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."He stopped reading.There was an extra verse at the end, one he'd never heard before.While the first three verses were written in blue, the last verse was penned in thick, broad strokes of silvery ink--as if Gran had meant to draw his attention to it.He continued:168"Owl Keeper is summonedatop the frozen plain,Owls and Sages gather to fight the dark again, two will make the journey, silver owl in hand,Seek the moonlit tower as darkness sweeps the land.Silver and ice, silver and ice,Silver owl will guide you, with its golden eyes."Rose leaned over and patted the owl, perched on a gravestone nearby."It gives me the shivers.""The haunted forest makes sense," said Max, mulling over the phrases."We're in it right now! And the red-eyed wolves are plague wolves.""The eyeless creatures are skræks," said Rose darkly."I really hate those things.""Me too." Max shuddered.How could he ever tell Rose that the High Echelon had planned to make him a Skræk Master?Rose tugged on a string of matted hair."What does the last verse mean?""It's about the Owl Keeper bringing together Sages and silver owls.""Yeah, but what about the two making a journey with a silver owl?" Rose's voice fell to a melodramatic whisper."That's us,169Max! We're supposed to take your silver owl to a moonlit tower! It says so right there!"Max sifted through his memories, trying to recall what Gran had told him.Sounds and images tumbled through his head: a tower, a silver treasure, unearthly songs rising up through the moonlight.He tilted his head toward the silver owl.Looking into her golden eyes, scattered with flecks of amber, he could almost read her thoughts.Heed the poem, she seemed to say to him.Follow the path.Max let out a slow, measured breath."Gran always talked about a tower on a high plateau.I think that's where we'll find the Owl Keeper, Rose!""Okay.The poem talks about an icebound tower and a frozen plain," she said, craning her neck and looking off in the distance."Does that mean--""Yep," said Max, following her gaze."The Frozen Zone." Just above the trees he could see its cold, jagged edges, jutting up against the sky.Rose sucked in her breath."Wow, Max, this is a real adventure! And the Owl Keeper lives up there in a tower, right? Hey, maybe we can stay with him! I bet he has servants and a maitre d' and a television with a rotary antenna--""Don't count on it," Max cut in dryly, wondering what a maitre d' was."Televisions haven't been around for generations." He slipped the paper inside his jacket.The owl gave a delicate sneeze.Max picked her up and held her a moment, stroking her feathers, then he opened his pocket and she squeezed inside.170"Max!" cried Rose.He looked up to see a pinkish yellow light, filtering through the tangled branches."The sun!" he gasped.Panic and fear took hold of him."Run!" yelled Rose.Wheeling around, they streaked through the graveyard, dodging headstones, leaping over stone walls, sprinting through the trees.The sky was growing lighter by the minute.Soon they were running along the river, slipping and sliding on the muddy banks.This is worse than plague wolves or skræks, thought Max, this is instant death."Over here!" cried Rose, pulling him toward a narrow wooden bridge.There was no time to worry about crossing the river into a forest where wolves and Misshapens roamed at night.It was the only place to hide.All Max could do was clamber across the bridge and into the shadows, dodging the lethal rays of the sun.Looking wildly around, Max glimpsed a cluster of shapes, half hidden in the mist, and galloped toward them.To his amazement he could see a clump of blasted walls, with stone steps winding upward---and a doorway leading into a crumbling stone structure.Crashing through the forest, he jumped over twisted roots and ducked beneath branches.Arms pumping, he hurtled through the open doorway and into the ruined building.Rolling across the earthen floor, he landed in a cold, pitch-black space, relief spiraling through him.Rose came flying in, her rubber boots skidding in the dirt."Max, are you okay?"171Out of breath, he looked up at her with a weary smile, his eyes already adjusting to the darkness."Whew, that was a close call," she said.With a concerned expression, she pulled him to his feet, looking him up and down, checking for damage."I was so scared for you, Max! I was afraid your skin would start bubbling up and your eyes would pop out and your hair would catch fire and--" She stopped abruptly, leaving the rest to their imaginations.Seeing her worried expression, Max felt his cheeks go red.Rose really does care about me, he thought.Now that the scare was over, he brushed leaves and dirt from his clothes, gazing with curiosity at the scarred walls and beams of rotting wood.They were in a great hall of some sort.It was built of enormous stones that were covered with carvings so weathered, they were fading back into the stone.It must have been magnificent here once, he thought.Who had lived in this place? Had they been royalty or wise people of some sort? He guessed the castle had been built centuries ago, maybe as far back as the first Sages.Then he was struck by an awful thought and his heart sank."My owl!" he cried
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