Chapter 4:
Goth's Return
"What's the matter, Shade? Are you happy to see me?" Goth laughed hysterically.
For a moment Shade couldn't speak. Goth's wings- they were no longer shredded , no longer burned. It was impossible. But, he was seeing it with his own eyes. After a moment he managed, "... your wings..."
"Yes," Goth said, raising his free wing. "Zots has healed them, he has made me whole again!" he said with triumph, as if it were some victory over him, over the rules of nature itself.
Could Goth's god really do that, Shade though with a strange calmness. It seemed so unfair. Here he was, an unlikely hero who earned the right for all bats to fly by day, and he was treated like a he wasn't there at all. But Goth- a devious, cruel cannibal who caused a war against the Silverwings- was healed by his god after being outsmarted over and over by a runty northern bat. A sudden rage descended over Shade.
"Let me go!" Shade grunted, trying his best to kick at the Vampyrum. Goth's laughter grew even louder.
This was it, Shade thought dully, his anger fading. Goth was going to kill him. He was going to die. He let his body go limp.
"Oh, what's this!" Goth crowed, "Giving up? It's about time you got smart!" he added, his voice becoming a snarl.
Shade closed his eyes and let his head hang, waiting for Goth to tear his heart out.
You mean the world to her, you know.
"Oh, don't worry, Shade," Goth said with mock sympathy, "Your death won't be in vain. You'll be my last mean before I go back to my home in the jungle to kill the sun and raise Zots."
Shade barely comprehended Goth's words. Kill the sun? Raise Zots?
… she still cares about you.
"And who knows? Maybe I'll pay senorita Marina a visit after I've, uh," Goth snickered, "Had my fill of you."
Marina! Shade's eyes bolted open, his body rigid. He was suddenly thinking with a desperate urgency. There was no way he could overpower Goth, but maybe he could outsmart him just one more time... There. A unusually large icicle was hanging dead above Goth's head. He had never moved anything so large, but he had to try. He locked his eyes on it and, gathering every bit of strength he had, launched a stream of sound at it. The base of the icicle began to wobble.
"Don't think your trickery will work this time!" Goth cried, believing he was trying to call up an echo projection. Goth's grip around his throat tightened.
The whole icicle began to shiver.
"I will eat your heart, Runt!" Goth roared, drawing back his free claw for the final blow.
Clink!
The icicle broke off at its base. It dropped through the air on a direct collision course with Goth skull. The carnivore scarcely had time to raise his head before the heavy, solid piece of ice struck him square on the head with an audible crack.
"Ugh," Goth groaned, releasing his chokehold on Shade. He suddenly pitched forward, dropping like a sack of bricks.
Shade scrambled to his feet. He gentle prodded Goth wis his wing. Goth did not move. Shade let a smile of relief spread across his face.
Without warning, Goth moaned, "... Shade..." His claws were twitching ominously. He wouldn't be out much longer.
Shade frantically threw himself into the air, flapping as hard as he could towards Hibernaculum.
Marina was grooming herself absentmindedly, roosted with Chinook, Breeze, and Todd just outside of Hibernaculum. She was worried about Shade. Ariel, Breeze, and she had gone out looking for him, but ariel had said that if they hadn't found him be then, he didn't want to be found.
"Just let him cool off," she had told her. Marina had argued, but she eventually agreed to return to Hibernaculum.
That didn't make her feel any better.
"I hope Shade's alright," she thought aloud.
"Yeah," Breeze sighed in agreement.
Chinook snorted. "Who cares? I hope he chokes on a mosquito," he pouted, crossing his wings.
"You're just angry he went off at you like that, Chinook," Todd pointed out reasonably. "And to be honest, you had it coming to you."
Chinook continued to pout.
Suddenly, Shade himself burst into view.
"Shade!" Marina cried, relieved. She dropped from her roost, fluttering towards Shade. She stopped dead.
He looked as if he had seen a ghost.
"Shade, what's wrong?" Breezed asked frantically. Even Chinook looked concerned.
Shade hovered, panting heavily, for a moment before giving an answer. "G-G-Goth!"
As if on cue, a huge, dark shape shrieked up from the base of the waterfall with a gleeful laugh.
Goth snarled, knocking Marina aside with one enormous wing. He plucked Shade from the air, then with an powerful heave, tossed the tiny Silverwing past his gaping friends and straight through the entrance into Hibernaculum. Hurling himself after Shade, the big cannibal roared past Chinook, Breeze, and Todd, sweeping them from their roost.
...
Screams of terror rang through Hibernaculum, as Goth flung himself into the huge cave, pinning Shade to the ground with a satisfied grunt. Bats filled the air, dropping from their roosts in panic.
"Shade!", Ariel screamed in horror, her voice piercing the air. "No!" She hurled her body at Goth. He simply swatted her aside like an annoying insect. Several males suddenly snapped out of their stunned motionlessness. Led by Hector, they dived upon Goth trying to gain his attention long enough for Shade to escape. With his free hand, Goth snatched Hector from the air, them promptly threw him into the other males, causing them to land in a heap of fur and wings.
Goth turned to face Shade once again, giving him a sinister grin. "I'm going to eat you alive, Shade," he hissed. He parted his jaws, preparing to lunge. The southern bat suddenly lurched to the side, rolling off of Shade. He was being held down by the combined weight of Marina, Chinook, Ariel, and Hector.
"Go!" he heard Marina cry, before Goth threw them off with one, enormous heave.
"No one can help you now, Rat!", he cried in rage, launching himself into the air.
He suddenly cried out, more in surprise than pain. Marina was clinging stubbornly to his leg, her fang sunk deep into his foot. He yanked her from his leg by her wing, snarling in anger.
"No!" Shade flung himself onto Goth's back, wings wrapped around his neck, claws hooked together. Goth released Marina, and thrashed wildly around trying to rip the Silverwing from his back. Shade bit into Goth's shoulder- hard. Goth cried out again, in rage and pain. I have to get him out of here, Shade thought, suddenly realizing that there were still panicked bats in Hibernaculum. He released his grip on Goth's neck, then hovered above the Vampyrum for a moment.
"Come and get me, you big, gutless idiot."
Goth roared in rage, throwing himself after the smaller bat, as he flew through the entrance to Hibernaculum. Goth shoot from the waterfall curtain into open air, chasing Shade unrelentingly.
"You can't run forever, Shade!" he called.
He's right, Shade thought grimly. Even as he dove, spun, rolled, and banked, Goth kept right on his tail, his jaws snapping at his feet the whole way. He'd need a miracle to escape Goth this time.
That miracle arrived in the form of a squadron of owls, led by Orestes and General Brutus himself.
...
Goth stopped, hovering. This was quickly becoming very irritating. A group of owls hovered before him, Shade among them.
Of course, he could kill all of them, but he had hoped to take care of Shade quickly and easily. Oh well, he though darkly, flexing his claws in preparation to attack.
Zots voice suddenly slithered into his mind.
Goth, it teased, Why are you disobeying me?
Goth hesitated for a moment, a frown of his face.
Why! The voice was now deafening and filled with rage, setting off blinding flashes of light in Goth's mind.
Goth scowled. "This is not over Runt!" he roared at Shade, and soared away.
Shade hovered, too shocked to do much else. Why had Goth just left?
"Shade!" Marina, Ariel, Chinook, Breeze, Todd, Frieda, and Hector were all making his way towards him.
He suddenly realized he was very tired and sick with worried. Brutus's face reflected his own feelings.
"This cannot be good, Lawbreaker," he sighed.
Together, owls and bats, they made their way back to the entrance to Hibernaculum.
...
And now the real fun begins!
Next up, Frieda explains to Shade further about Nocturna and Cama Zots.
Tell me what you think, please.