Hello people and welcome back to a story of epic proportion! Well, for the most part that is. So, I'm not entirely sure If I like the movie thing I did in the last chapter, and I might rewrite that later (only changing what they do in the chapter, not anything important in the story). If I do that I will tell you all so you can go back and read it again to see what I did. So, peoples, I have no school tomorrow, due to the amount of snow I just got (its insane, I got like 1 and a half feet, and we are suppose to get another 8 inches tonight!) so I might post another chapter tomorrow! I usually post a chapter every 2 days (skip a day in between each chapter), so this might be a good change of pace, plus you guys probably hate waiting in between chapters due to some of the cliffhangers I leave (I would be lying if I said I don't like leaving cliffhangers. It such a good feeling making a great ending to a chapter, and then some of your reactions are funny). Unlike most of the time, I know (for the most part) what is going to happen in this chapter, though it's only an outline, no details established as of now, they get added as I am writing the chapter. All I can say right now is prepare, the first large scale battle is going to take place anytime now, most likely this chapter. As usual, all feedback is encouraged and appreciated, so give me any and all thoughts on the chapter! Fly you high!

See y'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 19: Number 4

"Yes, true, but that is why you fight back, make sure you are alive to help fight. You are the only opponent that can truly challenge me, so I don't expect you to hold back. Draw your weapon boy." Said Ripred, giving no time before letting out his first attack, which was easily blocked by Gregor, who had gotten his weapon out just in time.

Every single person around them instantly gasped and backed away as fast as possible, seeing the sudden fight break out. Ripred rushed forward, and to mark the beginning of a extraordinary fight, and steel met claw.

-O-

Gregor and Ripred both had their weapons locked together, and were staring each other in the eyes, as if daring the other to make a move. Neither of them moved, just stood there and continuously started into each others eyes, neither of them aware that the entirety of the arena had their eyes trained on them.

"You gonna make a move boy, or are you scared?" Taunted Ripred. Of coarse, it's just like Ripred to try to piss the opponent off, causing them to screw up in anger.

"It's just like you to taunt the foe, Ripred. The real question is, can you keep up?" Asked Gregor.

This remark earned a loud "oooo" from the crowd, or would have had Gregor given them time to, before he launched his next move.

Gregor quickly backed up a few steps so he wasn't right in Ripred's face, and quickly spun around, bringing the sword down onto Ripred's left side. It failed to meet it's target, and met nothing but air. Crap. Ripred hadn't dodged to the side or stepped back, he was nowhere to be seen. Then Gregor noticed the shadow. Ripred had jumped over the strike, but he had jumped a square 15 feet up, and was about to come back down directly on top of Gregor. Gregor didn't have time to dodge, if he dodged he would only be exposed to attack, if he even made it away in time. Gregor did the only thing he was able to do, he stuck his sword straight up in the air, so that Ripred would come down right on top of it.

If this was any ordinary rat, it would have been killed instantly, making a rat shish kabob. The thing was, Ripred was not an ordinary rat. Ripred instantly saw what Gregor was doing, and knowing he couldn't control were he went in the air, he positioned himself so that when he came down, he would be able to hit Gregor's sword out of the way. Sure enough Ripred's plan worked wonders, and he completely avoided the attack, though it left both him and Gregor exposed. At this moment either of them could have hit each other winning the fight that moment, but the position they were both in broke the situation down to who was faster, the fastest would land a hit. Both deadly beings being rager's, and both being almost matched in skill, steel met claw as they struck at the same time.

Both Rirped and Gregor jumped away, knowing they were exposed to an attack for a split second. This left them about 8 feet away from each other. They spun to face each other, and locked eyes.

At this point in time, though it had only been around 10 seconds since the fight had began, the spectators began to break away, and each grab a new weapon from racks being wheeled out. Every person had a new weapon, and each weapon had a dark gray, almost black color to it. It seemed they were starting to equip the soldiers with weapons that would be effective against the slashers.

Gregor and Ripred both rushed forward at each other, eyes still locked, and attacked. Apparently Rirped knew he wouldn't be able to beat Gregor with his skill alone, that he would have to use more strategy in order to beat him. Ripred had bluffed, he was about to make contact with Gregor's sword when he pulled his claws down, and just as fast, slashed upward with them in a move that would leave claw marks going straight up Gregor's chest.

Gregor saw straight through Ripred's little trick. Truthfully, he had expected Rirped to do that. Gregor had intentionally angled his sword so that when Ripred slashed up, his sword would block the claws entirely if he brought it down to meet the claws.

Gregor did just that, and was satisfied to see that Rirped was pissed off that his trick had utterly failed. Gregor backed up about a foot, and thrusted his sword forward, only to have it caught in Ripred's claws. That was new, apparently Ripred had figured out how to lock a blade in his claws, while not actually grabbing it with his paws. Gregor attempted to pull his sword back, but realized that it was a hopeless attempt. Gregor, knowing he couldn't use his sword, used the handle as something to pivot on, and he planted a hard kick right in Ripred's stomach. With a grunt Ripred let go of the sword and stumbled back a few steps, struggling to keep his balance.

As soon as Rirped regained his balance, he used his tail to attack Gregor. His tail had a large bandage wrapped around the end of it, presumably because of the missing part of his tail. Ripred swung it as fast as he could at Gregor, thinking that he wouldn't have time to react. Wrong. Gregor easily got his sword up in time to block it. Gregor knew he was at a huge disadvantage as long as Ripred had two sets of claws and a tail. Gregor had purposely used the face of his blade to block the attack, knowing that if he used the edge it would only lop off another chunk of Ripred's tail. Gregor grabbed Ripred's tail with his left hand, and blocked another claw strike with his sword, in his right hand. Gregor used this opportunity, where Ripred had no available methods of attack, to jump back a few feet, and whip his dagger out of it's sheath, which was hidden under his shirt.

Ripred looked even more pissed then he had been before. Gregor spun around until he was standing there, out of range of Ripred, with a sword in one hand, and a dagger in the other, ready to face an army. Ripred rushed forward, and, in a desperate attempt to take Gregor out, broke into a rager spin. Gregor had almost no way to counter this, he could only run away, keeping himself out of range of Ripred.

This went on for about a minute, Ripred spinning, and Gregor running from the attack. Gregor knew that Ripred would keep spinning until he was spent, which, at this rate, wouldn't be for a long time. He did the only thing he could do to stop Ripred's spin. He threw his dagger straight at Ripred. As Gregor intended, Ripred's claws hit the dagger, though they only hit part of it, near the handle. This sent the dagger spinning out of control, and thus landing itself right in Ripred's left shoulder. It went in fairly deep, a few inches to be exact, and it instantly stopped Ripred's spin.

This had surprised Rirped substantially, and caused him to let down hit guard for a half a second. That half a second was enough for Gregor, and in an instant, he was in front of Ripred, with his sword pointed at Ripred's throat. Gregor then lowered his sword, and reached forward, yanking his dagger out of Ripred's shoulder.

"Well, that was interesting, how you fought off my attacks." Said Ripred, clutching his shoulder, which was heavily bleeding.

"Yeah, I guess. See you later." Said Gregor as he began to walk away.

Gregor began to make his way over to the bench where Luxa had been spectating the spar from. She seemed to be messing around with her new sword. Gregor sat down next to her.

"Hey Luxa, what you doing there?" Asked Gregor. Luxa looked up to him, offered him a smile, then looked back to her sword and continued messing with it.

"Hello Gregor. I am trying to think of new attacks to use with this sword. Each style of weapon has it's own special attacks. I kind of envy how you and Rirped both have your own special attacks. Your rager spins. I am trying to think of my own specialized attack." Responded Luxa.

"Well that explains why you keep messing with random bits of your sword. I could help you figure something out if you like." Offered Gregor.

"Really? You would help me with that?" Asked Luxa, seeming surprised that Gregor would offer this to her.

"Yes, of course, why would you think that I wouldn't help you?" Asked Gregor.

"Well. . . you know, with you being the warrior and all, you should be busy training. You will need to be at your very best when we next encounter the slashers." Responded Luxa.

"True, but the only thing tat can challenge me know is Ripred, and he is heading to the hospital right now. Plus it is just as important that you are ready to fight too." Said Gregor.

"Well I thank you for offering to help me, but why is Ripred going to the hospital?" Asked Luxa, shocked.

"Well. . . I kind of. . . kind of stabbed him in the shoulder." Said Gregor, pulling out his dagger, which was covered in blood.

"Wait. . . Why did you stab Ripred?! You know that your not suppose to hurt the opponent in a spar!" Said Luxa, shocked that Gregor would break that rule.

"Well I didn't mean to. He broke out into a spin, and I couldn't get close to him because of his tail. Because of this I kind of threw my dagger at him, and it hit him in the shoulder. Now can we get to working on you fighting? We don't have all day here." Asked Gregor.

"Yes, of course. Now, were do we start?" Asked Luxa.

"Well, in order to improve, you need to know your weapon. No matter how well you know it, the only way to truly know it is through battle. I suggest you start by sparing with some people. Try to choose people that won't hold back just because your queen." Said Gregor.

"Ok, so who do you think I should challenge?" Asked Luxa.

"I don't know, it's not like I really know any of these guys. Your best bet would be to just challenge random people." Said Gregor.

"Ok then, that is what I shall do then." Said Luxa before walking away to challenge random people.

Luxa's Point of View

Luxa spared Gregor one more glance, accompanied by a smile, and headed off to her first opponent. She choose a man that was slightly bigger then her, and seemed to be a decent soldier.

Luxa challenged the man, and she noted his shocked expression. He seemed to hesitate before accepting her challenge. The two began to circle each other, waiting for the other to make a move.

Luxa could see how tense the man was; he was hesitant to spar against the queen. Because of this, Luxa decided to make the first move. Luxa moved forward slightly, and she could notice the man tense up even farther, but she could see that his defense was slightly lowered.

"He thinks that just because I am queen, that I won't be as much of a challenge. He thinks that he might hurt me, so he is hesitating to fight." Thought Luxa.

Realizing this, Luxa decided to take advantage of it, though she was offended by this. Just because she was queen did not mean that she could not fight, in fact, she was better then the average soldier.

Luxa, realizing that he would never attack, rushed forward and swung her blade at him. She swung down, and he swung up to block, though she pulled back at the last second and spun to her right. She brought the sword around, and stopped it an inch or two away from his neck. Far to easy of a spar.

Without a word, the man walked away, his muscles visibly relaxing. He didn't seem to care that he lost so fast, only that he didn't hurt the queen. Luxa made her way over to her next opponent, who she really hoped wouldn't hold back. He was taller then most people, and he was kind of thin, though he used a very long sword, probably around the height of Luxa's shoulder.

"Excuse me, sir. I would like to challenge you to a spar." Said Luxa, as she approached him.

"Oh, of course I will accept your challenge. . .Oh! Queen Luxa!" Said the man, who seemed pretty surprised that it was the queen challenging him.

"Yes, it is I. Just don't hold back because I am the queen, okay?" Said Luxa, as both of them slid into a ready stance.

"I would not dream of it." Said the man as they both began to circle each other.

Both Luxa and the man continued circling, waiting for the other to attack. Just once Luxa though that the man would never attack her, he rushed forward and did a diagonal strike, coming from the upper right.

Luxa got her sword up with little time to spare, blocking the attack. She quickly slid to the right, and dived forward, rolling to her feet again. She was now positioned behind him, and she quickly stabbed backwards. Her attack was swiped off to the side, and the man tried to stab forwards, catching her in the back, but Luxa rolled to her left and jumped up onto her feet. Luxa swung her sword up, but it hit nothing but air as the man jumped back. Luxa jumped forward and grabbed the hilt of the mans sword as he stabbed forward. She quickly twisted his arm, forcing him to drop the sword. She spun around behind him, and attempted to strike him across the back. He sword was met with a dagger that was in his left hand held behind his back.

The man rolled forward, picking up his sword mid-roll. He spun to face Luxa. He quickly slid the dagger back into a sheath on his belt, and he pulled 3 things out of 3 smaller sheaths on his right side. The man was now holding 3 small throwing knives in this left hand, though they had covers on the blades so that they wouldn't kill what they hit.

Luxa had only ever seen this weapon used one other time, and that was when it was first invented, and presented at a council meeting. The council had agreed on using it, but nothing was ever really done with it after that.

The man swung his arm, and released one of the knives from his fist. It came straight at Luxa's stomach, and she hardly managed to block it with her sword in time. The man swung his arm again, this time letting the final two blade fly.

Luxa could only block one with her sword, and she did just that. The first blade fell to the ground; it had headed for her stomach, while the second headed for her face. Luxa held up her hand, by instinct, to block it from hitting her face, but was surprised when the handle of the blade landed firmly between her middle and pointer fingers.

Luxa was shocked by this; she had unintentionally caught a throwing knife. The man looked equally as shocked, and Luxa took advantage of that shock to throw the knife at him. She had never thrown a throwing knife before (she had thrown regular knives, but they are not designed for throwing like this knife), but she was pleased that it was on target, and that it wasn't a terrible throw. It didn't fly as fast as the mans had, but it still flew straight. The man got his sword up and blocked it easily, and just as fast rushed forward to swing at Luxa.

He swung from the left side going to the right, and Luxa got her sword up in time to block the strike. The man quickly pulled away, spinning around into the same attack, just from the right instead. Luxa ducked underneath this, and tried to stab at his chest. The man jumped back a step and avoided the attack. Luxa wasted no time in jumping forward and swinging low at his feet. The man jumped over the strike and swung diagonal for the top left down at Luxa. Luxa countered it, locking their swords together.

Luxa attempted to kick the man in the gut, but he spun away to the side, and tried to stab at her. She sidestepped the strike, to the left, and jumped forward, grabbing the hint of the mans sword. He must have expected her to make the same move twice, because he yanked his dagger out, and held it behind his back. Luxa didn't twist his wrist this time. She yanked forward, pulling him in. She held her sword up, so that when he came in it would be held to his neck.

The man didn't allow this, he ducked down, or at least tried, and went under the blade. He crashed to the ground, taking Luxa with him. Luxa dropped her sword at this point in time. Luxa rolled away as fast as possible and sprung up to her feet. The man was a second slower, but regained his stance nonetheless. He wasted no time in rushing forward at Luxa, who was still looking for her sword. He had an overconfident grin on his face, and who could blame him? He was facing a defenseless opponent. Just as Luxa found her sword, it was kicked away by the man, and he swung downward at her.

Any normal person would be defeated right here, if they hadn't already given up, but Luxa was no about to give up. Realizing that she wouldn't be able to get her sword, she improvised. Just as the blade came down, Luxa sprung to the left, and delivered a quick kick into the mans right armpit. His entire right arm fell limp, and the sword remained in his left arm.

The man seemed extremely shocked by this. Luxa slid behind him and kicked him in the back of the knee. As he fell to his knees, she grabbed his left wrist and twisted it, forcing him to drop the sword. Luxa yanked his functional arm, his left arm, behind his back, and started to pull upward. The man winced in pain, and Luxa yanked his dagger out of it's sheath. She brought it up to his neck and held it there for a few seconds.

Luxa let go of the man and dropped his dagger on the ground. She waited for the man to stand. Once he stood, he was a bit unbalanced, but managed to stay up. His right arm hung limp at his side.

"Wow. I must say I did not expect you to have that in you. Congratulations." Said the man.

"Yes, thank you, but no need to congratulate me, it was only a spar." Responded Luxa.

"You really do not know do you?" Asked the man.

"What?" Asked Luxa.

"You have beaten me in combat, and have claimed the title of fourth best in Regalia." Said the man

"Wait. . . I have?! I did not expect that. As queen I was forbidden to enter the contest that determined the ranks." Said Luxa, shocked.

"Indeed you have. I would have never guessed that the queen could have beaten me in combat, you truly are a great warrior." Said the man.

"Thank you. I never followed the ranking, so I only know a few. Gregor is number one, Ripred is number two, and Hayden is number three." Said Luxa, as she walked over and picked up her sword, then back to Gregor.

She noticed that quite a few people had witnessed the fight, and that many had clapped for her victory. Many were also watching her walk back over to Gregor, as if they expected her to challenge him.

"Congrats, I didn't know you have that in you. Looks like you know the human weak spots, were did you learn that?" Asked Gregor.

"A book from the museum. I spent a lot of my free time in there over the past four years." Responded Luxa.

"Well you gotta show me that stuff later, I wanna learn it." Declared Gregor.

"Yes, once we have free time I shall show you. Now, what is nex-" Said Luxa, being cut off by a flier crashing down on the ground in between the two.

The bat had 2 large gashed running down it's stomach, and it was bleeding heavily. It was clear a slasher had done this.

"S-slasher. . . h-hundreds m-marching. . . o-on. . . R-regalia. . ." Wheezed out the flier. With one final gasp for air, the flier stopped moving, and thus it's light had been lost.

Well that's a cliff hanger, again. So, the question from last chapter was going to be finished here, but since Hayden didn't come in in this chapter, I will have to wait for next chapter, where he will defiantly come in (if I remember (I should)). As usual, all feedback is encouraged and appreciated, so give me any and all thoughts on the chapter! See you guys later!

See you guys another day,

-Tytonic

Question: How will Gregor and Hayden get along? (I couldn't find a way to introduce Hayden in this chapter, so sorry that it's the same question.)

*CLICKCLICKCLICK*

*POOF*

Tytonic- So thoughts?

Gregor- The armor is amazing! I feel ready to fly into this next battle!

Luxa- I feel ready as well, though I fear it will not be enough. The flier said hundreds, and we struggled with around 20.

Gregor- Don't worry Luxa, we will be able to fend them off.

Luxa- It's not that. I know we can fight them off, it's the cost of fighting them off that is my worry.

Tytonic- Well you guys don't have much time to get ready for the battle, so ill be sending you off, bye.

Gregor and Luxa- Bye.

*CLICKCLICKCLICK*

*POOF*

R&R peeps,

-Tytonic