Chapter 49

Down, Down to the Mines

As Romulus had suggested, Kassidy stayed invisible for the time being, and as she was, the rat had the other friends in a headlock with Shade and Marina in one arm and Holden in the other. Holden felt so humiliated as Romulus was pretending to drag him, Shade, and Marina to their "doom", but he supposed the rat King at least wasn't choking him. If anyone at school had seen him in this situation, he could already picture many of his classmates laughing at him, taking pictures, and posting those pics on social media. In this case scenario, though, this would probably be the only way they'd be able to flee this place.

Rats rushed in and out all over the place. Holden started to wonder if the plan would even work. There were so many of them, and it didn't help that Remus was unconscious, and if any of the rats found him in that state, they'd probably alert the other rats. The purple Silverwing hoped to be out of there in a flash. So far, though, Romulus's plan seemed to be working, and if they kept it up, they probably would be able to slip by all these rats fast like surfing on a bar of soap.

They all then came to a tunnel, and when they did, they entered, and there appeared to be no rats nearby to witness what they were doing. After making sure the coast was clear, Romulus released Holden, Shade, and Marina. The King then indicated to the four friends to follow him, and he led the way up a series of steeply sloping tunnels. The four friends couldn't fly since the walls were not big enough to flare their wings out, so they had no choice but to crawl on all fours like the giant rat was doing. It wasn't easy for the four bats since crawling on the ground was not easy for bats, but they managed somehow, especially with how muddy and slippery the earth was. As the four friends were following Romulus they told each other what happened as far as them separating from one another went. With each of them explaining to one another what had happened, it did seem almost too good to be true that they all managed to find each other in the nick of time.

"I can't believe what we've been through so far," Marina said. "And to think we really could've been done for, and t's almost as if Nocturna has been helping us."

"No kidding," Shade said. "We're getting fortunate so far."

Whether it had been the work of God, Nocturna, or not, Holden had to agree with them. They should've been dead at most points, but they were still moving freely out and about. Perhaps his prayers had been heard that one night after that incident at the towers of fire. There was no telling, though.

"Lucky enough to have lost the giant bats for good?" Holden asked hopefully.

"That I'm gonna have to doubt," Kassidy said. "As much as I wanna believe we lost them for good they're not going to give up that easily… especially not Martin. If anything, they'll go out and beyond just to find us."

"Then, we'll keep doing what we're doing," Shade said. "As long as we can get to the colony, it'll be alright."

"I hope you're right, Shade. But, it's bad enough as it is, and who knows what'll lie ahead of us next."

Kassidy did have a point, and there was no knowing what to expect next with what had happened so far. It was like gambling; you either win some winnings or lose so much money. So the future was certainly unpredictable.

Holden then cleared his throat. "So, Romulus, how much further?"

"We're almost there," Romulus replied. "Just another foot to cover."

In a matter of moments, they were making their way toward a large stone barricading what could only be an entrance, and as soon as they got to it, Romulus put his shoulder to it and started to push. Holden and his friends watched as the rat slowly rolled the stone out of the way in the slimy-looking mud, and before long, a low opening opened up. It was pretty dark in there, but it wasn't as dark as the pit they had to drop down into the mountains, and even thinking about it sent a chill spider-walking down the purple Silverwing's spine as they really could've died up there. He guessed God would know, though, when that time would come.

"Quickly now," Romulus said to the four friends, and they wasted no time going in.

When they all got inside, the rat rolled the stone back in place without a struggle, and Holden took the opportunity to look around him. The room they were in had garbage scattered all over, but it wasn't nearly as bad as the junkyard was, and in a way, it was tidy. Holden could see a broken piece of a mirror slouched against the gooey wall, a hammock hanging up in place, and a big piece of wood as a makeshift table with a couple of thimbles near it used as chairs.

"What's this place?" Shade asked as Kassidy was trying to make herself visible to the others.

"This-" Romulus lifted his hands, "-is my chamber. No one can hear us here, so you're all safe."

Holden flicked his ears back a little as he could hear Kassidy curse under her breath a couple of times. Then, after a few minutes, the female Silverwing finally materialized before them with everything visible, from her red hair to her tattoos. Her expression was readable with a bit of anger, but she was then slowly breathing through her nose as her ocean blue eyes were closed. Romulus looked amazed with Kassidy's magic, but neither he nor the others spoke a word as they watched as the gothic Silverwing continued to try and relax. When she finally opened her eyes, she seemed calmer now.

"Sorry about that," Kassidy said as she rubbed her temples. "Damn, the invisibility spell is still pretty difficult for me to use even when I finally manage to disappear for the first time."

"I'm sure you'll think it'll be easy in no time," Marina reassured Kassidy. "At least you can give yourself a pat on the back for disappearing for the first time."

Kassidy sighed a little quietly, and then she started to nod. "I guess you're right. It's better than nothing after all." She then looked at Romulus. "So, your chamber, huh?"

The rat nodded. "Yes, and usually, I'm not disturbed in here. Remus doesn't even try to come in here." Romulus then looked up and down at Kassidy. "Never would I ever imagine coming across a witch." He then looked between her and Holden. "Nor even bats turned humans. It's been a long time since anything this exciting has happened." He then looked directly at the female Silverwing, eyeing some specific things. "May I have a look at the drawings on you?" Kassidy cocked her eyebrow with a bit of suspicion read on her face. "I promise I won't do anything funny."

Silence filled the chamber, but eventually, Kassidy then sighed. "Fine, but please don't touch them. They're called tattoos, by the way."

Romulus nodded, and he approached her, and when he did, he started to look at the tattoos on her, starting at the ones found on her left arm. "Amazing."

The rat then made his way over to Kassidy's back, and as he did, the female Silverwing brought her strands of bloody red hair over her shoulder so Romulus could have a better look at the tattoo on there. However, as the giant rat was looking, Marina had her brow furrowed in confusion as she looked at something on the gothic Silverwing. "Hey, Kass, what's that on your neck?"

"What're you talking about?" Kassidy asked, puzzled.

Holden was about to ask if Marina was referring to the choker on their friend's neck (which she already knew about), but the Brightwing spoke once more. "Are those more drawings-or tattoos as you call them?"

"Huh?" The red-haired Silverwing looked at Marina more puzzled.

"Yeah," Shade said, observing what was on Kassidy's neck. "I see them too."

Confused, Holden went to look at what those two were trying to point out, and when he looked at the gothic Silverwing's back of the neck, he saw something he had never noticed before. On the left side of her neck, there was a jaguar, a serpent with feathers sticking out in the middle, and two unblinking eyes that were missing pupils on the right. The purple Silverwing wondered how long Kassidy had those on her neck, but from the look of her face, it was clear she had no idea they were on her neck. So, where did they come from?

"Yup, I see them," Holden said as Romulus had a better look at the drawings on her neck. "There are drawings-or tattoos, I guess-on your neck."

"Are you guys sure you're not seeing things?" Kassidy asked, unconvinced. "Because I know for sure I only have three tattoos."

"Your friends aren't wrong," Romulus confirmed. "There's three of them on your neck."

"Do you think Martin had something to do with that?" Shade wondered.

The red-haired Silverwing looked like she wouldn't say anything, but she managed to speak after a few seconds. "Honestly, I don't know what to say. I did not expect to hear this." She then released her hair, flowing down in its rightful place.

"Martin?" Romulus asked. "The giant bat you spoke of earlier?"

Holden nodded. "Well… a human turned giant bat, actually. But, of course, the same thing can be said about his wife, Dianna."

"The other giant bats, though," Shade took over, "Goth and Throbb are not humans turned giant bats. They're actually from the jungle. Those four have been killing so many, especially your species. It's been impossible to stop them."

"And get rid of," Kassidy pointed out.

Romulus sighed but nodded understandingly. "Well, Brutus believes there are giant bats, but he doesn't believe the entire truth it appears. I can't say for certain if he'll ever face that fact, but if he continues with what he's doing, this animal kingdom may crumble like a cookie."

"I think that reality will certainly be on its way to hitting us if the giant bats aren't stopped," Marina said as she rubbed her temples. She then sighed. "Anyway, we've got enough to worry about." She then directed her attention to the giant rat. "Where exactly is our way out at?"

The rat grinned at her. "Right this way." He then made a beeline to a wall in his chamber and began to dig through the mud with his claws, kicking out the littered parts behind him. After a few minutes, a narrow tunnel was revealed to the group. Romulus looked back at the four friends as he indicated the tunnel with his hands. "Your way out."

"Wow," Holden said, impressed as he took a look inside the tunnel. "You did that?"

"You didn't think this was just some ordinary chamber, now did you?" The rat then chuckled.

"Thanks, Romulus," Shade said gratefully. "This means a lot."

Kassidy crossed her arms as she nodded. "I agree. Even though you could've refused to help, you helped us anyway. Thank you for all that you've done."

"It's my pleasure," Romulus kindly said. "You now have me as your ally, and I hope that I'll be able to convince more rats here to take your side soon. All I need to do is take my rightful place as King, starting with dealing with Remus." He then pointed at the tunnel. "That'll take you to the outskirts of the humans' town. You'll have to crawl, I'm afraid. A little undignified for bats, but a small price to pay for your lives. My brother is not known for his mercy."

"Will we ever see you again?" Marina asked.

"Perhaps, and if we do, I hope we meet under better circumstances." He then smiled weakly. "Good luck."

They were crawling through the tunnel after bidding their farewells to their new ally like worms zigzagging in the dirt. Their claws plunged deep into the mud as they made their way through the tight walls of the tunnel and awkward, steep spirals. Kassidy was leading the way, and sometimes she and the others had to dig their way through cave-ins, which made moving more complicated than it had to be. The female Silverwing could feel her neck getting sore from her position, but she didn't focus too much on it as it wasn't something to worry about. Often, the four friends heard claws on stone and pipe, sometimes muffled voices. It felt like at any moment, the rats would hear them and try to dig them out, but they all kept moving, never giving up.

After a while, they eventually came to an opening, and soon fresh air came at them, and they could finally breathe. However, something rotten suddenly took over their sense of smell, and Holden, Shade, and Marina curled their noses in disgust while Kassidy kept a neutral look on her face. The female Silverwing had the feeling she knew what it was.

"What is that?" Marina asked, repulsed.

"Looks like we got some garbage dead ahead," Kassidy said, and as if to confirm what she said, they found themselves in a large chunk of trash.

The red-haired Silverwing tried to find a way out without touching anything, and as luck would have it, she spotted a channel, and she and the others wasted no time making their way through it. A sea of stars opened up to them in no time, and the four friends took off freely into the night. They left behind the human city and all that rotten garbage in the junkyard, and Kassidy finally could breathe in the fresh air she needed as they flew into a dense forest.

"We made it!" Shade exclaimed. "We actually made it!"

Holden whooped. "Sayonara garbage!" He then looked at the others. "Who'd have thought a rat would've helped us?"

"We've been gaining some allies," Marina said, "that's for sure."

The sky-blue Silverwing then started to look around him cautiously as the forest and a blanket of snow were stretched out before them. "You think they're still looking for us?"

"I wouldn't be surprised if they still are," Kassidy said nonchalantly. "As I said earlier: they don't give up that easily."

The four friends decided that they should head south, and as they went in that direction, Kassidy kept her eyes and ears open for any of the giant bats. But, of course, there was no knowing where they could be by now, and they couldn't be too careful. However, they managed to get away from them a few times now, and if they could do that, they could still keep on doing it. They just had to be smarter than them, is all. While she was at it, Kassidy tried to see if she could spot Lightning anywhere, but there were still no signs of him. Where could he possibly be?

As they were flying, Kassidy began to think about what her friends said earlier about what they saw on her neck. She couldn't see the back of her neck, so she couldn't know what could be on the back of her neck. Was it some sort of skin problem? The gothic Silverwing wasn't sure, but she hoped to try and see it soon enough when she had the time.

Then, Kassidy started to notice something ahead of them. Her hopes filled that it might've been Lightning she was making out. However, out in the distance, the red-haired Silverwing started to make out the shapes of… Her ocean-blue eyes widened, and she gasped as she looked over at her friends. "Guys, get down!" She whispered to them, and she made a dive for it behind a tree, and her friends weren't far behind her.

The four friends eventually got behind the tree, and when they did, Shade spoke. "Kass, what is it? Is it the giant bats?"

Kassidy shook her head. "No." She then looked at the three seriously. "Owls."

Her friends immediately got worried, and to make matters worse, they heard something land nearby in the snow. They slowly looked, and they made out an owl shadow. The four friends immediately tried to blend in with the environment, and as they did, Kassidy indicated to them to stay silent. The female Silverwing cautiously looked over to the owl shadow to see if it moved, but it was still in the same spot. She narrowed her eyes, but she kept her breathing and heartbeats steady. The red-haired Silverwing dared not to make any movements either, not even move a speck of the cold snow around her feet, and she waited to see what the owl shadow would do next.

The owl shadow suddenly started to advance towards them, and as it did, it was starting to get way too close to where the four friends were. The footsteps from the owner of the shadow were silent, but with the shadow not being concealed, Kassidy knew the owl knew where they were hiding. When that very owl rounded the corner, the gothic Silverwing attacked it, and the owl yelped as they rolled in the snow. Her arm immediately locked around the owl's neck, and the stranger could not breathe and desperately tried to get Kassidy to let go.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," a familiar voice shouted as he landed near Kassidy and the owl stranger. "Kassidy, get off her!"

When Kassidy saw who it was, she was surprised when she saw the owl that was with her friends and who helped them at the towers of fire: Orestes. Her arm released itself from the stranger owl's neck, and when it was, the owl gasped for air. It was a snowy owl with long, wavy dark blue hair that almost looked like it was black, a mane that was a blue color, a dark gray beak, and the very thing that stood out the most on her were her purple eyes. Kassidy had never seen an owl with purple eyes before, and they were undoubtedly beautiful looking.

"Helen, you alright?" Orestes started to help the owl named Helen up, and as he did, she slowly nodded as she touched her throat with her wing.

"I'm fine," the snowy owl rasped.

"Orestes!" Holden, Shade, and Marina said in unison as Kassidy stayed silent.

"Orestes, what're you doing here?" Holden asked, surprised.

"Thank the moon and sun we managed to find you," Orestes said, relieved.

"We?" Shade asked. He then pointed at the snowy owl suspiciously. "Who's this?"

"Uh, guys-" Orestes then gestured to Helen, "this is Helen. Daughter of King Boreal and a friend of mine. She came with me to help me find you guys."

"It appears this is their way of introducing themselves to me," Helen said with a tint of anger as she glared daggers at Kassidy.

Kassidy crossed her arms and gave Helen the same expression. Even though she hadn't expected her being a Princess, she didn't appreciate her approach. She wouldn't have attacked her if she'd known the snowy owl had been with Orestes, but the female Silverwing only did what she did for self-defense. How was she supposed to know that Helen wouldn't have tried to hurt them?

"Well, I'm sorry I was only trying to protect my friends," Kassidy sarcastically said. "I didn't even know you were with him, so how was I supposed to know?"

"What a remarkable attitude you have," Helen shot back with the same sarcasm. "Is this the first time you've attacked someone you don't know, or is it a bad habit?"

"Why don't you keep talking like that towards me, and I can show you what more I can do besides putting you in a headlock, you birdbrain bitch."

"Whoa, whoa," Orestes said, getting in between Kassidy and Helen's quarrel. "Calm down. It's just a misunderstanding. Can we please try to be civil here?"

"Hang on, hang on," Holden said as he directed his attention to the snowy Princess. "You're royalty?"

Helen huffed towards Kassidy, but she then looked at Holden. "Indeed, I am."

Holden whistled, quite surprised as he looked at Kassidy, Shade, and Marina. "We've been coming across a lot of royalty lately."

"So, she's not going to report us or anything?" Shade asked, still looking suspicious of Helen.

"It's okay," Orestes assured Shade. "She won't do that." He then looked at the snowy. "Right?"

Helen looked between the four bats, but upon landing her purple eyes on Kassidy, the two stared at each other with anger clouding their eyes. If the snowy did tattle on them to anyone, the female Silverwing would not forgive her. With the Princess's father now probably involved with trying to find the Silverwings, it would only make matters worse. They had too much on their plate as it was.

The Princess then sighed and nodded. "Yes, of course. My beak is sealed."

The four bats looked at each other, and after they did, Marina spoke. "Well, it's great to see you again, Orestes. But what exactly are you doing here?"

The great horned owl's expression turned into a worried one as he answered the Brightwing. "We've come to warn you guys. Our Fathers are searching for Hibernaculum."

The four bats gasped. "What?!" Shade said.

"I tried to tell them that Kass wasn't responsible for this mess and that it was Martin and the other three giant bats that were killing the owls, but they wouldn't listen to me. They're now expanding the army for war. All the owls even thought I was under some kind of spell because I was convinced Kass had nothing to do with the killings. The only one that believed me, though, was Helen."

Kassidy couldn't believe that Brutus and now the Princess's Father had the nerve to search for Hibernaculum. What's more, they were expanding their army, which was not good. The owls really were convinced she was the enemy, and the female Silverwing wished she could find every owl her eyes landed on so she could knock some sense into them, especially Brutus. And to think owls were meant to be wise.

"I can't believe this," Shade said. "They're going overboard."

"I'm sorry," Orestes said guiltily. "I really tried, but nothing I said would work…"

Helen's expression softened towards Orestes, and she placed her wing on the great horned owl's back. "Orestes, it's not your fault."

The great horned owl looked at the snowy Princess sadly. "If I had tried harder, maybe things would've been different."

"She's right," Marina said. "It's not your fault. We know you tried, and you can't blame yourself. I just can't believe the owls thought Kass put you under some spell."

"If I wanted to put him under some spell, I would've done it by now," Kass said with disgust towards the owls that thought she put a spell on the great horned owl. Were those owls really that gullible to believe such a thing? "They really can't see that I'm not the enemy here; it's the four giant bats."

"Speaking of them," Shade said, a little panicked now, "they're looking for Hibernaculum too!"

"What?!" Orestes said, shocked. "Where are they now?"

"We don't know," Holden said. "We lost them in a nearby town a while ago. You missed out on a lot, though. So much shit happened."

"What do you mean by that?"

"We'll explain on the way," Marina said. "We've got to get to Hibernaculum and warn the colony."

"We should get moving then," Kassidy said. "The faster we leave, the faster we get there."

"Something tells me I too missed out on a lot," Helen said.

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

Without further ado, the group took off from the ground, and as they were flying, the four bats explained to Orestes and Helen all that had happened so far. Unbeknownst to them all, though, they were being watched.

Giving them the short version of what had happened on their journey wasn't an easy task. Still, in return, Orestes told them what had happened, like the lie Dianna told his Father, the two owls killed when Goth, Throbb, and Dianna were gone and escaped, the banishment of Ursa and Quacey, etc. Helen didn't say much, though, and kept quiet most of the time, but even so, she was told by the others things she didn't know about, like Kassidy and Holden actually being humans. It was easily enough said that it was all pretty bad and shocking at the same time. If Kassidy couldn't have hated the giant bats anymore, she absolutely loathed them, especially Martin and Dianna. It made her feel better, though, when she thought back to the fight back in town with Holden; taking out her half-uncle and his crazy wife felt so good.

As they were all flying, the female Silverwing couldn't help but glance at the snowy owl who was now accompanying them. So far, Kassidy actually couldn't find anything suspicious about her, and there were no signs in her purple eyes that she was planning on doing something awful to her, Holden, Shade, or Marina. Helen was just being quiet, was all. However, she still seemed to be bitter about what the red-haired Silverwing did to her earlier, and she even seemed to be avoiding making eye contact with her. Kassidy supposed she really couldn't blame her, and even though she was still upset with how the Princess approached them, she probably would've been feeling the same way as her.

Kassidy sighed and decided to approach her on their flight. She gravitated towards the snowy owl, and when she got close enough to her, the female Silverwing made her presence known. "Hey, Your Highness?" She said, trying to be kind. Helen's eyes averted to her, and as they did, it indicated she was listening. "Look, I think we can agree that we got off on the wrong foot here, and I'm sorry for attacking you. If I would've known you were Orestes's friend, I wouldn't have done what I did." The Princess turned her head this time to look at the gothic Silverwing, and as she did, her expression softened a little. "You seem like a great owl, though, and going as far as helping us shows a lot. So, in a way, I should also be thanking you, and even though you may have only done it for Orestes, I appreciate you helping us either way." Helen looked a little surprised as Kassidy allowed her to digest what she said, and after she did, she continued speaking. "So, do you think we could call it a truce and let bye gones be bye gones?"

The snowy owl drifted into her thoughts as Kassidy waited for an answer, but as she waited for her to answer, she began to think that Helen wouldn't call it a truce. However, after a minute had passed, the Princess surprisingly smiled a little. "I suppose I can't hold a grudge against you for long, and I appreciate you being honest for what it's worth. I'm sorry too for the way I approached you and your friends. You're actually not that bad, and I can see why Orestes became friends with you and the others. I've heard so many rumors that you were practically a tyrant, but now that I've seen what kind of a bat-or human I should say you are, I just can't see that. You seem pretty nice, if I'm being honest."

At that, Kassidy almost smirked but kept her face neutral. "Well, 'nice' might not be the best way to describe me, but thanks anyway, Your Highness."

"Please, call me Helen. I get enough of being called that nowadays."

The more they talked, the more Kassidy honestly started to like her. In a way, she was pretty glad Orestes brought her along. "That I can live with, on one condition, though." Helen tilted her head confused. "You call me Kass for short."

Helen laughed and nodded. "Fair enough, Kass, I shall address you as then."

"And Helen, I will use."

The flight was taking longer than expected, and Shade appeared to be clueless about where they were. So, the group took a left to an abandoned area with mines and mining carts, and they all landed in a cart full of coal. Kassidy looked around her, and she knew this possibly couldn't have been in the sky-blue Silverwing's sound map. Either way, she supposed it was better they collected themselves.

Shade then groaned. "This place isn't on the map!" He then looked at Marina. "I told you we should've taken a left at the lake!"

The Brightwing looked at the blonde Silverwing, annoyed. "I said left-" she then pointed at the more miniature bat, "-you said right."

The sky-blue Silverwing crossed his arms with his brow furrowed like a child not getting what he wanted. "I certainly don't recall that, Marina." He then pointed at himself with his thumb. "I said we should take a left, but we took a right instead."

"Because you insisted we take a right, Shade!"

"I never did!"

"Smalls, you're killing us," Holden said, annoyed as he crossed his arms across his chest. "Marina did say that we should take a left."

"Thank you!" Marina exclaimed as she threw her arms up.

Shade directed his attention at Kassidy. "Kass, didn't I say we should take a left?"

Kassidy's brow furrowed in annoyance. "I'm not getting in on this, and at this point, this is just getting ridiculous."

"But-"

"Can we just drop this topic and focus on getting back on track? Okay, so we took a wrong turn, a simple mistake. Just call up your sound map, Shade, and we'll find our route again."

The sky-blue Silverwing looked like he wanted to protest, but he sighed and nodded. He closed his green eyes, pressed his claws against his temples, and began to concentrate on bringing up his sound map. He hummed to himself, and it wasn't long until he scrunched his eyes in pain. When a minute came by, Shade then got out of his concentration and looked at the group with so much confusion.

"Uh…" Shade stumbled on his words. "There's a river… but it just ends. I can't see past it."

"Don't worry," Marina gently said, "we'll figure it out."

"It looks like you're getting better at that," Orestes said, trying to make the situation at ease.

"He's getting pretty good at echo projecting, too," Kassidy said.

Marina nodded in agreement. "Yeah, and so is Holden." She then looked at the male Silverwings. "Why don't you guys show them?"

Helen looked at the four bats with interest. "Echo projecting, you say?"

"Oh, yeah," Holden said with a smirk. "You could say we're becoming experts on it." He then elbowed Shade lightly to the stomach. "Hey, Smalls. Show 'em what you got first."

The sky-blue Silverwing smiled with pride. "Don't mind if I do."

With that, Shade closed his eyes and started to hum in concentration, and as he did, Kassidy began to see something form before them in the sky. Before long, a figure materialized in the sky and started to fly around. The figure was none other than Goth. Marina and Holden gasped. Kassidy looked at it, impressed, while Orestes and Helen looked around them, puzzled.

"Hey," Kassidy said, "not bad, Shade."

"Uh…" Orestes managed to muster. "I don't see anything."

"Me neither," Helen said, still trying to find the source.

"You guys really don't see it?" Holden asked. The two owls shook their heads. "Alright, showtime for me."

The purple Silverwing then cracked his fingers, and after he did, he began to make his echo projection, too, with the same process Shade was doing. Again, another figure materialized in the sky and started to fly around in no time. This time it was Martin.

"Holden," Marina said, amazed, "you got Martin down perfectly!"

"Huh?" Orestes and Helen said in unison as they tried to look around them more.

Kassidy hummed to herself, and she decided to join in on the fun. Even though her blood was still boiling with anger after she found out the truth and she had to focus on her family, she didn't want anyone to get worried about her. So, the gothic Silverwing did the same process as the boys, and when she did, another figure began to form and fly in the sky. In a matter of moments, her echo projection appeared, and it was of Dianna. All three of the echo projections formed were circling the group like vultures.

Orestes and Helen gasped when they saw Kassidy's echo projection, while Marina was smiling at the echo projections she was seeing. "Okay, hands down! This is awesome!"

"I-I think I see one of the echo projections," Helen said, stunned.

"M-Me too," Orestes said with the same tone as the snowy owl.

"Hey, guys," Holden said mischievously. "Check it." The purple Silverwing then started to mimic Martin in his echo projection. "I'm Martin, and I look like an alien ass hybrid born under a bridge."

Shade snickered and started to mimic Goth in his echo projection. "I'm Goth, and I'm such a crying newborn when I don't get what I want, like a haircut."

Kassidy snorted at what the two boys were doing, and she, too, decided to do the same thing with her echo projection. "I'm Dianna, and I'm so ugly that fleas are probably infesting my fur right now." Holden, Shade, and Marina started to laugh hysterically, and as they were, the three echo projections were gone, and Kassidy, Orestes, and Helen were about as amused as the other three. The amusement was only seen in the gothic Silverwing's blue eyes.

They'd been following the group for a while now, and when they stopped, the four giant bats were roosting in the trees, distancing themselves from them and waiting for them to keep moving. It had been Martin's idea that they followed the group instead of ambushing them so they could get to the colony easier, and then they'd take action. Goth didn't object to that. He hadn't even spoken for a while after what the red-winged Vampyrum did.

Blood crusted his gray-brown fur, wounds were all over him, and a black eye was slowly starting to show itself on him. His handsome appearance was now replaced with the horror of injuries and never had he ever felt this weak in his life. Goth felt like he was making a poor example of showing strength, and if Zotz had been standing before him, he'd probably be punishing him for showing weakness. The Vampyrum bats weren't meant to show weakness, but the Prince was practically limping, almost like a helpless pup. Goth was beginning to regret he ever took Martin up on his offer, and he slowly started to think that Zotz never even sent that Vampyrum to his and Throbb's aid. If he'd had powers like Martin and that witch, he probably would've been able to do whatever he pleased just to gain what he needed. But that snake-like bat and his wife had control over him and his brother-in-law.

Keeping his green eyes open had not been easy. But all he wanted was sleep, but that was something he wouldn't be getting. Martin had made him and Throbb keep an eye on the group while he and Dianna got some rest, and Goth found that infuriating. But even trying to argue with that red-winged Vampyrum was out of the question, for he might as well give him some more wounds to worry about, and that was the last thing he wanted. He thought about at one point killing them in their nap, but the Prince had the feeling if he even tried to do that, Martin would see him and then possibly kill him. The snake-like bat had so many creative ways of killing someone that it might as well have been an art for him.

While they were watching the group, Goth was trying to clean his wounds, and each time his tongue slid across one of them, he did everything possible not to wince. His injuries didn't get any better, though, and he knew he needed some herbs to improve the healing process, but the Prince was not familiar with any of these plants in the north. The healers at the pyramid certainly wouldn't pop out here and tend to them, and Martin wouldn't either. So the purple-winged Vampyrum was on his own. However, Throbb did ask at one point if he could help him with his wounds, but Goth pushed him away and told him he could do it himself. After all, he had to prove he was still the same mighty bat that couldn't break.

Goth was about to clean a wound on his shoulder when Throbb suddenly tapped him urgently. "Goth," he whispered with confusion in his voice. "Goth! What are you doing down there?"

The Prince growled with irritation as he looked at his brother-in-law. "I am trying to clean my wounds."

"But… but…" The more Throbb spoke, the more Goth wanted to strangle him.

"If I was down there-" he pointed to the group, "-I would've been trying to…" His voice trailed off suddenly when he had a peek at the group and what he saw had his jaw drop.

Flying above the group… was him! Goth had to rub his eyes-slowly though since the one with the black eye slowly forming was giving him a headache-and when he had another look, the figure that looked like him was still down there. Was he wounded that badly that he was now seeing things?

"You see it," Throbb whispered, "don't you?" Goth was at a loss for words, and before he knew it, he saw something strange begin to form near the group. The brothers-in-law's eyes widened when they saw Martin magically appear, and before long, so did Dianna. "W-What the?!"

The two looked over their shoulders, thinking Martin had something to do with that. He and Dianna were still resting. "What in the name of Zotz?!" Goth whispered.

When the two looked back over to where the three flying figures were, they were gone. Goth and Throbb were blinking in so much confusion at that point. They saw Holden, Shade, and Marina laughing about something, and they weren't sure what it was they found hilarious.

"Goth, y-you were flying down there, and so was Martin and Dianna." The tubby bat then started to gasp quietly with realization in his eyes. "The same thing happened a while ago… Do you suppose she had something to do with it?" He then pointed at the witch.

Goth had to admit that his brother-in-law made a good point at the mention of what happened a while ago. It wasn't long ago that they were chasing the witch and the runt, but they suddenly disappeared out of thin air… almost as if some sort of magic was the cause. He directed his attention to the red-haired Silverwing, and as he did, he never really thought of it that way, but with her having magic, she might have had something to do with those figures appearing and then disappearing.

"Perhaps," Goth answered, "I don't know what else could've been the cause of-"

"Talking to yourselves?"

The brothers-in-law jumped at the sound of Martin, and when they looked over at him, he was staring at them, annoyed, and so was Dianna. "Uh… Martin," Throbb began nervously. "You and Dianna are awake."

Martin crossed his arms. "Slacking on the job?"

"N-No, we weren't."

Martin crossed his arms, looking unconvinced. "Okay, then what were you two doing?"

"W-We saw something!" Throbb said, and Goth palmed his face as he knew Martin and Dianna wouldn't believe a word they said. "First Goth appeared down there, and then the next thing we know, we see you two down there floating above the group!"

"The buffoon is at it with his stupid stories again," Dianna said, not amused.

Martin plopped down to the branch Goth and Throbb were, and when he did, he forcefully grabbed a handful of the tubby bat's green mane and made him look him in the eyes. Throbb's eyes widened in fear as the red-winged Vampyrum looked as if he wanted to burn him alive with his mismatched eyes. "We are in no mood for your nonsense! The cold has clearly made you mad, and I am this close to doing to you what I did to Goth! More like that out of you, and I will gladly do so!"

Martin then ripped out a chunk of Throbb's mane in a warning, and when he did, the tubby bat lost his balance on the tree branch and fell, yelling.

Kassidy heard something, and so did the others, and when they looked to see where the source was coming from, the gothic Silverwing's blue eyes widened when she saw Throbb gliding to the ground. The tubby bat looked up, and his eyes were directly onto them, and the witch didn't even need to look to see if everyone was shocked to see him or not. He nervously laughed, but his expression changed with hunger filling his eyes, and he growled. The group gasped except for Kassidy, and when they all looked up, they saw the other giant bats in the trees.

"You've got to be shitting me!" Holden shouted.

Martin threw aside some fur he had in his grasp, and as soon as he did, all the four giant bats came charging at the group. Kassidy looked at the group. "Go, go!"

The group immediately took off, and they had no choice but to dart towards the entrance of the mines. It grew dark when they all flew in with the four giant bats now on their heels, and as they were flying they came to a fork. Without the group realizing it, they separated with Kassidy, Shade, and Helen going through one tunnel while Holden, Marina, and Orestes went through another.

Holden was panicking as he was pumping his wings. However, he noticed that Kassidy, Shade, and Helen were missing. The male Silverwing could only see Marina and Orestes. They were flying as fast as they could, but the purple Silverwing was already losing his breath. Holden repeated in his head that he wouldn't look back, but he couldn't help it, and he ended up looking over his shoulder. He instantly regretted it as he saw Dianna and Throbb were catching up to them.

"Christ!" Holden shouted, and he tried to go faster.

Dianna almost scratched him at one point, but she missed him by a hair, which made the purple Silverwing yelp.

The trio lost Holden, Marina, and Orestes, and Goth and Martin were now chasing them. Kassidy and Helen were going faster than Shade, and he desperately tried to catch up with them. Suddenly green electricity came flying at the sky-blue Silverwing. Shade yelped when he saw the electricity coming toward him, and he dropped down in his flight and managed to avoid getting hit by it.

The three then came to an intersection, and as they were crossing over, they barely avoided hitting Holden, Marina, and Orestes. However, Kassidy saw Martin and Goth collide with Dianna and Throbb, but as bad luck would have it, Martin and Goth got up and continued to chase them. In contrast, Dianna hit Throbb to get off her, and she went after the others, and it wasn't long until the tubby bat was right behind her.

Meanwhile, Holden, Marina, and Orestes were still having problems with Throbb and Dianna as they were close to catching them once more. They were all flying up a minecart track that went pretty high up. Neither of the three knew where to go, but they did everything possible to lose the two giant bats.

Holden yelped when Dianna went to try and bite a foot of his, but he managed to pull his legs in on time. "Shit, lady, you're fricking crazy!" the purple Silverwing yelled at the female Vampyrum turned human.

The two bats and the owl then flew over old and rusty looking elevators, and right as it looked like the two giant bats were going to grab one of them, the three friends made a sharp turn downwards, passing by a vast looking boulder that was about ready to unlatch itself from the wall. Dianna almost crashed into the boulder, but she swerved around it while Throbb accidentally shouldered it, and the boulder plummeted to the old, rusty elevators, and it crashed on top of them. The impact sent the elevators plunging out of control.

"Any ideas?!" Helen shouted.

"Working on it!" Kassidy answered, shouting as well.

"Well, you might wanna think fast! They're catching up to us!"

"Look out!" Shade yelled.

Martin sent a colossal rock hurtling toward Helen, and the snowy owl screamed as it got closer to her. However, in a split second, Kassidy managed to stop the rock in time before it could even crush the Princess like a bug. Then, using her telekinesis, the gothic Silverwing threw the rock toward the two giant bats, but the two managed to swerve past it, and the rock crashed into a wall.

"Great phoenix!" Helen fearfully shouted.

Kassidy cursed in her head and continued to try and see if there was a way they could lose them. As she was looking, she then spotted something ahead of them. The gothic Silverwing sent a wave of sound towards what she was seeing, and what came back to her was an old-looking elevator shaft. Kassidy looked at Shade and Helen. "Head up there!"

The two didn't need Kassidy to tell them twice, and they all lifted themselves into the elevator shaft with Martin and Goth not too far behind them. However, the red-haired Silverwing thought she heard something descending towards them, and as if reading her thoughts, the two Silverwings sent their echo locations towards the noise. Unfortunately, they were not in for a real treat when they saw elevators shooting downwards. The three yelped, and they turned back around to avoid getting hit by them. As they were trying to hurry out, they saw the two giant bats stop in their tracks, surprised by their actions.

"Out of the way!" Shade yelled.

When the two giant bats saw why they turned around, their eyes widened, and they tried to get out. The female Silverwing's heart was racing as she could hear the elevators running down towards them all. However, when she saw the mouth of the elevator shaft, the trio managed to fly back through it in one piece right as the elevators finished their descent. A cloud of dust swirled out from where the broken elevator was, but there were no signs of Martin or Goth. Kassidy, Shade, and Helen alighted on the ground and started to catch their bearings, waiting to see if the two Vampyrum bats would appear… nothing happened.

"Are they dead?" Shade asked.

Suddenly parts of the elevators were moved forcefully, and Shade managed to jinx it. Martin and Goth were not dead. Instead, they roared with fury as they got out of the elevator pile parts.

"Not likely," Kassidy said.

The trio immediately took off, and the chase went on once more.

Holden wasn't sure how much further he could go as he was already getting exhausted, and so were Marina and Orestes. Then, as if things couldn't worsen, they came to a dead end. The opening was built up with boulders and rocks, and there was no way the trio could slide through it all.

"Oh, come on!" Holden yelled. The trio looked behind them, expecting the two Vampyrums to trap them, but they were nowhere in sight to their confusion. It was only a tunnel full of rocks and boulders they were seeing. "Where'd they go?"

"I don't know," Marina answered.

The two bats and the great horned owl touched down onto the edge of a minecart to collect themselves, and as they did, they tried to see if they could spot Dianna and Throbb anywhere. "I don't see them," Orestes said.

CRASH!

The trio jumped at the noise they heard behind them, and when they looked, they were horrified when they saw Throbb and Dianna in the minecart. The tubby bat was flat on top of the female Vampyrum, and she seemed highly pissed by what he did. "You idiot!" Dianna shouted. "You blew our cover!"

The minecart they were all in/on suddenly started to jiggle, and before long, it sped down the minecart track it was on like a rollercoaster. The trio yelled and started to try and escape the pursuing minecart as boulders and rocks were flying and rolling all over the place.

Kassidy, Shade, and Helen rounded a corner, but Martin and Goth quickly did the same thing. Out of the trio, Shade was the one that was quickly losing his breath and was barely able to catch up with the girls. As if to prove that, Goth managed to wrap his purple wing around the sky-blue Silverwing like he was now in a cocoon.

The gothic Silverwing's eyes widened when she saw that happen, and Goth now had her friend in his grip. "You son of a bitch!" She shouted, about to rescue Shade, but Martin tackled her from the side and pinned her to the ground.

Kassidy did all she could to get her half-uncle off of her, and as she did, she snarled at the giant bat with so much hate as fire began to surface in her ocean blue eyes. "Now, Orphan," Martin said casually. "I believe we have unfinished matters to attend to, wouldn't you agree?"

The red-winged Vampyrum was about to hit Kassidy violently, but before he could even touch her, Helen swooped down towards him, screeching, and began to tug at his mane. Martin yelled in anger and was about to summon a spell at the Princess, but the gothic Silverwing immediately bit his leg so hard that he cried in pain. Kassidy rolled out of the way just as Martin was about to scratch her, and her foot immediately connected to his hip, making him hit the wall.

Martin snarled at Kassidy, and they were about to attack each other. However, before the fight could even carry on, everyone froze in place when they heard yelling and wheels screeching. An object then impacted the ground and a wall, and no one was prepared for what was about to come next. Boulders, rocks, and dust came raining down onto Kassidy, Shade, Helen, Goth, and Martin, and before they knew it, everything went dark.

A/N- Wow, this chapter took longer than expected, but here ya go with chapter 49! I wanted to work on this weeks ago, but things got in the way, but I hope ya enjoyed it!