Chapter 20

"Gregor, you must awaken."

Gregor opened his eyes. Luxa was standing over him, gently shaking him. He yawned and stretched. "How long have I slept?"

"Nearly a full day. We have much to do. You, I, Hera, and Aurora must go again to training. Vikus wishes to prepare us even more, for Henry and Stellovet will surely go and help Gushgore gather more gnawers to their cause." said Luxa. She gave Gregor a quick hug.

"Okay. So how did Howard and Nerissa take the news?" Gregor asked.

"Not well, I'm afraid. Howard and his family are at their worst; none of them expected Stellovet to do this. As for Nerissa, she fainted dead away, and then awoke a few minutes later shouting 'Take me!' or 'the prophecy!'. We are most worried about her." Luxa answered glumly.

"Oh. How's Hera?" Gregor asked, remembering his friend's injury.

"She is fine. The blood has been washed from her fur, and her cut has been stitched. It was not the size or depth of the cut that weakened her, it was the blood loss. She is nearly as good as new. You should come with me to round her from the hospital." Luxa's face brightened.

"Okay." said Gregor. He and Luxa walked down to the lower levels of the hospital. They told the doctor that they needed to get Hera, and she led them to her room.

"Gregor!" Hera's face brightened when she saw him. She had been fluttering around her room, muttering to herself.

"Hey, Hera!" Gregor went up to the bat and hugged her. Luxa laughed from the doorway, happy that Gregor had someone to distract him from the pain of losing Ares. "How are you?"

"I am wonderful! I am feeling great and ready for training!" Hera replied cheerfully. She fluttered her wings, and Gregor saw her stitched up cut. It was not bandaged, because it was hard to bandage a bat. It didn't look horrible, but it didn't look great. Gregor hoped she was not exaggerating her well-being, because he didn't want her to hurt herself again. But she seemed genuinely okay, so he didn't question it.

They went to the High Hall and met Aurora, and then they all made for the arena. Hera and Aurora were apparently communicating in Bat, because they heard the occasional "Huh huh huh" of laughter or a click of disagreement. Hera really helped Gregor get to know Aurora better. Aurora had hardly ever laughed when Gregor knew her, but then again, bats hardly ever did. But then there was Hera, cheerful, always laughing and snickering or trying her best at everything. Now that Hera was back into Aurora's life, Aurora was happy as well. "Maybe," thought Gregor, "Maybe Aurora never laughed because she missed Hera and the rest of her family." This was definitely possible.

Gregor was pulled out of his thoughts when Hera made a sharp turn to avoid a group of young bats carrying riders. He almost slipped off, and had to hold fast to Hera's fur to stay on.

"Oh, I am sorry Gregor!" Hera apologized. She dove for the ground, and they met Perdita, Mareth, Theia, and Andromeda. Perdita and Theia took Luxa and Aurora across the arena to practice more complicated acrobatic flight maneuvers, and Mareth and Andromeda stayed with Gregor and Hera to master some face-to-face aerial attacks and defenses.

This session was pretty different from the last one. Hera and Gregor were actually practicing on another flier/human team, Mareth and Andromeda. Mareth hadn't said anything about it, but Gregor knew it was because of Henry, Stellovet, Thor, and Nyx. If they fought them, it would be harder than fighting a rat, because fliers could fight in the air, and rats couldn't.

They first had to start speeding forward at Andromeda and Mareth, then had to do a full roll to the side to avoid Mareth's sword. Gregor had to swing off, holding on with one hand, and make for Andromeda's wing. He didn't actually hit her or Mareth, of course. Hera did wonderful rolls, but Gregor had trouble staying on. Hera pulled out of the middle of her roll to retrieve him when he fell. It took a little while, but they eventually got the move down pat.

They did a lot of face-to-face combat, like when Mareth and Gregor had to speed toward each other with their swords extended, and then Gregor and Hera were supposed to fake Mareth out and swerve toward the side and come from the back.

When their session was done, they went to the other side of the arena to see if Luxa and Aurora were finished. They were just in the middle of some extremely complicated spinny, flippy thing, so Gregor just waved and then he and Hera left. They decided to fly around for a while. They engaged in cheerful talk, which eventually turned into the subject of bonding.

"Sorry that I'm not into bonding right now, Hera." Gregor said.

"I understand, losing someone like Ares would scar me as well." Hera said. Gregor nodded, but when he realized Hera couldn't see him, he said, "Yeah."

"Just know that I will be here for you, whenever you shall need me." Hera said. In just that moment, Gregor felt a special connection to Hera, not the same as Ares, but still there. He had been down in the Underland for a little over a week, maybe two, but the bat had already made things so much easier for him, and they had been through some unforgettable experiences. Surely something like that should make Gregor want to bond with her, but he still thought it would be like betraying Ares. But still, maybe Ares would be happy for him…

They were flying near the Regalian city walls now. There were guards posted everywhere. Gregor assumed they were watching for the rats. Gregor doubted they would need to, the rats, with Henry and Gushgore leading them, wouldn't be stupid enough to just swarm the city and attack. They would think of something much more surprising and complicated. Gregor gulped when he realized Henry knew about the entrance into the palace from the spout. That would be an obvious place of attack.

"Gregor!" Hera's purr brought him jerking back to reality. She dipped her head down so Gregor could see over it, and Gregor saw someone waving them down. As Hera dived down farther, Gregor saw that it was Ripred, with Lizzie. But where was Boots? Lizzie was always with her! Gregor's heart jerked. What if something had happened to her?

Hera touched down and Gregor quickly hopped off and ran over to Lizzie and Ripred.

"Lizzie! What's going on?" Gregor puffed, out of breath.

"Gregor! Henry…and Boots!" Lizzie panted. She couldn't continue, and buried her face in Ripred's fur.

"Ripred! What happened?" Gregor snapped his head to the rat. Ripred was scratched up and bleeding.

"Lizzie was with me, doing puzzles. Your sister Boots was in the old nursery with that nanny and the mice." said Ripred.

"Dulcet?" asked Gregor.

"Yeah, her. Anyway, Dulcet said she saw someone come out of the turtle. We found her lying unconscious with nasty gash on her leg, no doubt made by a sword. She came conscious a few hours later, and told us all of this. She saw the person, and said it was most definitely Henry." Ripred continued.

Uh Oh. "What did he do, Ripred?" Gregor asked nervously.

"Henry took your sister and ran. Boots has been kidnapped."