The Underland Chronicles II Preview
This is a preview to a series on the aftermath of the first Underland Chronicles. Please feel free to review this and provide suggestions so I may work on the best possible continuation of the Underland Chronicles. It will be a bumpy ride, but I'm looking forward to it and I'm hoping you do as well. - Vengeous, November 2014
For all the readers of The Warrior's Legacy and Regalian Bloodbath, I thought you'd like to read this story just for the sake of some context. Since it will be difficult for me to upload more chapters for Regalian Bloodbath, I thought I'd just re-upload this so you could take a look and try and link it back to my main trilogy. Do drop a review as well please. I'd really love it. Do note that my writing here wasn't as fluent as now, since this was the first ever story I wrote and my writing wasn't very good back then. Nonetheless, I hope you enjoy it!- Vengeous, September 2015
Richard knew he was going to die. He had discovered their secret, and soon they would sniff him out like bloodhounds searching for their prey. It would be years before their plan could come into action of course, but they would seek to hunt him down first. His wealth could not stave them off, nor could his plethora of back-up plans. Death was imminent; he had to accept it.
But he could not, and would not, let them take his son. He stared at Calvin, who was sleeping peacefully in bed. He almost felt guilty. Calvin had already lost his mother, and losing his father could cripple his son's life. But he had taken measures to protect him, and to reveal the secret to him indiscreetly. Perhaps one day he could continue his father's legacy, and protect the innocent from bloodshed. He had laid out breadcrumbs for his son to follow, and being the curious and intelligent young man he was, Calvin's discovery of the Underland was inevitable.
Richard recalled his conversation with the scarred rat two days ago. "I'm scared of death, but I'm not as scared of it as I am for my son's life," he had told the rat. The rat was quiet for a while, which seemed unusual given his past experiences with the rat.
The rat looked up, and with unmistakable pain in his voice, had said, " Then do what it takes to save the boy." He had heard thousands of stories about the rat from Vikus, and knew the rat's tragic past. Yet the rat had soldiered on, and was now Lord of Regalia and leader of the Gnawers.
Richard reflected on his journey over the past few months. It started off when a few officials from Operation Claw approached him for funding in order to cover the expenses for their research on animals living in a place called the Underland. Richard had initially agreed, until he saw some of the experiments they were going to test out on these animals, and the atrocities Operation Claw would inflict on the inhabitants of the Underland. These experiments would not start right away, but in 8 or so years' time, they would carry out the operation .
That was when his heart told him to visit the Underland and warn the animals of the coming storm. He had met the wise Vikus, the young and seemingly miserable queen-to-be Luxa, and the menacing but honourable Peacemaker Ripred. For some reason, he knew that he could trust all of them with his life over the "Overlanders" from Operation Claw.
But there was an Overlander he knew he could trust, and would lead Calvin to meeting him one day. He remembered opening the file containing information about Gregor Walker. He had gathered information about the young man through a variety of sources including Ripred, Vikus and the general Mareth. He had stared at the picture of Gregor in the Regalia's museum with the queen and immediately felt pity for the kid. He had gone through so much pain in war, and the sorrow hung heavily in the young man's eyes. No child should have to suffer the effects of war at such a young age. He was also clearly in love with the queen. For some reason, Richard stared into those sad, miserable eyes and knew it was true love rather than infatuation.
The pity for the boy grew even more when he was told that Gregor had been dragged away from the Underland for good by his parents. He would never see the love of his life again, something Richard could understand. After all, he had lost his wife two years ago himself. He made a silent vow to himself, that by hook or by crook, he would open up a path for Gregor to return to the Underland one day.
His son's snoring dragged him back to reality. He quickly got up and kissed his son's forehead. He had to pack up and leave. He had already made his decision to die. Vikus had offered him sanctuary in Regalia, but he knew that would just bring Operation Claw to the Underland even faster. Out of the honour in his soul, Richard would accept his death in order to protect the innocent. He slotted his gun into his pocket. He said aloud to himself, " If this is to end in fire, then we will all burn together."
He turned to look at his beloved son, the one pride and joy in his life. He was so tempted to wake his son up, and tell him how much he loved him, how proud he was of him, how much he would miss him. But he resisted the temptation in the end. His son needed protection from the innocence of sleep. After all, Richard had already written a letter for him, to console Calvin. Richard said a quick goodbye to Calvin's caretaker, Bennett. He sent a quick text message to Calvin's godfather, Melvin Carter. He would be Calvin's teacher and guide in the years to come. Apart from Richard, Gregor's family and those from Operation Claw, Melvin was the only other person who knew about the Underland. Richard knew he would be a fitting teacher for his son.
Richard moved slowly across the street. The assassins were tracking his movements; he was sure of it. In about twenty minutes, when he was deep into the more deserted parts of New York, they would converge on him, and his life would be no more. He reflected on his 38 years on this planet. He had become a wealthy man because of his hard work and some luck. His business had flourished, and was in Forbes' top hundred wealthiest men. But he realised that no matter how successful he was, he had never done something worth doing and dying for until a few months ago.
Sure, he would have died in his wife's place, but he had never fought for a cause until the Underland's plight had emerged. He never understood why he had sudden compulsion to protect a land that had meant nothing to him a few year's back. But as his final moments on this earth drew to a close, he felt grateful for the opportunity to fight for something. A significant portion of his money would be delivered to Gregor in a few years, and Melvin had enough resources to educate Calvin. " Money well-spent", he murmured to himself.
Only a few minutes now. He had reached a deserted street and he was aware of at least five assassins following him. Might as well end this quickly, he thought to himself, and he drew out his pistol.
He spun around and fired at the assassin only twenty paces behind him. The assassin dived behind cover. richard dashed behind a trash can as shots rang out, and he felt several bullets whizz past his right ear. He threw himself back into the open and began shooting at the moving shadows. He was never a good shot, but one of his stray shots hit a target, and he heard a slight yelp of pain. Suddenly, his world lit up, and he felt his body shake. Three loud thumps hit him, and he felt his body vibrating uncontrollably. His vision blurred with blood, and he felt himself fall backwards. As his vision began to clear, he saw about ten assassins gathering around him, their rifles all trained on him. One of them, clearly the leader of the assassination, crouched next to him. " You put up a decent fight, for a rich and pampered man, Mr Oberton." The assassin said in a hoarse voice, with a slight hint of respect evident in his tone.
Richard chuckled, and blood gurgled out of his mouth. " I am...flattered so many men...were sent to kill me", he wheezed out.
The assassin grinned. "Any last words, Mr Oberton?" he asked.
Richard was dying, with blood rushing out of his chest onto the pavement. Soon he would be greeting Cecilia in the afterlife. "I forgive you, sir," said Mr Oberton, "but my son will avenge my death."
The other assassins began to chuckle, but the lead assassin stayed quiet and nodded grimly. "Thank you for your forgiveness, Mr Oberton. Despite the fact that I am about to kill you for your actions, I hope you know that even a man like me has respect for what you have done."
Richard nodded weakly, and mouthed a "thank you" to the assassin. Just as the assassin was about to pull the trigger, Richard thought about the Underland. He thought about the people he was dying to protect. Vikus, the kindly old man, the courageous queen Luxa, the sarcastic but wise Ripred, the friendly general Mareth, his best friend Melvin Carter, the caretaker Mr Bennett, his wife Cecilia, and his beautiful son Calvin. However, the last person he thought of was not someone he had met before. He thought of Gregor, and prayed with all the consciousness he had left, that Gregor would protect his son and save the Underland. Even though he was hundreds of miles away in Virginia, Richard had a gut feeling that Gregor would return soon and become the true saviour of the Underland.
Somewhere deep in his heart, Richard knew that it was Gregor's destiny to save the Underland and its inhabitants. Gregor would return and erase the pain and sorrow shown in his eyes all those years ago. Only Gregor himself could mend his own broken spirit, and for some reason, Richard was confident he could. Finally, Richard looked back on his life and agreed with himself that it was a life well-lived, and a death worthy of it.
The assassin aimed his rifle at Richard's head. Time seemed to slow down, and Richard could feel his faint heartbeat beating like a ticking clock counting down to an explosion. He saw the assassin's finger tightening around the trigger. In his final moments, Richard closed his eyes and waited for his death. The assassin pulled the trigger. A shot rang out, and Richard's last physical feeling was that of a bullet lodged in his skull.
In the darkness of the proud and mighty New York City, Richard Oberton died.
Well, for all those fans out there, I hope you are looking forward to the series. Here is a spoiler: In the first book, Gregor will not feature much. There will be a lot of focus on Calvin's adventures, but fear not, Gregor will feature much more in the next few books.