The Shattering (Guardians of Ga'hoole) (16 page)
Read The Shattering (Guardians of Ga'hoole) Online
Authors: Kathryn Lasky
Tags: #Fantasy, #Fiction, #General, #Children's Books, #Children: Grades 3-4, #Juvenile Fiction, #Fantasy & Magic, #Ages 9-12 Fiction, #Children: Grades 4-6, #Legends; Myths; Fables, #Legends; Myths; & Fables - General, #Owls, #Lasky; Kathryn
SIMON: Brown Fish Owl,
Ketupa (Bubo) zeylonensis,
a pilgrim owl of the Glauxian Brothers of the Northern Kingdoms
THE ROGUE SMITH OF SILVERVEIL: Snowy Owl,
Nyctea scandiaca,
a blacksmith not attached to any kingdom in the owl world, and sister of Madame Plonk
THE GUARDIANS of GA’HOOLE
Book Six: The Burning
H
ow will we ever find the retreat?” Otulissa asked. “Beats me,” Gylfie replied.
“Well, you’re the navigator.”
“Flight navigator. The sky. The stars. Not land navigation.” Gylfie swiveled her head, looking for any sign that might indicate where the Glauxian Brothers might dwell. They flew on, lacing their way through the magical forest web. After nearly an hour, they came to a place where the trees thinned out and Gylfie spotted something ahead that intrigued her. “Let’s land in that next tree,” she whispered to Otulissa.
The two young owls perched on a slender branch. “Look over there,” Gylfie whispered. Otulissa blinked. Through the fir trees were the whitest birch trees either one of them had ever seen. The trees grew in a circle, a perfect circle. And then, if one peered really hard, as Gylfie was now doing, there was something else.
“That’s an owl,” Gylfie whispered to Otulissa.
“Where? I don’t see an owl.”
“Over there, a few inches in front of that trunk.” Gylfie pointed with one talon to indicate the tree she was looking at.
“I don’t see—” Otulissa started to say, but then interrupted herself. “Walt. Great Glaux, it’s a Snowy Owl.”
And there was not just one Snowy but a half dozen standing sentry, their white plumage with the occasional dark spots blending in perfectly with the white-barked trees behind them. Gylfie and Otulissa had arrived at the retreat of the Glauxian Brothers.
Kathryn Lasky
has had a long fascination with owls. Several years ago, she began doing extensive research about these birds and their behaviors. She thought that she would someday write a nonfiction book about owls illustrated with photographs by her husband, Christopher Knight. She realized, though, that this would indeed be difficult since owls are shy, nocturnal creatures. So she decided to write a fantasy about a world of owls. Even though it is an imaginary world in which owls can speak, think, and dream, she wanted to include as much of their natural history as she could.
Kathryn Lasky has written many books, both fiction and nonfiction, including
Sugaring Time
, for which she won a Newbery Honor. Among her fiction books are
The Night Journey
, a winner of the National Jewish Book Award, and
Beyond the Burning Time
, an ALA Best Book for Young Adults, as well as the Daughters of the Sea and Wolves of the Beyond series. She has also received the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award and the Washington Post Children’s Book Guild Award for her contribution to nonfiction.
Lasky and her husband live in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Book One:
The Capture
Book Two:
The Journey
Book Three:
The Rescue
Book Four:
The Siege
Book Five:
The Shattering
Book Six:
The Burning
Book Seven:
The Hatchling
Book Eight:
The Outcast
Book Nine:
The First Collier
Book Ten:
The Coming of Hoole
Book Eleven:
To Be a King
Book Twelve:
The Golden Tree
Book Thirteen:
The River of Wind
Book Fourteen:
Exile
Book Fifteen:
The War of the Ember
A Guide Book to the Great Tree
Lost Tales of Ga’Hoole
No part of this publication may be reproduced in whole or in part, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission of the publisher. For information regarding permission, write to Scholastic Inc., Attention: Permissions Department, 557 Broadway, New York, NY 10012.
Text copyright © 2004 by Kathryn Lasky.
All rights reserved. Published by Scholastic Inc. SCHOLASTIC and associated logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Scholastic Inc.
First Printing, August 2004
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eISBN 978-0-545-28336-6
Cover art by Richard Cowdrey
Cover design by Steve Scott