"Oh, Gregor," said his dad with tears pouring down his face. "How's my boy? How's my little guy?"
Gregor just laughed as he felt his own tears starting.
"What are you doing here? How did you get to the Underland?" asked his dad, suddenly sounding worried.
"Same way as you, I guess," said Gregor, finding his voice. "Fell out of the laundry room with Boots. Then we came looking for you, and here you are." He patted his dad's arm to prove it was true. "Here you are."
"Where exactly is here?" asked his dad, peering around in the darkness.
Gregor snapped back to reality. "We're above a waterfall in the Dead Land. A bunch of rats are trying to scale the wall. A lot of us are hurt and we're totally lost," he said. Then he regretted it. Maybe he shouldn't have told his dad how bad it was. Maybe he couldn't handle it yet. But he saw his dad's eyes sharpen in concentration.
"How far are the rats from us now?" he asked.
Gregor slid over to the edge and looked over. He was frightened to see the rats were halfway up the wall. "Maybe fifty feet," he said.
"How about light?" asked his dad.
"Only this," said Gregor, tapping his hat. "And I don't think the batteries will last much longer." In fact, the light seemed to be dimming as he spoke.
"We've got to get back to Regalia," said his dad.
"I know, but none of us knows where it is," said Gregor helplessly.
"It's in the north of the Underland," said his dad.
Gregor nodded, but he didn't see what good that information did them. It wasn't as if they had a sunset or the North Star or moss growing on the north side of trees to guide them. They were in a big, black space.
His dad's eyes landed on Aurora's wing. "That bat, how did you sew her up?"
"A needle and thread," said Gregor, wondering if his dad's mind was beginning to wander again.
"Metal needle?" asked his dad. "Do you still have it?"
"Yeah, here," said Gregor, pulling out the pack of needles.
His dad took a needle and pulled a small stone out of his pocket. He began to rub the stone along the needle in short, quick strokes. "Get some kind of bowl. Dump out that medicine if you have to," said his dad. "And fill it with water."
Gregor quickly followed his instructions, still unsure. "So, what are we doing?"
"This rock -- it's a lodestone, magnetic iron ore. There was a pile of them back in my pit. I kept one in my pocket just in case," said his dad.
"Just in case what?" asked Gregor.
"Just in case I ever escaped. I had some pieces of metal back there, too, but nothing the right size. This needle is perfect," said his dad.
"Perfect for what?" asked Gregor.
"If I rub the needle with the lodestone, I'll magnetize it. Basically I'll turn it into a compass needle. If we can get it to float on the water without breaking the surface tension ..." His dad gently slid the needle into the water. It floated. Then, to Gregor's amazement, the needle turned forty-five degrees to the right and held steady. "It will point north."
"It's pointing north? Just like a compass?" asked Gregor in astonishment.
"Well, it's probably off a few degrees, but it's close enough," said his dad.
Gregor grinned into the bowl of water. It was going to be okay. His dad was back.
The sound of claws digging into stone wiped the grin off his face. "Aurora," called Gregor. "Can you fly?"
"I think I must," said Aurora, clearly aware of the rats.
"Ares, if I point you toward Regalia now, can you stay on course?" asked Gregor, giving the bat a little shake.
"I can stay well enough on course if I know the direction to fly," said Ares, rousing himself.
"Mount up!" called Gregor, just as Vikus had when they'd started the quest. "Mount up, we're going home!"
Somehow everyone got loaded up. Gregor had Temp ride with Luxa, just to keep an eye on her. He slid Boots, in the backpack and helped his dad onto Ares. He checked the needle in the bowl one more time and pointed Ares in the right direction. "That's north. That's the way to Regalia," he said.
Gregor was about to retrieve the bowl when he saw the first rat claw catch the top of the ledge. He leaped onto Ares's back and the bats took off, leaving the bowl and a pack of cursing rats behind.
Ares followed the tunnel that headed north, and after about an hour he called to Gregor: "I know now where we fly."
They flew straight for Regalia now, down wide, open caverns.
Everywhere there were victims of the war. Gregor saw the bodies of rats, humans, roaches, spiders, bats, and other creatures he didn't even know lived in the Underland, like mice and butterflies. No, Ripred had mentioned butterflies, but Gregor thought he had seen them in the Overland somehow. All the bodies looked the same. Very, very still.
It was almost a relief when the light on his hard hat finally gave out. He had seen enough carnage. In the darkness he lost all track of time.
Gregor could hear the horns signaling their approach long before they reached the city. He looked down vaguely and saw people waving their arms, shouting. Neither he nor Luxa responded.
Luxa was not even looking. From the moment they had taken off, she had wrapped her arms around
Aurora's neck and closed her eyes to the world. Gregor couldn't imagine what she must be feeling. He had his dad back. Boots was safe. They would go back to the Overland and his family would be together again. But Henry was Luxa's family, and he had given her over to the rats. What was there left for Luxa to feel now?
The doors were flung open at the stadium, and the city appeared below them. There was cheering and waving of flags. The palace came into view, and Ares dove for the High Hall.
They coasted in, and the exhausted bats simply landed on their bellies and slid along the floor until they stopped. Underlanders swarmed them. Somewhere in the confusion he saw Dulcet cradling Boots and hurrying from the hall with the ever-faithful Temp behind them. A couple of people laid his dad on a stretcher and whisked him away. The bats could barely protest as they were carried away, too, more in need of rest than medical attention.
Gregor resisted all attempts to be loaded on a stretcher, although he did accept a cold cloth for his nose. Someone needed to tell the story, and he didn't think it could be Luxa right now.
There she stood, pale and lost, not even noticing the whirlwind around her. Her beautiful violet eyes were vacant, and her hands hung limply at her sides. He went to stand at her side but he didn't touch her. He just let her know he was near. "Luxa, it's going to be okay," he said. He knew the words sounded hollow.
The room cleared out, and he saw Vikus hurrying toward them. The old man stopped a few feet in front of them, deep lines of concern cut into his face.
Gregor knew he had to say what had happened, but all that came out was, "Henry was working with the rats. He made some deal for the throne."
Vikus looked at Luxa and opened his arms. She stood, still frozen, staring at him as if he were a complete stranger.
"Luxa, it's your grandpa," said Gregor. It seemed like the best and most important thing to say at the moment. "It's your grandpa."
Luxa blinked. A tiny tear formed at the corner of her eye. A battle took place on her face as she tried to stop the feelings rising up inside her.
CHAPTER 26
It was Solovet Gregor ended up telling the story to. She appeared shortly after Vikus and, having kissed Luxa's wet cheeks, embraced Gregor. If he was not concerned about his injuries, she was. She immediately led him down to the hospital section of the palace to be treated.
While doctors cleaned and stitched his leg and tried to bring down the swelling in his nose, Gregor spilled out everything that had happened since they had parted. The journey through the rancid caves, the arrival of the spiders, Henry's attempt to kill Ripred, Boots's fever, Tick's sacrifice at the bridge, finding his dad, and the strange series of events that had fulfilled Sandwich's prophecy.
When he had finished, he felt
like a balloon some one had let all the air out of. He just wanted to see his dad and Boots and then go to sleep. Solovet led him first to Boots, who was in a nursery with other sick kids. She had been bathed and changed and while she was still warm to the touch, Dulcet promised him the illness was not serious.
"We cannot cure many things still, but we can cure this. It is just a case of damp fever," she said soothingly.
Gregor smoothed back Boots's curls and went on to see his dad. His father already looked better, his face relaxed in sleep. The Underlanders had not only bathed him, but they'd groomed his hair and beard. The foul rat skins had been replaced by silken garments. They'd fed him and given him a calming medicine.
"And when he wakes, will he be okay?" asked Gregor.
"No one who spends years with the rats can expect to be unchanged," said Solovet gently. "But will his mind and body heal? I believe so."
Gregor had to be satisfied with that. He himself would never be the same after what he'd witnessed in the Underland. He had to expect some changes in his dad, too.
As he left the hospital, he heard a happy voice cry out, "Overlander!" Mareth caught him up in a big bear hug. Gregor was glad to see Mareth was alive, although he had injuries from recent battles.
"Hey, Mareth," he said. "How's it going?"
"It goes darkly, as it always goes in war. But you have brought back light to us," he said firmly.
"Oh, yeah?" said Gregor. He'd pretty much forgotten that part of the prophecy.
An Overland warrior, a son of the sun, May bring us back light, he may bring us back none.
So he must have done it after all. Brought back light. He wasn't really sure how, but if Mareth said so, all the Underlanders must believe it.
"What light?" he asked. The images that filled his head were relentlessly dark.
"When news of King Gorger's death reached the rats, they fell into chaos. We have driven them far back into the Dead Land. Without a leader, they are in total disarray," said Mareth.
"Oh. Good," said Gregor. "I hope it lasts."
Mareth took him to his old room, the one he'd shared with Boots. He took a short bath, just to lose the smell of rotten eggs that clung to him from the dripping tunnel, and fell into bed.
When he awoke, he sensed he had slept a long time. For the first minute or two, he lay in drowsy security, not remembering. Then all that had happened flashed before his eyes, and he couldn't stay in bed any longer. He took a second bath and then ate the food that had appeared in his room while he was gone.
Gregor was about to go to the hospital when Luxa ran into his room. Her eyes were red from crying, but she seemed her old self.
"Gregor, you must come! Hurry!" she said, grabbing his arm and pulling him after her.
His first thought was that there'd been an attack on the palace, but that was not it.
"It's Ares! They mean to banish him!" gasped Luxa as the two of them sprinted down the corridors. "He did not know, Gregor! He did not know of Henry's plot any more than I!"
"I know he didn't!" said Gregor.
They burst into a room Gregor had not yet seen. It was like a small arena. Several hundred bats and humans sat on elevated bleachers that rose up around a central stage. In the front row sat members of the Regalia council, including Vikus and Solovet. In the middle of the stage, alone and stooped, stood Ares.
When Gregor and Luxa ran onto the stage, Aurora fluttered out of the bleachers to join them.
"Stop!" yelled Gregor, trying to catch his breath. "You can't do this!" He didn't know all the ins and outs of banishment, but he did remember Luxa saying that no one survived living in the Underland alone for long. Maybe a rat like Ripred could, but he was extraordinary under any conditions.
Everyone rose to their feet at Gregor's appearance and bowed in unison. "Welcome, Warrior, and many thanks for all you have brought us," said Vikus formally. But he also gave Gregor a sad smile that felt much more personal.
"Yeah, you're welcome," said Gregor. "What are you doing to Ares?"
"We are about to vote on his fate," said Vikus. "There has been much debate about whether he was privy to Henry's plot."
"He wasn't!" said Gregor. "Of course, he wasn't! Or I wouldn't be standing here. He saved me and let Henry fall when he realized what was happening!"
"He was bonded to Henry," said a large red bat. "It is difficult to believe in his innocence."
"What of my innocence?" asked Luxa, her voice tight. "No one was nearer to Henry than myself. Will you banish me as well?"
An uncomfortable murmur ran through the room. Everyone knew how close the cousins had been, and yet Luxa had been the target of Henry's treachery.
"Even if Ares is cleared on charges of treason, there is still the issue of his breaking of the bond," said the red bat. "That is in itself a cause for banishment."
"Even when you find out you're bonded to a really evil guy?" asked Gregor. "Seems like there ought to be a special rule for that."
Several members of the council began to dig through piles of old scrolls, as if hoping to find an answer to his question. But others were clearly after blood.
"Whether he is banished for treason or bond breakage, I care not. I just want him gone. Who among us could ever trust him again?" shouted a woman.
There was an uproar in the arena. Ares seemed to hunch down even further, as if crushed by the weight of the anger against him.
Gregor didn't know what to do. He couldn't stand by and watch them throw Ares out into the Dead Land to fend for himself. But how could he change their minds?
The red bat echoed the last words Gregor had heard clearly. "Yes, who among us could ever trust him again?"
"I could!" yelled Gregor, silencing the crowd. "I trust him with my life!" And then he knew what he needed to do.
He ran to Ares and extended his hand. The bat lifted his head in puzzlement, then understood. "Oh, no, Overlander," he whispered. "I am not worthy to accept."
Gregor reached out and grabbed the claw on Ares's left wing with his right hand. You could hear a pin drop in the room as he spoke the words.
"Ares the flier, I bond to you,"
That was all he could remember of the pledge Luxa had told him, but she was right behind him, feeding him the words in a whisper.
"Our life and death are one, we two. In dark, in flame, in war, in strife,"
And the last line came to Gregor without prompting.
"I save you as I save my life."
Some hope had come back into Ares. The warrior bonding with him was no guarantee he would escape banishment, but it was something that could not be easily ignored. Still, he hesitated.
"Say it," said Gregor softly. "Please say it back."
And Ares finally did, replacing his name with Gregor's own.
"Gregor the human, I bond to you, Our life and death are one, we two. In dark, in flame, in war, in strife, I save you as I save my life.
CHAPTER 27
There was anger and argument and a lot of talk about the law, but in the end, they couldn't banish Ares. The fact that Gregor bonded with the bat carried more weight than he had expected.
One old man still dug furiously through his scrolls until Vikus said to him, "Oh, stop rattling your skins, we clearly have no precedent for this."
Gregor turned to his new bat. "Well, I probably won't be here much longer."
"It matters not," said Ares. "While I have flight, I will be here always for you."
As soon as things settled down, Gregor made a bee-line for the hospital. He braced himself before entering his dad's room, fearing he might have relapsed, but when he went in, a happy scene awaited him. His dad was sitting up in bed laughing as Boots tried to feed him cookies.
"Hey, Dad," he said with a smile.
"Oh, Gregor ...," said his dad, beaming at him. His dad held out his arms, and Gregor rushed into them and held on tightly. He could have stayed there forever, but Boots was tugging on them.
"No, Ge-go, Da-da eat
cookie," she said.
"The nurse told her to make me eat, and she takes her job very seriously," said his father with a smile.
"You feel okay?" asked Gregor, not letting go.
"Oh, a few square meals, I'll be as good as new," said his dad. They both knew it wasn't that simple. Life would never be the same again, but they would have their life back, and they would have it together.
Gregor spent the next few hours just hanging out with his dad, Boots, and Temp, who came in to check on the princess. He wouldn't have asked his dad about his ordeal, but he seemed eager to talk. "That night, the night I fell, I couldn't sleep. I went down to the laundry room to play a little saxophone. I didn't want to wake anybody."
"We fell from there, too!" said Gregor. "Through the air duct."
"Right. The metal grate just started banging up and down out of nowhere," said his dad. "When I went to check it out, I got sucked right down here. See, they have this strange phenomenon with the air currents...." And his dad went on for twenty minutes about the scientific aspects of the current. Gregor didn't know what he was talking about, but it was great just to listen to him.
"I was in Regalia for a couple of weeks and I was just going crazy missing you all. So, one night I tried to escape with a couple of flashlights and a BB gun I found in the museum. Rats got me before I made it to the Waterway," said his dad, shaking his head.
"How come they let you live?" asked Gregor.
"It wasn't me. It was the gun. After I ran out of ammo, they closed in on me. One of them asked about the gun, so I just started talking a blue streak about it. I convinced them I could make them, so they decided to keep me alive. I spent my time making weapons that I could use, but that fell apart when the rats touched them. A crossbow, a catapult, a battering ram. Lucky thing you showed up when you did, I think they were beginning to suspect I was never going to make them anything that worked twice," said his dad.
"I don't know how you stood it," said Gregor.
"I just never stopped believing I'd get home again," said his dad. A cloud came over him, and he had a lot of trouble getting the next question out. "So, how's your mom?"
The Underland Chronicles: Books 1-5 Paperback Box Set Page 16
