Chapter 3

Three and a half years Gregor had been deprived of the beauty and euphoria of flying. In his year spent down in the underland before not only had he learned to love flying, but to live by flying. It's how humans live here; it's how he should live but just not reasonable in the overland. He'd rather live without his left arm then live the rest of his life a slave to gravity, a magnet to earth, unable to cease the potential of the skies. But now he had reconnected to life again, and had no other wish than to live in the moment, and for the time to put his life in the hands of another creature.

Gregor ran his hands through the deep brown fur which tinted red in the light of a bat whose name was Cerberus. He also had a pale stripe which ran from his nose, down his backside to his tail with some blonder patches spotting his wings. But what Gregor loved most about this bat was the soft purr it emitted when it flew, the vibrations in his hand and reverberations through his chest when he hugged the back of the bat reminded him of New York and the relaxing hum from the engine of the car on the late nights his mother spent driving Gregor and his family back home. He really could live like this forever and always, but Regalia was approaching and soon enough he'd have to separate from the beautiful beast that he took pleasure in.

"I say, you really do look familiar, have we ever met?" Gregor lied. He really has never seen the bat before but was looking for an excuse to start a conversation with the quiet bat and learn why he was riderless.

"He He He…" Gregor hugged the trunk of the bat even more to feel the sweet vibrations from the bats voice, "I take honor in having the great warrior recollecting me. Me and my bond followed you to the battle on the Plain of Tartarus, It really was an honor to have been led by the savior of the underland in such a decisive battle. You fight well, although many were loss…" Cerberus choked up on the last word, not quite able to pronounce the last t. It was obvious he had lost his bond, and not only lost his bond but lost him in a battle that Gregor led him to.

"I'm sorry, I really am. Maybe if I would've defeated the Bane sooner I could've doubled back to help you guys in the real fight and could've changed the whole outcome!" Gregor tried to take on the blame and reason for his loss but Cerberus was too star struck at the glory of carrying the warrior.

"No, no, no. I couldn't have of asked more from you. Regalia, the entire underland couldn't have of begged or even fathomed of asking for a greater response from you. My bond, Vincent, was a good bond. We knew the time was coming where a decisive battle had to be made, and although the loss was great, we wouldn't choose any other scenario if we had to. Vincent even painted his armor black like yours, he was inspired and wouldn't have of felt more comfortable under any other leadership than your own."

Gregor imagined the grief the gorgeous bat was living through, not only the pain but the outcast status one goes through being bondless. Gregor could at least escape to the overland where the idea of being bonded to an animal was cast out as an absurdity, but down here it is life, and when one life is lost, two lives are ultimately impacted.

The flight was short, but the heavy conversation made the destination never come soon enough. Cerberus graciously landed on a busy pad just short of the top of the citys walls. Gregor dismounted the bat and turned to face it, he held out a paw which Gregor then shook.

"Fly you high Gregor the Warrior"

"And fly you high, Cerberus the warrior's chauffeur" Gregor said with a sly smile which brought on another bout of soft and hearty laughter from the lumbering creature.

Gregor then turned to face a street of the city. People rushed by on either side, grazing his arms but always apologizing for the inconvenience. The city seemed so much more alive than he's ever seen before, vendors pushing sales into the street and people bartering over exotic fish only found in the waterway. One more thing that amazed Gregor was the diversity of creatures in the city, for only every other creature on the street was human. Gnawers prowled the street without people paying second thought to them while many crawlers and spinners manned booths of their own, Spinners selling their fine and valued clothes while Crawlers seemed to have a market in crafts and literature. The interaction amongst one another didn't seem to faze any creature one bit. He even saw humans clicking their tongues to speak with some crawlers and the occasional hiss even though he didn't see any hissers.

Gregor walked the streets for a good half hour tranquilized at the progress of the city: the diversity of creatures, advances in technology, but mostly the expansion and elaborate stone work of the entire city. After meandering through street to street to street in this paranormal state, he was brought back to reality when he realized it was only he and a dozen more people on the street. They all seemed to be hurried to, jogging towards the center of the city as if they had to meet a deadline. And from Gregor's adept skills at going unnoticed, he followed as to not be left the odd one out. After following a couple for a few blocks, then three crawlers who moved very intently for a few blocks, he realized they were traveling deeper and deeper into the city, now to common ground and nearly below the high hall where royalty of the city lived.

Rounding a corner he came to a block which was alive with people. He saw creatures of all races there: nibblers and spinners, gnawers and hissers, crawlers and what appeared to be lobsters? Gregor was unsure what to call them other than snappers cause of the claws they had. Everyone was at unease; a horrendous chatter filled his ears, the white noise of nearly thousands of creatures jammed into an area made only to hold hundreds. Then something caught Gregors eye, carved against the seemingly endless vertical stone wall was a statue nearly a hundred feet tall, almost rivaling the height of the high hall stood a figure who knelt on one knee. His head tilted to obscure his face, but his helmet was lopsided to show his distress. A hundred ton elbow was perched on his bent knee to support his forehead with the backside of his hand. In both of his hands he held two pieces of one sword. The statue was him.

They had it all wrong, his arms were way too big and the scandalous armor really glorified who he really is. Gregor looked down at his feet and scanned his body to his arms to compare with that of the statue. What they had chiseled into the wall was that of a well chiseled man, they really must take this warrior stuff seriously.

Then to break his attention from the background the loud chatter grew even louder into a momentous roar, an encore cheering on the two figures that stood on a pedestal to overlook the entire plaza they were gathered in. Being so high up Gregor could only pick out that it was a man and a woman, obviously Vikus and Luxa, but behind the pedestal barely recognizable stood Stellovet, arms crossed with a sour look on her face as usual. The taller of the two, Vikus, stood forward first to approach this funnel like contraption.

Then he spoke, "Long live the glory of Regalia!" Vikus's voice boomed around Gregor. He saw the contraption he was speaking into was sort of an amplifier; pipes ran from the funnel he spoke into to larger horns which surrounded the plaza, sort of like wires attached to speakers from a microphone. The crowd was going crazy, not a single mouth in the plaza wasn't shut or arms thrusted in the air.

From hundreds of feet below and nestled against the stonework of a house Gregor could spy the toothy ear-to-ear grin that stretched across Vikus's face, "They say, a city is only as good as the people its composed of. In that case, I'm proud to have the Underland's finest present before me today." Vikus then backed away from the stage leaving every nibbler, human, and gnawer in the crowd crazy in self-glory. Then Luxa approached the stage. Even though the crowd was still ecstatic at the moment, Gregors discomfort was flushed away by the distraction of the most beautiful thing in the world. Three and a half years have been nice to Luxa, she had grown even taller yet, probably taller than Gregor, and had a regal aura pronounced by the elaborate crown precariously perched on her blonde head with streams of silver hair running over her shoulders. Gregor noticed one thing from her eyes, she looked distraught and full of anguish. She was at unease, transferring her weight from one foot to the other while the crowd's full attention was set on her.

"My great people," She said a little more bluntly then Vikus's elaborate intro, "We have a great decision upon us. My bond Ripred, leader of the gnawers, sent an urgent message received by us this morning."

Gregor sat on the ground and put his head in his hands. How could he be so stupid! Never has he ever returned to a peaceful Underland. The next sentence of Luxa's was imminent. This was no community rally, this was a declaration of war Gregor thought to himself. Raising his head, every gnawer was mesmerized by Luxa, every ear had been turned and twitched curiously at what Luxa would say next.

"Ladies and Gentlemen," Luxa's voice derailed Gregor's train of thought as his attention was brought back to the pedestal she stood high up on, "We are not going to war." A common sigh of relief was all let out at once as chatter amongst the plaza spread like wildfire and loved ones were hugged. "Although the message received this morning was dire nonetheless, and I wish you all to know the status of the Underland. Three colonies of cutters movements were tracked across the Deadlands yesterday evening. When intersected, they were hostile yet stated they wish to travel in peace and meant Regalia and the Fount no harm. What I want to leave you all today with is that we may very well be bystanders in another war and I promise any species out there that Regalia stands as a haven. Please stay aware of further gatherings in interest of the status of the Underland." On that note, Luxa pivoted for a quick 180 spin and walked off the tall pedestal to disappear from sight. More anxious talk broke through the crowd but the population left abruptly as if a crime had been committed and nobody wanted to be seen as a witness. In a matter of minutes, the plaza had filtered out until only four or five people remained, all of which were city workers from their spinner spun uniforms they wore.

Gregor stood up from his seat and began to walk across the space towards the monument of himself. The ground which was covered with so many people he now noticed could be considered a monument itself. The rough ground was composed of different colored rocks, spelling out words. Too vast to spell out from the ground but from where Luxa stood he could only imagine what it spelt out. He glanced back up at the podium, probably just from the thought of Luxa, but locked eyes with Stellovet. Arms still crossed, she studied him, trying to figure out who he was and why he was there. But Gregor just kept on walking on to the statue as if he didn't pay her a second thought.

He put his hand on the cold stone and looked up at the vast project before him. It really was accurate, even had identical scars which he had to make sure were real on himself. Then Gregor was hungry. Had it only been just a few hours he's been in the Underland? Difficult to tell with no astral patterns but he lost track when he fell asleep on the boat. From the gnawing hunger in his stomach, he guesstimated the time being dinner and headed back to the streets to find a meal.

It was simple why he didn't want to introduce himself to the palace and council. He was scared: scared of what they would do with him, scared of what they would prophesize of him, and scared of how they'd use him. He'd present himself to them whenever he felt comfortable. But until then, he'd have to get on by himself, a lost boy in a big world. First thing he noticed that even though it was the evening, the city was darker. Half the lamps that illuminated the busy street days are off probably to conserve whatever precious fuels they have, while the other lights are dimmed. Streets he once had trouble walking without disturbing anothers path were desolate only to be met by the local drunkard on his way home.

Next thing Gregor knew was he was on his back, his feet lashed out before him and dragged from the dim scene he was in to nearly pitch blackness. When Gregor came to again from the shock seconds later, he felt the strong bind release from his feet as the all too familiar feel of a gnawers tail dragged over him. Immediately breaking his attention from that was the swift kick of a foot to the stomach and the intoxicated laughter at Gregors pain. Gregor doubled over on his hands and knees gasping for air that wasn't coming to him when a blow to his back layed him back flat on the ground. He felt his body being ran up all over, pressing every ridge on him as hands fall on a bulge sticking out of his pocket and laughter befell all the crooks.

"Looks like we got us a winner here." Said a raspy voice from behind.

"Oh shut up Rawtooth," A voice replied to Gregors left to the other voices comment, "I say not even worth the sore toes, he just has some sort of strange thing here." The human beside Gregor examined the flashlight.

Gregor just had to focus. He closed his eyes and let his heavy breathing echolocate the scene around him. All the other noise created a disturbance for the clarity of the picture in his head but he could still determine a rough outline of the narrow alley they were in. It could hardly fit two gnawers abreast between the stone walls, but there was only one gnawer and two humans who luckily at the time were preoccupied by the flashlight they had just stolen. Gregor played weak, getting on shaky hands and knees and shuffling down the alley.

"Hey, he's getting away!" One of the humans said, then Gregor could see a figure approach from behind. Gregor was now crawling against the wall, hoping he wouldn't catch his fake in the dark. Seeing the other man bring his leg back ready to kick, Gregor dropped on his stomach fast, having the man kick the wall which he was reassured of as a howl of pain was set off. Gregor then quickly took out the other leg the man was hopping on bringing him down to the same level as Gregor as he landed a hard elbow to the temple. The robber lay there motionless, "hopefully only knocked out." Gregor thought but really had no time to check.

A moment of silence befell on the scene, allowing Gregor to get a more accurate idea of his surroundings. The two other criminals stood about fifteen feet away with a dumbstruck look on their faces. rager blood coursed through his veins as a smile etched itself across his face, these guys really don't know who they are robbing from do they? The gnawer pushed the next human forward with his tail, "Quick you twerp! Get him while he's disoriented!" The human really had no idea what to do, just a kid stumbling in the dark and fighting shadows. Gregor grabbed a dagger from the belt of the previous robber who attacked him and stood up just in time to see a punch coming, which he dodged then pinned his arm against the wall. With the other man's arm out, Gregor punched him once in the face then swung his fist horizontally to club the man across the temple with the butt of the dagger, letting the man slump over the first body. Now Gregors rager senses were really activated and his senses were on edge: he could smell the rats breath, see the periodic sway of the rats tail, and hear the calm inhale and exhale of a battle-hardened warrior.

"He he he, my oh my do we ever have a fighter here. You see, I was taking these two bimbos out on their first job! What a way to introduce them to the business then leave them bloodied and bruised in an alley in the morning." The rat began to approach, now dropping to four legs he brought his tail high and over his own head, swaying like a scorpions. Gregor began breaking the thought-process of the gnawer down. He walked with a limp in his leg, probably a reason to not use it and rely on his tail and teeth. Also this rat wasn't going to take no for an answer, he wasn't just going to slump on the alley way and let Gregor go. No, this rat was playing for blood.

"You see, I've killed people like you. I've had bodies of you humans slain by my own hand then piled up and burned. In fact, I'll fight to have the change the name gnawer with killer, because you humans can't kill to save your life…"

Gregor never said a word but made the first move catching the gnawer off guard. He fell upon the rat with a hard fist on the nose but in a quick comeback, received a paw to the chest, flinging him back to the wall. Gregor stood back unfazed, the gnawer was now pouting over his nose but still dangerous, that's when a quick tail came sweeping across the ground. Gregor jumped seeing this move coming but a quick flick into the air caught his feet and brought him back to the ground. In a fraction of a second the gnawer was on top of him, his nose bleeding and mouth snarling. For a second Gregor thought the rat had pearly white fur and had a quick flashback to the moment he had fought the Bane. A sudden swell of anger brought the dagger in his hand up into the Gnawers skull. Gregor could see the metal through the gaping gnawer's mouth and how it ran up into his head. He pushed the limp brown mass aside and sat against the wall to regain his bearings. He felt not only the adrenaline leave him but the rager feeling as his senses became duller and duller. Now opening his eyes he could only make out shadows of the bodies strewn on the alley way. Voices were coming and Gregor froze where he sat. Two laughing silhouettes appeared at the entrance to the alley way were Gregor was snatched, but walked on just as calmly as they approached.

Gregor had to leave. He buried the gnawer's body under a nearby pile of trash and sat the two unconscious humans leaning against the wall nearby. Gregor was about to walk away when something stopped him in his tracks. He spun a 180 and shuffled through one of the bodies' pockets until he found a small flashlight which he put back into his pocket. In the man's pocket he also heard the clanking of something else. When he pulled it out, it looked like a few coins he had, all different shapes, sizes, and colors. Gregor pocketed those to.

Back on the street, Gregor put his hands in his pockets and walked calmly in the dim light, especially weary whenever he passed an alley way. One buildings lights illuminated the street and had a very lively sound of music and laughter coming from it. Then a pang of hunger rung in Gregors stomach reminding him of the reason why he was on the street in the first place, so he walked in.

The place was bustling with people, making it quite easy for Gregor to blend in. His first approach was the long bar. He still hadn't figured out what exactly he had entered but by overland standards, it was sort of a bar, restaurant, café, with musicians playing and families eating while workers drank their night away. A woman approached brightly dressed, "Evenin' sir." She said in a new accent. Gregor just nodded. "Ye here for the show or for some grub" She said to which Gregor replied, "Yes, I'd just like some food please, whatever is cheap." The waiter turned around and whistled a short three note tune to which another waiter arrived with a platter of small bowls. The first woman removed a bowl and placed it before Gregor, "That'll be five groots." Groot? He thought, what the hell is a groot? Trying to look like a regular, Gregor just pulled a handful of the coins he pilfered from the crook and laid them on the table, to which the waiter chose a small green coin. Gregor plucked an even smaller coin and placed it in her hand to. The waitress smiled and walked away. Gregor wasn't really sure of what he was about to eat, it smelled of fish but he wasn't sure of which kind but he didn't care, he was starving and that's all that mattered. He took a bite of the chunky soupy mixture and wasn't quite sure of what to think. The fish was alright but the salt was overwhelming and really didn't consist of any other flavors or spices.

While Gregor was preoccupied a crawler sat down next to him and clicked a few times, Gregor glanced over and shook his head with probably soup dripping from his mouth. The crawler then said with an impeccable voice, "How you do, I am Len." He stuck out an antennae. Gregor shook his antennae gently, "Nice to meet you len, I'm Gre…. Larry" Gregor caught himself midsentence nearly giving away his overland status. Everyone probably knows who Gregor is, he has a freakin monument dedicated to himself!"

"Lurry?" The crawler played with the word in his small mouth, "Interesting name, I'm going to write about you Lurry, I am a writer. Write very well to, best writer in the Underland." The creature beamed huffing out his chest if he could. "Interesting scratches, where did you get them?" Gregor felt a light touch on his arm. He glanced down himself and saw pink lines nearly healed already from where he had been beat up and Rawtooth took a swing at him. There was still even fresh blood stains from the scratch, but it looks as if the scratch had been healing for weeks.

"Well nice to meet you Len." Gregor said after scraping whatever was remaining of his soup then abruptly leaving the tavern. Sleepiness had hit him like a freight train, and it was all he could do to make it outside. He made his way to the alley right by the building he ate in, and sat with his back to the wall. Before Gregor shut his eyes for the night he checked his surroundings, and there was only one other person in the alley but they were already passed out down the way. Gregor shut his eyes with a grin on his face, his first day back to the Underland. He thought of Luxa, the most incredibly beautiful woman in the world, how much older and competent she looked at the speech today. He imagined her in the palace, high up under soft spinner sheets with guards posted at every door. He thought of what he was going to do the next day but didn't get a second thought in because he was already asleep, lost in his own mind.

Even though he fell asleep in a soothing night, Gregor awoke to a pretty unsoothing sound in the morning. Gregor stood up to a strange siren. Above him was another horn with a tube running along the building, something he hadn't noticed in the darkness of night the evening prior. Looking down the street citizens were rushing, nearly running back to the plaza center but when Gregor looked up, he heard the silent swoosh of bats wings fly in the other direction. Running to the street, Gregor brushed the dirt off his clothes from the mishap the night before. He ran against everyone else, to the city walls. He had to get to the pad where Cerberus had left dropped him off.

When he got there, people were in a mad frenzy. Bats by the dozen were evacuating people from the town at the cavern floor to behind the protective walls of the city. Without second thought or even breaking pace, Gregor pushed through the crowd and leaped into the air, hundreds of feet from the ground and began falling. The enjoyment of feeling free and saved in the air was short lived when a creeping thought crept into his mind. "What if he doesn't come" Gregor thought as he approached the ground rapidly. When just a second or so from impact, he felt the warm furry jolt he had hoped would come and a not so soft purr.

"Do you really want to die overlander!" Said Cerberus angrily, flying a little clunkier than usual. When Gregor looked behind him, three other members of a family were also riding on his back, to which we dropped them back off at the city to be picked up by another bat.

"For a second there I thought you weren't going to make it" Gregor laughed at the bat.

"For a second there I thought I wasn't going to make it," Cerberus wittily replied, "Where to now warrior?"

Gregor looked up and saw a fleet of bats flying high, nearly invisible on the black of the ceiling, "Up there," Gregor pointed, "Follow those bats!"