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

their weapons drawn – but they knew they were no match for what was coming for them. They shivered on the wall- some from the chill and some from fear- but were too afraid to move from their posts. They started to fill the catapults with vats of oil, with torches lit, waiting for the orders of the little squirrel to send them flying into the trees. Their preparations were well executed even though many of them did not have any magic.

Lola ran along the wall of the castle, boosting the spirits of the kingdom. She did her best to not let any emotion other than excitement out. “We will not be prisoners of the Circle of Owls again! This is our Kingdom! This is our home!” Her rally was met with cheers.

They started to arrive in pairs, hiding behind their feathered masks – circling around the walls of the kingdom. The witches had conjured their elements, the elves had their bows drawn, fairies with their wands out and the borgs had their clubs raised. Both sides of the castle walls were waiting for their mistress to call the attack, and for a moment, they all froze together as they watched the hundreds of owls flying through the dead of night.

A group of the owls swooped in with their bundles. Thea, Penelope and Lilly were dropped into an opening between the trees. They were promptly met by a group of dwarfs who controlled their collars – shocking their skin to show their control. The yelp that came from the women echoed through the night and disrupted the groups at the caste from watching the owls. A lone arrow was sent flying through the sky from a skittish elf on the castle wall.

“What are we going to do now?” Lilly asked in a hushed whisper as she watched a dwarf sharpen his axe. “If we try to move, they’re going to start shocking us again.” She was already rubbing the burn marks on her neck.

“I’m sure we’ll have some time; Cricket will need to get Celeste before she comes here. She never could do anything by herself.” Penelope was fidgeting with a bobby pin from her hair, trying to pick the lock on her collar.

“Then we’re going to be waiting forever.” Lilly said with a smirk. “Her body was dragon food months ago.” Her stare never broke from Thea the entire time she spoke.

Thea’s face dropped as she stared back at Lilly. “You killed my mom?!” Thea knew she shouldn’t care what happened to her mother, but she felt the impulse to protect her.

“You got mine killed!” Lilly’s voice echoed through the trees as Thea instinctually lunged toward Lilly but stopped in her tracks by her collar.

“Stop it! You’re better off without her.” Penelope wrapped Thea in her arms. “Your mother was an evil woman and didn’t care for anyone besides herself – your aunt had brainwashed her long before you were born into only doing what Cricket wanted. We need to work together if we’re going to survive this. Cricket is going to be a danger if she gets our powers!”

Over their heads they could see the fiery glow of the oil being launched from the catapult and the battle cries of the members of the Circle, as they ran toward the castle. The oil lit the trees on fire and melted the skin of attackers so quickly they didn’t even have a chance to scream. The battle had started without Cricket’s arrival – giving Lola and her followers the upper hand of the attack. The followers sent their vats of oil raining down upon The Circle. The archers sent their arrows directly after – piercing the skin of the borgs who were on the front line. The fairies flew down below and were casting spells on everyone

Cricket kept her distance from the battle she knew was taking place above her head. The musty scent of the empty dungeon filled her nose as she brought Robin in through the secret passage that lead to the old meeting area of the Circle.

She held onto Robin’s arm by the elbow, dragging her through the tunnels of the castle, collecting small pieces of her crystal as they went. The satchel she had with her was filling with the shards as they made their way up to the sitting room of the castle.

“There’s no way you’ll be able to get that crystal back together, Cricket. You’ll have to find a different way.” Robin did her best to distract Cricket from making it to her destination. She hugged onto Tinker as tight as she could to keep the cat from doing anything to get shocked by her collar.

“Even with part of the crystal, I’ll be able to use it. You know what I read in one of your books?”

“I’m sure a lot of things…..” Robin kept her voice low.

“It turns out that when you take someone’s power – or part of their soul, and split it, the power never fully becomes whole again in that person. Just like the crystal when you break it, the shards will never be whole again no matter what spell you use to bring it back. Part of every person’s soul, and their magic are stuck in each piece I’m collecting.” Cricket held up a small piece to the light so Robin could see a cloudy shadow move inside of it. “Mixing all the pieces together again is a cocktail of all the magic and power.” She had a blissful smile on her face as she scooped up another piece.

Robin didn’t speak again, as she too knew that part of the souls was going to be trapped in the crystal. Anything that has a soul can be healed by a witch with that power. She knew that as Cricket was a healer just as Thea was, she was going to do her best to heal the stone into one massive piece.

“I’ll have part of the souls I took before, plus