The main character, Soren is pushed out of the tree by his evil brother Kludd. Later jus about the beggining of dawn then Skench snatches him the he is taken to St. Aegolius Academy for Orphaned Owls.

Their he uncovers a plot to destroy the owl kingdoms. There he meets Gylfie a young Elf Owl who has ben there for a while but has not become fully moon blinked.

Later in the book they do escape meeting Twilight an over sized screech owl, and Digger a small but fast burrowing owl. Of course they all know about the Legends of Ga'hoole, or the tales of Yore told by few desert owls.