Chapter 41: Meeting Terrin
After flying for about 5 minutes deeper into the Underpassage, the Azuls and the other tribes came to the giant stone door that Willfried was talking about earlier.
As the tribes got closer, they saw that the stone door was like a sliding door that exists form a part in the right and one part in the left.
On the right part next to the stone slide door, Roberto saw something, something wooden.
"What is that?" Roberto asked.
"That, Roberto, is what humans call a 'wheel', you can turn it." Blu said.
"And what does this 'wheel' in particular do?" Felipe asked.
"When we turn on it with enough birds and enough strength, the doors will move. If we turn it the left the doors will close, whilst when we turn to the right, the doors will open." Camila said.
As the giant stone doors opened, all the birds flew into the gigantic central western passage that were also lit by many fireflies.
As they flew further inwards, they heard a noise coming from the distance.
"I hear something." Jewel said.
In the distance they all saw some orange figures flying towards them, screaming and yelling with a war cry.
Alejandro's eyes narrowed, looked to his family and friends and he asked: "Everybody ready? This is about to get brutal…"
Everybody around him nodded.
"Attack!" both Alejandro and Andor yelled in unison.
And with that, many birds of the Azuls, the spix macaw tribe and the 2 red macaw tribes, including Blu, Jewel, Jasmine, Thomas, Amalia, Willfried, Camila, Eduardo, Sapphire, Mimi, Roberto, Felipe, Mia, Arturo, Megeslav, Nico, Pedro and Rafael flew into the charging orange Emberwings. The kids, however, were ordered to say back, as none wanted them to be injured or worse, to die.
Right after Alejandro and Andor had given the command, chaos erupted in the cavernous passageway. The war cries of the Emberwings clashed with the determined shouts of the Azuls and their allies as the two forces collided midair, sending shockwaves through the tunnel.
Blu dodged a savage strike from an Emberwing warrior, countering with a quick spin that sent the attacker spiralling into a nearby rock formation. Jewel was right beside him, using her superior speed to weave between foes, slashing with her talons when needed.
Jasmine and Thomas fought back-to-back; their synergy impeccable. Jasmine delivered a precise kick to an Emberwing's chest, sending him crashing into the stone walls, while Thomas intercepted another with a powerful wingbeat, knocking him off course.
Nearby, Eduardo and Alejandro were taking on multiple enemies at once. Eduardo used his sheer strength, striking with powerful blows that sent Emberwings reeling. Alejandro, ever the cunning fighter, lured opponents into making reckless moves before countering with precise strikes.
Pedro and Nico, though not the strongest warriors due to their small size, used their agility to outmanoeuvre foes. They distracted two Emberwings by darting around them in rapid circles before Rafael swooped in, knocking them out of the air.
Mimi, Sapphire, and Camila fought with fierce determination. Camila expertly dodged an incoming attack before retaliating with a powerful dive kick. Sapphire, using her speed, forced an Emberwing to chase her through a narrow part of the tunnel before abruptly stopping, making the enemy crash into a stalactite. Mimi on the other hand used her body to knock an Emberwing straight to the floor of the tunnel.
Meanwhile, Roberto, Felipe, and Mia took on a group of Emberwings together, working in perfect sync. Roberto performed a stunning aerial roll to avoid an incoming talon swipe, countering with a well-placed strike to his opponent's wing. Mia followed up with a precise tackle, sending another Emberwing tumbling down.
The battle raged on, the passage echoing with grunts, screeches, and the sounds of wings clashing. The Emberwings, though fierce, were beginning to falter as the organized strategy of the Azuls and their allies took its toll.
Megeslav, Arturo, and Andor held the line, using their bulk and combat prowess to keep the Emberwings from breaking through. Megeslav intercepted an enemy mid-flight, grappling with him before slamming him down onto a rock ledge. Arturo fended off two attackers at once, his sharp reflexes allowing him to evade their strikes before countering with devastating precision.
One Emberwing managed to break through the defensive line, making a beeline toward the younger birds who had been ordered to stay back. Before he could get close, Willfried intercepted him with a powerful charge, sending the attacker tumbling backward before knocking him unconscious.
As the battle stretched on, the Emberwings' ranks began to waver. Some had been taken down, while others were heavily injured and losing their will to fight. Seeing this, the remaining Emberwings let out sharp cries of retreat, hastily flying back toward the other end of the tunnel.
Blu and the others hovered in place, catching their breath. Though victorious, they weren't without injury. Several of their warriors bore scratches and bruises, but they had fought bravely and suffered no casualties.
Then, the air grew still. Blu and co. saw a whole army of Emberwings at the other side of the tunnel.
They saw that 7 Emberwings were coming towards them, who were accompanied by 4 more Emberwing soldiers that flew behind them.
Sapphire narrowed her eyes, as she thought she knew those Emberwings personally.
After about 20 seconds, the 7 Emberwings and 4 Emberwing soldiers stopped and landed on the ground, with the tallest Emberwing standing on a big rock to show that he was the leader. On his right side, next to the rock, were Davina, Salazar/Deathstroke and Felipe/Deadshot, whilst on his left side were Skarsnik (who sat on Gobbla after he came running towards the place), Shira and Scarecrow.
Blu and co. landed in front of the 7 Emberwings, but the rest of the Azuls, Spix macaws and red macaw tribes stayed in the back but still landed on the ground to catch their breaths. Even Bia, Carla, Tiago, Renaldo, Miguel, Skye, Henrik, Bruno and Astrid stayed in the back.
Sapphire's eyes narrowed as she saw the leader, his red eyes piercing through hers.
"Terrin." Sapphire said coldly.
"Well, well, well. If it isn't my old spix macaw enemy, Sapphire." Terrin said in a dark tone. "It appears that you have survived the earthquake all those years in Peru, along with the rest of your pathetic friends."
"You don not speak to my wife that way, you orange demon." Eduardo said sternly, his eyes narrowed.
Terrin's red eyes fixed themselves at Eduardo.
"Mhh. You must be Sapphire's husband I presume?" Terrin asked evilly.
"Yes." Eduardo replied. "The name's Eduardo and I will tell you that you will not lay another wing tip on my wife."
"Heh, we'll see about that old bird. You have never even seen how my husband fights." Davina said evilly towards Eduardo.
"Wanna get another headbutt, Davina? Then keep insulting my parents." Jewel said coldly, her eyes narrowed.
Terrin's evil gaze turned towards Jewel and said: "Huh, like mother, like daughter. You must be this 'Jewel' I heard so much about back in Peru."
Jewel's eyes stayed narrowed as she stared at Terrin, ready to attack him, for she wasn't afraid of his evil gaze.
Deathstroke saw this and even stood on the brink of drawing his 'spear' from the vine on his back.
"You don't seem to have gone sloppy on your reflexes on protecting your leader, right Salazar? But when it comes to your other Emberwings, you prefer to fight alone, right?" Amalia said towards him.
Deathstroke snarled at Amalia and said: "Seems that even a flood is to weak to kill you, do I really have to kill you myself, Amalia?" Plus, it's Deathstroke, not Salazar."
Then, Jasmine's eyes narrowed and fixed themselves onto Deadshot's.
"Seems, you are still alive, Deadshot. Have you been killing innocent animals from afar for your pleasure in all the years I haven't seen you?" Jasmine asked coldly.
Deadshot gave an evil smile and said: "Heh, you've gained some level of respect."
Jasmine (irritated and confused): "How so?"
Deadshot: "Well, you didn't call me 'Felipe', like you usually did."
Then, Felipe stepped in, narrowed his eyes and said: "That's because she now has a Felipe that's on her side."
Deadshot was a bit flabbergast and asked: "Your name's Felipe too?"
"Yes, and I'm gonna make sure you'll pay for ruining such a wonderful name." Felipe said as he stared straight into Deadshot's green eyes.
"You're all lucky Terrin ordered me to stand down and that there aren't any shadows in this part of the tunnels, aside from the dark tunnel left of me. Otherwise, I would have attacked you all and taken a few of you down before you could even notice." Shira said.
"We've beaten you once this day, Shira, we could do it again." Thomas replied.
"Yeah." Roberto said. "And don't forget that you've lost all your fights against Thomas, or it at least ended in a draw."
Shira merely smirked and asked: "Is it Thomas who might win battles? Or…" Shira paused for a moment before saying: "Or is it Big Bad Thom?"
Blu, Jewel and most of the birds who knew about Thomas' situation froze for a bit, which made Scarecrow smile and chuckle evilly.
"Another thing that makes you all afraid, and I don't even need to use my fear toxin to do it." Scarecrow said coldly.
"I know what you did to my youngest son earlier, Jonathan." Alejandro said in a calm but furious voice towards Scarecrow.
Megeslav was still fixing his furious gaze towards Skarsnik, who was still sitting on Gobbla's back.
Gobbla noticed this and let out a hiss, which took everyone's attention, even Terrin's.
"Patience, Gobbla, patience." Skarsnik said as he patted Gobbla on the back. "Soon ye'll get yar vengeance and you can eat those little birds that escaped your maw earlier.
This made Blu's eyes widen, as he was referring to Bia and Carla.
"Dare to touch my daughters again, and I'll kill that lizard myself!" Blu yelled furiously, but it only ensured that Terrin took his evil gaze on him.
"So, you must be the youngest son of Alejandro and Camila." Terrin said coldly. "Blu, is it?"
"Yes." Blu said. "And my sibling and mother-in-law told me everything about you and your evil plans. I know that personally I can't take you down, but with the help of my friends and family, your reign of terror ends here and now."
Terrin chuckled and said: "Bold words, for someone who was raised by humans."
"If you say the word 'pet', I will tear you apart personally." Blu said in a calm but a furious way, which made Deathstroke draw his spear.
"Let me tell you this, Blu." Terrin began. "You might stand in my way, but my quarrel is not with you, it's someone else's his."
"Who?" Blu asked.
Terrin looked towards his army of Emberwings and yelled: "You can come forward now!"
Then, Terrin looked back to his enemies and smiled sadistically.
"Who has a quarrel to deal with my son?" Camila asked angrily.
"Oh…" Terrin said in an evil, yet amusing way. "It's an old friend of your son; one he has confronted before, including your daughter."
Blu and Jewel raised an eyebrow but then saw a white bird descending down and when he landed, he covered his body and face with his wings. Both Blu and Jewel gasped in horror what they saw.
Jewel (dumbfounded): It-, It can't be…
Then, the white bird revealed himself completely and cackled maniacally.
"Nigel…" Blu said.
"Hold up! That was the bird that played as 'Bob' last year for the auditions!" Pedro yelled.
"Weeds never seems to die." Rafael said as he narrowed his eyes at Nigel.
"Well, well, well, if it isn't my old nemesis, Blu" Nigel said after he stopped cackling.
"You were supposed to be in captivity." Jewel said sternly.
"Oh, pretty bird, you think a giant cage can hold me? That that cursed frog could hold me? You're not the one to talk about captivity." Nigel said evilly.
"So, you're that evil cockatoo my brother and Jewel talked about." Thomas said sternly towards Nigel.
Nigel took a look at Thomas and Jasmine, who was standing beside Blu in a defensive position. Nigel's smile turned even more evil.
"Heh, your siblings, I presume?" Nigel said towards Blu in a sadistic manner.
"If you hurt them." Blu said.
"You'll what? Jump on me? Haven't you noticed my feathers are back?" Nigel asked.
"How did they even grow back? Didn't you wear some sort of vest last time we saw you?" Blu asked.
"Oh, my new Emberwing allies, particularly, Terrin here, has offered me something that could grow my feathers back." Nigel replied.
Everyone looked dumbfounded, but then it hit Amalia.
"The feather elixir…" Amalia gasped.
Nigel chuckled evilly. "Glad you remembered."
"The what?" Arturo asked.
"Some sort of potion that could give featherless or flightless birds their feathers back in mere moments… it's an ancient potion that lies in a well in the Underpassage." Willfried replied.
"Exactly." Terrin said. "We found out its secret and used it on some of our own birds."
"How dare you desecrate the ancient heritage of the Azul clan…" Alejandro hissed at Terrin, which only made Terrin smile more evilly.
As Blu and co. stared on Terrin and his Inner circle members, the kids watched from behind, not far removed from the wall on their left.
"Who's that white bird?" Astrid asked.
"If I'm not mistaking, that must be the evil cockatoo our parents had once faced, named Nigel." Bia replied.
"Yeah, he's really evil, when we still lived in Rio, dad sometimes had nightmares of him." Tiago said.
"So I've heard from Carla, and last year he disguised himself as a so-called 'Bob the Bird' in the auditions, with the intent to kill Blu, right, Carls?" Renaldo said as he turned towards Carla (who was closest to the wall on their right), who knows the story more than the rest.
"Carls?" Renaldo asked as he saw that his love interest staring at the ground near the wall.
Although the rest of the kids didn't see what Carla was looking at, before Carla, a small spot on the ground seem to more, as parts of stone cracked a little.
Carla's eyes narrowed as the cracks became wider and before she knew it, there was a little hole in the ground, leading to a small dark tunnel.
"Carla, sis?" Bia asked. "What do you see?"
But Carla didn't reply as she saw that something was staring at her, not just into her eyes, but into her very soul. And the thing that stared at her, were 2 glowing red eyes…
To be continued…