• Previous Chapters:
    Chapter One - 'Thoughts'
    Chapter Two - 'Rebirth'
    Chapter Three - 'Flying Nightmares'
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    ‘A Rogue Echo’

    -Noxx-

    Noxx felt his heart flutter in quick panic, an elder, especially not the chief elder, had never paid much attention to him and his mother. They had always said that he and his mother were weak and were not to be bothered with. His mind raced with possibilities; had he done something so horrible that the elders actually took notice? He couldn’t begin to fathom what he may have done.

    Not wanting to be a burden to her as she flew, he let go of his mother’s fur and spread his wings, preparing to take off after Aria, but Serena held him back for a moment, “Noxx, wait, please.” before he could completely turn to face her, she already had him wrapped in his wings in an embrace that said she loved him…but she was also frightened.
    He could smell the fear and uncertainty rising from her body, and it made his heart pound even harder against his chest, “…Mom…what’s going to happen?” he could feel himself begin to tremble, but he held himself well, he didn’t want to worry his mother anymore than she already was.

    Serena sighed and nuzzled the top of his head, “Aria…she just wants to talk to us…she’d concerned about your health. Now that the migration is coming up soon, she just wants to make sure you can make it.”

    He nodded, his heart still pounding, he couldn’t help but think there was something else accompanying this ‘talk’ they were about to have. As she let go of him, he flashed her a confident smile and flexed his small wings, trying to appear muscular, “I’ll be able to make it, mom, I just know it! I’m just as strong as Mist and the others, you’ll see!”

    His mother smiled wearily, “That’s my little miracle.”

    He smiled at what she called him, ‘her little miracle’ was her nickname for him since his birth. He could remember her saying it over and over as she nursed him; an overwhelming sense of pride and love swelled within him as he thought back. His mother was really the only bat he had who truly cared for him; he knew he wouldn’t trade the love of his mother for the love of his whole colony. All he ever really needed was her. Though, as the light from the rising sun filtered through Tree Haven’s many knotholes, his smile faded. The light made his mother look so tired…so frail…and it was all because of him.

    Aria must’ve noticed the same thing he did as she circled back to them, obviously tired of waiting, “Serena, this really only concerns the boy. There is no reason for you to come with us, I will personally report back to you with any information about your son’s health.” her old voice held genuine concern, something that really surprised Noxx, “Eat three of the leaves the Elder Council gave you and sleep on all fours.” she shot Noxx an accusing glance out of the corner of her eye, “…have a restful sleep for once.”

    Serena must’ve been too tired to argue, because all she did was yawn and fly off, she didn’t even say goodbye to Noxx. Her actions made his heart sink, but he was happy that his mother would actually sleep well through the morning. “sleep tight, mom…” he muttered under his breath as he watched his mother fly higher to their roost.

    Aria beat him forcefully against his back with her wing to get his attention, “Come with me now, boy, we have much to talk about.” she lifted and hovered for a moment to make sure he followed this time. “Quickly!”

    He jumped a little when she raised her voice to him, he never liked being yelled at, “Yes, Ma’am…” he had to flap his tired wings several times before he managed to lift from his platform and he followed as close behind the elder as he possibly could without running into her. Terrified anticipation burned at the back of his skull, he didn’t like the feeling and he wished Aria would tell him what exactly was going on.

    He expected her to pull up and fly to the medical roost, that was where he always went as he clung to his mother when she needed more herbs. But, instead, she circled downward towards the gnarled roots of the tree. As they flew downward, his confusion and the burning feeling in his head increased to a dizzying level, he could see the tree spinning around him, even though he flew straight. He felt as if he were going to pass out in midair.

    They had both reached the bottom and there seemed to be nowhere else left to go, nothing more than roots that lead to underground dead-ends. Curious, he landed quickly, and rather clumsily beside her. Because he was still dizzy, he stumbled forward and nearly fell into the soft, aged wood of Tree Haven, but Aria thrust out her wing and he caught himself on her leathery membranes. He merely grunted in thanks, finding it hard to form words in his current state.

    “If you can’t already tell,” her voice echoed loudly in the quiet of the tree’s base, “we aren’t here to discuss your health…” she jerked her wing away from him once he found his footing, “Though, by the way you’re acting, we actually will need to check on you…” there was that hint of concern again. How could she be so rude to him one minute and seem to care about him the next?

    He shook his head, trying to clear the haze his worry and fear had caused, “…I’m fine now…not knowing what’s going on has just given me a headache…that’s all…” now that his vision had cleared, he looked around again and saw nothing more than dirt and roots, “…what are we doing down here anyway?” he could feel his legs and arms beginning to tremble with fatigue, “…I want to get back to my mother…” he was beginning to whimper, “…I’m tired and I don’t feel good…”

    “Stop your sniveling!” she snapped, “This is rather important!” her nostrils flared in both annoyance and purpose, she was sniffing the air for something and Noxx couldn’t understand what.

    He watched her intently, as she nosed through the dirt in front of a root, he couldn’t help but notice a strong feeling of déjà vu. He felt as if he’d been here before, watching an elder unveil a secret very few had ever seen. His heart raced as her claws broke through the dirt blocking the entrance to the carefully concealed tunnel. Somehow, he had been there before…and he ached to see it again. Immediately after she pushed through the thick layer of dirt, he followed her without instruction to do so, not wanting the wonders within to escape and extinguish in the outside air.

    As he pushed his way through, she quickly sealed the entrance, nearly catching his tail membrane in the thick dirt without even muttering an apology. She pushed ahead of him and continued crawling through the dirt and mud, Noxx quickly and quietly in tow. The feeling that he had been there before continued to grow as he pulled himself through the soft dirt; the deeper they went, the stranger he began to feel. As they came to another dead end, another thick wall dirt, he could heart his heartbeat pound in his ears; they had finally reached it, a place that felt so new to him…yet a place he felt he had been to so long ago.

    Aria pushed through their last blockade, letting Noxx all the way through this time, and lead him to a single root that hung from the ceiling that served as a small roost for little more than two bats. The chamber they roosted in was completely dark, and he was curious as to exactly where they were; he took a deep breath and was about to bark out sound to attempt to understand his surroundings, but Aria’s wing beat harshly against his mouth causing him to only whimper.

    “Don’t you dare!” she hissed at him, her voice barely above a whisper, “The smallest use of echoes that don’t have a real purpose will taint and distort the stories floating around here!” her rough tone immediately lessened and turned gentle, almost nostalgic, “…it’s been nearly one hundred years since a newborn has been allowed down here…”

    He stared down, not wanting to make the slightest bit of eye contact with the oddly moody elder, “…the echo chamber…” he whispered, his voice barely audible, even in the silence of the cave.

    “You know of this place?” she truly sounded amazed as no one, save for the few who had amazing stories to tell, knew of the chamber, “…Who exactly told you?”

    He shrugged, though it wasn’t a visible gesture in the darkness, “…no one told me, really…I just had this feeling…I’ve been here before…” that uncomfortable prickle beneath his fur had returned that minute he finished, he had never told anyone, not even his mother, that he had these kind of feelings…feelings that he knew many things about the old tree that maybe even the elders didn’t know.

    Her ears twitched, again searching the air or something that seemed important, “I see…there is something I’d like you to hear, Noxx, scoot closer to me and strain your ears…this is very faint…”

    Noxx didn’t still didn’t understand, but he listened for fear of getting hit with her leathery wing again. His claws scratched lightly against the root the roosted on as he moved closer to her and strained his ears. The echo was indeed faint, but the picture it sang to him seemed far more familiar to him than he wanted it too…the banded cannibal.

    He gasped and nearly let go of the root in surprise, “I’ve seen him!” he squeaked, “The was the cannibal that haunted my nightmares!” he was trembling now, the bat his mother had told him wasn’t real had really existed.

    “…that is what I thought when your mother first described it to me…I hadn’t thought anything about it until now…” her voice was now more calm than it had ever been, she sounded almost grandmother-like, “You possess a very unique gift, Noxx, a gift that only one other had possessed before…you will have to figure out what these ‘gift’ really are on your own.” her wings rustled as she spread them slightly to push him away, “Listen to the other echoes of our history, see what you can learn.”

    The way she spoke, he half expected her to leave him in the chamber alone, but she stayed by him as he swiveled his ears in many different directions, catching all sorts of echoes, it was hard to concentrate on just one:

    “…banished to the night for all eternity…”

    “…cle…m…am…”

    “…I won’t let this continue!”

    “…n..t…my…ult…”

    “…Nocturna’s Promise fulfilled…or…”

    “…I…inn…nt”

    “…Lured by the false cries of our family…not real…tricked…”

    “…wro…y…ban…hed…”

    “Finally free…he sun returned to us…Vampyrum threat finally vanquished…”

    “…I…on’t…w…nt…thi…”

    No matter where he turned his ears, no matter what he tried to listen to, something else pushed it’s way forward, as if the echo was looking for attention. As he tried to lock onto it, it managed to escape his ears, as if leading him on a chase, like it was a game of some sort. Though, he managed to catch glimpses of the elusive story’s echo picture: a great dark bat with strange markings on his body…he looked horribly ferocious and it frightened Noxx that such a story existed in the chamber…but, for some odd reason, he sensed something else in the bat…something he couldn’t place…

    Aria broke his concentration as she brushed him with her wing, “come, let us be off, we’ve also got an examination to perform…” she let go of the root and Noxx reluctantly followed. “Did you learn anything boy?”

    Noxx yawned and nodded, he had only just realized how tired he felt, “yes, I did, actually…but, something bothers me though…”

    “Oh?“ She slowed her wing beats slightly so they flew side-by-side, “and what would that be, boy?”

    He took a deep breath and sighed, “…I saw an enormous bat as I listened to other echoes…he had the strangest markings on his body…”

    As she opened the entrance and let him through, she sighed as well, “…what you saw was The Marked One…The Demon…”

    He nearly shoved his head into the soft mud of the tunnel as he tried to turn to face her, “…the…The Demon?”

    She shook her head and pushed ahead of him, “it is a very dark part of our history, Noxx…let us not speak of it again…” they finally reached the exit of the root the crawled through and took flight in the cool morning air now blowing through the tree, “come…the medical roost awaits…”