Okay, okay, it's way late I know, but I've run into many problems and stuff. Just a heads up, this isn't completely beta'd, I will update it and fix the errors when I can and junk, but I'm posting it half revised for now. I'm wondering what everyone thinks about me bringing Gorger back in, good, or too cliché to have an old enemy come back? Well, since it's already written I don't think I'll change it, but just wondering. And now, without further ado, here's chapter eleven.

I do not own the Underland stories, or the characters. I only own the plot, Eric, and all those other characters I added.

Chapter Eleven

Gorger was a grotesque looking gnawer. Back in his prime, he had a jet black coat with incredible sheen, but ever since his fall, he had taken on a whole new appearance. Both his eyes had red veins running so thick through them that it looked like he had no whites in his eyes, just red; they had become permanently blood-shot. The top chunk of his nose had been torn off, and the rest was smashed at an odd angle, which made it hard for him to use his sense of smell, which most gnawers depended heavily upon. His left ear looked fine and normal, but there was just a bloody, hairless stump where his right one had been. He was missing three appendages on his hind claws, and his teeth were all chipped with chunks missing in the oddest of places, but that only made them sharper and more lethal with the jagged edges. His chest and underbelly had an extremely long and deep scar running through it. There was no hair around it, showing his white skin. It had been stitched up very poorly, and now the thread from the stitching had fused in with his skin, making a dark purple crisscross imprint there also. Lastly was his tail, the pride of most gnawers. It had been ripped off from his body, leaving an indention above his rear. It had trouble healing, and you could always see bone and muscles around it.

Eric was doing his very best not to turn and gag and the sick sight of the one time handsome gnawer. He knew what his fate would be if he made any sign of distaste. Poseidon just kept a blank, uncaring stare.

"I see," Gorger started, his voice low and rasping, sending chills down Eric's and Poseidon's spines, "then, where are they going?"

"They are journeying to the Queen in two days," Eric informed the deadly gnawer. "They will be undergoing training tomorrow, and leave early the day after."

"Good, I will make sure I meet them there. I will make that warrior pay for what he did to me! I will have my soldiers waiting there for me. Make sure you do not let on anything about me; if you do, you will regret it. They all think I am dead and have probably forgotten about me."

"Do not worry; I will not let you down!" Eric responded.

"If you value your life, you won't. Now get your filthy faces out of my sight!" Gorger yelled, sending the pair dashing back to the entrance of the cave, tripping over a rock on his way out.

"Finally, I will make that warrior feel the pain I have endured for almost two years!" Gorger yelled to himself, and then started laughing.

"Warrior! Arouse yourself! Breakfast will begin shortly, and you must eat quickly. Ripred wants to train with you and the others in the arena right after," a servant spoke, loudly yet politely.

"Huh, what? Oh, uh, sure," Gregor said with half-closed eyes blinking. The servant left him and Gregor slowly pulled himself out of bed. He wondered how the Underlanders woke up every morning. They didn't have clocks, alarms, or the cliché roosters to wake them up. Heck, they didn't even have the sun. He decided he would ask Howard or Luxa later.

Gregor found a fresh pair of the silky clothes at the foot of his bed. He first went to the wash room connected to his room to use the bathroom. Then he walked over to a carved stone basin, big enough for someone to lay in, and about a foot and a half deep, with slow running water going through it. He took off his clothes and stepped into the warm water and relaxed for a minute. He turned and noticed a small basin carved in the side with a slippery and slimy thick green liquid in it. He figured this must be soap or something and quickly washed himself.

After bathing, Gregor stepped out of the bathtub dripping and took a silk towel hanging on the wall about three feet away. He quickly changed into his new set of clothes and started to head down to the dining hall for breakfast. He was starting to remember his way around the palace more and more, and easily found his way down for breakfast. He entered the dining hall, everyone was already there and had just started eating. With a nod and a wave to Luxa, he sat down in an open seat next to Ripred and Mareth.

"Greetings, Gregor. How did your sleep fare?" Mareth asked Gregor.

"Oh, hey, Mareth. It was good; I feel refreshed and ready for today's training," Gregor replied.

"I'd like to hear you say that halfway through the day," Ripred scoffed. "Because it won't be nearly as easy as it was yesterday! We are going to practice aerial maneuvers today on the fliers, and then we will through in sword techniques while on them."

"You mean, it's gonna be harder than yesterday?" Gregor gulped.

"Oh, yes, definitely," Ripred said, laughing at him.

The breakfast was fairly plain and quiet after that. Everyone just seemed content on eating their food.

After eating, Gregor started to head down to the arena with Luxa and Aurora.

"So, how's it going?" Gregor asked her.

"Fairly well, but Howard has not yet let me out of his sight. He can be extremely strict and over react at times," Luxa answered him.

"Yeah, I can unde—," Gregor was cut off, by a familiar clicking voice.

"Greetings Overlander, greetings! Fare you well, fare you?" Temp came walking up and joined them on their way down a wide stone, spiraling staircase.

"Hey, Temp!" Gregor greeted. "It's going pretty good. How are you doing?"

"Very well, I am doing. The princess, how is?" Temp asked.

"Oh, she is doing great. Boots is getting better at talking, and she's starting to say my name correctly, and she still hasn't forgotten about you."

"Very good, that is, very good. Coming, the others are, coming." Temp said to him. They heard a chatter of voices and turned to the left where Temp had come from. There, the other questers started filing out, talking to each other. First Howard and Nike stepped out, followed by Eric and Poseidon. Megara came next, followed by the much bigger Luxio. And lastly, Polko came scrambling through the passage way.

"Hey, guys," Gregor greeted them, "Hey, where's Lapblood?"

He got a chorus of greetings in return, then Eric answered his question. "She is already down in the arena, speaking with Ripred."

"Oh, okay, thanks," Gregor replied.

They all carried on their way down the staircase, then another hall that had purple silk drapes all over it, and they found a large balcony there. They all stepped onto it and took off on their fliers, carrying Temp and Polko.

They came up to the arena about after about five minutes of flying. Ripred was standing there next to Lapblood waiting for them. "Finally, the group is all here," Ripred said, somewhat annoyed, "now we can begin. First off, I want the snobby queen, the first aid boy, the so called "warrior", and the new guy, whom I shall come up with a nickname for later, to practice some aerial techniques with your bonds. And you, fliers, I want you to fly as hard as you can, switching directions constantly and looping. We need to make sure everyone can stay on their fliers decently. Also, Megara, I want you flying and seeing how agile you are when you are weighted down with supplies." Ripred told them all, after getting some glares for the name calling. "I will have Lapblood watching you and instructing you while I see what these useless hides can do." He finished talking to Polko and Temp.

They spent a couple hours flipping around and shooting this way on their fliers. Luxa was doing the best, with Aurora. They were definitely the most agile pair. They would fly headlong towards hanging stalactites and then do a barrel roll out of the way last second to dodge it. Howard was also doing well on Nike. They weren't quite as agile as the other pair, but they could go faster and stronger. They would fly towards a wall going extremely fast and then instantly change direction without missing a beat. Gregor and Luxio, however, were having the hardest time. Gregor, having not flown in a long time kept falling off, always to be caught be Luxio. Luxio, was also not used to flying with a passenger, since he had not yet bonded. However, Luxio was the fasted bat out of all of them, and he also had the most endurance. While they were flying about, Ripred was working with Polka and Temp, showing them how they could be useful in battle. Polka would definitely be the more helpful of the two if they needed to fight, so Ripred was showing Temp how he could protect Polko, using his tough shell as a shield for both of them. And while Temp would protect him, Polko could use his web to make bandages, shoot at enemies, not to hurt them but to distract them or get in their way. But all in all, if it came down to it, they really couldn't do much, fighting wise.

After a few more hours, a group of servants on fliers came down, carrying food for the group. They all took a break to eat and rest for a little while. It was fairly silent during the meal, most of them just eating and relaxing, preparing to practice again soon. After they all finished eating, Ripred announced what would happen next. They would now practice fighting while flying. Everyone human would be equipped with a sword and they would hit blood balls in the air while flying, they would also defend or dodge webs being shot up by Polko. Megara would just try to dodge everything, and claw a blood ball here and there if she could, and Luxio was going to have the added weight of Temp. Ripred also had brought the shield down for Gregor to use. They all mounted they bats and shot up into the air, while Ripred and Lapblood started to launch up blood balls, and Polko started to shoot his web at them. It was going fairly well, they all would hit some of the many thrown up, but when ever a bat got hit by a blood bally, it would make their wings sticky and hard to move and fly until the rider could cut the web. Gregor managed to block some of the web with his shield, but they whenever a blood ball hit it, they would stick, soon, the front of Gregor's shield was covered with blood balls making it heavy and hard to maneuver. They kept practicing like this, being careful not to hit each other for hours. Finally, Ripred called it to a stop. They all landed down around him.

"Ok, listen up. We are leaving early tomorrow morning and you all know the drill right? Luxa, you will see them all off, then rush to Ares' cave with Aurora, and Eric, you and Poseidon will switch places with Luxa and Aurora and wait at the cave. I will have one of my underlings come often to bring you food and water. And the rest of you, rest up well. It is going to be a long journey. I already had supplies ready for us. Now go, sleep and get ready." Ripred finished, sending them all back to the palace.

When all of them had gotten back, they said their good-byes and started heading to their quarters. Gregor decided it would be best to give his mom one last visit, before he went to bed. He made his way down the twisting corridors till he found the cell where his mother was being held. He went up to go in, but was stopped by the guards. "Our apologies Overlander, but you are not allowed to make visits anymore. It is too close to the journey and we fear that your mother might create a huge tantrum."

"What? Are you serious!?" Gregor responded somewhat angrily. "I just wanted to see her one last time before I left!"

"We are sorry Overlander, you cannot." they responded.

"Isn't there anything I can do?" Gregor asked, still angry.

"If you wish, you could right a note to her, and we could give it to her after your departure." One of the guards responded.

"I guess that's better than nothing," Gregor mumbled. "Do you guys have anything I can write with?"

"Yes, right here," One of them replied pulling a parchment from his back pocket, with what seemed to be some sort of pen.

"Ok, I guess this will have to do," Gregor replied, still grumpy. He began to write a letter to his mom, hoping she wouldn't get too upset.

Dear mom,

I'm sorry I couldn't visit you again, the guards wouldn't let me so I have to write you this letter instead. I'm leaving on another quest tomorrow morning, but don't worry mom, I'll be ok. I'm in good company, and we will all protect each other. I'll try to be back as soon as possible. Please don't worry too much about me. I love you.

Gregor

Gregor gave the guards the note and then went back up the stairs and corridors to his room. He lay on the bed, his mind filled with thoughts and worries. The journey ahead, his mom in the cell, the prophecy, and Luxa were all flowing through his head. After lying there for about ten minutes, he finally drifted off to sleep.

Ok, so there is my new chapter. Tell me what you guys think. They are going to begin the Journey during the next chapter. Man, it's been too long since I wrote a chapter. I kept calling the animals rats and bats instead of gnawers and fliers lol. And yes I know, I am not that good at crawler, I keep making Temp sound like Yoda lol.