Chapter 46

Mountains of the Beyond

He could feel as his friend was shaking against him, but he never let go of her. What she did to Martin was not the Kassidy he knew, but when they found out what actually happened to the gothic Silverwing's parents, he had the feeling that was her breaking point. The purple Silverwing could tell how much his friend regretted what she did, and if he was being honest, he was afraid that she was going to kill her half-uncle, but if he didn't stop her in time, she likely would've. The blood on her body was practically soaking against his, but he did not care at that moment as his friend needed any comfort she could get.

Holden felt Kassidy's pain all too much, and he knew what it felt like to lose family members. Not only did he lose a Mother because of her drinking problems, but he also lost two amazing grandparents to death. Whenever his parents got into very heated arguments, he and his little brother often went to their Grandparents. His Grandparents were the best, and they always knew how to somehow cheer them up, like taking them to the zoo, aquarium, ice-skating, fishing, and much more. Unfortunately, however, his Grandparents didn't live too long with his Grandfather passing away, and then another year later, his Grandmother passed away. It devastated him and his brother when their Grandparents passed away, and things didn't get any better, especially when his parents divorced and his Father got full custody of him and Lewis. Holden hated what his Mother did to them, and since the divorce happened, he never saw her again, and he was delighted he would never be able to because one day she decided to no longer be there for him and his brother, and rathered went out to party.

Even though Holden hated his Mother, he also hated his Father. With his Father being a dentist, he didn't have the time to be with him and his brother, and when they were little, his Dad hired a babysitter to look out for them until they were old enough to be without one. As Holden grew older, he turned into a severe troublemaker, and that result always led to him and his Father arguing. They could barely agree on anything, and they barely had anything in common. On the other hand, his brother and Dad hardly argued, and they had a lot in common, which honestly made him resentful towards them as they always seemed to have a good time together no matter what. Since then, he always did what he could to escape that all. Like getting into trouble, hanging out with his friends, and going out to parties; anything really to avoid going home most of the time. However, ever since Kassidy came along, he suddenly wanted to change his habits for some reason… and as he stared at her, he just didn't seem to want to let go of her. For as long as he could hold her against him, he wouldn't mind at all.

Suddenly, Holden heard growling, and when he did, he looked up, and his brown eyes suddenly widened. Martin was snarling at them in so much anger and hatred, and as he was, he was slowly standing up as green fire slowly began to erupt on him. It was unbelievable that this guy was still functioning, even after Kassidy practically beat the living crap out of him. As the red-winged bat was staring at them, the purple Silverwing knew that if they didn't get out of the hut, that murderer was likely going to have their heads big time… and he could only imagine what all that monster would do to his friend if he got his hands on her.

Holden looked down at Kassidy, and as he did, he saw that she noticed Martin staring at them. She still looked guilty, but at the same time, he could still see the hate in her eyes towards the Vampyrum… They couldn't stay any longer. "Kass, we gotta get out." Martin formed a green fireball in his hand, and as he did, he was about to fling it towards them. "Now!"

Right as Martin threw the green fireball at them, the two friends jumped out of the way to avoid it, and when they did, the fire was speeding towards some broken beer bottles and some spilled alcohol on the floor. Then, suddenly, the fire landed in all that, and when it did, a vast looking green fire erupted, and it started to spread in the hut. The Silverwings' eyes widened, but they quickly got out of the shed as fast as they could before the fire could even touch them, and they made their way out through the door. When they got outside, they sped to where their friends and the banded bats were in the woods, not daring to look back at all.

One moment they were slaying bats with silver bands, but the next thing they knew, they witnessed the witch doing what she did. They were indeed not expecting her to beat up their partner brutally, and she was that close to killing him. What also took them by surprise was that Martin and his mate were the reason for the female Silverwing's parents dying. Not only that, they kidnapped her family? This whole thing was starting to boggle the Prince's mind. If they kidnapped her parents, where did they hide them? And when did they kill the gothic bat's parents?

However, before either of the two could even do anything, Martin went to try and burn the witch and her friend with a green fireball, but when he missed, they were shocked when a fire started to set loose. Green and yellow flames began to devour anything in its path, and as it did, the hut began to fill with smoke. Goth and Throbb coughed rapidly as their eyes were now starting to sting. The Prince tried to see where their partners were, but with how much smoke and unnatural flames were filling the place up, he could barely see a thing. He tried to use his echolocation, but that didn't bring back anything, and it only made his coughing worse. Finally, however, he growled, frustrated as he wouldn't let some smoke and fire take him down quickly. Weak was not his middle name after all.

"To Hell with this!" Goth shouted as he then looked at Throbb. "Let's get out of here!"

With that, the two Vampyrums made their way through where the witch came in. When they got outside, they inhaled as much of the fresh air as they could as they flew to safety in one of the trees. When they were far enough away, they gripped their feet around a tree branch and swung themselves upside down. From where they were, they could see the human place being demolished little by little… But there were no signs of their partners. So did they perish in there? The Prince couldn't tell at all, even when he used a web sound towards the human place that was now starting to disintegrate.

"Goth, you think they're…" Throbb tried to speak, but he didn't finish his sentence as suddenly they were greeted by their companions landing near them, and the brothers-in-law jumped, surprised.

When the Prince looked over his partners, his eyes widened when he saw how Martin looked. He didn't look beat up as he did a couple of minutes ago, and he no longer had blood on him… How did that red-winged bat do that? Was he even mortal?

As the two family members stared at their partners, Goth noted their reactions. They looked furious, but not as angry as Martin was as they stared at the human place. The magic user's hands were clenched so much into fists that the Prince could've sworn that blood was dripping out of them. After what the witch did to him, the purple-winged bat could see why the red-winged bat looked so furious, more furious than ever, in fact. His fur bristled, and his eyes had a very murderous look to them…

"Should've killed me when you had the chance, you little wretch," Martin said satirically with pure hatred.

Martin then suddenly took off, and his mate followed after him, and as they were flying, Goth literally could hear the red-winged bat cursing at the witch so much, even as he was talking to himself. The Prince and his brother-in-law followed after the two, and as they did, the purple-winged bat furrowed his brow in confusion and anger towards them. None of this was making any sense to him, and he had the strongest feeling that those two were hiding something. After all, why else could they have possibly wanted the witch? It was evident that those two must've had some sort of bad blood with Kassidy's family. He wanted answers from those two as he was now getting sick and tired of all of this.

The Prince then looked at Throbb. "I don't know what's going on, but I'm going to find out."

He then looked back ahead of him, and as he did, he thought about what the witch did a while ago. What she did was undoubtedly very violent, and he had never seen her act that way before. And those eyes… they turned red while she was attacking Martin and the more Goth thought about it, the more it gave him another thought. In a way, it did make sense, but maybe he was just thinking ahead of himself. However, it was the only thing that came to mind that seemed logical at this point.

Perhaps, Goth thought, Zotz is alive in her.

If Zotz did have something to do with the witch reacting the way she did, maybe this was a sign. Goth wasn't sure what, but there was just something about her he couldn't ignore. Sure, he felt confident that he knew for sure that Kassidy was a half Silverwing and Vampyrum, and that did disgust him, but deep down, he felt like there was something more to her… something much bigger. Something special perhaps that any Vampyrum would love to have.

The whole time they were flying far away from the hut, neither uttered a word to each other. Holden wanted to say something to Kassidy, but he didn't know what. The red-haired Silverwing hadn't even looked at him, and she still looked horrified by what she did. All the purple Silverwing wanted to do hug her, but it didn't seem like a good time. All they could do was find their friends and the banded bats that managed to escape with them.

It managed to stop snowing completely, so it gave them a good chance of finding where the others were. Unfortunately, Kassidy seemed too lost in her thoughts to even search, so Holden decided to sweep the area with his echo vision and didn't even bother to tell the gothic Silverwing to help him. Besides, he couldn't force her to help him, and after what happened back there, he decided she needed to be left alone in her thoughts. Even though the purple Silverwing wanted to talk to his friend, she seemed not to want to speak at the moment.

After some searching, Holden managed to pick up on something at a mountain they were nearing. When he used his sound vision towards it, it brought him back a few bats with silver bands. He was sure that their friends and the banded bats were there. Without wasting a moment, the human turned bat flew towards the mountain, and Kassidy quietly followed behind him, and the amount of cold air that the male Silverwing breathed in made him wake up more.

When they neared the mountain, it didn't take long for his brown eyes to spot Shade and Marina with Betty, Triss, and Sebastion, and when he saw them, he immediately bolted towards them. However, he noticed that Kassidy looked hesitant to approach any of them, which made him stop in midair. Holden was starting to get more concerned about his witch friend, and if anything, he couldn't hold back from speaking to her. "Kass-" However, before he could say anything else, the gothic Silverwing swooped down under him and flew towards a nearby cave at the mountain, and as she did, she didn't even bother to look back at the purple Silverwing. "Kass!"

The female Silverwing once more didn't respond, and she slipped right into the cave, and directly as she did, Shade and Marina flew over to Holden, looking relieved but concerned at the same time. "Holden, you're okay," Shade said. "What happened? Is Kass alright?"

At first, Holden wasn't sure what to say to his friends, but at the same time, he needed to talk with Kassidy. She was clearly stressed out, and finding out what actually happened to her parents, who took her family, and what she almost did to Martin was something no one should have to go through. Especially not a teenager.

Holden's ears flattened against his head, and as they did, the small Silverwing and banded Brightwing started to get more concerned. "Something happened back there, didn't it?" Marina said.

The purple Silverwing looked at his friends, and as he did, he sighed. "You guys might wanna perch on something for this…"

She felt so alone…

Everything was practically spinning in her head, and the red-haired Silverwing wasn't sure what to do anymore. Kassidy felt like she couldn't do anything right, and now here she was with her half-uncle's blood covering her blue fur and her blue leathery wings. The cave the witch concealed herself in was void, with only the stalagmites keeping her company as tiny drops of water dripped from them as slow as molasses. The gothic Silverwing didn't want to come out at all, and if anything, she might as well end up like Gollum from J.R.R Tolkein's books. She just couldn't bring herself to face her other friends, and the blue Silverwing was sure they would look at her differently once they found out what happened at the hut.

Kassidy felt so trapped, and all she wanted more than anything was her family back. She missed them all too much, and it made her feel more hopeless the more that they were still missing. The witch turned bat wished more than anything to have closure and reunite with her loved ones. But, how could Martin do this? Why did he do this? It made her want to scream at the top of her lungs as she despised what he did, but even that alone wouldn't bring back her family.

She clutched at the pendant hanging from the silver chain as she thought about her family. She felt this necklace was a piece from her parents she was keeping, and every time Kassidy had it, it reminded her that they were somehow with her. Losing her parents was the worst day of her life, and what she would give to see them again… She wished that they were there with her, telling her that everything would be alright, but those comforting voices she was all too familiar with were lost in the shadows. However, she closed her eyes and imagined their arms wrapping around her, giving her the longest hug imaginable with unconditional love.

Suddenly, she felt a single tear roll down her cheek when she finally had it in her to open her ocean blue eyes, but she forced herself not to cry as that wouldn't help anything. No power on earth could bring them back… and the gothic Silverwing felt like she disappointed them as she stared at her raw hands. It made her remember what Frieda said: You must rule your anger and not let your anger rule you. Only foolish deeds will come of that. As she remembered what the wise elder said, the female Silverwing clutched her hair as she once more closed her eyes with so much stress.

What was she supposed to do?

The more she thought about it, the more she felt like it might've been best that she didn't continue to find the colony with her friends. She felt like she only brought too much trouble to them. But how could she leave them just like that? So maybe not now she would leave, but perhaps as soon as they got to Hibernaculum safely, she would go to find her family. She couldn't tell them that though… the last thing she wanted was for anyone else to get hurt. So Kassidy had to find her family alone. However, the only problem was that she wasn't sure where she could seek them now. She was sure the hut had the answers she needed, but it was too late now to go back and search since Martin set the place aflame.

However, the more she thought about it, she suddenly thought of something… Perhaps she could try and contact her uncle through her mind. It was a complex spell to do, but she felt like it was her only option to save her family. Plus, she could also look through his mind to try and see where he, her Aunt, and cousins were. It was a long shot, but she had to try something at least. Kassidy only hoped that they weren't… she couldn't even find it in herself to think of that one word.

Without a moment to lose, the blue Silverwing closed her ocean blue eyes, and as she did, she concentrated on forming a clear picture of her Uncle in her mind with his obsidian black hair, his blue eyes, his physique structure, etc. She hoped that this would work, and of course, she wasn't experienced with magic, but trying was better than giving up. Her Uncle didn't know a lot of magic, but she hoped that her Uncle would respond to her if she managed to get the spell all down. Time was of the essence, after all.

She imagined sending her message through her Uncle's mind like a text message on a phone, and as she did, she started to say in her mind what she wanted to say. Uncle Matt? Kassidy said in her mind. It's me, Kass. I'm trying to find you, Aunt Jen, and the girls. Do you know where you are? Please, try and get back to me as soon as you can. I can't lose you guys… Please… give me a sign at least that you're alright.

Kassidy did a few more times for safety precautions, and after she did, she waited… but there was nothing. Finally, she started to fear the worst. Did she do the spell wrong? Was her Uncle trying to get back to her? Were they possibly… She shook her head, and the more she thought about it, the more she slowly started to breathe heavily, almost as if the cave might've been closing in on her. The red-haired Silverwing pleaded in her head to anyone that might hear her for her family to be safe.

She couldn't lose them too…

"Kass?" The gothic Silverwing perked her head up, and when she did, she saw her three friends looking at her worried, and almost immediately, she tried to hide the blood on her from them. She didn't want to scare them as the Vampyrums have done. "Holden told us what happened…" The banded Brightwing said softly.

Kassidy couldn't find it in herself to speak… She felt that Shade and Marina were shocked by what she did. She waited for them to yell at her and possibly even judge her… but they never once did. But why? After what she did, why weren't they doing that?

As if reading her mind, Shade then spoke. "Kass, we're not mad… we're worried about you."

The female Silverwing looked away from them, and as she did, she closed her eyes. "Why are you worried about me? After what I did… and yet you guys still care about me? Why don't you hate me? Why do you still accept me? Wouldn't you rather that I no longer tagged along? I feel like I've only made things worse…"

Kassidy then covered herself up in her wings, and as she did, her ears flattened against her head. However, the gothic Silverwing suddenly felt someone wrap their arms around her, and as they did, she felt the same firm arms from earlier. Her ocean-blue eyes were met with Holden's wondrous brown eyes when she looked up. As the female Silverwing stared into them, she felt frozen on the spot and never looked away once. Her eyes stayed transfixed on the purple bat's, and as they were, the witch felt her heart skip a beat.

These emotions she was feeling… They were confusing her the more she gazed at Holden… She wasn't sure what he was thinking, but she felt… safe in his embrace, like he wrapped a blanket around her. His warm breath made her feel relaxed, and it was like harmony to her eardrums. All those thoughts she was feeling steadily rode away, and as they did, she couldn't find it in herself to breathe. Kassidy slowly looked down the purple Silverwing, but she suddenly found her blue eyes stopping at his lips… So perfect they looked… So soft they looked… So…

The gothic Silverwing suddenly closed her eyes, and as she did, she shook her head. What the hell was that? Whatever it was, Kassidy told herself not to do that again in her head. She had other things to worry about anyway.

"Kass, it's not your fault," Holden reassured her. "We understand how you feel. We're about as shocked as you that Martin's your half-uncle and what he did… Don't feel like we suddenly think of you as a monster. You're a great friend, and we wanna help you, and we'll help you any way we can."

After what Holden said, Kass could only shake her head. "I don't want to put you guys through that… Besides we have to find the colony, we have the giant bats to deal with-"

"Kass, we want to help you," Shade said. "As soon as we manage to find the colony, we'll help you find your family. You've done so much for us, and I think it would only be fair that we help you find your family. No matter how long it takes, we'll search above and beyond just to find them."

Marina nodded in agreement. "Not only that, you can tell us anything. We just want to make sure you're alright, and we really are worried about you." She knelt beside Kassidy and placed her hand on the female Silverwing's shoulder. "We don't want you to feel like we've lost our trust in you. If there's anyone to blame, it's Martin, as he's the reason for putting you through all this stress and anger. And I hope by Nocturna that you no longer have to go through all that."

Shade then got next to the banded Brightwing. "Yeah, and if anything, I hope that not only we find the colony, I hope your family will be found."

The more her friends spoke, the more Kassidy could see they really meant what they said. The gothic Silverwing didn't know what she did to deserve awesome friends like them, but they were willing to stick by her even after what happened at the hut. However, at the same time, she felt like she didn't deserve their kind words. It felt like they were just forcing them out just to make her feel better. Even though that was, she couldn't have had asked for better friends… the fact that they even said she could tell them anything made her feel worse about herself.

Not only couldn't she tell them that she had to find her family on her own, but they still didn't know that she had eaten a rabbit. The more the gothic Silverwing kept bottling it up, the more she felt like an awful friend. The witch turned bat didn't want them to get hurt, and she didn't want them to turn against her… But, on the other hand, Kassidy felt like the more she stayed with them, the more she was only risking their lives more. The red-haired Silverwing wished she could tell them, but she just wasn't sure how for she feared that she would lose some of the best friends she's ever had.

Without them worrying about her, she forced a weak smile on her face. "I… appreciate it, guys." She did not want to talk about it any further, though, so she decided to change the subject. "We should… probably focus on finding the next destination." As she said that she started to get up out of Holden's embrace. "While we're at it, I think I'd like to clean this blood off."

The blonde Silverwing nodded. "Sounds good to me. Oh, and while you were here, we spoke with Penelope, Jade, and Sekani. We tried to see if they've ever flown through wolf ears, but they, unfortunately, said they never have."

"So I guess we're still stuck at square one," Kassidy said quietly to herself since she knew Shade and Marina wouldn't get what she said. But she then got curious about something. "Penelope, Jade, and Sekani decided to no longer use their new names?"

"Yeah, and they said they never even liked their new names, to begin with," Holden said as he stood up. "They're on their way now to find Ursa with the rest of the other banded bats so she can help them out. Penelope, Jade, and Sekani wished though they could've said goodbye to you in person, though we reassured them that we would pass on the message to you."

As Kassidy looked at her friends, she realized that Lightning wasn't with them, which got her concerned. "Where's Lightning?"

"We don't know, but I'm sure he's fine. He seems to be able to handle himself anyways."

"Yeah, and I'm sure he'll be able to find us," Marina said. "I say we continue finding this 'wolf ears'. Even if what Shade said sounds pretty ridiculous."

"Hey, I'm trying here, alright?" Shade said, a little annoyed. "Besides, it's not my fault that the locations look different from what I'm used to."

The banded Brightwing then sighed happily as a smile spread across her face. "So glad I didn't stay with the banded bats."

When Marina said that, Shade tilted his head a little confused. "Really? You mean that?"

Their Brightwing friend nodded. "As much as I wanted to believe what Scirocco said about the band, things really wouldn't have been the same without you guys. And besides, the only reason why Scirocco even liked me, Kass, and Holden was because of my band and because they're humans." She then started to scowl as she looked down. "I just wish I could've caught onto that sooner… The way he spoke about it really made me believe there was something special about my band. I didn't even do anything to earn it. I mean, why'd I get a band and not someone else? Not even you guys?"

"Exactly." Shade then used his thumb to point at himself. "I should have one of those things too."

"Well, I don't know about that," the Brightwing then smiled mischievously as she looked back at Shade. "I mean, you're not quite as fabulous as me, are you?"

The blonde Silverwing laughed, and as he did, Kassidy and Holden smiled amused. "No, I'm sure not," he said gratefully.

"I don't think I would've been able to live with a piece of metal on my forearm," Holden said honestly. "If anything, I'm relieved to not have a band on me." He then pointed at the Brightwing's band. "Plus, a human having that kind of band on would've looked ridiculous." The purple Silverwing then laughed it off.

"Either way, I would say that an object like a band doesn't need to define someone to be special," Kassidy said as she crossed her arms. "If anything, it's like Zephyr said: You are special, but that has nothing to do with any bands. Scirocco mainly tried to manipulate many banded bats into believing they're special because they're banded. He didn't care about them. All he seemed to care about was himself." She then sighed. "It's amazing how egotistical many can be." The red-haired Silverwing then smiled weakly at Marina. "I'm just glad we still got you in our group. It really wouldn't have felt the same without you."

At that, the pale blonde Brightwing laughed. "You kidding? Of course, it wouldn't have. You guys are the only bats that have liked me because of who I am. You didn't care one way or another about the band. That makes you guys the best friends I've ever had." Her smile then started to look mischievous. "Besides Kass, you at least need another bat to knock some sense into these two."

"Hey!" The Silverwing males said simultaneously.

The girls then started to laugh, and as they did, the boys slowly began to do the same thing. Kassidy was indeed still having her thoughts about her hidden secrets, her anger towards Martin, and her concern for her family, but at that moment, she decided to enjoy herself for now. It felt wrong, yes, but it was nice to feel relaxed at that moment, knowing she still had three of her best friends with her. They were still endangered, but they would be able to get through it together. They couldn't mess around, though, and the more they did, the less likely the witch had of finding her family, and no matter what it took, she would do all that she could to find them.

After Kassidy did the spell that wouldn't allow for anyone to see through their vision and she and Holden managed to clean the blood off of them, the four friends set on their way to try and find these wolf ears. It didn't take long for all of them to hear the howling of wolves. Each howl rang throughout the night for the four bats to hear, and as they did, the summit was practically nearing. Every wingbeat started to be more of an effort as the wind was now turning against them.

There had been no signs of Lightning so far, and Kassidy started to wonder where he was. She couldn't panic, though. She had to trust that the red-tailed hawk was alright and was now trying to find them. Besides, there was no way the giant bats managed to kill him, right?

"Must be a lair somewhere up here," Shade called out grimly, and after he did, Kassidy saw him start to pull up his sound map.

"Think the colony might be somewhere out here?" Holden asked.

"I don't think so," Kassidy called out. "If anything, I think they're way far ahead of us."

After some painful concentrating on his sound map, Shade opened his green eyes and looked back at the other three bats. "We'll just have to keep going."

As they were flying, the gothic Silverwing felt like they were being followed… She had the feeling in the back of her head that they weren't alone out here. Without a second thought, she looked over her shoulder and did a quick sonic sweep. Nothing. Maybe she was just overthinking this? However, the feeling of being followed never left her mind, and for safety precautions, she kept her eyes and ears wide open for anyone shady like the giant bats.

The more they flew out here, the more Kassidy started to feel fatigued, and she knew as hell that this weather was the reason for causing it. The wind violently whistled against her ears, and it almost felt like something a dog would hear if someone blew a dog whistle. Not only that, it felt like the wind was trying to tear off their hides as they were trying to power through it. The four friends were not enjoying it at all, and if they didn't make it over the summit, they would surely freeze to death with no ounce of food in their rumbling stomachs.

No matter how many times the witch tried to concentrate, she wanted to drift off into a pleasant slumber, but she tried to stay alert anyway she could. Her friends were having the same issue as her, but Shade was doing worse. Sleep was slowly about to cast its magic onto the blonde Silverwing, and once he closed his eyes completely… Kassidy knew this was not looking good, and before anyone knew it she quickly formed a little bit of water with one of her spells. When she commanded for a little bit of the water to splash directly into the small Silverwing's face, the water almost immediately did so. As soon as the water spattered at his face, the sky-blue Silverwing instantly popped open his green eyes and started to cough.

"Hey, wake up," Kassidy said. "No time for naps."

As soon as Shade stopped coughing, he seemed to have come back to his senses. He then looked at the gothic Silverwing, thankfully. "Thanks," he mumbled, righting himself from keeling over one side.

"Don't do that to us," Marina said, clearly shaken. "Stay awake. Talk to us, sing, I don't care, just don't doze off."

Shade shook his head to try and stay awake, and as he did, Holden started to get annoyed. "Christ's sake, wish we had some music to listen to while we try and fly in this weather."

It wasn't easy trying to stay awake, but with every breath they breathed in, the icy air burned their lungs, but it helped them from not dozing off. The sooner they got over the summit, the sooner they got out of this cursed fatigue. It wouldn't be easy, but they had to do this for the sake of their own lives.

Suddenly, they were skimming over a jagged peak, and then they all realized they were practically at the very top of the world. Stretching out on either side was a range of ice-clad mountains. It was unbelievable what they were seeing, and no matter how the wind howled, none of the ice-clad mountains bowed to it. They were like the Kings of this very land.

Howling of wolves then started to rise above the gale, and Kassidy saw not two, but dozens gathered before the entrance of a cave on one of the steep slopes. Oh, how she loved the way of the wolf. Of course, the gothic Silverwing was not a fan of Luger and his pack, but she still loved wolves dearly to her heart. The witch then wondered how Quacey was doing and she hoped he was doing alright, along with Ursa, and some of the other beasts.

"I'm not going down there!" Marina shouted.

"What else can we do?" Shade asked, irritated.

"Smalls, that's practically suicide!" Holden shouted.

"Well, my Mom sang me wolves! I don't know what else to tell you!"

"Wolf ears," Marina then said, and after she did, she started to burst out laughing. As she was laughing, the boys looked at her confused, but when Kassidy saw what their Brightwing friend was laughing about, she smiled amused.

"Okay, she's gone crazy," Holden said as Marina was now starting to babble and laugh at the same time. "She's finally cracked up with the cold and exhaustion."

"Wolf ears!" She shouted more insistently.

"Guys, look," Kassidy said seriously to where they were looking.

Confused, the boys looked to where the girls were looking, and when they did, they started to laugh when they finally understood what Marina found amusing. Off to one side were two mountains peaks thrusting into the sky, a deep valley carved out between them. It looked so much like a wolf, and Kassidy realized that this was the following location in the sound map Shade was trying to explain to them. Now that they found it, they could head towards it. The gothic Silverwing did hope that Lightning would be able to find them in the area they were in.

They had been trying to track down those four mangy bats for a while now, but to their sheer luck, they managed to find them bustling about, angling towards a valley between two icy peaks. The four giant bats made sure that neither of the four smaller bats noticed them as they were now aiming to capture them once more. Goth rode in the winds with the other three, and no sounds produced from their large wings. They were heavily silent, and surely they would not be noticed. When they struck, there would be no mistakes at all.

Martin still looked pretty pissed, and as Goth and Throbb were flying near him, they were practically walking on eggshells as anything would as well make the red-winged Vampyrum snap. They didn't speak a word at all to him, but the only one brave enough to talk with him was Dianna, and whenever she spoke to him, he would allow her to do so, only they whispered most of the time, leaving the brothers-in-law to wonder what the hell they were even discussing. Throbb was pounding along beside the purple-winged Vampyrum, and as he was, the blister on his wing was more revealing than ever, and it looked angrier than before as it was spreading on his wingtip. So, of course, it came to no surprise that his brother-in-law was starting to complain about it more (only it was in a whisper towards Goth) and that only made the Prince roll his eyes at how weak that oaf could be.

No matter, though, as they were this close to catching up to those four bats, and soon they would be one step closer to eating the Silverwing colony. First, however, Goth couldn't help but look at the trinket around Martin's neck. Why did he have that? Was it actually his? The Prince wasn't sure, but one thing for sure was that the magic-user and his wife were definitely hiding something.

As the four friends were nearing the mountain that looked like a wolf, the red-haired witch still had the strangest feeling they were being followed. She didn't say anything about that to her friends, though, but even though she didn't, she wasn't trusting her surroundings at all, and that brought her to a big question: whatever happened with Martin, Dianna, and the other two giant bats? She really wanted to know big-time… and she knew the only way to know for sure was to look through one of the giant bats' vision. Kassidy knew that was a complex spell, but it would continue to bug her throughout the journey if she didn't know sooner or later.

Slowly, she closed her blue eyes, and as she did, she concentrated on forming a clear picture in her mind of Martin with his mismatched eyes, blackish-gray hair, red wings, and gray fur. Then, when she felt like she had enough details of him, she began to focus primarily on his eyes, imagining seeing what he was seeing before him, almost like a third eye. Kassidy focussed the hardest she could, and as she did, she was scrunching her eyes so much while her teeth were baring very hard. It was always so hard trying to use a spell, and this spell was indeed tough to use. The witch tried clearing her thoughts while she did the spell, but nothing seemed to have worked… all she got was just blackness.

She tried a few times more, but nothing really would work, and whenever it didn't work, she cussed in her head. Why did this spell have to be so hard? If she could block out anyone from seeing through her vision and her friends' why couldn't she look through anyone else's vision? Kassidy was merely about to give up, but she suddenly thought of something… Did Martin perhaps use the spell to prevent anyone from seeing through his vision? After all, he did the red-haired Silverwing could very much believe that he was blocking out his vision. The gothic Silverwing then hummed to herself. If she couldn't see through her half-uncle's vision, then maybe…

Without a second thought, she closed her eyes once more, and this time instead of doing Martin's vision, she decided to do Goth's. It was clear she didn't have any good chances of seeing through that's snake's vision nor his wife's, so maybe if she did the Prince's, she might have better chances of seeing through his vision. She pictured the purple-winged Vampyrum with his fancy wings, his green eyes, his crimson red hair, and his beige fur, and she did the same thing she tried to do on the red-winged Vampyrum. Nothing was working, though, and she cursed once more in her head as it was now getting frustrating. Kassidy tried to take a few deep breaths, though, to calm down, and after she did, she had another go at it.

When it looked like the red-haired Silverwing was getting nowhere, she suddenly started to see something… It seemed like nothing at first, but slowly she was starting to see something form before her, slowly like a flower blooming, and before the witch knew it, she found herself looking through another set of eyes. Kassidy couldn't believe it… She did it! She finally was able to do one of the complex spells! However, before the gothic Silverwing could even feel happier about finally managing to do that spell, she suddenly stopped breathing… What she saw through Goth's vision was what she feared… She saw her and her friends, and the Vampyryums were right behind them.

Kassidy quickly got out of Goth's vision, and when she did, she looked at her friends with her eyes widened. "Guys, they're here!"

Marina whipped her around, shocked. "What?" The four friends looked behind them, and when they did, Holden, Shade, and Marina gasped when they saw the four giant bats. "No…"

They all then looked at each other, and after a few seconds of doing that, they slowly turned their attention towards the mountain… It was as if they all had the same thought. It was going to be risky, but what choice did they have?

"We can maybe lose them on the other side," Shade said.

"I'd trim your guys' wings if I were you," Marina said. "This is going to be rough."

"When is anything never rough?" Holden said sarcastically.

"Holden, just shut up and concentrate on getting past the wolf ears," Kassidy said.

Without another word, the four friends flew as fast as they could towards the wolf ears, and as they were, they adjusted their course, aiming for the narrow pass. Kassidy could feel how stiff her arms were getting, but she never once blinked her ocean blue eyes, and if she even did, she would miss passing through the narrow pass and end up crashing into the mountain, likely being splattered like a fly being hit by a flyswatter. She tried to erase that thought, though, and continued to flap her blue wings, never once hesitating.

They were nearing, and as they were, it felt like time suddenly slowed down for them. The four friends had to avoid rocks hurtling madly towards them, and veering out of their way was really tricky to do, especially as the wind was in their ears. They even had to use their echo vision at some points since it was hard to see where they were going, and a few times, they almost got hit by those jagged rocks. Kassidy suddenly held her breath, and as she did, she held in her stomach and furled her wings against her body the moment she got close enough to the narrow pass. She felt her blue fur graze against a little of the snow on the mountain as banking to the left really wasn't doing her justice, but with enough strength, she managed to fly through the narrow pass in time. The witch managed to breathe out finally, and as she did, she felt relieved to have made it through in one piece. Holden and Marina managed to pass through in time too. However, Shade was still lagging.

Kassidy, Holden, and Marina's eyes widened when they saw that their friend was about to be crushed by one of the incoming rocks. "Holy shit," Holden shouted. "Smalls, look out!"

When the blonde Silverwing saw the rock coming at him, he gasped and veered sharply to the left just in time. Before anyone knew it, Shade was able to pass through the narrow pass in time. Kassidy, Holden, and Marina breathed in relief, and as they did, they quickly got to their friend. They almost lost him, and that certainly would've crushed Ariel if she really did lose him for good, like she lost Cassiel.

"You are so lucky!" Marina shouted above the wind.

They all then found themselves passing through the wolf ears, and when they did, the mountain face dropped away down towards a pit of darkness. Kassidy released a vision sound, but nothing came back to her when she did. So what could be down there?

Holden cursed as they all stared at the blackness before them. "This looks too dangerous!"

"It's the only way to go," Kassidy said. "We really don't have a choice right now!"

Suddenly, something started to zoom towards them, and when they saw a frenzy of green electricity about to plunge into one of them, they yelped and dropped down out of its way. Their eyes widened when they saw the four giant bats riding the wind through the wolf ears, and they were gaining on them, and they were bound to overtake them in a few minutes. What also worsened was that Martin had green electricity formed in his strong hands, and he seemed more pissed than ever…

Kassidy looked at her friends. "Go, go down!"

Without a second thought, the four friends plunged and allowed the darkness to swallow them. They waited to slow down, and when they did, they started to nosedive down, down, down suddenly. The four friends were going faster than they ever had in their lives, and it felt like they were skydiving. They never considered to flair their wings out, and never once did they look back. It was them against the black darkness. To Kassidy, it felt like she was diving back into one of her dreams where it all started with a black void, but whatever lied down there, she knew they would need to prepare themselves for the worst.

Her bloody red hair whipped wildly with the wind, and as it did, the witch had to even scrunch her eyes from how hard the wind was blowing, and that made her wish she could use her fire spell or light spell to see what was down there, but everything was going by too fast that she couldn't even concentrate on one simple thing. Even when she tried to use her echo vision, it did her no good as they weren't even close to land. She could barely breathe, and no matter how much she tried to breathe normally, the wind refused for her to breathe correctly. Kassidy couldn't tell where her friends were, but she hoped that she was still near them, or at least one of them. She felt completely blind and deaf at that moment as she could only see the same blackness, and her ears were now starting to ring as the wind was practically now shrilling. There was no use turning back now, but it felt like this drop would never end. The gothic Silverwing did hope though, that they lost the giant bats.

Suddenly, Kassidy started to notice that the air was warmer, and as it did, she began to see a light ahead of them. Before long, everything before them then started to get brighter, and her ocean blue eyes gazed at dozens of treetops spreading into the forest, a hill, and fields on all sides. The witch breathed in relief when she saw the things she was familiar with, and as she was, the gothic Silverwing slowly started to unfurl her wings and angle them towards the wind so she could slow down. Before long, the red-haired Silverwing managed to get out of the freefall she was in and started to get airborne. When she got a better look at her surroundings, she saw human lights stretch out on a rolling landscape.

It looked like a town she was seeing.

"Guys!?" Came the cry of Shade.

Kassidy immediately looked over her shoulder to see her blonde Silverwing friend. "Over here!" She called out, right as Holden and Marina appeared.

"Right here as well," Marina called out.

"Did we lose them?!" Holden asked.

Kassidy looked over her shoulder to the mountain that stretched so far up, and it was unbelievable they managed to even to pull off that stunt. However, before any of them could even relax, four large shadows appeared like monsters emerging from the mountain, and right as their large wings flared out, the gothic Silverwing cursed and looked back at her friends. "Not even close!" Suddenly, a thought came to her and as it did she directed her attention towards the town and as she did an idea suddenly clicked. "Come on!"

With that, Kassidy led her friends towards the town, and she felt so sore as she did. Her wings felt so heavy after plummeting about what felt like ten stories high from that mountain, but she stayed strong and continued to flap her wings with determination. As she led them towards the town, Holden spoke. "What're we doing?!"

"We're gonna try and lose them in town!"

"You sure it's going to work?!" Shade asked.

Kassidy wasn't too sure if she was being honest, but she knew that if they didn't try, then those giant bats would surely catch them. "Only one way to find out!"

Without a second thought, the four friends banked sharply over a broad road, with wires and lights stringing all over. No high towers were seen as it mainly was just rows of low human buildings like the house pieces from the Monopoly game and a few machines rolling noisily in between. When Kassidy looked over to see where the giant bats were now, she saw that they were gaining on them, but as she stared at them, her eyes narrowed in determination to lose them.

If it was a fight they wanted, they would give them that fight.

A/N- Oh, boy, this was quite the chapter I wrote, and I feel like this story might be coming to an end soon enough, just not sure when XD

Looks like things are getting pretty intense once more though, and there is only one question: Will these four friends escape the giant bats?