Eostra's Eagle Owl

Eostra's eagle owl is an eagle owl that serves the Soul Eater Eostra and appears in several books of Michelle Paver's Chronicles of Ancient Darkness series, (which takes place 6000 years ago in prehistoric Europe during the Stone Age).

Description
The eagle owl looks like any other member of its species, except that its orange eyes are desolate and the black pupils express the desire to merely destroy. But its usual behavior doesn't differ much from those of other eagle owls, and Renn deduces that the owl is not possessed by a demon like the demon bear or tokoroths. It does kill a marten not out of hunger but bloodlust. It follows Eostra's instructions, and the Eagle Owl Mage can possibly hear and see things through it.

Role in the series
The eagle owl first appears in Soul Eater. Shortly before Wolf is captured by the Soul Eaters, Torak finds the owl's feather. It's not seen after this, but while Torak, Renn and Wolf escape the Eye of the Viper with a horde of demons released, an eagle owl listens intently the argument between Fin-Kedinn and Saeunn about the Raven Clan's next action. When Fin-Kedinn spots the owl, he proclaims that he won't lead the clan to the Far North. Then the owl flies north.

The owl next appears when Nef, Thiazzi and Seshru capture Torak. It watches as Torak's identity as the Wolf Mage's son dawns on them, and Seshru forcefully tattoos on the boy's chest the Soul Eaters' mark. Later it tries to attack Renn who intends to jump into a crevasse in order to destroy one of the Fire Opal fragments, only to be driven away. It vanishes along with Thiazzi and Seshru after Nef destroys the Opal's power at the cost of her own life. The eagle owl is possibly heard in Outcast, but it makes a more important appearance in Oath Breaker. It's heard when Torak, Renn and Fin-Kedinn are forced to camp at the Burnt Hill after falling into a trap of Thiazzi. The owl then flies in the Deep Forest as Torak and Renn search for the Oak Mage. It makes its move at the end of the book when Torak and Thiazzi face off each other on the top branch of the Sacred Grove's giant oak. When Thiazzi brags about possessing the last Fire Opal fragment, the eagle owl snatches from his hand the pouch containing it. As Thiazzi loses his control over fire with the Opal, he's ignited and falls to his death. The eagle owl flies with the Fire Opal towards the eastern High Mountains where its mistress is hiding.

In Ghost Hunter, the eagle owl is sent by Eostra to attack Wolf's den. It does this while Wolf is away. It kills one of the two cubs and causes Wolf's mate Darkfur fall into a river and her apparent death. While Torak and his raven friends Rip and Rek try to fight it off, it snatches the remaining cub (Pebble) and flies off with the ravens and Wolf following. While Wolf looses trail, Rip and Rek catch up the eagle owl and harass it before it drops Pebble to the area surrounding the Mountain of Ghosts.

When Renn wakes up from the dream where Eostra reveals her intentions with Torak to her while she and Torak are being hosted by the Mountain Clans, the eagle owl observes from the tent's smokehole before it flies off. Later, when Torak confronts Eostra on the Mountain, the eagle owl attacks him after its mistress' scream paralyzes him. But the white raven Ark attacks the owl, allowing Dark - the abandoned albino boy - to rescue Torak. When Renn and Dark are trying to find their way inside the Mountain of Ghosts, the eagle owl attacks, making them loose their torch and stop at a three-way intersection (until Saeunn's spirit shows them the right way). Then the owl joins in the final confrontation in the Cave of Whispers. It rips off some strands of hair from Torak's head and gives them to its mistress, but shortly after this Wolf catches it by its wing and mauls it to death.