Chapter 17: Chase of Death

''Goth... Are We There Yet?'' Throbb whining for the dozenth time, ''Can you see the towers of fire? I am so tired of all this flying!''

Goth rolled his eyes and glared at him over his shoulder. ''If we were there, would we still be flying?''

''The cold... I am sure it is slowing my wings. And I am so hungry, I could eat a moth!,'' Throbb paused, thinking a bit, ''Maybe... two moths.''

The bigger Vampyrum laughed scornfully, ''That is so sad. Especially since we will soon be dining at the Silverwing buffet.''

''Buffet?,'' Throbb was thrilled, ''As in...dining without limits?'' Seconds later he chuckled with delight and licked his tongue over his lips. ''Excelente.''

Not long after did they finally reach the place of the fire towers. It was a complex variety of human-made buildings with a giant fence surrounding the area. Probably in order to keep others away from this place. All around was the crackling sound of electricity.

Goth and Throbb landed on top the roof of a wooden shed that stood just a meter away from this place and began sniffing around for small juicy northern bats.
Crouching down Goth easily tore off a piece of the roof tile and took a short peek inside. It was empty.

''Not so fast,'' he said, stopping his cousin from pulling off another tile.

''Huh?''

''It looks like dinner has not yet arrived,'' Goth looked up and scanned the skies, wondering where the Silverwings could be.

''And the electricity is generated at the dam, that's called hydro-electrical power. And then it's relayed here to-''

''Can we lose the science lesson, please?'' Shade begged while trying his best to keep up with Marina and Orestes. He was laboriously flapping his wings not looking one bit interested in anything the young owl told us about.
I for one was fairly impressed at all the information Orestes blurted out about my kind the closer we got to the power relay station. How on earth could a bird like him know about all this stuff? Not even I was familiar with any of this.

''Orestes is just trying to be nice Shade,'' Marina scolded him, unhappy about his rudeness.

''Goth and Throbb know about the soundmap!,'' he reminded us, his voice sounding desperate, ''My colony is there! We have to fly faster!''

I sighed, knowing very well that he was right. We didn't have time for a leisurely flight around. We had to reach the landmark and warn the Silverwings. Hopefully, we did not come too late.

Meanwhile, not long after the three animals and their human companion had left, the owls took notice of their disappearance and informed General Brutus who was less than happy about it.

''You're saying our prisoners disappeared with Orestes?!'' he growled while pacing back and forth on the fallen tree before the open prison cell, glaring down on Atlas and the soldier who was supposed to be guarding the outlaws.

''Well, ...,'' the soldier said carefully, feeling slightly afraid, ''Disappeared may not be the-''

''Are you proposing that those puny perpetrators have kidnapped Orestes?!'' Brutus whirled around, now shouting with fury.

''Uh, ...'' seeking help the soldiers turned to Atlas, who nodded and spoke in his turn.

''Yes sir, That is what it appears to have happened.''

''Now it's personal!'' the general bellowed, ''That bat will regret the day he first took wing and that human ..., ''his face darkened, ''I knew one of those would bring doom into the order of life. She needs to be punished together with all the unlucky fellows she calls to be her friends. I shall show no mercy.'' He turned to his second in command. ''Lieutenant Atlas, are those Greywings still in your capture?''

''They are traveling eastward towards the mountains but my men are watching them closely, not leaving them out of their sight even once like you ordered.''

Brutus nodded, ''Good ... then act out operation retributive justice.''

Atlas hesitated for a moment but seeing the determined look in his general's eyes he knew he would not back down from his words. ''Of course sir. It shall be done right away,'' He said and bowed respectfully.

With this settled Brutus turned his attention back to the other owl soldier and glared down on him coldly, causing him to flinch back.

''And you ... You pathetic excuse for a guard. You will take the criminals place in prison while I decide your fate!''

The guard gulped and lowered his head, shaking with fear.

Slowly but certainly Goth started to get tired of waiting for his meal to arrive. Especially now that the wind had increased and blew dead leaves around with its ice-cold air, making me shiver. Just like Throbb, who was also chattering with his teeth

''¡Maldito sea este lugar!'' Goth wrapped his large wings tighter around his body but it didn't help much. He was still freezing. ''I can be hungry or cold, not both. I say we roost.'' And with that he squeezed himself through the hole he tore into the roof and crouched down on one of the wooden beams underneath. Throbb followed right after, but thanks to his potbelly he got stuck halfway through. Honestly, why did he had to travel with this idiot again?

Throbb grunted and wiggled around, trying to fit through the hole. But then he seemed to have noticed something.
''Goth! On the horizon!'' Not letting him finish Goth roosted upside down to grab his cousins leg with his hands to pull him roughly inside the shed.
With two strong tugs, Throbb slipped through the roof and landed hard onto the floor and on his back.

''I think dinner's on the way, ''he groaned lifting his head, ''Two small bats and an owl.'' He then fell back down and lost consciousness.

''Hmm…tapas,'' Goth said and chuckled darkly.

Soon me and my friends landed onto the roof of the shed outside of the power station. Marina and Shade were panting heavily from the exhausting long but quick flight. It once again made me feel bad that they had to carry me along the way, but I was also just glad to have some kind of ground back under my feet instead of free air.

''This looks like an entrance,'' Marina said and crawled over to a hole in the roof.
Shade and I crawled after her when the Silverwing abruptly stopped and started sniffing the air.

''Huh?''

''Something wrong Shade?'' I asked looking at him, while Orestes looked fascinated at the power station, not having noticed anything odd just yet.

''Something doesn't smell right…'' Shade furrowed his brows and looked around with concern.

I wondered what he was talking about and closed my eyes, trying to concentrate on my surroundings. Being a human, my smelling and hearing weren't as good as a bat's, but maybe I could still sense something notably. The atmosphere itself indeed felt portentous.

Marina decided to take a look into the shed and peaked her head inside the darkness. Seconds later she jumped back up again with a frightened gasp, causing Shade, Orestes and I to cry out in fright.
Then I got up in order to see what scared her but the tiles beneath my feet began to crack dangerously. Eyes widen I spread out my arms, trying to keep my balance on the wood.

Wondering what's going on Orestes flew over and before I could stop him, he landed onto the wood, causing it to break thanks to his weight, dropping us all inside, screaming.

''Ouch!'' I exclaimed as I landed painfully on the ground, face downward. My chest, arms and knees hurt from the impact but it didn't feel like I had broken anything. Luckily. Though I felt a bruise on my chin which even bled a little. But besides that I was okay.

Groaning in pain my friends began to get back up as well when the dust cleared and a shadow moved closer to us.
Looking up, I gasped seeing it was Goth who hovered over us with an evil grin on his face.
He looked at every one of us until his eyes landed on Orestes. The poor young owl looked terrified at the sight of the giant bat right in front of him. He tried to move away but Goth simply stepped onto his tail feathers, holding him in place.

Another groan of pain came from the other end of the shed. Looking over I saw Throbb slowly waking up while also lying on the floor and wondered what had happened to him. Goth, however, ignored his cousin and instead turned his attention towards me and Shade.
Grinning with pleasure he spread open his wings as if greeting old friends after a long time.
''Señorita! Shade! Mios amigos. You remembered how I enjoy owl?'' He turned his face back to Orestes, glaring down at him threateningly. ''Maybe that should be my first course tonight.''

Orestes's yellow eyes widen in horror, but then he gathered his courage together and quickly bit down on Goths foot, causing the Vampyrum to cry out in pain and grabbing his foot tightly in his hands, releasing the owl.
Wasting no time Orestes fled out of the shed through the broken ceiling. But before we could follow him Goth let go of his foot, looking pissed and swiped his claws down at us without warning, causing Shade, Marina and I to quickly dodge out of his reach.

Instantaneously, Shade hurried up to the ceiling while Marina hovered above me, wanting to grab my hands with her feet. But before she could get me Goth slipped in front of her and blocked the way to the exit.

''Just great what now?'' I frantically looked around, searching for something helpful when Shade dashed out of the shed causing Goth to react like any predator would do and raced after him.

''Quick! Try to get out of here!'' Marina hissed and pushed me into the shadows before yelling at Goth: ''You want a piece of me, you big dumb bat?! Well come and get it!''

Had she lost her mind? And how the hell was I supposed to get out of here?

Like expected Goth did not back down from her challenge and sank back down into the shed with a sinister chuckle.

Thunder growled outside and for a moment the room got enlighten by lighting flashing inside from behind the glass window in the door. I desperately looked around for a way to escape and eventually spotted a broom leaning against a wall at the other end of the shed. If I could manage to get there without the Cannibal noticing, I could possibly climb up the broomstick towards the shelve, hanging close to it and from there try climbing over the wooden beams towards the exit and out of the shed. Unfortunately, Goth's must have sensed something was odd and turned around just when I was about to sneak over to the broom.

''Now, where do we think we are going Señorita?'' He chuckled darkly and walked closer to me.

Not thinking twice I rushed over to the broom, but the Vampyrum overtook me with ease and swooped in my way. I took a sharp break and spun around on my heels. Now running into the other direction. Again Goth blocked my path and once more I was forced to change directions. Hearing him laughing I knew he was playing with me like a cat plays with a mouse. He could have easily just snatched me with his sharp claws but instead kept chasing me across the shed until I would eventually succumb to my exhaustion.

Marina wanted to help me but whenever she tried to get closer, she had to move away in order to avoid Goths claws and teeth.

This was torture. I had never been a persistent runner before and if it weren't for the current adrenalin rush, I would have probably already stopped by now but I didn't. It would have meant my end if I did. Nevertheless, with the growing pain in my chest, it was just a matter of time until my body would give up.

Suddenly, the Vampyrum got caught off guard as Shade flew back into the shed, smacking a wing against his face. Goth growled with fury and struck down at him but the Silverwing quickly dodged his claw and rushed back to the ceiling, but not without picking me up by my hands in his feet first.

Not wanting us to escape, Goth lost no time and followed us on the spot.
He burst through the opening in the ceiling, causing bits and pieces flying through the air, making the hole in the roof even bigger. Shade struggled to avoid the debris but one of it hit me on the back causing me to yell out in pain.

''Oh, such a strong one!'' I heard Goth laughing behind us, obviously enjoying the scene.

Meanwhile, Frieda, Mercury and the other Silverwings were approaching the fire towers to take a rest from their long flight. Noticing something odd the messenger flew a little further ahead, thinking he had seen something on top of one of the electricity poles.

Right then a warning screech filled the air and Mercury immediately turned around to warn his leader.

''Frieda, owl dead ahead!'' he said in alarm, ''We can't land at the power station.''

The chief elder acted straightaway: ''Silverwings, hard bank, southeast. Now!''

And with that, every bat turned around and changed direction. Escaping their doom.

Shade zigzagged around the shed. Trying his best to avoid getting himself or me snatched in Goth's jaws. I clung onto his feet for dear life and squeezed his ankles to make him go even faster not wanting to know what would happen if the cannibal got us.

''Shade! Vanessa!'' Marina yelled over to us, circling before the shed. ''Throbb's trapped. Do you need me?''

From the corner of my eyes, I noticed a figure on the roof struggling to squeeze his body through an opening between the tiles.

''No!'' Shade yelled back at her, ''Go hide!'' I was sure he actually wanted to hand me over to Marina but with Goth right behind us, there was the risk that he would catch either of us at it.

''Shade, the power station! We may lose him in there!''

The Silverwing followed my advice and flew over the fence that surrounded the area. It was a suicidal task, hanging around an electrical power station during an approaching thunderstorm but right now we had worse things to worry about.

''Faster!'' I urged and looked over my shoulder. To my horror, Goth was still chasing us. Hardly a meter away. And he got closer. Not much longer and he would eventually reach us and then ... ''Watch out!''

The Silverwing barely avoided getting struck by a lightning bolt as it hit into the factory, sending sparks flying everywhere. Again looking back I saw Goth still behind us. Not looking tired one bit.
Unfortunately, Shade was getting tired. His wingbeats got slower, and he was panting heavily.
''Keep going. Don't give up now, please!'' Even though I was not a religious person I send out silent prayers for our safety. Not caring what kind of ethereal being would come to our aid. Taking a sharp turn around a pole Goth nearly grasped my cloak with his sharp teeth but the fabric slipped out of his reach just in time.

Shade kept on zigzagging and circling around the poles and wires. Eventually, I couldn't see the Vampyrum behind us anymore. Thinking we lost him Shade stopped on one of the metal conductors to catch his breath. In the meantime I stood close to the metal pole, fearfully looking around.
So far everything seemed fine, so I allowed myself to take a deep breath. But then I got an odd feeling like something was watching us. Slowly I turned my head around only to see razor-sharp teeth charging right at me.

Just in time, Shade quickly pushed me out of the way before Goth could bite my face off and took flight. I wanted to jump over to him like an aerial acrobat, clearly not thinking about my high anxiety, but a clawed hand suddenly grasped my wrist and pulled me roughly back onto the conductor.

Thunder rolled again and in the light of another lightning, I saw Goth looking down at me with a despiteful smirk on his face. I had no idea what to do besides trying to rip my arm free just to let Goth snatch it right back and dig his sharp teeth painfully into my skin.

I screamed but more of the shock than of the pain. However, Goth didn't let go. Even though I struggled wildly in his grip and also punched him on the muzzle.
He was just chuckling as if it was nothing more than a game.
Getting furious I tried kicking him in the gut and started scratching his face with my other hand. Still, he refused to let go of me and instead bit down even harder.
''Aaahhh!'' I screamed yet again and then bit down hard on Goth's ear, causing the Vampyrum to finally back off in surprise. Definitely not having expected such move coming from an ordinary human.

Clenching my wounded arm to my chest I took a step back without looking and almost cried out again as I slipped and fell off the metal. Fortunately, I was caught by Shade before I could hit the ground and let him carry me with his feet through the factory premise.

''Are you alright?'' he asked worriedly.

''Yeah, don't worry just fly!''

He nodded and took on speed while I tried my best to ignore the crucial pain in my left arm, not even daring to look at it right now.
Suddenly Shade yelped as he got struck down by Goth unexpectedly. I just barely kept hold on to him while the giant bat dove after us, chuckling evilly. Luckily Shade managed to get his senses back on time and flew into a tunnel of metal pipes, again followed by Goth.

Looking behind me I gasped seeing him getting closer with his jaws open wide.
Just in time, I pulled up my feet before the Vampyrum could sink his fangs into them and then looked back in confusion, hearing metal scratching on metal.
Goth's bronze metal band was grazing against one of the pipes, making it spark up with light.

Seconds later we flew out of the tunnel with the metal fence right in front of us.

At that moment a lightning bolt struck into it, causing electricity to surge throughout it and an idea popped up in my mind. It was probably a very stupid idea but what other option had we left?

''Shade, fly closer to the fence over there!'' I said, pointing with my feet towards the wall of metal that was crackling with voltage.

''What?'' he asked with shock, ''Are you crazy?''

''Trust me. We have to lead Goth there,'' I insisted not wanting to discuss this right now.

''But...'' he sighed ''Alright, but hang on!''

I nodded as he gained up speed and headed towards the metal fence. Like expected Goth followed us without question.

Almost there, I looked back at Goth and smirked. ''Hey, stupid head. What's taking you so long? We are right here.''

By the sound of his furious growl, I was sure I was about to get killed. No matter if my plan would work or not. I urged Shade to fly faster as Goth got dangerously nearer. Then just when he turned to fly over the fence I looked back, blew a raspberry at Goth and let go off Shade's feet.
Before the Silverwing could even realize what was going on, I was already falling through the gap between the charged fence bars. Curled into a ball so I wouldn't touch the metal. Goth, however, was not so lucky.
Blinded with wrath he didn't look where he was going and dove right after me, ramming straight into the electrified metal, touching it with his own metal band. Immediately he got shocked by the voltage, causing him to scream in agony
Bursting in flames, Goth got sent off into the forest with smoke trailing behind him, still screaming until his body fell down to the ground.

I also landed hard on the floor and tumbled over the grass. Eventually, I stopped and sat up on my knees, feeling extremely sick and lightheaded.
Like wrapped in cotton wool I heard Throbb wailing in the distance and assumed that Goth was definitely not in a good shape.

Rain began to pour down, and I started looking around wondering where Shade, Marina and Orestes were. I tried to stand up but my legs felt like jellybeans, so I plopped back down again. I hissed feeling pain and looked at my left hand. It looked horrible. Almost my entire hand was covered in blood with deep teeth marks on my skin. Examining it closer I could even lift a piece of my skin, flesh included, that nearly got bitten off. It was shocking and made me feel even sicker now.

At the sound of soft gasps, I turned my head around as well as I could and watched my friends looking over the edge of a small hill with fume ascending from it. I wanted to call out their names, but the world around me began to turn dark and seconds later I blacked out.

AN: Surprise, Another Chapter :D ^w^ I had so much fun writing this one I could barely take a break from it.