CHAPTER TWO
Thalia screamed as she fell into the darkness. She could tell that the rats had jumped after her because she could see their outlines, but only faintly. It got colder as she fell, so she was thankful for her sweater. After a while, she realized that she could see the ground.
Uh oh.
She braced herself, preparing for the inevitable, but instead of hitting the ground, she fell into water. There was a big splash as she landed, then an even bigger one when the rats fell. Thalia got her wits about her quickly and scrambled out of the water. The rats flailed around a bit before splashing out themselves. Thalia started to run but a rat knocked her down, leaving a scratch.
"Now, we don't want you to get lost," The larger rat rasped.
Thalia shivered with fear. "What do you want? I'm not rich, I don't have any cheese, and I've never seen rats this big!"
"She thinks that we want cheese!" The rats howled with laughter. Thalia crossed her arms and waited for them to calm down.
"Are you done?" She tapped her foot impatiently. "If so, I'd really like to go home."
This made them laugh louder, until the larger rat stopped. "Hush! Underlanders!"
Thalia recognised the name Underlanders; the brave, courageous people who fought and killed big rats, and she needed two big rats killed. "Help!" She yelled as loud as she possibly could.
"Shut up!" The rat swiped at her and she stumbled to the ground, clutching her bleeding side. Thalia screamed again. The rat lept at her, but suddenly someone jumped in front of Thalia, wielding a vicious looking sword.
"Aurora, get the girl to Regalia!"
Thalia felt herself being lifted up as she drifted into unconsciousness.
Thalia slowly opened her eyes and groaned. Where was she? All she could remember was walking through the park, then the rats...The rats! Thalia sat upright, afraid that the rats were there. A stabbing pain in her side forced her back down. She looked down at her side and saw that she wasn't wearing her sweater and her jeans, but a white hospital gown. The hospital gown covered up her side, but when Thalia gently ran her fingers over the wound, she could feel that it was covered in bandages. Suddenly, she remembered something. Her locket! Thalia's hand shot to her neck. She breathed a sigh of relief when she realized that the locket was still on her neck. She quickly opened it to see that the picture of her mother and her father were still there and unharmed. She closed her locket, glad that it didn't get scratched or broken.
"How fare you, Overlander?"
Thalia jerked her head up, surprised. A man around her father's age was standing in the doorway. He had silvery hair and tired violet eyes. The man had very pale skin, and wore wrinkled clothes. The man seemed to notice her staring, so Thalia looked away sheepishly.
"I-I'm fine. I mean, I think," Thalia managed to stutter out quietly.
The man surveyed her for a moment longer then sat down in a chair by Thalia's bed.
"What's your name?" He asked. "I'm Howard, so you can just call me that."
"I'm Thalia." She replied.
"Ok, so I really don't have a nice way to say this. Thalia, you were, and still are, targeted by the gnawers. They brought you down to the Underland for a reason. We are not sure of that reason, but keep in mind that the Underland gnawers have never gone up to the Overland, so either you /really/ pissed them off or..."
Howard's eyes drifted to her locket. "What is that?" He enquired.
"Oh, this?" Thalia's fingers fumbled with the locket. "It's my locket. It has a picture of my mom, who I never met, and my dad, who I live with." She opened the locket and showed Howard the pictures. His eyes widened, and the color drained from his face, making his skin practically white.
"What? What is it?" Thalia closed her locket. "Is something wrong?"
"No, nothing is wrong Overlander, but I do believe that I know why the gnawers dragged you down here." Howard stared right into Thalia's eyes.
"Why?" Thalia asked excitedly. Finally, she would get an answer!
"Thalia, your mother is Queen Luxa. And your father? He's the warrior."
