I awoke with a shudder. I had been pushed down, and Linton and Ethan were whispering.

“Those wolves are going to be the end of us.” Ethan said.

“And wake Amelia up.” Linton added.

“Do you see any owls but us?” he adds uncertainty.

“Not that I can see.”

“We should be in the clear.”

I open my beak fully and ask, “What’s going on?” and I scare the others out of their feathers.

Ethan speaks first. “Some wolves started howling at the moon. That only happens when it's a full moon. And usually a full moon also means…”

“Hunting season for the Southern Owls. They’ll eat anything in this area!” Linton finishes.

“What should we do?” I ask.

“Let’s go knock them out.” Linton suggests.

“Yes, 1 frog and 2 owls barely of age to take out a pack of owls. I’d pay good money to see that. Go on, I’m not dying now.” Ethan croaks.

“Shhhh.” I hoot.

The leader of the pack of wolves stops howling and looks around, and passes our tree.

“I’m smelling some tasty Owls nearby. Oooh and a frog! Well, well come out owlets!”

“Snow, are you sure…”

“Trust me. The frog will come out kicking-”

Ethan, right on cue, jumps down and knocks out the wolf who questioned the leader, and me and Linton swoop down and scratch at two wolves. The leader grunts and swipes their paw.

I feel an impact on the side of my head, and fall into unconsciousness.

When we wake up, we are next to a fire, next to the pack of wolves. Now that I’m closer, the markings on them seem very familiar.

“We were under the command of your father.” said Snow automatically, noticing me looking at her markings. “What are you doing this far out?”

“What?” I am confused.

“I noticed you 3 up in that hollow. I wanted you to come down, so you came down and attacked me. I must say, you provided much more of a joy to fight than those suckers at the Ridge.”

“Oh. The ridge.” I answer back. “Where are the others?”

“Oh, they’re practicing combat with my pack mates. So you're wondering how we escaped?”

I nod.

“Yes, everyone we see asks that. We came late you see. I saw you take down that Eagle but then suddenly, balls of fire start raining down. I have never seen magic like that before. Only the Balls of War could do that.”

“We were heading to Arbonoc.”

“So I realised. Almost all your fathers friends are doing the same. Say, I heard Nicholas also escaped. What happened?”

“He got taken as a slave.”

“Just as most of us have guessed. They are trying to revive Death Flyer using the portal.”

“Will you come with us to Arbonoc?”

“That depends. It’s really an owl's journey, but seriously? We’d do much better here on the ground.”

“Can I go see my friends now?” I ask. “Where are we?”

“My friend, you are 1 hour’s flight from the shore, which will take you to Arbonoc. It’s our training camp!”

She leads me to the training area, where Linton, bearing metal claws like my father, and Ethan, bearing his clan symbol in full frog ninja gear and armoury, are training. Linton is fighting a wolf, who seems very strong. However, Linton seems to be tiring him out. Ethan is just a blur as he jumps around another wolf.

However, as soon as they see me, they stop sparring and greet me.

“Heya Amelia!” says Linton happily.

“Hi. Ready to fight?” asks Ethan in a voice quite unlike his own.

“Amelia, this is Alex and Bruce.”

The two wolves bow.

“I served your father Amelia. We all did. Me and Bruce. We were commanders.”

“Hi Bruce!” I say.

“Amelia, you’ll be fighting Linton. Owl to Owl.” Bruce replies with a smile. Alex whispers to him and he smiles.

Linton smiles at me, and I smile back. Was I ever this fond of him?

“Don’t worry, I’ll fight easy.” he says.

“Lovely.” I replied back.

“You’ll want these,” Ethan says and he throws me metal claws, “If anyone is seriously injured, I’ll give them 5 training berries, the berries Nicholas gave us.

And thus, we begin to fight.

Linton comes in screeching, but I fly up to the moon, catching onto his plan. Swearing angrily, he follows me up, but then, I dive down, and fold my wings back, feeling the wind in my feathers. Just before I hit him, I wink and scratch him.

But he takes the hit stoically. He recovered quickly and chased after me. I stop my dive milimetres from the ground and he too does so. Hovering and glaring at each other.

“You are good!” he says, sounding surprised.

I blush, but thankfully he doesn’t see.

“Why are you so surprised?”

“Because, If you were good, you would see this coming!” and he threw out his claws, and crashed them into mine. We wrestle in the air. Finally, gaining the upper hand, I threw him onto the ground with a thump.

“Told you I’ll play easy.” he says and faints.

Hen, I hear the unmistakable sound of applause. Ethan was standing on his legs, clapping.

“Good show! Good show.”

Bruce nodded happily, and Alex added, “Excellent!”

The sun came up slowly, and Snow waltzed into the view and said, “Good night owls!”

As the wolves went hunting for our breakfast, we snuggled up into that hollow we found.

As I lean against Linton and Ethan hops down to stand guard, I whisper to him, “Why is Ethan so eager to fight?”

“His entire family was wiped out by Southern Owls. He wants to kill them as much as I do. But really, everyone rejects me. I am technically a Southern Owl after all.”

I nod, and lean on him. The warmth of his feathers gives me hope that we will make it to Arbonoc.

We are content.

And, as I see the sun rise, my eyes feel heavy and droop.