Chapter 4: Regaining

It was silent in the jungle ever since the earthquake came and destroyed the pyramid entirely. All that was left of it was a collapsed pile of rubble and debris. Zotz's ritual has been completely ruined along with it, and now there were no Vampyrum to carry out his intentions – except for several survivors. One of the survivors happened to be Phoenix, the queen of the entire Vampyrum colony. Her two children, Shadow and Selene, managed to escape the collapsing pyramid, and several other followers have as well. There was one more survivor who could easily be distinguished apart from the Vampyrum. It was a demon – a demon spawned from a dark spirit trapped under the pyramid's base. With him, the small amount of Vampyrum had great potential. The male and female followers would breed, and the Vampyrum would grow once again.

Phoenix never made it clear, but inside, she fumed, and a growing hatred burned in her heart – hatred towards all bats. Her hatred clouded her mind so greatly, that she had intentions of starting a complete clearing out of every bat alive, whether it be a Silverwing or a Vampire bat – she did not care. She had darker rituals up her sleeve, and she would do anything to have absolutely no oppositions to prevent her from using these rituals. Of course, she could not practice the rituals without help, and she knew where she could find even more Vampyrum, only these Vampyrum were part of a tribe, and they were outcasts from the pyramid. If any Vampyrum were an outcast, they were not even considered a Vampyrum. Phoenix knew that this tribe hated the Vampyrum greatly and formed a small group of their own to practice the darkest of Zotz's rituals without their disturbance. Phoenix knew that convincing them to help her would be a challenge, but she had no other hope left if she wanted to raise Zotz.

Phoenix, her children, and the followers found a small glade in the center of the jungle and made it their rendezvous site until the next moon. They hunted separate from each other while the creature sat next to the pool, cross-legged, his huge, bloodshot eyes concentrating on the water without any movement. This creature was a work of any dark spirit – he had the body structure of a human, but his skin was made of a hard sinewy substance and armor as hard as stone lined throughout some parts of his body. His head looked like a tough helmet that reached down all the way to the top of his mouth, no lips and always baring razor-sharp teeth. He was a fierce sight, and his long and deadly claws only made it worse. He could even withstand the power of a small army of Vampyrum with his great strength.

When the hunting was finally over, everyone gathered next to the glade and hung on a single, powerful limb overlooking the pool below. Shadow and Selene were wrapped in Phoenix's wings, cuddling against her powerful chest. Phoenix looked up at the sky, which was slowly getting brighter as the sun started to peek over the horizon. Eventually, her eyes drooped shut and she fell asleep, resting her body for the night to come.

The group flew through the underbelly of the jungle's canopies and foliage, Phoenix leading the way through. Everyone had no idea where they were going or how deep inside the jungle they were going to fly into. Below, the demon creature swiftly crawled through the shrubs and deep grass below as if he was a slithering snake.

Phoenix stopped flying when the group arrived at a small clearing in the jungle with a rocky cliff face set just in the center of the clearing. A massive waterfall roared and fell over the middle of the cliff and into a large river below which snaked out into the deeper parts of the jungle. The Vampyrum sighed in relief as they felt the cool mist caused by the waterfall spray against their fur.

For a few minutes Phoenix was hovering in the same spot, turning her head around and inspecting the area thoroughly. Selene groaned in impatience.

"Mom, what are you doing?" She asked. Phoenix let a grin form casually.

"Making sure this is just the right place."

"How do you know where this tribe is anyway?"

"I was once an outcast."

"What??" Selene and Shadow simultaneously said. The followers didn't say a word and the demon was leaning against a tree on his back.

"Yes, a long time ago."

"Before you died right?" Shadow asked. Phoenix let out a deep breath.

"Yes…before I died." She said quietly. Phoenix flew until she was just in front of the waterfall. She flapped around all the sides of the roaring water, inspecting it with great concentration. "The caverns should be behind this waterfall." Shadow looked at her mother in shock.

"But it looks too powerful to fly through!"

"That's what it looks like, huh?"

"Queen, I warn you, the tribe is very hostile and may break out on us." A follower reminded her. Phoenix nodded in understanding.

"Then I'll break them." She simply said, diving into the waterfall and disappearing in a spray of mist. Selene gasped in shock when she saw her mother disappear through the tower of water.

"Is she – " Selene started to say weakly.

"Settle down, girl." Shadow said with a laugh, diving into the waterfall next. He too disappeared instantly, almost like the waterfall swallowed him whole.

Phoenix emerged into a cavern, its atmosphere thick with the smell of herbs and dust. The waterfall's roaring sounds echoed throughout the cavern, bouncing off the walls and traveling into the dark depths. Even using her echo beams, Phoenix could not detect where the cavern ended. It was a straight path forward, and telling by the burned sticks implanted on the rocky walls, she knew this is where the tribe dwelled. Shadow emerged just behind his mother and landed beside her, his eyes transfixed into the darkness of the caves. Soon, Selene and the followers appeared through the waterfall and regrouped with Shadow and Phoenix. The demon walked through the torrent just seconds afterwards, the water seeming to open itself up like a curtain to let the creature through. The demon nonchalantly leaned its back against the wall.

"They're here. Do you hear that?" Phoenix asked the group without turning her head. The followers perked up their ears, focusing with all their might on the unknown sounds. Far into the depths of the cave, soft voices could be heard, but these voices seemed more like low moans eerily echoing across the caves.

"Prayers?" One of the followers asked indistinctively. The creature reacted to the voices and started to breath heavily as it started to amble with large steps into the darkness of the cavern. Shadow and Selene eyed the creature strangely as it walked by.

"Mom, the thing's acting strangely." Selene said.

"Oh, please, honey, its name is the Bodyguard. I've told you this before." Phoenix said, chuckling. "Let's follow him." With that, the entire group lifted off silently and flew after the Bodyguard.

When about half an hour had passed, Phoenix's echo beams finally bounced back to her. They had reached the end. The smell grew stronger and stronger as they inched nearer into the domain of the tribe. Below, they could see all kinds of bones scattered throughout the floor, and the smell of blood started to emanate throughout the thick air. The Bodyguard stopped ambling and stood straight, his eyes fixed on the roosting bats before him. The followers landed beside the demon and they became completely unmoving, looking around the room as if they'd never seen anything like it. Shadow kicked aside a bat skull accidentally, and the rustling of powerful wings filled the room so suddenly that even the Bodyguard stepped back in fright. Phoenix shot out echo waves and saw the silvery image of flapping wings on the ceiling. Just in front of the group was a pile of stones, and a single large, smooth rock sat on the top. Phoenix used her echo waves to analyze the tower of stones and then a silvery, blurry image of a single Vampryum started to appear on top of the smooth rock. The blurriness of the Vampyrum faded away and his figure became clearer in seconds. It was almost like he used a cloaking sound technique to make him immune to echo beams.

Once the Vampyrum's figure was complete, all eyes were fixed on him. He was of very old age, his fur wrinkled in many places, his face flat and his nose slightly perked downwards. His eyes were piercing – an endless sea of pitch black, and his wings even formed small cobwebs across them. His body was actually muscular and he sat cross-legged on his rock. His eyes were set on the group of Vampyrum settling below him. Phoenix slowly opened her mouth, ready to speak, but the old bat raised his wing to signal silence. Phoenix closed her mouth in embarrassment and the Vampyrum slowly folded his wings.

"What brings you Vampyrum to my dwelling?" He said, his hoarse voice echoing throughout the caverns. The way he sounded sent a chill running down the followers' spines. Phoenix had finally thought it was time to speak up for the group.

"The pyramid is destroyed." This reply forced the perched Vampyrum above to whisper to each other. The old bat raised his powerful wing and they resumed silence.

"And that means…"

"Almost the entire Vampyrum race is gone. The ritual has failed." Almost on cue, the old bat started laughing heartily, and in just a few seconds, the Vampyrum above started to cackle and laugh with him. Phoenix muttered curse words under her breath.

"It is about time they have failed. It was destined for their practices to become corrupt. They should have listened to us and used the darker rituals for the uprising of Cama Zotz. They had to be more serious with their practices." The old bat replied, chuckling afterwards. The laughing grew into silence in just a few seconds.

"This is a tragic event." Phoenix said behind clenched teeth. The old bat wrinkled his face and sniffed.

"I'm sure it is." He lifted his body up smoothly and cracked his neck a few times before speaking again. "And I'm sure that you plan to make an alliance with us?" Phoenix muttered a "yes" and a few chuckles came out from the crowd above. "I foresaw this as well." The bat said to himself loud enough for them to hear. Phoenix gave a flick of her wing and the Bodyguard stepped into view. His bitter eyes glared at the old Vampyrum.

"A demon by your side." The old bat said, laughing. "Well, your hopes have increased somewhat." Phoenix bared her teeth.

"What is that supposed to mean? We could join you and become invincible!"

"Invincible isn't the first thing that came to my mind." The old bat said, coolly, folding his wings. "Especially coming from a few halfwits who could not fulfill a simple ritual." Phoenix shouted in anger.

"We were teamed on by both the owls and the beasts!" Phoenix said angrily.

"Even with Zotz's dark powers by your side you could not destroy them?"

"…No." At this, the old bat laughed again.

"Pathetic." The Vampyrum wrinkled his nose. "What do you do now? You have nothing left."

"Nothing except your tribe." Phoenix replied.
"What makes you think I will join you?"

"Think about this: we join, we raise Zotz and destroy every living thing. We can do this together. With your darker practices and our loyalty, we can raise Zotz successfully."

"What are your plans?"

"Genocide."

"Genocide." The old bat repeated with another haughty laugh. Phoenix's face started to burn. "Of what, may I ask?"

"Every bat alive. We will make no oppositions. With the power we hold, it will be no problem. The Chosen Ones are retired."

"Ah, yes, the Chosen Ones. I see they have successfully stopped you from completing the ritual. Pity."

"Yes, but they are done. This will be a breeze. We will kill everyone."

"I like the sound of that." The old bat seemed to finally smile down on them. "I really like it." Phoenix let an evil grin spread across her face. The old bat flicked a wing upward and the entire army of Vampyrum perched above lit from their roosts and landed around the old bat. Phoenix was nearly taken aback by pure shock. Every single one of the Vampyrum were so skinny that their ribs looked like they were about to burst through their fur, and to top it off, each one had a trait of mutation. Whether it was a protruding infection from various parts of their bodies to strangely shaped wings, these Vampyrum were in seriously poor condition, and every one of them looked like they had been torn up in a brutal fight. They almost did not even look like normal Vampyrum, and now only one word popped into Phoenix's mind. "Mutants."

There was no doubt about it. Just looking at these creatures made her sick.

"We are Halfwings." The old bat stated. The Halfwings started to sneer and mutter nonsensical words. "We are outcasts of the Vampyrum Spectrum, devoted followers of Zotz and his darkest rituals. I am Grottos." The old Vampyrum extended his wing and outstretched his claw. Phoenix smiled and walked up to the Vampyrum, extending out her wing and then enclosing her claw around Grottos's, shaking it warmly. The followers in the back just stared in disbelief.

"By joining the Halfwings, you must become one yourself." The air seemed to grow thicker and thicker, and Phoenix's vision started to become blurry, failing her and causing her to become dizzy. Before she knew it, she was falling, and her vision turned into blackness.