Description
Shard is tasked with finding an eagle named Streak and finding out the cause for the disappearance of young owlets in the area. Shard and Parzival find Streak imprisoned by bats allied with the Pure Ones and free him. Streak becomes Shard’s wingman along with Parzival and they go on missions for the rest of the story. Streak reveals that the owlet snatching is true and that the bats are being rewarded for their loyalty by being given some Non-Tyto owlets. Shard and his band go on a mission to find the hideout by destroying bat sanctuaries to make them reveal the location of the hideout. After one of the bats told Streak it was east of the sanctuary to find the secret hideout filled with bats and Pure Ones. After they defeat the defenses of the hideout, reinforcements come to defend the hideout, which guarantees the rumors of the owlets being held there. The group finds some bats still taking owlets from nests and after rescuing them, the group realizes that these problems aren’t going to stop unless they take the fight to the bats. After a small attack on the Streak’s Nest, the band goes and devises a plan to force the bats out of the hiding places within the compound by forcing them out with fire. The battle becomes more intense as the hideouts are burnt out and the band defeats the defenses. After what seemed like a victory, the enormous Bat Chieftain comes out of hiding to fight with the protagonists. After vanquishing both the Chieftain and what remained of the bats, they free a wandering hermit named Uriah, who tells them that the Pure Ones are working with the bats to gain control of a mysterious substance called flecks. He asks to be part of Shard’s band and becomes one of his wingmen and the band returns to the Great Tree to inform them about what was happening in the Desert of Kuneer.
