    “Really?”
    “Yes—close blades.” She paused. “I should take the squadron I have been training. We’ll collect the extra blades. We don’t have enough right now as it is. I can handle two blades at once. One in each talon.” She blinked, then narrowed her eyes. Two glowering slits. The glow of the ember cast her face in an odd light. Hoole’s gizzard gave a lurch.
    “Let me go there, Hoole. With two close blades and a set of battle claws, I’ll fight like you’ve never seen an owl fight.”
    Hoole looked at her oddly. There was something strange