Gregor was free-falling through space. Oh boy, he never got used to this. Even after all his trips to The underland, he still hated this. His breakfast sloshed around in his stomach.
"Oof!" cried Gregor in surprise. It felt as if he had landed on solid rock. Gregor glanced down to see himself astride a giant black bat. "Ares!" he couldn't have stopped himself from saying the name if he tried. Vision's flashed before his eyes. Diving down between the bane's legs. Stabbing him, the Bane. So close. The claws in Ares's chest. Blood. So much blood. Dead. Nothing. The bat's voice broke through his memories.
"I am he called Hades," the bat spoke. "I am Ares's brother. Or was..." Hades paused awkwardly. "Likely he never spoke of me, we rather despised each other."
"Whoa, Ares has a brother?" thought Gregor. How many other things had Ares kept secret? Why hadn't any of his friends mentioned this to him? Vikus, Mareth, Luxa...
"How come you guys didn't get along?" Gregor asked the bat.
"When we were young, I was better than Ares at everything. Except flying. Ares couldn't stand this."
Gregor nodded silently. Then it suddenly hit him why he was here in the first place.
"Hades, I need your help."
"What do you require, overlander," purred the bat softly.
"My friend is missing. She fell here a few minutes ago," said Gregor. "I need you to help me find her." The bat responded by swooping low over the ground. His wings began to flap in earnest. "Angelina," Gregor cried out. Hades sped through the air with quick flaps of his enormous wings. "Angelina!" yelled Gregor. Every second drained a bit of hope. He could feel despair overtaking his body. They flew onward, searching frantically for any sign of life; but nothing.
The continued like this for over two hours, until Gregor's throat was hoarse from shouting. There was no sign of his friend. "What had happened to her?" wondered Gregor. Much as he hated it, Gregor acknowledged defeat. He and Hades began the long flight back to Regalia in silence. Gregor thought of Angelina lost and scared in some part of the underland. He recalled his first trip to the underland, and how frightened he had been. Something felt wrong about leaving when he knew she was out there somewhere. But what choice did he have?
They made the rest of the flight to Regalia. Gregor looked around at the great stone city. Not much had changed since his last visit. The great stone pillars were still standing strong.
The ground was still covered in blood-stains from the war. They had faded to a dull brown, an ugly reminder of those who had perished. Hades landed softly on the ground. Gregor spotted Vikus standing alone. He smiled faintly as they approached.
"Ah, Gregor, you received our note?" said Vikus. Alarm shot through Gregor like electricity.
"Note? What note?" asked Gregor. This wasn't good. Not good at all.
"We sent you a note explaining our predicament," said Vikus, wearily.
"What's wrong now?" asked Gregor, not wanting to know. He thought that when he killed the warrior, he would no longer be involved in the Underland.
Or at least the bad parts.
"It turns out Ripred was telling the truth. Or I should say what is now the truth," amended Vikus. "For reasons unbeknownst to us, the cutters have launched a full underland attack. They are trying to wipe out all warm-blood life." The impact of what he was saying hit Gregor like a ton of bricks. The so-called, "cutters" were gigantic ants the size of dogs.
"Wait, why do you need me? There's not another prophecy, is there?" asked Gregor.
"No, but we are calling in any aid we may have," said Vikus.
"So?" asked Gregor. "What am I supposed to do?"
"Perhaps this conversation would go well with a meal?" asked the old man.
Gregor was glad. He hadn't had anything but a piece of toast today. Gregor's mind flashed back to this morning. Angelina. His dad! How had he forgotten about them? They might be dead for all he knew.
"Gregor," asked Vikus, sounding worried."Are you okay?"
"No," said Gregor. "My friend, Angelina fell here right before me. Have you seen her?" asked Gregor. Maybe somehow she had made it to the city? He hoped with all his heart she had.
" I might have, what does she look like?" said Vikus. Gregor gave a brief description of Angelina.
"She has brown eyes and shoulder-length hair," said Gregor. "And she is around my height, maybe a little shorter."
"Would she be dressed in Underland garments," asked Vikus.
"No," said Gregor, "She'd be wearing clothes like mine."
"Oh, then no. I am sorry," said Vikus. Gregor couldn't believe it. Somehow he had always managed to live his two lives separately, but now they had crossed paths.
"Do you have any idea where she might be?" asked Gregor.
"Well," said Vikus. "She could have hidden in one of the caves. But, had she, the cutters most likely would have killed her by now." Gregor nodded numbly. He felt horrible.
"I am sorry," said Vikus. And Gregor could tell he really meant it. "I will direct Mareth to send scouts to look for her," said Vikus. "We should be able to find him in the arena. He and Ripred have been helping Luxa with her training," said Vikus. "I believe she will be glad to see you," he added, winking at Gregor. Gregor felt himself blush.
Gregor wondered how he should greet Luxa. A handshake? No, that was too formal. A hug? Should he avoid physical contact and just say hi? Or maybe just start it with a nice long, slow kiss. That option sounded the most appealing. It turned out he needn't have thought about it because he never got a chance to talk to her.
Gregor and Vikus greeted Mareth. The soldier caught Gregor up in a bear hug.
"How are things going, Mareth?" Gregor asked the soldier. He was one of Gregor's favorite underlanders. Well, actually, one of his favorite people.
"It is a dark time," spoke Mareth, "but it is better now you are here." Gregor nodded. He had forgotten how formal the underlanders were.
Gregor and Vikus were explaining about Angelina to Mareth when Gregor noticed it: a small puff of dust was curling out of one of the massive tunnels that the gigantic moles the underlanders called "diggers" had dug during a war. They had dug the tunnels to allow the rats and their allies to infiltrate the Regalians palace.
More dust swirled out, accompanied by the quiet skittering of insects. A few seconds later, the cutters arrived. The cutters were gigantic ants the size of dogs. Each was equipped with razor-sharp mandibles. Gregor had fought the cutters before, and they were lethal opponents. Ant after ant poured into the arena.
"Catch!" shouted Mareth, as he picked up a sword from the weapon cart at the side of the arena. Luckily they had just finished with training and the weapons hadn't been put away yet. Mareth tossed swords to each member of their group until they were all armed.
Gregor and the others backed away slowly, weapons raised.
"How did they get in here?" snarled Ripred. The big, scarred rat was of course, unarmed except for his claws and teeth.
"We have but few guards protecting each entrance. In truth, it would not have been hard to overpower them," shouted Mareth as they continued backing away from the cutters. But eventually, they would run out of room, and then what?
"What's the plan?" shouted Gregor, trying to make himself heard over the deafening sound of fifteen dozen ants.
"Five-point arc!" shouted Ripred. "I'll take the front. You two to my left," said Ripred, gesturing to Luxa and Mareth. "My right," he said, nodding at Gregor and Vikus.
Gregor took his position between Vikus and Ripred. The cutters were aligned in a clear formation, shoulder to shoulder. Dozens of soldier ants. Headed right toward them. The ants were only a few feet away from Ripred now. A buzzing swept through his body and his vision splintered as the rager sensation roared through his body. A second later, the first ants hit them. In the period that followed, Gregor lost all sense of self. There was heat, and blood, and pain. His sword seemed to know where to go—to the joints of the legs, the thin waists. But there were so many... so many! Where each one fell, another rose to take its place. Gregor began to pivot on the spot. He held out his blade to its furthest extent. He wondered how long he could keep it up. Already he was beginning to get dizzy. Gregor's foot hit something, and he went sprawling onto the ground. He was immediately surrounded by swarms of cutters; they attacked him from every direction. Gregor fought back furiously, hacking away with his sword. He managed to get back onto his feet. This time he abandoned the rager spin, and simply sliced away at the onslaught of cutters. After what seemed like hours, the cutters began to dwindle until there were only a few left. These Ripred decapitated almost lazily.
Gregor looked around at the aftermath of the battle. Blood was streaming down Luxa's pale legs. Gregor realized he too was covered in stinging wounds where the cutters had broke through his defenses. Ripred was uninjured. And both Mareth and Vikus had several cuts though they didn't seem too deep. Mareth insisted that they all go to the hospital.
"Shouldn't we tell someone about this?" said Gregor to Mareth. The soldier nodded.
"Okay then," said Gregor.
His entire body was still in overdrive from the attack. There was a buzzing in his very veins. He was still geared up for a fight with no one left to fight.
"I shall alert Perdita," said Mareth.
"Oh, is she in charge now?" asked Gregor. He hadn't really considered what would happen with Regalia's armies with the death of Solvet. She had been the military leader but she had been killed during a war between the rats and humans. The humans had technically won the war, but there had been terrible losses for both sides. After the war, both the humans and the rats had agreed this must not happen again and had made a mutual bond for protection. Gregor wondered how it was working out. The humans and the rats had been mortal enemies for over a hundred years, so he figured something like that must be hard to forget.
Gregor and the others made their way to the hospital. Gregor caught whispers of his name passed from person to person. They had all at the very least heard of him. He was their warrior who had defeated the bane of the underland, a twelve-foot-tall, five-hundred-pound pure-white rat called Pearlpelt. Something like that was hard to forget. A few people even bowed to him.
It suddenly hit Gregor why he had come to the underland in the first place—Angelina! The cutter's attack had driven her from his mind. I mean come on! That would distract anyone.
"Mareth!' said Gregor, tapping the soldier on the shoulder. "A friend of mine fell here right before me. I need your help finding her."
"I will send or finest scouts looking for her. We should be able to track her down if she is still— well—not—uh—" said Mareth awkwardly. He was clearly trying not to say the word dead.
"Okay, thanks," said Gregor. Hopefully, they could find her quickly. If anything happened to her it was all his fault. Gregor and the others made it to the hospital. They were greeted by two nurses in crisp uniforms. The group had all of their various cuts stitched up and bandaged.

"Okay, that should hold," said a woman, as she pulled tight the last stitch that was holding together a small incision in his leg. Gregor was sitting in a bed in the hospital. The whole room smelled of antiseptic.
"Thanks," he said, stepping gingerly off the bed. There was a twinge of pain, but nothing too bad.

Gregor was left alone by the underlanders for the rest of the day. He mostly wandered around the stone city in a bleary-eyed daze. He hadn't slept well in months, and it felt like it was beginning to catch up on him. He halfheartedly considered trying to go after Angelina himself, but he knew the underlanders would have a better chance of finding her. And he was so very tired. His eyes stung from lack of sleep, and he felt groggy and poorly focused.
When Gregor finally made it to bed that night, he curled up into a comfortable ball and fell asleep almost immediately. His sleep was punctuated once again by nightmares, these ones surrounding the two kids he'd beaten up.