Welcome back my friends! There is somebody you have to meet, his name is chapter 15! So, it seems that nobody got what a flasher or slasher is! I am fairly certain that you will only find out what a slasher is in this chapter, though it might be a while before you find out what a flasher is. You all already know what a slasher is, though you guys just don't know the name fits it. Its like spiders, they are not called spiders in the underland, they are called spinners, this is the case with Myriapods, they slash things with their tail, their main weapon. Thank you all or the ideas I've been getting from you guys, they are all great, and I'm using almost everyone's idea's! (well not the one, it said kill the main character at the beginning of my next story -.-). I hope you guys enjoy this chapter, for I have no clue what it will be about (I have no clue how I managed 14 chapters so far and still haven't gotten to the quest yet xD). As usual, all responses are encouraged and appreciated, so let me read your minds! See you guys after the chapter, bye!

See you all later,

-Tytonic

Disclaimer: I do not own any of The Underland Chronicles, only the characters I make up and the plot itself.

Gregor and the War of the Myriapods

Chapter 15: Nightfall and Dawn

"I am being forced into a loveless marriage. I do not love him. I have argued it over with the council many times, but now they will not hear of the matter, they only call the guards to take me out of the room. I have no choice in the matter." Said Luxa, everything of her showing sorrow.

"Thank you Luxa, I promise I will try to save you from this loveless marriage, though I cannot guarantee success." Said Gregor.

"Just try." Whispered Luxa quietly.

The Next Morning. . .

Gregor awoke groggily from his dream, in a bad cold sweat, and unlike every other night since he has returned to the Underland, he actually had a nightmare. The nightmare had been very unsettling, it had started out as most of his dream did nowadays. He was in a large open area, though unlike previously, he wasn't in a field in the overland, he was in a large cavern in the underland. There were people everywhere, and they all seemed be surrounding a stage in the middle of the cavern, watching whatever event was occurring on the stage. Gregor shouldered his way through all of the people, though they were not all people, they were a mix of gnawers, fliers, crawlers, and humans. Once Gregor got to the front of the crowd, he saw what all the commotion was about, and his heart skipped a beat. Luxa was in a wedding gown, standing hand in hand with another man, who was in a tuxedo. Gregor could not see Luxa's face, though he would assume that there was sorrow on it, he would hope that there was sorrow on it.

Gregor was frozen in place, he couldn't move at all. He had to sit through the entire ceremony, and watch painfully as the ceremony came to the end, and as the bride and groom kissed. As if Gregor was suffering enough from this, when the bride and groom turned towards the crowd, Gregor could see Luxa's face. She looked happy, and even worse, when she spotted him, their eyes locked, and he could read hatred on every inch of her face. It was torture, because it didn't end, the look never faded, and neither of them looked away. It felt like all of forever that this lasted, until finally Gregor's eyes shot open, and he shot up in a cold sweat.

"Just a dream, it was just a dream." Whispered Gregor to himself, in an attempt to soothe himself, and it worked, to some degree.

Gregor rubbed his eyes a little, and slid out of his bed, his breathing starting to return to normal. He slowly straitened his back, and stretched a little, satisfied with the cracks he got in return. He walked out of his room, already knowing nobody would be outside of it, and walked for a grand total of 15 seconds down the hall to the bathrooms.

When he walked in, he stripped down completely, and set his cloths next to the pile of cloths already there. He went over to an unoccupied warm bath, and slid into it, feeling his muscles relax as he settled in. Using echolocation, he already knew Alex was in the bath beside his.

"Hey Alex hows it going?" Asked Gregor.

"Good, though I have a lot of work today." Responded Alex.

"Work? Don't you have blacksmith training?" Asked Gregor, confused.

"Yes, but I have some stuff to present at the meeting later today, and I need to get everything ready." Said Alex.

"Oh you do? What you presenting?" Asked Gregor.

"You'll see later, and I think you'll like it a lot." Responded Alex.

"Ok, so whats up with Zoey? I can't even get within 100 feet of her, and I have a feeling you talked to her." Asked Gregor.

"Well, yes I have talked to her, but I can't really say she has a hold of herself. She is absolutely broken right now, I have no clue how to help her, and its clear that you won't be able to, well unless you went right up to her and kissed her, but even then she would probably slap you." Said Alex with some dry humor.

"Yes well, you know that I'm not going to do that." Said Gregor.

"So, whats going on between you and the queen?" Asked Alex.

"Well you can't tell anybody what I'm about to say, though a lot of people know, you still can't. I love her, and she loves me. The problem is, in a few weeks, she is being forced into a loveless marriage." Said Gregor.

"Well I figured the in love part, but what do you mean 'forced'? Can't she just say no?" Asked Alex.

"What part of forced didn't you get?" Asked Gregor.

"Well they came from England right? England has Christianity, so their wedding are the same as ours. That means that during the ceremony, they have to do the whole 'I do' part. She could just say no couldn't she? What is the worst they would do, kill her? No she is the queen, they can't just punish the queen." Said Alex.

"True, but I talked to Luxa about that already. She could say no, but in turn they would un-crown her, so she would no longer be queen, it would be passed to her cousin Nerissa, that visionary frail girl. If she doesn't get married that day, she will cease to be queen." Responded Gregor.

"Really? Well that sucks, I wouldn't want to make that choice. Being happy, or being queen, well king in my case. I would probably still choose being happy, and cease being king. I mean, who wants to live a miserable life? Not me." Said Alex.

"Same here, though I talked to her about that to, she said she has a duty to her people, and she can't just abandon them." Said Gregor.

"Good point, though I don't think the people would blame her all to much, most would understand." Said Alex.

"I agree, but try telling that to her, she just won't believe it. It's the only thing keeping her from flat out stopping this marriage. Now can we get going to breakfast? I'm starving!" Said Gregor.

"Ok, same here, I can hear my stomach growling!" Said Alex.

Gregor and Alex got out of the baths and dressed in the new clothing that was waiting for them. They both had the same cloths, black pants with white shirts. They both headed down to the dinning room for breakfast. When they arrived they found everybody waiting, all except for Ripred, who was always the last to arrive.

Gregor took the seat to Luxa's left, the seat he always took. Alex took a seat next to Zoey, who was all the way at the other end of the table, as far away from Gregor and Luxa as possible. She didn't so much as spare a glance at anybody, she only started down at her food as she poked around at it. Alex glanced at her with a worried look on his face, it was clear that she wasn't ok in the least.

During breakfast they didn't talk of much, though they did talk a lot about the meeting, and some ideas that some of them had, or have heard from other people. Nobody had any promising ideas, save Alex, who claimed his idea was great, but they all had to wait till the meeting to see it.

After breakfast, everybody headed down to the arena. Well, almost everybody, they all went to their respective places to be. Gregor flew on Chronos, and could see the look Luxa was giving them both, she seemed pleased that he and Gregor were taking a shine to each other. Alex went down to the forge, and Zoey went to the library. Luxa went to training with Gregor, though she would have to leave early in order to prepare for the meeting.

For the most part training went on as it usually did. Gregor didn't spar Ripred or Luxa, though he did spar just about every other person in the arena. He even beat every signal one of the top ten fighters, save Hayden, who Gregor had yet to meet.

Gregor had taken a brief break with Luxa before she had to leave, and head back to the palace. Making sure nobody was watching, Gregor pecked her on the cheek just before she whistled and flew away on Aurora. Perhaps 15-20 minutes later Mareth called Gregor over to him.

"Hey Mareth, how's it going?" Asked Gregor as he approached Mareth.

"Good, though I have something to give to you." Responded Mareth as he began to unwrap a cloth he was holding.

Once he finished unwrapping the cloth, Gregor saw that he was holding a sheath with a dagger in it. There was a strap attached to the sheath that looked different from anything Gregor had ever seen, and the whole thing practically screamed quality.

"I don't even know what to say. . . This is amazing! Just how does the strap work?" Asked Gregor, as he slid the dagger out of it's sheath.

"It is good to know you like it. The strap goes around your waist, while the extra strap goes on top of your shoulder. The sheath points downward, so it can be concealed under clothing, and the dagger can be taken out with ease." Said Mareth.

"Thank you so much, this will help tremendously. We have to go now, looks like training is over, better get back to the palace. See you later!" Said Gregor.

"Fly you high, Gregor!" Said Mareth as Gregor let out a whistle, calling out to Chronos.

Gregor wasn't bonded with Chronos, though judging by how close they already were, even after only five days, they most likely would. Gregor jumped as high as he could, and with how light he felt, he got higher then usual. He landed on Chronos's back and greeted the bat.

"Hey Chronos how's it going?" Asked Gregor.

"Good, the flight training was difficult, but I am improving greatly. How fare you?" Asked Chronos.

"Good, Mareth had me try out this dagger as I fight, and I use it in my left hand." Said Gregor, pulling the dagger out of the sheath on my chest.

"I would assume that helps you greatly with defense, and may help with attacking, though not very much. How high of quality?" Asked Chronos.

"It is great quality. It is just about the same as my old sword." Said Gregor.

"That will be helpful. I can tell that you have a chest sheath for it; I would suggest putting that on underneath any clothing, and you should keep it with you as often as possible." Said Chronos.

"Why would you say that?" Asked Gregor.

"For safety, I have heard talk about you. Not everybody thinks of you as the savior of the underland, few think quite the opposite. Those few would like to see you killed, and I do not doubt that they would attempt to assassinate you." Responded Chronos.

"Well that's comforting, knowing it have people out for my head. Thanks for telling me, I will keep an eye, or rather an ear, out just in case." Said Gregor.

They both continued their conversation as they headed off to the palace, and in about 2 minutes they arrived. Gregor jumped off of Chronos in highhall before he even landed, so he never had to stop flying. Gregor made his way to the dinning room, were he found everybody waiting for his arrival. He took his seat aside Luxa.

"Gregor, what is that dagger?" Asked Luxa.

"Mareth gave it to me. I'm gonna put it on underneath my shirt later, so that I can always wear it without it bothering me. Chronos warned me of people who don't approve of me, who think I did more harm then good to the underland. He told me I should keep the dagger on me at all times, just in case." Responded Gregor.

"Yes, that would be wise. The monument of you has been sabotaged several times." Said Luxa.

"Gregor honey, you should not have the dagger or a sword, you will hurt yourself! You are to young to have that type of thing!" Explained Gregor's mother.

"Mom, we have gone over this before. I won't hurt myself with any type of blade, I am the best there is with a sword, not trying to brag here. I am not to young to handle a blade, especially not in the underland; they start training at a very young age." Said Gregor.

Gregor's mom looked like she was about to pop a fuse because Gregor talked back at her, but she refrained from saying anything when she got a glare from Luxa. This was an argument she could not win.

The rest of luncheon went very uneventful, though Alex seemed very exited about his presentation at the meeting, and Zoey was just as sulky as ever. After lunch, Gregor headed out to the bathroom to bath, he truly did smell like a horse.

After he bathed, he headed out to the meeting, which was starting just about now. It took him a few minutes to arrive, but when he did he found only a few more people had to arrive before they began. He took a seat next to Luxa, on her right, and he had Alex on his right. It took a few minutes for the rest of the people to arrive, but he occupied himself with conversation with Luxa.

"Attention! We have gathered here today to discuss the growing threat of the slashers. For those of you who have not heard, the Myriapods have taken the nickname of slashers. Due to my injury, we have had five days rather then 3 to come up with ideas to face this threat. I believe many of you have come up with ideas. Begin your presentations, I believe you all have orders already, so proceed in those orders." Said Luxa in a regal voice.

There were more ideas then Gregor would have imagined. Most were strategies, such as dropping oil from fliers, and special traps, such as weak rock so when a slasher walked upside down on it, it fell off of the roof. Their were a lot of bad ideas, some decent, and very few actually good idea. The only good ideas were obsidian arrows, which would be able to pierce the shell, though not all of it, so it didn't kill the slasher, only slightly wound it. Something to improve this idea came when a general, probably around 40 years old, though of using the slasher's poison on current weapons. The poison was so strong that if you counted the arrow with it, the small wound it made would be filled with enough poison to kill the slasher 10 times over. There was now only one person left to present, Alex.

"Hello, people of Regalia. Before I begin, I ask you to not doubt me just because I am an overlander. I believe this to be once of the best ideas so far. Before I present, I must teach you all a few facts first. I believe you have all heard of diamond. It is so strong, that nothing, save itself, can damage it. When I first though of this, I came to an idea, what if the slashers armor was similar? What if only it can actually cut through itself? I used some of their shell to test this, though on a smaller scale due to limited resources. Using overland methods, which I have now taught to George, your greatest blacksmith, I have been able to use the shell, mixed with other metals, in order to make weapons strong enough to cut through the shell with a normal swing. I was so far only able to test this on a small scale, though witnessing the recent battle, I saw Gregor here trick a slasher into slashing it's own ally. I later examined that exact body, and realized that it cut straight through the armor, and through all of the flesh. The only thing that was holding the body together was a small part of the shell. I can proudly say that the tail, which is the same material as the shell, was that strong, and that with my mixture of metal and shell, it almost doubles it's strength. Using another overland method, though very complicated, I have made a metal stronger then anything the underland has ever seen. This metal is called carbon steel, and using this metal and some slasher shell, I have made a sword that can cut clean through the shell as easily as through flesh. I will demonstrate this now." Said Alex. He had always had a knack for public speaking.

Two underlanders came in with a cart, and took a slasher off of the cart and set it on the table in the middle of the room. Alex, without a word, went over to his seat, and took a sword out, as well as a dagger. They were both in an amazing sheath that already screamed quality. He went over to Gregor and handed him the sword.

"Gregor, seeing as to you are the warrior, I have used the best of the materials to make this sword and dagger. Consider is a gift from me to you. It is now yours." Said Alex as he handed the sword and dagger over to Gregor.

"Thank you Alex. I can see already that this may be one of the best swords I have ever held. The dagger is much better then any I have ever seen too. Good thing it's the same size as my other new dagger, I can use it in the current sheath. How in the world did you learn to do this so fast?" Asked Gregor as he took the sword, and slid the dagger into his sheath on his chest.

"In some free time I had, I got a random flier to take me to the Central Park gateway. I have 3G on my phone, so I got internet. I used the internet to figure all of this stuff out I had saved screenshots of the instructions. I wish I could learn more, but my phone is next to dead. Now, will you do the honors of testing it out of the slasher on the table?" Asked Alex.

"It would be my honor." Said Gregor as he pulled the sword from it's sheath.

It was the best sword he ever held. It was very light, just as balanced as Sandwich's sword, much sharper, and much cooler. It was a very dark sapphire color with sapphire's decorating the handle. It look amazing, and was definitely a sword fit for a warrior. Gregor walked over to the slasher, every eye in the room on him, and held the sword up, ready to stab downwards onto the creature. When he brought the sword down, he did so with all his force, expecting great resistance. Instead, the sword cut through like butter, and went out the other side, and into the table, and out the bottom of the table.

Everybody in the room gasped as this happened, and Gregor felt great being able to call this sword his. Now all he had to do was name it.

"Nightfall and Midnight." Said Gregor.

"Excuse me?" Asked Alex.

"The swords name is Nightfall, and the daggers name is Midnight." Responded Gregor.

"Okay then, fitting names. So, as you can see, this sword is very powerful, and I apologize for the table, I didn't expect to have it go right through. Now, seeing this work I have one more thing." Said Alex as he walked up to his seat, and took out another sword.

"As you can all see, I have made another sword. This sword was made specifically for the queen. Your highness." Said Alex as he kneeled down in front of Luxa, presenting the sword for her.

Luxa took the sword and slid it out of its sheath. It was longer and thinner than Gregor's, and it was a deep purple color, decorated with amethysts. It was just as nice as Gregor's sword, though it was fit more for Luxa's style of fighting as well as taste.

Luxa over at Gregor, with a look that showed she was in deep thought. She remembered something from a book in the museum, so,eying about a time of day.

"Dawn. I shall call this blade Dawn." Said Luxa.

"Thank you Alex, I shall put this weapon to great use." Said Luxa as she slid the sword back into it's sheath.

"People of the underland! This shall conclude our meeting today, now it is only a matter of the council to determine what methods we shall, and shall not use. I thank you al-" Said Luxa as she got cut off by a guard bursting through the curtains at the doorway of the room, gasping for air.

"Q-queen L-luxa! We, we have an issue! There is a signal slasher at out gates. It is able to speak our tongue, and requests to speak with you. It is. . . different then the other slashers. This one is clear, and has shown no sign of hostility." Gasped out the guard.

"Meeting dismissed, thank you all for your time. Now, take me to this slasher." Said Luxa.

Luxa, Gregor, and two guards headed down to the gateway to the city, and when they got there, they found about fifteen guards surrounding a signal, translucent slasher. He was showing no sign of hostility. They landed, and Luxa approached the slasher, though she stayed a square fifteen feet from it.

"My name is queen Luxa of Regalia, what business do you have here, slasher?" Asked Luxa.

"I have come in request to join you in the war against my kind. My name is Xano."

Well, anybody recognize the name Xano? Well you should, if not then go read last chapter. Now, I'm gonna tell you all a little secret. A flasher is sort of like a rager, so tell me what you guys think it is. Now, I have very little time right now, so I'm going to keep this short, so sorry, I have no time to make the little chat thingamabob at the end. As usual, all responses are encouraged and appreciated, so give me ideas! See you guys later!

R&R guys,

-Tytonic