Chapter 30

The Unexpected Savior

Her eyes were fluttering open but she felt like she had the worst sleep of her life. Her hair and fur felt wet and she was extremely cold. The cold was seeping through her body like it was trying to freeze her blood in place from flowing in her body. What she needed was warmth.

But as she opened her eyes she saw that she was no longer in a forest. Instead, she saw that she was in a room. There were tools and equipment all over the room but as she looked around her she saw that it was entirely one room in a small looking house. From the looks of it, however, she could see that it wasn't a small house, it was a shed.

Kassidy was confused about what was happening but then she remembered trying to get away from the giant bats just so she could save Holden, Shade, and Marina and then she remembered Martin catching her. After that, there was only darkness. She was worried about Holden, Shade, and Marina and she wanted to find them.

She then started to feel something tight around her body and it felt like it was constricting her and she felt like she was getting blisters. When she tried to move she couldn't. She looked down and saw that she was tied against a table leg with rope. Her eyes widened and she tried to speak to herself and when she tried to her mouth wouldn't open and all that came out was muffling. She used her tongue to see what was going on and then her tongue hit something sticky. She realized that her mouth was sealed shut.

Kassidy tried to get out roughly as she made only noise from her sealed mouth. As she was trying to get out she then heard a chuckle that made her freeze in place. From the chuckle, she could recognize that voice. The one voice she hoped she wouldn't hear from.

"Awake at last," Kassidy slowly looked up and standing in the shadows with his creepy grin on his face was Martin and her eyes widened more. "Did you think it was all a nasty dream?"

She then heard groaning and she looked to see Throbb sitting up and rubbing his head. She then saw Goth and Dianna and they were standing off to the side, staring at her. She then started to think of Holden, Shade, and Marina but she saw that they weren't here, which to her guess was that they didn't catch them.

She tried even harder to get out and as she did so she heard Martin chuckle again as he approached her. His shadow fell on her and he crossed his arms as he stared down at her with those snake eyes. "Try all you want, orphan, you won't be getting out of that. I magic proofed it."

When Martin said magic proof she wanted to strangle him. That spell was used on anything that anyone with magic can't use on. At this moment she couldn't use her magic to free herself and this made her turn her hands into fists as she angrily stared at Martin.

Martin's smile went down as he furrowed his brow at Kassidy. "You might be wondering why you haven't been killed yet and I will gladly enough explain. You have been the most difficult to deal with ever since we accompanied you and your friends. I don't tolerate shit like that, especially when it comes to teenagers." Martin then bent his knees and he was now face to face with Kassidy as she continued to stare at him angrily. "I would've gladly have killed you at this moment, but that wouldn't have satisfied me yet."

Martin then roughly cupped Kassidy's chin in his hand and he pressed his fingers on her cheeks very hard. "So many things I could do to you at this moment." Martin then grinned. "I could slice your throat, I could break your neck." He then started to chuckle again. "So many options I could do to kill a sad, little orphan like you."

Kassidy roughly ripped her chin away from Martin's hold and she didn't want this guy to get to her. Martin shrugged his shoulders not caring. "But since I won't be killing you at this moment I have a special treat for you. Tonight will be the best show of your life and you'll have the best spot to watch it." Kassidy's eyes widened not liking where this was going. "Your friends and the colony will be here soon and when they arrive they'll be the main course for this very night. You'll be watching every last one of them die and in the end, it'll all be your fault because you couldn't save their hides from us. I want you to die with grief, I want you to suffer more just like your friends and that weak colony will."

Martin started to laugh hysterically and Kassidy couldn't believe what he just said but all she could feel was anger towards that rotten snake. Kassidy tried to jump at Martin but even though she couldn't she didn't care. She tried to curse at Martin with all the cuss words she knew but all that came out was random noises. This only made Martin laugh more as he watched her.

"I'd love to stay and chat with your more, but if you'll now excuse me, we have some planning to do," Martin said and he sounded like a snake as he said it.

As he walked away to join his companions, Kassidy continued to try and cuss at not only Martin, but Dianna, Goth, and Throbb as well.

"Martin… it's freezing," Throbb said as he shivered and covered himself in his wings.

Martin sighed annoyed and without even looking, he swished his hand in the air and the door Kassidy saw that was opened when she was done trying to cuss at the four Vampyrum bats instantly slammed. Martin then slowly looked at Throbb with his brow furrowed and he looked like he was going to murder him. Throbb backed away a little with his ears lowered on his head. Martin then sighed and he motioned to his companions with his hand to follow him. They all went to a far off distance in the cabin so Kassidy wouldn't hear them and Martin then started to form his plan with them.

Kassidy tried to listen in on their conversation but they were talking very quietly. She cursed in her head as she stared at them in hatred. Especially Martin.

Once again she tried to free herself without magic but the rope around her was too tight. She kept trying though and she didn't want to give up. She couldn't let those four eat her friends or her colony, she just couldn't. She had to stop them one way or another.

As she was trying to free herself she felt a little wind blow near her face. She was confused because she saw that there were no openings to the outside and the door was closed, so how was it that she could feel the wind? She turned her head to where the wind came from and standing right before her made her surprised.

It was a bird.

However, it was not just a bird; it was the red-tailed hawk that she saw yesterday.

He was drenched from the rain that Kassidy saw from the open door and even though he was he didn't seem to mind. He was only directly staring at her. Kassidy couldn't believe that she didn't hear him get in here and she also couldn't believe that Martin and the other three giant bats didn't hear or notice him get in here.

Are you hurt? Kassidy blinked in confusion. She thought she was imagining things but she swore that this hawk was talking to her. The only thing was that he didn't move his beak. Did he actually talk? Yes, I talked, but not through my beak, but rather through my mind. I'm sure you might have heard of something like this.

Of course, Kassidy had, she was practically more of a bookworm than anyone else she knew. She has heard of people talking with only their minds but she never could've imagined a hawk doing something like this. It was rare for anyone to do this and seeing that this hawk could do it just blew her mind away.

Yes, Kassidy replied to the hawk with her mind. I have heard of it.

Are you hurt? The hawk asked once again.

No, I'm not hurt. Who are you and how did you get in here without them noticing you?

The hawk stepped closer to Kassidy. My name is Lightning, Kassidy. Kassidy's eyes widened. How did that hawk named Lightning know her name? I don't have much time to explain but you need to listen to me. I'm going to set you free and when I do I need you to stay put so I can distract those four. When I give the signal you need to get out of here.

Before Kassidy could even reply to Lightning, he walked behind the table leg she was tied up against and when he did he began to tug on it with his beak. As he was tugging on it, Kassidy could feel the rope loosen around her. There were advantages to magic proofing things but there were also some disadvantages.

Hold this, Lightning said, and he put the ends of the rope in Kassidy's hands and when he did, Kassidy held onto them very tightly.

Lightning then got in front of Kassidy and when he did he looked at the giant bats and they were still discussing their plan. Lightning looked back at Kassidy and he nodded. He lifted his strong wings and then he took off into the air and when he did he made a hoarse-screech and extended his talons out as he flew right at the giant bats. The four giant bats looked up confused and before any of them could see what was going on, Lightning grabbed Dianna's hair and he pulled at it furiously and Dianna screamed shocked.

Dianna was trying to get Lightning to let go of her hair as she was screaming but Lightning kept making some clever moves on Dianna as he kept pulling at her hair and making more hoarse-screeches. "Get it off me! Get it off me!"

Martin, Goth, and Throbb had their eyes widened, but Martin then furrowed his brow and growled at Lightning. He quickly got close enough to Lightning and Dianna. "Dianna, hold still!"

Martin tried to grab Lightning but Lightning kept making more clever flight moves as he kept pulling at Dianna's hair. Kassidy's eyes widened when she saw that Martin was going to use his magic on Lightning. He tried to use some spells on the hawk and no matter what he did, Lightning managed to dodge his magic as he kept pulling at Dianna's hair and that caused Martin's magic to destroy some things in the shed instead. Kassidy was by far very impressed with Lightning.

Goth and Throbb just simply stood by watching the scene not sure what to do but they were finding this extremely shocking. Literally.

Then, Lightning used his talons to push on Dianna's back and when he did, Dianna yelped and she crashed into Martin and he yelped as well as they hit the floor. They were groaning, but Martin then looked up at Lightning furiously and he got up, lifted his powerful-looking wings and took off from the ground to chase down Lightning. Martin chased Lightning around the shed and to Kassidy it was like watching one of those hilarious cartoon shows. As Martin was chasing Lightning around he sometimes tried to use spells on Lightning but Lightning easily dodged them, causing them to instead destroy some more things around the inside of the shed and sometimes Martin even cussed at Lightning.

Dianna looked up at Lightning and snarled and she then took off to chase down Lightning as well. She tried to drive her long claws into Lightning as she charged at him at a very fast speed, but Lightning maneuvered out of the way and Dianna's claws then sunk deep into the wooden wall and they were now stuck. Dianna cursed and tried to get her claws out of the wall and as she did, Martin continued to chase Lightning around the shed.

"Amigo?" Goth said as he was still watching the scene with his brother-in-law. "You need any help?"

"You wanna help!?" Martin said in rage as he continued to chase lightning. "Watch the orphan!"

Lightning looked in Kassidy's direction as he continued to try and distract Martin. Now's your chance, go!

Kassidy looked at the giant bats and just looking at them now she knew she couldn't just leave, knowing that these bats will likely still try to hunt down not only her but her friends and the colony as well. She couldn't let this happen. She had to stop them from trying to take away more lives than they already had. She knew she was taking a big risk here but this was not for her, it was for the ones she cared for deeply in her heart more than anything.

I can't, they'll only try to find me anyways if I try to escape. I have to find a way to stop them before they try to kill my friends and the colony. I have to stay here and stop them from plotting their night hunt.

Kassidy expected Lightning to protest but to her surprise, Lightning didn't look disappointed, mad, or anything like that. Instead, he just looked at her calmly. I understand, good luck, Kassidy.

With one more clever move, Lightning maneuvered out of Martin's bite attempt on him and then he used his body to push Martin to the wall and when he did, Martin hit the wall hard and then he plummeted to the floor with a hard thud. Lightning flew towards the ceiling and up in the ceiling, Kassidy saw that there was a hole there and in a quick motion, Lightning pressed his wings against his body and he slipped through it like he had oil on him.

Martin scraped his claws on the floor, making scratch marks as he snarled towards the hole in which Lightning flew out of. He then turned his head towards Throbb. "Throbb, get him!"

Throbb flinched at Martin's shout towards him, but without wasting any time he did as Martin wanted him to do and he took off towards the hole Lightning flew out of, but unfortunately he did not slip through it as Lightning did. With his potbelly in the way, he was stuck in the hole like he was a piece of chewed gum stuck on the ceiling. Throbb grunted as he tried to get through the hole.

Martin clenched his hands into fists as he continued to snarl and then in his hand, Kassidy saw that he formed an energy blast in it. He threw it near the hole Throbb was stuck in and when he did Throbb yelped. Martin did it a couple more times near the hole until it was big enough for Throbb to fit through. Throbb was then flying in the night sky trying to chase down Lightning.

Dianna ripped her claws out of the wooden wall, not breaking one of them but instead left four punctured holes in the wall like it was swiss cheese. She shook her hand in the air while growling and she muttered and cursed under her breath at the hawk.

Martin's fingers cracked as he turned them into fists and he was growling. But he was then breathing though his nose through which Kassidy could see that he was trying to calm down. Kassidy, Goth, and Dianna watched as Martin had his eyes closed as he was trying to calm down from what just happened.

"That bird must've accidentally stumbled in here," Martin said as he had his back with the snake on it to everyone. "I don't know how that bird did what he did but for now he won't be a problem anymore once Throbb gets rid of him." He then looked over his shoulder at Kassidy very slowly as he had his brow furrowed. He was looking at the ropes closely from where he was standing and Kassidy hoped that he didn't see a slight difference in how the rope was now around her. He hummed to himself and then shrugged. "It's just too bad he wasn't your hero for the day."

I beg to differ, Kassidy thought.

She hoped that Lightning would be okay but her main objection was to figure out how she could get rid of Martin and his companions. She knew she had to think of something fast before it was too late but she also knew that she had to be smart about this. The question was what could she do to get rid of them?

Trying to catch a bird in the very cold and dreadful rain made Throbb shiver violently. He didn't mind the rain back up south but here in the north, it felt like he was being punished. He could hardly see in the rain as it was pouring very badly, dropping onto his eyes and the wind was blowing in his ears harshly and it really irritated him, to say the least as he was chasing down the bird Martin wanted him to catch.

This task was not easy for Throbb, and the bird that was flying up ahead of him was much faster and skillful in his flying than he was. The bird looked like he was always careful when an obstacle looked or seemed like it was coming ahead and Throbb sometimes didn't even notice it, even when he tried to use his echo vision and because of that he almost hit the object. He was also breathing very hard as his wings and arms were aching and he so badly wanted to rest but how could he when Martin ordered him to kill that bird? Besides, he didn't even know what Martin would do to him if he didn't catch the bird but he didn't even want to think about it. Considering he saw Martin strangle his brother-in-law with his magic and no one had even the guts to do such thing to Goth-except for Goth's Father and Throbb knew as hell that the King was very abusive-but with Martin being the one with magic he could practically do whatever he wanted to do.

As Throbb kept flapping his wings as fast as he could, the bird looked at Throbb, made a hoarse-screech and as fast as lightning he charged at Throbb and using his talons he grabbed him and flew him hardly down to the ground and then in a split second, Throbb was pinned to the muddy ground by the hawk. Throbb tried to move but the bird was easily overpowering him. Throbb felt exhausted but he managed to look up at the bird to see that he had no desire in his eyes to kill him. Instead, he was looking at him calmly.

Do not trust them, they may look like they're a part of your kind but they're not at all what they seem they are.

Throbb blinked and then the bird was gone. Nothing was pinning him now and he looked around him in utter confusion. There was still no sign of that bird to be seen. "Huh?"

He didn't know what just happened but he thought that bird was talking directly at him. But the bird wasn't moving his beak. He thought he must've hit something hard to think this but he thought it was complete nonsense to even think that an animal could talk without moving its mouth/beak.

He didn't know what to think of this but it was absolutely crazy. The hawk didn't try to kill him but he warned him? He really didn't want to believe that the hawk was actually talking to him but if he really did why did he not kill him? And why was he warning him about them and which them was he talking about? Throbb started to scratch his head and wondered if it was Martin and Dianna the bird was speaking of.

Throbb got up and shook the water and mud off of him and he stared at the sky to make sure he didn't miss anything and then he made his way back to where the others were. Not only was the rain unbearably cold but he was starved. He wanted to eat the Silverwings ever since Martin mentioned them to him and Goth and he hoped to get his food supply and be on his way back to his beloved home.

It was hard for her to keep the ends of the rope in her hands and the urge to let go was very strong. She wanted to do it right now but that would only be rushing things. There would be no way she could stop them without a plan of course.

Kassidy watched as Martin, Dianna, and Goth were impatiently waiting for Throbb to get back to the shed. Martin was pacing the room back and forth, Dianna was drumming her fingers on her arm, while Goth was just staring at the hole in the ceiling. Kassidy then started to form a plan in her head: as soon as Martin actually had his back to her she would try to knock him out unconscious and then she would do the same thing to the other three once she took care of Martin.

As she waited for Martin to turn his back to her, she noticed that Goth was staring at her and even though she wasn't actually looking at him she could tell that he was watching her. She turned her head to him but Goth was already looking back up at the hole by the time her eyes actually laid on him.

Kassidy thought that Goth was really weird.

"Where the hell is he?" Martin asked. "I knew he was unsuitable for this task."

"He's unsuitable for anything, darling," Dianna said. "He's obese and an idiot."

"I know he can be unbearable at times, señorita," Goth said, "but I'm sure he's already on his way back here."

"Tch, whatever you say."

Goth scowled at Dianna.

Kassidy actually felt bad for Throbb because of the way he's been treated. She kind of felt guilty for even saying what she said to him when she was getting really infuriated.

"Amigos," Throbb burst through the opening of the ceiling and when he landed he was grinning at them. "I saw the two Silverwings and the Brightwing flying this way on the horizon and an owl is with them."

Kassidy's eyes widened. No, no, no!

Martin grinned and so did Dianna and Goth. "Excellent," Martin said. He then looked at Kassidy. "The show's about to start, orphan, but I hope you'll enjoy it because this is going to be one hell of a great night."

Kassidy looked up at the ceiling as she breathed very worried through her nose. Her friends… they were headed for a trap but what confused her was that Throbb mentioned that an owl was with them. She realized that it didn't matter at the moment, what mattered was that she had to save their lives.

A/N- It was finally about time that I got another chapter in and I just feel glad. I was excited to write this chapter because I finally got to write another OC of mine in this, Lightning. I took the mind talking inspiration from a couple book series, The Inheritance Cycle series and the Villain series. The question is who is he and how does he know who Kassidy is? Next chapter will be out soon and have a nice day.