Chapter 1:

Dreams

Shade was underwater.

The water, being at the foot of the waterfall, was a flurry of violence and movement. Drifts of ice, large and small, were rushing past him, the river's swift current pulling them along, as he struggled to reach the surface. But something large and heavy was pulling him down- Goth. Goth's powerful claws were clutching his ankle, a strange mixture of terrible rage and desperation in his eyes. Shade kicked and thrashed, trying anything to free himself from Goth's deadly embrace. He could decide which prospect was worse- being drowned by Goth or being crushed by one of the ice drifts that were hurling dangerously close to him.

He could see parts of his life flashing before his eyes as he felt his strength begin to fade away. He saw himself hunting with Chinook, Todd, and Breeze. He saw himself risking a stupid, childish dare with Chinook to see the sun. He saw Tree Haven being burned down, the echoes of his colony's past escaping into the night sky. He could see himself being taught to echo project by Zephyr. He saw himself fleeing from owls, pigeons,and Goth himself. He saw himself befriending Ursa, the Kermode bear, and King Romulus, the rightful king of the rats. But throughout these episodes from his life two faces always appeared to him- his mother, Ariel, and his best friend, Marina.

I'm sorry...

Goth's weight was suddenly ripped from his foot. He began to fight his way to the surface, he caught sight of Goth, then immediately squeezed his eyes shut to avoid seeing him again. Goth was being gridded into the rocky river bottom by a huge drift of ice. His wings, already very badly burned from his electrocuting at the Towers of Fire, were being shredded between the ice drift and the riverbed. His mouth open in a silent scream of horror, Goth clawed wildly at the water. His eyes now held none of his usual malice, but instead shone with primal fear and absolute terror.

Shade's eyes snapped open as he hung upside-down from his roost, a small cry of fear escaped his mouth. His eyes shot around wildly, half-expecting to find Goth, his wing torn to bits, his mouth still open in a wordless cry for help. Shade's heart pounded in his chest, his breathes heavy and ragged. He jumped as he felt a hand on his shoulder

"Are you okay?"

Marina, who was roosting besides him and his mother, who had not yet awoken, was looking at him with concern. Her usually lively eyes were now filled with worry as she frowned at him.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Shade managed.

"Was it Goth again?" Marina knew his dreams were terrorized by the huge, southern bat.

He nodded, his body suddenly tired again. Yet, he was fearful to sleep again. He had other dreams about Goth. In one, he would be pinned to the ground as the huge Vampyrum spectrum whispered horrible things into his ear. He whispered about tearing out his heart and eating it, about making him watch as he killed his colony, about feasting on Marina and Ariel.

"Try to go back to sleep, Shade," Marina told him gently. He was about to argue with her, but he felt a wave of weariness wash over him.

"Fine," he sighed. Goth or no Goth, he needed to sleep. Marina gave him a small, kind smile, and tucked her head under her wing to sleep as well. As he tried to fall back to sleep, Shade couldn't help his face growing warm beneath his fur as he thought about how close Marina's warm form was to him. Every time she shifted in her sleep, brushing against him, he felt a jolt of pleasure and embarrassment.

What Marina didn't know was that she haunted his dreams just as much as Goth did.

...

Miles down stream from Hibernaculum, where a phantom cannibal bat was pursuing a tiny Silverwing bat through his dreams, the real Goth was also dreaming.

The broken cannibal had dragged himself out of the river, his body battered and bruised, his wing in shreds. As he laid on the bank, hating himself for allowing himself to be crippled like this, a voice had called him, a presence. Unable to fly, he had dragged himself deep into a crevice he had found at the end of a mine shaft. There he had immediately drifted into the deepest sleep of his life.

As he sat in the total darkness, a presence filled the room, a thing of pure sound, with no physical body to speak of.

"Goth..."

His eyes fluttered.

"Goth..."

Goth opened his eyes drearily, and answered. "I am here." Goth opened his eyes, not sure if he was dreaming or not, only to find that they were useless in the thick, inky darkness.

"Are you my servant?," the quiet voice cooed.

"Who are you?"

"You know who I am- say it"

Goth gave no response.

"Say it!" the voice commanded, now hacking into his ears harshly.

"Cama Zots"

"Good," the voice said, once again soft and soothing, "You want to return home, yes?"

"Of course."

"You want to take revenge on Shad Silverwing?"

"Yes!" Goth hissed, with new anger fueled by his hate of the runty bat who had humiliated him so supremely.

"Then let the Humans capture you."

"What?" Goth asked both surprised and outraged, "But, Lord Zots, they were the ones who took my from the jungle!"

"But, they will also be the ones to bring you back, the ones who allow you to take revenge on Shade Silverwing, and the ones who will help you give me the power to kill the sun."

"Kill the sun?"

"Yes, Goth. If I can kill the sun, I will be able to reveal myself to you and give you a army of Vampyrum, both dead and alive, to conquer all the kingdoms."

"I will do it, Lord Zots," Goth replied, duty in his voice.

"Then," the voice said, "Awake,"

...

Goth hurled himself from the mine with a darkly gleeful laugh. To his amazement, when he had woken, he had found his body healed and his wings mended. He was whole once again. Only Zots could have the power to do this.

Then let the Humans capture you.

He would allow the humans to do this, but not just yet. Zots had promised him a chance to take revenge on that troublesome rat, Shade, but he knew that revenge was only a few thousand wingbeats away- at Hibernaculum.

And that was a chance he just couldn't pass up.

...

Well, here we go. I know it's a lot like the beginning of Sunwing, but it'll start to branch off pretty soon. While this is going to be my story, I'm going to try and work in elements from the book into it as much as possible.

Feel free to tell me what you think.