Svenna sat at her desk in the harmonics lab, waiting for the sounds of the Mystress of the Chimes to leave. It seemed to be taking her a long time on this evening. But Svenna was patient.

Ever since she’d watched the little cub Juuls dissolve into a bloodstained mist, something had changed for her. She longed with almost a mother’s desperation to find Juuls again and do what she could to help him.

Whenever the Mystress was absent from her den, Svenna would return to the hidden tunnel and search for Juuls in the darkness of the tunnel.

Finally she heard the sounds of the Mystress leaving. The tingle of the jewels that she wore to high meetings dissolved along with her footsteps, which were unusually light for a bear. Svenna opened the hidden panel and entered the tunnel. Narrowing her eyes, she tried to scrape the shadows for the slightest hint of the tiny cub figure Juuls. Dare she call out? She slapped her paw to her mouth as one side of the tunnel’s ice walls suddenly began to turn transparent. This had never happened before. Had she taken a different route in looking for Juuls?

Behind the wall, a bear was pacing the length of a large den with a sky port through which the stars radiated. This had to be the Stellata Chamber, where the most elite Timekeepers, the Gilraan, met, and this bear was none other than the Grand Patek. Svenna held her breath. What if he could see her? He was now directly in front of her on the other side of the wall, yet he didn’t seem to register her presence.

Svenna exhaled and leaned forward for a closer look. The Grand Patek’s robes were festooned with jewels. The glistening springs and spirals of myriad timepieces clinked as he swept from one end to the other of the Stellata Chamber, addressing the Gilraan. Among them were the Mystress of the Chimes, Master Udo, and the arrogant Torsenvryk Torsen, newly elevated to succeed the late Chronos.

“We are gathered here in the Stellata Chamber to welcome our new Chronos.” The Grand Patek’s high, shrill voice threatened to break into to a shriek. It reminded Svenna of the raspy edge of the katabatic winds in Ga’Hoole, winds so fierce they were rumored capable of stripping an owl in flight of its feathers. The Grand Patek paused momentarily to catch his breath.

“At the same time, we must remember the prophecy of the red comet. It was said that when it crosses the sky, only the faithless and the traitorous shall be plucked out. It was shocking to all of us that our late Chronos, Ivor Ahknah, was proven faithless.

“My Roguers reported that Ivor Ahknah was not the only bear purged by the comet. More than a dozen faithless bears of the Nunquivik were terminated in the glaring wake of the comet. You who still stand should be proud. You carry the badge of faith, of purity of heart and mind. You have faith, vrahkyn. And hence our sacred Ice Clock continues … Tick … Tock … Tick Tock …” He raised his forearm as he spoke and swung it as if it were a pendulum. The others began to chant and raised their forearms in a stiff salute and, mimicking their leader, began to swing them like a pendulum.

So he’s blaming it on the comet, thought Svenna. Make the comet the killer. Ridiculous! This was exactly the kind of gobbledygook that a false leader, a tyrant, would spew. Take a natural event and use it to justify an unnatural event like worshipping a stupid clock. Blame the comet for murder when Svenna knew in her deepest marrow that it was the Grand Patek who was responsible. Somehow Ivor Ahknah must have threatened the Grand Patek’s power.

“But the comet,” the Grand Patek continued, “only comes once every five years, and that is not often enough to eliminate the scores of other faithless who sought to destroy me and to destroy our beloved Ice Cap of the Ublunkyn, and have lapsed in their worship of our holy Ice Clock that shall deliver us from the floods of the Great Melting. Let me repeat. The faithful shall be saved. The toothwalkers shall cower before us. They shall turn docile as the white foxes to whom we toss our scraps. We shall eat the fat and blubber of the land.

“The faithless claim we ‘steal their cubs.’ We do not steal anything. We take in the name of the clock.”

Svenna stood transfixed as she watched the Grand Patek rant. The members of the Gilraan stood in rapt attention, their eyes shining with admiration. And yet they were all blind. And their leader was mad. She had to get out. She must escape or she might grow as blind as the others.

“These faithless bears say terrible things about me that dishonor the clock. So I’ve sent Dark Fang to root out nonbelievers.” The words Dark Fang caused a slight stir among the members of the Stellata Chamber. There was a new alertness. The Grand Patek paused for a few seconds, reveling in the impact of this announcement. “Yes, the Fang will find those who spread lies about the clock. He’ll destroy all the faithless, all those rebels. He might have to go as far as the Northern Kingdoms. Perhaps all the way to the Great Ga’Hoole Tree. But by the clock, we shall rout out the faithless, be that creature bear or owl or wolf!”

“Brilliant!” cheered the new Chronos, Torsen, and clapped his paws. The other bears glanced at him nervously and then joined in the clapping and stomped their feet, cheering the Grand Patek on.

“Kill them!” they began to chant. “Kill the faithless!”

The Grand Patek raised his paw now for silence. “This time, Dark Fang won’t let any of the rebels escape. We should’ve killed the Yinqui bear, Svern, instead of merely torturing him. We won’t make that mistake again.”

“Svern!” Svenna whispered. “They tortured Svern!” She felt herself wobble. She shut her eyes. In that moment she had one thought. She would escape and find her cubs, but not just escape—she would destroy this cursed place and its evil clock.