Chapter Three: A Desert Rescue

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The sea has vanished below them as the three owls flew away from the Great Tree and the Sea of Hoolemere. As Storm led her small band, she could see a sea of sand that could probably reach the horizon. Dunes have been made by the harsh, blowing winds. A few, dried out trees stood proudly within the sand. Cactuses could be seen decorating the sand. Rocky ledges can be seen as it poked from the depths of the sand.
Storm gazed around and checked on both of her wingmen both they continued their journey. She soon spotted some sandy, rocky mountains as they flew. They started searching for the desert eagle, Streak, through a rocky gorge.
"Streak must be around here somewhere," said Parzival.
But as the wind started to pick up and they started to arrive to an oasis, Shard saw some bats and crows flying around the oasis. "Look out!"
The three of them have started fighting against the bats and crows. Storm have managed to take out two bats, but she spotted a crow slipping away from the battle. Shard took down some bats, while Parzival swiftly took out a pair of bats.
Storm soon flew after the crow, Shard and Parzival at tow. Storm followed the crow towards some dust devils. She dodged the dust devils and picked up on an updraft to follow the crow. She continued following the crow through the blowing sand and the stinging sand. 
As the sun began to set, Storm was stunned to see a strange wooden structure with a brown wedge-tailed eagle trapped inside.
The eagle soon spotted them. "Young Guardians!" His voice sounded proud and strong as he called out to them. "Thank goodness you found me!" At the same time, crows and bats have started to arrive and they ended up having a fight against them. "But those thugs won't let you near me without a fight." Storm grunted as she attacked a bat above her and sent a crow flying into the rocks below with her counter attack. "Great work! Now break off the branches around my cage."
Storm nodded and flew towards the branch, she outstretched her talons and broke the branch, immediately freeing Streak. The eagle screeched proudly and flew away from his cage.
"I'm free!" Streak soon fixed a glare on his bat and crow captors. "Now it's time to teach these thugs a lesson!"
At that, the four of them started fighting against the bats and the crows. Dark feathers could be seen as they finished off the crows. It wasn't long till the fight was done between the owls and their enemies.
Storm, Parzival, and Shard flew up towards Streak who had finished a crow and was regarding them with glittering golden eyes in the light of the setting sun.
"You have my eternal gratitude, friends." Streak and the three owls started flying together towards the sunset, away from the structure. "My mate was away and I was foolishly patrolling on my own when these so-called 'Pure Ones' attacked me."
"I'm Storm," said the only female owl. "That's Parzival and Shard." The two male owls both nodded their greetings to the eagle. "Ezylryb sent us to see if the stories about missing owlets were true."
"Unfortunately, yes," admitted Streak as they flew towards the gorges. "The Pure Ones are involved. And so are those vicious night creatures. The bats."

As they flew through the night air, Storm was quick to learn that flying with eagles is harder than it looks.
"There's a sanctuary nearby." Streak picked up the pace and the three owls struggled to keep up with the eagle. "Follow me!"
The three young owls started following the eagle through the rocky canyons and gorges. They managed to find a bat sanctuary in one of the gorges.
"The bats won't freely lead us to their hideout." As Streak spoke, Storm swooped down and picked up some hot coals from a basin in her metal claws. "But destroying their sanctuary may scare them into talking."
Storm nodded understandingly, she immediately threw the coals at the sanctuary and started scaring the bats. But it wasn't long they had started fighting against the defiant bats again.
"I know of another sanctuary," said Streak as he knocked out a pair of bats. "Lets go!"
The three young owls started following the eagle through the rocky canyons and gorges. They managed to pick up some extra wind to catch up with the eagle as they flew above the gorge.
But when they arrived, the bats started firing at them. Storm and her friends barely dodged the aflame boulders as it shot at them.
"They must of known we were coming!" Streak looked angry, frustrated even. "Force those bats out of hiding!"
Storm immediately threw the coals at the sanctuary and started scaring the bats. But it wasn't long they had started fighting against the defiant bats and dodging the flaming boulders. It was getting too chaotic for them to handle.
Streak noticed their struggles against the bat's sanctuary. "Take evasive action!"
As they started fighting against the bats, Streak realized that none of the bats in this sanctuary will tell them anything. "Nothing here! Let's go to the next sanctuary!"
The three young owls started following the eagle through the rocky canyons and gorges. They managed to pick up some extra wind to catch up with the eagle as they flew above the gorge. Storm noticed that nightfall was coming. But when they arrived, the bats started firing at them. Storm and her friends barely dodged the aflame boulders as it shot at them.
"The bats clearly don't want to cooperate with us," said Streak. "Flush them out of hiding with some hot coals."
Storm immediately gathered some hot coals from the nearest basin. Storm immediately threw the coals at the sanctuary and started scaring the bats. It was getting too chaotic for them to handle. Fiery explosions could be seen as Storm used the gathered hot coals on the bat sanctuary.
Streak noticed their struggles against the bat's sanctuary. "Take evasive action!" The three owls had started fighting against the defiant bats again. But as they did so, Streak started doing an interrogation with a particularly skittish bat in his talon. "Where are hiding it, bat?" The bat squeaked in response to the eagle and he nodded understandingly at what the bat was saying to him, clearly satisfied for the bat's cooperation with him. "The bat said go east!" This caught their attention. "So that's where we go!"
The three young owls started following the eagle through the rocky canyons and gorges. They managed to find a bat sanctuary in one of the gorges. But this one has a strange, black tree in the center of the sanctuary.
All of the sudden, two Pure Ones alerted the bats and brought them out of their cave. The three owls and the eagle had started fighting against the defiant bats and enemy owls. But more enemies have started arrive from the cave. This have caused Storm, Streak, Shard, and Parzival.
One of the bats tried to attack Storm, but she barrel rolled out of the way and caused the opposing bat to crash into the gorge walls.
"The Pure Ones and the bats are working together even more closely than I thought," said Streak as they flew out of the sanctuary. "They must be harboring owlets with the bat hideout. We must find a way to rescue them."
"But where can we find this hideout?" Shard's question wasn't answered.

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