Chapter 20: Murphy's Law
Back at Stonehold all females and newborns were concerned about the none existence of the males. Some were talking about what may have happened to them while hoping it wasn't something serious. And others kept flying around, searching for their missing brothers, sons, mates, and fathers. They were calling out names, but no one answered.
''Any sign of the males?'' Frieda asked Ariel as the younger female landed down beside her on a narrow ledge.
''Not a trace,'' she replied gloomily.
Then Mercury appeared having a serious look on his face. ''The owls were here,'' he said grimly and showed them a dark brown owl feather which he had found while scouting through the roost. All Silverwings gasped with shock as they saw this. Fearing the worst. Among the tumult, Bathsheba flew up from her roost and landed down before Frieda, Ariel, and Mercury.
''On top of everything we have endured. Now the males are missing,'' she snarled loudly, causing everyone else around to turn quiet. ''How many more bad decisions will Frieda make?''
The chief elder glared down at her with her arms crossed before her chest. But her confidence quickly fell, hearing most of the Silverwings muttering in agreement with Bathsheba. The chubby elder smirked knowing this was her chance to get what she always wanted.
''It's my duty to ensure that the leadership acts in the best interest of all Silverwings,'' she announced.
''Frieda is a good leader!'' Ariel protested, ''We trust her.''
''I'm sure you do Ariel,'' Bathsheba said, looking at her with her nose wrinkled, ''She saved the life of your law-breaker son and that so-called human who both brought nothing, but trouble to the whole colony.''
''That's not true!'' Mercury tried to interfere but the pudgy elder ignored him and turned her attention back to the rest of the colony instead.
''Maybe it's time for a leadership vote.''
To Frieda, Mercury and Ariel's shock, all bats around them muttered among themselves and nodded in agreement.
Like promised, Ursa, the white-furred black bear, had sent out a message to General Brutus and was now meeting him, his son Orestes and Lieutenant Atlas to speak with him about Shade, Vanessa, and the wolves. As she arrived, other forest animals including deer, squirrels, rabbits, and skunks accompanied her.
''Greetings, General Brutus,'' she said as she approached.
''What you have to report, bear?''
''The Silverwings are innocent of the charges,'' Ursa claimed, getting straight to the point.
''So, you've made contact with the Silverwing and probably with that tiny human and the Brightwing as well. How are they?'' he asked calmly, causing his son to drop his beak and to stare at his father in confusion. Since when was he interested in Shade's well-being or that of the two girls Vanessa and Marina?
''They are fine,'' Ursa said not noticing anything odd about the General's question, ''Shade assures me that giant meat-eating bats are-''
''Are responsible for this war?'' he finished for her.
''Yes…'' Ursa was taken aback. How come he knew about that? ''A-and the wolves are eating more than their share.''
The animals that came with her to this meeting chattered in agreement.
''I see,'' the owl general leaned back and closed his eyes for a second. ''I can assure you that this war has nothing to do with giant meat-eating bats- and everything to do with those murderers Shade, Vanessa, and the Silverwing colony!''
''Shade and Vanessa are saving lives not taking them!'' Ursa glared at the general, not liking how he spoke about her new friends.
''Enough!'' Brutus bellowed, glaring, slowly losing his temper. ''I have been told to expect such lies from you.''
''From whom?'' Ursa demanded to know and all the animals surrounding her began chattering about what was going on. Asking themselves the same question.
Brutus, however, did not give her an answer but instead looked over her head. Turning around, Ursa grimaced at the sight of a familiar wolf pack, that arrived on the scene like on cue. ''Of course!'' she thought grimly, ''That explains it all.''
The next evening, we had a quick breakfast comprising mosquitos and bugs for my friends and juicy berries for myself. I sighed. How I wished to get something else to eat for a change. The berries were all tasty out of question but I wasn't a vegan. I couldn't eat only fruits all the time. Oh, If I could just order a pizza or something like that. That would have been great!
Finishing her meal, Marina landed down by me on the branch and picked a red berry off a bush with her claw. She squeezed the juice onto her band and sighed from the relief it gave her. ''Zephyr was right. These berries really are soothing.'' She picked another one and turned to me. ''Hey, Vanessa, want me to rub some of it onto your arm? It might help you as well, and we need to check on your wound, anyway.''
''Sure,'' I replied and wrapped the leaf bandage off of my wrist. The wound underneath seemed to heal well. Scabs had formed over the bloody scratches which itched a little. But it felt much better after Marina gently smeared the berry juice over my wrist.
''Thank you,'' I said as she was dressing the wound again with a new fresh leaf.
''You are welcome,'' she replied, smiling at me a bit. Then she turned around to see how Shade was doing. On a branch below us the young male was crouching before a bunch of reddish-brown colored leaves. He tore one of them off and was just about to lick it, when Marina let out a shocked gasped, noticing what he was doing.
''Shade!'' she quickly flew over to stop him. ''That leaf can knock you out cold!'' she reminded him, but the Silverwing just grinned. Mischief gleamed in his eyes.
''Nah! I don't think it…. uh….'' without warning Shade suddenly collapsed face down on the branch and started snoring.
I gasped and watched Marina shaking Shade's shoulder in panic ''Shade! Wake up! Shade please!''
Abruptly the unconscious bat woke up again and sat up straight, surprising Marina. He had a bright smile on his face and held up the leaf he plucked while laughing at Marina's reaction. Miffed over Shade's prank the Brightwing glared at him with her hands on her hips.
''Shade! You can't treat Zephyr's teachings like they are some cheap trick!''
''Hey, I'm sorry,'' he replied frowning back and tossed the leaf away while getting back up, ''I couldn't care less about that plant stuff. ''We're on our way to Hibernaculum, not Herbanaculum.''
''You have to get us there first. Remember the owls are still after us.''
''... and my whole colony.'' Shade looked down at his feet.
I sighed. We really needed to get to the winter roost as soon as possible. But that was easier said than done. Especially since none of us has ever been there before. Moreover, I wondered if we ever catch up with the colony on our way or if they had already reached Hibernaculum before us. And what about the closed sky? Hopefully, they were all safe. I looked back at them and saw Shade concentrating hard with his eyes tightly closed and his claws placed on his head. Seconds later he opened his eyes up again.
Marina looks at him expectantly. ''Well, where do we have to go next?''
''Uh, I think that must be Stonehold, the place where the adult males of my colony spends the summer at,'' he replied.
''Do you think we might meet up with the Silverwings there?'' I asked.
''Possible.''
''Great. Now, how far away is it? Marina clapped her hands together, looking ready to leave.
''Close... I think…''
I raised an eyebrow. ''What do you mean?''
''We just have to look for a pine tree that looks like an arrow,'' he answered.
''Are you kidding?'' Marina frowned at him again and threw her hands up in exasperation. ''There must be a billion pine trees around here!''
''Well, I'll know it when I see it,'' he said in self-defense.
''And what if the owls see us first?''
The Silverwing looked down again.
''Shade…'' Marina softened her tone and hold up her banded wrist, ''I'm not going to feel safe until I'm comparing bands with Frieda.''.
Shade smiled, ''Come on. Let's make that happen.'' And with that, he got airborne and flew over to me. Picking me up he flew off into the starry sky with Marina beside us.
''Therefore, in accordance with the statutes of the great treaty- I banish you to the eastern valley for high treason,'' Brutus declared, glaring at Ursa.
The white-furred she-bear angrily stood up on her hind legs. ''A true leader would do everything to avoid war, not create it. Nothing good can come of this, Brutus.''
Unfortunately, her words fell on deaf ears. Only Orestes sighed sympathetically as he looked down at his feet.
Seeing that there was nothing she could do to make the owl General listen, Ursa got back down on all fours and walked off. The animals that came with her to the meeting followed her closely. There was no way they would stay behind with those voracious wolves. Those however just grinned, knowing that there was still enough prey in the forest. And with Ursa out of the picture, they could hunt freely and as much as they wanted.
After hours of flying around through the forest, we finally spotted the landmark we were looking for. A large pine tree with its tip slightly bend, making it look like an arrow pointing into a certain direction. ''So that's what he meant by: 'shaped like an arrow','' I thought and smiled. Now, all we had to do was fly in that direction and reach Stonehold. At our rate, we might as well get there before sunset. I couldn't wait to finally meet Mercury, Ariel and the others again and Shade seemed to be just as excited.
''Are you ready to meet my colony, Marina?'' he called over his shoulder, ''... Marina?''
Weird, why wasn't she answering? Suddenly Shade and I heard a muffled cry right behind us and turned around. To our shock, we saw Marina caught in the tight grasp of a giant bat with one of its feet covering her mouth to prevent her from screaming.
''Throbb!'' I exclaimed, recognizing the giant bat. The Vampyrum chuckled seeing the look on our faces and blew an air kiss at us in greeting.
''Marina!'' Shade shouted, not looking back front to see where he was going.
Having a bad feeling I looked back myself. Without warning, a large clawed hand grabbed me by my cloak and roughly yanked me down on a branch, causing Shade to lose his balance and stumble down beside me. We groaned in pain but managed to pick ourselves back up quickly. I wanted to ask if he was ok, but then I looked up and turned pale. Another large bat stood right in front of us. One that shouldn't even be here at all. With disbelief written on my face, I watched Goth smiling down at us with a pleasant grin on his face.
''I'm not sure about your friend, but I am quite ready to meet your colony, mi amigos.''
How was that possible? How could Goth still be alive? Didn't Shade say he died of the electricity of the power station? Well, his fur and wings did look burned, but seemingly not so much that he would be unable to fly or hunt. His hair and beard were a mess and also a bit shorter than I had in memory. Nevertheless, I could have been blind and still knew that it was him. That voice and that Spanish accent, I would recognize this everywhere.
How was that possible? How could Goth still be alive? Didn't Shade say he died of the electricity of the power station? Well, his fur and wings did look burned, but seemingly not so much that he would be unable to fly or hunt. His hair and beard were a mess and also a bit shorter than I had in memory. Nevertheless, I could have been blind and still knew that it was him. That voice and that Spanish accent, I would recognize this everywhere.
While Shade and I still stared at Goth, Throbb had flown over and threw Marina into our midst. She moaned from the impact, but seemed to be fine. Then she looked up and looked just as horrified as us when noticing Goth. The Vampyrum grinned some more, then flew over to his cousin, who had landed on another tree across from us. The chubby Vampyrum wrapped his wings tightly around his body and shivered while the wind softly howled.
''Goth, I am freezing!'' he complained, ''I want to go back to the jungle. I miss the hot sun, the hunting and all my servant bats waiting on me claw and wing...'' he glared over to us, ''I say we eat them now.''
''Patience, Throbb,'' Goth reminded him calmly. ''Two small bats and one puny human do not the buffet make.''
I had to admit, my English was far from perfect since it wasn't my mother tongue, but I could have sworn that there was something grammatically wrong with that sentence.
''However,'' Goth continued, ''spending the winter dining on Silverwings will hold us until we return to our warm jungle.'' He flew back to us and snatched Shade by the shoulders, lifting him off his feet. ''Where is your colony? Tell me!'' he hissed and pulled the boy close to his face.''
Looking terrified the young Silverwing shakily pointed to the left.
The Vampyrum glanced over to where Shade was pointing and smiling darkly. ''You are pointing in the opposite direction to where you flew.'' He said and roughly shoved Shade back against the tree.
''Uh...we were about to change directions when you caught us.''
''You are lying,'' Goth snarled and pierced the bark of the tree. Barely an inch away from my face.
''Holy -!'' I dug my nails into the wood and wished I could just melt into it and disappear.
''No, I-I swear!'' Shade tried to convince him as Goth scratched the wood with his claw. Slowly going down towards my shoulder. Then he pulled his claw away started to laugh loudly and hysterically. Totally confused I turned to my friends and thought Goth had lost his mind all of a sudden. Marina and Shade looked just as puzzled than I. Even Throbb seemed to wonder what had gotten into his cousin. Seeing him raising his eyebrow and scratching his head while watching.
''S-such...such a feeble attempt at deception,'' Goth had tears in his eyes and wiped them off while laughing even harder.
Shade sighed heavily and looked down to his feet.
Eventually Goth calmed himself back down to speak again.
''Ah, you know for such a tiny … '' he trailed off, looking down at Shade momentarily and smacked his lips, ''... bat you have caused me muchos problemas.''
His eyes lifted at a strange sound coming from above and without warning he slammed his claw over our heads, making us scream. He plucked out a pink, fat squeaking worm and slurped it down.
''Urgh!'' I thought with disgust.
Goth sniffed and held up his finger, ''But no more. Never again will I underestimate you, Shade Silverwing. ''He pointed at him and leaned closer to trembling boy. ''Since you have pointed to your colony in the opposite direction, you must know that I would think that you are lying.''
Shade raised an eyebrow. ''Huh?''
''You must hope that I would not believe you and fly in the opposite direction, yes?'' Goth pointed to the right.
I blinked, ''Eh?''
Goth chuckled, ''I will call your bluff, and we shall fly in the opposite of the opposite direction, si?'' Looking very pleased with himself, he clasped his claws together and smiled.
''Huh?'' My friends and I were now more than confused and I began to think that I was either stuck in a very weird dream or Goth needed to see a vet pretty soon. Whatever the electricity did to his brain. It was definitely nothing good.
''But what if you're wrong, Goth?'' Throbb spoke up, probably worrying about his cousin's sanity as well.
Goth smirked evilly: ''Then you will eat the Brightwing, Throbb. That should change his mind.''
The other Vampyrum seemed to like that idea a lot. Grinning viciously he licked his mouth and stared hungrily at Marina who gulped in fear and moved closer to Shade.
Frieda looked with worry up to the bats of her colony. A restless murmur went among them.
Then Bathsheba cleared her throat getting everyone's attention and spoke up: ''All those in favor of appointing me as the new leader?''
Most of the Silverwings raised their wings.
''All in favor of Frieda?''
Mercury, Chinook, who had flown over to them, and Ariel desperately stretched their wings high up. Unfortunately, just a few others raised their wings as well. The rest abstained.
Realizing that she had won, Bathsheba smiled. ''The colony has spoken,'' she said smugly to Frieda before turning back to the entire colony, ''I humbly accept this responsibility.''
Mercury, Chinook, and Ariel hung their heads with a sigh, knowing there was nothing they could do to change it. Frieda was no longer their chief elder.
''Follow me to Hibernaculum!'' Bathsheba soared back into the air and flew out of the main entrance of Stonehold and into the night, followed by the rest of the colony.
Reluctantly Frieda, together with her last few loyal followers took off as well after all the others had already flown out.
Goth did not want to lose more time merely standing around and urged us to get going. I was happy he let me hang on to Marina's feet instead of insisting that I climb onto Throbb's back like I did during the time we first met. Still, the two meat-eaters were watching us while flying behind us closely. Ready to catch us any second should we just think of trying to escape. I sighed softly, hoping there was a way for us to get rid of them before they would realize we are flying in the wrong direction.
''Hey!'' Shade hissed, after we traveled through the sky for quite a while, getting my and Marinas attention.''
''What is it?'' I asked.
''I think I have an idea. If I keep bluffing Goth, I can buy us more time and then...''
''Are you crazy?'' Marina whispered back, ''It was pure luck he thought you were bluffing in the first place!''
''Exactly, and now that I've got him completely figured out-''
I screamed.
Something had grabbed me by my leg and roughly pulled me away from Marina before Shade could even finish his sentence. I heard him yelling my name, but I couldn't see him or Marina anymore as I was carried away by Goth with high speed. The wind whipped against my head, causing my hair to go wild and into my face. I managed to reach up and got some of it away from my eyes just to see that my captor was flying straight towards the cliffs. ''Whoa, wait!'' I called out, feeling scared he may want to drop me there on the rocks, but instead he flew down towards a cave in the rock face and threw me inside.
I hissed in pain as I slid over the hard ground and landed on my injured arm. I tried to sit up but was forced to lay back down again when Marina's body crashed against me from being tossed into the cave as well by Throbb. ''Urgh!''
''Marina! Vanessa!'' Shade rushed to our side, breathing heavily from flying as fast as he could after the two larger bats.
''We have wasted too much time flying around!'' Goth growled, roosting at the cave's entrance. ''Throbb! Eat the Brightwing.'' Grinning joyfully Throbb flew into the cave and pulled Marina away.
I tried to keep hold of her arm, but she slipped out of my grip due to Throbb's strength.
''No!'' Shade screamed, reaching out for her as well.
''Guys!'' Marina cried out fearfully. I got to my feet and wanted to run to Throbb and stop him from eating her, but my path was blocked by a very pissed of looking Goth.
''Where is your colony?!'' he demanded once more and glared down at Shade.
The young Silverwing struggled to find words to say as I worriedly looked over to Marina. Throbb had opened his jaws wide, ready to bite her head off any second. Marina was pale as snow and desperately tried to move away from him as far as possible. I turned back to Shade for help and saw him clenching his teeth together before crossing his wings before his chest and glaring provocatively at Goth. ''Fine!, ''he eventually said, ''Go ahead! Eat her.''
''Say what?'' I blinked at him while Marina let out a gasp as if she couldn't believe what she just heard. Even Throbb pulled away, looking confused.
''Huh?''
''See if I care. Oh, and while you are at it, you can also eat Vanessa as well.
My eyes widen. What the hell was he doing?
Throbb smiled, probably thinking it was ok to eat Marina and opened his jaws back again, now ready to kill her for real. She screamed in horror and struggled in his grasp, but before Throbb could even take a bite Goth quickly shoved a small stick into his cousin's open mouth, causing him to gag in surprise and let go of Marina, clutching his throat. Marina rushed over to us, and we three looked up at Goth who slightly laughed.
''You are up to something, muchacho.''
''No, go ahead!'' Shade insisted. ''I mean, what difference does it make? You're going to eat us, anyway!''
''Ah,'' Goth grinned and leaned closer towards him. ''So you would prefer to be eaten now so that you may spare your colony unless of course, you are thinking that there is something in it for you?''
Shade smirked, ''Yes! That is exactly what I'm thinking.''
''Ok Shade whatever you are doing I hope it works.'' I trusted my friend even though I had no idea what crazy plan he had come up with. But whatever it was, it was probably better than nothing.
Goth seemed to be clearly impressed by the Silverwing's boldness. ''A bat who would betray his entire colony to save his own hide.'' He threw his head back and laughed. ''I think the spirit of Zotz is alive in this one, Throbb!''
I frowned thoughtfully. Zotz? For some reason, that name rung a bell, but I couldn't remember where or when I may have heard it before. Looking back at Goth I saw him lightly tickling Shade's cheek with his index claw, causing the boy to shrink back with a disgusted look on his face.
Throbb groaned and sat up, his eyes pleading for Goth to take the stick out of his mouth, but his cousin ignored him and instead kept his attention towards Shade.
''What exactly do you want?'' he calmly asked him.
''I uh ...want…''
''Yes?''
I looked at Shade with my lips pressed together, hoping he would come up with something quick. And eventually, he did, ''I want you to take the three of us to the jungle to live like royalty with Throbb as our servant.''
The fat bat let out a disbelieving grunt and looked at Shade. I also glared at my friend in confusion. Once again Goth broke out in laughter.
''What are you doing?'' Marina hissed at him, sounding like she was beginning to think he went crazy.
Shade just smiled. ''Let me handle this,'' he whispered back, looking confident. I nodded, still trusting him and looked back at Goth who had calmed back down again.
''V-very funny,'' he chuckled but quickly got serious again. ''But I will have to think about it.''
''N-No!'' Shade snapped, pointing at him, ''if you want me to deliver my colony, I need an answer now!''
I blinked, feeling impressed by his bravery.
Goth's smile faded into a scowl as he stared down at the smaller bat's defiant glare. He looked thoughtfully and glanced over at Throbb, who stared back at his cousin with a quizzical expression in his eyes.
Eventually, Goth smirked and crossed his arms. ''You have a deal,'' he declared causing Throbb to look at him in shock.
''Huh?''
Shade nodded in satisfaction and flew out of the cave followed by Goth while Marina jumped into the air to grab me by my hands and lift me off as well. Throbb stared after his cousin and Shade. With a deep growl he shut his jaws with all his might, crushing the twig between his sharp teeth, then shoved his face into mine, looking furious. ''I'll end up serving you three... ''he growled, ''for dinner!'' Quickly I jumped back in fear and grabbed hold on to Marina's feet who then dashed out of the cave with Throbb closely behind us.
AN: There you go. Another fresh new chapter ^^