Chapter 21: Tricks & Drugs

We flew for, what felt like hours, further and further into the wrong direction. Holding on tight to Marina's feet I hoped Goth did not figure out that Shade was actually fooling him before we got to find a way to get rid of him and his cousin. After a few more minutes of flying later, I heard an impatient growl coming from Goth and looked up to see the Vampyrum fly to Shade. Hovering over him like a menacing shadow, he made Shade flinch back and then lead us towards a branch to land. Barely down, he snarled irately and picked Shade up with his claws, squeezing his neck.

''We had a deal! You are still taking too long!''

''G-Goth!'' Shade stammered, ''I...I never migrated before! Maybe I should check my sound map again?''

Worriedly I watched Goth growling at Shade in his grasp. But luckily he seemed to calm back down again and let go of him with a sigh. ''Very well,'' he said and stood up straight. ''I am off to hunt. But! I swear on the soul of Zotz, that if you try to trick me...!'' Goth had almost turned around to leave, but then turned back to face Shade just in time as a colony of bats fluttered past us in the distance.

My eyes widen. Could that be the Silverwings?

''Uh- Hey Goth come on!'' Shade suddenly blurted out, making me look away from the bats ''Let's...uh...hunt together. I-I'm pretty good you know?''

''Really?''

I smiled slightly, knowing what Shade was doing. He kept Goth distracted, so he wouldn't turn around and spot the other bats. Great job. Just what about Throbb? Turning around, I saw that he also wasn't paying attention to what was happening in the sky. What a relief.

Suddenly Goth grinned and leaned closer to Shade, making him chuckled nervously.

''If what you say is true then perhaps you can prove it by killing something for us all to eat, yes?''

''Uh...''

I blinked not having expected that.

Shade looked back to me and Marina, but we just shrug our shoulders, having no idea how to help him. Noticing us fidgeting uncomfortably Goth grinned even more and leaned back towards Shade. ''Unless of course it's just another of your lies, in which case our deal is off, and then we'll take Marina and Vanessa for lunch.'' With a dark chuckle he ran his tongue across his mouth, ''Oh, yes…''

''W-what?'' He wouldn't really try to eat me, a human now would he? Unfortunately, the evil glimmer in Goth eyes said yes, yes he would.

''Now what are you waiting for? Go find something to eat. Oh, and better be quick, otherwise, you might come upon only one girl when you come back.''

Goth nodded towards Throbb, who wrapped his wings around Marina, pulling her close with a hungry look on his face. The poor Brightwing was terrified and did not dare to move at all.

Scared I turned to Shade wanting to say something, but he just looked at me apologetically and flew off from the branch. ''Please hurry,'' I thought while wondering what he will bring back when he returns. There was no way he would or even could hunt something that would satisfy the hunger of two full-grown, meat-eating cannibals.

''Frieda I can't believe what just happened,'' said Ariel, referring to voting back at Stonehold. She was still quite shocked that the other elder had even suggested such a thing.

''Tsk, Bathsheba has been jealous of Frieda her entire life,'' Mercury explained, looking unhappy about this as well.

Still feeling more loyal to their former leader both bats still accompanying the recently disempowered elder at the rear end of the colony while Chinook had flown ahead to be by his mother, so she wouldn't worry about where he was. None of them had an idea, how close they were to be caught by danger. And also how close they were to reunite with those who got lost. But even though both of them still worried about Vanessa and Shade, Bathsheba was a more important topic for them right now.

''I won't obey her,'' Ariel declared, furrowing her brows, ''I can't.''

''Me neither,'' Mercury agreed, frowning as well.

''Now listen to me, both of you,'' Frieda said sternly and looked at them, ''Bathsheba was in her right as an elder to call for that vote. The colony spoke, and we must obey by that.''

Ariel tried to protest: ''But Frieda we can't respect...'' But the former leader decided not to listen to any more of this and flew ahead leaving the other two behind.

''What are we going to do now?'' she asked Mercury, hoping he would have an idea but the male just shook his head.

''I fear there is nothing we can do Ariel, except pray for Nocturna to make things right again.'' With that, he flew ahead towards the front of the colony in case his scouting skills were needed. The young female watched him for a moment then flew closer to the colony as well.

Shortly after Shade left to hunt in the woods, Goth slipped away into the forest himself without saying why and ordered Throbb to keep an eye on me and Marina.

For a moment I hoped Shade would return right away and trick Throbb like he did the last time so we could all escape from here. Without Goth around it probably would have worked. Unfortunately, he did not come back which left me and Marina no choice but to stay here and wait.

After a while my stomach reported itself by giving a loud grumbling sound. I put my hands on my belly and grimaced at the empty feeling inside of me. It's been a while since I last ate and it made me feel sick. I hated that. If only there were a few berries around for me to eat. I glanced around and happily found a bush full with juicy raspberries at the foot of the tree we were on.

Only question was: How could I get down without Throbb noticing? The fat Vampyrum was standing right between me and the trunk. And the branch was definitely far too high for me to jump down. ...Speaking of high... Urgh! Why did I just look down?

''Just stay in the middle ... So it's fine ... Don't move too close to the side!...''

Nervously I shifted around on the spot, trying to think of something that would distract me a little.

''Can't Shade hurry up already? I want to get down from here as soon as possible!''

''Señorita, ¿Tiene que ir al baño?''

''Eh...What?'' Puzzled I looked at Throbb without understanding what he was talking about.

The Vampyrum rolled his eyes. ''I asked if you need to use the bathroom? You're fidgeting the whole time, like you really need to go.''

''Oh,'' I said and felt myself blushing a little, ''Uh, no I don't need to. I'm just ...'' Again my stomach started growling. This time a bit louder than before. ''I'm just hungry, that's all.''

''Then eat something,'' Throbb replied as if it was that simple, ''But stay around! I don't want to get in trouble with Goth just because one of you decided to run away.'' With a huff, he crossed his wings before his chest and looked away again. Apparently, he thought he was the only one who couldn't get his food in an easy way.

''But Throbb, Vanessa has no wings. How is gonna get down from here?''

Throbb blinked at Marina in confusion then turned back to me. ''Oh, right,'' he said, sounding like he just remembered that I wasn't a bat like them. Honestly, how could he even forget this at all?

Anyway, he sighed in annoyance and walked over to me. ''Alright Señorita what do you need?''

I gulped, not liking him to be so close to me, but at least he was looking less intimidating then Goth.

''A few of those raspberries down there would be nice,'' I pointed downstairs to the bush on the ground and watched Throbb looking down with a frown on his face. ''But you don't need to bring them to me. Really. Just let Marina carry me to the ground so I can pick them myself.'' I looked over and shared a short glance with the Brightwing.

''Uh, yeah. It won't take long. Two-three berries should be enough for her eat. We will be back in a minute, you will see.'' Marina got airborne and flew over to me to grab my hands with her feet. Throbb didn't say anything so I thought we really believed our words. He also didn't stop us as Marina flew down from the branch. As promised she headed for the raspberry bush, but did not slow down the closer we got. Instead she speed up a little and got ready to dash into the woods as Throbb flashed right in front of us, blocking our way.

''Where do you think you are going? The berries are right there!'' He frowned at us angrily and nodded towards the raspberry bush.

''Uh,..we...''

''What? I thought you were hungry?''

I nodded with a gulp and let Marina land me down on the ground. Unfortunately, it seemed that Throbb wasn't as stupid as we thought he was. Which meant we had to think of another way to escape before his cousin returned. However, not wanting to make Throbb less suspicious about me and to finally ease my hunger, I plucked a very juicy looking raspberry and took a big bite from it, liking its taste.

''Bon appetit, Señorita!''

I coughed startled, nearly choking on the piece in my mouth. I spit it back out, feeling lucky it didn't slip into the wrong direction in my throat and turned around. Right behind me stood Goth. He was grinning down at me in amusement and had his wings wrapped around his body like a huge cloak. ''When did he come back?'' I wondered. Feeling sure I didn't hear any wings flapping or maybe I just didn't pay enough attention.

The Vampyrum grinned at me some more, then turned around to Throbb, who stood behind Marina with his claws gripping her shoulders to prevent her from running away. ''Has Shade returned yet?''

Throbb shook his head. ''Not yet.''

''Hm..'' Contemplative-looking, Goth stared up towards the horizon as if checking the time. ''It's getting late. If he doesn't return within half an hour, we may have to eat the Brightwing first.''

''No!'' I screamed while Marina looked at Goth in shock.

Throbb chuckled and hungrily licked his lips. He looked more than ready to dig his sharp teeth into Marina's soft skin. All he needed was a sign from Goth.

''Don't! Shade will be here any minute.''

The shorter Vampyrum stopped in his tracks and stared into the woods as if expecting to see Shade flying over any second now. But even after a few minutes, there was still no sign of Shade.

Goth chuckled: ''Well, Señoritas you better say goodbye to each other now. It doesn't look like your amigo is coming back tonight.''

''Shade would never abandon us.''

''Yeah,'' I said, agreeing with Marina and frowned at the prince, ''You're just way too impatient!''

Goth growled and grabbed me by my neck, causing me to gack and gasp for air. ''I would better watch my mouth if I were you human,'' he spat the word out like a disgusting bug, ''Otherwise, I might consider eating you first instead of your Brightwing friend here.''

I wrapped my arms around Goth's and tried to make him lose his grip on my neck, but he just kept squeezing it tighter, hurting me. I used my left hand to scratch him with my nails, but of course, that was no use.

''Now, what have we here?'' He let go of my neck and instead grabbed my left arm, spotting my leaf-bandage and roughly tore it off, revealing the healing wound underneath. I fearfully watched him grinning again wickedly while looking at my wound. ''Oh, right I remember,'' he said, still holding me, ''A little remembrance of our ... ''dissension'' back at the fire towers.'' With his thumb claw, he traced over the wound, scratching a few pieces of scab off, causing it to bleed then pulled me closer to him. ''Listen! The next time you get on my nerves you won't get away with a few scratches, ¿Entendiste?''

I nodded quickly, understanding his warning and stumbled to the ground after Goth pushed me away. Just then we heard a pair of wings fluttering closer and looked up to see Shade finally coming back, but without food.

''Uhh.. I think the prey must be scarce in this part of the forest,'' he said and landed on the ground before Goth.

The Vampyrum prince chuckled at the boy and took a deep breath, ''I thought you might say that. That is why I took it upon myself to bring you this…'' He unfurled his large wings and pulled out a small creme-colored rabbit by its ears.

I was shocked. So that's where he went off to earlier. He went hunting himself. And just like a mother cat who wants to teach her kittens to hunt, he brought the prey back alive and dropped it right before Shade's feet.

''Kill the rabbit,'' he demanded, ''Now!"

But Shade didn't move. He just stared speechlessly at Goth then back down at the rabbit, who looked too terrified to run. It only stared at Shade with wide-opened eyes and trembled in fear.

Noticing his hesitation Goth scoffed, ''Heh, I thought as much,'' he shook his gead and crossed his arms, glaring at Shade, ''You have no intention of leading us to your colony. You have lied to save yourself some more time. Well now, your time has run out.''

I let out a gasp when Goth grabbed Shade tightly by his throat, lifting him up, while Throbb smiled evilly and leaned down, ready to take a bite out of Marina.

''I-I'll gladly kill this rabbit, Goth!'' Shade quickly replied and wrapped his own claws around the one that was squeezing his neck. ''It's just that here in the northern forest, we have a custom of beginning every meal with ... ... ... a salad!''

''Eh, what?''

I raised my eyebrow in confusion and looked back over to Marina and Throbb. According to her expression, my Brightwing friend probably thought just like I that Shade had gone crazy while Throbb just blinked and slowly repeated that last word, like learning something new.
He obviously never heard of something like a salad before. Like Goth, who also looked quite puzzled while losing his grip on Shade.

The Silverwing quickly flew over to a bush, covered in red leaves with thick veins. ''How do you think we stay warm in all this cold?'' he asked and plucked a few of them off. I still wondered how this was going to help us but then I looked a bit closer at those leaves and eventually recognized the sleeping herb. ''Oh, Shade. You are a genius!'' I thought joyfully and tried hard not to smile by starting to chew on my underlip, while Shade dropped the leaves in Goth and Throbb's hands.

The taller Vampyrum looked quite sceptical at the ''salad'' in his hands and turned to his cousin, waiting for him to try them first. Feeling less suspicious than him Throbb simply stuffed the leaves into his mouth without thinking twice about it.

''Hmm, not bad.''

''A custom you say?'' Goth asked as Shade landed back on the ground, ''Keeps you warm?''

Cautiously he took a small bite out of a leaf and chewed it thoroughly. Believing it was fine to eat he ate the rest as well.

''There, I honored your custom,'' he growled after swallowing the last of the leaves, ''Now kill the rabbit!''

''No!'' I gasped while Marina covered her mouth.

Not wanting to make Goth angrier than he already was, Shade leaned over the rabbit and opened his jaws, sharp fangs glinting in the night, ready to bite. The poor fella had no idea that the boy was just acting. It looked so scared that I feared it would either die of a heart attack or faint any second. I looked back up at Goth, wondering how long until the active substance in the leaves would unfold their effect when suddenly I heard a groan coming from Throbb.

All of us turned around to see the fat, teal-colored bat wobbling back and forth and then falling to his knees. His eyelids were half-closed as he drowsily slurred, ''Oh ...I don't feel so good.''

Goth gasped at his sight and took a step back, looking at Shade with wide-opened eyes. He blinked twice and rubbed his eyes trying to focus. Seizing the moment, Shade released the rabbit, allowing it to run away. I anxiously waited for both cannibals to fall asleep when Throbb gave out a final groan before finally slumping to the ground, fast asleep. Goth, however, was still on his feet but looking at the red bush and his cousin, he realized what was going on. ''He has tricked us!'' he exclaimed and hold back a yawn. He almost tumbled to the ground, but managed to keep himself awake.

With an angry roar, he swiped down at Shade. Just in time, the Silverwing flew out of the way, leaving a deep cut in the earth from where Goth slashed the ground with his claws. I almost shrieked as he focused his attention on me. With a snarl he towered above me, his claws raised up high, ready to kill me right on the spot. Luckily, both Marina and Shade quickly flew over and grabbed each of my hands with their feet and carried me out of the way. Right then Goth yawned once again and fell to his knees. Not being able to fight back any longer the cannibal finally flopped down to the ground. With joy we watched him reaching out for us one last time before drifting off into a deep slumber.

''Quick thinking on the leaves Shade,'' Marina complimented with a giggle.

Shade smiled. ''Thanks, let's get out of here.'' He let go of my arm so Marina could hold me alone and then lead us away from the two sleeping beauties.

Meanwhile, in a completely different part of the forest, General Brutus was thinking about battle strategies against all bats in the north and particularly the Silverwing colony of the lawbreaker Shade.

''If we move the seventh squadron here to the valley...''

With his wingtip he drew a line on his makeshift plan drawn in the snow with some nuts and looked up to see his son standing a few feet away, staring off into the distance.

''Orestes!'' he called out, ''are you paying attention?''

The young owl rolled his eyes with a sigh, ''Why?'' he asked, ''War is pointless, father. I believe the answer lies in diplomacy.''

The general raised his eyebrow at his son's utterance and turned away with a huff. Owlets these days! He really liked to know how he got to such a pacifist for a son? Back when he was his age he had eagerly listened to his father's battle plans and even came up with a few ideas of his own. But Orestes... ''He really takes too much after his mother.'' Brutus let out a deep sigh and then turned around as the sound of wings caught his attention. Looking ahead, he noticed Lieutenant Atlas landing down beside him.

''General Brutus, I've come to report that operation retributive justice was successfully executed.''

Hearing this, Orestes eyes widen. He knew exactly what operation R. J. meant and he couldn't believe his father seriously commanded it. But unlike him, Brutus was pleased by this message and smiled. ''Excellent. Any signs of the Silverwings?''

Atlas shook his head. ''No, sir.''

Brutus frowned. ''Whatever, we will find them sooner or later. For now, send a squadron over to the southwest area. We shall look for them there.''

''Yes, sir.''

''Uh, dad. May I be excused to go back to my studies? I've noticed a rather interesting looking arachnid on that tree over there and I...''

''Fine!'' snapped Brutus, getting irritated by his sons love for useless insects and flew off with his Lieutenant. Left behind Orestes waited until they both were mere points in the sky and then quickly flew off into the other direction. He needed to find his friends as soon as possible.

AN:

Thanks Nocturna, our friends have escaped their captives. But for how long will they be safe?

We will find out soon.

Also, thank you Carlisle-Fan-22 for your opinion on the title name of chapter 21. :)

I think you are right with what you say, Murphy's law really fits perfectly. Hence I will keep it.