Chapter 21

"No, not Boots!" Gregor cried. At this Lizzie burst into tears, sobbing uncontrollably. Gregor ran over to her and held her, until she stopped crying. Then he turned to Ripred. "I'm going after them. Watch Lizzie, and I'll get Luxa to come." He said.

Ripred snickered. "Ha, like I'm going to let you and Luxa go alone?
There's no telling what you would do. No, I'm coming. And I'll get that Temp and Daedalus to watch Lizzie. And I don't want any funny business between you and the queen!"

"O-kay, meet us at the old nursery." Gregor said, unsure. But he knew there was no arguing with Ripred, and when Ripred made up his mind, it was made up for good. So Ripred went to go alert Vikus, and Gregor and Hera went back to the arena to get Luxa and Aurora.

Hera questioned him on the flight there. "What was Ripred talking about, with you and Luxa?" she asked.

"Uhh, nothing, it's just…" Gregor's voice trailed off.

"Ohh," Hera smiled knowingly. "I understand."

Gregor sighed, and Hera laughed. They were at the arena, and Hera flew them over to Luxa and Aurora. Gregor signaled Perdita, and she stopped Luxa and Aurora in mid-dive. They flew over to Gregor.

"Gregor! What is wrong?" Luxa cried, seeing his upset face.

"Henry's kidnapped Boots, and Ripred and I are going to find him. You coming?" Gregor said.

"Yes, yes." Luxa quickly told Perdita, who gasped and waved them off. They flew to the old nursery, and saw Ripred waiting there with Lizzie and Daedalus.

"Your sister insists on coming with us, and Daedalus wants to watch her." Ripred sighed.

"But Lizzie, it's not going to be safe!" Gregor said, turning to Lizzie.

"Boots is my sister…and I need to come." Lizzie sighed, like this decision was really hard for her.

"Daedalus, you don't have to come." Gregor said to the creamy white bat.

"No, I need to watch Lizzie, like Vikus instructed me." He replied. Then there was a flash of striped wings and Nike landed, carrying Howard. Luxa opened her mouth, but Howard stopped her.

"No, cousin, I need to come. I heard what happened to Boots. I am sure Stellovet is with Henry, and I would care to talk to her." said Howard. "And Nike comes with me." He continued. Nike nodded.

Great, so now they had a whole band of creatures coming, Gregor, Hera, Luxa, Aurora, Ripred, Lizzie, Daedalus, Howard, and Nike! This couldn't go well, but they had to save Boots.

Luxa had her arms crossed and was glaring at everybody, especially Howard and Ripred. Gregor knew she knew that part of the reason they both wanted to come was because they wanted to keep an eye on her and Gregor. But they had to get going.

Soon seating was arranged. Gregor wanted Lizzie to accompany him on Hera, but she insisted on riding with Daedalus. So it was Gregor on Hera, Luxa on Aurora, Lizzie on Daedalus, Howard on Nike, and Ripred would be running. Each human had their own flier.

Gregor suddenly remembered that they would need food, but Nike dipped her back, and so did Ripred and Daedalus, and he could see the food packs each of them carried. They should have enough for a few days if it was needed. Water from springs could be supplied anywhere, so they had no water bags.

"Fliers, meet us at the drop." Luxa instructed. They all seemed to know what she meant except Daedalus, who would just be following them anyway. Gregor, Luxa, Lizzie, Howard, and Ripred opened the turtle shell and climbed in. Ripred had some trouble squeezing through, but with some pushes and pulls from Gregor and Howard, he made it through. They all had had swords except Lizzie and Ripred, who wouldn't need them anyway. Ripred had his claws, and Lizzie wouldn't have to fight.

In a few minutes, the fliers met them at the drop. Luxa and Howard immediately dropped, completely trusting their bonds. Gregor would have, but he wanted to see Lizzie get safety on Daedalus. When she did, he dropped into the dark, and Hera had him in seconds. Gregor wasn't sure what they would do about Ripred, but together Hera, Aurora, and Nike lifted him down to the ground.

Ripred led them down the tunnel that Luxa and Gregor had flown before, the one that led to the rat's land. It turned out that Lizzie was pretty good with flying, apparently she had practiced, and Daedalus was very careful.

Gregor caught Luxa's eye, and they both flew higher above the rest of the party.

"You do know that Ripred and Howard accompanied us because the wish to keep an eye on us, right?" Luxa said.

"Yeah, Ripred made it clear that that was why, before I went to get you." Gregor answered.

"I can well imagine." sighed Luxa. "I do wish they would leave us alone for once, and trust us."

"They never trusted us, even before…you know." said Gregor. Luxa nodded.

"That is what we get, I suppose, for running off so much." agreed Luxa.

Aurora and Hera both swerved to avoid a large rock coming at them from the ceiling. Howard noticed them, and flew up with Nike.

"Why do you two fly above us?' he asked, knowing perfectly well why.

"Oh, there is no reason." Luxa said, staring him down. They all descended back to the rest of the party, with Howard watching them like a hawk. Hera and Aurora broke out in a fit of "huh huh huh's", and didn't stop until Ripred shushed them all.

"If we want to get anywhere, we have to concentrate!" he snapped, which shut them all up. They flew in silence for the next five hours, then made camp for the night, because everyone could see the fliers and Ripred were tired. Luxa and Howard took watch, and Gregor spread out a blanket for him and Lizzie, and they curled up near Hera and Daedalus.

In about four hours, they were awoken by Ripred, who said they needed to get going if they wanted to save Boots. They ate some sandwiches and were off again.

They had just stopped for a rest when all four bats and Ripred's heads snapped up. "Rats!" Hera hissed, and Ripred agreed.

"Gushgore's officers, Thrasher and Slashtail!" he whispered roughly. All of the bats took air with their riders, and Ripred stayed on the ground behind a big stone. They heard the rats coming for them.

"I can smell them!" One of them hissed. Gregor used his echolocation and found that both rats were big and about 100 feet away. Ripred suddenly jumped out and tore their throats out, one at a time. The bats swooped down and finished them off with their claws, one at a time. They didn't continue resting; they just flew farther until Ripred decided they were far enough away from the rats.

They stopped and rested, this time Gregor alone was on watch. He stood near Lizzie, just in case. He did his multiplication tables to keep himself awake. Just when he started to drift off, a big form emerged from behind a stone.

It was a big, light brown bat with a nasty scar across his right eye.