Chapter 42

Snow's Painting on Earth

After getting banished by General Brutus, Quacey and Ursa were now headed to the high mountains for high treason and it was very humiliating for those two as Ursa was no longer the leader of the beasts and Quacey was no longer in a pack as a beta. Luckily enough for those two though many beasts still had their support and were now traveling with them to the high mountains as they didn't want to be anywhere near the wolves. It would be a long journey for all of them but somehow they would make it to their destination in no time.

As they were all traveling, Quacey couldn't help but think back to the events that happened before he and Ursa got banished… He was sure that General Brutus would've believed his and Ursa's words but it appeared that he was wrong. Of course, the general wouldn't have believed him and Ursa. The owls really believed that Kassidy was doing all this with the Silverwings. Nonsense is what it was as the owls wouldn't even take the chance to even listen. However, what Quacey couldn't get over was what his cousin did.

That bastard cousin of his told the general lies and because he did that was the reason for Quacey and Ursa's banishment. It really did make Quacey mad and if he wasn't as kind-hearted as he was he would've had his anger get the best of him and try to rip Luger's throat out and anything else his sharp teeth could've easily ripped out like plucking flowers out from the ground. Quacey was no savage though and besides, Luger was his cousin and he just didn't have it in him to kill his only family member he had. Sure, Luger and the pack were breaking many rules and Luger banished Quacey but the good-hearted Quacey would never find it in himself to kill his cousin. Not even if he was offered the chance of being an alpha.

It was rather surprising to Quacey though that many of the beasts were now following him and Ursa but it was very clear that these beasts looked up to Ursa. It also seemed that they were not even afraid of Quacey since a lot of them heard that the good-hearted wolf stood up to his pack and even fought Luger. Quacey never would've thought that many beasts would've trusted him since he was a wolf but after what he did it earned him the trust of many beasts.

It was pretty dark outside as the beasts were traveling and many of them were getting exhausted but they kept pushing on. Not only were most of them exhausted but they were also getting pretty hungry, even Quacey. It had been a couple of days since the last time he even ate some meat and Quacey tried not to think about it too much but the urge to eat some flesh was getting to him pretty easily. He hadn't eaten a beast as he didn't want any of the beasts to get mad at him then make him scram so he was mostly eating some herbs that would try to fill him up and yes, wolves were omnivores but they also had to have meat once in a while.

Quacey never felt so weak as he did now as the lack of food he was having was making him walk slower than usual and he was even getting easily enough tired. He couldn't stop now though as they had come this far and he didn't want anyone to worry about him. He had to stay strong at any cost it took. Not only that, he had to stay loyal to these animals as a wolf should.

"Quacey, are you feeling alright?" The wolf got out of his thoughts when he heard someone and he looked up to see the white kermode bear was the one that spoke to him. "You don't look so good."

"Oh, yes," Quacey said. "I'm fine, I'm just thinking."

"Quacey, you obviously don't look so good. You look like you barely had anything to eat lately and I can see your eyes look like they're about to close any minute now."

"I'm fine, really. We should probably focus on our travels though. The faster we get there the better."

Ursa hummed but she then shrugged her shoulders. "Alright, but Quacey, I think you need to eat more. You need your strength for the journey after all."

After Ursa said what she said, Quacey sighed as he knew that Ursa was right. He couldn't just eat a beast though, that would be very wrong of him to do. So what else could he eat besides herbs? Quacey would have to think until he came up with an answer.

Quacey felt someone brush against him and as he did Quacey then heard little bear noises and he looked down to see little Artaois looking up at him worried. Artaois was a cute little bear and Quacey couldn't help but smile at the little guy. Ursa was now taking care of him and Quacey was very glad that she was and even though she had a bad attitude before she surprisingly changed a lot. Anyone could change after all.

"Don't worry little guy, I'll be fine," Quacey assured the cub but before he could assure him any further, he heard Ursa gasp at something but she was then growling.

When Quacey looked to see what Ursa was looking at his eyes widened when he saw a deer carcass. Practically all of its flesh had been eaten and was now in the open and flies were now buzzing around it. Quacey could then hear the gasps and whispers of the beasts behind them as they were scared of what they saw. The poor deer was killed by something and Quacey pretty much had an idea of who did this.

Quacey then saw Ursa sniffing the air and after she sniffed the air some she then spoke the one word that Quacey had the feeling it would be. "Wolves…"

Quacey too then sniffed the air as he got close to the carcass and as he did he could also pick up the scent of urine, the wolf knew that scent all too well as he used to be in Luger's pack. He then looked at everyone. "Not just any wolves; Luger's pack."

The beasts were now getting more worried as they looked at each other and whispered. Artaois got near Ursa and started to shiver in fear and as he was Ursa then started to comfort him the best she could. Luger's pack had been causing a lot of problems lately for the beasts and Quacey wasn't sure when Luger would stop all this but he had the feeling that he would never stop what he was doing. Luger had always said how unfair it was that the wolves had to eat up to a certain amount of meat and he also thought that they weren't given the same respect as the herbivores were getting and it seemed like it was also Luger's way of getting his revenge. Quacey wished that Luger was never like the way he was but no matter what Luger would never change who he was… No one could for that matter.

Then, Quacey started to pick up on another scent. His brow furrowed in confusion as he started to sniff the air with his strong sense of smell and as he was the scent he was picking up on was very close by. The scent was different and Quacey had never smelled anything like this. Whatever it was, Quacey wanted to find out as the scent he was picking up on was an animal and this animal could be a danger to all of them. There could be more of them even scattered around this area and ready to attack all of them and if that would be the case, Quacey would be ready to fight them.

Quacey growled as his fur bristled. "We're not alone…"

The beasts were getting confused but stayed quiet as Quacey went to go investigate the scent of smell he was picking up on. He crouched down low so his scent wouldn't be picked up on by the animal he was going to track down and he moved ever so carefully and quietly without stepping on anything that would get him exposed by this very animal. It seemed to not have been a problem so far and he was pretty stealthy so he kept on doing what he was doing without breaking his concentration.

Then, Quacey started to hear some breathing and some heartbeats as he got closer to the animal, and as he was the sounds he was hearing sounded very weak… Almost as if this animal could be dying. This got Quacey kind of concerned as maybe this animal wasn't here to harm him or the beasts he was with but who knew? Maybe this animal was pretending so it could attack and eat one of them for its meal. Either way, Quacey had to be extremely careful as he didn't know what he was facing.

The breathing and heartbeats got louder as he then came to a bush and when he did, Quacey kept his breathing and heartbeats steady and quietly as he didn't want this animal to see him. If Quacey was being honest right now he was getting a little bit scared but he couldn't let that get to him that easily just like he couldn't get his exhaustion the best of him. He was a wolf after all and had to act like one sometimes and a lot of times for the better. He couldn't just kill this animal though without knowing why and what it was doing here. He had to play smart about this.

Luger then silently inhaled then exhaled the cold air and after he did he moved away the shrubbery and when he did he saw something that made his eyes widened. He saw a beast that had all black fur. When he got a better look at it he saw it kind of looked like him and he at first assumed that it was a black wolf but when he got a better whiff of the beast's scent he realized that this beast wasn't a wolf…

"Quacey, what is it?" Asked the white kermode bear.

Quacey looked to Ursa as she and the other beasts were waiting to see what Quacey picked up on. "It's… it's a dog."

In the very bush lied an unconscious black dog and she looked like a disaster. Like Quacey, she too looked like she hadn't eaten for a long time. Dogs were known as man's best friend and that thought alone made Quacey worry as he thought that a hunter might have been by. He looked around him but saw no signs of a human anywhere. If this dog was out here then where was her owner? She didn't have one of those things around her neck that the humans gave their dogs so maybe she was one of those wild dogs?

When Quacey said dog the animals gasped as they couldn't believe that a dog was out here. "A dog?" A raccoon said. "What's a dog doing out here?"

"I don't know," Quacey replied.

As Quacey continued to stare at the dog he was actually glad that she was still breathing but the only question was what was this dog doing all the way out here? Either way, Quacey knew that they had to help her. Friend or foe they still had to help her and it would only be right anyways. Leaving her to die would not be the right thing to do and dogs were technically like beasts in some ways after all.

They woke up very early the next night and wasted no time to get a head start so the giant bats wouldn't lay their hands on them. When they woke up it was no surprise as to what Shade's reaction was like after Lightning used hypnosis on Shade. It was pretty funny but they had no time to stand around to talk about it as they had to focus on getting to the colony and fast. Kassidy did ask if they should take the pocket watch and bottle that had the holy water in it with them but Lightning said that they would need to leave it behind but he would come back for those items at another time and so they hid the items under some leaves in the cave they slept in and after they did they left immediately.

The five of them have been traveling for a couple of hours already and before they even left, Kassidy used the sight-seeing spell on everyone so Martin wouldn't know where they were and the thought of Martin even seeing through their eyes was a terrifying thought. Martin could do any magic in a snap and having him see through their eyes was too much of a risk. He was dangerous like the other three giant bats were. So far they were exhausted all except for Lightning but they kept on pushing in hopes of not getting caught by not only the giant bats but the owls as well.

Flying every night was making Kassidy stronger and when she and her friends were flying nights ago their arms would ache from all the flapping they did but now those aches were fading away pretty quickly. Kassidy and her friends were growing stronger in every way possible, even if they didn't realize it. The wild was testing them but they were still passing the obstacles it had to offer and who knew what else the wild had to offer them?

"Hey Smalls," Holden called out to Shade. "You sure the colony headed this way?"

Shade turned his head to look at Holden with a reassuring smile. "Positive."

Their Brightwing friend hummed to herself with a worried look in her eyes that could tell anyone that she wasn't so sure about this. "Then we're not out of trouble yet," she said.

Kassidy knew that Marina was right as they still needed to get to the safety of the colony and fast. The Silverwing witch was pretty quiet though as she still couldn't stop thinking about what happened the other night… Eating that rabbit was probably the worst thing she's done yet on this journey but even thinking about that rabbit made her actually want to eat more meat. She shook her head to get that thought out of her but the cravings of meat still kept on coming to her. Kassidy cursed in her head and at the meat, she ate last night.

"Kass, you alright?" Marina asked.

When Marina asked Kassidy that question she got out of her thoughts and looked at her reassuringly. "Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just thinking."

"You sure? We can stop to rest if you want."

"No, no, it's okay. We can keep going. I swear I'm alright, you don't have to worry about me."

"Well, technically I should after what Martin did to you. All of us to be precise."

"Can't say that I blame her," Holden then commented. "I mean for god's sake he practically-" Kassidy angrily looked at Holden and when she did it seemed that Holden got the signal and cleared his throat. "Never mind, but maybe we should stop to rest."

At this point, Kassidy was getting quite annoyed. Not only because of all the worrying for her but because even anyone mentioning Martin and what he did to her made her want to do what he did to her onto him. It would be perfect really.

We have a long way to go and perhaps it would be best to take a break for at least a little bit, Lightning then said through their minds. We can't waste all of our energy and even though going on is the best option we still need to take our breaks.

"We can land there then," Shade then said as he was indicating to a tree they were getting close to.

Kassidy was about to say that she wanted to keep going but her friends and Lightning already landed on those tree branches with Holden and Lightning taking one and Shade and Marina taking the other. Kassidy's four friends were hanging upside down on the tree branches and seeing as though she had no choice she joined Holden and Lightning on the tree branch they were on. She didn't feel tired, she wanted to keep going and who knew where the giant bats were by now? They could be watching them right now and waiting for the right moment to attack. Kassidy didn't want to stick around and wanted to keep going.

Then, Marina gasped, and when she did Kassidy and her friends looked to where Marina was looking and their eyes widened at the sight they were seeing. There was a huge mountain, almost big enough to be Mount Everest even. It was also like looking at a giant glacier since the mountain was mostly covered in snow. Kassidy could already imagine what that mountain had to offer to all of them. The wind was practically howling, almost as if a wolf was calling out to them from nowhere saying that they had to turn back and it was too dangerous for them.

"This is a joke right?" Holden said as he continued to stare at the mountain.

Shade looked at Holden annoyed. "No, this is not a joke."

"Are you sure, Shade?" Marina asked. "I don't think this is the right way. My colony doesn't fly over any mountains."

Shade was then looking between both Holden and Marina annoyed. "Well, maybe mine does."

"And maybe we fly up there and freeze our fur off."

"You honestly don't believe that we're going to fly our asses up there now do you?" Holden asked Shade seriously. "Not only may we freeze our fur off but there may be a chance we're going to be frozen solid like popsicles!"

Shade and Marina looked at Holden confused but Shade was getting more annoyed as he bared his teeth. "Okay, what even is a popsicle? I don't think you're even making any sense!"

"Or maybe we're headed in the wrong direction! Maybe your sound map got messed up or some shit!" Kassidy then slapped the back of Holden's head and when she did, Holden's eyes almost popped out of their sockets. "Ow!" The purple Silverwing then started to rub the backside of his head and he looked at Kassidy annoyed. "What was that for?"

Kassidy crossed her arms as she looked at Holden annoyed. "Calm the hell down! You're acting a five-year-old."

"Well, excuse me for saying the obvious. What do you want me to say? 'Shade, that's a genius idea, let's go and venture out there so we can get lost and freeze to ourselves to death!'" Holden acted out. "That something you'd like me to say?"

"I'm hanging right here, bonehead!" Shade snapped at Holden. "If you're so smart, then what do you suggest we do? Because this is the only option we got!"

Holden looked at Shade with his teeth bared. "We can always hitchhike," Holden sarcastically said. "I don't know! I'm not the one with the sound map now am I?"

"No, but you're once more acting like a five-year-old," Kassidy said with a growl. "Oh, but you do make a good point; you don't have the sound map, Shade does."

Holden looked at Kassidy. "Oh, so you agree with Shade then? You think it's a great idea going up there?"

"I'm saying that you should keep it down-" she then jabbed him in the chest with her finger, "you're probably louder than this wind here." Kassidy then palmed her forehead in frustration. "Seriously, sometimes you can make things way too frustrating."

"That's just great to hear, Kass. The next thing you'll tell me is that I'll be the first one to die out here."

Alright, enough, Lightning then interjected. We cannot argue out here, it will not do any good just arguing about all this. Remember why you're out here. No matter what happens you have to help each other out, even with what's happening here.

The four friends looked at each other in silence but in the looks in their eyes, they could all agree to what Lightning just said. Of course, they shouldn't argue. Their true enemies at the moment were the ones that were trying to hunt them down. They had to help each other out as Lightning said. It was bad enough that they were on the fly just to find the colony; they couldn't just turn on each other like savages. They were friends and friends had to stick together in the end.

Kassidy started to breathe in and out with her eyes closed so she could try and remain calm. She didn't want to go yelling at her friends, not if she could help it. They were alone, yes, but they couldn't turn against each other, that would be wrong for them to do. If they did they would forget what they came out here to do. They would have to try and remain calm in any way possible if they were to try and get to the colony safely… and if Kassidy was to find her family.

Lightning then looked at Shade with his kind eyes calmly. Now, Shade, just to be sure you're right, take a look at your sound map and then confirm if this is the right direction or not. The giant bats will wake up any second now and it's best that we hurry.

As Lightning spoke, Marina was rubbing her banded arm in pain. It seemed like the band was stinging against her arm once more and Kassidy wished she knew a spell to ease the stinging on Marina's arm or had those berries Marina used to squeeze inside her band. Kassidy hated to see her friends in pain and wished she could help out much more. Sure, she's risked her life and such, but she wanted to help out much more, even if it would get her sleep-deprived.

Their blond Silverwing friend was in his thoughts but he then nodded at what Lightning said. "Alright, I'll pull it up." With that being said, Shade closed his eyes and started to concentrate on his sound map.

They watched as Shade's eyes were scrunching and he was mumbling to himself and so far he's gotten better at using his sound map and they could only hope that Shade's sound map wouldn't fail them big time in the long run. Kass had the feeling though that the sound map wouldn't fail them. After all, they came this far.

After some time of concentration, Shade immediately opened his eyes and looked at everyone. "We definitely fly up that mountain. We go past the trees and then…"

The three friends waited for what else Shade had to say but their blond Silverwing friend seemed to be confused about something. What was it he saw? Perhaps Kass could see if there was a way she could guess what the next landmark was. She knew a lot of places in the world so perhaps she could figure out what the next location was.

"And then what?" Holden asked.

Shade then placed the side of his finger on his chin as he still looked confused at what he saw in his sound map. "Uh… and then… we fly through a wolf's ears?"

Even though Kassidy knew a lot of locations she furrowed her brow confused at where they needed to head to next. That couldn't be right, right? Holden and Marina looked about as confused as her but Lightning remained calm. Kassidy now wished she had the sound map so she could help Shade out.

"Okay, it's official," Holden said as he lifted his arms in the air. "That sound map is jacked up."

"Are you out of your roost?" Marina asked Shade annoyed as she pointed to the side of her head. "A wolf's not a landmark."

Shade sighed as he placed his hand on his forehead. Kassidy knew that Shade was trying and it was his first migration after all like it was hers and Holden's. How could she get annoyed with him? Even when Shade told them what he saw in the sound map that didn't sound right, Kassidy knew that the location had to be real. They'll just have to know it when they see it.

"Guys, relax," Kassidy said. "I agree with Marina that a wolf cannot be a landmark so it's gotta be something that looks like a wolf. Think about it: our landmarks aren't living so the next landmark has to be something similar to wolf's ears." The Silverwing witch then thought to herself as she hummed and when she thought she had the idea she then nodded. "Let's just keep moving and I'm sure we will find what Shade saw in his sound map."

"Yeah, I think we will find what I saw," Shade said. "I mean we did find the last one now didn't we?"

Holden sighed but it looked like he then thought of something as his eyes then lit up. He then had a smirk form. "Okay, then tell me this Smalls. Did this so-called wolf ears look something like this?"

With that, Holden then closed his eyes and placed his claws against his temples, and started to hum. On the ground, something started to form slowly and at first, it looked pretty funky but slowly it started to become something more than just something funky and weird. When the three friends looked to the ground their eyes widened when they saw what was on the ground and Shade and Marina gasped.

On the ground was a wolf.

It was growling and looking around him but then, he looked up to the five that were on the tree branches and he licked his chops. The wolf then started to run towards them and when he did he then jumped up and tried to grab either Shade or Marina but he was too far down. But, the wolf then started to look out of place and slowly started to fade away until it was nothing more.

"Aw, damn it," Holden said to himself and everyone looked up at him surprised, except for Lightning.

"Holden, did you actually make an echo projection of that wolf?" Shade asked amazed. As if Holden answered his question, Holden smirked and crossed his arms. "How?"

"I've been doing some practice when no one was watching," Holden said. "Still gotta get some things right but I think I might get it down in no time."

It had been a while since Kassidy last did an echo projection but Kassidy was actually surprised that Holden's been practicing. He couldn't even prepare for a simple test but he actually went as far as to practice some echo projection. That was a gold star there and if Holden was willing to practice his echo projections then maybe he now wouldn't have a problem with studying. Kassidy then started to realize something: Holden practiced his echo projections because it looked like he had fun with it. She made a note to help Holden with his school work and studying by making things fun and how she would do that she would have to think things through carefully when they found the colony, turned back into humans, her finding her family, and when they got back home.

"Holden, that was pretty good though," Marina said with a smile. "It actually looked like a real-life wolf."

Kassidy hummed to herself as she then crossed her arms. "Not bad, Holden, although like you said you gotta get some things right but that wasn't bad."

I believe we should go now, Lightning said calmly. The echo projections can wait, but right now we must try and get to the next landmark.

Of course, Lightning was right. They must get a move on. The giant bats could be awake right now even and the more they stood around the more likely they could catch up to them. They had to keep going.

They were all flying once more for an hour or two and Holden and Marina still had doubts about Shade's sound map. It was getting quite annoying to Kassidy but she decided to remain calm and believe what the sound map Shade had to offer. Even though she didn't trust a lot of things she had to at least trust what Shade said about the sound map. It may have sounded stupid but she didn't care. Never judge a book by its cover as the old saying goes after all.

Now and then Kassidy started to feel fire rise on her because she was also getting slightly angry and when she felt the fire start to slowly ignite on her she tried to do her breathing technique. She kept repeating in her head to stay calm and not to yell at anyone. Burning something did feel like a good thing to do but not in a time like this. When she was alone perhaps she could burn something, right now though they all had to focus on getting to the next landmark.

"Trust me guys," Shade said. "All this stuff is on the sound map. Uh, those rocks, these trees…"

"Yeah, but no wolves," Marina said as they all landed on tree branches with her and Shade on one while Kassidy, Holden, and Lightning were on another. The four bats friends then hung upside down. "If that's even what we're looking for."

"Yeah, and it just doesn't even make any sense," Holden then commented. "No bats could possibly even fly through a wolf's ears. Plus I don't even think they would even want to do that. I know I wouldn't."

Kassidy then rolled her eyes. "Of course you wouldn't, but guys like I said the landmark can't be living, we have to try and trust Shade's sound map somehow."

"Tch, well whatever it is, I cannot possibly believe that Shade's sound map is…" Holden stopped in midsentence and stared at something.

Kassidy furrowed her brow confused at what Holden could possibly be staring at but she decided to have a look for herself and her eyes widened when she saw a blurry image of a wolf in the sky. The wolf was growling and it looked exactly like Luger but how could Luger be in the sky? That's when Kassidy thought of something. She then looked to Shade only to see him humming with his eyes closed in concentration like Holden did an hour or two ago. Kassidy then snorted and with a smirk as Shade's echo projection was pretty funny to her.

The echo projection of Luger Shade summoned didn't last very long though and it then disappeared and when it did, Shade groaned. The three friends then laughed at Shade's attempt while Lightning just stared at them calmly like he usually has been. Holden, however, was laughing harder than the girls.

"Oh, Smalls," Holden then wiped away the tears of laughter from his eyes. "That was so hilarious but that was a nice try. Keep practicing that echo projection, you may fool somebody yet." He then laughed once more and placed his hand on Lightning's back so he could steady himself as he was laughing like he drank too much alcohol. "That was hilarious, wasn't it, Lightning? Come on, you gotta admit that was pretty funny." He then continued to laugh.

Lightning slowly shook his head and sighed in his head. It was a good try, Shade. A small smile could then be seen on Lightning's beak. I think you'll be very good at it in no time, just need to practice more.

After Lightning's comment, Shade smiled weakly. "Um, thanks, Lightning." Shade then looked at Holden. "I'll be honest, man, I was trying to scare you with my echo projection and I'll admit that your echo projection of a wolf was better than mine."

"It was a good attempt though," Holden replied. "I'll give you some pointers even if you want."

Shade nodded as he seemed to have liked the idea. "Thanks, I appreciate that." He then hummed to himself and looked at Kassidy and when he did he then pointed at her. "You could probably give me some pointers too. By the way, we haven't seen you do an echo projection yet, could you do one?"

Although the echo projections were awesome, Kassidy wanted to get a move on and Lightning could probably agree with her on that. Maybe next time though she would but right now she really didn't want to do echo projections at this moment. Even though a part of her wanted to do an echo projection she knew that doing echo projections would have to wait.

"Sorry, Shade," Kassidy said. "As much as I'd love to do that I think I'll hold off on that."

"Well, you're no fun," Holden said as he smirked. "But I'll be sure to get you to have fun."

Kassidy was about to respond but she then heard Shade freak out and she looked to see what Shade freaked out about. There was snow covering the top of Shade's nose. Kassidy then noticed that it was snowing around them and when she saw the snow she couldn't help but smile. The snow was just beautiful to her and every snow season brought back so many memories to her. She then couldn't help but close her eyes and spread her arms out.

When Kassidy was little she remembered how she used to always do fun things outside with her parents and her dog Raven when it was snowing outside. They would always go sled riding, building snowmen and igloos, making snow angels, and even having snowball fights with each other. After a while, they would all go back inside and her Dad would always be the one making the fire in the fireplace while her Mom would make them some hot cocoa. Those were the good days there.

The good days when she wasn't depressed a lot…

"You've never seen snow before?" Marina asked Shade.

Kassidy then opened her eyes and continued to smile, not knowing that Holden was looking at her.

"Well… not uh… up close…" Shade responded.

"Not surprised there," Kassidy said still smiling. "Snow is the most beautiful weather to witness."

"Kass, you actually like snow?" Holden asked surprised.

Kassidy looked at Holden. "Are you kidding? I love it. I used to do a lot of fun things in the snow, it's the best."

The Silverwing witch then laughed and unlatched herself from the tree branch she was on and flew around in the snow having the best time of her life. She then closed her eyes and imagined herself creating snow, getting all details and descriptions right, she even made sure to try and feel what snow was like. Then, in a matter of moments snow was summoned in her hands and when she saw the snow powers in her hands she laughed and made it snow more around her. She knew she had to stay focused but she couldn't help herself.

Kassidy then looked to the snowy ground and when she did she imagined a snowman in her head and then started to create the snowman with her snow magic with a flick of her wrist. The snow magic immediately did its work and created three-round snow circles that went on top of each other, big on the bottom, medium in the middle, and short on the top. Kassidy then went to grab two sticks and after she did she placed them on each side of the snowman to make the arms and then she used her levitation spell on some pebbles and she used them to make the face on the snowman. After she did all that she looked at her work with the smile still on her face. It wasn't perfect but she was just happy to have built a happy snowman.

Holden was then airborne next to her and he whistled amazed. "That's pretty good, Kass." He then smiled at her.

Kassidy then looked at Holden still smiling. "Not too shabby, eh?"

"What is that?" Shade asked.

Kassidy and Holden looked to Shade and Marina to see that they were confused and Kassidy and Holden couldn't help but laugh. "It's a snowman," Kassidy replied. "It's what we humans do for fun in the snow."

"Really?" Marina asked. "What else do you do for fun in the snow?"

"I'll show you." Kassidy then used her snow magic once more and started to create a snowball. When she had the perfect snowball she looked at Holden with a mischievous grin and of course he wasn't paying attention. "Hey, Holden, think fast."

"Wha-" Before Holden could finish, Kassidy threw the snowball at Holden and it smacked right in his face.

After Holden got hit in the face with the snowball, Kassidy started to laugh so hard and even Shade and Marina joined in laughing. Holden coughed and shook the snow off him and as he did, Kassidy spoke. "What we call there is a snowball fight."

As much as snow can be fun to play in we must go, Lightning said calmly. I'll fly upfront. With that, Lightning then took off and started to fly ahead.

Kassidy then saw at the corner of her eye that Holden was making a snowball to throw at her and she pretended not to notice as she then flew near Shade and Marina. "Okay, coming Lightning." Then, Holden threw the snowball that he made from the ground at Kassidy, however, Kassidy maneuvered out of its way easily and it ended up hitting Shade in the face and Shade yelled surprised. He then started to cough and shake the snow off him and as he was, Kassidy and Marina started to laugh and went to follow Lightning. "Nice try, Holden." Kassidy then called to Holden over her shoulder and laughed once more with Marina.

The girls then started to have fun in the snow and as they were the boys managed to catch up to them and they too started to have fun in the snow. They chased each other around, stuck their tongues out for the snow, and much more. As they were having fun, Kassidy started to glow and she hadn't glowed in a long time because she hadn't smiled a lot but with her smile now on her face she was now glowing. They were having the best time of their lives as friends should be, laughing and whooping but it wouldn't be long until their fun would be killed off.

Very far off from where the group was, the four giant bats were still tracking them down and now they were in a very cold snowstorm. Martin and Dianna had to explain to Goth and Throbb what all this was and such and it wasn't fun for them to do but if it was the only way to get those two to shut up just by answering their questions then that's what they would do. Vampyrum bats were not used to weathers like this and it was no surprise that Goth and Throbb started to shiver violently in this confounded weather. Martin and Dianna weren't shivering violently, however, and were just continuing to fly like they couldn't feel the snow that was falling like they were just cotton balls.

As the giant bats continued to fly on, Martin still felt angry that he let those mangy brats outsmart him like that. He was experienced in magic but yet he let those four outsmart him? He swore to himself that once he got his hands on them he would do something much worse than what he's done to them. After all, he had many ways of making someone miserable and useless.

"Dear, do you recognize this?" Dianna asked her husband.

When Dianna asked the question, Martin took the chance to look around him and when he did he could see what his wife meant. He recognized where they were and it was all too familiar to him and his wife. Which could only mean…

Martin cursed under his breath and when he did, Dianna then spoke. "We need to teleport there, forget about those two. They aren't our problem."

"Patience, love," Martin said to his wife. "I'll take care of the situation if it comes down to it, but right now let's not draw any more suspicions to those two." He then looked over his shoulder and Goth and Throbb didn't hear them as they were too cold to listen in. "Besides, I won't hesitate to kill them if they find out our secret just like I won't hesitate to kill those brats but we will need the orphan alive." He then looked back to his wife. "Our revenge isn't complete yet but we will quench our thirst for revenge soon enough." He then smiled menacingly. "And soon we will also get on with the Plan."

With that, Dianna too then grinned menacingly and they started to chuckle. Martin could already picture all of it now and when that was all completed he would celebrate with his wife in many ways possible.

The fun time was over now and of course, that had to happen as it was starting to get colder. The coldness was practically biting them and it was hard to fly in all this snow when it was flying straight into their eyes, practically almost blinding their visions. Holden's teeth were clattering like crazy and he felt like an icicle was forming under his nose. Holden never felt colder in his life than he did now and even though he could barely see out here he could see that his friends were getting pretty cold as well.

Holden sometimes had to bend his head down just to block the snowstorm that was blowing against him but most of the time he had to look up just so he could see where he was going and so he wouldn't lose anyone. It was getting really bad out here and the snowstorm almost made him fall out of the sky a few times. He could barely feel any of his body parts, even as he was flying and it was like had nobody at all. However, he kept on flying the best he could without giving up.

Shade was huffing and puffing as he was trying to fly himself. "Okay, this isn't fun anymore."

"Yeah, no shit Sherlock," Holden said sarcastically. Shade looked at Holden confused. "It's an idiom, you know what? Never mind."

Just keep on flying and we'll find shelter in no time, Lightning said through their minds. Just try and stick together.

Marina was then groaning in pain. "This band is stinging my arm… and my colony was right this thing is a curse." She then looked like she was thinking about something. "Maybe we should turn back."

"We can't give up now, Marina," Kassidy said. "We came this far and we can't just turn around when those giant bats are now after us like those owls are."

"Yeah, and besides," Holden said, "now isn't even a good time to talk about your band." As Holden was flying, something felt off with his wings and he wasn't sure how to explain it. "God, it's so cold out here."

"Holden, why are you flying like that?" Kassidy then asked him.

Holden looked at Kassidy confused by the question she asked him. "Like what? This is how I fly."

"No, it isn't."

Holden then heard Marina gasp and he looked up to see that she was staring at something on Holden. "Holden, your wings!"

Holden's eyes widened and he looked to see that ice was forming on his wings. This now explained why he felt like his wings didn't feel right. Why was this happening now? How was this happening? Either way, this was not good. The purple Silverwing then cursed and he was starting to panic.

"Holden, don't panic," Kassidy said. "Just-"

Before Kassidy could even finish a huge gust of wind blew in their direction and when it did it sent them all apart and Holden tried to keep his flying under control but he couldn't control it much longer and he was then falling from the sky. Holden yelled as he fell and no matter how hard he tried to adjust his flight the falling only got worse and this made him curse out loud even.

Was this how he was going to die now? Holden didn't want to die out here but it looked like it was going to be that way. He could already imagine himself having his head smashed against a rock or something and his skull cracked leaving him dead in the middle of nowhere. That only made him panic more. He prayed to God in his head that he would help him not get killed in the middle of this snowstorm and that he would at least land in a safe place… Holden just didn't want it to end like this.

After what seemed to have been a while, Holden all the sudden found himself rolling down a hill very fast and after many rolls, he then slid on his stomach on the ground a few feet. Holden groaned in pain and when he looked up his eyes widened when he came face to face with the most horrific thing imaginable.

A bat carcass.

Holden yelled and tried to get up and take off but he slipped on the ground and banged his chin on it. He growled in pain and started to rub his chin. Why did he slip? Was the snow very slippery or something? But that's when he looked down and when he did he gasped. He was not on snowy land as he could see his reflection on the worst thing he could be on… ice.

A crack could then be heard and Holden slowly turned his head and he gasped once more when he saw the ice was slowly cracking. Holden cursed and he felt very helpless at that moment. The ice was slippery and if he even made one wrong move the ice would crack more and he would be sent into the very cold water with the ice blocking his way of trying to get out unless he could punch through it.

There was no one around to try and help him and Holden wasn't even sure where the others were but there was one thing for certain: if he didn't get off this ice very soon he would surely die out here. This was going to be a huge risk but either way, Holden had to get off this ice… and he would have to do this by himself.

A/N- Well, after I finished studying for my important tests I finally got to finish this! I so cannot wait to do the next chapter as we all know where they'll be all headed soon ;)