Chapter 19
Enter The Vampyrum Part 2: Intensifying Situations And Dark Secrets Revealed
In another part of the woods, a timber-hauling truck came to a stop at a local gas station and the driver jumped out of the truck to refuel and grab some coffee and snacks. Popping his head out from underneath the tarp covering the lumber, the Silverwings' scout, Mercury, scanned around the area for any signs of the owls. Fortunately, there was no owl in sight.
Mercury called to the Silverwings. "All clear!" Then the scout escorted the colony into the woods and away from the humans' gas station. Once they were safely out of view, the Silverwings held a meeting with Chinook about the owls and the bounty on the colony.
"I knew that cardinal was trouble!" the young Silverwing started with a sneer. "That greedy little magpie gave away our location to the owls just to collect his bounty!"
"Why would the owls target our colony?" Bathsheba asked in suspicion.
"Well, I heard some flying squirrels say that a Silverwing and a Goldwing were on a killing spree."
Both Freida and Bathsheba gasped and exchanged looks of confusion to each other. Bats on a killing spree? How can that be? It's impossible! This news left the whole colony in shock that they began chattering and muttering amongst themselves. Eventually, they quieted down and Frieda began to speak.
"I have never heard of bats killing animals. If the owls believe this, then their flying in formation and the pigeons on night guard make sense."
"We should've given up Shade and that Goldwing rogue in the first place." Bathsheba suggested. Once again, the Silverwings began to chatter and mutter. Some were wondering if Shade and Rachel were behind these deadly attacks, and there were others who had their doubts.
Frieda silenced the colony with the spread of her wings, before turning to Bathsheba with a glare. "Enough! Rachel Goldwing may be headstrong, but she's too pure-hearted to cross that moral line. What's done is done."
Mercury looked to the sky before turning to his wise elder for guidance. "Dawn is coming. Where do we go now?"
Bathsheba wore a dark grin on her face as an idea popped into her head, seeing an open window of opportunity. 'Perhaps I can turn this to my advantage.' She thought wickedly. Then she turned to her leader. "We must continue on as scheduled."
But Frieda disagreed. "The towers are too exposed. It may not be safe."
With her claw pointing at Frieda, Bathsheba argued even further. "We've already suffered enough from your rash decisions! We must get back to our route."
Turning her head towards her fellow anxious Silverwings, Frieda could sense that she was losing their trust as well as their faith in her. Finally, she reluctantly admitted defeat. "Alright. Prepare to head to the Towers of Fire!"
Hearing her elder's command, Ariel jerked her head in bewilderment. She couldn't believe that Frieda suggested moving onward to the fire towers instead of waiting for her son and Rachel to catch up with them.
Bathsheba wickedly chuckled in satisfaction. 'This is going to be easier than I thought.' Although she knew, as well as Freida, that Silverwings are innocent of a crime they didn't commit, Bathsheba saw their new current situation as an even greater opportunity than she had anticipated. Therefore, she secretly plans to use the situation to make Freida look bad and have her impeached so that she can take control.
Back in the city of Montreal, honking cars and the ambulance and police sirens continued to echo in the city streets. Within the artificial forest of the Hart Chiropterology Research And Rescue Conservatory, the Goldwings have all gathered together at Council Rock in mourning. Everyone lowered their heads in sorrow, but Rachel's family was grieving… for this… was Rachel's memorial.
Jenner, who was at the top of Council Rock, called to his elder leader and fellow Goldwings with a mournful expression on his face. He took a deep breath before giving the eulogy.
"My friends, I know that I haven't been the most supportive of the plan or of our beloved young Goldwing who had ventured out into the unknown for us, but Rachel's death… was a terrible thing to witness. Even for me. Rachel Goldwing, who had barely begun to live in the outside world, was caught and killed by an owl out on the hunt, late last night. Today, we gather to honor the memory of the young Rachel Goldwing."
Roland was sobbing and bawling in agony over Rachel's death. "Poor girl. She didn't stand a chance." Jenner continued.
"Though I was hard on her back in her youth — that I will not deny — it was only because I too cared for her and only wanted what was best for her." He claimed in his eulogy. "But now that she is with the kind Nocturna, it is with a heavy heart that the plan for our future has now died as well. For the sake of the colony, I see no reason why we should leave here. For it is, as I've feared, the outside world is a dangerous place for the Goldwing colony and it is too dangerous to venture out there with all sorts of hungry predators that will wipe us out to extinction. In accordance with the Council of Elders, it is now and forever more forbidden for all Goldwings to leave the sacred borders of this conservatory."
Rachel's family was shocked by Jenner's new proclamation. Even Nicodemus was shocked. Why was he not informed of this decision since he's the leader of the colony?! Why would Jenner and the Council of Elders make such a decision and leave their own leader out of the loop?
Soon after the service and the Goldwings had returned to their roosts, Jenner turned and headed to his roost with a secretly yet satisfyingly sinister grin.
"Perfect…"
As the next night came, the young trio and their new travel companions journey onward towards the Southern Valley. Shade and Marina were a little further ahead from the group, while Rachel was about a few feet behind them and Vampyrum brothers were in the rear.
"I think we've reached the Southern Valley." Marina informed her friends.
"Only one way to find out." Rachel responded.
The Goldwing and Shade ascended from the trees to get a better view of the horizon. From what they could see, they still had a long way to go. After all, the world reaches as far as the eye can see.
"Oh, wow." Rachel said under her breath. "That's far."
Marina joined her friends, followed by Goth and Throbb. "How are we ever going to find your colony, Shade?"
"Let's not lose hope just yet, Marina." Rachel encouraged her. "We still have a long way to go, and we've already come too far to give up now."
"She's right." Goth agreed before turning to Shade. "You know, mi amigo, if you call up your sound map, together we can try and… figure out where your colony is."
'Figure… out?' Rachel was confused by the way Goth said that. It was… uncomfortably suspicious that the Goldwing found it very concerning. 'What exactly is Goth implying? Or better yet, what does he have in mind that makes my fur stand on edge?' She turns towards Shade with concern as the young Silverwing concentrates hard on calling his sound map.
"Focus Shade," said Goth.
Shade strained himself as he concentrated. Images of every resting stop from the sound map was zooming fast in his head. "I… I see… countryside. I see cities. Cathedrals. Now I see uh… towers. T-they're consumed by flames and there's… and there's lines of fire shooting in and out of them." He then stumbled in midair but quickly caught himself.
Goth let out a pleased sigh. "You have given us something to work with, Shade." Suddenly, the scent of a nearby prey caught his attention. His brother-in-law caught it too, and the brothers exchanged a dark grin to each other. Goth quickly turned to their young trio of guides. "Uh, please excuse us. We hear the lunch special here is… excellent."
The Vampyrum brothers dove down to hunt their prey, leaving the young trio. As Goth and Throbb were out of sight, Marina turned towards Shade with a stern frown.
"How could you just blurt out your sound map like that?!" She reprimanded him.
"I agree, Shade." Rachel intervened. "I don't think it was very wise to pass that information to Goth like that. You need to be careful."
"You know, I think maybe you two were isolated for so long, you don't know how to trust a friend." An annoyed Shade retorted.
"Better friendless than clueless." Marina spat back, earning a "hmph" from the naive Silverwing as he flew down to join the spectral bats.
Though she found his statement somewhat hurtful and uncalled for, the Goldwing only sighed and shook her head in disappointment. "He's not thinking straight. Why can't he see that?"
"I say we grab the clueless wonder and ditch those two meat eaters, Rachel. It's obvious that they're up to something and they're using Shade for his sound map."
"No." Rachel protested. "We can't risk it. Goth will know that we're onto him. Remember, we need to be smart about this. We have to stick to the plan and just lie low until further notice."
"Fine." Marina groaned. Rachel took off to join Shad, Goth and Throbb, and eventually the skeptic Brightwing followed suit. Marina hoped that Rachel knows what she's doing, yet she couldn't help but worry that the Goldwing might slowly be hanging on Goth's every word as well.
Little did anyone know that Marina was there when Goth and Rachel were talking near the stream. She saw Goth try to seduce her and Rachel nearly fell for his charms. She even saw her blush. But Marina didn't stick around to watch them arguing about Daria and the humans, nor when Rachel called him out for the bird killings and attacking her friend Ambrose.
Marina felt like she was losing both of her friends to those manipulative meat-eaters… yet she hoped that wouldn't be the case.
In another part of the Northern forest, General Brutus and his owls have gathered the beasts in what appeared to be a meeting. There were wolves, deer, and other critters. There was even an albino Kermode bear with an orange tag in her ear, and two royal-looking rats wearing old golden bottle caps like crowns.
This meeting however, was not a very pleasant one. After receiving a recent report about an owl killing, General Brutus and the owls have decided to make a very critical yet very vengeful step in this situation and have asked the beasts join them in support. To them, this means war.
"And the death of an owl by a bat is the final straw. I am closing the skies to all bats!" The great horned owl general vengefully decreed.
The beasts all chattered, growled and muttered out of surprise, confusion and concern. This was extremely shocking news. The supreme commander of the owls is declaring war against not only the Silverwing colony… but to all the bats of the Northern forest.
"All bats are fair game until the treaty violators are brought to justice."
Remus, one of the rat kings, speaks up to express his say on the issue. "It seems to me that you owls are being far too self-serving. Life and death are part of the natural cycle of things."
"But this was an unnatural act!" The great horned owl argued back. His fellow owls hooted in agreement with their leader. "We must stick together. Can I count on your support or not?"
All of the other animals looked at one another, wondering what to do. Whether they should join the owls in their war against the Silverwings or stay out of it. Ursa, the albino Kermode bear, was the only animal who didn't care about the whole ordeal.
"I don't want to get involved in this…" she groaned lazily before munching on a handful — or in this case, clawful of orange animal feed.
King Remus turned back to General Brutus. "This isn't our fight." An owl soldier leered over the rat menacingly to intimidate him, but the rat didn't even flinch. "What are you gonna do? Eat me 'cause I don't agree?"
Joining in the conversation was Lugar, the alpha of the wolf pack. He had a villainous smile on his face, as if he had an ulterior motive. "What's in it for us?"
"Obeying the law! That's what's in it for you." Brutus forcefully answered.
"Like that's ever persuaded us before." He and his pack chuckled followed by the laughs of the rest of the animals present in the meeting.
Ursa didn't laugh because she was too busy eating. And there was only one member from Lugar's pack who also did not laugh. It was Varian.
Varian was different from the rest of the pack. A lot different. He was a wolf-dog hybrid with orangey brown fur, a bright underbelly, and a few beige patches on his legs and his face. His eyes were of two different colors: his right eye was blue and his left eye was lime green. He also had two scars: one across the bridge of his nose and a big scar just beside his left eye.
And unlike the Lugar and the rest of the pack, Varian was more empathetic and diplomatic. He too thought that the owls were going too far. Especially after hearing the burning of the Silverwings' Tree Haven. He felt like the owls have always thought of themselves above the law. And this war that they've declared against the Silverwings… was bound to bring chaos and devastation to all in the Northern Forest.
"SILENCE!" The owl general slammed his talons onto the stump loudly, ceasing the laughter. "Either you are with us, or you're with the bats."
After a long thought, all the animals agreed to join forces with the owls against the Silverwings. Once the council meeting was over and the animals headed back to their territories, Varian wondered how little this meaningless war was going to last. Eventually, Varian sighed with his head lowered.
"I fear this will be like the Battle of the Birds and the Beasts all over again, only this time it is the reverse."
Meanwhile, Rachel and her friends regrouped with Goth and Throbb in the trees. Unfortunately, the Vampyrum brothers were not successful in their hunt due to Throbb's uncontrollable growling stomach, which scared off their prey. For costing them their lunch, Throbb was reduced to being a servant to his brother-in-law and had to clean Goth's brass band.
Throbb groaned before blowing onto Goth's band. "These bands. They're hard to clean as they are twice as hard to keep shiny." He complained as he rubbed it with the back of his winged arm.
"Why do you think humans band bats anyway?" Shade asked.
Rachel gave him an annoyed look and crossed her arms, almost tempted to smack him in the back of the head like before when they met Marina on her island. Either Shade had forgotten what she had told them about the humans, or he just wanted to hear what Goth thinks about them. Even Marina was on Rachel's side as she crossed her arms as well.
"To imprison us!" Goth growled furiously in response, over his hatred for humans. "So they can steal the secret of our night vision." He violently pulled at his band, but to no avail. It wouldn't come off. Frustrated and angry, he let out a roar as he bit hard onto his band, trying to gnaw his way through the metal.
"Goth, I'm pretty sure that humans don't need to steal any secrets to learn about night vision." Rachel reassured him. "They probably just took some inspiration from us."
Unfortunately, her reassurance did not get through to him. He just gave her a look before returning to gnawing at his band, resulting in her sighing in defeat.
'Why do I even try?'
"She's right. Maybe the band means something good." Said Marina.
Goth stopped gnawing on the band, raising a cynical eyebrow and scoffed in annoyance, "huh, such as?"
"I don't know…" Marina shrugged. "Something special."
Goth rolled his eyes as he let out a breath of laughter, finding her opinion rather ridiculous. "Something special," he said in a sarcastically mocking tone. He then turned to her with a grin. "How amusing, señorita."
Marina was hurt by that remark. And she wasn't the only one who was taken offense by the arrogant prince's hateful statement. Rachel's eyes slightly widened with disgust and anger by his pompous insensitivity, and she was nearly tempted to slap him for his insensitive remark.
Not wanting to be around that overgrown rat with wings, the Brightwing took off into the forest with an angry huff. Rachel tried to call out to her, but she was already too far to hear.
Goth scowled after the Brightwing and turned to look at Shade as if to say, 'some friend you have there, amigo'.
Shade just shrugged apologetically, not knowing what was eating Marina. He silently flew after her, leaving Rachel behind with Goth and Throbb.
The Goldwing glared down at Goth with a grumble. Noticing her stern frown, Goth attempted to save face but she was not having it… especially since she's had some experience of this pig-headed arrogance from Roland.
"Ah-ah." Rachel raised a dismissive hand. "Nope. Don't you even try that with me, Goth. Not only did you offend Mariana with that statement, but you have also offended me. However, if what you said about the bands is true, then I guess that means I'm not special either… nor are you or your brother-in-law for that matter… despite your royal title."
Goth was taken aback by her response, feeling somewhat insulted by that statement. "I beg your pardon!" He exclaimed, just as she was about to turn and find her friend.
She turned back to him and shrugged, "Alright, you have it."
"I know you have a lot of sass, but I didn't think you could be so rude and disrespectful as well." Goth argued.
"If anyone was being rude as well as disrespectful, it's you Goth." Rachel retorted.
"And if I were you, señorita, I'd be more careful when addressing a bat of royalty. Whatever happened to manners and etiquette?"
"Well, Prince Goth… since you are recently new to the Northern Forest, I don't expect you to quite have them yet."
Once again, the Vampyrum prince was taken aback by her statement. Even Throbb was stunned, considering that no one has ever told his brother-in-law off like that and lived. But he had to admit that she slammed him pretty good and he quickly turned away his gaze to avoid any eye contact with Goth.
'Ooh! Ouch.' Throbb thought.
Soon after the banter, Rachel took off to find her friends, leaving behind the stunned Vampyrum brothers. As soon as she disappeared from view, Goth's stunned expression shifted to a dangerous frown, baring his teeth.
"That Brightwing is starting to annoy me…" He growled softly. "And that Goldwing is annoyingly snarky as well as she is stubborn, but more in a rather… charming sort of way." He quickly changed his frown to a charming smile at that last part.
His thoughts were suddenly cut off by the gluttonous chuckle of his idiot brother-in-law. "Then let's eat the girls and be done with it."
"Patience." Goth patted his shoulder reassuringly. "The time for bat meat… will come soon. But leave the Goldwing to me. I have something very special in mind that requires her… alive."
Throbb softly groaned, not liking that he had to continue being patient. But he was also confused as to what or why Goth wanted the Goldwing alive for. Suddenly, his thoughts were cut off by the sound of approaching wings.
Not too far from them, was a young random Greywing passing through the woods. Throbb saw the chance to finally eat something, believing the time for bat meat had come sooner than he anticipated.
"Like now." The chubby Vampyrum was about to seize the bat, only to be stopped by his brother-in-law.
"It's mine!" Goth growled threateningly, before detaching himself from his perch. Then he took off into the air and seized his newfound prey, now consumed by his own lust for blood… bat blood.
Meanwhile…
Shade and Rachel finally caught up to Marina, who was still upset by Goth's hateful words as she kept on flying… away from those meat-eaters.
"Marina!" Rachel cried out. "Wait up!" She urged the Brightwing to slow down her pace. Soon the trio stopped and landed on a nearby branch. A concerned Rachel asked, "Marina, are you okay?"
"No! I'm not okay."
"What's your problem?" asked Shade as he joined the girls.
"You agree with everything Goth says!" Marina angrily answered. "He's not as nice as you think."
"Well, I certainly did not like his pompous, high-horse attitude back there, either." Rachel agreed. "He's definitely a prideful prince as he is arrogant and rude."
"You're just mad that Goth told you your band doesn't mean you're special." Shade retorted.
"Shade!" Rachel snapped, finding that statement insensitive and uncalled for.
"Well if that's true, why should I even bother trying to find the Silverwings and meet Frieda?"
"Beats me." The Silverwing shrugged.
"Shade, that's enough!" Rachel warned him before turning towards Marina in hopes of reasoning with her. "Marina…"
"And you are just as bad as Clueless Wonder over here! Hanging on Goth's every word." Marina suddenly called her out.
"Wait, what is that supposed to mean?" Rachel was taken aback.
"Are you really going to make me say it?"
"Yes, because I don't know what you're talking about!"
"Goth's offer? Of going back to his jungle with him?" Rachel was stunned. Even Shade was stunned but also confused. Before Rachel could ask how she knew that, Marina continued to explain. "I was there, Rachel! I saw you and Goth talking near the stream. I heard the whole thing. You were actually thinking about becoming his mate!"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!" Rachel waved defensive hands. "Now hold on a wing beat! First of all, that is not what happened. I never said that I was going to go back to the jungle with him. Second, I didn't leave my colony in a quest for romance or in search of a mate, I left to experience life here in the Northern Forest. Period! And on top of that, there is nothing going on between me and Goth!"
"Could've fooled me. You were blushing."
"Okay, I admit that Goth has a way with words and plays the literal 'Prince Charming' act — emphasis on 'charming', but that doesn't mean that I'm falling for his charm. I'm not even interested in Goth. I do have my priorities and I'm certainly not going to head off to some exotic paradise… especially when we're in the middle of a crisis. Even if the idea sounds very tempting."
"Aha! So you were thinking about it!"
"Okay, Marina. I know you're upset about what Goth said, but…"
"Stop taking that creep's side!"
"I am not taking anyone's side! I'm just trying to—"
"You know what? Forget it! I'm going back to the island. I wish I had never met you two!" Marina shouted, finally having enough.
"Well if you're gonna be all negative, then the sooner you leave the better!"
"Guys, calm down!" Rachel tried her best to reason with her friends.
"Why?" Marina retorted. "Why should I be calm? Heck, why should I continue traveling with two meat-eating jerkwings and a human's pet?!"
Shade gasped, knowing how Rachel really hates being called that, and he feared the worst. Rachel's eyes flared with anger at the very mention of that hateful name, but her expression showed only hurt as she was fighting back tears. She would expect jerks like Roland to call her that out of ego, but never from her best friends, especially Marina. That was a line that should never be crossed.
"Fine." Rachel hurtfully said, as her eyes were swelling up with tears. "Go then. Don't get swallowed up by an orca on the way back."
With that, Rachel took off to rejoin Goth and Throbb. As she was a little ways away from Shade and Marina, a couple tears escaped from her eyes. Marina took off in the opposite direction in a humph soon after the Goldwing was no longer in view. By the time Brightwing was gone, Shade turned to rejoin Rachel and the Vampyrum brothers… little did they know that they would soon discover a horrifying truth.
Goth was feasting on the newly killed Greywing like he hadn't eaten anything in days. Throbb only watched from the sidelines with a hungry look, because he knew better than to approach any closer, otherwise Goth would attack him without much of a thought.
Suddenly, Throbb heard the sound of the flapping of wings approaching. He looked up and caught the sight of the Goldwing. Throbb quickly hopped over to his brother-in-law and cleared his throat in order to catch his attention. He tapped Goth on the shoulder, once again clearing his throat.
Goth swift his head and warned his brother-in-law in a snarl to back off, or he would be next. Throbb flinched at his snarl, but he quickly pointed in Rachel's direction. Seeing her coming their way, Goth quickly stood up and pushed the dead bat into the tall grass with his foot and he quickly changed his posture before she landed.
"Hola." He greeted her, but not before noticing the tears in her eyes. "Are you alright? Is something wrong?"
"Huh?" Rachel quickly wiped away her tears and sniffed. "Oh. It's uh… Marina and I had a bit of an argument and, well… let's just say she crossed a line that was a little hurtful."
Goth's eyes furrowed upon hearing that the annoying little Brightwing had upsetted the Goldwing. Then, Rachel quickly noticed a smudge of blood in the corner of Goth's mouth.
"Um… helped ourselves to a little last-minute late night snack, did we?" She asked wittingly as gestured to the corner of her own mouth.
"Oh!" Realizing that he didn't clean his mouth, Goth quickly rubbed the blood off with his arm. "Pardon me, señorita. I guess I missed a spot. But, yes, I was able to catch something edible." He quickly changed the subject. "Rachel, I know we have had our… strong disagreements, but my offer of coming to the jungle with us still stands."
Rachel sighed for a moment before she answered. "Goth, the offer is big… and I admit that it's tempting, but as I've said before, I have my priorities. Plus, we're somewhat in the middle of a crisis at this point. At least let me think about it until this whole thing has calmed down?"
"Of course, señorita." The prince bowed in respect. "I understand."
Suddenly, they heard another pair of wings approaching. They turned to see Shade returning to the group. "Ah, Shade! Welcome back, amigo. Where is Marina?"
"She decided to go back to her island." The Silverwing sighed in response, gesturing to the direction Marina had flown to.
"Ah," Goth sighed softly as he looked up in that direction. "There are owls about and we promised to protect you three." He quickly turned to his brother-in-law, "Throbb! Go find Marina and uhh… escort her. It is the least we can do to repay her."
Throbb instantly knew what he meant, and he nodded with a grunted response.
Shade, however, was a bit confused by the way Goth spoke when he said 'escort'. "Huh?"
'Escort?' Rachel thought, raising a concerned eyebrow. This made her even more nervous when she spotted a glimpse of gleaming hunger in his eyes. The air started to feel uncomfortably ominous and dangerous, and Rachel was not liking it one bit. But most of all, she didn't like the skin-crawling dark smirks Goth and Throbb were sharing.
Soon, Throbb took off in the direction of Marina, leaving Shade and Rachel alone… with Goth.
Goth then turned towards a still confused Shade, who stood there like a rock.
"Now, why not call up your sound-map again?" His tone was smooth yet creepy as he spoke. "See if we can narrow in on your colony…" He wraps his massive wings in a more villainous manner.
There was something about him that was truly making Rachel very uncomfortable that it scared her. It was as if Goth was an entirely different person… and a very dangerous one at that. Then he turned with his back facing her and Shade.
"Towers of Fire… hmm?" Goth began to walk a few steps from them.
Rachel quietly sniffed when she suddenly caught the scent of blood in the air… it was bat blood… and it was very close by! Then, her attention was immediately turned to the curled tip of Goth's wing, which got caught on the tall grass. But when the prince pulled it away… it unknowingly caused a limp wing of a dead Greywing to slump out onto the ground.
Rachel let out a gasp and quickly covered her mouth. Her eyes widened with horror to see a half-eaten bat right before her eyes. She had just learned a horrifying truth about Goth and Throbb that she had never expected to find in her entire life. The Vampyrum brothers are not just carnivorous bats…they are cannibals! This whole new experience was far more horrifying than when the owls burned down Tree Haven!
Shade, noticing his friend's pale expression, followed her gaze and he trembled in fear as finally understood why she looked so terrified. He quickly covered his mouth, trying to keep himself from throwing up.
They quickly gave each a scarcely worried look and then looked towards the direction Throbb flew in… where Marina flew in too! That's when they knew that their friend was in danger!
Noticing their faces, Goth looked back down from over his shoulder. "Something wrong, amigos?" He wore a dark smirk as he walked towards us. "You both look… a little pale."
Shade nodded slightly with a smile, trying to hide his fear while coming up with an excuse. "Uhh— yeah… uhh… c-calling up the sound-map is uhh… exhausting."
"A-and… and I uh… must have eaten a bad wild berry or something." Rachel came up with a clever excuse as Goth's shadow towered over them as he approached. "Or I could be just a… a little dehydrated."
"We're gonna go to the stream for water." Shade spoke before he and Rachel hopped a couple of steps away from Goth to keep a good safe distance from him. Then, they quickly flew off, ditching Goth.
Goth hummed in thought as he watched them fly away, but as soon as they were no longer in sight, he brushed it off and turned back to the Greywing's corpse. Hopping over to his meal and continued ripping off the fresh meat from the torso with such satisfaction.
Marina continues her journey back to her island of isolation, away from her so-called friends. All of her hopes for something better with her life were crushed. She was fighting back tears from the fight with her friends. Sure she was still hurt by what that arrogant prince said to her about the band, but what hurt her most was what she said to Rachel.
The Brightwing thought that maybe she might've gone too far when she accused her of liking Goth and then calling her a human's pet. After all, Rachel was trying to reason with her as well as being smart about the situation. Marina just felt like she lost everything. First, she loses her own colony when the other Brightwings banished her for her band, and now she loses her only two friends who helped break free from her isolation.
Suddenly, a shadow encased her, causing her to gasp in fright. She turned to see it was Throbb… who somehow seemed gleeful to see her. "Throbb? What are you doing here?"
"Oh! You might be a tasty treat for those owls." He licked his chops and chuckled hungrily, which disgusted the Brightwing who cringed uncomfortably.
"Ugh. I'll be fine, really." Marina groaned in disgust, rolling her eyes before she quickened her pace, much to Throbb's dismay.
"But señorita, I promised Goth I would uh…" That's when he swept up out of nowhere, right in front of Marina, using his massive body to block her path, causing her to gasp in surprise. "… protect you!" He licked his lips and chuckled hungrily. He was about to make his move when…
"Throbb!" Rachel cried out to him in a harsh tone, not only getting his attention but Marina's as well.
"Shade, Rachel." Marina exclaimed in surprise.
"Oh, hello Marina." Shade casually flew over to them with a careless greeting, while Rachel looked more calm and collected. "Excuse us, but we're here to speak to our good friend Throbb."
"Huh?" The chubby spectral bat tilted his head in confusion, before joining Shade and Rachel on a nearby branch.
"Great news Throbb! My colony just showed up." Shade said with glee. "Goth sent me and Rachel to get you."
"They're so grateful that we're safe and wanted to thank you and Goth by inviting the both of you to join us at Hibernaculum." Rachel added.
Marina flew down after them. "The Silverwings are here?" the Brightwing asked in bafflement.
"Oh yes. Thousands of them," Shade answered Marina's question, while wearing a smirk on his face. But then, his smirk quickly shifted to an annoyed expression. "Hey, I thought the two of you were heading back to the island."
"Yeah, he's right, Brightwing. You should get going." Rachel retorted bitterly, shooing her away. Marina was taken aback by Rachel's strange behavior, until the Goldwing quickly gestured her to shush and signaled her with a wink that she was putting on an act. Then she inaudibly told her to play along, without letting a skeptic Throbb notice.
Marina immediately played along with the act. "I was happier it was just me anyway." She took off into the sky with a huff. By the time she was gone, Shade and Rachel turned to Throbb with false smirks.
Rachel sighed in false relief before she 'exclaimed',"Finally! I thought she'd never leave."
"Me too!" Shade added on. "Goth told us we'd celebrate with a feast when she was gone." The very mention of "feast" really got Throbb's attention, knowing how hungry he was. "C'mon! Let's go! He's waiting!"
Without a second thought, a gleeful Throbb irresistibly took off into the air and hurriedly flew back towards Goth's direction, with Shade and Rachel right behind him… or so he thought. He was in such a hurry for the "feast" that he didn't even realize that he was being duped by the younger bats.
By the time he was out of sight, Shade held back from laughing while Rachel snickered by how easily fooled Throbb was. Then the two quickly turn to the opposite direction to find Marina and tell her about the Vampyrum brothers.
While awaiting the return of his brother-in-law, Shade and Rachel, Goth was licking his claws clean after a satisfying meal of bat meat. As the Vampyrum prince waited, his thoughts longingly turned towards Rachel. In his eyes, she's the most beautiful and the rarest bat in the world — practically, the rarest of her own species. Truly, one of a kind and she would be of great value to him, and his colony! More valuable than some random Vampyrum female!
Goth has always considered himself an admirer and a collector of all things rare and beautiful. And considering that Rachel is that and more, she would make the perfect mate for him and a crown jewel of his kingdom. Even his own father, the king, wouldn't deny that. Especially since it was he who taught Goth at a young age that when it comes to ruling a kingdom, a powerful king must always have by his side a queen of such rarity and beauty. And Rachel Goldwing fits that description perfectly.
Goth also believes that Cama Zotz, his mighty god, had brought him up North to find such an incredible discovery and bring her back with him. However, there was the matter of the fact that she is not yet of age to marry and that of her colony's marriage customs. And as the crown prince, Goth has to honor all customs and bylaws of each and every colony — that includes marriage and coming-of-age bylaws.
So, Goth plans to use that to his advantage to bring the Goldwing back with him to his jungle and keep her there until she comes of age. And once she's finally of age, he will make her his mate. That way it would give him a lot of time to woo her and give her exactly what she wants, a life of freedom and adventure.
Soon, his thoughts were cut off when he heard the familiar flapping of Throbb's wing and his annoyingly gluttonous chuckle.
"Where's the colony? I'm starving!" A hopeful Throbb asked anxiously.
"Somewhere in the valley, I suspect." Goth replied, leaving his brother-in-law confused. Then, Goth noticed that two certain small bats were missing. "Where are Shade and Rachel?"
"They're right behind…" Throbb's words trailed off as soon as he turned to see that they were not there. He stammered in confusion. "B-but… but… but… they said that you — that the Silverwings… a feast."
Goth groaned, annoyed at his own brother-in-law's stupidity and towered over him in anger and hissed, "How could you be tricked by such an inferior species and a rare Goldwing?" Throbb just stood there, staring at him and not knowing how to answer his question. Then Goth raises his claw ready to strike his own brother-in-law dead. "Your brain is in your stomach!"
Throbb trembled in cowardice of Goth's wrath, quickly trying to save face. "T-They can't be far! If we split up we can…"
But instead of killing him, Goth shook with a dark yet hearty laughter before leaning over to his puzzling brother-in-law with a dark smirk on his face. "Unless your brain and your stomach have forgotten. Shade has given me the direction to the Towers of Fire."
"Ahh…" Throbb quickly remembered and he let out a weak yet nervous chuckle.
Despite the lack of tour guides, Goth knew they had the given information needed to find the Silverwings' next resting stop. Once they've reached the Towers of Fire, that's when the dinner bell would ring for the Vampyrum brothers. Soon after that, Goth will also get his prize to take home with him… a pretty little Goldwing predestined to be his mate for life!
Rachel and Shade flew as fast as their wings could carry them in order to catch up with Marina. They scanned their surroundings until Rachel finally spotted the Brightwing, which made her smile in relief.
Shade called out to her, panting. "Hey! Wait up!"
"Marina!" Rachel was panting also. "Marina, slow down for a wingbeat!"
Hearing them calling, Marina slowed down her pace. It was time that they told her what was going on and they were acting so weird, especially Rachel. Finally, they caught up to her, still panting from flying so fast.
"Oh, Marina." Rachel sighed in relief. "I'm so glad we managed to save you from Throbb. But now, we don't have much time!"
"What are you talking about?" asked the confused Brightwing. "What's going on?"
"No, she's right." Shade explained. "You were right! Both of you were right! Goth and Throbb don't just eat meat… they eat bats!"
"They're cannibals!"
Marina took a moment to process what her friends just told her. 'Goth and Throbb are cannibals? Well that explains why they were both acting so–' Suddenly, she gasped in realization. She remembered when Goth was telling Shade to call up his sound map earlier… and she finally knew why!
"Marina, what is it?" Rachel asked, noticing her friend's horrified reaction. "What's wrong?"
"Your… your colony!" Marina responded in horror. "Shade! Goth knows about the Towers of Fire!"
Rachel quickly understood what her friend meant and her eyes widened to the realization and horror of Goth's true plan. All this time… Goth and Throbb were planning to hunt the Silverwings!
"Oh no. No!" Shade realized this as well… and he was the one who gave Goth the directions to the Silverwings' next stop! He had unwittingly endangered his own colony!
Goldwing16's Note(s):
Hiya guys!
Happy new year! What a perfect way to start 2024 is by FINALLY POSTING CHAPTER 19!
Once again, I would like to thank you all so much for your patients. Now before we get to our FUN FACTS, I would like to point out that I have been currently working two jobs, and it takes me a lot longer to go back to my writing. I also had a bit of a family emergency over the holidays. On Christmas Eve night, My mother accidentally tripped on the sidewalk while walking our dog and broke her collarbone and she's been in pain since then. But luckily, she went into surgery on Friday, which went by quickly, and now she's recovering.
But I'm glad that I haven't lost my passion for writing my fanfiction, and to finally finish this chapter.
I've also been struggling with writing chapter 1 of my Danny Phantom Fanfic, but I will get to it at some point… Assuming I am not too busy working, both jobs or anything else in life.
And now for the best part...
FUN FACT(S):
1. For this chapter, I wanted to add the Goldwing colony and have Jenner give out a eulogy for Rachel… However, what the colony did not know was that he saw Rachel get captured by an owl in the city, but he left out some other important details of the event. Therefore, making sure that the colony never leaves the conservatory as well as thinking that she's dead, and finally out of his hair.
2. With Goth slowly revealing his true nature, things get intense between shade and Marina. But Rachel is still trying to keep them together. In order to avoid suspicion.
3. We finally get to meet Varian the wolf dog. In case you guys have forgotten, he is a part of Luger's wolf pack. But unlike the rest of the wolves, Varian is a lot wiser and more reasonable, And he, too, feels like an outcast in the forest. Hopefully in the future chapters, we get to read more of him.
4. And in case you guys have quite notice... I have used ano Disney reference scene I used in this chapter is regarding Goth and Rachel having yet another disagreement, after Goth's arrogantly, insensitive remark regarding the bands and offending, Marina — it is a reference from the Disney sequel Pocahontas 2: Journey To The New World, where Pocahontas and John Rolfe meet for the first time and they have their first argument. Now in my opinion, I thought that was a good burn. And knowing our sassy Goldwing Rachel, she doesn't take any crud — or guano in this case — from anyone, not even those of royal titles. I figured you would all agree and go. "Oohhh! Ouch!" When she said "well Prince Goth, since you are recently new to the northern Forest, I don't expect you to quite have them yet".
5. The truth is finally out! Goth and Rob are cannibals, and Rachel and her friends have to find the silver wings before they do. Hopefully it's not too late.
Anyways... I hope you guys enjoy this chapter and stay tuned for Chapter 20 and have a happy New Year!