Chapter 18

"Luxa," Henry replied, putting her down with an icy glare. Luxa stayed tall and proud, not crumbling under his stare. Gregor had to hand it to her, she was strong.

"Henry." Luxa said again. "You did not fall to your death, and you dare return to Regalia, where the people you have betrayed suffer at your hands? And you our cousin to do your dirty work?"

"Let us back it up a bit. I was going to fall, and after Ares saved that," Henry pointed to Gregor, "that Overlander over me, I thought I was certainly going to die. But just before I hit the ground, an unknown flier swept me up. He took me to the Labyrinth. He introduced himself as Thor, an outcast from his own land. He, too, had joined with the gnawers. We bonded secretly in a Labyrinth cavern. I chose him because he looked like Ares, my bond who was also a traitor against me. You would think I would hate that, but strangely I loved his darkness. I no longer cared about Ares. This is Thor, right here." Henry introduced the flier standing beside him. Thor gave a snarl in reply, showing his teeth menacingly. "The Labyrinth gnawers welcomed him and me with respect and authority, and in the Labyrinth we were living as we pleased. We even witnessed the Bane's birth." Henry continued. Luxa gave a small gasp when he said this. "Then one day, Thor and I had just gotten word that the Bane's parents, Goldshard and Snare, had fought to the death because of the warrior. I immediately went to protect the Bane, but was too late." He turned and faced Gregor now. "You had scooped up the Bane and taken him along with you. I saw you with my bond, my old bond, and was fuming, but knew I could not do anything, because then you would see I still had light. I could not show up yet. Then, months later, we had been living in a cavern in the Labyrinth when the plague was unleashed. In fear of catching it, Thor and I fled the Labyrinth, and went to the only other place we knew to go, the jungle. All was well there; we found a plant that grew edible plums and a spring with clean water. But we soon realized it was near the nibblers, in fact, we were drinking from the same spring! Thor and I decided we would stay, though, and I few days later, I noticed that someone very dear to me was making her home with the nibblers, you, Luxa." He pointed to Luxa. "Then one regular day, Thor and I were in our cave, and we heard a commotion outside. We saw the Overlanders, two rats, a boy, a hisser, and our crazy uncle Hamnet getting smothered in quicksand. Luxa, you were prepared to watch them die. I couldn't have agreed with you more. But you decided to join with them, and I secretly followed you to the vineyard. I saw you fight the cutters and saw our uncle die. So when you returned to Regalia, I didn't know where to go. The nibblers had realized I was there, so I had to leave. We chose to go to Hades Hall. We made our home at the bottom of the drop, but then we were disturbed by nibblers. They all fell to their deaths, and the odor was horrible so we flew on. We passed the currents, stingers, and other places, so we stayed in a cave in the Firelands. Then who but the Overlanders, my cousins, and their bats would show up. I followed you and saw you, Luxa, stab Ripred. Great courage, that was. When you went to the Firelands to fight the gnawers, I followed, keeping out of sight. I was at the Plain of Tartarus when that bloody battle took place, and I personally witnessed the Bane, Twirltongue, and my own traitor old bond, Ares be killed. And all of it was the warrior's fault. I couldn't have been more disgusted with the gnawers when they made that compromise with you. And apparently, Stellovet was too. I took her with me, in promise of protection, food, and a flier. I teamed her with Nyx, Thor's outcast mate. Stellovet, call Nyx." said Henry.

Stellovet gave a whistle, and a sleek black and red speckled bat soared in. She nuzzled Thor and flew to Stellovet's side.

"Thor and Nyx's first pup will be born soon." Stellovet said proudly.

"Wonderful to meet you," Nyx purred sarcastically. She threw her big bat head back and laughed. Her laugh was an evil sounding "huh huh huh".

Luxa looked over at Gregor. They both whistled and Hera and Aurora flew up to them. Aurora almost fell out of the air at the sight of Henry, but it was Nyx that surprised Hera. Hera's jaw dropped at the sight of her.

"Nyx! Oh, Aurora, please tell me you recognize her! Do you remember her?" Hera cried.

Aurora looked puzzled for a moment. Then her little bat eyes widened and her mouth opened. "No! Are you sure this is she?" she cried back to Hera.

"Do you not recognize her coat? Even though it has been years since I have seen her, I could not forget her!" Hera wailed.

"Who is she, Hera?" Gregor asked. He didn't like their surprise.

"Oh Gregor! It is Ares's outcast sister!" Hera buried her face in her wings, then came to her senses and wrapped her wings around Gregor, as if to protect him. Aurora was doing the same for Luxa.

"Ares's sist…sister?" Gregor managed to get out. Ares never told him he had a sister, let alone an evil one! Maybe that was why he didn't tell him, because she was evil!

"Yes. I am sorry, Gregor." Hera sighed.

"Wait, Henry, this is the horror that was bonded to my brother?" Nyx asked angrily.

"Yes. Your brother saved him over his original bond, who was ME!!!" Henry screamed. He jumped, and Thor was under him. He was starting to chase Gregor and Luxa, but Hera and Aurora had them in seconds and were speeding off down the tunnel. Luxa had her sword out, so Gregor did the same. He heard Stellovet mount Nyx and fly after them as well.

"Luxa, are you okay?" shouted Gregor to Luxa.

"Yes, I am fine! But we cannot fly forever! We must find a way to turn back to Regalia!" Luxa shouted back.

"Well, we can't turn back now!" Gregor shouted. Hera was speeding as fast as she could; her gold and white speckled fur was a blur. Suddenly, a dagger went flying by, straight for Hera's wing! "Hera!" Gregor shouted. But Hera had seen it too. She snapped her wings to the side and rolled, but not before the dagger opened up a big cut on her right wing. She shrieked with pain, but continued flying. Blood came spurting into Gregor's face. "Hera, are you okay?" Gregor cried, seeing his bat's bleeding wing.

"I am okay. I am fine." Hera replied. But she was losing blood fast.

"Luxa, Hera's hurt!" Gregor cried to Luxa, but she couldn't answer. She was trying to steer Aurora clear of Nyx's claws. Stellovet was laughing evilly, and whispering words of encouragement in Nyx's ears. She was like Twirltongue! Nyx was nodding her head and smiling, taking in the words.

"When Luxa died, I would have been close to queen! But it is too late, Luxa! I am with Henry and the gnawers now! You should have given me more respect, like Henry does! Ha!" Stellovet cackled, and Nyx cackled along with her.

"Luxa, we HAVE to do something!" Gregor shouted. Hera was losing blood, Stellovet and Nyx were trying to take Aurora down, and Henry was trying to kill Gregor. They weren't doing well, and Thor and Nyx seemed to have endless energy. Hera and Aurora were tiring fast.

"What can we do?" Luxa shouted back.

"I don't know!" Gregor replied, as Hera did a shallow dive to avoid Thor's claws. Gregor was holding on for his life, because Hera had to do all these fancy, twisty moves to avoid Henry and Thor. Aurora had to do the same to avoid Stellovet and Nyx.

Hours of flying, fleeing, and fighting passed, Hera was almost ready to drop, and Gregor knew she couldn't hold on much longer. If he didn't do something soon, Hera would die of blood loss. Gregor could feel a scream building up in Hera's throat. He kept talking to her, reassuring her that it would be okay, and she would be okay. Hera just moaned and screamed her freaky bat scream. Finally, she couldn't take it anymore. She just dropped unconscious, taking Gregor down with her.

"Hera!" Gregor cried. He wrapped his arms around her tired body, but she was totally out. He could feel a pulse, but it was faint. She was only unconscious, not dead. He placed his hand on her wound and it came up very bloody. He could feel Henry's breath on his neck, and he knew he had a sword. "This is it." thought Gregor. "Luxa's insane cousin is going to kill me because I didn't die before."

But something distracted him. There was a shriek. "My brother!" Nyx had seen Ares's body.