Chapter 39

The Shadow

If there was any way to describe this moment there was only one word to describe it: chilling. The moment they saw a while ago had their hearts stricken with fear for not only the giant bats that were pretty much holding them as their prisoners but for Kassidy as well. These giant bats were serious about their tensions.

The events of which happened wouldn't stop replaying in Holden's head… Martin was taking no crap from anyone and what he did to Kassidy more proved his point. Kassidy looked worse than before as her wounds, cuts, and bruises were really showing it and Holden could've sworn he could see a black eye forming on her. She looked weaker than before and barely looked like her tough self as she usually was as they were all flying in silence once again. Kassidy barely even looked at anyone as it looked like her main attention was looking down or forwards. It was always hard to tell for Holden what Kassidy was feeling at some points but looking at her now he could see that she was deeply injured and upset. However, he couldn't tell if she was afraid or not as some of the scratches on her face were hiding some other emotions she could be feeling at the moment.

One thing was for certain: Martin was a cruel monster.

Holden wanted nothing more than to see that snake get electrocuted again so he could actually be dead this time. He still couldn't believe that Martin was alive and flying like nothing had happened to him. It was like God used his godly powers to bring Martin back to life. Holden shook his head that it would be entirely screwed up if God actually did bring Martin back to life, it just wouldn't make sense for God to do something like that. Holden didn't believe that God would do something like that for a monster like Martin after everything he did. What other explanation could there be for Martin being alive?

However, Holden knew that thinking about how Martin could be alive wasn't important right now. What mattered was trying to get rid of these four giant bats. Holden was trying to come up with what to do as he didn't want these giant bats to keep tormenting them any further. He wouldn't stand by and do nothing.

As he was thinking he didn't notice Throbb looking at him as Throbb was keeping an eye on him once again. Throbb was looking at Holden with confusion but he was also looking at him with appreciation. "Gracias," he whispered to Holden.

"Huh?" Holden got out of his thoughts and he looked at Throbb, surprised even that he spoke to him, even after that whole incident back at the towers of fire. "What'd you say?" He whispered back.

Throbb looked away and he sighed. "I was thanking you for what you did for me…" He then looked back at Holden. "But why would you stand up for me like that towards Dianna? After all, I did, and yet you stood up for me?"

Holden was surprised that Throbb was thanking him and after what he did and yet he still thanked him? Now that Throbb mentioned that incident a while ago, Holden was still wondering why he stood up for Throbb. For some reason when he did what he did it felt right like he had to do it like he was meant to do that. It sounded strange to him but in a way he was glad he did what he did a while ago.

"I guess because I just don't like it when anyone body shames someone," Holden truthfully said. "It just wasn't right what Dianna said to you." He then began to wonder something. "Why do you and Goth even stick around with those two? It seems like they don't like you and your brother-in-law that much."

Throbb looked towards everyone carefully and after he did he looked back at Holden. "Well-"

"Orphan, you're slowing down," exclaimed Martin angrily. "Move faster!"

Holden looked to where Martin was keeping an eye on Kassidy and when he did he saw Kassidy's flight was getting slower and she looked like she was having a hard time staying in the air. Her eyes were halfway opened as she was flying and Holden saw that Kassidy was trying her best but she really looked like she was having a hard time keeping up. Holden was getting more worried about Kassidy as she looked like she was about ready to fall from the sky.

Martin, on the other hand, was looking at Kassidy irritated and his teeth were bared with the amount of annoyance he had on his face. He looked like he was ready to hit Kassidy once again. "Did you hear me? I said move faster! What's wrong with you, you never heard of the word fast before?!"

Before Martin could even speak any further, Kassidy's eyes all the sudden rolled in the back of her head and she plummeted down from the sky very fast at a very fast rate. Holden, Shade, and Marina gasped and everyone stopped in their tracks when they saw Kassidy plummeting fast to the ground. From how far they were all up in the sky it was enough for Kassidy to get herself killed. She was plummeting to her death.

"Kass!" The three friends shouted.

Martin growled with annoyance and rolled his snake eyes. "Get those three inside that cave over there while I go 'catch' the orphan." He said pointing to a cave that was on the side of a mountain and he then furled his wings against him and went after Kassidy.

Holden cursed in his head and wanted to go get Kassidy but he didn't have the time to do anything as Throbb grabbed him with his clawed feet. Goth had Shade in his clawed feet while Dianna had Marina in her clawed feet. They all yelled when the giant bats suddenly started to transport them to that upper cave in the mountain Martin spoke of at a very fast and hard speed. As it was all happening, Holden was cursing loudly.

The three were then thrown into the cave very hard and they crashed to the ground and the pain wasn't too bad for Holden but he could feel a bruise forming on him. The three grunted in pain as they were lying on the ground, however, they tried to regain themselves the best they could. The last thing they wanted was to get weaker and the weaker they got; the fewer chances they had of escaping these giant cannibal bats.

Then, Martin came bursting in with Kassidy in his clawed feet and when he did he threw her roughly to the ground and when he did, Kassidy rolled and then her back hit the wall at a hard impact and when it did her eyes popped open and she yelled in pain. A blood trail was made on the ground from Kassidy's roll and there wasn't a lot of it but this got the two Silverwing males and the Brightwing female worried for Kassidy even more. They were lucky even that their friend hadn't died.

Holden cursed but quickly got up to Kassidy as did Shade and Marina. "Kass, hey," Holden said with slight worry in his voice. "You alright?"

After Holden said what he said to Kassidy she didn't even look at him or anyone else. Her ocean-blue eyes could only gaze at the ground in defeat and pain. She looked like she was trying to hide it but from the marks and slashes she received from Martin, it was clear that Martin managed to break her some. Holden knew that this wasn't the real Kassidy he knew and she was acting all like this because of what that sick snake did to her.

"I should probably thank you, orphan," the sickening sound of the snake's voice said as the four friends then looked up at him. "It'll be close to the sun rising and getting sleep would be a good option for us. But first, we-" he then gestured to him, his mate, and the brothers, "won't be sleeping on an empty stomach."

"So what're you going to do, eat one or two of us?" Holden said.

Martin cackled at what Holden said and then shook his head. "We'll be saving you and your friends for when the right time comes, boy. As of now, we'll be off to hunt." He then looked at the brothers and his mate and nodded to them. Without hesitating the brothers left to go do some hunting while Dianna kept by Martin. They then walked outside and when they got outside they looked back at the four friends. "Oh, and just to be sure that none of you plan on escaping…"

He then lifted his hands near the entrance of the cave and when he did he was in full concentration, thinking about something. As he was in his concentration he then slowly brought his hands down and as he did some sort of lightness began to appear and it looked yellow like the rays of the sunlight. Holden, Shade, and Marina got confused by what Martin was doing but Kassidy's eyes widened at what Martin was doing as if she knew what he was doing. Whatever it was Martin was doing, it was clear to Holden that he was doing some sort of spell.

When Martin got done with what he was doing the whole cave entrance was made up of this yellow magic. But then the yellow magic disappeared out of nowhere. Why would Martin use some sort of magic to do something that looked like it was intended but yet it didn't look intended? However, on the look on Martin's face, it was clear that whatever he did was intended. So far as Holden knew, Martin was always serious about what he did.

"This is to be sure that none of you try to escape," Martin said. "We'll be back and remember: I'm always watching." With that, the two spouses took off to go do some hunting.

Holden hated to admit this but not only was Martin a monster but he was also a creep. He couldn't imagine Martin even seeing a lot of things when he looks through anyone's eyes. He didn't even want to think about what Martin sees when he looks through anyone's eyes.

Marina then looked at Kassidy. "Kass, do you know what that was Martin did?" Kassidy stayed quiet as she was then looking back down at the ground and she was rubbing her wounded arms slowly as if she was actually cold but she didn't look cold… She just looked broken like a misshapen toy. Marina then tried to look into Kassidy's despaired eyes with worry but a hint of anger in her green eyes as she placed her hands on Kassidy's shoulders. "Kass, can you please talk?"

Kassidy still hadn't looked at anyone but she then managed to speak weakly. "It was a magic proof spell that Martin did… We can't go through that and the only way to take it down is Martin taking it down since he made that…"

Holden, Shade, and Marina looked at each other… It was clear as day that Martin knew a lot of magic and they all knew that they had to be smarter than Martin if they were going to escape him and the three other giant bats. Martin was very strong, especially when it came to magic and they could see that Kassidy felt like a failure because she couldn't take him down like she did last time.

They then looked back at their friend that felt like a failure. "Kass, look at us," Marina said. "Don't give up, there's still hope… You just have to believe that."

They saw as their friend was in her thoughts and she still hadn't looked at them… It looked like she wasn't going to say anything else but after a minute she then spoke. "I couldn't take down that bastard again… If only I could've learned and mastered some difficult spells none of this would've happened… I'm sorry guys… This is all my fault and I failed you…"

The Silverwing witch then hugged her knees and buried her furry face in her knees. Holden didn't know Kassidy very well. He knew some things about her but not a lot. One thing he did know about her was that she cared for her friends and family, even Shade, Marina, and him. He hated to see Kassidy like this and this made Holden despise Martin even more.

Shade then kneeled next to Kassidy and placed his hand on her back. "This wasn't your fault, Kass… We know you tried and like Marina said you can't lose hope. Don't let Martin get to you, he's wrong about you. You're really something. You're very different and it's a good different and Martin can't see that. He's just trying to break you like he's doing to the rest of us."

Holden nodded as he then got next to Kassidy. "They're both right and if I'm being honest right now you're very special. Even if a lot don't think you are you really are special."

At their words, Kassidy actually managed to look up at them slowly with some surprise in her eyes. It was like she was told of some shocking discovery. Either way, Kassidy looked somewhat better. Even though she didn't look the best at the moment with the injuries on her she looked somewhat better by her friends' words.

Then, Kassidy slowly nodded. "We're all special in a way… What would I do without you guys?"

Marina then hugged Kassidy. "Who knows, but I'm actually glad that I met you, Kass."

"I think we can all agree on that one," Holden said.

"Yeah, definitely," Shade said.

The boys then hugged the girls and they were all then in a group hug. They were in a difficult moment but together they were stronger. With all of them together they weren't broken. They were a team and as a team, they had to work together and keep things situated in their group. It didn't matter if they would one day be heroes or not. What mattered was getting to the colony to warn them and surviving all of these hard obstacles. Together they would help each other and they wouldn't let anything stop them, not the weather, not the owls, not even the giant bats could stop them.

Then, the four friends started to hear slow clapping and they looked up to see Martin sardonically smiling at them as he was slowly clapping. They weren't sure how long they were in the group hug for but they saw that Martin and the other three giant bats had returned and they were looking at them as well as Martin was. They all brought back carcasses to feast on to fill their stomachs up. Of course, Martin had to ruin the moment with these four friends.

"Such a touching moment," Martin commented with sarcasm. "Never seen anything cuter in my life."

The three Silverwings then heard their Brightwing friend gasp at something and they looked to her to see she was staring at something horrifying. They looked to where Marina was looking at and when they did their eyes widened and the boys gasped when they saw one of the carcasses. It was just a scary but sad thing they were seeing.

The carcass they were seeing was of a bat but not just any a bat: a Brightwing.

When Martin saw what the four friends were looking at he then chuckled darkly. "Sorry but I just couldn't resist." He then looked at Marina. "I hope you don't mind me eating a bat of your kind. I was just in the mood for Brightwings and let's just hope it wasn't an old friend of yours that I killed." He then chuckled more and then began to eat his meal.

Marina covered her mouth as Martin was eating the Brightwing and it looked like she was going to be sick and the same thing could be said for Shade and Holden as blood was spewing everywhere and shreds of flesh was being ripped out by that maniac. The same thing was happening for the other carcasses the other giant bats caught and the three giant bats looked very much so hungry like Martin was. It was a gruesome sighting to see for sure like they were performing a dangerous kind of surgery, but the only thing was they weren't saving these lifeless creatures. If these guys hadn't done it enough already they kept on rubbing salt into the wounds.

A churning feeling could be felt in the purple Silverwing's stomach and to be sure that he actually wouldn't spill out any fluids he looked away and tried to look at anything else. It was so hard to do that as he could smell the iron filling his nostrils and it felt like his sense of smell would be destroyed at any second the more he stayed in here. Holden tried to cover his nose the best he could while he tried to look at anything else. Holden was okay with the blood but when there was too much of it, it made him want to throw up. What happened a few days ago even proved that.

As Holden was trying to look at anything but the carcasses he then noticed the redhead Silverwing. Kassidy didn't look disgusted by what she was seeing; in fact, she looked mesmerized by the dead bodies being eaten up by the giant bats. Her blue eyes were focused only on the dead bodies and nothing else. Her face was neutral and Holden couldn't understand why Kassidy was staring at those bodies like that and it was hard to tell what she was thinking about. She was still confusing to Holden at some points.

"Orphan," Martin said casually, "Get over here." Holden looked up and when he did he saw Martin's muzzle covered in blood and his snake eyes were locked onto Kassidy.

Holden wasn't sure what Martin was planning next for Kassidy but he didn't want to know. He looked away from Martin and looked at Kassidy. She hadn't said a word to Martin or even went over to him. She however furrowed her brow at him but she didn't look very angry but a little.

Martin too furrowed his brow when Kassidy didn't obey him. "Now…" He said dangerously.

Without saying a word, Kassidy then sighed and slowly stood up, and as she did she hissed a little at the wounds she had on her but none other less she started to walk slowly towards Martin as she held her wounded arm. Holden was about to get up and help her and as if Kassidy had an eye in the back of her head she held her hand up towards him to stop him and continued to walk towards Martin slowly. When she got close enough to Martin she looked up at him, staring straight into his eyes.

Crossing his arms, Martin then slowly nodded. "I think I'll allow you to eat one bite of food."

The four friends got confused because they all knew that Martin clearly said that Kassidy wasn't allowed to eat anything. He was now generous as to let Kassidy eat one bite of food? What suddenly changed his mind? Did he all of the sudden have a change of heart? Holden didn't want to believe this and he could tell that his friends didn't want to believe this as well.

"Amigo, didn't you say that she couldn't eat?" Goth said with slight confusion in his voice.

The brothers were looking at Martin confused as well as the four friends were. Of course, Dianna didn't look confused, as if she could read Martin's thoughts or she and Martin had the same mind. Dianna then smirked at her husband without saying a word.

"You didn't let me finish," Martin said. "I said she can eat one bite of food. I didn't say what though." Martin then smirked at Kassidy. "You will have one bite of flesh from this Brightwing." The four friends' eyes widened and Holden, Shade, and Marina gasped. Martin then pushed the Brightwing body towards Kassidy using his foot as he continued to smirk at her. "Take a bite, orphan."

"She's had enough," Shade said. "This has gone-" Martin narrowed his eyes at Shade and when he did, Shade closed his mouth and didn't say anything else.

Martin then looked back at Kassidy. "We're waiting, orphan."

Kassidy didn't move to take a bite from the Brightwing but she did look from the dead Brightwing to Martin a few times. She looked hesitant as her eyes were widened. Who could blame her? A bat was making her take a bite from a carcass that was a bat and she wasn't even a carnivore bat. She was an insectivore bat. Martin really was trying to make Kassidy's life miserable.

When Kassidy didn't move to take a bite from the dead Brightwing, Martin looked more annoyed now. "Well, since you won't take a bite, I'm afraid a life of one of your friends has to be taken." He then looked at Goth and Throbb. "You two, get the Brightwing and Chatty Bat."

Before any of the friends could do anything, Goth and Throbb immediately went to grab Marina and Holden and the two screamed when they were grabbed by the brothers. "NO!" Kassidy and Shade yelled.

They were about to go help their friends but Dianna grabbed Shade all the sudden by wrapping her arm around Shade's neck and giving him a headlock and Shade choked surprised and tried to scratch at Dianna's arm to let go of his neck. Dianna's hold on Shade was very tight and Shade was having a hard time breathing. Shade couldn't get Dianna to let go of him.

While Shade was stuck in Dianna's wrapped arm, Kassidy tried to get to Holden and Marina but Martin grabbed Kassidy's arm and when he did he dug one of his claws into one of the wounds on her arm and when he did, Kassidy growled in pain. Martin then threw Kassidy to the ground and after her did he back-slapped her to the face. After he did, Kassidy spat out blood onto the ground and blood began to drip down from her mouth. It seemed like Martin loved to make Kassidy gain more wounds.

Holden and Marina were freaking out as Goth and Throbb brought them near them and held them tightly. Goth had Marina while Throbb had Holden. Kassidy and Shade were staring at their friends horrified and it was clear that they didn't want one of their friends' lives taken or any for that matter. They were too young to die after all.

"Now then," Martin said and when he did, Kassidy immediately looked up at him and he was staring at her. "Since a life has to be taken from one of your friends I'll let you choose who gets to die." He then pointed at Holden and Marina with his thumb over his shoulder. "So, who do you choose to die, the boy or the girl?"

Kassidy gasped but she didn't choose. Holden couldn't believe that Martin was making Kassidy choose who dies. What a bastard! He didn't want any of them to die and Martin was taking this too far. Why was he doing this? Whatever the case was his heart was pure black like coal.

"The boy or the girl?" Martin said once again. Kassidy still hadn't said anything and when she didn't, Holden could see that Martin was having enough of this at this point. "Did you hear me?! I said either the boy or the girl?!"

"Kill me!" Holden all the sudden shouted out of nowhere.

This took everyone by surprise when Holden shouted like that and this certainly surprised Holden himself. However, Holden was willing to risk his life at this moment because he didn't want Kassidy to choose or for that matter, let any of his friends die, especially not Marina. If today would be the day he died then Holden would accept that. It wasn't like he had much to live for anyway right?

Martin blinked his eyes a few times but then he shrugged his shoulders. "Alright, the boy it is."

"Wait, stop," Kassidy shouted before Throbb could even try to eat Holden. She then sighed and looked at Martin with her ears lowered against her head. "I'll do it… I'll eat a bite of Brightwing flesh…"

Martin looked at Kassidy and when he did he then sneered. "Well, go on then. Do it."

The three friends watched as Kassidy looked at them and then looked away with her eyes closed. She then started to slowly get on her knees and when she did she stared at the poor bat that had its life taken from Martin. It was sad that this poor bat had to get killed by that monster but the Brightwing would hopefully be in a better place. Holden prayed to God that the Brightwing would be in a better place, even if he never knew the Brightwing very well.

After a minute passed Kassidy then closed her eyes and she brought her head closer to the body and then… her teeth pulled out a big piece of flesh. Holden was transfixed on the sighting as were Shade and Marina. What Holden would give to help Kassidy out at this moment but with the situation, he was in he couldn't do so.

They watched as Kassidy was eating the flesh and as they were… Holden noticed something in Kassidy's eyes. They weren't in disgust but rather in confusion as she continued to try and swallow the big chunk of flesh down. What was she thinking about?

After a long painful minute of watching Kassidy eating a big chunk of flesh, Kassidy then swallowed it down and coughed while holding her throat. It was no surprise really as insectivore bats were not meant to eat meat. A little blood was dripping down from her chin and noticing it, Kassidy then rubbed it off her face with her arm. Kassidy still looked confused but worried about something but even though she was she managed to look at Martin as if to tell him that she was done.

Martin hummed to himself then crossed his arms. "Good enough, orphan," He then looked at three giant bats. "Release them."

Without wasting a moment, the three giant bats threw the two Silverwing boys and the Brightwing girl to the ground and when they did the three friends crashed to the ground. Kassidy got up quickly and went over to them as fast as she could, even with the injuries she had on her. When she got to them she stayed by them while looking at the four giant bats with her brow furrowed. She may not be speaking angrily towards them but if looks could kill she might've killed these giant bats by now… maybe.

"Looks like the sun's coming out," Dianna said while looking towards the horizon from the cave they were in. "Sleeping would be the best option at the moment."

Holden looked outside and when he did he saw that it was getting lighter out there. The sky was turning pink, purple, and yellow, and even though they couldn't see the sun from where they were they all definitely needed to get some sleep, even when the four friends were stuck with these four cannibalistic bats. They would all have to sleep in the same cave.

Martin looked at the four friends. "Get to sleep. Oh, and if any of you plan on trying to escape don't bother because you won't be escaping because of what I did to the entrance." He then pointed to the cave entrance to prove his point.

There was one thing that the four friends could tell at this moment: they wouldn't be escaping today. They needed a better way of escaping, but how exactly?

It was the middle of the day in the cave and everyone was sound asleep. They still needed to sleep as they had plenty of time before they could go back out into the open. However, one of them then woke up suddenly.

Goth woke up and he wasn't sure why but he woke up for some apparent reason. Nothing had woken him but he still had the urge to wake up. Was he tired? Yes. Why was he awake? He just was.

He rubbed his temples and cursed in Spanish under his breath and was about to go back to sleep but then his eyes laid on a certain bat that was asleep still like all the others in the cave. She looked terrible, no doubt about it but she still looked very strong and beautiful. She was also a bitch that was Martin's main target for some reason. Goth still didn't know why Martin wanted her but if he even tried to demand Martin to tell him why he needed Kassidy, Martin could easily call off the deal and he and Throbb needed to get back home.

As Goth was staring at Kassidy he noticed something strange happening to her. He thought he was seeing things and to make sure his eyes weren't playing with him he quietly crawled on the ceiling towards Kassidy without waking anybody up. When he got to her he managed to get a better look at her and when he did his green eyes widened when he saw the next thing occur.

The wounds on Kassidy started to close up very slowly on their own as if by some strange magic and the stained and dry blood on her started to disappear. All the injuries she got from Martin were starting to close up or disappear as if they were never there in the first place and this was very unnatural for anyone to do. Was the witch doing this? No. That was impossible and if she even tried to do that the snake on her would start to make her go through excruciating pain. Was Martin doing this?

Goth looked to where Martin was sleeping with his wife at and when he did he saw that they weren't there. Everywhere he looked in the cave he didn't see them anywhere. This was certainly confusing Goth as he knew that they shouldn't be outside when the sun was out and yet, Martin and Dianna weren't even in here. So where were they? Goth wasn't sure but those two were strange for sure.

Before he could even think about where the mates were, he then saw that the witch looked back to normal. No injuries were on her, no wounds, not even a hint of blood was seen on her. She looked… healed. How?

Then, Goth thought he heard something. At first, he thought it was the wind but he tilted his ears forward and he heard what sounded like a faint whisper. It sounded like many voices were whispering and he tried to hear what they were saying and as he did he could hear the whisperings repeat two words over and over again and they were chilling, chilling enough to even make Goth's blood go cold. It was like they were being watched by someone. He looked around the cave but he saw no one in here and the others were still asleep and Martin and Dianna were still nowhere in sight. He could still hear the faint whisperings though and it was like they were trying to say a spell of some sort.

They were saying, "Welcome back."

Welcome back? Goth thought. Am I losing my mind? Welcome back who?

As he was trying to figure out what the hell was going on he started to notice something on the back of Kassidy's neck. Her bloody red hair was over one of her shoulders so it was easy enough to tell for the Prince that something weird was happening on the back of her neck. It was faint at first but then it was slowly starting to reveal itself and on Kassidy's left side of the neck revealed a jaguar, then in the middle of Kassidy's neck it slowly started to reveal a feathered serpent, and finally, on the right side of the witch's neck, there were unblinking eyes without pupils.

Goth shook his head with his eyes closed and when he reopened them those same drawings on the back of Kassidy's neck were still there. He was trying to figure out what was going on as this was not normal. Some strange magic occurred for sure and he couldn't for the life of him figure out what had done this, or who had done this. However, Goth was certain he had seen these three symbols from his homeland that was now on the back of Kassidy's neck and he wasn't sure what they meant but if there was anyone that knew what symbols like these meant it was the high priest, Voxzaco and unfortunately he was not here to tell what these symbols meant.

Then, Goth noticed something on the wall of the cave. It was big… bigger than Goth for that matter as it was huge. It was a bat-like shadow and the more Goth looked at it his eyes widened and he couldn't find it in himself to move. He wasn't sure if it was actually him or not but from the looks of the shadow, he was seeing he was pretty certain that it was him.

Without realizing it, Goth whispered two words under his breath towards the shadow that was on the wall before him.

A/N- After a long time I'm back with chapter 39. I was planning on making this longer but I didn't have the energy to do so but I'm hoping to make the next chapter longer. Hope you enjoyed this chapter and see you all later.