Chapter 14: Decisions

''¡Esto es ridículo!'' Alkaios slammed his fists onto the flat stone that they used as a table in the middle of the advisory chamber. Around him stood Voxzaco, the ambassadors' Phoenix and Erebos, and Goth. Anger burned in his eyes as he glared at the king. The latter seemed to care little about it and merely stared back at him with his arms crossed.

''I don't know what your problem is, tío,'' he said.

''My problem,'' Alkaios started, trying his best to calm down his voice, ''is that we have more important things to worry about than to scour half the jungle for three insignificant northerners.''

''These three are anything but insignificant. We need to recapture them.''

''For Zotz's sake!'' Alkaios was slowly losing his patience. ''You are king now Goth. You can't put your own needs above the issues of the entire colony.''

''How I do my job is none of your concern, tío.''

''I did not renounce the crown and mourn my brother only for his son to jeopardize the welfare of our colony by such unnecessary revenge plans.''

Goth clenched his fists. ''Is that what you think it is? Believe me, if you had been in my place you would understand what Throbb and I had to endure in that wasteland. Especially thanks to that runt and that human girl.''

''My son has told me about your adventures in the north,'' Alkaios said. ''And even though I still find it quite strange how two small bats and a tiny human could be such a burden to you two, I do understand your anger towards them. Nevertheless, you are home now. The fate of those three should no longer be of any interest to you Goth. They may not even last long in the jungle anyway.''

He snorted, "You don't know Vanessa and Shade as I do. They always find a way to trick their way out of sheer hopeless situations.''

Alkaios was about to start another remark, but Voxzaco interrupted him. ''If I may interfere, your majesties,'' he said in a raspy voice, ''But I think we should get back to the starting point of our meeting. It's getting late and we still have a lot to talk about.''

He was right. Laws had to be reviewed, internal problems solved, and new hunting methods devised. Thanks to the firestorms, hunting in the jungle was no longer as easy and safe as it once was. Especially since much of their prey fled farther south, making it much more difficult for everyone to obtain enough food. Currently, everything seemed to be within reason, but you could already see the ribs of some Vampyrum showing under their skin. If this went on, famine would be inevitable. Thinking about this, Goth scratched his beard while sending silent prayers to Zotz that this wouldn't happen.

Meanwhile, the meeting continued. Alkaios enumerated what had happened in the colony during Goth's absence and what conflicts currently existed internally. And Phoenix informed them that the situation in the southern kingdoms wasn't much better. Although she didn't give them further details about issues. Not that Goth even cared. Other colonies were of no importance to him. His father had been known to form many alliances to secure himself with strong allies, but for Goth, these connections seemed useless. Especially when other colonies had to deal with various issues. His own colony had enough of that already.

As Phoenix was talking her brother remained silent the entire time. Only once did he briefly pull a face as if he got a headache or something. But other than that, he seemed fine and just stood there and listened. Arms crossed.

Watching him a bit Goth noticed something flickering on the other Vampyrum's arm. Curious to know what it was, he looked closer and recognized a band on Erebos' left wrist. However, it wasn't bronze-colored like his own or silver like that of the Brightwing female Marina, but golden like the sun.

''Is there something wrong your highness?''

Goth needed a second to realize that Erebos was talking to him.

'What? Of course, I...'' He shook himself to regain his composure. ''Where did you get this?'' He asked and pointed with his chin at Erebos' band.

''This thing?'' The ambassador opened his arms and looked at the piece of metal on his wrist as if he had completely forgotten that he had it on him. To Goth's surprise, he possessed another one like it on his other wrist as well.

''You got two bands?''

''What about it?'' Erebos asked.

''Was banding you once not enough for the humans or did they capture you twice?''

''My brother wasn't captured,'' Phoenix interfered. ''He...''

Erebos quickly silenced his sister by throwing a meaningful glare at her. ''What she means, your majesty is that I had an unlucky encounter with someone,'' he said while Phoenix held herself back to say anything further.

''But why two bands?'' the king pressed on.

Erebos shrugged. ''Who knows what goes on in the heads of humans. In the end, it doesn't matter anyway, does it?''

''I guess.'' Frowning, Goth looked down at his own band. For him, this piece of metal was nothing but a sign of imprisonment by humans. Though he wondered why he and Throbb got taken away from their homeland and kept in captivity while other bats got released back into the wild where they came from. This didn't make any sense. Then again, what did it matter now? He was back home and the king of a powerful colony of Vampyrum Spectrum. All that was left was his revenge on Shade and Vanessa. And that he would get. No matter what.

The sound of rustling wings pulled me out of my dreamland. It was close to midnight as sat up and rubbed the sleep out of my eyes. Looking around the room I spotted Tick roosting near the entrance with a broad grin on his face.

''Wake up you sleepyheads or do you want to sleep all night.''

''Wouldn't mind that,'' Chinook muttered, letting out a big yawn.

''Oh come on, you guys don't want to miss the party tonight do you?''

''What party?'' I asked while holding back the urge to yawn as well.

''A welcome party for you two and your injured friend. Chief Umber specially requested it. He feels it is only right to make your arrival here in the jungle a little more positive after all that had happened to you.''

''Sounds great, but...'' Unsure what to say, I looked over to Chinook.

''We can't stay,'' he said. ''We have friends and relatives who we need to find. Plus, we want to find a way home as soon as possible. Uh, not that we mean to say anything bad about your home.''

''It's okay,'' Tick smiled. ''We know you're in a hurry, but you can't leave now.'' He fluttered down to the ground and took a few steps towards us. With a serious face, he pointed alternately at me and Chinook. ''The jungle is hard and dangerous and your wounds have not completely healed. Especially not those of your friend Shade. That will take a few nights. Until then, it would be more than unwise to travel through unknown territory.''

He had a point there, I had to admit. On the other hand, we were all worried about Orestes. Furthermore, we still didn't know what was going on with Chinook's parents and his uncle. Were they still alive? And if so, where were they now? Hopefully, they had not fallen into the clutches of the Vampyrum Spectrum. The thought alone made me feel queasy. And if we simply walked alone through the jungle, the three of us were also in danger of being caught by them. Goth would be pleased.

''It would really be better if you stayed with us.''

''Well, I don't know,'' Chinook confessed. I could tell that he preferred to look for his parents. But Tick was right. Traveling through the jungle wounded would only cause us problems.

''Alright, we'll stay a while,'' I said.

Chinook looked at me in surprise. ''What? Why?''

''Because it's for the best.''

''Excuse me,'' he said, crossing his wings with a scowl. ''Since when do you get to decide what we need to do.''

''It's the most reasonable thing we can do right now Chinook. Besides, it would only be for a few nights.''

''You can't be serious?!'' Chinook bared his teeth and glared at me. ''Orestes is out there all on his own just like my parents. But instead of going out to look for them, you want to stay here and spend a couple of nights on vacation.''

''What? No, that's not what I'm...''

''Save your breath,'' Chinook cut me off and flew over to the entrance.

''Wait,'' I called after him. ''Where are you going?''

''Hunting. Surely I can still make that decision myself, can't I?" And with that, he was gone.

"Your friend seems to be in a bad mood tonight. Did he sleep badly or what?''

I shook my head. ''No, he's just worried,'' I sighed. I didn't mean to hurt Chinook like that. I know he wanted to find his parents so badly. But as long as wounds were not healed we just couldn't risk traveling through the jungle. Speaking of wounds I wanted to know how Shade was doing. As promised Tick told me I could see him and offered to bring me to the healer chamber himself. I gladly accepted and a few moments later I stepped through a curtain of leaves into a small room that was filled with the smell of various herbs and flowers. It was relatively quiet in here compared to the rest of the temple. Only a few bats fluttered about, were either sorting herbs or quietly talking to each other at various roosting spots on the walls or the ceiling. Across the entrance, I eventually spotted Shade in a soft bed of moss and leaves and headed over to him. To my relief, he was awake but looked quite worn out.

''Hey there.'' His voice sounded weak as he greeted me with a smile. I returned the smile as I greeted him back and took a closer look at him. Blood and dye had been washed from his fur, and the wound was treated with an herbal paste and covered with leaves. ''How do you feel?" I asked him.

''Great. It hardly hurts at all anymore. I told you it was nothing serious.''

I nodded slowly but didn't believe a single word he said. Judging by his expression, I could tell that

he wasn't completely fine yet.

''Where is Chinook?''

''Hunting,'' I said and glanced to the side, thinking about earlier. Noticing this Shade frowned worriedly. ''What's wrong?" he asked.

''Oh, nothing. Chinook is just a bit mad at me because I've decided for all three of us that we'll stay here with the vampire bats for a few nights.''

''But what about Orestes?'' He tried to sit up but I gently pushed him back into bed.

''Don't.'' I sighed. ''Listen!
I know you are worried about Orestes. So am I, but right now it would be more than unwise for us to wander around in the jungle. Especially while your wound still needs healing.''

For a brief moment, Shade looked as if he wanted to protest, but then he nodded, admitting that I was right. Alright then, we'll stay for a while.''

''You're not angry at me because I made this decision without consulting you or Chinook first, are you?''

He shook his head. ''No, of course not. You are absolutely right with your decision. In fact, we don't have much of a choice.''

''I know.''

He smiled, but then his gaze became dark and for a brief moment his thoughts seemed to drift elsewhere.

''Shade?''

''Marina would have agreed with you for sure,'' he said quietly not looking at me.

''That's right. Although, she probably would have suggested it herself.''

''Probably...''

''Ok, what's wrong?''

''Do you think we will ever see her again? Uh, or any of the others?'' he quickly added.

''Of course. We met the Silverwings again after losing them once before, remember?''

''I know. But back then we knew where we had to go to be reunited with them. I doubt it will be so easy this time as well.''

''Probably not,'' I said. ''But let's not lose hope. Just recover and then we'll go in the search for Orestes and other survivors. After that, we'll fly back north.''

Shade nodded then chuckled softly. ''Our second adventure is almost the same as the first one, isn't it?! First, we got separated from the colony once again and now we are stuck in one place because I managed to get a few nasty scratches.

''But it had its advantages,'' I said. ''Last time you learned how to do echo-projections. A very useful feature for us in the end.''

He nodded thoughtfully. ''Do you think we will ever see Zephyr again?

''On the next winter migration, for sure. He lives at one of the landmarks, remember?''

I mean because he's so old.''

''Frieda and the other elders are old, aren't they,'' I said. ''I'm sure he has a few years left. He doesn't even look as old as that high priest Voxzaco.''

''Urgh, don't remind me of that guy,'' Shade grimaced and shook himself. ''That guy was creepy. I couldn't even look at him straight in the eye.''

''Neither could I,'' I confessed and quickly shook the image of the ancient vampyrum out of my head.

''We already knew that Goth is cruel. But that his entire colony has rituals where they rip out the hearts of others to offer them to their god, tops everything.''

''Actually, they are not the only ones. The Bloodwings here also practice such rituals.''

''What?" he exclaimed in alarm, causing a few of the vampires in the room to look over at us.

''Shh, not so loud. And yes, their leader Chief Umber explained to Chinook and me that they also worship Zotz and make bloody sacrifices to him from time to time. But differently than the Vampyrum do.''

''In what way different,'' he asked, looking nervously around the room.

Quickly I told him everything Umber had told me and Chinook yesterday. When I mentioned that Zotz and Nocturna are supposed to be siblings, his eyes flashed with surprise.

''Those two are related?''

''Apparently, yes.''

''Tsk,'' Shade shook his head. ''There they tell us about Nocturna but never do the elders mention that she has a brother.''

''Maybe the bats in the north just don't know about him. According to Chief Umber, here in the south, do not all colonies know about Nocturna either. Most only know about Zotz. Like the Vampyrum Spectrum.''

''I see.'' Shade shifted a bit in his leaf bed to get into a more comfortable position and winced in pain. No. He was definitely not doing good yet. ''You know what. I'll see if I can find some food for you and try to check on Chinook.''

''All right,'' he replied. With a smile, I said goodbye to him so he could rest some more and left the healer's room.

Outside, I walked a bit around and took a closer look at the temple ruins. Most of it was dilapidated and had fallen victim to the elements over the decades. But the main building was mostly still standing and offered the perfect shelter for thousands of Bloodwings. Young and old. It was kind of nice to know that bat colonies in the jungle didn't split into two colonies for half a year and that instead, fathers and mothers cared for their young together.

Speaking of it a young Bloodwing pup rushed past me, chased by its mother.

''For the last time Feather, come back!''

''I don't wanna.''

The little one headed for a hole in the wall through which his mother would not fit. Shortly before, he got caught by an adult male Bloodwing.

''Got you, son,'' he said grinning. The pup didn't seem to like it at all. ''Let go papá,'' he protested.

"Nope. It's bath time.''

"But I want to play," Feather complained.

There'll be time for that later,'' his father said.

Grumbling, the pup followed him back to his mother, who immediately took him into her wings and started grooming his fur. The way he was fidgeting showed how little the pup was enjoying it.

I chuckled a bit at the scene and then continued my walk through the temple until I came to the courtyard. Out here, the Bloodwings were busy decorating the walls and bushes with colorful feathers and flowers. Like the Vampyrum, they were also using paint from crushed petals and berries. In some corners glowed strange-looking mushrooms to brighten up the already moonlit place a bit more. Everything looked amazing. It was really nice of the Bloodwing leader to host this party for me, Chinook and Shade.

On my way, I was greeted here and there by friendly-looking vampires while others only nodded or simply looked at me curiously. It must still seem strange to them to have a bat-sized human among them. Not that I blamed them. It wasn't something that happened every day. I was just glad they even allowed me to stay at all after all my kind is doing to their home and their relatives. Most bats were so busy that I could only speak a few words with a few of them. Not wanting to simply walk around and watch, I decided to offer my help here and there with the preparations.

After a short while, however, my stomach informed me that it was more than time to eat something. The only question was - What? There were delicious-looking berries and fruits everywhere but I didn't dare to eat any of them without being sure they were safe. In the end, I might poison myself.

Therefore, I went looking for someone who could help me. But instead, I found Chinook. H was roosting on a ledge and nibbling on a beetle. Hesitantly I watched him for a moment, but then I decided to go to him. After all, we couldn't avoid each other the entire time.

''Hey!''

With difficulty, I climbed onto a rock directly below him. No reaction. The young Silverwing just continued eating his beetle without paying any attention to me.

''Listen, I'm sorry if I offended you earlier.''

Chinook huffed in distaste but continued to turn his back on me.

''You have to understand that it's too dangerous for us to walk through the jungle. Especially for Shade. His wound needs time to heal and so does yours.'' Still no answer. With a sigh, I looked at the scar on my wrist. Based on personal experience, I knew we should stay in a place where our injuries could be taken care of before they ended up getting worse.

''We're loitering here, while Orestes, my parents, and my uncle are most likely in danger,'' Chinook muttered.''

''You don't know that for sure.''

''And you do or what?" He threw a quick angry glance at me.

''No, I don't,'' I replied and crossed my arms with a frown. ''But who says they haven't found shelter like we? Orestes is tougher than he looks and so are your parents and Hector.

Is your faith in them so low that you think they cannot protect themselves? At least for a while.''

''...no, of course not,'' he answered hesitantly.

''There you go,'' I said with a smile. ''We will find them again. Don't worry.''

Chinook nodded and finally turned to me. ''Alright, I'll take your word for it.''

''Okay.'' Again my stomach grumbled, reminding me of the emptiness inside of it.

''Haven't you eaten yet?'' he asked, raising an eyebrow. I shook my head.

''I wanted to see how Shade was doing and then I didn't think about it while walking around until my stomach started growling.''

''Why don't you pluck some berries then? There are plenty of them around.'' He nodded to a bush close to us, full of juicy-looking berries.

''I don't know any of these fruits here. They might be harmful.''

''Oh, ok.'' Thoughtfully, Chinook looked a bit around. Eventually, he turned to a narrow crevice next to him in the wall and pulled out some sort of moth. ''Here you go,'' he said, offering me the bug. ''I know you don't like insects very much, but I can safely say that this one won't cause you any problems. Besides, you ate insects yesterday.''

That was true. Although I still didn't understand why I didn't feel disgusted when eating the creepy-crawlies like usual. I assumed it was because I had been so tired and hungry. But as I thankfully took the moth from him and hesitantly bit into it, I discovered that I strangely liked it. It wasn't the best I'd ever eaten, but it wasn't as awful as the insects in the north. Were the bugs in the south different here or was something else the reason for my change in taste? Whatever it was, right now, I couldn't tell.

''Have you visited Shade today?"' I asked after finishing my meal and wiping my hands on my skirt.

''Not yet,'' he said, shaking his head. ''How is he?''

''Doing better.'' Fed up with standing around, I sat down on the edge of the rock and let my legs dangle. ''He still looked pretty exhausted when I visited him. But the pain seems to have eased. Or he's just hiding it. Anyway, the healers treated him with some kind of pastes and covered the wound well. There was no more blood sickening through..''

''Sounds good.''

I nodded and looked a bit ahead into the forest. Eventually, I remembered that I wanted to find something to eat for Shade and jumped back up.

''Don't you think the healers took care of that,'' Chinook said after I told him what was wrong with me now.

''I guess,'' I replied but still felt bad for forgetting about it. Noticing this, Chinook suggested going hunting for Shade himself. ''That way I can see for myself how he is doing,'' he said. Again I nodded and watched him fly off. Leaving me behind on that rock where I sat back down and stared into the distance, thinking.

AN: Didn't think I would finish another chapter before starting my new job but here it is ^^

In case you are wondering what happened to Shade, I recently changed the previews chapter. That explains it.

Spanish Translation:

¡Esto es ridículo! - This is ridiculus!

tío - uncle