The Circle of Owls (The Grimalkin Book 3) Dani Swanson (best books for 8th graders .TXT) 📖

Cricket and Sorgin started to laugh as they watched Thea struggle to stay awake. “I hope you enjoyed your chicken.” Sorgin smugly commented as she stood over Thea, locking a cold, black collar around her neck.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

“I told you that they were going react that way! Thea’s not stupid! She wouldn’t believe anything that would have to do with you.”

“You should have told her that you’ve had this from a year ago….or since she re-met you. That’s your fault for not convincing her.”

“Now she thinks that I’m crazy and has left me behind. She isn’t anywhere in this castle. None of them are!”

“You know that they went after the Circle of Owls, right? She believed what she read in your book. She’s going to go and try to find Penelope now.”

“So, what are we supposed to do now? Sit here and wait? Or go back to your friend the Baba Yaga and see if we can get eaten by a dragon or see if she can cause another earthquake.”

Robin sat in the room for hours, talking to the voice that was haunting her. She stared out the window, stroking the silky fur of Tinker. She had so many emotions that changed as quickly as they arrived. She was missing her friends with every being of her soul – she was enraged that Thea didn’t believe her – terrified that she may in fact be losing her mind.

“The Baba Yaga is just doing what her job is to do – protect all the creatures of the realm. She’s just trying to protect the dragons from the witches and the humans who continue to kill them for their body parts. Just because you don’t understand her, doesn’t mean that she’s doing something wrong.”

“Her hut is made from human bones! She kills people!” Robin’s voice was shrill as she responded.

“They’re killing dragons, fairies, elves and yetis. She’s protecting them….besides, she’s not a human, why would she live by the rules that the human society has put in place?”

Robin didn’t have a logical response to that. She didn’t know how the Baba Yaga was able to cause an earthquake that hit the Izotza mountain that was so far away from her hut. Perhaps she felt a connection with the Baba Yaga, as she rarely felt that she fit into the confines of human society. She always felt that it would be easier for her to only interact with a few people and stay by herself. That’s why she enjoyed staying at Thea’s cabin so much – there was just the two of them and nature around her.

The ground below the castle lightly rumbled again – this was the fourth time in the last 24 hours that the ground was shaking. Robin calmed her cat, before going around the room and picking up the few things that had fallen from their places around her room. She finally made her mind up to leave the castle on her own and try to find out why the mountain was starting to have earthquakes.

“Do you really think that you should be leaving? What if they come back?”

“They left me behind for a reason…..” Robin’s eyes started to water, but she was determined to ignore it and head out on her own. “You could stay behind; I wouldn’t be mad about it.” With that comment the voice stopped talking to her and she could hear herself think. She packed a few things and left with her cat in tow.

Once outside the castle’s gate, she bundled her cat into her coat and started to walk to where the Baba Yaga was, but was interrupted by the loud squawking of a raven swooping at her head. She recognized it to be Jaeger right away. He swooped at her a few more times – Tinker jumped from Robin’s arms and tried to get the bird.

“What are you doing?!” She yelled at the raven as she retrieved her cat who was trying to climb a near-by tree. Once Jaeger heard her speak to him, he stopped squawking and started to fly the opposite direction toward the path that Thea and the guys took the previous morning. “Do you want me to follow you? Is that what we are doing?” She asked as the raven circled back over her head.

She followed the bird down the path, through the trees, and all the way to a small house in the Monkey Tree Village. He stopped on top of the roof and squawked until Robin reached the door. After spending the entire day chasing after the raven, Robin was out of breath and tired. “Okay, we’re here, now what?” She asked the bird as she looked around the dark windows of the building. Jaeger continued to make noise until the front door opened and a little dwarf poked his head out. “Agatha! You’re back! Get in here before you start drawing too much attention to the house.” He opened the door wide and invited her to enter.

“Oh, I’m not….” She started to cough, as if the words were stuck in her throat and were choking her. “Sorry, Eli. I have such a dry throat right now.” She cleared her throat and crossed the threshold.

Robin was screaming inside, but her voice wouldn’t come out. She was no longer in control of her body. She didn’t want to go into the building. She didn’t want to be stuck in her own head.

“It’s good to be back!” Agatha said as she looked around the new building. “Fill me in on what I’ve missed.” A soft smile spread across her lips as she was no longer being stifled by her sister’s voice.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Lilly wasn’t sure how the dragons got into the opening under the mountain, but ever since she freed them of their chains, they were trying to fly through the rocks – causing earthquakes on the mountain. She had to leave and try to find a way to get them