Guardians of Ga'hoole:Rising Flames

Chapter 19:A Message Of Fire

Riyu was awake all night, thinking. Although he worried about Codor, he was extremely worried about his owl friends. Tyron with his injured wing could fly far, but what if something went wrong? Riyu fretted endlessly, but all he could do was pray.

"Oh Glaux, if you can hear this, please send me a sign about how my friends are doing. Besides the wolves and my abilities, they're all I've got. Please hear this. Please." He had his eyes closed the whole time, envisioning what Glaux looked like.

He imagined a heavenly owl, painted in light the colors of the Ember of Hoole. Their eyes were the same color as the wolves, and he imagined the image of the ember reflecting in their cores.

He slowly opened his eyes to a bought of storm clouds on the horizon. The first rays of sun broke through the dark blackness of the night. He slowly remembered this was what the weather was like when he first met Rose.

"They must be okay then." He said with a sigh. He twisted his head to the sky, and was met by Codor's face.

"Hey Riyu! Your up early." Codor said, his tail wagging. His fangs were twisted into a half smile, which definitely was creepy. Riyu was noticing how he had never seen Codor smile. He had no idea if wolves in the southern kingdoms knew how to really smile. Owls couldn't do teethy smiles because they had no teeth.

"Yeah, I was just watching the sunrise." He said. Codor barked in amusement. "Ha! The sunrise has barely started!" He broke into raucous laughter, awaking many of the wolves.

"Yes, and your laughter woke us up!" Snapped a female wolf. Her fur was a light grey streaked with blacks and whites, and she had a distate for how Codor acted, but her knowledge of fire was deeply appreciated by the clan.

"Heh, sorry! That was my fault." Riyu said, taking the blame for his friend. Although he tried to be convincing, he knew the wolves were skeptical. His feathers swayed in a soft circling motion as he began to pace around.

Riyu then took off, leaving behind a confused Codor. He soared above the whole territory, angling his wings to catch the still wind around him. It was a bit harder because he was used to using wind, but he adjusted to it like yesterday.

He was thinking about why him of all children was here. Weren't there other fans of the books? Didn't other people love this world? What made him so special, after all?

"I'm just a kid." He said, looking down. Black clouds of smoke covered his view of the ground, and he realized he was near the volcanos.

'I wonder if I could do it. Could I catch an ember on the fly with my ability to see in the flames?' He was transfixed by the mountain range soaring above him, no matter how far up he flew.

"I know what I have to do." He said, and plunged back down to the rocky earth to look for Codor.