This is my first fanfiction so please go easy on it. If you like the story I'll keep chapters coming. If not keep it to yourself, please don't hate on it. If you find any errors, whether it be spelling, grammar or anything else please just let me know. I've been reading many of the fanfictions on this site but I just wanted to add my own to them.
Disclaimer: I do not own the Underland Chronicles or any of the characters, save the ones that I will be adding. Both the Underland Chronicles and the characters within belong to Suzanne Collins.
-Ssi
She couldn't believe this was the end. Ever since their paths had met Luxa couldn't stop thinking about Gregor in one way or another. Prophecies, adventures, friends, something more along the way. It wasn't always clear; but even the last four years without him, he had always been on the edge of her subconscious.
Luxa's entire upbringing had been based around the world she grew up in, disagreement, conflict, war. Gregor's hadn't. In fact Luxa's eyes had been opened to stories of the Overland, and how some issues were solved above. After he had left she had even gone to Ripred a couple of times to ask about the things he had read from the Overland. So of course even in those four years she heard Gregor's voice in her head during every council meeting and dispute. Not to mention his often visits to her dreams.
But it was all over now. Gregor was gone…
Luxa steadied her breathing from technics she had learned while training with Mareth and Perdita. Her eyes hurt slightly and were a little puffy but she hadn't cried, now wasn't the time for that. Looking up Luxa focused on Aurora who was crouched beside the bed in Luxa's chambers.
"I am sorry," the Flier stated solemnly.
"You have no need," Luxa responded. "It is I who should be sorry. If I had not…" her voice trailed off. It was her fault after all, she was the reason Gregor was gone.
Without him, their chances of getting out of this civil war alive was, to say the least, not great.
Standing up, Luxa exited her room, into the common area of her quarters closely followed by Aurora, fluttering a couple of steps at a time.
"What are we to do now?" Aurora asked calmly.
Luxa answered as simply as she could, "fight."
"You are too injured for combat," her bond stated bluntly. "You need to recuperate before anything else."
"My injuries matter little," Luxa lied as she stretched slightly and felt the sting of the stiches pulling on her skin as her wound tried endlessly to reopen. "This morning when I woke up I did something that I had not done in many years…"
"What would that be?" Aurora questioned.
"I did not-" Luxa paused, "That is to say I did not tell myself that today was my last."
Aurora knew it was an odd ritual of Luxa's to remind herself that any day could be her last, but she never talked so openly about it. "Then today shall not be your last," Aurora tried to add a modicum of hope to her high pitched voice.
"Maybe," Luxa said more to herself than Aurora.
A commotion at the entrance brought their focus back to the rest of the world. Luxa and Aurora made their way to the door. Passing the two guards positioned at her entrance, Luxa saw Mareth hobbling towards her with his bodyguards flanking him on either side.
The smile on Mareth's face caught Luxa off guard. "Ripred has joined the fight, along with the Warrior," He grinned.
Luxa's heart skipped a beat, "What?"
"I could barely believe it either," Mareth slowed as he got closer to Luxa, "but apparently the two of them are leading the defense against the wall."
Luxa's attention was pulled away from Mareth and focused on the guard behind his left shoulder. She wasn't sure why but she was draw to his eyes. It was almost as if the rest of the world got darker as her vision got crisper.
The guard's eyes flicked over Luxa's shoulder quickly before meeting her gaze. His pupils dilated as his eyes switched over to Mareth's back. The vain on his temple pulsed once, had Luxa not been so focused on it, it's unlikely she would've noticed the single bead of sweat start to drop down his forehead.
Luxa lunged forward, reaching out towards Mareth belt. With one hand Luxa grasped his sword and with the other she pushed Mareth's head down to avoid the sword his bodyguard had aimed right at him.
Luxa had no idea how, but the world seemed to move in slow motion as she drew Mareth's sword and parried the follow-up attack from the other guard before riposting the broadsword into the guards side. Mareth's sword was heavier than what she normally preferred but at the moment she couldn't even feel the weight. Ducking under the next lunge from the first guard, Luxa saw something she couldn't explain, it was almost as if she could see through his armor. Past the thick slabs of metal there were pads of leather, followed by thin cloth. Beyond that was the skin, thicker in some places like the belly and joints, while also thinner in some places like the inner thigh and armpits.
Luxa redirected Mareth's sword upwards into the guard's armpit, there was no metal to block the blow. Fighting gravity, Luxa only felt resistance once the metal hit bone, but by that point the damage was done. Pulling the sword back in front of her and facing back towards Mareth gave her the time to take a deep breath.
But the fight wasn't over yet. Her guards had drawn their swords as well and were closing on her. At this point Mareth had caught up on what was happening and tackled the guard on the left, as well as a cripple could. Luxa stood toe to toe with the last guard. As he began to inch towards her, her vision fragmented once more. As she had trained thousands and thousands of time before for a simple duel like this, she feinted a small movement of her sword to force the first attack out of her opponent. From there it was all too easy to joust a quick nick out of his arm before remising with a short arc ending in a fatal blow in between the guard's ribcage.
Turning towards Mareth, Luxa could see he had things under control. He was on his back with one arm around the man's neck and the other behind his head. The man struggled but was unable to free himself. Luxa swung the sword around and laid the tip against the man's chin.
If looks could kill… Luxa's were about there. The man gasped, "It was nothing personal, I swear, he said-" Luxa nodded slightly at Mareth, and with that the crack rang out in the hallway as Mareth, with one heavy tug, broke the last guard's neck.
Mareth was the first to speak, "I cannot believe Vellac still has spies among us," he breathed out heavily as he stood and retrieved his sword from Luxa, "and I have trained you for many years." He paused with an odd look in his eye. "I have never seen you move like that before."
Luxa tried to remain calm but she knew exactly what he meant. She had never moved or fought like that ever before. It almost scared her. "I am unsure," Luxa stated.
"You have never fought like that before," Aurora confirmed.
"Must have been the energy of the battle," Luxa said nonchalantly.
"Must have…" Mareth repeated, "We must get to the wall quickly and see how the battle ensues." He continued as he started to hobble back from the way he came.
Luxa followed at a suitable distance after arming herself with one of the fallen guards' swords.
Aurora's whisper brought her out of her own thoughts, "You know, I have only ever seen two creatures in the Underland move like that before."
"I know," Luxa whispered back, her voice quavered. "I do not know how or why I was able to fight like that…" she trailed off.
"In any regard, thank Sandwich you were able to," Aurora almost chuckled, "or else…" she never finished her thought.
The journey to High Hall was short and filled with almost complete silence after that. When they arrived, Luxa mounted Aurora and they lifted off the ground and followed Mareth and Andromeda.
Luxa closed her eyes and processed the words from before the fight outside of her chambers. Gregor was actually back! Not only that, but so was Ripred. The last few months without him had been some of the worst in her life. Ever since the war had ended he had been one of her closest friends and confidants. And Gregor; even after she had forced him to leave he had stayed, had he been the reason that Ripred had also returned? She asked herself. It didn't really matter though, with both of them here Regalia's chance of survival just got that much higher.
As they approached they could see Vellac's armies disperse into the tunnels surrounding the fields leaving only the rag tag army of Regalia behind. Luxa saw Ripred first and landed behind him dismounting.
"I was starting to think Vellac put up a better fight than last time, pu-" Ripred stopped short as he turned around and saw Luxa standing behind him. The Gnawer's eyes narrowed in confusion for a fraction of a second before his face was expressionless once more. Luxa wasn't entirely sure if that was what she had seen, but she was positive that Ripred took a deep sniff as he looked at her.
Luxa couldn't help herself, maybe she had grown soft in her trip to the Overland or maybe she just didn't care to keep up looks in front of what was left the Regalia army. She took the few steps needed before tossing her arms around the giant neck of the Gnawer.
"I am glad you have returned, Ripred," Luxa said as Ripred stiffened.
Without moving Ripred answered sarcastically, "If I had not, who else would look after you and the Warrior?"
Luxa let go of Ripred and glanced around, "Where is Gregor? I heard he was with you?" Luxa asked.
It was Perdita that answered. "He left a little while ago to chase after Vellac once we had gotten word of his location."
The dark pit normally in Luxa's stomach deepened, "Where?"
Perdita fell silent. "The river, near the palace," Ripred answered before getting a glare from Perdita.
Luxa turned around and jumped into the air as high as she could as Aurora dipped under her, catching her before lifting into the air. Luxa heard all the voices behind her telling her to stop, but they were all background noise… she had to do this.
As they approached the scene the familiar twang of a bow and arrow hung around the cave followed quickly by a sharp metal clang. Half an arrow flung by, taking a clean cut straight through Aurora's wing as she plummeted towards the ground. Spinning Luxa was able to dismount right before hitting the ground. Grabbing her wound Luxa caught her breath making sure Aurora was ok.
Turning around however, her heart stopped. Gregor was on his knees as a pool of blood started to form around him. Blood soaked his clothes and covered his shoulder and arm.
Vellac sidestepped in front of Gregor blocking out Luxa's view as he raised his sword into the air.
Luxa was only able to get out one word before Vellac's sword came down…
"GREGOR!"
I know it's been a while since an update. Crystal, thank you for getting me off my hind quarters to finish up and get this chapter out. I hope you enjoy it. I know some of you will be displeased with it and all I can say is sorry, it was coming. As of right now I am likely only three-ish chapters away from the end. I am so excited to have it finished because trust me, I've had the finial paragraph of this story literally written out before I even started this whole story, simply because it's how I always thought the final book of the Underland Chronicles should've ended... I promise you when you read the last chapter, if you've enjoyed any of the rest of this story, you will LOVE it. As always please rate and review. Any and all feedback is welcome.
-Ssi'ruuk
