"Greetings, Overlander," the wolf said, its lips peeling back in what might have been a smile.
Gregor never realized just how much he missed those two words and the place that they would be uttered.
"Greetings," the teen replied, a faint, breathless smile tugging at his lips. "Who… How…"
"I don't suppose there's a way to open this?" The wolf nudged at the grate with its nose. "It isn't very comfortable in here." Gregor hurried forward and started to pry the grate off, then gasped.
"Wait… wait right here, okay?" He said. "I'll be right back." The wolf didn't seem overly pleased with the prospect of waiting more, but it nodded anyway. Gregor grabbed the hamburger (ignoring the rather hungry sounding growl that came from the vent) and hurried upstairs.
"What took you so long?" His mother asked as he put the hamburger on the table.
"Oh, nothing. Couldn't find the hamburger for a second." He jerked his thumb towards the basement. "I think I'm gonna take a little nap, okay? Call me when dinner's ready?"
"Sure, sweetie." She turned back to what she'd been doing, and Gregor went back down the stairs, trying to find that careful balance between Suspiciously Fast and Fast Enough For the Enormous Wolf in the Basement.
After fishing a screwdriver out of a toolbox, Gregor set about opening the grate.
"Be quiet, okay?" He whispered. "My mom would freak if she knew…"
"I've heard of your mother's wrath," the wolf replied, watching the teen as he worked. "I will be swift and quiet."
The wolf had some trouble squeezing out of the grate, and as it stretched, Gregor reached into the opening. Inside was far larger than the opening let on, and there was a definite slant to it. A slight breeze pulled him in a bit, but it wasn't difficult to break from its hold. All in all, it reminded Gregor vividly of the laundry chute, only much bigger.
His curiosity about the vent sated, Gregor turned to the wolf. It was much larger than the average Overland wolf. Its back was about as tall as Gregor's chest, and it was probably five feet long. Unlike most wolves Gregor had seen in books, however, its fur was a rich auburn and its eyes were a dark green. Those eyes turned to him, full of curiosity.
"Greetings Overlander," it repeated. "I am Zev, whelp of Gideon. I have been sent to tell you that the Underland has need of your help." He paused, then said, rather ironically, "Again."
Gregor laughed a little. He should be furious, or terrified, or something other than overjoyed. But here he was.
His mother would have been furious.
"I thought the warrior died," he said, leaning against the wall and crossing his arms, trying to remain composed.
"And so the warrior has," Zev said. "But our prophecies call for he who defeated the Bane. There can be no other." He paused, then said, "Vikus didn't want to send for you. He thought you had been through enough." He peered at Gregor. "Though it seems that you're quite not as heartbroken over this news as he thought you would be."
"No one ever mentioned giant wolves in Regalia," Gregor said, changing the subject. Zev some harsh, almost hiccupy growls in his throat. It took a moment for Gregor to realize he was laughing.
"They wouldn't," the wolf said. "It is often easier for the humans to forget we exist. We help their banished, and our… political system is difficult for most humans to grasp." He sighed. "Once, we bonded with one another, as humans bond with fliers now. Though these days, only those banished and their children can."
Gregor absorbed that, his fingers digging into his arms to keep himself from shaking, though it was a bit interesting to note that he shook from excitement, not fear.
"So… There are prophecies?" he asked. Zev nodded.
"Yes. We have our own prophet, and while often the Regalian Prophet and our prophet, Zion, do not coincide, with this they do. It is very rare, and is often the cause of much confusion, at least on the side of the humans." Gregor frowned questioningly. "As I said, our political system is difficult for them to grasp. Though…" He winked. "You won't need to know about that until you go there." Gregor blinked, startled, then laughed.
"That's dirty," he said, shaking his head. Then, after some hesitation, "Do you know how my friends are doing?" It seemed like a long shot, but they were famous enough for it to be a possibility. "Luxa? Ripred? Hazard?"
"Ripred, due to his unusual bondship with Luxa, continues to act as an ambassador to the humans on the gnawers behalf," Zev supplied. "Hazard, I hear, continues his studies as a linguist and may prove to be an excellent ambassador himself one day." He seemed to hesitate a moment, then said, "Negotiations for Luxa's marriage have begun." Gregor stared at him, briefly uncomprehending. "Such negotiations often begin years before their marriageable age, but she will marry when she becomes queen." Gregor nodded, ignoring the dull ache in the pit of his stomach.
The wolf was quiet for a moment, then said quietly, "I hear you and the queen were close before you left." Gregor nodded shortly, then changed the subject.
"Why do need me to come down?" He asked. Zev seemed to understand, but shook his head anyway.
"Again. You will have to come down to understand. I can't explain it properly here." Gregor nodded.
"Fine. When do we leave?" he asked. The wolf looked surprised.
"I was under the impression this would be much more difficult," he said in response to Gregor's questioning look. "That I would have to knock you out and whisk you off. Though this shouldn't be surprising. As I said…" He rolled his eyes. "We expected you to be utterly heartbroken at this necessary return." Gregor grinned.
"I can't leave right now, but if you can be here at… let's say midnight to be safe, I can be ready and we can get out without anyone knowing." The wolf cocked his head.
"You don't want to tell you parents where you'll be?" He asked. Gregor shuffled his feet awkwardly.
"I'll tell them… via a note they won't read until I'm miles away…" He wondered if this was wrong, but the wolf nodded.
"I heard your mother was very happy to be away from the Underland. It makes sense that she wouldn't want you to leave now." He paused. "I wish our departure didn't require guile, but I can see why it must." Gregor nodded, absurdly glad that the wolf didn't think too badly of him.
"Okay. Be here at midnight tonight, and I will be too." Gregor pushed away from the wall, then stopped. "Do we need Lizzie or Boots?" The wolf cocked his head again.
"I'm sorry?"
"Lizzie? Boots?" Gregor repeated. Seeing the wolf's continued confusion, and growing embarrassment, Gregor amended, "The Crawler Princess and the Code Breaker?"
"Oh!" Zev looked relieved. "No, the prophecies do not mention them." Gregor nodded, feeling a strange mixture of relief and disappointment, and watched the wolf squeeze back into the grate and dart out of sight.
()()()
Later that night, Gregor carefully closed the door behind him. He'd hid his backpack of gear in the basement an hour or so before and had spent the rest of his time trying to figure out a good way to word his letter. He'd pulled up a blank; writing had never been his strong suit and who's good at writing a letter like this, even under the best circumstances?
He was still staring at the blank page as he stepped into the basement, and for a moment he didn't even realize the light was on. He hadn't left it on. He froze, his heart stuttering painfully in his chest.
"Flashlights," a high voice said quietly. "Batteries, duct tape… You know what this looks like, Gregor?"
"Lizzie," Gregor breathed, his heart steadying to a more respectable rhythm. His sister was sitting on the couch, fully dressed, with a Tupperware case next to her. Boots was next to her, also dressed, but asleep. Lizzie had his pack open in her lap, a pack of batteries in her head, her eyes on her brother.
"This looks like Underland gear," his sister continued. "That vent. It leads to the Underland, doesn't it?"
"Yeah," Gregor said, still glad it wasn't his mother. "But I already asked if you were needed and-"
"I still want to go!" Lizzie said, standing. The backpack fell out of her lap and crashed onto the floor. "I want to see everyone again! I want to see Hazard and Ripred and Daedalus and-"
"Lizzie, the only reason you went down there before was because you had to," Gregor protested. "You don't have to this time! The Underland is dangerous-"
"I was down there during a full-scale war and a city invasion," his sister pointed out. "I think it'd be fairly hard to top that. And Boots was part of a ton of dangerous adventu-"
"Because you both had to be!" Gregor snapped. "Not because I wanted you to be, or even because you wanted to be!"
"Well, now I want to be." Lizzie said firmly.
"Perhaps it needs to be said," a deep growl drifted into the room from the vent. "That your parents will not be happy at Gregor's disappearance. No doubt if they woke up to all their children gone without explanation, they would be distraught." Lizzie slumped a little, then turned to the vent.
"You're the voice I kept hearing," she said quietly.
"Yes. I'm sorry for frightening you. I've heard for your intelligence and I would like to take you with us, but there is no reason to inflict needless harm on your parents." Lizzie's lower lip wobbled, but she nodded.
"Y-you're right," she said quietly. She picked up the Tupperware, careful not to wake Boots. "Is he going to see Ripred?" She asked Zev.
"No doubt."
"Here." Lizzie gave Gregor the container. "It's for Ripred. Some leftovers." Gregor took it, fighting to keep a straight face.
"Right. I'll be sure to give it to him." Lizzie sniffled, nodded, then walked back over to the couch.
"Come on, Boots," she whispered. "You need to get to bed." The little girl groaned, but got up sleepily.
"We goin' now?" She asked. Lizzie shook her head.
"Nah, we gotta stay for Mama," she said gently. Boot groaned again, but nodded.
"Tell Temp I say hi, okay Gregor?" The five year old said groggily as she went over to him. She gave him a hug. "Say hi to Luxa and Howard and Hazard."
Gregor patted her on the shoulder. "Of course."
"We'll tell Mom and Dad where you went, okay?" Lizzie said bravely. Gregor pulled her into their hug, and they stayed like that for a while. Zev didn't say anything.
As she and Lizzie went upstairs, Boots called down, "Say hi to Ares for me!" Gregor's heart seemed to flinch in his chest, but he nodded.
Zev said nothing until the door closed.
"Ares…" he said quietly. "He was your bond?"
"Yeah," Gregor said shortly as he picked up his backpack and got out the screwdriver.
"He is…" Zev hesitated to say the word.
"Yeah. The Bane." Gregor pulled off the grate. "Back up so I can get in." Zev stepped backwards, and Gregor pushed his backpack into the grate and quickly followed.
The path was large enough for the wolf to stand at full height with some space above, but it was still a bit claustrophobic. Gregor was amazed that they hadn't known about it before now, but they'd never really looked too closely at the old broken vent.
"How far away is this opening from Regalia?" Gregor asked quietly as they began to walk down into the vent.
"Many days," Zev replied. "Longer, if you have no flier or stalker. The lands of the Stalker packs are in the Uncharted Lands."
"I thought the banished were sent to the Dead Lands?" Gregor whispered. Zev rolled his shoulders in a shrug.
"Generally they are," he replied. "But they are often able to find their way to the Uncharted Lands. When they are able to, one pack or another will adopt them, provided they are able to prove their worth. A pack will not suffer dead weight." He seemed a bit bitter when he said that, and Gregor wondered what it meant.
The wind began to pick up and pull them in. Zev stopped.
"Get on my back, Overlander," he said. "It will be quicker that way." Gregor hesitated, but with some difficulty he managed to scramble onto the wolf's back. It was a strange mesh of riding a horse and a bat. He felt the muscles bunch up, and suddenly Gregor was flying again, the currents rushing and howling in his ear, and it felt right.
After maybe half an hour, the vent began to widen and get taller. The incline sharpened a bit, then evened out. Gregor didn't even notice when the brick became solid rock, but suddenly they were running through the vast, dark caverns of the Underland.
