Attack of the Flying Foxes and the Battle for the Sanctuary- edited

by VPVPVP

The Sanctuary de Amazon becomes threatened with takeover by a colony of winged mammals who view all birds of the rainforest as vermin. When all peaceful shots fail and the threat becomes critical, the avian inhabitants are left with no choice but to resort to extreme measures to protect their homes, even if it means using violence and waging the biggest war in history.

29. 29- the rescue

Chapter 29- the rescue

Night had fallen on the Amazon rainforest and the sky was partly cloudy. The moon was now passed its full phase and was in its waning stages. Around it, a sea of stars flowed like glitter thrown over a black canvas, the Milky Way clearly visible. In the dark jungle, a group of winged forms moved through the canopy. The winged forms at the front were two flying foxes, Augustus and Melissa, and they were leading a group of birds, mostly macaws, through the canopy of the flying foxes' territory. Augustus and Melissa had left Stella, Luna and Sebastian under the care of Alonso back in the territory of the birds for it was too dangerous for the young bats to participate. Should anything happen that would require a hasty retreat; those three bats might not be able to out-fly the danger due to their small wings.

The group of macaws consisted of a mixture of Spix, scarlet, green-winged, great green, military, blue-throated, hyacinth, glaucous, Lear's, and blue-and-gold, along with a few archaeobirds riding their bat-birds for they had come to help. All the macaws' colourful plumages were hidden under a suit of mud and collected bits of vegetation while the archaeobirds wore specially designed leaf cloaks and masks similar to the ones they wore back in Jurassic Jungle, Guyana to conceal their bright and metallic, iridescent feathers. The bat-birds, however, did not wear any sort of camouflage suits for they were drab enough to blend in with their surroundings and also could pass for bats at first glance because of their membranous wings. However, up close, it was clear that they were not bats at all for they had beaks and their wings were a different shape altogether. Furthermore, with their archaeobird owners riding on their backs, the idea of bats carrying birds, even cloaked creatures with four wings and a solid tail ending in a fan of flight feathers was utterly absurd. The macaws themselves, though their mud and plant outfits would enable them to hide in plain sight, still risked getting spotted and recognised by passing flying fox patrollers. The flying foxes were well-trained in recognising any flying creature with feathers and they had the potential to spot a group of birds, even in camouflage outfits, from a distance based on their features. This was what the rescue group wanted to avoid at all costs. If they end up spotted and recognised, it would be game over.

Zephyr, Brisa and Athos, their species hidden under a suit of mud and pieces of leaves, twigs and some other vegetation placed on their heads, wings and talons, shot nervous gazes at the passing trees. They were clearly on edge, very wary. Porthos was even more so, having accidentally strayed into flying fox territory before a few years ago when he, D'Artagnan and Aurora were searching for Athos after he had plunged into a stream with Nigel. Before crossing the border into the territory of the bats, Augustus had explained to the rescue group of the barrenness of the territory of birdcalls and any creature with feathers living within it, and as the rescue group followed him and Melissa through the trees of the bats' territory, they could see that Augustus was not kidding. The majority of trees were still healthy, their leaves a vibrant green colour with the occasional splash of other colours from flowers and fruit but there were absolutely no feathered forms whatsoever, and the air was completely devoid of any birdcalls. To add, there appeared to be more predatory animals inhabiting the trees than fruit eating animals apart from the flying foxes. Large spiders, snakes and poisonous dart frogs dotted the trees, creeping sinisterly about as they searched for prey. These traits of the flying foxes' territory added fuel to the nervousness of the rescue group, and some actually shuddered. But they had to remain focussed on the mission.

As the group passed over a certain break of the continuous sea of trees, revealing a small stream, Augustus explained, "This was where a small group of rosette spoonbills lived. This used to be their feeding spot. Now, it's nothing more than a stream devoid of birdlife, the spoonbills having been driven out and/or slaughtered by the flying foxes when they took this patch of land."

Levi gazed at the stream and imagined a small family of pink flamingo-like birds with spoon-shaped bills frolicking joyously on the water's edge. He had seen several rosette spoonbills before. In fact, he and his group were friends with a few in Rio, two of which were Kipo and his cousin Orton who were both frequent attendees at Nico and Pedro's club. Pulling his gaze away from the area formerly inhabited by the rosette spoonbills, Levi followed the others.

"So all this used to belong to either a large bird tribe or clan, or a cluster of smaller groups of birds like amazons?" asked Porthos as he flew alongside Augustus and Melissa, his talon gesturing to the land. Augustus looked at him.

"Yes it did," he said sombrely, "This part of land, in fact, used to be brimming with birdlife. But all that had disappeared when our colony invaded it and drove out and/or slaughtered all the birds that lived here to take the land for their own."

"Somewhere around here used to be the land of the glaucous macaw tribe before the bats drove them out years ago," said Melissa. These words sent a wave of pain coursing through the glaucous macaws, especially Rodrigo. Levi also felt the wave while Porthos shuddered. He could not imagine the massacres that took place in these areas. This region was essentially a graveyard of former bird territories and habitats. However, Porthos pushed those thoughts aside and continued flying on.

Sometime later, the rescue group was nearing the heart of the flying foxes' territory. Here, Augustus and Melissa had slowed reduced the flying pace so that the group flew at a lower speed. As they approached the area, Augustus gave the birds a stern warning: "We're now approaching the centre of my colony's home and here is where we're more likely to encounter some flying fox patrol groups. I want you all to stay close together and not wander off, lest you want to be caught and put to death. Is that clear?"

"Perfectly," said Athos nervously. Near him, Felipe and Pearl also shuddered, their gazes darting this way and that as though they expected a group of flying furry animals to jump out at them. The others also wore nervous looks, their nerves dancing wildly in their eyes and insides and their hearts beating ten to the dozen. Despite the nervousness, they still continued. Augustus and Melissa then led the rescue group down through the canopy and towards the forest floor for better cover. The inner parts of the flying foxes' territory were indeed busier, and there were dozens of flying fox patrol groups out flying about, their hawk-like eyes scoring the environment for anything out of place. Because of this, the birds were on the border of entering the most dangerous part of their mission. No-one from any of the bird tribes have ever ventured this far into flying fox territory before but the macaws and archaeobirds on the rescue group knew that this was an immense minefield: they could not put one talon wrong lest their cover be blown which would result in them getting caught and possibly their lives, as well as those of Augustus and Melissa, put in serious jeopardy. There was clearly no room for error in this perilous mission.

As Augustus and Melissa guided the rescue group through the trees, a few metres above the forest floor, Augustus's sensitive ears picked up the flapping sounds of a few pairs of membranous wings. Immediately, he commanded the others to hide. Without a second to spare, the group darted downward and took cover in some ferns and some other forest floor undergrowth. Then Augustus parted a fern leaf and gazed upward. Within moments, a small group of five flying foxes, all adults with numerous scars crisscrossing their pelages, appeared within viewing range of the hidden group. The five patrollers then stopped into a hover. In the ferns, the rescue group all froze, hoping that the patrollers would not turn their gaze in their direction and this was where the role of the macaws and archaeobirds' camouflage suits came in. all the members of the rescue group kept perfectly still while the archaeobirds, among them Ophiuchus, one of the archaeobirds who had volunteered to come on the mission, calmed their bat-bird mounts. Ophiuchus was a veteran searcher and rescuer, even before he chose a bat-bird mount, and had plenty of experience in those areas, having spent most of his years participating in search and rescue parties when he used to live in Jurassic Jungle, Guyana. However, venturing into the heart of forbidden territory which would spell certain death for any bird, even an archaeobird, if they were ever caught had taken his experience to a whole new level and he was clearly nervous.

Augustus then began to watch the five patrollers as they began to talk in the air while everyone else remained hidden.

"I don't know WHAT that Augustus and his family are playing at," said one, a dark brown furred male, making Augustus stiffen at the mention of his name, "but the thug bats stationed outside their tree have reported to us that they've searched high and low in their tree but could not find any sign of those five cowards…"

Augustus managed to catch hold of his breath as he continued observing and listening to the conservation. Behind him, the rescue group and Melissa continued to keep still. Levi was getting agitated which made keeping still a challenge. As fidgetiness set in, a hyacinth macaw friend, a male adult named Jonas, placed a calming wing on his shoulder to help calm his trembles. Then something came slithering into the hiding place, a snake resembling a long thin vine tendril. As the long green creature slid slowly into the patch of ferns through a gap, completely unaware of the feathered occupants desperately trying to avoid detection from the above patrollers as they continued talking, small jolts of nerves were sent coursing through the group. Levi, who wasn't very keen on snakes, cringed timidly but then Ophiuchus, who knew how to handle snakes well, cautiously and slowly began to approach the thin green serpent.

"…Cicatriz is HONESTLY going BERSERK!" growled another patroller, a brown female, "If we don't find those five bats ANY TIME SOON…"

"Look, we've got dozens and dozens of flying fox search parties searching high and low for that wretched brother of his and his mate and three white misfit offspring," said a third patroller, another female with brown fur, the insult about Sebastian, Stella and Luna sending a flash of outrage briefly coursing through Augustus and Melissa when they heard it. Some of the macaws also hissed angrily.

"Don't tell me that's what your pups have been called freq…" began Aramis but Augustus's membranous hand-wing went up in a gesture to be quiet, prompting Aramis to shut his beak. Below the group, the snake continued slithering by, Levi becoming more and more nervous. However, Ophiuchus soon came within a reasonable distance and approached the snake, being cautious in case it was a venomous species. The five patrollers then continued, talking away. As the five bats flew on, their talking fading into the distance, Augustus slowly crept out.

"Right, let's go," he commanded the others. Breaths of relief were breathed throughout the group.

"That was close," whispered Sapphire as she lifted a large fern leaf to crawl out.

"White misfit offspring?" said Aramis in curiosity. When Augustus shot Aramis a deeply offended look, he issued an apology while Cobalto began to talk some sense into him.

"Watch your choice of words, pal," he grunted in rebuke. Aramis nodded before Augustus, having pushed the offense aside, gestured the group into getting moving.

Soon the rescue group was back on track. As they flew along, Melissa began to explain to Aramis about why Augustus found the term 'white misfit offspring' extremely offensive.

"When my cousin Lily attended her first fighting class when she was young before she ended up caught in a poacher's trap," she explained, "The classmates often made fun of her white fur and called her a 'white misfit' while most of the adult bats looked down on her as some sort of freak. Our son Sebastian and daughters Stella and Luna had also faced the same sort of bullying and still do…"

"That's horrible," said Aramis with disgust. Melissa nodded in agreement. Athos then shot Melissa a confused look.

"Your cousin was an albino flying fox?" he asked.

"She had white fur and reddish eye whites," replied Melissa, "Just like what Sebastian, Stella and Luna have now…"

"Blu, Bia and Poinsettia are the ones to ask about that sort of topic," said Zephyr nearby, "They understand what genetics is, among other scientific things."

"Let's just concentrate on this," replied Melissa firmly, "We should be approaching the outskirts of the heart of our territory now…"

Aramis, Athos and Zephyr only exchanged glances, shrugged and then flew on. However, Melissa's reply of Lily being a white bat had Athos lost in thought briefly. For some strange reason, it sounded familiar but the information was too confusing to construct the final picture. Pushing those thoughts away, he continued.

Another little while later, the group had reached the true heart of the flying fox colony's territory after avoiding one or two more flying fox patrol groups. This was where the flying fox density was at its greatest and care had to be especially exercised in passing through this part. There were countless flying foxes everywhere but to Augustus and Melissa's concern, there was no sign of Cicatriz and Iracebeth anywhere. Based on this, the two bats had hoped that the two deranged leaders were not at the interrogation site; otherwise rescuing the prisoners would be made very difficult. Behind the pair, the macaws and archaeobirds kept their sights on Augustus and Melissa at all times, going wherever they went and obeying their commands. They knew they had to trust Augustus and Melissa for they knew the layout of this part of the territory at the back of their hand-wings. Following the two bats, the camouflage-suited macaws and archaeobirds riding their bat-birds weaved in and out of the tree trunks through the darkest parts of the colony's home patch, hugging the shadows at all times. However, Augustus soon commanded the group to hide again and the group descended towards the forest floor and hid among more ferns and a bush. The group had approached another group of flying foxes. Only this time, it was a group of some inner-circle bats and they were chatting away in the tree. Because of the sheer number of flying foxes about, the group knew that flying through the canopy was out of the question. Hugging the shadows and the forest floor vegetation was their only option. Augustus then carefully and slowly crept out from under a fern leaf and quickly darted for a very dark shadow cast upon the forest floor by a cluster of overhead canopy branches and leaves. Melissa subsequently followed but took up her position in the shadow cast by the tree trunk slicing through a moonlit patch. Athos looked at the adeptness of the two bats in amazement. The way the two bats had hugged the shadows had reminded him of how ninjas used the shadows to sneak up on their enemies without being seen. However, Melissa's command snapped him out of his thoughts.

"Come," she whispered, gesturing to the birds with a membranous wing. Swiftly and cautiously, Athos darted from the ferns and made a beeline for Augustus. Porthos, Felipe, Pearl and some blue-and-gold and red macaws followed. Then came some of the others, among them Levi, Rodrigo and Jonas. Levi stumbled and fell on his front in a moonlit patch but Rodrigo immediately helped him to his feet and pushed him to Augustus's spot.

As the group continued darting for Augustus's spot, the archaeobirds leading their bat-birds, Melissa began to listen to the conversation of the bats in the tree. The group of bats were completely unaware of the feathered intruders that were sneaking right under their fox-like noses with a pair of traitors helping them.

"Cicatriz has decided that the next targets will be the Lear's macaw tribe and their ravine," said one of the bats whom Melissa identified was Cruella. Hearing that bat talk, she stiffened, immense detestation coursing through her. Melissa never liked Cruella one bit for Cruella had always taunted her about the death of her cousin Lily for being a traitor, as well as how she had witnessed her dying. Apparently, Cruella used this as a form of intimidation in keeping Melissa in line but since it had been going for so long, Melissa was at breaking point. However, something Cruella had said pulled her attention from her most detested bat to the conversation itself. Sapphire also froze.

"They have a secret paradise-like ravine with a grove of nut trees in the middle and sandstone cliffs filled with holes," continued Cruella, "Those holes in the cliff face would make a great home for some of us…"

When Sapphire's brain picked this up, she began to shake violently. Her breathing began to spiral out of control but then a nudge from a wing-claw prompted her to move on. Sapphire gazed at the owner, which was one of the archaeobirds, as she signalled to her to get moving. Sapphire did so but the look of distress remained on her face. Then within minutes, all the rescuers were with Augustus and he began to lead them further on. The group flew close to the forest floor, hugging the shadows and keeping out of the moonlit places as much as possible. The moon was in the initial stages of its waning gibbous phase but it was still bright enough to cast a lot of moonlight onto the jungle. As the group flew along, Athos noticed Sapphire's disturbed look.

"Something wrong, Sapphire?" he asked concerned. However, Melissa prompted Athos to stay focussed on the task. Athos did so but he could not understand why Sapphire was so distressed.

Another while later and after avoiding another flying fox patrol group, Augustus said, "Here we are."

The rescue group looked up and saw a break in the clutter of trees. As they came out of the forest, the group was greeted by a clearing that opened out before them. The entire rim of the clearing was bordered by trees but there were a few tree trunks, logs and tree branches in the clearing. But unlike the trees around the rim, these trees appeared half-dead and splintered, with several long leafless branches stretching out into the night air. The way the branches clawed at the air made the trees appear like ugly creatures in the brightness of the near-full moon. The shapes of these monstrosities sent shivers down the group's spine and Levi actually took a step back. There was the sound of a rushing stream nearby. Some of the macaws turned and saw that a large stream ran through this clearing. The fallen logs that dotted the area resembled the carcases of dead animals, and this seemed to fit in with the theme of this area, but there was something else here as well. As Zephyr and Brisa took their first steps into the sinister looking clearing, a repulsive smell filled their nostrils. The brother and sister gasped and pinched their beaks.

"What's… that… smell!?" gagged Zephyr as he was almost strangled by the stench.

"Rotting wood," replied Ophiuchus as he also held his beak with his wing claws.

"I'd never known the smell of rotting wood would be THIS bad," muttered Brisa. Sapphire, Monique, Felipe, Pearl, Athos, Porthos, Aramis, Cobalto and Levi and some of the other macaws and archaeobirds also gagged at the almost overpowering smell.

"What is this place!?" asked Monique as she held her beak to block out the smell.

"This," said Augustus darkly, "Is the Interrogation Patch. It is a deforested area that was once forest like the surrounding areas bordering the edge of this clearing. This place used to be the home of a variety of animals including some small bird groups until loggers came and knocked down the trees of this area, took whatever logs they desired and then moved on, forcing any surviving inhabitants to move to other areas of the rainforest. When our colony settled here, they had turned this place into a site for interrogating feathered prisoners kidnapped from a target tribe, clan or group."

None of the others replied to this however but they were horrified, and utterly disgusted, to learn that the flying foxes had turned a deforested area into an interrogation site. Then Augustus commanded the group to move on.

"Right, the first thing we gotta do is distract the guards," he said, "And there are plenty of them on duty in this area and many of them are very muscular and strong enough to subdue even a hyacinth macaw."

"Oh, thanks for letting us know," grumbled Jonas sarcastically when he, Cobalto and the four other hyacinth macaws heard this. Augustus then turned to the birds.

"Who will be the distracters?" he asked. At first none of the birds replied but then Ophiuchus, a look of thunder on his face, stepped forward with his bat-bird and some other archaeobirds came forward.

"We will," he growled. As he and the other volunteers stepped forward, Felipe got a glimpse of a leaf bag in one of the archaeobirds' wing claws.

"What's that?" asked he. Ophiuchus turned to him.

"It's what we call 'Cegador Powder'," he replied, "You'll see what we mean when this is put into its use. Agitha here was the one to concoct first."

"Your Spanish has improved," said Felipe amazed.

"Yes," said the archaeobird named Agitha, "'Cegador' is Spanish for 'blinding', and that is exactly what this powder will do to its enemies. It's a mixture of light forest floor dirt and puffball fungus spores. We're not gonna use it yet but we've brought it with us in case things go awry with those bats."

"That's a good idea," said Augustus but then his face turned serious, "But let's get this rescue over with. I wanna be outa here ASAP and before anyone spots us."

Turning to Ophiuchus and his volunteers, he said, "You four-winged birds, set to distracting the guards while the rest of us search for the prisoners."

Ophiuchus nodded and with a nod to his group, the archaeobirds took off with their bat-birds and left to carry out their diversion. Augustus then led the other rescuers into the Interrogation Patch, being very wary of any flying foxes that might be roaming around.

As the rescue group crept deeper into the Interrogation Patch, Augustus stopped the group and they hid behind one of the fallen logs. It was then that Eriko, the blue-throated macaw, saw something dangling from one of the leafless branches of a nearby tree. H turned and saw that it was a vine.

"Do those vines up there have a use?" he asked. Augustus gave him a dark look.

"Yes," he said in a low voice, "They're used to suspend bird prisoners but I won't talk about that. Let's focus on those bats over there."

And with that, Eriko turned his gaze from the vine and directed it at the group of flying foxes before them. Standing a few feet before the group's hiding place was a group of around five bats. They were all muscled and were covered in numerous scars, and in each of the bats' wings was a sharp-stick or some other stick weapon. Porthos shuddered at how muscled those bats were, especially when compared to his own. If he were in a match with one of those bats, he'd be overpowered easily, just like how Voldemort had managed to subdue him in the former Bluewing hyacinth and blue-throated clans' territory.

"Highly muscled flying foxes are often chosen to carry out jobs in this area," whispered Augustus, "For they are very strong and are able to subdue even the strongest of hyacinth macaws."

Jonas and his four companions all shuddered. They did not want to imagine themselves up against those hulking bundles of fur with membranous wings. Then Melissa nodded to something in the distance. Augustus turned and saw Ophiuchus's group signal to them that they were ready. Augustus signalled back and within moments, Ophiuchus and his group set to work.

The five muscular bats sat at their posts, chatting about something. They were completely unaware that they were being watched. As they continued talking, one of the hulking bats saw movement flash in the wall of trees nearby. However, when he turned his eyes in the direction of the movement, it had gone, but the bat had taken to his spear-like sharp-stick and had begun to saunter towards the spot, suspicious eyes scraping the trees.

"What is it?" asked one of his companions.

"I thought I saw something," said the first bat, "Over there."

He indicated with an enormous wing. The other four muscular bats stood up and took up their weapons before creeping towards the first one, their eyes scanning for any sign of suspicious movement. However, they couldn't see anything. After a few moments, the first bat shrugged off the apparent oddity.

"Must have been a small land mammal darting through the ferns or something," he said. No sooner than these words had escaped his mouth when a taunting, "It might have been a small land mammal darting through the ferns alright, you big tapir with wings!" shattered the quiet air, making the five guard bats jump about half a foot into the air. The first bat then snapped around to the speaker when suddenly, he drew in a sharp, astounded gasp. The other four also flinched in flabbergast. Standing before them was a strange leaf-cloaked creature with a hood over its head. A pair of eyes glared menacingly and obnoxiously towards the five bats. With the creature was some sort of bat-like creature but it had a beak and its membranous wings were shaped differently. Then before any of the muscular bats could enter confrontation mode or even raise their weapons, the creature produced something from under its cloak and tossed it right at the first bat's face. The thing struck the first bat square on the nose and bounced off, making him jerk his head back and cover it, grunts of pain emanating from his mouth. This was enough to send rage tearing through the other four companions.

"WHY you LITTLE…" snarled one of the other four and with their sharp-sticks poised to attack, the four bats darted off after the cloaked creature who immediately jumped onto the 'bat-winged bird' and took off. The first bat recovered, grabbed his sharp-stick and followed. As soon as the five guard bats were distracted and had gone, Augustus and Melissa led the other rescuers on.

"How are Ophiuchus and his companions gonna manage those five overly muscled bats?" asked Sapphire curiously. Levi put on a slight, gleeful smile.

"The archaeobirds are masters of stealth and smartness," he crooned.

"Hey, eyes on the rescue, Levi," hissed a hyacinth macaw. Levi obediently resumed his concentration of the rescue. However, as the group entered further into the Interrogation Patch, things seemed to get more sinister.

The group continued creeping along, wary eyes on the surroundings for any other guard bats when Cobalto drew in a sharpened gasp of horror and jumped, stopping the others.

"What is it?" asked Aramis. Cobalto, with a shaky talon and a nauseated look on his face, pointed to what had startled him. The others, including Augustus and Melissa, followed his point and when they saw it, revulsion tore through the group, making them flinch. Some backed away, some almost fainted while some felt stomach contents threaten to come up and out. Even Augustus and Melissa wore repulsed faces. Lying before the group were several bird carcasses, some in dried pools of blood. However, the carcasses were too beyond recognition to deduce their species.

"Wh-wh-what are those?" asked Athos in a hushed voice. Augustus came in and gave them a very dark look.

"Previous prisoners who had been put through the horrors of interrogation," he explained in a hushed voice, "As you can see, this place is often the final resting place of any bird prisoner," Augustus then gazed at them with immense dread, "The torture the interrogators put the prisoners through always leads to them dying. As far as we know, none have come out alive."

"So those horrible bats not only attack tribes, clans and smaller groups of birds but they also take the lives of those who have divulged information about those groups?" said Felipe.

"Exactly," said Melissa. The group just stood there, their horrified gaze stuck to the macabre scene of carcasses but what happened next turned the blood in the circulatory systems of every single group member into ice. The most bloodcurdling screams erupted from not too far away, making the entire group jump into the air and snap their gazes into the direction of the sources. Augustus and Melissa, hearing this, immediately barked commands for the group to follow those screams, which the birds did. The group of birds were a blur, their wings beating hard but the most panicked macaws were Athos, Aramis, Porthos, Monique, Sapphire, Zephyr, Brisa, Felipe, Pearl, Levi and Rodrigo and they were flying so fast that they took the lead. The group had obviously recognised who the screams belonged to and wasted no time in following the sources' sounds. As the group accelerated on, Augustus and Melissa closely behind, they heard the sounds of sadistic laughter. And within seconds, those at the front exploded from behind a rotting log, followed closely by the others and lastly, Augustus and Melissa but what they saw sent immense horror violently coursing through them like a shockwave.

A group of three flying foxes stood over a number of something bedraggled and helpless, their sharp-sticks or ordinary sticks poised in jabbing the latter, their faces creased into the most sadistic and scornful looks the rescue group had ever seen. One of the flying foxes, a male, was armed with an ordinary stick and was terrorising a macaw familiar to Porthos.

"Hah, ha, ha, ha!" he cackled as the helpless creature screeched and backed away, "There's no way out, you useless, worthless little worm. It's time for you to DIE in the MOST AGONISING WAY!"

"OH, NO you DON'T!" bellowed Porthos and with a powerful flap of his wings, the muscular blue-and-gold macaw, his vivid blue, aqua, green and yellow plumage hidden under the suit of brown mud, surged towards the bat, his talons poised to attack. The flying fox, struck with surprise at the shout, turned round just in time to receive a harsh slash over the face from the volcanic Porthos's talon claws. A screech of pure agony erupted from the flying fox as his wings went to his face, his stick falling to the floor. Blood then began to pour from his wounded face but Porthos was not finished with him yet. With an enraged squawk and without hesitation, the apoplectic blue-and-gold macaw leaped upon the bat and began to mercilessly claw him like a savage cat. One of the flying fox's companions then rushed in but before she could attack Porthos, three brown blurs knocked her away. Jonas and two other macaws had charged in and had bashed the female flying fox and sent her flying.

Nearby, Felipe, Athos, Pearl, Levi, Zephyr, Brisa, Sapphire, Monique, Aramis and Cobalto and some of the other macaws surged towards the other flying foxes and began to savagely drive them away from the other helpless forms while Augustus and Melissa began to look for a way to restrain the torturers. Levi savagely went for the bat that tormented a macaw familiar to him.

"GET AWAY FROM MY MATE, you DIRTY WING-MEMBRANED SWINE," he bellowed and without hesitation, he scored his claws right over the flying fox's face. The bat, which was taller than Levi, bowled over from the attack, screeches of excruciating pain erupting from his mouth and his membranous wings covering his face. Blood then poured over the wings and trickled down the black skin. While the macaws dealt with the flying foxes, Augustus and Melissa came in with some strong vines.

"Here, help us tie them up!" cried Augustus. Then without hesitation, Cobalto and Jonas rushed in and grabbed the vines. And together with Augustus and Melissa, the two hyacinth macaws raced around and began to bind the other flying foxes. The small but violent skirmish continued for another few seconds but it eventually calmed down as soon as the flying foxes were tied up. When the flying foxes other than the one that had been severely clawed in the face by Levi saw Augustus and Melissa, they released enraged cries.

"You TRAITOROUS COWARDS!" bellowed one of them but Augustus picked up a rock and without hesitation bashed it on the bat's head to knock him out and shut him up. After repeating this to the other tied up bats and knocking them out as well, Augustus and Melissa, together with the rescue group, turned their attention to the helpless creatures that lie on the floor. However when the creatures, which were Ruby, Alfonso, Nuvem, Waldo, Orquidea, Esmeralda, Ted, Lapis Lazuli, and another macaw who must be a hyacinth based on its size, saw Augustus, Melissa and a number of unrecognisable brown forms with pieces of vegetation dotting them approach them, they all emitted piercing screams and began to scrabble away. However, Felipe, Athos, Pearl, Levi, Zephyr, Brisa, Sapphire, Monique, Aramis, Cobalto, Levi and Rodrigo began to approach them anyway while Augustus and Melissa looked all around for any sign of the other birds. However, to their immense disappointment, there was none, only the nine prisoners that remained and those nine prisoners looked absolutely unrecognisable much to the immense horror of Athos and the other rescuers.

The bodies of all nine macaws were almost completely naked with most of the feathers torn out and the wings were almost completely lacking their flight feathers. A few flecks of colour dotted their pink bodies which were laced with countless blue-black blotches and half-healed red gashes. Because they were missing so much plumage, the nine macaws greatly resembled newly hatched macaw chicks which were always born featherless. Ruby, Alfonso, Nuvem, Waldo, Orquidea, Esmeralda, Ted, Lapis Lazuli, and the other macaw looked lean and gaunt, the shapes of their ribs and keeled sternums just visible and they were trembling violently from cold. Obviously without a coat of feathers to insulate them and keep them warm, they were obviously exposed to the cold surroundings and lost body heat to them quickly. But what was most frightening of all was the look in their eyes. The eyes of all nine of them were so wide that they were bulging out of their sockets, inflated by immense terror, hysteria and extreme delirium, a symptom Athos and the other formerly domesticated macaws had read about to be of complete lack of sleep after so many nights. The look of terror and delirium was especially obvious on Lapis Lazuli. That look strongly reminded Rodrigo of the look of terror she had borne when they had been chased by a group of flying foxes during the siege on their tribe's territory, before he had abandoned her out of cowardice to save his own skin.

The nine macaws, with screeches of extreme terror erupting from their beaks, began to scrabble and back away as the disguised macaws approached them. Levi tried approaching Lapis Lazuli but she was not having any of it.

"GET AWAY FROM MEEEE!" screeched the petrified, near-featherless, battered and starving glaucous macaw but Levi did not stop, desperate and pleading eyes fixated on his bedraggled mate.

"It's ONLY ME, LAPIS LAZULI!" he cried. Nearby, Zephyr and Brisa tried approaching Nuvem while Felipe, Athos and Pearl tried approaching Ruby and Alfonso. Aramis tried approaching Esmeralda and Ted, Sapphire and Monique tried approaching Waldo while Porthos tried approaching Orquidea and Jonas and Cobalto tried approaching the bedraggled hyacinth macaw. However, the reaction from all nine was the same. Athos tried getting through to Ruby.

"Look, it's ME, ATHOS!" he barked pleadingly but Ruby, too blinded by immense terror and delirium, could not hear him but only continued to back away, screaming at the top of her lungs. However, Athos was in for another shock. An enormous brown and black comet came rocketing in, aiming straight for Athos and the delirious Ruby. Then without hesitation and with an enraged flying fox screech, the comet charged at Athos and knocked him over, sending him flying and crashing hard against a nearby log. The brown and black comet then swerved back around and grabbed Ruby in its foot claws before flying off with her. Athos, stunned by the attack, shook himself to and began to rise to his feet when a horrified cry erupted from one of the macaws. Augustus and Melissa snapped their gazes to whoever the macaw had screamed at and when they saw who it was, horror exploded through them. While this happened, Orquidea had managed to break through her delirium and recognise Porthos. Alfonso, Nuvem, Waldo, Esmeralda, Ted, Lapis Lazuli and the hyacinth macaw also broke through their delirium and recognised Felipe, Pearl, Zephyr and Brisa, Monique and Sapphire, Aramis and some green macaw friends, and Levi respectively and had shared a brief reunion moment. However, that had been shattered by the horrified scream of one of the blue-throated macaws and now all eyes were fixed upon a large, muscular flying fox that hovered in the air, Ruby in his clutches and the most sadism-crazed look on his face as he gazed evilly at Augustus, Melissa and the macaws.