Chapter 10

Lost

The colony continued on with the migration and the weather outside was not looking very good. It was raining and thundering and as they flew, Kassidy could feel the hard and cold raindrops drop on her as she flew next to Ariel. The wind was also blowing hard on their course but it didn't stop Kassidy from beating her wings. The rain kept getting in her eyes as she squinted them and it was as if it was trying to blind her and she would sometimes have to blink them. She couldn't use her magic in this situation because she had to concentrate on flying and even though she managed to use it that one time with the owl she couldn't use it right now.

"Heavy gusts," Kassidy heard Frieda say over the sound of the rain. "Keep in tight formation!"

Kassidy looked behind her and she saw that Holden and Shade were lagging behind and Shade was the furthest back as they were flying. The boys were breathing hard as they flew. Holden was a strong guy, but he was not used to flying and Shade was small and he had to beat his wings harder than the rest of the bats. Kassidy had a bad feeling about something and this got her concerned for the boys.

Chinook got near Shade and Holden and they didn't realize it. Chinook wasn't having a hard time flying in the rain like most of the Silverwings but Kassidy could tell that he wasn't enjoying the weather like everyone else. He looked at Shade and Holden as he kept pumping his wings.

"Come on guys, I know you can do it," Chinook said with an enthusiastic smile that made Holden look at him confused as did Kassidy.

Chinook flew ahead and Kassidy did not expect him to support the boys. After his bullying with Shade and arguments with Holden, he actually supported them. Kassidy, however, didn't want to worry about that and worried more for Holden and Shade.

"Since when the flying hell does he care?" Holden asked and the wind almost blew him off course and he yelped.

Holden, stay focused, Kassidy thought.

"You two are lagging far behind," Kassidy saw Bathsheba looking at Holden and Shade and they looked at her. "Hang on to someone!" She then flew away and shook her head disapproved and Kassidy furrowed her brow at her.

The storm only got worse and Holden and Shade were doing the best they could to keep up but Kassidy knew they had to cling onto someone soon or they would definitely fall from the sky. The rain poured harder and the wind grew stronger but Kassidy kept pushing herself but wouldn't take her eyes off the boys. They were lagging farther behind and Kassidy could hear them struggling.

"Boys, cling to us," Ariel shouted to the boys and she flew towards them as did Kassidy. "Shade, grab onto Kassidy and Holden you grab onto me!"

"Hell no, I ain't clinging to anybody!" Holden shouted. "Besides you're hurt!"

"He's right," Shade shouted. "You and Kassidy are both hurt! I'm fine! We can keep up!"

Thunderstruck in the sky and Kassidy wasn't having it with these two. She appreciated them being troopers but she wasn't about to lose friends tonight. She may have lost her parents but she wouldn't lose her friends. "For god's sake you two; don't be stupid and listen to Ariel! We're less worried about our injuries and more worried about you guys! Grab onto us!"

"No way, I'm flying and that's final," Holden shouted.

All the sudden a thunderstruck and it made a huge blast in the sky causing most of the Silverwings to blow off course, but they managed to stay in the sky and Kassidy, Holden, and Shade gasped. The blast got bigger and Kassidy and Ariel managed to stay in the sky but the blast knocked Holden and Shade off course and they fell from the sky screaming.

"Shade," Ariel shouted, "Holden!"

Kassidy's eyes widened and she saw that Mercury flew off course and went to go help Holden and Shade. Kassidy looked at Ariel and Ariel looked at Kassidy worried. Kassidy looked at her as if to say she was sorry and then she flew off course and furled her wings against her body and dove downwards to try and save Shade and Holden.

"Kassidy!" Ariel shouted more worried.

Kassidy dove by the other Silverwings and continued to go down for Holden and Shade. She saw that Mercury was trying to help one of them and he called out their names. Mercury was too late and he couldn't grab one of them. Kassidy dove past him and she heard him calling her name but she didn't listen and instead focused on trying to save the boys and the boys were trying to fly.

"Mom," Shade shouted. "Mercury! Kassidy! Help!"

Holden and Shade continued to fall faster and Kassidy kept going down for them as fast as she could. Kassidy clenched her teeth as she kept going down and as she did the rain kept getting on her and mostly in her eyes. Then like they were just ghosts, Holden and Shade disappeared and Kassidy unfurled her wings and she looked down shocked. She called for them, but there was no response. Kassidy flapped her wings and she desperately went to search for them and called out their names. She kept telling herself that they weren't dead and that she needed to find them and fast. She wouldn't leave them behind. She wouldn't continue any further until she found them dead or alive.

Tonight he would be free.

Goth and Throbb were waiting for the humans to leave so they could make their escape. Goth could already feel his freedom. He could also taste victory.

After waiting for a while, the humans eventually left and this was now the perfect moment for Goth and Throbb to make their escape. Goth flew to the wall of where the grate was and landed near it. He could feel the cool air coming through it. He then extended a claw of his and then he dug his claw deep into the concrete that was near the grate and started to slide it miraculously around it as if he was slicing his prey's throat. After he fully slid his claw around the grate it was loose. He then used his claw to pull out the grate and when he pulled it out the grate crashed to the ground along with some other pieces of concrete.

Goth looked through and he saw that it was a metal shaft. It was too narrow for them to spread their wings and the walls were too smooth for their claws. But all Goth wanted was his freedom.

"After all our days living in this prison," Goth said, "we're finally getting out of here, mi amigo."

Without wasting any time, the two giant bats made their way inside and began to make their way out.

Her wings and muscles were aching from flying for a while but she wouldn't give up on her friends. She was flying over an ocean and was still calling out for Holden and Shade. Her voice was getting raspy from shouting out their names but the storm died down and she at least had a better chance of finding the boys. It was still dark and the stars were shining but it wouldn't be long until the sun came up.

Kassidy looked at the ocean and she hoped that neither Holden nor Shade drowned. Ariel already lost a mate and she couldn't even imagine her losing a son. She, however, wouldn't let Ariel lose another family member. Holden said that his family probably didn't miss him but Kassidy knew that he was wrong. He probably missed the things the way they were and probably wished he was home right now doing what he usually wanted to do.

As she flew she then noticed a small bay with a few wooden buildings on the rocky slopes. It was an island and with high hopes, she thought that maybe the boys were on the island. She flew towards the island as fast as she could even though she was sore. As soon as she got near the island she began to call out for Holden and Shade and use her sound sight to try and find them. She searched from the high tops of the trees to the lower ground but all she saw was a squirrel, storing nuts in the crotch of a tree, some silent nests and some sleeping birds, their feet locked around their perches, but no sign of Holden and Shade.

She tried to hear for them but all she heard was the whistle of the wind in the dead leaves and the grunting chorus of toads. No Holden nor Shade could be heard from a distance.

Kassidy decided to land and rest herself before she made things any worse. She landed near some water and stretched herself. As soon as she was done she was trying to think of where they could be right now. She didn't want to think they were at the bottom of the ocean but rather she thought that maybe they landed somewhere, maybe even on this island. But where exactly would they be right now?

Kassidy looked towards the water and this made her think of something. If she could use her water spell that one time with that owl then why couldn't she use it on Tree Haven? She wanted to test her water spell. Kassidy breathed and lifting her hand she concentrated on lifting some of the water and she made sure to get all the details. Then with all the concentration she put into the spell the water lifted. She then imagined the water turning into a circle and when she used her hand to make a circle in the air, the water turned into a circle. She then imagined making a square with the water and when she used her hand to make a square in the air, the water turned into a square. Finally, she imagined the water turning into a triangle and when she used her hand to make the triangle in the air the water turned into a triangle.

"I did have all the details right," Kassidy said and this made her confused as she kept making the water float. "But why wasn't my spell working near Tree Haven?" Kassidy then dropped her hand and the water in the air dropped back into the rest of the water.

"Whoa," Kassidy furrowed her brow confused and she turned around to see where she heard that voice.

She looked up and all she saw were bright autumn leaves on tree branches. But she then noticed one leaf, in particular, that was different. It was bigger than the other leaves and it actually was furry in places. As she looked closer she then realized that it wasn't a leaf. Wings unfolded and Kassidy saw that it was a bat. This bat was a female and she was looking at her in awe. She realized that she saw her use her magic. She had pale blonde hair, beige-colored fur, a dark brown mane, orange wings, and light green eyes. She knew immediately that this bat was an Eastern red bat.

"You made that water float," the female bat said as she pointed at Kassidy. "You have magic."

Kassidy crossed her arms at the female bat. "Yeah, I have magic, I'm a witch." She wouldn't deny it. "You going to judge me or something? Go ahead, give me all you got."

The female bat looked at her confused. "I wasn't going to judge you, what you just did there was actually pretty cool." The female bat got off the tree branch and flew over to Kassidy and then landed next to her and inspected her. "A Silverwing, I thought so."

"And I'm gonna guess that you're a Brightwing." This made Kassidy guess that because the bat's fur was very bright.

"Good guess, I am a Brightwing." The Brightwing inspected more of Kassidy. "You look a lot different from a lot of animals I've seen. Those drawings on you kind of look creepy and so does that thing around your neck, you kind of look like a-"

"Let me guess, a devil?" Kassidy asked a little irritated. She wasn't in the mood to talk about this. "A lot call me that but I'm not a devil, this is just my everyday look. These drawings on me are called tattoos and I picked these out and this thing around my neck is called a choker but it doesn't choke. I'm not dangerous, but if you have a problem with me and you're going to actually judge me then fly off."

The Brightwing put her hands up. "Okay, easy there I wasn't going to talk to you harshly." The Brightwing put down her hands. "You don't look like you enjoy it when anyone calls you… you know."

Kassidy sighed. "I'm sorry. It just sickens me that whenever anyone looks at me all they can see is a devil of a witch that might harm someone. A lot are afraid of me."

Kassidy rubbed her eyes and so badly wanted to find Holden and Shade and then go find the colony. Ariel was probably worried sick for them.

"Well… if it makes you feel any better I have this." The Brightwing lifted her arm and Kassidy saw that on her forearm was a silver band and she couldn't believe she missed that. "My colony banished me because of this. The elders told me that I was…" The Brightwing thought with her finger on her chin, "what was the word… unclean, that's it."

This made Kassidy confused, but sorry at the same time for the Brightwing. Frieda believed that those bands are part of a sign of Nocturna's promise. What did the Brightwing's old colony have against her band? She knew however she didn't have time to ask her about any of that.

"I'm sorry about what happened to you, but listen, have you happened to of seen two Silverwings like me? They're both males and ones shorter than the other."

"Um, no, I haven't seen two Silverwings flying around here. The only bat I've seen today was you. But I'll tell you what, I can help you find them but it's going to have to be tomorrow night. The sun will be up soon and you can spend the day in my roost. We should probably get going though. No bats on this island, but plenty of owls."

"You sure? You really don't have a problem with me?"

"Why should I? I mean you and I are neglected and pushed away by a lot so I don't see why it wouldn't hurt to have someone like you around. You seem like someone I can trust, I mean it can't be that bad to be around a witch like you can it?"

Kassidy thought about this and she could use the Brightwing's help. She, after all, didn't seem that bad. She also didn't jump to conclusions which made Kassidy feel glad that she was okay with her being a witch. "Well if you insist then I guess I got no choice. It's nice to know that you're not one of the animals that judge me because of this." Kassidy used her hands to indicate herself.

"Is it really that bad?"

"You don't even know the half of it."

The Brightwing slowly nodded. "I think you and I will get along just fine. Follow me." The Brightwing took off and Kassidy took off to follow her. She wondered if the Brightwing would be right about them getting along. This Brightwing was interesting, no doubt about it but she was more concerned if Holden and Shade were alright. The Brightwing then looked back at Kassidy. "I'm Marina by the way."

"Kassidy, but call me Kass for short."

As they flew to Marina's roost they chatted for a little bit and then flew in silence. Kassidy repeated in her head as she flew that everything would be alright and that she would find the boys.

Holden awoke and he heard an ocean. He felt something wet and slimy on him and when he looked he saw that he was covered in something green. In fact, everywhere he looked he saw green. He then could smell something weird and it was salty and when he could see clearly what it was he immediately got disgusted when he saw that it was seaweed. He got up and managed to get his head and upper body out of the seaweed but some of the seaweed was on him and he was stuck. He then started to cough and then tried to get the seaweed off him.

"Great, just great," Holden said sarcastically.

He then heard something move beside him in the seaweed and he abruptly looked to his right to see that some of the seaweed was moving around. Holden got nervous and he was cussing in his head. Something was in the seaweed with him. Holden held his breath and then a creature popped up beside him and it was covered in seaweed. But when Holden got a better look at the creature he saw that it wasn't just a creature.

It was Shade.

The seaweed was all over Shade and he was coughing and he was disgusted as Holden that he was in seaweed. Holden sighed in relief when he saw that it was just Shade. "Shade!"

Shade looked at Holden and he looked relieved but worried at the same time. "Holden, you okay?"

Holden remembered that he and Shade fell from the sky when there was a big blast in the sky and he tried to fly but he couldn't. It was terrifying and he thought for sure that he would be as lifeless as a doll. He also remembered Mercury and Kassidy trying to rescue them. Then the last thing he remembered was Kassidy's face when she was going downward towards them with her wings furled against her body and she was like an asteroid about to hit the planet and then everything blackened after that like when he couldn't keep his eyes opened when he felt that gash on his back. Even thinking about it hurt on the inside.

"Somewhat," Holden looked back at the seaweed disgusted. "I hope I didn't sleep eat this stuff, although I don't think I did."

Shade looked around him and as he did his eyes widened in confusion. "Holden… where are we?"

Holden looked around him and he saw there were sand, rocks, an ocean near them, trees ahead of them and a lot of seaweed around them. It didn't take long for Holden to know where they were. "I think we're on an island."

Shade looked at Holden and shook his head. "An island? This is an island?" He looked more around him. "We're lost, we got separated from them from the storm last night!" Shade rubbed his temples and he sighed in frustration. "Why didn't we listen to my Mom and Kassidy? If we would've listened to them we wouldn't be here right now."

"Smalls, calm down. Maybe the colony is searching for us right now I mean who knows? They could be somewhere near."

Shade looked at Holden and he didn't look sure about what Holden said. "I don't know… but we should get this stuff off of us."

Holden nodded and then they tried to get the seaweed off of them but then Holden started to hear something. It was loud and it sounded like constant snapping. Holden turned to the snapping and it was coming from behind a rock. He used his echo vision towards it and then he saw something crawl onto the rock and this was one of the top five animals he hated the most.

It was a crab.

It was red and it had beady black eyes and it was constantly snapping its claws together and then a couple more started to appear on the rock and Holden gasped. He looked back at Shade. "Shade, twelve o' clock!"

Shade looked at Holden confused. "What?"

Holden grunted panicked remembering that Shade didn't know what that meant and he pointed towards the crabs. "Crabs!"

Holden then saw that the crabs were advancing towards them and he then heard Shade gasp. Then as fast as they could, the boys tried to get out of the seaweed and as they did the crabs were getting more close to them. Holden then saw that the crabs were now near them and he cussed. The crabs tried to grab them with their claws and Holden and Shade yelped.

"Hey, come on!" Shade said trying to reason with them.

"Crabs are not friendly, Shade!" Holden said as he was trying to get out of the seaweed.

The crabs tried to grab them again but luckily they only managed to cut the seaweed and Holden and Shade took off from the ground before the crabs could get them and they flew off as fast and far as they could away from them. They were breathing hard but they kept flying towards the trees as they heard the last of the crabs snapping.

"Holden, remind me to never go anywhere near crabs again!"

"I'll definitely remind you the next time we come across any crabs again!"

"Great, but right now we need a roost!"

They flew towards a tree and were about to get inside the foliage of it but they saw some sort of beast and they got scared and flew away from it. They then flew through a hole of a tree but inside it was another sort of beast and they screamed and flew out of it fast. Not seeing where they were going they then hit a totem pole and they groaned in pain but they shook it off and continued to fly. They then saw an old wooden shack and this was their only chance to roost and they flew as fast as they could towards it.

Shade looked behind him and he gasped and Holden knew immediately that Shade saw that the sun was rising. Shade looked at Holden. "Come on, hurry!"

Using all the wingbeats they had they eventually flew through a huge crack big enough for the both of them and they flew inside before the sun came up. As soon as they got inside they roosted next to each other on a rope and they were out of breath and scared as they furled their wings against their bodies. There were fishing nets, old sails, oily blankets, moss all over the place, and a lot of rope connected to beams and other totem poles.

They then heard mice and they were very disturbed when they looked around them. To Holden, this place was very creepy and it reminded him of that one time when he and his friends did a challenge to spend the night in an abandoned cabin that was said to be haunted. It did not end well for him and his friends and because of that, they had nightmares for a whole week. One of his friends even said he thought he saw a ghost when they were in that cabin.

"Where… are we?" Shade asked.

"Some sort of house I guess, I don't know," Holden said. "But if Kassidy were here she would know exactly what this place is."

They heard movement and they looked to see that stuff and junk was moving around them and they were getting even more disturbed. There were more mice squeaking and this made Holden want to get the heck out of here, but he knew they couldn't go outside.

Shade looked at Holden. "This is going to have to do… I don't like it but what else can we do?"

Holden looked at Shade. "I guess we should get some sleep… we can figure things out in the night."

Shade yawned and nodded. "Yeah, you're probably right…" He looked worried but he was also tired like Holden and he looked at him. "See you in the night." He then fell asleep.

Holden yawned and he then cracked his shoulders as he rolled them after flying so fast and even though they cracked so loud, Shade was still asleep. Holden then relaxed and didn't want to think about anything else until tomorrow. He then closed his eyes and fell asleep.

A/N- Hey, guys, another chapter down. My goal was to get it done today and I accomplished it. Next chapter will be out soon, later.