Eostra's Eagle Owl is an eagle owl that serves the Soul Eater named Eostra. She appears in several books of Michelle Paver's Chronicles of Ancient Darkness series. She serves as a supporting antagonist in Soul Eater, a minor antagonist in Oath Breaker and the secondary antagonist of Ghost Hunter.
Description[]
Eostra's eagle owl appears to be an ordinary eagle owl, except that her empty orange eyes reflect a desire to destroy. However, her usual behavior does not differ much from those of other eagle owls. Renn deduces that the owl is not possessed by a demon like the Demon Bear or tokoroths, wondering what exactly has Eostra done to her. She kills and mangles a pine marten out of sadism instead of hunger and taunts Wolf while holding his captured cub Pebble in her talons. She follows Eostra's instructions, and the Eagle Owl Mage is implied to hear and see things through her. Her feathers are said to be filthy.
Biography[]
The eagle owl first appears in Soul Eater. Shortly before Wolf is captured by the Soul Eaters, Torak finds the owl's feather and sees her in the trees above before she flies off. She is not seen for a long while after this, but she is heard hooting a couple of times. After the Soul Eaters manage to release a flock of demons, Fin-Kedinn and Saeunn are arguing about what they should do at the northernmost edge of the Forest. Fin-Kedinn notices the eagle owl listening to them, so he swears on his souls that he will not take the Raven Clan to the Far North. After he says this, the owl flies north.
The owl next appears when Nef, Thiazzi and Seshru capture Torak. As Torak's identity as the son of the turncoat Wolf Mage dawns on the Soul Eaters and Seshru forcefully tattoos the boy with their mark, the eagle owl watches intently. When the Soul Eaters confront Renn who intends to jump in a chasm in order to destroy one of the Fire Opal pieces, the eagle owl tries to attack her, only to be driven away. She flees along with Thiazzi and Seshru after Nef destroys the Opal's power at the cost of her own life.
The eagle owl makes her next appearance in Oath Breaker. When Torak, Renn and Fin-Kedinn are forced to camp at the Burnt Hill after falling into one of Thiazzi's traps, they hear the owl hooting. As Torak and Renn search for the Oak Mage in the Deep Forest, the owl flies around without making a physical appearance. She makes her move at the end of the book when Torak and Thiazzi face off each other at the top of the sacred grove's Giant Oak. When Thiazzi brags about possessing the last Fire Opal piece and shows the pouch where he keeps it, the eagle owl appears and snatches it from his hand. As the result of losing the Opal, Thiazzi loses his protection against fire, is set ablaze by a spark in his hair, and falls to his death. The eagle owl flies with the Fire Opal towards the eastern High Mountains where her mistress is hiding.
In Ghost Hunter, the eagle owl is sent by Eostra to attack Wolf's den while he is away. She kills one of the two cubs and causes Wolf's mate Darkfur to fall in a river and apparently die. While Torak, Wolf and their raven friends Rip and Rek try to fight the owl off, she snatches the remaining cub Pebble and flies off with the ravens and Wolf in pursuit. While Wolf is shaken off, Rip and Rek catch up with the eagle owl and keep attacking her before it drops Pebble in the area surrounding the Mountain of Ghosts.
While Renn and Torak are being hosted by the Mountain Clans, the former is visited in her dream by Eostra who reveals her intentions with Torak. When she wakes up, the eagle owl observes from the shelter's smokehole before she flies off. When Torak confronts Eostra on the Mountain, the eagle owl attacks him after her mistress' scream stuns him. However, the white raven Ark attacks the owl, after which Dark rescues Torak.
When Renn and Dark are trying to find their way inside the Mountain of Ghosts, the eagle owl startles them and causes them to lose their torch. They are left unable to navigate in the dark until Saeunn's spirit shows them the right way. The owl then takes part in the final confrontation in the Whispering Cave. It tears off a lock of hair from Torak's head and gives it to her mistress. Shortly after this, Wolf catches the owl and savages it to pieces.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Eagle owls are feared as omens of bad luck in the Chronicles of Ancient Darkness series. This is probably because the entire Eagle Owl Clan died out of sickness after Eostra resurrected one of them by using a forbidden ritual.
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Soul Eaters Demons Clan members Animals | ||