CHAPTER 1

Two months after the savage attack by the rats Gregor and his family were all back in the overland. Gregor's mother was fully cured from the horrible warm bloods plague. After Gregor's family heard about the prophecy which condemned Gregor to death, they decided – after much arguing – to move to their farm in Virginia.

Far beneath the city of New York is war ridden city called Regalia where pale skinned violet eyed people live, accompanied by giant rats, spiders, cockroaches, bats and many other creatures.

Last year Gregor followed his young sister Boots down a laundry grate in their apartment. They were both mentioned in a prophecy which resulted in Gregor finding his long lost father. Gregor was proclaimed to be the warrior and a rager. Ragers are a handful of especially deadly fighters. Gregor then completed many prophecies.

On the thirtieth of June Gregor and his family took the bus to Virginia. Everybody but Gregor was excited. "Just because I am a kid it is not fair to make me leave my friends." He thought angrily about Ripred the large rat who had taught him echo-location, the Regalian queen Luxa, Howard – Luxa's cousin and some others. Lizzie was terrified of the Underland, Boots was too young to care, Gregor's grandma had never been, and his mother hated it. Gregor's father didn't really have a say in the matter.

Gregor's scars from the ferocious Underland jungle which was inhabited by carnivorous plants were fading. Each day he had applied an ointment which Underlander doctors had supplied him with. The ointment smelled a bit like fish paste, and was an illuminescent gray color.

One of Gregor's family's worst problems was that grandma's condition was rapidly decreasing. In the middle of the night she would wake up coughing and screaming.

The bus was bumping up and down along the dusty tracks which lead to their farm. They were nearly there. Out of his window Gregor saw a large barn with red paint flaking off the sides. From the bus Gregor saw holes in the roof. .He also saw a house which was situated next to the barn. Growing alongside the front wall was a large creeper which blocked one window. In a small untidy patch grew a few tomatoes and cabbages.

"This is it!" Gregor's dad shouted waking Boots and Lizzie up. Hurriedly they unloaded their bags from the bus. Gregor, Lizzie and Boots raced towards the new house. A sudden feeling of dread filled Gregor – he was never ever going to see his friends again.

Gregor lifted the heavy torn suitcase which was full of their clothes. Boots and Lizzie were already entering their new house. Gregor was a bit nervous of entering the house it looked as if it was inhabited by ghosts or demons.

"Come on Gregor" Lizzie yelled ecstatically gesturing for Gregor to enter the house.

Slowly Gregor walked through the doorway. Each step he took made a loud creaking noise on the wooden floorboards. There were four rooms in the house. The room which Gregor was in was the lounge.

"This is going to be very uncomfortable." Gregor stated eyeing the large piles of rubble and dust which were situated throughout the house. Because of both his parents unstable conditions he guessed the job of clearing it all away fell on him.

"Gregor, Mom asked you to clear away a room while me and Boots made lunch." Lizzie relayed the message to Gregor

Gregor sprinted towards the barn hoping to find a spade or shovel. After a few moments he found a rusty spade leaning against a broken tractor. He started working on clearing a room. He made a large pile of rubble next to the house.

While Gregor was clearing away the rubble he noticed a grate in the floor. The grate was just big enough to fit him. Suddenly all his thoughts were jumbled up. What if this also leads to the Underland? His fantastical thoughts were interrupted when Lizzie brought him a few cheese and tomato sandwiches.

"Hey Lizzie, thanks for the sandwiches." Gregor said a half smile played on his lips.

After Gregor munched down the delicious sandwiches he continued working. He carried on clearing away the rubble until it got dark. At around six o'clock Gregor's mom came to look at how he had done.

"You have done really well, but we cannot sleep here tonight, we will sleep outside." She told Gregor secretly wishing to sleep under the stars. Most of the scars from the plague had healed, but a few remained reminding them about what happened in the Underland.

"I want to sleep here tonight." Gregor told his Mom. "You know, to get a feel for the place." What he actually wanted to do was explore that hole. Gregor was hoping that it lead back to the Underland.

Their conversation was interrupted by Lizzie.

"I overheard your talk and brought you your sleeping bag." Lizzie said passing the large red sleeping bag to him.

"Thanks Liz." Gregor replied laying the sleeping bag next to the vent.

As soon as everybody left Gregor grabbed a pen and paper from his school satchel. On the paper he wrote:

Hey Mom, Dad, Lizzie, Boots, I am going back to the Underland, Do not follow me.

Even if this didn't lead to the Underland, he was going to go back to New York and find his only true friends. Quietly Gregor slipped the note into his sleeping bag. Gregor then used the spade to lever up the grate. Grabbing the small waterproof flashlight which had been given to him by his friendly neighbor Mrs. Cormaci. Gregor used the flashlight when rescuing Twitchtip from the whirlpool in The Prophecy of Bane.

Gregor was suddenly sad when he thought about Twitchtip the rat that had died in the rats' maze. Before further ado Gregor dropped down the grate and started to look for something which might be familiar.