The Siege Read Online Free PDF Page B

Tree? We didn’t trust the Guardians—something like that.”
    “No,” snapped Ezylryb. “They’ll never believe you. It will raise their suspicions if they think you have anythingto do with the great tree. You need to come from a place that they know very little about.”
    Soren suddenly realized that Ezylryb had thought out this entire cover story.
    “A place like what?” Soren asked.
    “A place like the Northern Kingdoms,” said Ezylryb.
    “Hold on a second.” Digger had now raised a talon to speak. “Ezylryb, Gylfie and I are desert owls. The chances of our coming from the Northern Kingdoms are just about zero.”
    “I have it figured out,” Ezylryb replied. I thought so. Soren blinked.
    Ezylryb continued, but he did not stand still on the perch. He began sweeping through the air.
    “Last summer, before certain unfortunate incidents like the Great Downing and my own entrapment in the Devil’s Triangle, I had commenced a set of weather interpretation experiments. My original intention had been to pick up information on atmospheric particles and subpar-ticles as they related to the displays we call the Aurora Glaucora, those magnificent colors in the summer sky when the entire night seems to pulsate with glorious lights. There was one last summer, as I recall, just around the time of my entrapment. Well, as often happens with scientific inquiry, one sets out to solve one problem and,quite by accident and happy surprise, one finds the answer to something entirely different. What I stumbled across was a new method for detecting distant williwaws.”
    “Williwaws!” Soren, Gylfie, Twilight, and Digger blurted out together.
    “We know williwaws!” Gylfie said.
    “Oh, you do, do you?” There was a churr, a kind of owl chuckle embedded in Ezylryb’s voice.
    “Yes, sir,” Gylfie continued. “On our journey to the Great Ga’Hoole Tree, we thought we were right on course for the island when somehow we got sucked up into the Ice Narrows…” Gylfie’s voice began to dwindle off as the realization dawned.
    Now Ezylryb really did laugh. “Aha!” he exclaimed. “You’re getting the picture! Yes, you see, that’s how desert owls get to the Northern Kingdoms. They get sucked up there. For what is a williwaw but a sudden violent wind?”
    “He is so clever!” Otulissa said, her voice drenched in awe.
    “Winds become confused. It is essentially a thermal inversion anomaly. Or, to make a long story short: You got your cover. You were sucked up, all of you, to the Northern Kingdoms,” said Ezylryb.
    “And then what?” Soren said.
    Ezylryb stopped flying and lighted down beside Soren.
    “Yes, and then what? Perhaps Gylfie and Digger, due to your desert background, did not find this cold place comfortable. And you other five, you felt that there was too much clan warfare going on. One clan chief fighting against another. Very disorganized. Disorganized is a key word to use with the St. Aggie’s owls.”
    “Oh, yes!” Gylfie exclaimed. If there was one thing that St. Aggie’s prided itself on, it was organization and efficiency.
    Ezylryb continued. “You must say that you find clans an inefficient, cumbersome method of social and military organization.” The old Whiskered Screech paused. “But if you just mention the Northern Kingdoms, the land of the Great North Waters where I come from, every St. Aggie’s owl will be intrigued. It is the last frontier to be conquered. If an owl has been there, every other owl is consumed with curiosity about what they have seen or experienced. And if you suggest that the Northern Kingdoms might be vulnerable, you shall be welcomed.”
    “But we can’t fake it. I mean, we only got as far as the Ice Narrows. We don’t know that much about Northern Kingdoms,” Gylfie said.
    “You will by the time I get through with you,” Ezylryb said bluntly.
    The seven young owls exchanged nervous glances.Then Boron began to speak again. “The seven of you shall report to