Finally! I got time to finish this chapter!
Damn it. Damn it all. To think I lost control again. The thought was somewhat comical, and I smiled mentally.
That resulted in my own lips curling to a grin, but much more devilish. My Rager cracked its neck and tested my body. Once it was finished, it whipped out another two daggers and charged at the rats.
The rats, who had safely plopped down their king, charged as well, but with a battlecry.
My Rager laughed maniacally. "Yes! That's it!" Blades were slashing every rat in my vicinity. One rat tried to sneak up from behind, but my Rager saw that coming. It flipped my dagger upright and stabbed him in the waist with one hand while still fending off other rats with the other.
Soon, I was in the middle of the gnawers. They quickly spread out and circled me. "No more running, Overlander!" said one rat.
My Rager chuckled. "Run? Who said I was running? I can make you all run, if that's what you want."
That remark somehow enraged it. "Attack!" it commanded. All of the rats charged at the same time. My body shifted its position, where one hand was in front and the other was behind. It patiently waited. Oh shit. Please don't tell me it's gonna do what I think it's doing.
When they were in range, my foot turned, and my body spun. All I saw was a swirl of red, glistening blood and a blur of rats. It was a total massacre. I almost hurled. God, I hate spinning.
It went on for a few minutes before one rat lunged and intercepted, causing the spin to stop. The rat put so much strength into that lucky shot that we flew all the way back to the edge of the canyon, cracking the fragile floor.
That made my head jerk back and hit the ground, regaining my body back. The pain was back. But that wasn't the only thing that returned. Gorger was back as well. He was the one who knocked me down. He held my legs together with his tail, rendering myself pinned.
"Hello, Warrior," he said with a smirk, and then proceeded to swipe his claws at me. I narrowly blocked it with my daggers. I couldn't activate my Rager powers, no matter how hard I tried. Guess I'm all on my own now.
Gorger's attacks proved to be much more difficult to fend off without my Rager. It felt as though his power had increased tremendously. The truth hurts like hell, literally in this case.
My limbs were getting tired as seconds passed. They were bruised, bloodier and much more sore than before. I don't think I could hold on much longer. I heard thundering footsteps quickly heading towards us. The rats. Gorger used my distraction to swing his paw aimed directly to my face, which I dodged in the nick of time. His paw went past its target and impaled the rocks beneath us.
There was a cracking sound. Then another. And another. Gorger's ears twitched and he stopped his attacks. We both looked at each other in the eye and knew what was going to happen next.
"Oh, great. Look at what you've done," I said as he unwrapped his tail against my legs and made a break for it.
"Move, move, move!" he boomed, ordering his rat slaves to get out of his way. Despite the situation I was in, despite barely having any strength to move my arms and legs, I laughed wholeheartedly. So this is what Sandwich meant by "AS LIFE MAY BE DEATH AND DEATH LIFE AGAIN REAPS."
"King Gorger?" I heard one rat ask. A bit too late to ask that, I thought as a huge chunk of the ground caved in, crumbling like a cookie. It swallowed all the rats and one human, me. Screams and cries could be heard echoing around, distorting my echolocation.
As I fell, I let my daggers go, too tired to hold them anymore. My mini-flashlight slipped out of my pocket. I got it and switched it on with my teeth. A spectacle of swarming rats were crashing down like an avalanche. I sighed. Might as well enjoy the view.
My arms and legs were outstretched. So this is how I die, huh? Down into a bottomless pit, drowning in a pile of giant rat bodies. I smiled. What an anti-climactic death for a legendary Overlander such as myself.
But then, I heard a particular shout. It wasn't those rough, scratchy and deep voices of the rats. This one sounded more human. I shone my light to the source and, in the midst of all the gnawers, I saw... Henry? What the hell!? What was he doing here? How did I not notice him earlier?
Too many questions, too little answers. Just like the beginning. Great.
Just then, I saw a flash of wing. Ares. Of course. He would save Henry, and I would fall to my death. He dove in with the speed of a missile, trying to avoid the rats as much as possible. Some rats did a few injuries on him, but it was Gorger who did the most, giving him four deep claw marks on his cheek. He brushed it off and continued speeding away. Wow, he was that desperate to save his bond.
But then he overshot. "Ares!" Henry screamed a plea. Was it a mistake? Did the cries of agony of the rats disrupted his echolocation so much that he overshot?
The latter thought was debunked when I landed on fur. Ares's bat fur. The impact almost knocked me out, but wanting to surprise Ripred for that, I held onto my consciousness and Ares's fur.
Once I did, he rocketed back up, dodging the rats again, only this time it was more difficult. I couldn't blame him, considering that he wanted to protect me. I kept the flashlight back into my pocket and laid down onto Ares, resting a bit, trying to catch my breath. I didn't care what happened to Henry.
The next thing I knew, we were back up onto the ground. Luxa had Lizzie's father strapped on Aurora and Lizzie beside him. Temp bolted onto Ares behind me.
I turned my head, facing Ripred eye to eye. He had three rats behind him, probably Razor and whatever their names were, and had blood all over him. I don't think it was his blood though. He gave me a bitter smile. "Delightfully full of surprises."
I managed to cough out a short laugh. "What're you gonna do now, Ripred?"
"Run, boy. Run like the river. Fly you high, Ryan the Overlander!" said Ripred as he took off down the road, together with his three companions.
"Fly you high too, Ripred!" I shouted, as Ares and Aurora sped over the rat's head. When we were out of range, I coughed. I swallowed it down after a few more.
We flew over the canyon, where Gorger, his army and Henry lay dead deep beneath. The canyon ended, and the bats headed into a large tunnel that twisted and turned in every way.
I got rid of my tension and relaxed, closing my eyes to rest for a while. "I did not know, Overlander. I swear to you I did not know," whispered the black bat.
"I know, I know," I whispered back, patting his soft fur. There was nothing more than silence as we flew.
During my peaceful silence, Ares interrupted. "Overlander, we have troubles," he whispered.
"What is it?" I asked, a little annoyed.
"Aurora and I, we do not know which direction leads back to Regalia," said Ares.
"You what!?" I hissed, arching my back up. The pain had subsided a little, but enough for me to move. "Why didn't you tell me earlier?"
My savior dipped his head down in shame. "I thought I knew the way. But the tunnel leads to an area uncharted by fliers."
I sighed. "Does Luxa have a plan?"
There was a pause. I assumed that Ares was communicating with Aurora. Then Ares said, "Luxa cannot speak."
Oh, right. Forgot about her trauma.
"To complicate matters, Aurora has a torn wing that must soon be mended if we are to continue," Ares added.
"So the great Warrior is in charge now, huh?" I mumbled. "Find a safe spot to land," I commanded.
The twisting tunnel soon opened out over a large river. The source was a magnificent waterfall that poured out of a stone arch and fell a hundred feet to the river below. Above the arch was a natural stone ledge, about ten feet deep. Ares and Aurora coasted over to it and landed. The riders slid onto the stone.
Lizzie wrapped Luxa with a blanket and held hands with her father, playing with his palm with her thumb. One look at Lizzie's eyes kept me from helping her. She didn't want any.
I turned to Aurora. Her left wing had a long rip that oozed blood. Ouch. Her wingspan must be a huge tendon to target. "I can sew that up," I said.
"Tend to the others first," said Aurora. She fluttered over to Luxa and wrapped her good wing around the girl.
I looked around. Luxa was shaken and probably wracked with grief about Henry's betrayal. Lizzie was trying to coax herself and wait for her father's awakening. Her dad was sleeping away, but not in a good way. I have to wait for him to wake up to feed his half-starved stomach. Temp was just lying on the ground and clicking softly. Everyone was pretty depressed. The only 'others' needed to be 'tended' was me and Ares. "I don't think there even is an 'others'," I mouthed out.
Ares's back was hunched so low that the extreme sorrow was clearly evident; the pressure of losing his bond almost destroying him from the inside.
I was going to ask him whether he wanted to be patched up, but he cut me off. "I am fine, Overlander. Tend to your own wounds. I do not need help." Guess I have to first fix Aurora up then, considering her wing would be numb after I did.
I opened the first aid kit. There was a pack of needles and several spools of spinners' silk in the first aid kit. I picked one of the needles at random and went through the strings, choosing a thin but strong one.
I walked towards her and cleaned her wound as much as I could, making sure I didn't miss any blood. She told me to apply an ointment that would numb the area, which I complied and thought of using for my own injuries. Then, I began to sew up the rip. I would like to do it quickly, but fingers weren't so intricate, so I did it slowly and carefully.
Every little mistake I did, I softly cursed and apologized to her. Aurora tried to sit motionless, but kept reacting to the pain involuntarily.
"Sorry, sorry." I kept apologizing.
"No, I am fine," she would reply. But I knew it hurts.
When I was done, I was sweating beads from all that concentration and lack of ventilation. I took a few steps back to view my work. The wing was back in one piece and looked quite alright. "It's good to go," I said to her, and she gingerly stretched her wing.
"It is well sewn, Overlander," she said. "It should hold to Regalia." She looked at me. "Now you must address your own wounds. I cannot fly, anyway, until the numbness leaves my wing."
I nodded and started to do so. I threw the used needle away in the darkness where Lizzie's light couldn't reach and took a new one and the same string from the kit, not forgetting the ointment, and sewed my shoulder. Once I started, I winced. The ointment was not as strong as the anesthetic in the Overland. No wonder Aurora kept reacting to the pain. But I had to keep going. If Aurora can bear it, so can I. I continued sewing and then patched myself up with the bandages in the kit.
When I'd taken care of them, I decided to ask Temp a question, since he seemed to be the least depressed of them all. "Temp, do you hear any rats?"
"Hear you the rats, hear you?"
"No, I don't. That's why I asked you."
"Hear you the rats, hear you?" he repeated.
I groaned loudly. "Can you not be so cryptic for once and-" That was when I heard a scraping sound. I used echolocation and 'saw' rats gathering, hundreds of them, on the banks beside the river. Several were sitting back on their haunches, their claws scraping at the chalky stone wall that flanked the waterfall. A couple tried to climb it and slid back to the ground. They began to scrape footholds in the surface. It would take time for them to scale the wall, but I knew they would do it. They would find a way.
Crap. What now? I can barely muster enough strength to fight ten rats, let alone hundreds. Temp could shield us, but with the sheer amount of enemies, I think he could only stop half a rat. Luxa was busy grieving. Lizzie was busy taking care of her father, whom I bet was too sick to lift a finger. Aurora and Ares could fight them off, but only for a while. The only option was to escape, which I hated. I hated that option the most. It was a cowardly move, but what choice do I have?
Argh! Damn my dilemma! Where the hell is Ripred when you needed him the most!? We need a freaking miracle to get out of this alive!
Then, the miracle happened, just when I thought of it.
"Lizzie?" said a puzzled voice. "Lizzie, is that you?"
I turned around. Lizzie snapped out of her daze and looked at the source of the voice, happy as a lark. "Dad! Oh, I missed you so much!" She hugged him tight. He had weakly propped himself up onto one elbow. He was shaking from the exertion and his breath was shallow, but there was a look of recognition in his eyes. He got his sanity back.
I sighed. "I'm sure this family reunion is great and all, but we have an entire rat army heading in our direction!"
Lizzie's father grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled away from her arms. "And you are...?" He turned to me in confusion.
I unfolded my arms. "Look, let's just skip the formalities and get on with being alive! Do you have any plans for us to escape?"
He nodded. "Right... Right. Where are we?"
"We're above a waterfall in the Dead Land. A bunch of rats are trying to scale the wall. The bats says that this area is uncharted by them. We're lost," I replied.
"How far are the rats from us now?" he asked.
Lizzie shone her light to where I was looking. The rats were halfway there. "About forty meters."
"How about light?"
"Lizzie and I got a flashlight each," I said, showing him mine.
"I don't think mine will hold on much longer," said Lizzie. As she spoke, as on cue, her light dimmed.
"We got to go back to Regalia."
"Well, duh."
"It's in the north of the Underland."
I caught his idea. "I don't have a compass," I told him.
"I know. I'm going to make one." He looked around and locked his eyes onto Aurora. "That bat. How did you sew her up?"
"Metal needle. Got it." I grabbed a needle from the kit and handed it to him. He pulled out a stone and rubbed it along the needle in short, quick strokes. Lizzie eyed at it in fascination. "What else do you need?"
"Get some kind of bowl. Dump out that medicine if you have to," he said. "And fill it with water."
I took the last water basket we had, filled it to the brim and gave it to him.
"Is that a lodestone?" Lizzie asked in excitement.
"Correct, Lizzie. There was a pile of them back in my pit. I kept one in my pocket just in case I ever escaped. I had some pieces of metal back there, too, but nothing the right size. This needle is perfect," said her dad. Once he was done talking, he gently slid the needle into the water. It floated. Then, to Lizzie's amazement, the needle turned forty-five degrees to the right and held steady. "There. North. It may be off a few degrees, but it's close enough."
The sound of claws digging into stone rebounded into my ears and I 'saw' the rats had almost reached the ledge. "Aurora, can you fly now?"
"I think I must," said Aurora, clearly aware of the rats.
I gave Ares a slight nudge. "Ares, wake up. I'll point you the direction of Regalia. Can you stay on course?"
He roused himself back up. "I can stay well enough on course if I know the direction to fly."
"Good. Mount up, we're going home!" I called out to the rest, copying Vikus.
Everyone did as instructed. I had Temp to ride with Luxa in case she woke up, and helped Lizzie's dad up onto Ares, with Lizzie already mounting Ares.
I was about to take back the water basket when I 'saw' a rat had already reached the ledge. I leaped onto Ares and pointed north. "That's north. There's Regalia." The bats immediately took off, leaving the basket and a group of cursing rats behind.
Ares followed the tunnel that headed north, and after about an hour he called to me: "I know now where we fly."
They flew straight for Regalia, down wide, open caverns.
And below was carnage. There were multiple species all staying very still, all dead. Lizzie directed her light down in curiousity and covered her mouth in shock. She quickly switched it off and rested her head onto her father's lap, talking about science and stuff. As for me, I laid my back down onto Ares and took a quick nap, regaining my strength.
Horns blasted into my sensitive ears and jolted me awake. We were back. I looked down vaguely and saw people waving their arms, shouting. Neither me nor Luxa responded.
Luxa wasn't even looking. From the moment we had taken off, she had wrapped her arms around Aurora's neck and closed her eyes to the world.
The doors were flung open at the stadium, and the city appeared below them. There was cheering and waving of flags. The palace came into view, and Ares dove for the High Hall.
We coasted in, and the exhausted bats simply landed on their bellies and slid along the floor until they stopped. Underlanders swarmed us all. A couple of people laid Lizzie's dad on a stretcher and whisked him away, with Lizzie following them. The bats could barely protest as they were carried away, too, more in need of rest than medical attention.
I resisted all attempts to be loaded onto a stretcher. I didn't want and didn't need to be hospitalized. I was fine on my own.
Luxa, on the other hand, just stood there, pale and lost, not even noticing the whirlwind around her. Her violet eyes were vacant, and her hands hung limply at her sides. She looked so weak, so fragile. How would she lead her people when she is Queen?
Wait, why am I so sympathetic about this? This isn't me.
"Can I help her?" my other self pleaded.
I gave out a long, mental exhale. Fine, do whatever you want. I don't care anymore. But make sure I don't do anything unnatural.
I could've sworn I saw him dancing around in joy, but whatever. I closed my eyes, and for the first time ever, allowed him to take control.
My eyes opened, and the first thing he did was walking towards Luxa and standing beside her. There was total silence between them. He broke it after a few seconds. "You can't be like that forever, you know? Accept the truth, and face reality. I did that when I-"
No! Don't reveal my truth! You're getting too carried away!
"...Nevermind." She didn't reply. Awkward. This is why I didn't like talking to others. It would be either sarcastic or threatening.
The room cleared out, and I saw Vikus hurrying to us. He stopped a small distance away, deep lines of concern cut into his face.
"Henry was a traitor. He wanted the throne of the rats." He could've said more, but he didn't want to. At least, not yet. "I'll explain later," he added.
Vikus looked at Luxa and opened his arms. Shee stood, still frozen, staring at him like when Lizzie first found her father: lost and confused.
"It's Vikus, Luxa. It's your grandpa."
She blinked. A small tear formed at the corner of her eye. I could see a battle taking place on her face as she tried to stop the feelings rising up inside her.
Eventually, the feelings won, and she ran into Vikus's arms, hugging him tight and weeping like a little girl; her cries muffled by his clothes. He embraced her and patted her head softly; his own tears leaking down, smiling warmly.
His hand instinctively ran down to his left, where Henry's sword was.
A/N: Just so you know, when Ryan's other personality takes control over his body, all of his pronouns will be in italics for you readers to differentiate. If you guys want me to change it, please tell me.
I'M SO SORRY! I had school (on the holidays!) and tons of homework to do, so I had very little time to write this chapter. This might continue on for *who knows how long*. So be prepared to wait patiently! Thank you for taking your time to read this! Leave your reviews and don't forget to criticize!
