Chapter 11
Death's Change
"HRAAGHH!" A splitting scream tore across the sky.
"Ugh!" Luxa was thrown against a wall nearby. She panted, glancing down at her wounds. To her relief, the wounds didn't seem too severe, but they were accumulating at an alarming rate. Gorger was a pain to deal with before, but now it was ridiculous.
Ripred was the only one who could remain in fighting condition against Gorger, but he didn't seem to fare too well. Luxa grimaced as she watched Gorger throw another black streak of power into Ripred. The rat grunted in surprise, but managed to stay on his feet and counter attack.
York was already on the ground, gnashing his teeth in frustration, his body paralyzed by pain. Gorger and his army were slowly backing their own army into a corner. Luxa's heart raced. She couldn't focus. What were they going to do?
"Don't just stand there, Luxa!" Ripred grunted as he deflected another blow from Gorger. "Get out of here!" he snarled before promptly slicing into Gorger's fur.
Gorger smirked as if he couldn't feel the scratch. The large rat leader continued to trade blows with Ripred, who was in full rager mode, slashing far faster than Luxa could breathe.
He was doing all of this, suffering so much, and yet he was telling her to get out? She couldn't believe what she was hearing. The greatest rager alive, her bond, and her close friend was telling her to run away?
"What are you saying?!" She growled. "We can still win!"
"No. We can't." Ripred's eyes grew somber. "It was ridiculous to think that we could win. Get out and retreat. Now." He glared at her, pleading, but defiant.
Gorger guffawed. "Yes! Leave! Run away! Cower like the pitiful beings you are! We will hunt every last human and destroy them!" he roared as he swung a tail at Ripred, who ducked and nimbly swiped back.
"We need to end it here!" she cried.
"Shut it, Luxa!" Ripred growled. He jumped high into the air and dug his claws deep into Gorger who roared in rage, swiping his large paws at the rager. "Get out! We can't win this one!" he shouted. "Take York and the rest of the army and get back to Regalia!"
Luxa shook her head fiercely. "I'm sorry." She muttered before grabbing her sword and charging towards Gorger.
"No!" Ripred shouted to stop her, but Gorger already saw the opportunity. He grinned hungrily and formed shadowy orbs in his claws.
CLANG!
In a flash, Luxa's sword was tattered to pieces by one strike of Gorger's dark claws, the other paw coming down to strike her neck. Immediately, she tried to dodge to one side, but Gorger was simply too fast with his new powers. He swiped his tail and knocked Luxa to the ground, knocking the breath out of her.
The claws came down to strike her again. Luxa couldn't move as the claws sank deep into flesh with an agonizing squelching sound. But not her own. She looked up and opened her mouth to scream, but a weak sound of shock dribbled out as she comprehended what she was seeing. The body of a rat was standing in front of her, with its blood dripping greedily to the floor.
Ripred.
"Hah…" the Ripred spluttered as a river of blood poured out from under him. "Nice try. You don't have my permission to kill her." He coughed. "It's game over for you."
"Game Over?" Gorger guffawed. "It is your end, you fool." He heaved. "Don't make me lau-" Suddenly, Gorger's eyes bulged out of his head. A pair of claws protruded from Gorger's chest.
With a grunt, Ripred slashed downwards and cut through Gorger's body. Gorger roared in pain as he fell to his knees. The rat leader was severely injured, but he managed to push Ripred away and stay on his feet.
"I'll kill you!" he roared.
"Ripred!" Luxa's legs shook intensely as she got up.
"Tougher than I thought." Ripred laughed softly. Blood continued to drip slowly away from Ripred's body. Every drip was a drop of his life, running for its freedom.
Luxa's vision became blurry. "No." she choked. "Ripred..." Luxa reached out to the rat and looked into his eyes. She found compassion lying deep inside of them. Something she never thought he had. He opened his mouth for one last message as Luxa trembled.
"Take care of the others." He muttered before eyes slowly closed.
"No!" Luxa gasped and stumbled to her feet.
Ripred's breathing slowed and he lost against his final battle against eternal slumber.
"NO!" Luxa screamed again. She started running towards Ripred when she suddenly felt herself being lifted into the air.
She looked up and saw Aurora picking her and York off the ground. "Let me go!" she cried.
"No." Aurora replied with a firm voice and continued to fly away. "Ripred is correct. We must retreat." her words were firm, but her voice was quacking. She quickly swooped down towards the battlefield where many Regalian soldiers struggled to fend off the shadow gnawers.
She looked around the battlefield, an expression of sorrow and regret creeping on her face before taking a deep breath and shouting. "Retreat! Fall back! Fall back!"
Immediately, the remaining Regalian soldiers started to run back. Many of them were cut down quickly by gnawers as they jeered at their retreat. Luxa bit her lip and buried her face in her hands. She had failed. The sounds of the Regalian soldiers crying out as they fell and the laughter of the gnawers as they slashed at the retreating soldiers pierced through her usually stoic expression and she began to cry uncontrollably.
"Those left in the armory, move it!" a voice cried out from outside. Gregor, Matt, and Rachel snapped their heads towards the sound. Looks like the Death attack was here.
"Time to go." Matt urged as he moved to activate his bracelet. "Sure wish I got an upgrade like you." He flashed a grin at Gregor as he stretched his arms.
"Actually, all three of you received very similar armor upgrades." Leonardo informed. "Death transmitted the upgrade data to all three of you through us – your bracelets."
"Woah, seriously?!" Matt's eyes budged out of his head. "I gotta go test this out. See ya!" He squealed in anticipation and trounced out the door, but not before giving Rachel a knowing smile.
"Someone looks too excited to go into battle." Rachel groaned.
"I'm sure he'll be fine. He has Sam after all." Gregor smiled.
They laughed for a bit, but soon, an awkward silence fell over them as they both realized they were alone. Rachel's face slowly lowered and Gregor could tell she was trying hard not to look at him. He cleared his throat. He knew he was going to have to do this eventually.
"Er…" Gregor shifted his feet. "Look, I guess I haven't properly apologized to you." Gregor murmured softly. "With Matt going off like that at our place, I didn't get the time to-"
"It's fine." Rachel smiled a little. "He was having a tough time. He needed your apology more than I did."
Rachel turned to Gregor to give an encouraging smile to show she was alright, but from the look on his face, she noticed that Gregor clearly didn't believe her. He was frowning, trying to think of something to say.
"What about now?" Gregor asked hesitantly. He took a step towards Rachel, trying to get a look at her face. "You still haven't forgiven me, have you?" he took ahold of her hand. "Rachel…?"
"I…I…" Rachel blushed furiously. Damn him. His face was getting too close. She could feel his concerned eyes staring right at her face. And his hand was gripping hers so gently... "I…I forgave you back when I saw you in Headwind's room. I saw how much you still cared about us…so…" she trailed off.
"...Really?" Gregor still looked unconvinced. He took a finger and lifted Rachel's face. "Because it seems like you're mad about something else." Gregor's eyes looked into hers.
Rachel's heart fluttered. She could feel her hand tremble in his. Her mind was filling with random thoughts all of the sudden. Gregor smelled nice. She didn't brush her teeth today. Was her hair a mess? Nothing seemed to make sense. She was sure she was going to faint. Was he going to kiss her? His face was close enough that she could feel his breath on her face.
"It's just…" she trailed off and quickly craned her neck away from Gregor's curious face. I like you. The words were on the tip of her tongue, but she couldn't say it. She knew she could never say it.
Before, back at school, she always had chances like this: being alone with Gregor with no one else around to disturb them. She could have told him. But every time she was always too scared to take the risk. Just like now. But this time, Rachel felt something was different. She knew that it wasn't of fear that she couldn't bring herself to say the words… it was something else…
"Just…?" Gregor urged.
"Just…" Rachel let go of Gregor's hand and twiddled with her thumbs. "Just… I didn't like how much you made Matt worry. He's been through a lot and it hasn't been easy to always be there for him…" She wanted to facepalm. Where was this coming from? That's not what she wanted to say! At least, she didn't think that's what she wanted to say. Rachel shook her head in an attempt to dissipate the confusion.
"Ah…" Gregor let out a breath as he let Rachel's hand go and stepped away from her. "I see." He said solemnly, looking somewhat serious.
Rachel quickly looked up in panic. What did he find out? Does he know that she liked him? Was he going to reject her? She took a deep breath to calm herself.
"W…what are you talking about?" she slowly asked, not sure what to expect.
"I didn't think you felt like that." Gregor started slowly.
"Didn't feel like what?" Rachel trembled. He knew. He had to. Why else would he be so tense? She braced herself as Gregor's lips formed his next words.
"You…" Gregor stared at Rachel. "You like Matt, don't you?" Gregor was barely audible, but he had a small smile on his face.
"W…" Rachel's face was filled with mixed emotions. Her eyes fluttered and her face grew even redder. "No, I... he…" she was at a loss for words and couldn't do anything besides simply stand there, in the middle of the armor room, stammering unintelligible words at an impossible rate.
"Don't worry." Gregor laughed. "Your secret is safe with me." He gently nudged Rachel as he walked towards the doorway. "I'll meet you outside." He whispered. With that, Gregor's footsteps echoed down the hall, leaving Rachel alone.
She stood there for a moment, unsure of what just happened. Eventually, her knees gave way and she slid to the ground. Rachel expected herself to cry or scream in frustration, but surprisingly, she did neither. A feeling of confusion swept over her.
"I think he's right, you know." Arja murmured gently in her mind. "I've delved into your memory databanks. According to statistics, you have a ninety-three percent chance of liking Ma -"
"S-shut up!" Rachel squealed before Arja could finish. "W…we need to get going." She clumsily pried the door open and scrambled through. Arja didn't say anymore, but her gentle laughter bounced off the walls of the hallway as Rachel ran through it and towards the battlefield.
"Squalor's team! You will go around and get a flank of the enemy!" Henry shouted. "Ares and I will lead the charge up front! Understood?"
"Yes, Lord Henry!" a chorus of soldiers' roars responded and they tugged on the corners of Henry's mouth. Excellent. All was well.
He gazed out at the horizon and could see the gnawer army in the distance. They had stopped for some reason and didn't seem to have plans to move any closer, which was beneficial to Henry for an assault.
"What are they doing?" he chuckled. "The longer they wait, the more time we have to prepare."
"Lord Henry!" suddenly, a bat swooped down towards Henry and a scout jumped off. "We have a visual of the enemy. Our estimates say we outnumber the gnawers, however…"
"What is it?" Henry snapped. "Out with it!"
"Other scouts reported Bane in the mix. Not only that, but a human army stands alongside the gnawers." The scout blurted.
"What?!" Henry stared at the scout like he'd been told chocolate fell from the sky. "Humans? How can that be?"
"Is there a problem?" Gregor called as he, Matt, and Rachel rushed up to the gate where all the other soldiers gathered. "What's going on?" Gregor asked as the three of them came up.
"It… it's nothing." Henry frowned slightly before dismissing the scout. "And it's about time you showed up, Jack," he scoffed. "We are going to begin our assault on the gnawers. We plan to keep a strong front and send several teams to attack from the flanks. From there, the plan is to drive back the enemy far back where they cannot disturb us again." He grinned. "Or better yet, just kill them all."
"Sounds good to me." Matt flashed a smile. "I can't wait to test out my new stuff."
"Do not speak like a greenhorn." Henry scolded. "We are at war. You may very well get yourself killed."
Rachel's eyes widened and she instinctively grabbed onto Matt, who jumped in surprise.
"Rachel…?" Matt asked in surprise.
"S-sorry!" she stammered as she pushed Matt away. "Just surprised, that's all." She avoided Matt's curious face. After her talk with Gregor, it seemed impossible to look at Matt without feeling embarrassed. She could sense Gregor smiling knowingly at her, trying to be supportive. She groaned inwardly. What a mess.
"We are wasting time with all this small chatter." boomed a voice behind them. All the soldiers, including Henry, turned to look and saw Headwind approaching them.
"Lord Headwind!" the soldiers shouted in unison before bowing. Henry gave a curt nod and lowered his head slightly.
"Do not mind what they say." Headwind sighed, ignoring the bowed soldiers. "Focus on the task at hand. We should strike first before they strike us. Now."
"Lord," Henry coughed. "My apologies. We will set off as you command." He turned to the rest of the soldiers. "You all know the plan! Move out!" he shouted.
"Yes, sir!" the soldiers shouted in unison as they all mounted up on bats and took off or fell in line behind Henry. Satisfied, Henry turned and motioned to Ares.
"Ares!" Henry called. The giant bat rose slightly, as if in a trance, but he failed to respond. After a brief moment of silence, Henry tried again.
"Ares!" he called. Still no response. Then, Henry's eyes changed. He growled and his eyes flashed red, glaring at Ares. Ares suddenly went stiff, not moving a muscle as Henry's glare encroached his mind.
"Ares." he growled slowly. "Come here . Now." Henry's voice echoed.
Ares jolted and swiftly moved over to Henry's side, making subtle, erratic movements to reach Henry before eventually bowing when he reached him.
"Y…yes, milord." Ares murmured as Henry strode over.
Gregor's grip tightened. Hypnotism. This was the first time he had actually seen it, and the mere idea of it sickened him. He truly ached to lash out at Henry and free his bond, but he knew that he couldn't do that. Not now. Gregor swore that he would not leave the Underland before freeing Ares from it.
"Move out!" Henry yelled. He and Headwind mounted Ares and took off, leading a charge of soldiers behind them. The trio was going to follow the troops when Leonardo stopped them.
"Something seems off." Leonardo muttered. "The dead are not using their full force to attack us, which is strange, seeing as they are outnumbered if they sererate."
"Why?" Gregor asked.
"I do not know for sure… Wait. Hold on." Gregor could hear Leonardo scanning something for a moment. But then, he suddenly went quiet.
"What is it?" Gregor asked hesitantly.
"We have a problem." Leonardo sounded concerned.
"What?"
"There's a reason for why the gnawer half of the army is not fighting us." Leonardo's voice was grim.
"Why?"
Leonardo cursed softly before answering. "They're cutting off Regalia's retreat."
"This is crazy." Matt muttered as he and Rachel were flying in front of a platoon of bats, leading them behind enemy lines. "I can't believe we're actually doing this."
They had left Gregor to go with Headwind and Henry to deal with the humans that were engaging with the main force while they left to help reinforce Regalia's army. Of course, they didn't get permission from Henry to change the positioning of the attack, so it was done in secret.
"Are you sure Lord Headwind made the command to drop the flanking team behind the second half of the army?" Squalor called from behind them.
"For the last time, yes he did! I'm not lying!" Matt responded impatiently. Of course he was lying. And it was becoming harder to do so with a straight face because poor, innocent Squalor believed them so easily. "Well I guess you are Headwind's students..." He had said before letting them take command.
"We're almost there." The bat under him and Rachel urged. "Get ready to call the drop."
"Alright!" Matt grinned. "It's about time!" he quickly twisted his bracelet and let his armor overtake him. "C'mon Rachel." He nudged the girl behind him. "Suit up!"
"H-huh?!" Rachel jumped. "O…oh right. Sorry." She muttered before twisting her bracelet.
"What's gotten into her?" Sam asked.
"Beats me." Matt shrugged. "She's been like that ever since she came out of the armory."
After a few moments, Matt and Rachel gasped. The gnawer army was finally in view. But that wasn't the only thing they saw. Matt and Rachel grimaced as they saw the Regalian Army coming from a distance away, oblivious to the wall of dark troops charging towards them. Chaos was about to ensue.
"Can you drop me off here and go back with Rachel to warn the Regalian Army? Prepare them for engagement. The squad and I will try to buy as much time as we can." Matt urged.
"Understood, mighty student of Headwind." The bat nodded as it zoomed towards the army.
Just as the bat swooped down a couple hundred feet away from a squad of shadow gnawers, it tipped its wing so Matt could jump off. "Deploy!" it called out to the rest of the squad. Matt and Rachel could hear the grunts of many soldiers grunting as they jumped off their bats. Matt grabbed Rachel's hand for a moment and squeezed her hand.
"Be careful, alright?" he grinned. When he looked up, he saw that Rachel was already staring at him intently.
"…Is there something on my face?" Matt asked jokingly.
"Nothing at all. Jeez." she looked away. "Get going." She huffed as she let go of Matt's hand. Matt jumped off the bat and rolled into a fighting position. He felt somewhat confused at what had just happened.
What was her deal? Matt shrugged off the issue. They could talk about it later. Right now, he had to fight like his life depended on it. He shivered in anticipation.
"Move on my mark!" he called to the soldiers who were getting into position behind him.
"Alright, remember what I told you. Just follow my moves and you'll be fine." Sam warned.
"Sure." Matt grinned and turned to the rest of the squad. "Mark."
The squad sprinted towards a section of the leading part of the army and took them by surprise. It took a while for the rats to register that there was an intervention going on. But by the time they figured it out, a whole front line of the army was already dead, cut into several pieces.
Matt's katanas flashed as he cut through the lines at an incredible speed, slashing through rats like they were nothing.
"This is one hell of an upgrade." He grinned as he continued to hack away.
"Yeah! Fresh meat!" Sam laughed while another group of shadowy rats tried to attack Matt.
