Chapter 10

Gregor awoke. He had fallen asleep on the couch in front of the fireplace, and apparently so had Luxa. She was still out, her head resting on his shoulder. He didn't want to pull away, but what if someone came in and saw them? He heard voices outside the hall, so apparently they had slept longer than expected. He decided it would disturb Luxa if he moved, so he just sat there. Suddenly a claw pulled the curtain in the doorway away. Gregor quickly pulled away from Luxa, her head bobbed down and she awoke, and was about to start yelling at him, but then she saw Ripred standing in the doorway. He was snickering; they had pulled away too late.

"You two need to work on privacy! And timing, I suppose." Ripred smirked. Anyway, breakfast awaits you, and Vikus has been wondering why you two slept so late. Get your sisters and get to the dining hall." and he turned to walk out. Before he could, though, Lizzie came running out of the bedroom and hugged Ripred. He was taken by surprise, but looked happy to see Lizzie.

"Ripred!" she squealed. "You're better!" she noticed his healed leg and mite wounds.

"Yes, hello Lizzie!" he replied. "I'm sorry, but I must be going. I'll see you at breakfast, your brother's bringing you in a moment." he said to her. And lower, so Lizzie couldn't hear, he said, "he's just got to move on to more important things than Luxa." Luxa's jaw dropped in surprise, but then glared at Ripred. With that, he left, before she could do anything else.

Gregor gathered Lizzie and Boots and together the four of them walked to the dining hall. Hera and Aurora joined them.

"Good morning, Gregor! Good morning, Queen Luxa!" Hera greeted them.

"Yes, good morning everyone! And Lizzie and Boots, too!" Aurora said.

"Hey Hera, Hey Aurora. Oh yeah, Hera, these are my sisters, Lizzie and Boots." Gregor introduced them. Lizzie warmly said hello, but Boots ran up and gave Hera a hug.

"Your bat, like Ares! Where is Ares?" Boots asked. Everyone's heads drooped. Gregor grabbed her and gave her a hug.

"He's in your heart, Boots." He said.

"Like Thalia and grandma?" asked Boots.

"Yeah, little girl, just like them." Gregor answered, and put her back down. She ran back to Hera and stroked her gold and white speckled fur.

"Pretty!" she cried. Hera laughed. They reached the dining hall. The food was already set out, and Vikus was waiting. Gregor hadn't eaten in a while, so he stuffed himself with grilled fish, meat, bread, cake, and more. While they were eating, Vikus filled them in on that day's actions.

Boots and Lizzie, I have arranged for Daedalus to keep track of you for the day. You may go where you like, and Temp will go along too." Said Vikus. Temp had arrived and was next to Boots. Boots was feeding him little bites of fish. Lizzie, however, was listening.

"Gregor and Luxa, since the attack of Hazard, we must be fully prepared for a rat attack. It could happen at any time, so we must send both of you to training, just as a precaution. Gregor, you will train with Hera, while even though she is inexperienced, you two will make a wonderful pair. Luxa and Aurora, you the same. Let us go, then. Fly you high, everyone!" said Vikus. Everyone cleared the room, and after saying goodbye to Boots and Lizzie, who wanted to go see Hazard, Gregor, Luxa, Hera, and Aurora flew to the High Hall. They flew out to the arena.

"So, I guess we'll be battle pairs." Gregor said to Hera.

"Yes, I am not as well as Ares, but I can be fast at times. I have trained before, so I do have a slight idea of what I am doing. After all, I chased Photos Glow-Glow and Zap all around that room when they stole my food!" said Hera. She snickered, and so did Gregor. On the way to training, Howard and Nike joined them.

Hello Gregor, hello Luxa! And Hera and Aurora! You must go in for training as well? They have sent Nike and me, as they need as many younger soldiers as they can get!" he greeted them.

"Yes, Hello Howard. I am surprised they sent you in, do you not normally help the wounded?" asked Luxa.

"Yes, well they have taken me out of that course for a short while." Howard answered. Luxa nodded. They reached the arena, where Mareth and Perdita were waiting for them. They were specially assigned to work with the three pairs. Even though Mareth had lost his leg in a serpent attack, he could still train the other younger Underlanders to fight.

Gregor felt strange picking up a sword again, it had been a while, and he thought he was finished with "the warrior". Chances are, there would be no real battle and he would still be finished as the warrior, but you never know.

Mareth stepped up. "Actually, Gregor, you do not need a sword right now, as we are starting with flight maneuvers. Andromeda and Theia," he gestured to his and Perdita's own bonds, "will help us with this." He said. Andromeda and Theia greeted Hera, Aurora, and Nike warmly. "Mount up!" Mareth cried. The five of them jumped onto their bats and soared up.

"We will first practice the Axle Dive. It is basic, but tricky, and requires much from the rider to hang on. I am sure Luxa and Aurora have tried this before." Perdita said. Luxa and Aurora nodded. "But it will most definitely be harder for Gregor and Howard, as even Mareth had trouble mastering it." She gave a small laugh. "Theia and I will demonstrate." Theia and Perdita got into position and dove, Theia's wings snapped to the side. She was twisting fully around and around, spinning. She pulled out of the dive just feet from the ground, and soared back up to them.

"Wow! Gregor gasped, amazed. Howard and Luxa agreed, clapping.

"Aurora and Luxa, would you care to try?" Perdita asked.

"Yes, we will try. We have practiced this with Keedra a few times." Luxa said, after she and Aurora agreed. They too, got into position and dove. Luxa seemed to have no trouble staying on, and Aurora made the spins perfectly. They pulled out and flew back up to them. Everyone was clapping.

"Nike and Hera, would you care to try alone before you are with a rider? It seems to be easier for most fliers. Nike and Hera agreed, and Nike went first. Nike didn't spin as fast as Theia or Aurora, but she did it, all the same. Hera got into position and dove. She was actually quite good, and did short, clean spins. Everyone applauded her when she returned up.

"Okay, now try it with riders." said Perdita. Howard and Nike tried first. They had to try a couple of times because Howard fell off, and Nike had to stop her spinning immediately to retrieve him, but eventually they got it. When Gregor and Hera tried, Gregor fell of twice, but on the third try, they got it. They pulled out and flew back up, but not before Gregor saw his two sisters cheering for him in the bleachers. Daedalus and Temp were with them. Lizzie waved.

Each of them practiced more, and then they moved onto a backwards dive. This was pretty hard too, but they eventually got it. Gregor was actually proud of himself that he could hold to Hera, about seventy-five percent of the time. She congratulated him after each dive, flip, or spin they practiced. Then the bats flew off to practice alone, and they moved on to the cannon practice that Gregor hated. They fired little wax balls at you that were filled with red liquid to suggest blood. During his second visit to the Underland, Gregor had hit the total number of blood balls the first time he ever even used a sword! That was the first time his rager senses kicked in.

Howard and Luxa each hit ten out of fifteen blood balls, and again, Gregor's rager senses kicked in and he hit the total. Everyone cheered for him, but they weren't surprised.

They practiced more sword moves, and Ripred came and gave them all a run for their money. He encouraged them to really try and hit him, and occasionally, one of them did. He left a couple of scratches on them, too. Luxa wanted to learn the spin that Ripred always did, and no surprise, for she was very acrobatic and could spin easily, she learned fast.

Gregor actually had a pretty good time at training that day; he liked being with his friends, and flying. Finally, after hours and hours of practice, they headed back up to the palace for dinner.

"Well, we made much progress today! It is much joy for me to be flying with you, Gregor!" Hera said cheerfully.

"Yeah, I had a good time also." said Gregor.

"Gregor, you did well today. I recall you saying you didn't have any ability to fly!" Luxa joked.

"Apparently, he does!" Aurora laughed along with her. Howard and Nike were practicing their flips and spins, not saying a word. Nike was a pretty big bat, so it was a little harder for her, but she was doing really well. Hera couldn't get her attention flying still, so she started spinning as well.

"Hold on, Gregor!" said Hera. Gregor grasped her fur as they spun. Pretty soon Luxa and Aurora were spinning as well, and they spun right into the High Hall. They dove in unison to the ground and landed. Vikus was standing off to the side, chuckling in amusement.

"Well, I see we've all made much progress today!" he laughed. They all laughed along with him. "Come, let us eat." He led the way into the dining hall, where Lizzie, Boots, Temp, and Daedalus were already waiting.

"Gregor, we saw you do spin!" Boots ran up to him.

"You were really good!" Lizzie called from her seat. "You too, Hera!" she added, seeing the bat. Hera smiled and fluttered her wings happily. Everyone took a seat and began to eat. Everyone was in a good mood, even Ripred, who had just arrived. He dug his face into the shrimp in cream sauce, as he always did.

Just then, an Underlander woman flew in, she and her bat bleeding heavily. Luxa rose, and rushed up to her. "Brivett! Aether! What has happened?" she asked.

"It is gnawers…opposed to compromise…in fields, led by…Gushgo…" and before Brivett could finish, she fell dead, from loss of blood. Her bat, Aether, struggled over to help her, but he too, couldn't hold on, and fell unconscious, not dead, but close. A pair of guards came and lifted the bat onto a stretcher and to the hospital, while another pair took Brivett's body away.

"We must get to the fields!" Luxa cried.