Chapter 28

Operation Witch Rescue

Holden could not stop cussing in his head. He wished that he could've seen this coming and because he and Shade didn't, the giant bats now had Kassidy and they were now going to the next landmark just so they could eat the colony. He didn't know where they were by now but he hoped that they weren't doing anything to hurt Kassidy.

"W-We have to find the colony before Martin, Dianna, Goth, and Throbb do," Shade said. "We also need to save Kass before she and the colony get eaten and it's all my fault." Shade had his head down looking guilty. "I wish I would've listened to Kass, then she wouldn't of…" He then placed his palms on his forehead.

"It's not your fault, Smalls," Holden said, but he too felt guilty for not listening to Kassidy. "I feel stupid too for not listening to Kass, but we need to get to the towers of fire and save not only her but the colony as well."

"But we don't even know where the fire towers are," Marina said. She then looked at Shade. "Shade, try your sound map again."

Even though Shade looked stressed about this, he placed a claw on his temple and closed his eyes to concentrate on pulling up the sound map. He was scrunching his eyes as he was groaning in pain and as he did, Holden and Marina looked at each other. Holden was actually glad he didn't have to worry about pulling up a sound map.

Eventually, Shade gasped as he opened his eyes and he was breathing hard. Holden and Marina looked at him with hope. "Did you see anything new?" Marina asked. "W-Were there mountains? A river maybe?"

Shade furrowed his brow as Holden could see he was trying to think. "Uh… there were these other giant towers that led along the cutline."

Holden furrowed his brow confused. "Wait, what?"

Shade looked at Holden. "You know those places where your kind steals all those trees."

"I don't understand what you mean by that." Holden then grunted. "If Kass were here she would know what you're talking about."

Holden was not smart like Kassidy. He remembered when he was in the first grade he didn't win the spelling bee and ended up in the last place. He was in the last place because he couldn't spell cat and he ended up spelling k-a-t because he thought it was for the candy bar, Kit-Kat. It was very humiliating and he was the laughing stock at school, but everyone got over it soon enough.

"Guys, Kass needs us and we need to hurry before it's too late," Marina said. "I pray to Nocturna that she's alright."

Holden then felt anger. How could he have fallen for the giant bats' trick? How could he have been so blind? Since he became a bat he felt useless in this group, like he didn't belong. But if there was one thing for certain it was that he couldn't let Kassidy get hurt. She wasn't just his tutor he had to be stuck with, she was also his friend. Holden knew he wasn't a good friend towards Kassidy but he wanted to make it up to her once they found her. He would do everything he could to help her. He no longer wanted to be useless. He wanted to be a big of help with not only with Kass, but with Shade and Marina as well.

"If those monsters hurt Kass… I am never going to forgive myself," Holden said. "I was a complete jerk to her… and I took… their side…" Holden put his face in his hands.

Holden felt a hand on his shoulder and he looked to see it was Marina that placed her hand on his shoulder. "She'll forgive you, but not unless we stay here. Right now we need to hurry."

"Marina's right," Shade said. "We're her only hope and Kassidy would've done the same thing if we got kidnapped."

Holden knew Shade and Marina were right. No one messes with my friends.

He then slowly nodded. "Then let's go save our friend."

They were flying for some time now but there were no signs of towers of fire. Insects were buzzing about and leaves were falling all over the place. Some of the trees bared no leaves at all and this was no paradise to Goth like it was in the jungle.

Goth and the others were resting on the ground after all the flying they've been doing and they made sure that no one saw them. They were lost and Martin and Dianna were trying to figure out which way they needed to go in order to get to the towers of fire and it was amazing to Goth how they could read the stars very well but he couldn't. He was trying to read the stars but it was like trying to read those ancient symbols back at the pyramid.

Throbb was sniffing around the forest to find whatever he could chow down on and he and Goth were supposed to be watching Kassidy but so far Throbb was not doing a very good job at watching her. Kassidy's sleeping body was leaning against a tree and it didn't look like she was sleeping, rather it looked more like she was dead.

Goth growled in irritation and he clenched his hands into fists as he stared at the stars. "I cannot understand these northern stars! How can you two even read them? There is no order to their constellations! I am sick of them!"

Martin sighed annoyed and he and Dianna looked at Goth. "You will understand these stars soon enough, but for now your main priority is to watch the girl with Throbb."

Throbb slurped down the last of a mouse he caught and he then looked at Goth. "Sick of the stars? Try eating these scrawny mice!"

Dianna rolled her eyes and she crossed her arms. "Why not stop?" She hissed.

Throbb looked at Dianna. "Because you can't eat just one!" Throbb then eructed loudly and this made Goth rub his eyes with two fingers not only in frustration but in embarrassment as well. "Just right, it's impossible." He then grinned at Dianna.

However, Dianna stared at Throbb with her eyes narrowed and her teeth were bared and in a quick move she grabbed a fistful of Throbb's mane and Throbb's grin dropped instantly when Dianna brought her face close to his. "You wanna know something? I don't eat my way out of my problems when it comes to survival, you fat moron. And if you weren't Goth's brother-in-law I would've gladly had you for lunch so that way I wouldn't have to deal with your whining and complaining almost every five minutes!"

Martin got to Dianna and he gently turned her around and as he did, Throbb backed away nervously until he got next to Goth. This was the first time Goth's ever seen Dianna overreact over something. "Love, breathe," Martin said calmly. "Even though I would've loved to do the same thing to Throbb if he wasn't Goth's brother-in-law, we still have a colony to hunt down. Stay calm for tonight and it'll all be over soon enough." Martin then turned his head to look at Kassidy and he smiled those snake-like teeth. "It'll be quite enjoyable to watch Kassidy as she watches the colony die, wouldn't you agree, darling?"

Goth watched as Dianna breathed in and out and then she started to grin towards Kassidy. "Yes, I most certainly agree."

Martin then walked away and Dianna followed behind him and they went back to work on navigation. Goth could not believe how Martin could be so calm a lot and he managed to calm his wife down. Whatever Martin did to make himself like this it was pretty much working.

Throbb looked at Goth. "Maybe I'll just go get some more mice…"

Goth looked at Throbb. "Never mind the mice. Soon you will feast on Silverwings, mi amigo. That little showoff, Shade, told Martin and I about the colony's next stop." Goth then grinned slyly. "Fire towers."

"But… how will we find them?"

Then Martin started to laugh and Goth and Throbb looked at him confused. Martin looked at Throbb as he continued to laugh. "Oh, the answer to your question lies right beyond there." Martin then used his thumb to point right over his shoulder.

Goth and Throbb looked to where Martin was pointing to and Goth thought Martin was pointing at trees. No, those aren't tress. Goth saw that these silver constructions were the works of humans and there were lines running through each of them near the top. Goth grinned. Zotz helps those who help themselves.

The search for Kassidy was proving to be more difficult than Holden thought it ever would. He thought the giant bats must've been far away and that's why neither he nor his friends could find her. He wished he had binoculars the size of him right now so he could see in a farther distance.

Holden was managing to keep up with Shade and Marina, even though all this flying has been making him want to rest. But he couldn't rest when Kassidy and the colony were in danger right now. Their lives were at stake and they were their only hope at this very moment to save them from death.

Holden used his echo vision everywhere he looked so he can be sure that they hadn't missed anything and Shade and Marina were doing the same thing. The wind blew almost knocking Holden off course but he focused real hard and kept his flight in place. Holden had improved a lot on his flight and all he needed to do was hunt like a pro. If this were a test he probably would've gotten a good grade at this moment.

Marina looked at Holden and Shade. "Anything?"

Holden shook his head. "Nothing."

Shade sighed and he then shook his head. "No… just the wilderness is all I can see." Shade then looked around him and he looked unsure about something. "Maybe I was wrong…"

Holden looked at Shade. "Let's not jump to conclusions yet, maybe we just can't see them."

"Huh?" Holden heard Marina say and he looked at her to see that she was looking at something down below them.

Holden looked at her confused. "What? Do you see something?"

"Yeah, over there."

Holden and Shade looked to where Marina was looking and right below them, Holden saw power lines. He then realized that the power lines were what Shade saw in his sound map. He then looked at Shade. "That's it, that has to be it."

"Duh, what else could it have been?" Marina asked. "Let's go."

As they were about to head straight for the power lines, Holden heard what sounded like a screech and he thought he was imaging things but from the sounds of it, it sounded like it was calling for help. He was not imagining it though.

Holden looked at his friends with his eyes widened. "Is it Kass?"

Marina pricked her ears forward while trying to process what she was hearing. She then looked back at the boys. "It's not Kass's but somebody's definitely in trouble. We should check it out."

"That sounded like a bird," Shade said and he then scowled. "Humph."

"Marina, Kassidy's life is much more important than a bird's right now," Holden said as he frowned.

Marina scowled at the boys. "He sounds like he's in trouble though, he might be hurt."

"That bird is not our problem to deal with."

"Humph." Marina then glided away from the boys.

The boys looked at Marina surprised. "H-Hey, hang on!" Shade shouted towards Marina and he glided after her.

Holden cursed to himself and he followed after Shade and Marina. They plunged deep into the woods and as they were flying, Holden heard whimpering and what sounded like struggling. He wanted to find Kassidy, not check out what the heck was going on at this very moment.

The three of them all the sudden came across a bird. Holden saw that it was stuck in a trap, not just any trap: a net. The bird was trying to get out of the net with everything it got but whatever the bird tried to do he couldn't get the net to open.

The three of them landed upside down on the rope part of the net and when they did, the bird turned around and when he saw them he was looking at them with fear. When Holden got a better look at the bird he saw that it was an owl. He had yellow eyes, light and dark feathers, a light brown mane, and red hair. The owl that Holden saw looked pretty scrawny but all he could do was stare at the owl angrily. He was staring at the owl angrily because his kind already caused them enough trouble and Holden was still pretty pissed at them after one of them gave him the scar on his back he will never get rid of.

"Help," the owl pleaded, "I'm stuck and I'm strangling. Please, I've never hurt a bat in all my life. I'm practically a vegetarian."

"Liar!" Holden and Shade shouted at the same time.

The owl gasped. "Ah-ha," Holden shouted. "See that? That's the look of someone that knows they're busted."

"Guys, grab the other end," Marina said. "If we leave him here he could die."

"So, who cares?" Shade said bitterly. "He's an owl."

"Have you forgotten that Kass needs us right now?" Holden shouted at Marina. "We're only wasting time if we stick around here to help this owl and if we keep sticking around here, Kass might be dead by then!"

The owl stopped struggling against the net and even though he was in trouble he was looking at them slightly confused. He also looked scared and Holden didn't care if he was or not. All he wanted to do was save Kassidy, not the owl.

Marina looked at the boys with a sour look and she crossed her arms as she sighed and shook her head disappointed. "Nice to see that Zephyr's lesson really had an impact on you two."

"Lesson?" Shade said as the owl looked at each one of them still a little freaked out.

"You know, never underestimate the power of a kind act, even towards one enemy. If Kass were here she would've said the same thing and would've wanted to help him as well. You know I'm right."

Holden stopped looking at Marina frustrated and he then lowered his eyes and his ears and he couldn't argue with Marina on that one. He definitely could see Kassidy wanting to help this owl. Even though Holden was still pissed at the owls he wanted to do this for Kassidy.

For Kass, not the owl.

Holden looked at Shade and he could see that Shade was thinking the same thing as him. Holden then sighed and he looked back at Marina. "Alright, but just so you know I'm not doing this for him. I'm doing it for Kass."

"That goes double for me," Shade said with his arms crossed.

Marina sighed but she nodded. "That's good enough for now." She then looked at the net the owl was in. "Hey, this is the same kind of net that the humans used when they banded me."

Holden looked at the net. "Really?"

"Yeah, and all we need to do is spread it open."

"Alright, let's just get this over with."

The three of them flew off their roost and then they started to pull at the net. The three of them grunted as they flew and pulled. Holden couldn't believe he was doing this but he kept repeating in his head that it was for Kassidy. He thought things would've been a whole lot easier if they just had scissors or at least something sharp to cut this net open. Or better yet, Kassidy's magic.

The owl was sounding skittish. "You sure you know what you're-" the three of them couldn't pull anymore and their grips on the net were loosened and the owl shot right out of the net and into the sky, tumbling like a tumbleweed. "DOOOOOOIIIIIIING!" The owl then smashed into the foliage of a tree and then he fell onto a tree branch.

Holden bared his teeth shocked. "That's going to leave a mark."

The three of them flew to the owl and when they got to him they landed on the tree branch he was on and he looked unconscious. Shade snapped a twig off a branch above him and slowly and carefully he began to poke the owl in the chest. If Kassidy were here, Holden could already picture her not liking what Shade was doing. The owl began to move and he was blinking his eyes open.

"Is… he okay?" Marina asked.

"Well, he's not dead that's for sure," Holden said and that made Marina frown at him.

Shade kept poking the owl in the chest with a stick and as he did the owl was murmuring as he opened his eyes and as he did, Holden noticed that things seemed pretty darker. The owl then gasped at something and Holden got confused but he then heard something above him and his eyes widened and his ears dropped. He looked up and his jaw dropped.

Staring at him and his friends were owls.

Holden then nervously smiled and he started to laugh nervously. "Uh… owl's it going, guys?" The owls kept staring at them seriously and Holden's nervous smile went down. "You're not finding this amusing are you?" One of the owls screeched loudly making Holden flinch. "I'm gonna take that as a no…"

A/N- Hey guys, I know it doesn't look like much but I promise that there will be more in the next chapter. Well, that's all I wanted to say and the next chapter will be out soon, later.