Chapter 9: Not a moment to soon
Gregor POV
They had been flying for ages, when finally the strong warm updraft of the jungle hit him like a wrecking ball. Gregor look over Eris's Head to see the jungle he was once forced to enter but Bartholomew of Sandwich. It had been terror, many almost died there, and a few did... the painful memories washed over Gregor again, like they had in the past. Mange, a rat who Gregor didn't think much of at first, but now actually missed. Frill, a Lizard who seemed pleasant enough, Gregor didn't really know it either, but it was one of Hazards old mentors. And Finally, Hamnet, Hazards father, and brave man who choose many other options before fighting. He had done a terrible thing in Regalia, once when the human declared war on the gnawers, he opened the flood gates that soon gave way under the pressure of the water. Mareth described it as, a river of bodies, Hamnets own bond was drug into it by two rats trying to save themselves. But he lost much more than that, he drowned a whole field of trees. Now people in the overland would think, "Only trees? Psh, we can grow more" but in the underland, that was the only spot to grow trees in. and now, it laid submerged in 40 feet of water, and all the apples that were on those tree, no one will ever taste again. So one night, Hamnet fled Regalia, only to be stopped by a girl who made him promise to meet Gregor in the jungle some years from then. That girl was Nerissa, she had the gift...or burden of being able to see some parts of the future. This made her very weak, as she could never control what she saw, and often saw to much. At this point Luxa ordered them all to long at a small spring that was very familiar to him, during this quest, they had come here to get the quicksand off of their bodies, and eat, drink, rest, and everything else. "Come, Wash yourselves, Drink, I will go search for food." she said still in a bad mood from...the earlier dilemma, and was gone. Brad stopped Gregor before he jumped in the pool and said "Not now, we must begin to train, we have no idea when we must fight, so we must be ready.". Gregor understood and follow him onto the beach.
He Picked up a sword and got ready, but Brad stopped him, "No overlander, Before I can show you how to really handle yourself with your abilities, you must learn to fight without a weapon. Many creatures will see your weapon as a danger, and try to remove you from it.". He remembered his battle with twirltounge under the city of Regalia, but didn't put his weapon down. "I can handle it, I wont lose my sword." he said. Wrong thing to say, because at that moment Brad attacked him, going for his sword, he instinctively moved his sword away from Brads hand, but that wasn't the thing he was going for. Brad fist connected with Gregors stomach causing him to bend over and grip his stomach in pain, at that moment Brad spun, and his foot came out of no where, connecting with the bottom of the hilt of his sword. The Sword flew out of his hands, and into the sand, some feet away from him. When Gregor scrambled to get it, Brads left foot, came up to his stomach again, and knocked him down and away from his sword. It had all happened so fast, that Gregor couldn't have reacted, and now Brad stood between Gregor and his sword, looking down at him. "Wont lose it indeed overlander...now stand!" he ordered. Gregor had a new found fear of Brad. If he could do that...what else could he do? "Piece of advice, when you are in a battle, look at the muscles of your opponent, when they get tense, it means it is going to attack you with that certain muscle next." . Gregor nodded, and for awhile, Brad taught him to Block and and dodge easier. He was doing very well at that part, but he couldn't find a place to lay a hit on Brad, every time he tried, he left himself open for Brad to stun him. Soon, Gregor was bruised and swollen, and even a little bloody, "Go bathe overlander, we shall practice later, at least you know how to block and dodge well." he said. Gregor realized how bad he really was at that moment, Brad wasn't even sweating, Gregor hadn't even touched him...He didn't even try to fight Gregor. In the spring, he thought about the battle, thought about time when Brad had left himself open, but couldn't think of any. Although, Brad was an amazing fighter to anyone's standards, and he wouldn't have to be fighting him for real...would he?
Brads POV
After I washed up I wrote in my Journal.
" month 5 of my 18th year.
Today I spared with Gregor the overlander, he wasn't much of a fighter to say the least. He could block well, dodge well, but when it came to trying to attack, he was an easy target to immobilize. ...It seems there will be much to learn for him, I'm surprised he doesn't know more if Ripred really did try to teach him. But, fighting is something we all learn in time, and I'm sure the overland is much different from here...so we will see when the time comes. As for the kingdom, I am worried about it's current state. I felt sure that the cutters would choose to attack it before they attacked mine. For the kingdom of Angelos Theou is the closest to the cutters land. I have a bad feeling that they didn't attack this kingdom because something even more evil lurks there...waiting to claim it's next victims. But we shall see, maybe I am thinking to much about this...maybe I'm not. But this will come with time. ...Luxa and me are at odds again and she wont speak to me...I notice the overlander has been thinking about a life with her, possibly kin, I think it would be the best thing for them, and Regalia...but it seems not many people agree. Also, if he was to wed my sister, it would make him king...and I am king...I do not know if I would be willing to give up that position to him soon, I don't know his thought on politics, I don't know if he will be a good leader. However, I am thinking of a party of kings and queens, perhaps me and Gregor could rule together, and we couldn't pass laws without the approval of both kings and both queens. However, this can be dangerous...it is another thing that time will tell me, when it is the right time. For now, I need to focus on the task at hand.
Mental note: ...I need to tell Ripred about training Gregor, maybe he knows some secret that I do not."
With that Brad closed his journal and stuck it into his small leather bag. Fifteen minute later, Luxa came in with jungle fruit, fish, and some kind of vegetable. "These are all edible, The nibblers taught me how to see what could be eaten and what could not." she explain before dividing up the food. Brad had eaten plenty of raw fish on his journey to find a home, so he had no trouble eating his portion of the food. Gregor on the other hand, seemed to be disgusted with the flesh, but he ate it willingly and without complaint. After they ate, Gregor dozed off to sleep and the bats all bundled up and started to rest, and when Luxa heard him lightly snoring, she finally spoke to Brad. "I am not sure what lays ahead of us, It seemed the cutters attack your kingdom first, but...how do we know if we are not already flying to a Destroyed kingdom." she said. "I do not know, but we can only see when we get there. Until then, we must have hope." he responded. She laughed, "you sound a lot like Vikus...that man always has hope". Brad laughed back and said, "Good, at least someone in that god forsaken kingdom has hope, I mean after all, if you want to achieve something, you must first hope that it is possible.". Luxa eyes softened and she said, "Vikus has told me...many of us this, many times.". Her eyes began to tear up and her next words seemed so hard to say, "Brad...I'm...sorry, I didn't mean to act rude, or arrogant with you, I have never known I had family...and I was used to being in charge...I should not have yelled with you. And...thanks for saving my life...thank you for being here when I need you most...thank you for everything.". The words almost caused Brad to cry himself, they were so simple, yet so powerful. His old trainer always told him, that they best weapon a man has is his words. Capable of both making, and breaking a man, in heart and soul, if you used them right. Brad finally responded, "I believe it is I who owe you an apology, I was also rude, and my words were stronger than yours, I too have never known about any family, and spent my whole life thinking I was alone...I suppose having a sister is still new to me. But I want you to know, that no matter what, I would defend you, and our kingdom, with my life.". It was the right thing to say, her eyes softened again and she smiled at him. They then found a nice spot to lay down, and fell asleep. No knowing what would await them the next day.
Gregor POV
When they awoke, they ate, and quickly went on their way, following the path queen Athena had told them to. When they reached the river, they could see it was very long, wide, but was also very calm. However the flier told us another story. "There are flesh eating fish in the river, and I do not know if the water is safe to drink from, it's best we do not try to test out luck." Thanatos said. With this in mind they took flight far above the river. It took them many hours to find the village but when they did, it was a good sight to see. The village was small, and untouched but the cutters, it seemed that the fliers had also been here because soon, to guards went out to meet them. "State your business" they said in a gruff tone. "I am Queen Luxa, ruler of Regalia, I have come in search of the Kingdom of Angelos Theou.". The Guards looked at them all, but when they saw Gregor, they froze, wide eyed and mouths open. "Do you think this be the overlander that she talked about, Perseus" the Guard said to the other. " I do not know, but I believe they deserve rights into our village, they have no come to harm us." Perseus said. They didn't know who "she" was but soon they were invited into the Village. "You may dine if you wish, rest, drink, we do not have much to offer, but what we do have is your your highness." said the other guard to Luxa. "Thank you, may I asked your name?" she asked. "I am called Abelardus" he said. She smiled and said, "My thanks, Abelardus, Perseus". The two guards nodded and the walked off, then Gregor spoke. "What did they mean by the one "she" spoke about?" he asked Luxa. "I do not know, however I feel, we will find out." she said. After eating and sleeping, Gregor was being called the "Chieftain room" so he went. And when he got there, his feet went weak, standing in the middle of the room, was a rat Gregor had always thought fondly of, A rat Gregor thought he lost...standing a few feet away from him, was Twitchtip. As the rat eyed him, she smiled, "Overlander...I thought we would never meet again."
some explanation, when Gregor was told that Twitchtip had died, he never saw the body, he only had the words that the rats had said in the Code of Claw. Truthfully, I had always thought that Twitchtip had survived, and now, here she is!
