Here is chapter two. For my two reviewers, thanks. I will be away for the next two weeks, so this will have to be it until then. Later!
Chapter 2: Survival and Resolve
It rained all day and well into the next night. The water washed away Cassiel's scent and blood and kept the few predators that ventured out in the downpour from finding him. He slept, wet but warm, under the tree root, wrapped up in his wings. Above him, life and death went on. Fate, once again though, had spared him.
He woke up feeling groggy and disoriented. What happened? He yawned, revealing rows of pointy teeth, and stretched his stiff wings. They hit the root above him, and Cassiel was instantly on alert. He was on the ground, under something, and soaking wet. The nightmare came rushing back to him, and he remembered the fire.
He shivered and rubbed his wings across his body to warm himself. There was a steady pain in his stomach, which was crusted with blood and had some loose stitches remaining. Cassiel set to work licking his wound clean and drying himself. His whole body ached as he stretched his legs and flexed his claws. He wished he could go back to sleep. But it was night, and he needed to get in the air to hunt and find out more about his surroundings. The ground was no place for a bat.
He started to crawl out from under his shelter to take flight, hungry for the nighttime air, when he felt a vibration in the ground. He froze. The vibrations were soft but close, like something big carrying itself very lightly. With just his nose visible from under the root, Cassiel Silvering waited. Suddenly, a giant, velveted paw landed next to his root. Using only his eyes, Cassiel could see the outline of a huge cat above him. He could hear the beast's breathing and stopped his own. It was a jaguar, the legendary cousin of the northern forest cats.
The jaguar's ears twitched, searching for any sound of prey. It stood perfectly still, and Cassiel was frozen below it. Did it now he was right there, next to its paw? Surely the jaguar had good night vision and excellent hearing. Was it waiting for him to move so it could snatch him up in one bite?
His tiny heart was beating so fast, it felt like it would burst through his skin. He was sure the jungle cat could hear it. His insides turned to ice as the jaguar turned its head. It lifted the paw next to Cassiel and licked it with its rough tongue, eyes gleaming in the night light. Then, it moved on.
Cassiel remained where he was for several seconds, trying to remember to breathe. How many more times could he cheat death? Well, if he wanted to save his luck, he needed to get off the forest floor.
Cassiel crawled out from under the root and sniffed the air. It was heavy with the odor of rotting leaves. He sent out a wave of echoes. They bounced back to him, and he knew there weren't any other predators near-by. He stretched his wings, and then jumped clumsily into the air.
A jaguar? he thought as he flew up on sore wings, looking for a roost. I must be in the southern forest, in the jungle. That explained why he didn't know any of the constellations, why the plants looked so weird, why it rained so heavily, and it corresponded with what the gruff bat had said. He found a suitable branch and hung upside down. Then, another thought came to him. In the Human Building, he had heard rumors of giant bats from the south, from the jungle. Bats that ate other bats and were terrible to behold. He, personally, had never seen them, but he had seen the jungle. It had been one of the many rooms he had been carried passed on his way to and from the testing site. Looking around, he nodded his head. Yes, this looked just like that room.
Does that mean there are cannibal bats here? His hair stood on end, and the same icy fear that had come with the jaguar filled him again. To be eaten, by another bat? How could the world be so cruel?
He searched the branches near him and sprayed out sound in every direction. There was something above him, but it wasn't a jungle bat. He sent out more sound that way, and the shape of a bug formed in his mind. But it was a monstrous bug! It was larger than Cassiel, with a beaked mouth and a spiny body. If it hadn't been moving towards him, Cassiel realized he probably would have mistaken it for a twig.
The bug extended one long leg down to Cassiel's branch, and the rest of its body followed. It was coming for him, beak wide open.
Cassiel, after seeing the jaguar, wasn't that scared, but he certainly didn't want to roost there anymore. His stomach growled. Let's turn the tide.
He dropped from the branch as the bug landed above him. He circled up and behind it, weaving a net of sound around it. The bug froze. Where had the bat gone? There was noise all around it, confusing it with different glimpses of bat wings. Then, there was a terrible pain in its midsection, and it saw no more.
Cassiel crunched down on the hard exoskeleton and could taste the nourishment inside it. He bit it in half, and one piece fell off the branch and down to the forest floor. Cassiel didn't mind though, there was still plenty for him. Alert and periodically sending out sound, Cassiel ate the giant bug. It tasted strange, like a mix of moth and tree bark. Perhaps impersonating a tree for so long made it taste like one, Cassiel thought.
His belly nearly full, Cassiel hung from the branch and pondered on his situation. What was he going to do? He could fly north; it would be easy enough to find if he flew by the sun. But who knew how many miles of jungle he would have to travel. Inevitablily, he was going to run into trouble, like a cannibal bat. Also, what about the others? The Humans weren't done with their attacks. He couldn't stop the Humans, but maybe he could stop the bats, or at least some of them, from killing themselves.
"Argh," he groaned outloud. He just wanted to get home and see Ariel and Shade. But he couldn't leave knowing he could have saved dozens, maybe hundreds of bats. He felt so torn.
Well, it doesn't matter anyway because you aren't doing either tonight. You need to find a safe spot to wait out the day. That's your top priority, Cassiel. Survival. His inner voice was right, and Cassiel knew it.
He alighted and flew back towards the Human City. There would be less jungle animals near the city, which meant a lower chance of being eaten. Also, the City was where the next load of bats would be dropped. He cut through the tight branches, thankful for being a Silvering, and called out sound. His echo vision was full of silvery branches and alien creatures. Within only seven hundred wingbeats of travel he had seen more kinds of creatures than all his years up north had revealed. There were birds, with wild plumage like the extravagant jungle flowers, nestled in their nests. Lanky beasts that swung from tree to tree had chattered at him as he flew by. Once, he had landed on a branch to observe a caterpillar as long as his wing and had met a giant spider that had crept towards him with ominous intent.
Now, he was on the edge of the jungle. Where the trees ended, thick tangles of vegetation sloped down a hill towards the City.The half-moon and the city lights flooded his vision. From his vantage point, Cassiel could make out the rubble of the destroyed Building. Only a few walls remained standing, and Human machines were parked all around it. Part of him felt vindicated at seeing the Human's injury, but the feeling didn't last long. There were so many other undamaged Buildings; the Humans had so much. And how could he be happy about something that had taken so many lives of his kind? No, the whole thing was bad.
Cassiel kept flying, past the City and up a hill. His wings were acting up. They felt like lead and would occasionally break out into spasms, at which point his flight became erratic and dangerous. He needed to land and rest, but he hadn't found a safe haven yet. He felt that the hill was his best bet. The foliage was thinner there, and he would be able to spot any predators coming up the hill. But, when he reached the top of the hill, he found no trees of safety, only a lone bush surrounded by a field of fragrant flowers.
He roosted in the bush with a sigh. This was no good. The smell of the flowers, musky and rich, was overpowering. He would never be able to smell anything. A breeze ruffled the sea of flowers and their stems and leaves rubbed against one another. I'll never be able to hear anything either. And there's no shelter from the rain. That was three marks against this place, enough for him to leave. Although, Cassiel could be rash and spontaneous, this survival issue was forcing him to think things through.
He left the bush and circled above it, getting his bearings. The jungle was level with him, the city was below him, and above him was a cliff. He sent several echoes up the cliff, and an interesting image came back to him. There was a Human on top of the cliff. Cassiel sent out more sound. The Human was a statue, made of metal, some two hundred wingbeats up.
Here we go, Cassiel thought and began to rise. The night was paling; dawn was coming. Just a little more time, Cassiel mentally told the night with a tired resolve. He was going to reach that statue.
Halfway up the cliff, Cassiel's wings began to shake and didn't stop. The air was harsh in his lungs, and he was sucking it in like a dying thing. He set his jaw and continued pushing up. His stomach didn't feel so full anymore, and his body was telling him to stop. But there was nowhere to stop. The cliff face was nothing but rocky soil. Cassiel felt like he had the previous night, on the verge of collapse. He was getting dizzy, but he was determined to roost at the statue. It was calling to him.
He skirted the top of the cliff, kicking up dust, and reached the summit. His wing strokes weak, he dipped down and nearly crashed. He flew the last dozen wingbeats and dropped onto the statue's metal base. His fur was too smooth for the metal, though, and he slid down the Human feet, scrambling for a hold. The stone pedestal that the statue stood on caught him, and Cassiel, after catching his breath, turned and looked around him.
The top of the cliff bore the scars of battle. The trees were scorched, and the ground was in upheaval, with giant mounds set up and holes blasted in it. Was this a failed attempt with bats, or did the Humans fight each other here? Cassiel wondered.
He looked up at the statue. The male Human had its arms outstretched to the cliff, an expression of benign guidance on his face. Cassiel thought he must view himself as some great protector of the city. Well, you've done a great job so far.
The statue had obviously been caught in the attack. The metal was corroded and chipped in some places. Its entire backside had been scorched by fire, and something had blown off half of the right arm. The statue was hollow, and Cassiel flew to the opening. This is it, he told himself.
He probed the opening with sound. Nothing but empty space returned to his mind's eye. He veered away from the stub and surveyed the jungle around him. The burnt trees in the foreground acted as a window to the deeper layers of forest. It was a good spot.
He flew into the statue and was greeted with a dry, warm cavern. Studying the grooves and curves, Cassiel realized there weren't many hanging spots on the statue's inside, but there was plenty of room on the floor. He landed on the bottom. If they drew close to one another, the entire male Silvering population would fit on the floor. Yes, this had more than enough room for all the bats he intended to save.
Already, Cassiel could feel his body getting use to his fatigue. His breathing had relaxed, and his wings had stopped shaking. Outside, it was growing lighter by the second, but he had to do one more thing before he could stop for the night.
He zipped out of the statue's exit and vaulted himself upwards with a powerful downstroke. He went up, high above the canopy. The view was amazing. He could see for miles in very direction. The jungle top, the city below, even a river to the east--he could see it all. This is what I need.
He came down in gentle circles. With a graceful flip, he latched onto the Human's smallest remaining finger, and watched the light on the horizon. He had the perfect haven. Statue Haven, he would call it.
Feeling safe and confident, Cassiel settled in to watch the sunrise.