Chapter 21: Are You

Shade reached the end of the corridor and a wall with bloody handprints stood gallantly over him. On the top he could see a circular hole with his echo vision. Nethanel would never be able to reach it. He called out to Marina, Griffin, and Nethanel behind him.

"Marina, Griffin, you both fly into the hole first. I'll carry Nethanel."

"You sure you can do that, Shade?" Nethanel asked hesitantly. Shade patted the sword strapped onto his back.

"If I can lift this thing, I think I could lift you. Come on." Shade replied. Nethanel nodded and walked up to Shade. He wrapped his paws around Shade's claws, wincing a bit by their sharpness. Griffin and Marina soared over and crawled into the hole, and Shade lifted off from behind, Nethanel dangling around as he held on with his life to Shade's feet. Shade hovered over the hole, and Nethanel carefully put his legs inside the hole, Shade inching in the hole closer and closer until Nethanel's body was completely inside. The hole was big enough for Nethanel to switch over onto his stomach. Shade went in behind Nethanel and the two crawled inside together.

"Shade! Come quick!" Marina's voice echoed from within.

Shade and Nethanel slipped out of the hole into a slightly large room. Beside them they saw Stellar and Luna hugging Marina and Griffin. Luna's face was pressed into Griffin's shoulder and she was heard sobbing softly. Shade smiled warmly at the sight. Stellar and Luna saw Shade and Nethanel and stood facing him. Shade nodded in relief, knowing that everyone was safe for now.

The room, as the team inspected, was filled with thousands of markings on the walls, floor, and even the ceiling. Networks of strings were strewn across the ceiling, and bloody, rusted bands were strapped on the strings in random places.

Just as the team decided to rest for a while, Shade and Stellar inspected the markings together with great interest. Stellar seemed to be most interested by the way she strained her eyes and pressed her face very closely to the wall to see the markings up close.

"I know these symbols." She said.

"You do?" Stellar just nodded.

"These are called glyphs, written by humans long ago, but these are so small that I think something smaller did all this work. This certain paragraph looks very interesting. Here, I'll read it." Shade stood with his ears perked up.

"The Resurrection is set in perfect order. All that stands in its way now is time itself. Five of her Chosen creations – five chosen of her famed and most loved. Five to fulfill her fate.

The Vessel. The One who won back the Sun. The One who fulfilled the Promise.

The Sacrifice of the Sun. Devoted mate of the Vessel. Fur bright and radiant as the Sun itself.

The Sacrifice of the Moon. Son of Vessel and Sun. Half a son of each. Half a sun. Half silver.

The Foreseer. Vision-seeker of the Moon. Foretells of events in near future. Warning of fatal signs.

The Avenging Spirit. Fur of the blood of the innocents. The waiting wrath, contained in an avenging soul. The executioner."

Stellar stood up and put her claw under her chin. "The meaning of this seems very difficult. I'll decipher it with all my mindpower."

The team roosted on the strings across the ceiling to rest their bodies. The only person awake was Stellar. Her mind was attached to the strange writing, keeping her fully awake and thoughtful. She gazed long and hard at the markings, trying to figure out the meaning. She felt the tiredness of her eyes weighing down on her, but her thoughtful work still went on.

A dream, no, more like a dead void, surrounded Luna. She felt completely immobile in this empty nothingness. She could not hear anything, not even her own breathing. She saw absolutely nothing, but she knew something was coming. Suddenly, in a burst of silvery light, the entire space was flooded with swirling strips of what looked like a smoky substance. They eventually meshed and formed themselves into a silvery vision. Luna found herself in a new room that looked like somewhere in the pyramid. She looked behind and saw a circular hole going down. She looked back forward and saw a large, rectangular hole just ahead. She was able to move her legs, and walked over to the hole as if it was calling her. Luna was soon standing just beside the edge of the hole and looked down, seeing nothing but blackness.

"Where is my brother?" A sharp voice called out from behind. Luna froze and felt her heart leap in fright. She looked behind and saw nothing and turned her head back forward again. She gasped, at least, that was what she felt. She did not even hear herself suck in air. Was it even air she inhaled?

Two figures stood before her, on the other side of the hole. One was a female and one was a smaller male. The female was behind the male, her wings wrapped around the male. A strong force suddenly blasted at Luna's face and the two visionary bats toppled effortlessly into the void. The silvery image blurred and a shrill screeching noise filled Luna's ears, growing louder and louder.

"Luna! Luna!" She woke up to find Griffin nudging her. "Come on, wake up! Stellar has something to say to us!" Luna looked down and found the rest of the team sitting down and waiting patiently for her. She instantly lit from her roost and found a spot to sit, Griffin sitting just beside her.

"Back to what I was going to say." Stellar began. Luna noticed that Stellar did not look so well. "The writing had obviously spoken about us, the Five Chosen. The "Her" mentioned in the text I read was Nocturna herself. The Vessel is Shade, since he fulfilled the Promise and all." Shade coughed humbly to this. "The Sacrifice of the Sun is Marina, the Sacrifice of the Moon is Griffin, and as for Luna…" Everyone looked around in confusion.

"Luna, well, I don't exactly know if she's the Foreseer or Avenging Spirit. I'm afraid we cannot know this just yet." Stellar explained. Shade looked thoughtfully at Stellar. He remembered the time when he and she were inside the caves and encountered the deadly creatures.

The team soon decided to tread on further quickly to make up for the time they used to rest. They went to the end of the room, once again confronted with two holes. Shade did not have to say anything. Stellar and Luna together flew into the second hole.

"Right." Shade said quietly to Marina, Griffin, and Nethanel. He went in first into the hole, the others following behind.

"Why are there so many holes here, Mom?" Griffin asked his mother.

"I guess this structure is just one big maze."

"I hope we know where we're going." Griffin said with a sigh. Shade chuckled.

"All I see so far is a straight line. We'll get through just fine."

Shade reached the end of the hole and peeked out, sending out his echo vision. Another corridor was set out in front of him, but this one had a quiet atmosphere that made him feel uneasy inside.

"I'll go first." Shade said to the others behind him. Griffin whimpered softly, but Marina hushed him. They watched as Shade flew slowly into the corridor.

Just ahead Shade could hear the echoes of voices crying out for help. He heard tearing sounds – eating sounds more like. His heart felt sick as he imagined the horrible things that lied ahead. He hovered for a bit, hesitant to go any further, but gathered his courage and pressed on ahead. The tearing noises disappeared and so did the voices. The atmosphere of the hall seemed to thicken, and Shade's echo vision became somewhat blurry. Gradually, he felt the weight of his head drop, and his eyes crossed involuntarily. Something in the hall was making him extremely uncomfortable. He soon felt his muscles progressively start to become numb, and he could only feel his wings flapped against the air. His head started to feel incredibly light, and his vision became a blur. His echo vision soon became useless and he found himself hovering without even knowing what was going on. He thought he heard Marina shouting his name behind, but was too weak to even turn to look.

He suddenly saw the stone bricks of the walls shift positions. The gritting sound rang in his ears at the same force of an explosion, and he quickly turned his head to see the bricks closing in from behind. He faintly saw Marina flying as fast as she could towards him, but the shifting procedure was too fast and Shade knew she couldn't make it. With all his power, Shade shook off his light-headedness and started flying as quickly as he could towards his mate. Just several more wing beats. Please.

Right in front of his face, the bricks collided, forming a barrier between him and his mate. He couldn't stop beating his wings and his face smashed against the newly formed barricade. Shade's senses shut down and he plummeted to the floor and landed with a loud thud. In a few moments, Shade gathered himself together and sat up wearily. He felt the warmth of his blood seeping from his snout and felt a bit of pain on his lower jaw. He quickly stood up with great difficulty and looked at the wall before him. What would he do now? He was completely separated from his group and alone. He had never felt so lonely.

"Don't hide, dear Sister." A voice called from behind. Shade's eyes widened and he quickly turned, seeing hundreds of outstretched claws rushing straight for him. Shade stood still, waiting for the claws to dig into him, but when they reached him, the claws dissolved into tiny beads of sound. A weird force exploded from the sound vision and sent Shade backwards. He pressed his back against the wall, his sword scrapping the brick wall from behind.

Shade instantly sent out waves of echo beams, and saw strange patterns forming on the walls all around him. Blotches suddenly started to form all around the hall as well. Shade heard a sick bubbling sound emanating from all around the transforming corridor and soon blotches popped out over the entire area covering the walls with a liquid that smelled exactly like blood. The hall began to twist and blur in a crazy motion that sent Shade's sanity spiraling towards the end. He could hear a long, shrill scream bursting from inside of him and felt tight pressure pushing against his muscles. Shade's eyes started to turn bloodshot as he felt cold sweat covering his entire body. He was breathing hard and his heart was beating fast. Shade felt that he could collapse under the enormous pressure in his body. Bloody tendril-like lines started to form all around Shade's fur, and he felt a strong force be pushed into him. Shade toppled over and leaned against the wall, pressing his claw onto the bloody surface. His claw effortlessly slid down the wall and made deep scratch marks. Shade knew that he did not have the power to dig his claws into extremely hard stone, and realized that he was being tricked into an illusion. He felt his body starting to calm down gradually, and his muscles loosened up. The transformed hallway began to corrode and strip away, the blood and blurriness fading away. The tendrils that appeared on his fur disappeared instantly and his eyes became normal again. Shade sucked in air with great relief as he felt his body return to its regular form. He shut his eyes and opened them in a few seconds, seeing the hallway back to what it was before. A smile lit across Shade's face.

"M-Marina!" Shade turned around, hoping that the wall was an illusion as well, but it was still there, creating a hopeless barricade between them. Shade's mouth gaped open in disbelief as he walked over to the wall. He lifted his claws, clenching them into fists and bashed them onto the wall continuously, ignoring the stinging pain that seared across his arms.

"No, no, no, no, no!!" He shouted in despair. He knew that no one could hear him, but he had to shout. His throat felt sore as he shouted and screamed with every hit he dealt the wall with his fists. "No…" he said one last time. He unclenched his fists which were shaking uncontrollably. His eyes started to well up with tears as he stared angrily at his trembling claws.

"Shade." A soft, angelic voice called from behind. On cue, Shade turned his head to see a silvery spirit standing before him. She looked like a normal bat, but her entire body was a bright white, even brighter than an albino's.

"Who are you?" Shade said, his voice trembling. The spirit didn't answer and stood with a calm face. He started to carefully walk towards the ghostly female bat, transfixed by her still gaze.

"Shade Silverwing. I have been meaning to tell you before." The spirit said. Her voice was like a whisper, but it rang audibly in Shade's ears. "Your body is my vessel."

"What – What do you mean?" Shade was immensely confused.

"I am what keeps you alive. I am life." She said softly. Shade remained with a puzzled expression. "I cannot hide it any longer. I depend upon you. You determine my fate."

"Stop it! That's enough!" Shade shouted. He turned around and marched towards the wall and placed his claws on the wall.

"I am not an illusion, Shade. I must gain your trust as my vessel."

"Then what are you??" Shade snapped, glaring at the spirit. "I've seen enough. I've seen enough of this!!"

"But you have not heard enough, Shade."

"I don't want to hear your lies!"

"I am a part of you, Shade. Your body helps me to communicate to this world. I depend upon you."

"Depend – what do you mean by 'depend'??"

"Your body is my vessel." She repeated.

"I said stop it!" Shade turned around and stamped his foot like an angry newborn. "I'm already losing it! I don't need to hear this!"

"Don't deny it, Shade Silverwing. You are the Vessel. You fulfilled the Promise. I depend upon you. You determine my fate." Shade was hot with rage. He could not believe what he was hearing. If this spirit was telling him the truth, he was not even alive, but he knew that was impossible. "I am life. I dwell inside you to communicate with this world. Do not deny it. This is your destiny."

Shade could not handle any more. He marched up to the female bat and shouted as loud as he could. "I said stop it!! Leave me alone – leave me alone!!!" He felt the warmth of his tears covering his cheeks. "Please…please…I'm so scared…" Shade knelt down and bowed his head, crying pitifully. The spirit looked at Shade with pity and placed her hand on his head. Shade felt the hand as if it was entirely real. He looked up into the female's eyes.

"Are you ready to fulfill the Retaliation, the Prevention, and the Resurrection?" She asked. Shade was choking behind his tears. He felt that this spirit would not listen to him, regardless of how much pain he was feeling.

"Please…I'm – I'm scared…I can't."

"Are you?"

"I'm sorry. No. I cannot. I – I'm so sorry." Shade was unable to control his tears. He had never felt so hopeless in his entire life.

"You must. You are my vessel, Shade."

"Stop!! I cannot believe what you say!"

"And this is why I was hesitant to tell you the truth." She said. "This is your fate – your destiny." Shade shouted in anger and reached back for his sword. He grabbed the handle, but suddenly the sword's weight grew massively heavy and the blade crashed into the ground. Shade pulled and pulled as hard as he could, but was not able to even budge the weapon. He looked back and the spirit was gone. It was almost like nothing even happened. Shade hoped desperately that it was just an illusion, but something about the spirit's words left Shade in a state of wonder.

Shade pulled out the sword, which was back to its normal weight, as soon as the female bat disappeared. He knew that was not an illusion and began to think that the spirit was real after all. He still refused to believe in the fact that he was a mere vessel kept alive by the spirit. Who was the spirit actually? The writings had said that he was the Vessel, but he never imagined it to be the way the female bat described it as. Once Nocturna's work would be complete, what would happen? Shade heard the words echo in his mind, "I am what keeps you alive. I am life."

Marina was panicking, flying around the corridor, searching for a way through the newly formed wall. Griffin was doing the same, but was greatly disheartened by the fact that he was separated from his father again. Nethanel watched from inside the hole, wishing he could do something to help.

"Shade! Shade!! Can you hear me?!" Marina continuously cried out.

"Mom, I can't find anything!" Griffin said from below. Marina hovered down and landed, putting her back against the wall. Griffin ran up to his mother and embraced her, sobbing bitterly. Marina patted her son's head gently, about to break into tears herself.

"We have to find another path. There is no possible way we can break through the wall. We have to go back and follow Stellar and Luna." Marina stated. Griffin let go of Marina and nodded, wiping his face quickly of his tears.

Just as they were about to fly back, a small quake vibrated throughout the hallway, causing Marina and Griffin to fall. They quickly got back up and saw that the floor below their feet was starting to crumble away. They both stepped back, watching as several bricks on the floor crumbled into little pieces and formed a small hole big enough for one bat. All was still for a moment.

Griffin carefully walked over to the new hole and could see that it opened into a new tunnel curving downward.

"It's a way out!" Griffin exclaimed. Marina flew and landed next to him.

"I will go in first." His mother stated. Griffin nodded obediently and watched his mother bend down and crawl into the tunnel. Nethanel sighed in relief to himself and jumped out of the exit way. When Griffin couldn't catch sight of his mother, he crawled in next. Nethanel looked around the hallway for a while and then looked at the barricade that formed out of the moving bricks.

"I never believed in supernatural strengths." He said to himself as he crawled in the new hole next.