Chapter 14: Life Saviors

Before the owl could even realize what was going on, sharp claws hit it in the face causing the bird to screech out in pain.

I managed to rip off my hood from its claw and desperately clutched onto the owl's foot in fear of getting tossed through the air. I even shut my eyes tight and silently hoped for this all to be over soon.

The bird now charged in turn but its opponent quickly dodged the attack by simply jumping out of the way Fearfully I glanced back up to see the bat preparing for another strike.

Yes, a bat.
It seemed unreal but recognizing its body shape and leathery wings I was certain it had to be one, though compared to my friends this one was gigantic. Its wings were huge and nearly blocked the full moon as it opened them to their full length with a dark chuckle before crashing down on the owl and sinking its claws into its flesh yet again.

Screeching in pain and irritation the owl tried to fight back but the bat just smirked and easily threw the bird over his head as if it was nothing but a toy and tossed him down into the next tree.

I wanted to scream as I lost my grip during the fall but my voice seemed to be stuck in my throat. Luckily Shade was close by and caught me by grabbing my leg with his own feet and carried me over to the branch of another tree.

Catching my breath I sat down, leaning my back against the bark and waited for my nerves to calm down.

''Are you alright?'' Marina asked me as she landed beside us on the branch.
I just nodded still feeling unable to talk and looked back up into the sky.

The owl had managed to stop its own fall as well. Unfortunately, it also spotted us and was just about to attack. But then the huge bat from before tackled it again by slamming its hind claws into the owls back, causing it to drift away from its course. The bat then clung onto the bird with its full weight and let itself get carried through the air with a sinister laugh before letting go of it again just for those two to wrestle with each other in mid-air.

Shade, Marina and I watched with agitation how the two opponents fought with each other, by rolling around in the sky. Eventually the bat finally got itself on top of the owl and crashed them both right into a shrubbery down by the roots of the tree we were sitting on.

For a moment we watched with tense how the foliage shook and rattled because of the two still fighting inside then everything went silent.
Neither I nor my two friends dared to speak a word. Like frozen we waited for something to happen.
Suddenly the shrubbery moved again and a feathered wing appeared. We gasped in horror and were just about to hurry the hell out of here when we noticed that the wing wasn't moving. It just laid there still and lifeless. It took us a moment but then finally realized that the owl was dead.

Right then our life savior stepped out of the shrubbery and brushed some dust from its fur.

It was a young adult male, much older than Shade and nearly three times his size with grey-brown fur, a beige-colored mane, purple wings and long crimson red hair plus a neatly trimmed beard in the same color. Furthermore, he looked barely exhausted from the fight and didn't even had any scratches on his muscular body.

Watching him from above I figure that he hadn't noticed us yet.

''Guys let's go,'' Marina urged us in a strained voice, wanting away from here as quick as possible.

''But he saved us,'' Shade protested, ''We can't just leave without thanking him first.''

''Yes, we can. This guy just killed that owl which is totally abnormal for any bat I know. Who knows what this guy might do to us.''

''You are totally overreacting here.''

''Guys, please,'' I hissed at them, ''not so loud. He might hear...Yikes! *the small twig I was leaning against while taking a closer look at the bat snapped under my weight and fell down to his feet, causing him to look up and spot us in the tree above.

I gulped seeing the fresh blood dripping from his muzzle and the dark menacingly look in his lemon-colored eyes.

He frowned in confusion, noticing me when suddenly another strange bat, another male appeared and landed beside the other one on the ground.
This one was much smaller and chubbier with grey-blue fur, a dark green mane, dark blue wings and long indigo colored hair and goatee
Unlike the other, he hadn't noticed us yet and hungrily licked his libs at the sight of the dead owl in the shrubbery.

He was just about to jump at it when the other bat stopped him by holding his arm out in front of his face. With a quietly displeased growl, the smaller bat turned around but his frown quickly changed into a delighted grin as soon as he noticed us.
Both bats stared at us for a moment and I noticed that they were both banded just like Marina. But unlike her, the bands that covered their left wrists were bronze-colored not silver.
Eventually, the larger bat wiped the blood from his muzzle with the back of his hand and his expression surprisingly changed into a softer one.

''Pardon my manners,'' he said with a Spanish accent and slightly bowed down before us, ''I'm Goth and this ... is my cousin Throbb.'' He paused and grudgingly gave a slight nod towards the pudgy bat next to him who greeted us as well with a bright smile on his face.

''H-hi...,'' Shade greeted them back, ''Eh, I'm Shade and these are Vanessa and Marina.
The Brightwing gasped softly as Shade mentioned our names and looked down fearfully at the two large bats below. Before I could ask her what was wrong, the two males flew up to us on the branch with a few strong flaps of their huge wings. I gulped a bit. Up closer their sizes were much more impressive. Especially Goths.

''We are new to these lands,'' he told us,'' Torn away from our own.

''Oh, us too,'' Shade said, naively lowering his guard in front of the two strangers.

''I see we have much in common.'' Goth smiled and I couldn't help but felt a little uneasy because of the way he looked at us three. Like he was hiding something from us.

''All we want is to get back to our home in the south but we cannot read this eh ... northern stars,'' he said and pointed up towards the night sky with a troubled look on his face.

I felt like I knew what he was talking about. Thanks to Zephyr I could at least now search out some constellation but picking out a single star by its name was still very difficult for me. I hoped Shade or Marina still knew which star we had to follow on our way to hibernaculum because I already forgot which one it was.

''You two can travel with us!'' Shade proposed without thinking twice, ''We are headed south to find my colony.''

''We'd be delighted. And in return allow us to offer our protection,'' Goth said.

Shade nodded smiling. ''It's a deal.''

Suddenly three moanful hoots floated through the night air causing us to freeze on our spot.

''What was that?'' Goth asked, looking around.

''More owls,'' Shade explained, ''they are calling for their sentry. They'll come if they don't hear back from him. We should get moving.''
We all nodded in agreement and got ready to move. Marina was first to jump back into the air, spreading her wings out and hovering over me to grab my hands with her feet.

''What are you doing?'' Goth asked, looking slightly puzzled by the sight of me dangling under the Brightwings feet.

''Well, I don't have any wings and Shade and Marina are not big enough to carry me around otherwise,'' I explained but Goth shook his head.

''That's no safe way of traveling for you Senorita. The risk of either your friend letting you go or you losing your grip by yourself is too high. And we surely don't wish for you to fall to your death, right?''

Why did I get the feeling this might be exactly his intentions? Probably just my imagination.
Who was I to judge someone I barely knew anything about?!

The tall bat turned to his cousin and signed to come over while Marina landed me back on the branch.

''Throbb here will be so kind to carry you around on his back,'' Goth simply said.

''What? Why me?'' the smaller bat protested but then flinched back by the way Goth was looking at him. ''Uh, ... I mean...si that's no problem. It would be an honor for me to be your mode of transportation.'' He chuckled nervously and gave a short bow before me.

''Eh, thank you but I don't think that's really necessary,'' I said but Throbb shook his head.

''No, no I insist,'' he replied determinedly and I exchange a short glance with Marina, who just shrugged not knowing how to help me with this.
Knowing we couldn't stay here forever I let out a soft sigh and agreed to ride on Throbb's back during our journey.

''Are you sure about this?'' Marina asked me under her breath.

''Yeah, it will be fine,'' I whispered back even though I wasn't truly sure about this and climbed on the big bat's back. I barely wrapped my arms around Throbb's neck as he already took off with speed causing me to cling on him more tightly.

''Don't worry Senorita. I'm not gonna drop you,'' he said laughing a little.
I lose my grip a little but still felt uncertain as we flew through the sky right behind Goth, Marina and Shade.

''OWLS!'' Chinook cried as soon as he reached the water tower. Immediately he was covered by dozens of eyes who stared down at him with confusion and fear and a general disturbance broke out among the bats.

He had barely time to catch his breath when Bathsheba approached him on the wooden beam.

''What's this about owls?'' she demanded to know.

''There is a bounty on our heads, and we-,'' Chinook tried to explain but Bathsheba quickly cut him off.

''A bounty? Don't be ridicu-'' But before she could say anything more Frieda already raised her voice towards the colony.

''Silverwings, prepare to evacuate the roost,'' she said with authority and soon after everyone soared up from their roost and followed her into the sky.

''Where should we go?'' Ariel asked with worry and took a fearful look back over her shoulder just to see three owls getting closer to the water tower.

''That building over there,'' Mercury quickly said and nodded towards the sawmill in just a few wingbeats away from them. There was no proof if it was safe but it was the closest thing to hide inside and without other options, they had no choice but to risk it and flew in. Unfortunately, they were watched by the red cardinal and the rest of the owl patrol.

We flew quietly through the forest. Shade at the front talking with Goth while I, Throbb and Marina followed close behind. I still felt uncertain about those two giant bats but as long as I had no proof of them meaning any harm I swore to myself not to judge Goth or Throbb too soon.

However, this didn't mean I trusted them.

A few hours later we came across a large birch tree and Shade suggested to us to stop and roost there for a while.

Our new ''friends'' didn't seem that tired already but Shade looked like he would fall from the sky
if we kept going any longer.

Goth said nothing against it and just nodded before landing on top of a branch, while Shade and Marina roosted on the branch across.

Throbb flew towards the branch where Goth stood on and passed another one right under Shade and Marina.
Not wanting to be on the same branch as the two giant bats and rather close to my friends, I jumped off from his back, grabbing the branch with all fours and tried to climb up on it.

''Eh... señorita may I help you there?'' Throbb asked while watching me, but I quickly shook my head.

''No, no. It's fine. ... I got this,'' I said barely convincing myself. Climbing this branch up proved to be much more difficult than I first thought.
In the end, I hung there like a sloth with my arms and legs wrapped around the wood.
My cheeks burned red with embarrassment and I didn't dare to look around, knowing they were all watching me. Luckily after one more try, I finally lifted myself on the right side of the branch. There I sat down close to the trunk and avoided the glance of the others.

Suddenly a cold wind swept by, causing me to shiver a little, so I pulled my cloak closer around me to get more warmth.

''Is it always so cold here?'' Throbb asked, shivering as well.

''Just in winter,'' Marina said.

''Winter?'' Throbb looked as if she just asked him a complicated math question or something. Didn't he know what winter was?

''We are migrating,'' Shade explained, finding Throbb's reaction also surprising, ''Every winter we go south to find a warmer place to hibernate.''

''Hibernate?'' Goth asked puzzled.

''A long sleep.''

''How long?''

''Months. That's all we do. Sleep and sleep until it gets warmer.''

''Well, how unusual,'' Goth replied. ''Bats that sleep for months on end. What strange customs you have in the north. Where we are from it is warm and sunny all year around. Makes a bat grow to a reasonable size.'' With a chuckle, he opened his wings to demonstrate their enormous size.

''As a prince, I am a magnificent specimen even by my colony standards,'' he said proudly.
Throbb chuckled at this and coughed as he almost choked on his own spit.

''How did you end up so far from home?'' Marina asked.

''Oh, eh... The royal guard was not acting with his ears wide open,'' Goth answered, the smile fading from his place, turning into a discomfort frown, ''The daily humans captured us, banded us and brought us here to be imprisoned.'' He clenched his fist at this memory then turned to Marina to see her having a band herself on her wrist.

''I see you were also taking prisoner by those smelly humans señorita,'' he said.

''Excuse me,'' I thought and glared at him angrily, but he ignored me.

''No, they did not keep me prisoner,'' Marina said, ''They gave me the band and let me go again, but...''

''They didn't bring you to the artificial jungle?'' Goth asked. Marina shook her head, looking confused.

''What's a jungle?'' Shade asked curiously and flew over to the two giant bats. I assumed he had never heard of places like this before. Goth seemed to be a little surprised that Shade didn't know about such a place but joyfully explained it to him.

''A jungle is an explosion of color. Born in the heat and the sun. We, the Vampyrum Spectrum, live as we choose in our jungle. With the warmth on our wings and our bellies never empty.
We eat only the most succulent of small birds, the tastiest of lizards and other ... small animals.'' With a bright grin, he leaned down closer to the young Silverwing.

''Wait a minute. You guys eat...meat?'' Marina asked disbelievingly.

''Yeah, I always thought all bats eat only bugs like moths or beetles and stuff,'' Shade said looking surprised about it too.

''No, such things were never on our menu,'' Goth said having a disgusted look on his face.

It was good to hear that someone else was also not happy about the thoughts of eating insects. Though, the fact that these two Vampyrums were meat-eaters made me feel less comfortable around them than before. Speaking of food. Throbb mumbled something about being hungry and flew off to find himself something to eat. I couldn't help but felt a bit hungry myself but the thought of eating another bug turned it down. Instead, I tried to focus on something else and listen to Goth, who answered all the questions Shade asked him about his life and the jungle. Their conversation went on for hours and after a while, I started to feel a little tired.

''Enough about me,'' Goth finally said while crouching on the branch, bringing Shades endless questions to an end, ''What about you?''

''Oh, well,'' Shade began, hanging back on the branch next to Marina, ''We Silverwings live as we choose to too. Like the rule that bats can't look at the sun. Well, I did. Even if the owls didn't like it.''

''Didn't like it? Eh, Shade... they burned down your roost. Remember?'' I said looking up at him, raising an eyebrow.

''Why did your males not safe you?'' Goth asked with a frown.

''They weren't there. They were waiting for us in Stonehold. That's where we were getting to migrate to before the owls attacked.'' Shade let out a sigh and flew up on top of the branch he roosted before. ''I hate the owls. Even more than I hate the treaty.''

''Treaty?''

''Basically, the bats were punished for not taking sides in the battle of the birds and the beasts. That's why we have to fly at night.'' Shade sighed again and flew over to a branch above the one where Goth was.

''Hmm... I could bring an army from my species from the south and end this persecution once and for all,'' the Vampyrum said and stood back up again, ''You Shade could be my commander-in-chief. I think you have the makings of a great warrior.''

Shade was flashed at this compliment and smiled brightly.

''Your father must be very proud.''

Shades smile faded, and he turned his eyes away with a sigh.

''I...don't have a father,'' he said, '' Cassiel, my dad, disappeared while scouting one night. They say the owls got him.''

Hearing this Goth flew up to his branch and put a comforting hand on the small bat's shoulder. ''A boy without a father,'' he spoke his voice sounding soft and consoling. However, his expression especially the slight grin told something different. I couldn't help but felt even more uncomfortable now. Looking up I noticed Marina was probably thinking just the same.

Back with the Silverwings, the Birds waited until the last bat vanished through a small crack inside the building. Then they dashed down to the roof and picked holes into the wood with their sharp claws and beaks.

The Silverwings were terrified, knowing they were trapped. It was only a matter of time until the birds would have found their way into them.
Frieda knew she had to act fast to save her colony. The owls already managed to tear a hole, big enough for their heads to fit through. A little more, and they would get in completely.

The room was big and long and luckily the door of the sawmill was wide open. But would they be fast enough to reach it before the owls got them? And what about those human machines that seemed to move all on their own? Huge sharp discs rotating, faster than a bat could flap its wings, moving up and down. Cutting tree trunks without problems. Flying through that might be the best way to avoid getting caught but also very dangerous.
Hearing another cracking sound coming from above Frieda knew they had no choice but to move now.

''This way. Keep it tight and be careful,'' she spoke and led her colony down to the woodcutting machines. Without hesitation, the bats followed her.
They saw the saws and how big and dangerous they were, but they also trusted their leader, hoping she would get them all out of here safely.

Meanwhile, the owls finally got inside as well and immediately began racing after the bats. They followed them blindly which caused one owl to get knocked out by a log which unexpectedly hit it straight in the face. However, this didn't stop the rest to keep hunting the Silverwings through the mill.

Another log got thrown down by a machine nearly crashing the bats, but they quickly avoided it.
Unfortunately, their hunters weren't hit by it this time and Frieda feared they would all get caught if she didn't do something.
Her gaze went back to the front and towards the razor-sharp saws. The up and down movements weren't that fast and if they were quick enough, they might got through without getting cut. But it was a huge risk. A risk she had to take in order to hopefully save them all.
In her thoughts, Frieda sent a hurried prayer to Nocturna and dashed towards the first saw.

Bathsheba gasped with horror at what Frieda was doing, but there was no way back. The owls and the cardinal were right behind them. The small red bird smirked confidently, his talons stretched out to grab the next bat he could get. But right as the last Silverwing flew under the saw. The sharp disc swiped down without warning. Gasping in shock the cardinal stopped himself just in time and flew back up to the roof.

The owls finally took notice of the danger and stopped the hunt to get away from the machines. One owl miscalculated his ascent and slammed right into the saws.
With one last horrific screech he was cut into pieces. Feathers and blood splashing all over the machine.
What a terrible loss but worse of all the Silverwings were gone. There was no sight of them inside the building anymore. They must have escaped through the wide open entrance. Growling dangerously, one of the owls gave the cardinal a last warning glare before retreating with the rest of his flock.

After a few minutes of chatting Throbb finally returned, and we went back on our road.

Shade and Marina were flying on top, talking to each other while Goth and Throbb followed behind with me yet again sitting on the grey-blue Vampyrum's back.

I didn't want to be so close by those meat-eaters but Goth once again insisted that I shouldn't hang on my friend's feet. Also, did he said I could rest a bit on Throbb's back after noticing my tiredness. I was tired yes, but too uncomfortable with those two around to even think of sleeping.

To make things worse, it also started to rain. I could feel my clothing getting instantly soaking wet, so I laid down deeper on Throbb's back and pulled the hood more over my head, trying to hide from the rain as good as I could. Crappy weather.

''Brr, how can it be so cold and-and wet and-and cold?'' Throbb asked, shivering under me.

''We will not have to put up with this much longer,'' I heard Goth saying and wondered what he meant.

''Why don't we just eat them?''

I froze. What did he just say?

''Shh! idiota, she might hear you,'' Goth snarled at his cousin.

''Nah, I think she is asleep Goth. I didn't hear a sound from her for quite some time.''

I closed my eyes and force myself to breathe calmly like if I was really asleep while feeling Goth checking on me to see if I was sleeping or not.

''Now, can you please tell me why we can't eat these two bats?'' Throbb asked again sounding impatient.

Goth chuckled softly. ''Why eat two now when you can be patient and eat an entire colony?''

Throbb now chuckled as well with malicious delight and I dug my hands deeper into his fur, still acting like I was asleep and not having heard a word they just said.

AN: Another chapter updated. :) Hope you like it. Feel free to read and review ^^