Hello people of the world, and welcome back! So, how's it going for you guys? Get any snow? I got 8 inches, and a winter storm warning is in effect for the next few days. 14-24 inches expected from now till Wednesday. And guess what? I bet I'll still have school. Possibly a 2 hour delay tomorrow, or an early dismissal. Hey, as long as I don't have math class, and get to sleep. I like all my other classes, as weird as that is for a 14 year old boy. What can I say? I'm taking all honors classes next year. Sadly, the girl I like isn't, to the best of my knowledge ='(.

So, a ton of people got close on the question last chapter, but only one hit the bullseye. Nice going, Violettvalentine. Everybody got really close, but you included one crucial detail.

So, have a nice snow storm, people!

See you all soon!

-Tytonic

Disclaimer: I do not own The Underland Chronicles, nor do I claim to. I do, however, hold rights over the characters and plot I create.

Gregor and the War of Severance

Chapter 8: Rusty

Stellovet was sitting on a couch, reading a book. However, when she looked up at him, he could see it in her eyes. He could see something dark, something sinister.

This is bad. Very bad.

-O-

Stellovet's face lit up immediately as she saw him. However, Gregor was not one to be fooled. Having been the one person who always kept to himself, who nobody knew anything about, he had plenty of people approach him attempting to discover his secrets. He could tell when people were pretending to be nice. Stellovet was one of those people. Gregor knew how politics generally worked though, and put on the same facade.

"Gregor! How nice it is to see you. Come, have a seat!" She said merrily.

Gregor nodded politely, and made his way over to the open spot on the couch. While walking though, he used the sound of his feet scraping on the ground to gain a clear image of the room. As far as he could see, there were no apparent threats.

Sitting down, Gregor made sure to keep at least a foot of space between him and Stellovet. Just in case. Better to be safe than sorry. And of course, Stellovet immediately closed that gap.

"There is no need to be shy, Gregor. I won't bite." She said.

Gregor moaned in his head. That's exactly what I'm worried about. He really wanted to hurry up. Something about Stellovet unsettled him.

"Stellovet," He said in a most polite manner, "I am sure you called me here for a reason. May we please get on with it?"

She looked him over for a moment. "I see you are no fool, Gregor. Very well, we shall 'get on with it', as you say." She paused for a moment. "Gregor, what is your opinion on this recent war?"

Gregor had already pieced together his answer. "It is ridiculous. Foolish. It should have never began. If there cannot be peace, then why must the conflict be between us? We will only destroy each other." He figured that it would be better to sound as if he was favoring Regalia, yet still favoring the Fount. This way, Stellovet might see it fit to tell him of whatever plan she has likely cooked up.

She seemed to think this over briefly before responding. "I suppose I share the same view as you do. This is what happens when you try to make peace with such an enemy. I do believe that Luxa is foolish, thinking that we can make peace with the gnawers."

Just as Gregor expected, Stellovet was against Luxa. He decided to try to get more information out of her.

"Yes. I believe that she was foolish. However, I do think that she had the right idea. Just the wrong way of going about it." Of course, this is not at all what Gregor thought. Had he been in Luxa's position, he would have done the exact same thing she had done.

"Yes. Her idea of peace was good, but her was of achieving it was incorrect. I believe that it is her naivety which has caused this war." Stellovet said.

Gregor did not respond.

"In the end, she will destroy us all. She cannot be allowed to remain on the throne. You agree as well, right Gregor?" She asked.

Gregor took a few moments to reply. "If she were to lose the throne, who do you propose would be best for the position?"

"Nerissa would be the next in line. However, she is far to weak to bear such a burden. Logically, I am the best for the position."

"What about Howard?"

"My brother has no wish to rule. He wishes to become a great doctor, who will save many people." She responded.

"Yes. So, you would indeed be the best for the position." He said. "But, how exactly would you go about achieving peace?"

She contemplated this for a few moments. "We would surrender to Regalia, and join them once more. Once we have returned to full strength, we would continue to fight the gnawers. However, we would not hold back. We would destroy them in every way possible, and force them out of the underland. There can be no peace until the gnawers have been eliminated. Until then, they will constantly be a threat."

Gregor knew what would come of such a plan. "So, you propose that we destroy every last gnawers, and leave none alive? That is unjustified slaughter."

She looked at him with a sinister look, hidden behind a smile. "You are a rager, Gregor. You know the concept of slaughter better than any of us. You are meant to kill. In fact, I hear that ragers take joy in killing."

Had Gregor not expected such a comment, his rager would have taken over right then and there. It still hit him hard, though.

He stood up immediately. "Stellovet, do not act as if you understand what a rager is. You can never understand unless you are one." He said, venom lacing his voice. "You plan to slaughter hundreds of innocent being. Even if they are our enemy, that is unjustified. There is no need to kill more than necessary. We have made peace with the gnawers. Luxa was in no way naïve to think that we could live in peace with them. If anything, you are naïve to think that the rest of the fount would follow such a mindset."

She seemed utterly shocked. "B-but I-".

"Stellovet, I am no fool. It has been made evident that you plan to turn against Luxa and seize the throne for yourself. Let it be know that as long as I am alive, you will not lay so much as a finger on her. Understood?" Gregor hissed.

Stellovet was clearly terrified. She was alone in a room with a furious rager, and she was the one who he was furious at. She knew that when they lost it, there was no stopping them from killing. So, she did all she could. She nodded slightly, and hoped that he would accept it.

Gregor could see the terror in her expression. However guilty he felt about it, he knew that he had effectively gotten his message across. He had used her own mindset against her. She saw ragers as merciless killers who took joy in slaughtering others. So, he turned that against her by using it to intimidate her. In all reality, he had been in perfect control. Sure, he had been pissed, but he had not allowed his rager to take hold. He had just made it seem like he was losing control in order to terrify her.

Gregor nodded slightly, and turned to walk out of the room. Through echolocation, he could see her let out a large sigh. She had truly been terrified.

As Gregor walked through the hallways, he made his way back to his room. Walking into his room, he immediately knew something was off. Hand shooting up, he caught a tail hardly an inch away from his face.

"Your getting rusty, boy."

"Yeah. I didn't exactly have a way to train while I was away, Ripred." Gregor responded.

Ripred stepped out of the shadows. "Grab your sword and come with me."

Gregor rolled his eyes and grabbed his sword. He was tired, and had hoped to get some sleep. But he knew that Ripred would not take no as an answer. So, he followed Ripred, and it came as no surprise when they left the palace, and entered some sort of cave, which was pitch dark.

And so, they began training. Gregor could tell that his echolocation had improved greatly since he was last downstairs, as he could read Ripred's every movement. Because of this, it was more of a normal sparing session that anything. However, Gregor had to hold back, as to not let his rager run lose. He knew that he could not hurt Ripred even if it did, but he would end up getting hurt himself.

As they were sparing, Gregor felt a shift in the battle. Ripred began coming at him more aggressively than before, and he was forced to defend himself. This increase in intensity made it much more difficult to hold his rager back, and he soon found that he was fighting himself more than he was fighting Ripred.

This continued on for several minutes before Gregor realized what Ripred was trying to do. He was trying to get Gregor to give into his rager, to let it take over and control him. Having realized this, Gregor knew that it was a test. Ripred was trying to see how well he could control his rager.

Challenge accepted, Ripred. Bring it on.

He regretted this thought almost immediately. As if he could read Gregor's thoughts, Ripred began to attack even faster and harder, and Gregor found himself using small portions of his rager to fend off the attacks. He knew he couldn't last much longer, else he would give into his rager. Should that happen, Ripred would have to knock him out entirely in order to stop him.

As he continued to fight, he felt his grip on reality beginning to slip, and his vision began to fragment.

Right as he was holding on by his fingernails, Ripred let up and the entire room was filled with light. Gregor fell onto his hands and knees, gasping for breath as he struggled to regain control of himself. He vaguely heard Luxa's voice when she spoke.

"Ripred, what are you doing?! Look at him! You know he is already very tired!" She yelled.

This didn't faze Ripred in the slightest. "My dearest bond, this boy here is a tad rusty. I'm polishing him off a bit." He responded with a sarcastic tone.

"Can you not do this later, then?" She asked, still irritated.

"No, I cannot. Our little rager here needs to learn to control himself if he is to help in this petty war." Ripred replied.

"Well than you can stay here, Ripred." She said, taking Gregor's hand. He was still too dizzy to support himself fully. "Come, Gregor. We are going to eat dinner, and you must be there. I am sure you are very hungry."

As they left the room, Gregor's head began to clear. While he was not hurt in anyway, resisting his rager like that was not good for him. However, Ripred was right. He needed to get a hold on it if he really wanted to be a help on the battlefield.

As they entered the dining room, Gregor's head had fully cleared and he could stand up perfectly fine once more. Gregor took his seat next to Luxa, who was seated next to Stellovet. Luxa noticed the sour look that Stellovet gave Gregor.

"What is that about, Gregor?" She asked.

"I'll tell you later, Luxa." He replied.

Sitting across from him and Luxa was Gage and Lillie. Gregor swallowed slightly as he felt them stare at him.

"So, Gregor. Are you gonna start explaining?" Gage asked.

As Gage said this, Gregor felt much of the rooms attention fall to him. Gage and Lillie were not the only ones who wanted to hear his story. He let out a deep sigh, and began his story.

"So, it all began when Boots, my little sister, decided to climb into an air grate. . ."

So, that's a wrap on it. Sorry that this is out this late at night, but my parents wanted to go out for dinner. Put me back three hours (so did procrastinated homework .-.). So, tell me what you guys think of the chapter, and I will see you all next time!

Question: How much will Gregor explain? There are a lot of personal things in there. . .

Bis später!

-Tyonic