Chapter 27: Terrin's inner circle

Back at the Amazon sanctuary, Thomas and Jasmine had just finished talking about their life after they lost Blu. They told the crowd about their 12 years of peace at Xlaxlan Twelve Peaks and all the achievements their parents had made there as the replacement chieftain and chieftainess. However, they then talked about how they felt the earthquake a little bid, the one that had hit Peru, the arrival of Terrin and his Emberwings and how they captured half of Twelve Peaks and many tunnels in the Underpassage.

When Thomas and Jasmine were asked why they didn't manage to reclaim the lost temples, they told the crowd that the Azul Clan, alongside their allies, had intentions to do it and almost stood at the point of launching the attack, but that the conflict became much more complex for both the Azuls and Emberwing with the arrival of a second enemy. This enemy came from under the earth and weren't birds at all: sinister, verminous and red-eyed rats, known as the Svaken.

This was something the crowd, especially Mia's scarlet tribe were not expecting at all, that the conflict would be one fought between 3 sides.

Thomas and Jasmine continued to tell them how they and the Azul Clan had fought both Emberwings and Svaken alike. They told them the ways they would battle each other, the victories they achieved over both species, but also the defeats and setbacks they witnessed. They then told everyone about how the final battle played out and when they came to the part when the battle ended due to a flood, everyone gasped, with Sapphire, Mia, Arturo, Megeslav and Mia's tribe being the most shocked, since they too had witnessed a natural disaster that ended their war against the Emberwings and ruined their home in Peru.

"And the two of us have been living alone for 6 years in the Amazon, until we arrived here and found our younger brother." Sapphire said, finishing her story.

The atmosphere was thick, and everyone was silent, until Sapphire broke the silence.

"Wow, Jasmine, Thomas, I never would have thought that… that you 2, your parents and the entire Azul Clan would have to go through all of that." Sapphire replied.

"And I'm glad that you told us your story, Sapphire." Eduardo said. "Thank you, now with hearing both of your stories, we have a better idea against what, or should I say whom we're up against if we should face them.

Andor then looked at his scout Björn and asked: "Björn, how many Emberwings did you count there? Have you seen much?"

Björn had already gained his breath back and spoke clear so that all the birds around him could hear it.

"I've counted and they are approximately with 850 members, at least." Björn replied.

Andor's and Amalia's eyes winded, whilst there was a lot of murmur between the member of the Azul Clan.

"What's more…" Björn said. "… I saw that all of his members of his evil inner circle were standing on the plaza."

Andor and Sapphire both sighed and placed a wing on their face.

"Really?" Andor said annoyed. "As if at least 850 Emberwings weren't enough."

"When auntie Jassie and Uncle Tommy told their story to us, they said something about This Terrnin's inner circle of evil and even Granny Sapphie said something about it in her story, but we never got to fully know who they truly are. Can you tell us about them?" Bia asked.

Andor, Sapphire and Amalia sighed, and Sapphire said: "Well, then, since we have told you the story about the Emberwings and Terrin, it is time you should know about his inner circle members."

All the animals once again listened attentively as Sapphire, Mia, Andor, Amalia, Arturo, Thomas, Jasmine and Megeslav took to the podium, ready to talk about Terrin and his inner circle.

Sapphire began and said: "First on the list, we have Terrin himself, the big and cruel leader of the Emberwings. He is an uncommonly skilled and also brutal warrior. He can easily take on 10 well-trained macaws and can make acrobatic moves when fighting, with his back-break technique being the most well-known."

"Back-break technique?" Tiago asked confused.

"He grabs an opponent in a very special way, makes a backflip and bumps his opponent so hard against the ground that their back and sometimes also their necks break in the process." Sapphire replied.

"Granny Sapphie, before you continue about Terrin's inner circle, is it true that these Emberwings have something inside of them, some kind of connection that makes them stronger after some fithing, 'cause Auntie Jassie and Uncle Tommy told us about it." Carla asked.

"You mean their 'Murderous Prowess'?" Mia asked to which Carla nodded. "Yes, it is true, it exists, it isn't fictional."

"And when that Murderous Prowess was activated, Terrin would be able to take on at least 20 well-trained macaws on his own." Jasmine replied.

"Does Terrin have any weaknesses?" Jewel asked.

"Not much, but his own true weakness, with his Murderess Prowess not activated, is a macaw that would stand his equal or even stronger than him. But even then it is a challenge for those who fight him." Arturo said. "I assume that some of the Azuls and perhaps Thomas and Jasmine know about this.

Andor, Thomas and Jasmine nodded in agreement.

Then, Jasmine continued.

Jasmine: "Next up, we have Davina, Terrin's battle-crazed and bloodthirsty wife. If you thought that Terrin loves to battle and kill, then you haven't seen Davina. She attacks with pure pleasure and intents to kill. Although not as strong as Terrin, Davina had shown to be a formidable foe to fight. And I can speak of it, since I personally fought her on many occasions."

Nico: "What are her weaknesses?"

"Davina's biggest weakness is her overconfidence to fight and her arrogance that she's the best warrior after Terrin and another weakness is being overwhelmed by too many numbers, but even then, she would bring a heavy death toll, before retreating and recovering." Mia said. "Davina was my biggest rival when we were at war with the Emberwings back in Peru.

Arturo: "Next up we have Davina's high-pitched and crazy brother, Skarsnik."

Many birds looked dumbfounded at that name, since it isn't really Hispanic, but Megeslav's face went from a stern one into a furious one when he heard that name.

"Skarsnik is an Emberwing who fights with a long and sharp stick, which humans often call a 'spear'. Like Terrin, he can make many acrobatic moves while fighting. He's also a mastermind when it comes to setting elaborate and complex traps." Arturo said.

Before he could say more about Skarsnik, Megeslav spoke to the crowd.

"When we face the Emberwings, I want each of you to remind this very clearly: You can take out whatever orange devil you like, but Skarsnik's life is mine." Megeslav said in an extremely serious tone.

Everyone was a bit shocked to see Megeslav like this, especially the Azuls. Why did he hate Skarsnik so much? To Mia, Sapphire, Arturo and Mia's tribe, however, this didn't come as a surprise.

"Meg, I know that the recent news of the Emberwings still being alive comes as shocking news for you, to us all in fact, but you can't blindly go after Skarsnik alone." Sapphire said. "You can't let your vengeance get a hold of you."

Megeslav then turned to Sapphire with surprised and also angry eyes.

"Have you perhaps forgotten what he did, Sapphire?" Megeslav said extremely serious.

"Meg, you need to calm down and-" Sapphire said but was cut off by Megeslav.

Megeslav (furious): "HAVE YOU FORGOTTEN WHAT THAT MANIAC DID TO ME, SAPPH, TO MY DAUGHTERS?!"

"I HAVEN'T FORGOTTEN WHAT SKARSNIK DID, MEG, AND I NEVER WILL!" Sapphire yelled back.

"Your daughters?" Blu asked confused. "Did you have daughters?"

Megeslav calmed down a bit and said: "Yes, I had two wonderful angles, Svetlana and Lilian. After their mother, Carina, died of a tumor, I raised them myself. Svetlana took after her mother and spoke more with a Spanish accent, whilst Lilian took after me and spoke with a more Russian accent."

Megeslav paused for a moment and then said: "And you know what was so special about them when they were young?"

Many birds shook their head.

"When they were young, my Svetlana and Lilian had almost the exact shape of your 2 daughters, Blu and Jewel." Megeslav said while looking at Bia and Carla.

This was something no one had expected, but then Sapphire looked a bit closer, and then it hit her.

"Of course, how could I have forgotten?" Sapphire said whilst placing a wing on her head. "Carla looks exactly the same as Svetlana and Bia looks exactly the same as Lilian. The only differences were that they had the colors of a military macaw and Svetlana had yellow eyes like her mother, whilst Lilian had dark green eyes like Meg."

Many eyes were pointed towards Bia and Carla, including the ones of their parents and brother.

"So that's why you were so stunned when you saw us the first time…" Carla said to Megeslav. "We reminded you of your 2 daughters when they were our age…"

"Exactly, and even during the celebrations I heard and you talking with your boyfriends, and I saw my two daughters in you. And Skarsnik is the reason that they are gone from this world for good!" Megeslav yelled.

There was a lot of shocked murmuring with the animals.

"W- what happened? How exactly did Skarsnik take their lives?" Andor asked.

Suddenly Megeslav gasped and saw flashes before his eyes, first of the fighting with Skarsnik and then the gurgling of his daughters with Lilian saying 'papa…' in a very sad way.

"Please, Andor!" Sapphire yelled in shock. "Don't ask Megeslav or even me about it! I just arrived at the scene when the blow to his daughters was delt. And let me assure you, it was a nasty move by Skarsnik."

Jasmine saw Megeslav's sad face and said: "Megeslav, I don't know how Skarsnik took your daughters' lives, but I assure you that they are far from the only ones."

Megeslav then looked at Jasmine with a sorrowed face and asked: "really?"

"Yeah." Thomas said with some disgust. "Skarsnik has killed many birds that others hold the most dear. It's like a hobby for him to do it, breaking one emotionally by taking the lives of loved ones. He tries to break you either physically or emotionally, sometimes both."

Sapphire then stepped over to Megeslav and patted him on the should and said: "Remember, Meg, you're not the only one who would fight the Emberwings. We're all in this together."

This made Megeslav smile and said: "Thank you Sapphire, I appreciate it."

"We have given a description about Skarsnik, however, 2 weeks after the war of Twelve Peaks started, Skarsnik gained a new feature." Thomas said.

This was something that shocked Mia, her tribe, Arturo, Sapphire and Megeslav, with Arturo saying: "Oh, really and what's that?"

Thomas: "Although Skarsnik is a fierce fighter himself, what really makes him formidable, is his ever-present pet."

When hearing the word 'pet' it gave Blu a chill down his spine, whilst others looked stunned.

"And what exactly was this 'pet' of his?" Blu asked nervously.

"It was a big Komodo dragon he named Gobbla."

Many birds looked confused at each other. What's a Komodo dragon?

"That's not possible." Bia said, whilst pointing her wing like a finger. "Komodo dragons live on the Indonesian island of Komodo and a few other Indonesian islands, which are about 11520 miles west or about the same distance east of here."

"And yet, here there was one." Thomas said. "We don't know where it came from, possibly escaped human captivity, I really don't know."

Jasmine: "But what we do know is that Gobbla was saved from a near death by Skarsnik. This was a rarity for an Emberwing, a society marked by its 'survival of the fittest' ethos. However, this act of kindness ensured for an unbreakable bond between the two and during many battles, Skarsnik uses Gobbla as a mount."

"How does this Gobbla lizard fight?" Mia asked.

"Gobbla uses a variety of attacks, including snapping with his beak, slapping with his large tail, slashing with his sharp claws or even devouring his enemies alive." Thomas said.

That 'devouring alive' was something that sent a chill across the bodies of many birds.

"And most of the Azuls that he devoured… were children…" Jasmine said with a heavy sigh.

"Although Gobbla had eaten many of our clan members, he had devoured much more Svaken during the 1-year conflict within Twelve Peaks." Thomas said.

"And that is a full description of Skarsnik and Gobbla, who might be 2, but fight and act as 1." Andor said.

"We've talked a lot about this Skarsnik, but what about the others you haven't told us about?" Eduardo asked.

"Right." Amalia said. "Next, we have Salazar, aka Deathstroke, my archenemy and the personal bodyguard of Terrin and Davina."

"Terrin and Davina have a bodyguard?" Jewel asked confused.

"Yes, Jewel, just one." Sapphire said.

"I told you that the Emberwings weren't discovered by humans, right?" Thomas asked while looking at Blu and Jewel, to which they nodded. "Well, it's not entirely true, there were 2 who had been seen by humans, but they were too evil to care that they were a rare species."

Amalia: "Thomas is right, there, when Salazar was young and lost his parents, he was captured by humans and wanted to impose medical tests on him due to his weakness."

Blu (curious): "And what exactly did these 'tests' involve?"

Megeslav: "It involved experiments to make birds physically stronger, but it failed when they got more than they hoped for after some experiments on Salazar."

"What happened?" Roberto asked with some fear in his voice because of his past experience with humans.

"Salazar became immensely strong and attacked all the scientists, killing even one, before escaping and finding his tribe back." Megeslav said. "There, he immediately pledged his loyalty, not to the tribe, but to Terrin and Davina themselves. Terrin saw potential in Salazar and took him under his wing, becoming Terrin's protégé. And due to his fighting skills, he quickly gained the nickname Deathstroke."

"Deathstroke's fighting style is also one with acrobatic movements and like Skarsnik, he fights with a long stick, but one that doesn't have a sharp point, but rather a knot on each side." Mia said. "He has an immense agility, stigma, durability and reflexes, but his biggest weakness is that he despises teamwork, with Terrin and Davina being the only exception. So, when confronted with an equally strong or stronger opponent and fighting alone, he could be beaten, although it takes quite some time. Other weaknesses are that he often underestimates his opponents, his overconfidence and the fact that he only has 1 good eye. His left eye is blinded due to a battle he once lost against me and Arturo."

"So that's why he's blind in his left eye." Willfried said.

Jasmine continued: "Then we also have another formidable foe, who was also my nemesis due to his similar fighting skills, called… Felipe."

Everyone gasped and all eyes were pointed towards Felipe.

"Excuse me? Is that the reason why some of you (looks at Thomas, Arturo, Sapphire and Jasmine) said that they don't have good memories about my name?" Felipe asked dumbfounded.

"Yes." Thomas replied. "But although his true name is Felipe, we know and refer to him more with his nickname…"

"Deadshot." Jasmine, Sapphire, Mia, Arturo and Megeslav said all at the same time.

"Deadshot, as his name implies, is a master when it comes to take down enemies from afar. He is able to shoot poisonous of venomous darts with a pipe, or throw stone with an efficient, yet also deadly throw." Megeslav said.

"And since the Emberwings came to Twelve Peaks, he quickly learned how to fight with toxin plants, both with sacks but mostly with balls. And because I was also able to take down enemies from afar, we became archenemies of each other." Jasmine said.

"Well, consider now that he too will be my archenemy for ruining my good name." Felipe said with much disgust.

"What are the weaknesses of this Deadshot?" Rafael asked.

"His biggest weakness is his recklessness in battle, which is mostly when his Murderous Prowess is activated or when he has to fight close combat, since he's more someone who could easily take enemies out from afar." Amalia said.

"Now up to the next one and my archrival, Shira." Thomas said with some disgust in his voice.

"Ah, yes, Shira." Sapphire said.

"What is her profession within Terrin's circle?" Eva asked.

Thomas: "Shira is both Terrin's superspy and master assassin. Striking down enemies swiftly from the shadows, the dark, the night and at the most unexpected of moments."

Arturo: "She is as fast as she's deadly and those 'shadow skills' as we call them are unmatched by any bird."

"That's why many Azuls couldn't sometimes sleep at night because they didn't know when or where Shira might strike." Andor said.

"What's her weakness?" Pedro asked.

"Shira's biggest weaknesses is someone with sharp reflexes in the dark, who could dodge her attacks and being surrounded by many enemies in pure daylight."

"And last but certainly not least in Terrin's circle of evil, we have Jonathan, aka Scarecrow." Sapphire said.

"His name sounds pretty American." Blu said.

"He also was raised somewhere in the US, little brother, the only other Emberwing who had been seen by humans, but they were too evil to care about his species." Thomas said.

"Where exactly in the US was he raised?" Blu asked.

Thomas and Jasmine both shrugged, but Megeslav spoke up.

"Somewhere in Texas on a farm, that's all we know about the location of where he lived." Megeslav said.

"Why is his nickname Scarecrow?" Carla asked.

"Yeah, why is that, is it because there were some scarecrows on that farm?" Tiago asked amusingly.

"What's a scarecrow?" Mimi asked curiously.

Blu: "Well, Mimi, it's a decoy made together with straw, sticks and other material to scare away birds from crops of a farm, particularly crows, a bird species not native to South America."

"Oh." Mimi said. "But how did he end up there and how did he came back?"

"That's something I, Jasmine and all of the Azul Clan have also been wondering." Thomas said.

Sapphire then said: "I'm not someone who has great knowledge of human things, but I'll let Megeslav talk about Scarecrow's backstory, 'cause he can explain that better and you, Blu (looks at Blu), will definitely understand what Megeslav will tell."

Megeslav then took to the stage and began to speak.

"No one truly knows how Scarecrow ended up in that farm and I only heard it from rumors from multiple Emberwings I had spied on years ago. But the story goes that he was smuggled as a chick out of his tribe and was brought to the United States, specifically the State of Texas, where he would be raised by humans who had a farm of corn, but underneath that, was also…" Megeslav said, but also hesitated for a moment, since Blu, Bia, Carla, Tiago and perhaps Jewel would understand what he was about to say.

"There was also what, Megeslav?" Blu asked.

Megeslav sighed and said: "There was also underneath it a drug farm and a lab to truly make them."

Blu, Jewel, Bia, Tiago and Carla gasped, whilst the others simply shared confused looks at each other. Mia, Arturo, Sapphire and the rest of Mia's tribe didn't share these looks, since Megeslav had already told them what drugs were, at least in the best possible ways he could.

"What are drugs?" someone in the crowd asked.

"I'm also curious that that is, since you hesitated to tell it, Megeslav." Eduardo said.

Blu was the one to speak up.

Blu: "Let's just say this everyone, although some humans are evil and destroy beautiful places like rainforests or poach on birds, there are some humans who are pretty… how should I say it? Destructive towards themselves…"

"What do you mean by that?" a spix macaw from Eduardo's tribe asked.

Megeslav: "He means that humans are able to create some stuff that they take in and, in the process, destroying themselves both mentally and physically."

Many birds, including Eduardo frowned at this, the evil humans that they have known for most of the time were loggers and poachers, but humans capable of destroying themselves is something they had never heard of before.

"But what does this have to do with this Jonathan, or Scarecrow?" Bia asked.

"I was getting there." Megeslav replied.

Megeslav: "As I was saying, he grew up in that farm where those humans would often abuse him, fueling his darkness and hatred in general."

Megeslav then looked at Blu and his family and asked: "Do you 5 know about movies and Tv's?"

"Yep, we often watched it when we lived in Rio." Carla replied.

"Well, Jonathan was mostly intrigued by horror movies that he watched when he was a pet, especially ones where scarecrows would appear in." Megeslav said. "And as the story goes, in his final year at that farm, he secretly used his superhuman intelligence to create a drug of his own, one that many of the tribe members I lived with, and I assume also many Azuls (looks at the Azul Clan) have witnessed firsthand."

It suddenly hit Jasmine as she said: "His fear toxin…"

"His what?" Jewel asked confused.

"His fear toxin, Jewel." Megeslav replied. "During his final year he secretly made that toxin in the lab of those humans that kept him and after long nights of hard work, he was able to create it with and without human objects, like chemical sets. Sure, without human objects it would take more time, but that's how he preferred to do it and he especially did it when we fought the Emberwings in Peru."

"What type of ingredients does he need for that and what does this fear toxin do?" Bia asked.

Megeslav: "Jonathan is the only one who knows exactly what he needs to create that vile toxin, so to that I cannot give you an answer, Bia. But what it does, I can tell. As the name already says, it is a toxin that, once it enters your body, you will experience hallucinations of great fears that you have, if not your biggest fears possible."

Jasmine: "Indeed, and some birds who had an overdose of the toxin even died of heart attack."

"Wow, that truly sounds like one of the most dangerous toxins I've ever heard of." Blu said shocked.

"Indeed, it is, Blu. And when his owners found out about it, Jonathan's evil side was truly unleashed and he subdued them with his fear toxin, giving them an overdose and making them hallucinate their worst fears possible, or at least that's what the rumors say. After that, he gave up his name Jonathan and would call himself Scarecrow, the bird king of fear. He vowed to look for his ancient tribe, the Emberwings, and after a year of searching, he finally found them at the point when Terrin was in power. Scarecrow immediately pledged his allegiance to him and became Terrin's evil brain within his inner circle." Megeslav said.

"It was also he who invented some… nasty stuff… that he injected into the bodies of the Emberwings, thus inventing the Murderous Prowess." Sapphire said.

This made many Azuls murmured amongst each other and Andor even said shocked: "Whas it really Scarecrow who invented the Murderous Prowess?"

"That's from what we've heard from some captured Emberwings." Arturo said.

"How does this Scarecrow inject his toxin into his enemies?" Tiago asked.

"There are two ways." Megeslav said. "He has made a brace on his right talon made from human objects, mainly iron and sharp syringes. He is able to spray his toxin like a cloud of smoke or gas onto his opponents' faces, thus making the toxin enter your lungs. The second way to do it, which is often a viler one, is that he injects his toxin into the bloodstream of his opponents by using his syringes. And a concentrated dose often leads to devastating results for the ones that are exposed to it…"

"As we said before, Skarsnik is someone who tries to break you both physically and emotionally, but the emotional part only limits to taking the lives of the ones you hold most dear, in which Megeslav is a perfect example." Arturo said before continuing. "Scarecrow on the other hand, is someone who purely tries to break you psychologically and also emotionally. He might be physically weaker than the others of Terrin's inner circle, but he has the quickest reflexes, wears leaves he painted black as a costume to look more frightful, and he tries to dominate his opponents by breaking them with his vile toxin. And let me assure you, he takes IMMENSE pleasure in it, cackling often like a crazed maniac in a high-pitched voice."

"And with that, everyone, we have told you all about Terrin and his inner circle of 6 other evil members." Andor said.

Everyone was in shock of everything they had just heard. As if an army of bloodthirsty orange macaws and a ruthless leader isn't enough, it also has 6 other powerful birds, each with their own unique and deadly skills…

To be continued…