Chapter 20: Grief

''Tick…''

I gazed helplessly down at the rapidly flowing water. Ignoring the wind and the rain that showered down on me while I knelt on the shore and waited, waited for a head with fuzzy black hair to emerge from the tides. But nothing happened. I can't say for how long I sat there, but at some point, I no longer noticed the storm. Whether it was because the weather cleared up or because I tuned out everything around me, I don't know. However, I did notice the river calming down a bit. Nevertheless, there was still no trace of the fun-loving Bloodwing who came to our aid in this strange place and whom we were only allowed to get to know for such a short time.

''Vanessa?''

Shade's voice reached me as if from afar. It wasn't until he lightly touched my shoulder I realized that he was crouching right next to me. Without a word, I turned my head to face him. He said nothing and merely looked at me with tears glistening in his eyes. I blinked as if I didn't understand why he was crying until I realized the moisture in my own eyes.

Shade then pulled me into a hug, and I buried my face in the soft fur of his neck. Silent tears ran down my cheeks, but I couldn't cry for real. I just couldn't.

And so we sat there, tightly embraced on the riverbank, mourning our lost friend. Chinook joined us shortly after, but I barely took notice.

After a while, the sky cleared up. The three of us would probably have sat there even longer if not the sound of someone clearing his throat hadn't attracted our attention. Standing at a respectful distance was the Silverwing, whose rescue had cost Tick his life. I had totally forgotten that he was there. He was a dark teal-colored Silverwing with a mint-colored mane and dark green hair with a matching beard and lila-blue eyes. A nasty long scar stretched across his abdomen. The underside of his wings was slightly torn and his left ear tip was missing. He seemed to have recovered from the horror he had been through, but appeared unsure of what to do or say to us now.

"Um, sorry to bother you," he said tentatively, "but I think we should start looking for a place to hide. The sun is getting up already.''

He was right, but I didn't care. Yet Shade and Chinook got back up and pulled me back to my feet along with them. Then Shade got airborne and grabbed my hands before following the two other Silverwings into the jungle.

A few minutes later, we sat in an abandoned macaw nest and dried ourselves with dry leaves as best we could. I freed my hair from the loose piece of vine and let it fall loosely over my shoulders. Then I sat next to them and for a while, no one said a word. Not even the strange Silverwing, who had sat down across from us with his arms wrapped around his knees. I felt tears rolling down my cheek again. What happened to Tick... I still couldn't believe that this was real and that we most likely lost him forever. I felt so stupid. I should have found another method for the rescue mission.

''This is all my fault.''

I looked up. Those words lay on the tip of my tongue, but it was Shade who uttered them.

''What are you talking about?'' asked Chinook.

The smaller Silverwing rubbed a hand over his face, his eyes red from his tears. ''I…I should have stopped him,'' he said. ''I should have insisted that he stayed with us in the air instead of letting him plunge into the water.''

''You couldn't have stopped him,'' said Chinook while placing a hand on Shade's shoulder. ''He would have jumped in anyway. Just like he flew towards that crocodile or attacked that Vampyrum.''

''Both situations in which Tick had to save me,'' I thought. And now that I was in danger once more, he paid for it with his own life. I wasn't in the mood to keep listening to their conversation, so I got up and went over to the entrance. None of them said anything about it. If they did, I didn't care. I didn't want to hear anything more. Our new acquaintance looked awkwardly between us. Apparently not quite sure what to make of us. At least he stayed and didn't leave us.

''So...'' he began hesitantly, drawing our attention. ''I, uh, I guess I should thank you, guys. For saving my life, I mean.

''No problem, we are glad we did.'' Shade tried to smile a little, but the pain of Tick's loss was still evident.

''I'm sorry about what happened to your friend. You must have really liked him.''

I nodded with a sigh. ''We barely knew him, though.''

''We met Tick in the jungle, where he rescued us from a predicament,'' Shade said.

''Seems like he was a good soul if he came to the aid of so many,'' the stranger said. ''By the way, I guess I should introduce myself. My name is Ishmael.''

''Nice to meet you. I'm Shade and this is Chinook and Vanessa.''

Ishmael looked at Shade thoughtfully, then turned to me with a look I had experienced quite a few times now.

''Honestly, I'm still surprised that you're actually a human,'' he confessed.

''Just believe it,'' I said bleakly. I wasn't in the mood to give him an explanation about my size and tell him my story. Fortunately, he seemed to understand and turned his attention to Shade and Chinook, asking them if they were also brought here on a human flying machine with fire on their bellies.

''That's right,'' Shade said. ''But, as you can see, we were able to free ourselves from the bombs in time to run to safety.''

''Except we weren't safe for long,'' Chinook interrupted him.

''What do you mean?''

''Well, actually, that's part of a longer story,'' Shade confessed. ''But to be brief. We were captured by two Vampyrum and dragged off to their home.''

Ishmael's heather-blue eyes widen in shock. ''You guys got captured by Vampyrum and you're still alive?''

''Yeah, we got lucky and escaped before they could sacrifice us during the coronation of their new king.''

''How?''

Shade was about to answer when Chinook patted him hard on the back, grinning broadly. ''Our little friend here is pretty good with echo projections,'' he said. ''He made the Vampyrum believe a jaguar had invaded their pyramid. During the panic that arose, we then managed to escape.''

''You projected a real jaguar and those cannibals bought it?''

Ishmael blinked as if he couldn't quite believe the story. Shade's breath momentarily stopped thanks to Chinook's friendly slap. Regarding that, he gave the bigger Silverwing a quick glare before turning his attention to our new companion. ''We're not lying if that's what you think,'' he said.

Ishmael shook his head. That's not it,'' he confessed. ''I know that some bats can create false echo images. My brother can do it, too. But it took him years of practice before he was able to create the image of something big. At your age, he could just manage to do a swarm of moths.''

''Well, I practiced often enough and the jaguar wasn't the first big thing I did.''

''Still, respect,'' replied Ishmael. ''Have you ever tried to do other things with your sonar?''

Shade pondered. ''I tried shooting down an icicle once. It almost worked.''

''Doesn't matter. If you're this far along now, you'll surely achieve even greater things in the future.''

Shade smiled gratefully at Ishmael's kind words. Then he frowned thinking about something. ''You said you were also dragged here by the humans?!''

Ishmael nodded. ''But that was several months ago. You only landed here recently, didn't you?''

''We've been here about a week,'' Shade said. ''Tick's colony was kind enough to take us in. But after our injuries healed, we decided to leave. A friend of ours had been taken here with us. He wanted to see if there were any other survivors before we were taken by the Vampyrum. We wanted to go and look for him.''

''Not an easy task out here.''

''We know,'' Chinook said. ''That's why Tick accompanied us. As some kind of guide.''

''He wanted to take us to a place called Statue Haven,'' I said, ''He said there were other northern bats that might help us get home.''

Ishmael beamed. ''Well, what a coincidence. I know this place. It's been my home, so to speak, since I've been here. Along with that of many other survivors.''

''That's great,'' Shade rejoiced, ''Can you take us there.''

Ishmael's smile faltered and he sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck. ''Well I would love to,'' he said. ''But honestly, I don't know exactly which direction we need to go. I am lost as you are, you know.''

''Oh great,'' Chinook heaved a theatrical sigh. ''And what do we do now?''

''We'll figure something out,'' Shade said, ''Tick has led us in a northerly direction the whole time. Best we keep flying north until Ishmael discovers a landmark from which he can lead us on.''

''Sounds like a plan.''

''How come you're out here alone in the first place, Ishmael?"' I asked him.

The green-blue Silverwing looked down while letting out a deep sigh. ''Actually, I had been out on the hunt with two friends. We always go in groups of at least three, as it's far too dangerous to go alone,'' he said. ''We got a little too far from Statue Haven, but as we were about to turn back suddenly those Vampyrum appeared. They caught one of us while we two others just barely escaped. Unfortunately, in my terrified flight, I lost sight of my companion. Since then, I've been wandering alone through the jungle for a couple of nights until I ran into you guys.''

''Oh, we're sorry to hear that,'' Shade confessed. ''I hope your friends are still alive.''

''I hope so, too. Though I have little hope for one of them.''

''Don't worry. Maybe we can save him somehow.''

''Shade you are not seriously suggesting a rescue mission in which we have to reenter that hellhole called Pyramid.'' Chinook looked at him, eyes open in horror. ''Forget it. No ten owls are going to bring me back to a place like that.''

''Relax,'' Shade said, rolling his eyes in annoyance. ''I never meant for us to go right away. We obviously need to have a plan first.''

''We can discuss this with Caliban. He is the deputy of our group.''

''Wait!'' I said, raising an eyebrow. ''If he's the deputy. Who is your real leader then?''

Ishmael let out another sigh and turned his gaze back to the ground. ''He ... was the one who was caught by the Vampyrum,''

Okay, I wasn't expecting that. Losing a friend was bad enough. Losing the leader was even worse. Who knew if Ishmael's group would be able to get along without him. Hopefully, this Caliban was a worthy replacement.

''Anyway. Right now there's nothing we can do, except go to sleep.'' Chinook stood up, patted some dirt off his lap, and then flew up to the ceiling to roost. Shade and Ishmael joined him right after, while I curled myself up in a corner. There I laid and tried to fall asleep while staring at the wall. As tired as I was, the memory of what had just happened and the knowledge that we had lost Tick forever kept me awake. What would Chief Umber say? Tick was his adopted son. He had a right to know what had happened to him, but could we ever show our faces to the Bloodwings again? Could I show my face to them? They had lost members of their colony because of humans before and now...

Cursing softly, I got back up. There was no point in lying around all day, waiting to fall asleep. I needed some fresh air. My bat friends were fast asleep. None of them noticed me climbing out of the entrance to the den onto the branch jutting out in front of it. Being outside during the day was perhaps not a good idea, but I needed the sight of the jungle in the light of the sun to distract me. I also stayed near the entrance so that I could quickly escape inside if necessary. For now, I sat down and wrapped both arms around my knees.

The various animal noises had something soothing about them. In the dense green, however, the creators remained largely hidden. Every now and then I watched a few colorful blotches fluttering away in different directions. On the tree in front of me swung a black-furred howler monkey through the branches and a small yellow-green lizard crawled past me in my shadow. I shifted a little to get a better look at it, causing my shadow to no longer cover the lizard. Confused by the sudden loss of sunshade, the small reptile stopped in its tracks and looked around. Its googly orange eyes lingered on me for a few seconds, then the lizard made a turn and scurried away. Lost in thought, I gazed after it and continued to listen to the sounds of the jungle. Thereby I sat down a little more comfortably and stretched out my legs. In the light of the morning sun, it was still comparatively cool in contrast to midday. Another good reason to travel by night only. Though I wondered why it was so humid at night? Anyway, right now the weather was just right. Plus it wasn't raining for a change and a gentle breeze rustled the leaves on a branch above me making me sleepy.

I almost closed my eyes, but then I sat back up straight. If there was a gust of wind, then why didn't I feel it and why were the leaves only rustling on that branch and not on any other? Frozen, I remained where I was and observed the spot without batting an eyelash. At the same time, I tried to breathe as shallowly as possible to avoid attracting attention to myself. Nothing happened, and I began to think I was imagining things. Maybe it was just some harmless critter. Nevertheless, I remained alert. When still nothing happened after ten seconds, I decided to creep slowly back into the den. Always watching the branch above. Apparently, everything was fine, but somehow I couldn't get rid of the feeling of being watched. Best to hide quickly. Inside I peered a bit outside until exhaustion finally overcame me and I drifted off to sleep.

Erebos hummed, watching the human observing the tree he was in. Somehow impressive how she remained silent and didn't make a foolish move. Still, she was a human. Otherwise, she would have smelled his scent or at least would have ... if it was possible.

Quieter than a mouse, Erebos scurried to the entrance of the abandoned macaw nest and peeked inside. How idiotic to fall asleep right at the entrance. Well, this made it easier to kidnap her, of course. But why now? No, that was too early. He wanted to allow them to reach their destination first. After that, he could still deliver them to the king. A bright grin spread across his face and his black obsidian teeth glistened in the sunlight. Erebos made a step back and accidentally touched the light with his right wingtip. Cursing in pain, he immediately pulled it back into the shadows and examined it. Fortunately, the tip was fine. It was just a little red, but that would pass. Nevertheless, he should be more careful. With disdain, he looked at the golden cuffs on his wrists and then glared up at the sun, baring his teeth. ''Later,'' he admonished himself, ''Later.''

Smiling contentedly, he looked down at Vanessa's sleeping body one more time and then vanished into the shadows.

As expected, I slept poorly. Though I managed to sleep through the whole day thanks to my exhaustion, but my dreams were plagued by nightmares that were mostly about Tick. But waking up, knowing that the most terrible thing wasn't a dream, was the worst. Gosh, how I missed him. If only I could turn back time and save him. At least Tick was with his parents now.

''Evening, Vanessa.''

Turning around I watched Shade fluttering down from his roost and walking towards me with a smile on his face.

''Evening.''

His smile faded at the sight of my expression. ''How are you doing?''

''Fine,'' I lied. I couldn't fool him. Of course, I was not fine. So wasn't he, but dwelling further in our grief wasn't going to help us.

It wasn't long before Chinook and Ishmael were also awake. Following a short grooming session, in which I limited myself to roughly combing my hair with my fingers, we were ready to leave. I waited until the three Silverwings crawled out of the nest then followed them outside but hesitated at the entrance. That feeling of being watched had been just too prominent yesterday to be nothing but the result of shock and stress. But perhaps I worried too much. In any case, there were no signs of danger at the moment. Enough reason to assume we were safe.

''Well, where to next?" Chinook asked. ''Further north?''

Shade nodded. ''Best for now, I'd say,'' he said and got airborne to fly a small circle around the tree. ''Alright, the coast seems clear. We should get going before we get any unwelcome company.''

I couldn't agree more and anxiously looked up into the foliage. Then I let Chinook grab my hands and carry me through the air. I couldn't help but turned around to take one last look at the river. It flowed so much quieter than it did last night. I should have built some kind of memorial for Tick. It felt wrong to leave without a proper goodbye. But that's how it was. Maybe we would get the opportunity for it later. Hopefully.

''Can we take a break, please? My wings are hurting me.''

Orestes tried hard not to let his frustration show. Yet the little barred owl's whining slightly stressed him out.

''We'll take a break later,'' he replied. ''I promise. Let's just fly a little further.''

Winnie made a face. ''More?'' Her eyes swept unsurely over the plant and trees around them. She wasn't happy to fly through the jungle. Neither did Orestes. ''Why don't we look for other owls? They could help us, right?''

''To get home? Maybe. To find my friends? Probably no,'' he thought.

''None of us are wearing metal disks anymore, so they shouldn't be afraid of us.''

''Maybe.'' Orestes began to think about it, then, however, shook his head. ''We'll stay on our course.''

''Why?''

He looked into Winnie's big questioning eyes. He felt sorry for her. Someone like her shouldn't be wandering around in an unknown forest, but rather fly through the air in their homeland. For a moment he considered changing his mind and, at least for her sake, start to look for local owls. But in the end, decided against it.

''Listen,'' he said. ''We don't know our way around here. We can't just go looking for someone without knowing where to start.''

Winnie furrowed her brows in confusion. ''But, aren't we just doing that?" she asked, and she wasn't wrong. Right now they were looking for Vanessa, Shade, and Chinook without even knowing where they could be. This couldn't go on for long. Primarily since they had to pay attention to Vampyrum and who knows what kind of predators. Yesterday he had witnessed a group of those giant bats fluttering south. Each with a squeaking rat in their clutches. He shuddered thinking about their sharp claws and recalled his fight with Throbb in the north. He didn't want to risk fighting more of them and that all by himself.

''Let's fly a little further north,'' he opined. ''We should be able to find a place to rest before sunrise.''

''Hmm, alright.'' Winnie seemed anything but enthusiastic, but at least she was cooperating and continued to fly next to him through the jungle.