p style="color: #0e101a; background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true"When Gregor came to, he was lying on a hospital cot, surrounded by doctors and nurses. They had re-bandaged his should with fresh white bandages and given him some sort of medicine. He quickly sat up and pulled several syringes out of his arm. He was ready to leave. A nearby nurse pushed him back into bed. She tried to slip some medicine down his throat but he closed his mouth. She called another nurse to her side and they forced the liquid down his throat. /span/p
p style="color: #0e101a; background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true" When he woke up, he had no idea how much time had passed, his family must be worried sick. He tried to sit up but found himself roped to the bed. They didn't want him to leave anytime soon./span/p
p style="color: #0e101a; background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true" Gregor tapped his leg impatiently. He felt restless and wanted to move about. There was an impending war! He should be training at the very least. It still felt surreal to Gregor. That they were stuck here forever. What about his grandma? And Mrs. Cormaci. He missed her. It had been like having a functional parent around again. /span/p
p style="color: #0e101a; background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true" The rope was starting to cut into his arm. He called the nurses and tried to convince them he wouldn't try and escape again. It didn't work; heck he didn't even believe he wouldn't make a break for it. /span/p
p style="color: #0e101a; background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true" So Gregor tried to adjust his position so the ropes didn't cut all the circulation out of his left arm. /span/p
p style="color: #0e101a; background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true" Gregor spent the next few days in the hospital while his back recovered. By the second day, they had untied him after making him promise to stay put. His family visited him intermittently during his stay. On his fourth day, he was released from the hospital with a warning to take it slow. A day later he was summoned for training in the arena. Everybody was there... "Well almost," thought Gregor. /span/p
p style="color: #0e101a; background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true"The underlanders had no clue as to when the cutters would attack so the best they could do was train with vigor. /span/p
p style="color: #0e101a; background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true"Gregor was placed in a class with a bunch of kids around his age or maybe a little older. They were instructed to do a bunch of stretches and strength exercises and then jogged laps around the arena for the first hour. /span/p
p style="color: #0e101a; background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true"Then an underlander Gregor had never seen drilled them with swords for a while before two other men wheeled out the cannons they used for blood-ball practice. /span/p
p style="color: #0e101a; background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true"Each student took his or her turn at it. Some hut only one or two while others hit up to eight. /span/p
p style="color: #0e101a; background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true"When it was Gregor's turn the man training them decided to try something a little different. /span/p
p style="color: #0e101a; background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true" "Here, try this on," said the man, handing Gregor a small white, cloth. He had Gregor tie it around his eyes. It completely shut out all light leaving him blind... except... Gregor clicked his tongue against the rough of his mouth. It made a popping sound which was enough to send images of the arena flying back to him. /span/p
p style="color: #0e101a; background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true" "Alright, on three," said the man. /span/p
p style="color: #0e101a; background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true" "One,"—Gregor braced himself against the ground— "Two!" —He could feel the rager sensation building up in his body— "Go!" shouted the man. /span/p
p style="color: #0e101a; background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true" Gregor sensed the balls flying at him and began hacking his sword back and forth trying to protect his sides and front simultaneously. /span/p
p style="color: #0e101a; background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true" It was over in a few seconds. Gregor removed the blind-fold and looked around at the balls. Almost all of them had burst but Gregor noticed one unharmed. Why hadn't he hit it? He had raged and last time he had during blood-ball practice he'd hit the total. Gregor felt confused; every time he'd raged before he always hit anything sent his way. It made him feel scared because even if he did become a rager he was still human. He still made errors. /span/p
p style="color: #0e101a; background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true" "Let me try again," he said. And he did. Again, and again and again, until he was hitting the total every time. /span/p
p style="color: #0e101a; background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true" Gregor's life began falling into a regular routine; he slept and then got up and ate; he spent most of the morning and part of the afternoon in training and then spent the rest of his day with his family; mostly giving tours to his mom; she'd never really had a chance to explore the place. And visiting Temp in the nursery. He hadn't talked to Vikus since their discussion about the war. What was taking so long? Why hadn't they left? Shouldn't they be trying to convince the cutters not to attack? Oh, probably the council was refusing to let them go. That seemed like the type of thing they would do./span/p
p style="color: #0e101a; background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true" Lizzie had been spending a lot of time in the prophecy room with Nerissa. After having a quick conversation with Nerissa, where he made her assure him, she would never let Lizzie see the prophecy surrounding his death, Gregor was happy for her though the last thing he wanted was for her to start believing in the prophecies. But he was glad she had someone to talk to. /span/p
p style="color: #0e101a; background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true" His dad had been spending large amounts of time locked in the war room, talking strategy, and weapons with the Underland soldiers. Gregor thought his dad was trying to keep busy to distract him from... other things. Darker thoughts. Gregor felt the same way. /span/p
p style="color: #0e101a; background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true" He'd only seen Luxa occasionally since their fight. And whenever he did catch sight of her, she always turned away and began talking with anyone in sight. Gregor knew he should talk to her, but he couldn't think of what to say to her. Gregor was awoken the next morning by Lizzie. /span/p
p style="color: #0e101a; background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true" "Gregor, Mareth told me to tell you to go to training," said Lizzie, pulling at his arm. /span/p
p style="color: #0e101a; background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true" "What time is it?" asked Gregor. /span/p
p style="color: #0e101a; background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true" "It's almost nine," said Lizzie. /span/p
p style="color: #0e101a; background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true" "Okay, I'm up," said Gregor drowsily to his sister. He slowly got to his feet. He'd overslept. "Ah, well," thought Gregor. When he got to the training arena, however, he did not see the usual groups of people with who he was training with. Instead, he saw a group of people and bats, all of whom were dressed as though they were about to leave. /span/p
p style="color: #0e101a; background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true" "What's going on?" asked Gregor. /span/p
p style="color: #0e101a; background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true" "We are about to leave for the cutters' territory," said Ripred. "Mareth packed this for you," said Ripred, nodding at a small bag on the floor. /span/p
p style="color: #0e101a; background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true" "Uh—okay," said Gregor. He had been waiting for this for ages, yet now that it was here, it seemed to come as shock. "I've just gotta say goodbye to my mom and then I'll be ready." /span/p
p style="color: #0e101a; background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true" "There is no time for that," said Ripred. "Someone will pass the message along to your mom," said Ripred. /span/p
p style="color: #0e101a; background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true" "But she doesn't even know what's going on!" said Gregor. /span/p
p style="color: #0e101a; background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true" "And if we don't do this, everyone can, and likely will, be dead." It was a compelling argument. /span/p
p style="color: #0e101a; background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true" "Fine," said Gregor. /span/p
p style="color: #0e101a; background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" /p
p style="color: #0e101a; background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true"They were flying through the air again. Gregor was on a bat with Boots and Temp. Gregor held two scrolls of parchment in his hands. The first was the speech the underlanders had wrote. He was supposed to go over it with Boots. But when he had started to read, he realized Boots wouldn't be able to say it in English, let alone in Crawler. So here he was, flying through the air while he tried to paraphrase a speech. Clearly, the underlanders didn't get what easy-to-read meant. Boots wouldn't understand half of it. Heck, Gregor was struggling with pieces. Gregor had to laugh out loud as he read the opening paragraph. The only word he expected her to understand was "we". /span/p
p style="color: #0e101a; background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true" Gregor dipped the pen the underlanders had provided into the inkpot. Then, being careful not to spill a drop (he was flying through the air, after all) he started to write. But he stopped after only a few words. He glanced back at the original letter. Here was the opening statement: /spanem style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"Salutations from the citizens of Regalia. The rising tensions between our species has necessitated that we must formulate a panacea to our distress. Henceforth, we are supplicating that you will commit to a deliberation on the issue. /em/p
p style="color: #0e101a; background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true" If this was the dumbed-down version, what had the original looked like? Gregor continued to read./span/p
p style="color: #0e101a; background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true" /spanem style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"It is our desire that we meet with the queen and her advisers at a destination designated by the cutters./emspan style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true" /span/p
p style="color: #0e101a; background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true"There was more, but Gregor thought that was enough, at least to start with. He started at the beginning. /spanem style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"Hi!/emspan style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true" There! It was simple and Boots would be able to say it. /spanem style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"Because of the... /emspan style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true"Because of what? Problems? Issues? Sure, that would work. B/spanem style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"ecause of the issues between the people of Regalia and the cutters, we need to act!/emspan style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true" /span/p
p style="color: #0e101a; background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true" There! That should do. It didn't sound particularly good, but still, it would get the message across. /span/p
p style="color: #0e101a; background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true" "Hey, Boots," said Gregor, tapping her on the shoulder. /span/p
p style="color: #0e101a; background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true" "What, Gregor?" she asked. /span/p
p style="color: #0e101a; background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true" "Do you still know how to talk like... like the big bugs?" They probably should have checked that before they left, but ah well. /span/p
p style="color: #0e101a; background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true" "Ye-es!" said Boots. She then made a bizarre sequence of clicks and hisses. /span/p
p style="color: #0e101a; background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true" "That means hello!" /span/p
p style="color: #0e101a; background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true" "Okay, great!" said Gregor. "Listen, I'm going to read you some stuff, and you're going to try to say it in crawler—I mean in—uh—bug—whatever." /span/p
p style="color: #0e101a; background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true" "Okay," complied Boots. /span/p
p style="color: #0e101a; background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true" Gregor slowly ran Boots through the speech he had written. She did quite well translating, but once or twice, Temp had to help her with a word. Gregor looked down over the side of their bat. Far below them were densely populated vines and other plants. /span/p
p style="color: #0e101a; background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true" "Wait, are we above the jungle?" asked Gregor. Something about the scene seemed familiar. There was a glow that seemed to emanate from the very ground. /span/p
p style="color: #0e101a; background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true" "The jungle, be this, thus be," said Temp. the jungle... boy... he had a lot of memories from in there. /span/p
p style="color: #0e101a; background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true" Gregor wanted to ask Vikus something but the man was flying too far away. So, instead, he asked Temp. /span/p
p style="color: #0e101a; background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true" "About how long till we get there? To the cutters', I mean." /span/p
p style="color: #0e101a; background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true" "Be us there, by nightfall, be us," said the roach. /span/p
p style="color: #0e101a; background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true" "Okay, " said Gregor. Night wasn't that bad. Still, it would be another day's journey back to Regalia. With a pang, Gregor realized he hadn't said goodbye to his mom. Or Lizzie, for that matter. He had meant to but had forgotten in the hassle of leaving. They flew for hours in near silence. Nobody seemed to want to talk much. At long last, the bats began to descend. Gregor was relieved. He was getting tired from sitting on the bat so long. The bat coasted in for a gentle landing. They had landed in a field that seemed to border the jungle. Several small, crisscrossing streams snaked their way across the field. Gregor looked down and saw a faint glow radiating from the stream nearest to him. Small bursts of light caused by miniature volcanoes erupting flashed on and off. Gregor had experienced this phenomenon before, yet it never ceased to amaze him. After making sure Boots had everything she needed, Gregor walked over to Vikus./span/p
p style="color: #0e101a; background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true" "So... are we going to talk to the cutters soon?" he asked. /span/p
p style="color: #0e101a; background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true" "No, not yet," said Vikus. "It is too late. We will make contact tomorrow." /span/p
p style="color: #0e101a; background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true" "Alright," said Gregor, a little disappointed. He had hoped they would do it sooner rather than later. /span/p
p style="color: #0e101a; background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true" The underlanders pitched animal skin tents and began to build a fire with bracken from the jungle. Once the tents had been erected, the underlanders began to prepare food. Gregor sat in silence, waiting for them. When the food was ready, an underland brought him and Boots their share. It was a soup made from vegetables and some sort of smoked meat. There was also a slice of crusty bread half-submerged in it. Once everyone had finished eating, Mareth stood up and began to lay out the plans for the night. /span/p
p style="color: #0e101a; background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true" "We are very near the cutters' territory. So we must be vigilant We are assigning eight people to guard duty at all times. They will switch three times—every four hours. Ugh! Four-hour guard duty. That didn't sound pleasant./span/p
p style="color: #0e101a; background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true" Mareth began naming people for each shift. When he got to the end, Gregor felt a little confused. His name hadn't been mentioned. Did they think he couldn't handle it? He didn't let it bother him. He could get some sleep while everyone else was keeping watch. /span/p
p style="color: #0e101a; background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true" "I want everyone to sleep with their weapons. It is a great possibility that we will be attacked in the night." Gregor felt around to make sure he still had his sword. He did. "Now, those who have not been selected for guard duty may as well sleep. We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow, so you may as well rest while you can."/span/p
p style="color: #0e101a; background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true" These were two conflicting messages: we might be attacked, stay on guard, and: relax, get some sleep. As Gregor stood, examining the tent nearest to him, he noticed several names written on a fragment of parchment above the tent. Oh! That must be the people who were supposed to sleep there! He searched for a few minutes, and, sure enough, there was one label: Warrior Princess Boots. That must be them. Gregor should his head at the tile he and Boots were labeled with, then took Boots's hand and led her into the tent. It was small and cozy. There was a small oil lamp burning on the floor. It gave a soft glow to the whole tent. Two piles of blankets lay on the ground. Boots yawned and dropped onto the pile of blankets nearest to her. She was asleep before her head hit the ground. Okay, well not really, but she fell asleep quickly. /span/p
p style="color: #0e101a; background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true" When he woke up, he had no idea how much time had passed, his family must be worried sick. He tried to sit up but found himself roped to the bed. They didn't want him to leave anytime soon./span/p
p style="color: #0e101a; background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true" Gregor tapped his leg impatiently. He felt restless and wanted to move about. There was an impending war! He should be training at the very least. It still felt surreal to Gregor. That they were stuck here forever. What about his grandma? And Mrs. Cormaci. He missed her. It had been like having a functional parent around again. /span/p
p style="color: #0e101a; background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true" The rope was starting to cut into his arm. He called the nurses and tried to convince them he wouldn't try and escape again. It didn't work; heck he didn't even believe he wouldn't make a break for it. /span/p
p style="color: #0e101a; background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true" So Gregor tried to adjust his position so the ropes didn't cut all the circulation out of his left arm. /span/p
p style="color: #0e101a; background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true" Gregor spent the next few days in the hospital while his back recovered. By the second day, they had untied him after making him promise to stay put. His family visited him intermittently during his stay. On his fourth day, he was released from the hospital with a warning to take it slow. A day later he was summoned for training in the arena. Everybody was there... "Well almost," thought Gregor. /span/p
p style="color: #0e101a; background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true"The underlanders had no clue as to when the cutters would attack so the best they could do was train with vigor. /span/p
p style="color: #0e101a; background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true"Gregor was placed in a class with a bunch of kids around his age or maybe a little older. They were instructed to do a bunch of stretches and strength exercises and then jogged laps around the arena for the first hour. /span/p
p style="color: #0e101a; background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true"Then an underlander Gregor had never seen drilled them with swords for a while before two other men wheeled out the cannons they used for blood-ball practice. /span/p
p style="color: #0e101a; background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true"Each student took his or her turn at it. Some hut only one or two while others hit up to eight. /span/p
p style="color: #0e101a; background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true"When it was Gregor's turn the man training them decided to try something a little different. /span/p
p style="color: #0e101a; background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true" "Here, try this on," said the man, handing Gregor a small white, cloth. He had Gregor tie it around his eyes. It completely shut out all light leaving him blind... except... Gregor clicked his tongue against the rough of his mouth. It made a popping sound which was enough to send images of the arena flying back to him. /span/p
p style="color: #0e101a; background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true" "Alright, on three," said the man. /span/p
p style="color: #0e101a; background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true" "One,"—Gregor braced himself against the ground— "Two!" —He could feel the rager sensation building up in his body— "Go!" shouted the man. /span/p
p style="color: #0e101a; background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true" Gregor sensed the balls flying at him and began hacking his sword back and forth trying to protect his sides and front simultaneously. /span/p
p style="color: #0e101a; background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true" It was over in a few seconds. Gregor removed the blind-fold and looked around at the balls. Almost all of them had burst but Gregor noticed one unharmed. Why hadn't he hit it? He had raged and last time he had during blood-ball practice he'd hit the total. Gregor felt confused; every time he'd raged before he always hit anything sent his way. It made him feel scared because even if he did become a rager he was still human. He still made errors. /span/p
p style="color: #0e101a; background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true" "Let me try again," he said. And he did. Again, and again and again, until he was hitting the total every time. /span/p
p style="color: #0e101a; background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true" Gregor's life began falling into a regular routine; he slept and then got up and ate; he spent most of the morning and part of the afternoon in training and then spent the rest of his day with his family; mostly giving tours to his mom; she'd never really had a chance to explore the place. And visiting Temp in the nursery. He hadn't talked to Vikus since their discussion about the war. What was taking so long? Why hadn't they left? Shouldn't they be trying to convince the cutters not to attack? Oh, probably the council was refusing to let them go. That seemed like the type of thing they would do./span/p
p style="color: #0e101a; background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true" Lizzie had been spending a lot of time in the prophecy room with Nerissa. After having a quick conversation with Nerissa, where he made her assure him, she would never let Lizzie see the prophecy surrounding his death, Gregor was happy for her though the last thing he wanted was for her to start believing in the prophecies. But he was glad she had someone to talk to. /span/p
p style="color: #0e101a; background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true" His dad had been spending large amounts of time locked in the war room, talking strategy, and weapons with the Underland soldiers. Gregor thought his dad was trying to keep busy to distract him from... other things. Darker thoughts. Gregor felt the same way. /span/p
p style="color: #0e101a; background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true" He'd only seen Luxa occasionally since their fight. And whenever he did catch sight of her, she always turned away and began talking with anyone in sight. Gregor knew he should talk to her, but he couldn't think of what to say to her. Gregor was awoken the next morning by Lizzie. /span/p
p style="color: #0e101a; background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true" "Gregor, Mareth told me to tell you to go to training," said Lizzie, pulling at his arm. /span/p
p style="color: #0e101a; background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true" "What time is it?" asked Gregor. /span/p
p style="color: #0e101a; background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true" "It's almost nine," said Lizzie. /span/p
p style="color: #0e101a; background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true" "Okay, I'm up," said Gregor drowsily to his sister. He slowly got to his feet. He'd overslept. "Ah, well," thought Gregor. When he got to the training arena, however, he did not see the usual groups of people with who he was training with. Instead, he saw a group of people and bats, all of whom were dressed as though they were about to leave. /span/p
p style="color: #0e101a; background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true" "What's going on?" asked Gregor. /span/p
p style="color: #0e101a; background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true" "We are about to leave for the cutters' territory," said Ripred. "Mareth packed this for you," said Ripred, nodding at a small bag on the floor. /span/p
p style="color: #0e101a; background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true" "Uh—okay," said Gregor. He had been waiting for this for ages, yet now that it was here, it seemed to come as shock. "I've just gotta say goodbye to my mom and then I'll be ready." /span/p
p style="color: #0e101a; background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true" "There is no time for that," said Ripred. "Someone will pass the message along to your mom," said Ripred. /span/p
p style="color: #0e101a; background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true" "But she doesn't even know what's going on!" said Gregor. /span/p
p style="color: #0e101a; background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true" "And if we don't do this, everyone can, and likely will, be dead." It was a compelling argument. /span/p
p style="color: #0e101a; background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true" "Fine," said Gregor. /span/p
p style="color: #0e101a; background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" /p
p style="color: #0e101a; background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true"They were flying through the air again. Gregor was on a bat with Boots and Temp. Gregor held two scrolls of parchment in his hands. The first was the speech the underlanders had wrote. He was supposed to go over it with Boots. But when he had started to read, he realized Boots wouldn't be able to say it in English, let alone in Crawler. So here he was, flying through the air while he tried to paraphrase a speech. Clearly, the underlanders didn't get what easy-to-read meant. Boots wouldn't understand half of it. Heck, Gregor was struggling with pieces. Gregor had to laugh out loud as he read the opening paragraph. The only word he expected her to understand was "we". /span/p
p style="color: #0e101a; background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true" Gregor dipped the pen the underlanders had provided into the inkpot. Then, being careful not to spill a drop (he was flying through the air, after all) he started to write. But he stopped after only a few words. He glanced back at the original letter. Here was the opening statement: /spanem style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"Salutations from the citizens of Regalia. The rising tensions between our species has necessitated that we must formulate a panacea to our distress. Henceforth, we are supplicating that you will commit to a deliberation on the issue. /em/p
p style="color: #0e101a; background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true" If this was the dumbed-down version, what had the original looked like? Gregor continued to read./span/p
p style="color: #0e101a; background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true" /spanem style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"It is our desire that we meet with the queen and her advisers at a destination designated by the cutters./emspan style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true" /span/p
p style="color: #0e101a; background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true"There was more, but Gregor thought that was enough, at least to start with. He started at the beginning. /spanem style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"Hi!/emspan style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true" There! It was simple and Boots would be able to say it. /spanem style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"Because of the... /emspan style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true"Because of what? Problems? Issues? Sure, that would work. B/spanem style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"ecause of the issues between the people of Regalia and the cutters, we need to act!/emspan style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true" /span/p
p style="color: #0e101a; background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true" There! That should do. It didn't sound particularly good, but still, it would get the message across. /span/p
p style="color: #0e101a; background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true" "Hey, Boots," said Gregor, tapping her on the shoulder. /span/p
p style="color: #0e101a; background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true" "What, Gregor?" she asked. /span/p
p style="color: #0e101a; background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true" "Do you still know how to talk like... like the big bugs?" They probably should have checked that before they left, but ah well. /span/p
p style="color: #0e101a; background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true" "Ye-es!" said Boots. She then made a bizarre sequence of clicks and hisses. /span/p
p style="color: #0e101a; background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true" "That means hello!" /span/p
p style="color: #0e101a; background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true" "Okay, great!" said Gregor. "Listen, I'm going to read you some stuff, and you're going to try to say it in crawler—I mean in—uh—bug—whatever." /span/p
p style="color: #0e101a; background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true" "Okay," complied Boots. /span/p
p style="color: #0e101a; background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true" Gregor slowly ran Boots through the speech he had written. She did quite well translating, but once or twice, Temp had to help her with a word. Gregor looked down over the side of their bat. Far below them were densely populated vines and other plants. /span/p
p style="color: #0e101a; background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true" "Wait, are we above the jungle?" asked Gregor. Something about the scene seemed familiar. There was a glow that seemed to emanate from the very ground. /span/p
p style="color: #0e101a; background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true" "The jungle, be this, thus be," said Temp. the jungle... boy... he had a lot of memories from in there. /span/p
p style="color: #0e101a; background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true" Gregor wanted to ask Vikus something but the man was flying too far away. So, instead, he asked Temp. /span/p
p style="color: #0e101a; background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true" "About how long till we get there? To the cutters', I mean." /span/p
p style="color: #0e101a; background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true" "Be us there, by nightfall, be us," said the roach. /span/p
p style="color: #0e101a; background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true" "Okay, " said Gregor. Night wasn't that bad. Still, it would be another day's journey back to Regalia. With a pang, Gregor realized he hadn't said goodbye to his mom. Or Lizzie, for that matter. He had meant to but had forgotten in the hassle of leaving. They flew for hours in near silence. Nobody seemed to want to talk much. At long last, the bats began to descend. Gregor was relieved. He was getting tired from sitting on the bat so long. The bat coasted in for a gentle landing. They had landed in a field that seemed to border the jungle. Several small, crisscrossing streams snaked their way across the field. Gregor looked down and saw a faint glow radiating from the stream nearest to him. Small bursts of light caused by miniature volcanoes erupting flashed on and off. Gregor had experienced this phenomenon before, yet it never ceased to amaze him. After making sure Boots had everything she needed, Gregor walked over to Vikus./span/p
p style="color: #0e101a; background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true" "So... are we going to talk to the cutters soon?" he asked. /span/p
p style="color: #0e101a; background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true" "No, not yet," said Vikus. "It is too late. We will make contact tomorrow." /span/p
p style="color: #0e101a; background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true" "Alright," said Gregor, a little disappointed. He had hoped they would do it sooner rather than later. /span/p
p style="color: #0e101a; background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true" The underlanders pitched animal skin tents and began to build a fire with bracken from the jungle. Once the tents had been erected, the underlanders began to prepare food. Gregor sat in silence, waiting for them. When the food was ready, an underland brought him and Boots their share. It was a soup made from vegetables and some sort of smoked meat. There was also a slice of crusty bread half-submerged in it. Once everyone had finished eating, Mareth stood up and began to lay out the plans for the night. /span/p
p style="color: #0e101a; background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true" "We are very near the cutters' territory. So we must be vigilant We are assigning eight people to guard duty at all times. They will switch three times—every four hours. Ugh! Four-hour guard duty. That didn't sound pleasant./span/p
p style="color: #0e101a; background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true" Mareth began naming people for each shift. When he got to the end, Gregor felt a little confused. His name hadn't been mentioned. Did they think he couldn't handle it? He didn't let it bother him. He could get some sleep while everyone else was keeping watch. /span/p
p style="color: #0e101a; background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true" "I want everyone to sleep with their weapons. It is a great possibility that we will be attacked in the night." Gregor felt around to make sure he still had his sword. He did. "Now, those who have not been selected for guard duty may as well sleep. We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow, so you may as well rest while you can."/span/p
p style="color: #0e101a; background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="background: transparent; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" data-preserver-spaces="true" These were two conflicting messages: we might be attacked, stay on guard, and: relax, get some sleep. As Gregor stood, examining the tent nearest to him, he noticed several names written on a fragment of parchment above the tent. Oh! That must be the people who were supposed to sleep there! He searched for a few minutes, and, sure enough, there was one label: Warrior Princess Boots. That must be them. Gregor should his head at the tile he and Boots were labeled with, then took Boots's hand and led her into the tent. It was small and cozy. There was a small oil lamp burning on the floor. It gave a soft glow to the whole tent. Two piles of blankets lay on the ground. Boots yawned and dropped onto the pile of blankets nearest to her. She was asleep before her head hit the ground. Okay, well not really, but she fell asleep quickly. /span/p