The Siege Read Online Free PDF

paused. “As was proven in the extraordinary rescue of Ezylryb.” Ezylryb nodded and seemed to fix his gaze on Soren. “Some have come to refer to you as ‘the Chaw of Chaws.’” Soren almost gasped, and he felt his gizzard give a thrilled little twitch.
    “To get to the point,” Boron continued, “your specialtalents as the Chaw of Chaws are now needed.” One could have heard a blade of grass drop in the parliament hollow.
    Glaux, Soren thought, if Twilight pipes up about war and battle claws, I’ll smack him. That’s all the Great Gray ever thought about. But of course he was brilliant in battle.
    Then it was as if Barran had read Soren’s thoughts. She swung her head around and fixed Twilight with a piercing stare. The light from her yellow eyes was like sharp, bright golden needles. “In a sense, it is much more dangerous than war. Although the stakes are as high, for you could be killed.”
    Whether Soren and his friends drew a breath for the next several seconds was questionable.
    “Your mission is to penetrate the St. Aegolius Academy for Orphaned Owls.”
    What! Soren thought. Go back! He and Gylfie were horrified.
    The two owls almost fell off the parliament perches. They were being asked to go back to the place that had attempted to destroy their personalities and their wills through the brutal processes called moon blinking and moon scalding.
    “We have reason to believe that a dangerous group of owls, the ones that call themselves the Pure Ones, have possibly already infiltrated St. Aggie’s with the intention ofcapturing the immense stores of flecks. We have had intelligence reports from Ambala that suggest this,” said Boron.
    “Ambala?” Digger said. “Isn’t that where the slipgizzle was, the Barred Owl?”
    “Was is right,” Boron said. “As you know, he was killed. Over the last several months, we have been cultivating a new slipgizzle. She is rather frail and quite eccentric. They call her Mist, and she is perfectly suited for this work because through some odd accident, an almost terminal shock to her gizzard, she has lost all her coloration. Her feathers have turned a pale, almost foggy gray. Some might think she is a scroom. But she isn’t. She does not fly well, but she has incredible powers of observation. The reports she has been sending about the Pure Ones are most disturbing.”
    Soren blinked. “Why?”
    “They want flecks,” Barran said, “and St. Aggie’s has the largest repository of flecks in existence. But Mist thinks their interest extends beyond the flecks, and that is what we want you to find out. The two greatest threats to the owl kingdoms are St. Aggie’s and the Pure Ones. The very idea of their being brought together in some sort of grand mischief is…” Barran hesitated.” “…gizzard-chilling, to put it mildly.”
    Then Boron resumed. “So, you see how important theseven of you are. We have faith in you. Now the question is, will you accept this mission?”
    The owls were stunned. They had come in expecting a scolding or a flint mop and, instead, they had been charged with this important mission. Soren felt Ezylryb’s gaze upon him. And Boron began to speak. “Soren and Gylfie, we realize that going back to St. Aggie’s will be most difficult for you.”
    “Yes,” Soren said slowly. “But, Boron, won’t they recognize us?”
    “Never!” Barran said quickly. “You were an owlet when you were there before. Your flight feathers had not fledged, nor had your face fledged white, and you were half your size. Gylfie—you, too, looked quite different.”
    “And,” Ezylryb began to speak for the first time, “as you two well know, they are stupid, these owls of St. Aggie’s.” He paused. “But still, you’ll need a cover story.”
    “A cover story?” Martin asked.
    “Yes, where you came from, why you are there,” said Ezylryb.
    Otulissa raised her talon now to speak. “Can we say something like we got sick of the Great Ga’Hoole