The Living Dead
Chapter 10
Gregor didn't really know what to expect of their travel to the Dead Lands. He knew from the map that there were not many gnawers clusters in the area. Honestly, he was expecting no one to be around when they arrived. The scout that sent Luxa the message only told her that he had discovered a code where other gnawers were discussing Ripred's location.
It was not unusual for Ripred to lay dormant, but it most certainly was when so much were going on with the gnawers. They were once again in the process of trying to determine a new leader, which was usually when he would be campaigning himself. Not to mention, he apparently had left behind the little group that Gregor had seen him with before.
And quite honestly, Gregor thought he was dead. He had for the past few months. After Vikus died, he had spoken with Ripred, having gone out to his last known location. The old rat wasn't really doing well. He had had a disagreement with most of his clan and he was on the brink of losing all his followers. Not to mention he had gotten into a fight with someone when Gregor saw him, his wounds not healing well. He had a cut on one leg that was causing him to limp.
He tried to get Ripred to come back with him, but of course he refused. And when he returned to Regalia, Luxa was far more concerned with the loss of her grandfather than the possible harm that could come to her most hated bond. So he left it alone and put it out of his mind for awhile. But when Ripred didn't show up a few months later, he was pretty certain he knew the gnawer had finally lost his light.
So really, when they got to the Dead Lands, Gregor wasn't expecting much. He wasn't even certain where to begin. Nike took him as close to the spot that Luxa had shown them as possible, but that was the most she could do for him.
They rode around some, looking in tunnels and such. Gregor was hesitant to call out for the rat, but eventually he began to. Besides, he and Nike were both in good health. No one could take them, he was certain. It would have taken an army of gnawers to take them down and he was certain there was not a chance of one of those lurking around.
Still, he felt mighty silly, calling out the gnawer's name. Ripred. Ripred. Ripred. Even if it was another's name, he would have still felt dumb. Like Bambi or something. Mother. Mother. Mother?
"Let me onto the ground then, Nike," Gregor finally sighed. "I shall search him out from there, yes?"
"Gregor, I am not so certain," Nike said slowly. "It is mighty dark. You-"
"I have my echolocation."
"I…suppose so."
So she dropped him to the cavern floor below, letting him take a good look around. Of course she was only overhead and could swoop him up if need be. Not that he would let her. He hadn't had a real chance to fight in a few months. Not that he was craving it or anything, but if the opportunity came upon him, he wasn't sure he could fight it off either. His rager senses had long since been under some form off control, but it hard for him not to get a little bloodlust sometimes.
The part of the Dead Lands they were in were, well, dead. There was nothing going on. He saw a few bugs and there was occasionally the sound of dripping water from somewhere far off, but other than that, they were alone. It reminded Gregor heavily of when he and Luxa were lost in those caverns, out in the Uncharted Lands. Those horrible creatures that were there kept creeping into his mind, reminding him of that horrible noise Luxa's head made when it connected with the ground.
He only shook it off though, as he knew for a fact that those creatures would be nowhere to be found in the Dead Lands. There was no way that they would be. They were an enemy that he would never have to see again. There were some scouts that had begun excavating the banished's home, as a means of filling in some of the Uncharted Lands, but they were given explicit instructions not to venture into the caves. And if they chose to, then that was their problem.
He was clicking quite regularly, giving up on calling out Ripred's name. If the gnawer was around, he would have shown his face by that point. Either that or he was in hiding, in which case calling out to him wasn't going to help anything. Not to mention, Gregor didn't really wish to drawl any more attention to himself. He could not find anyone around, but that did not mean there was not someone.
He walked around for more than an hour, Nike eventually getting bored overhead. She called down to him eventually, asking if he was ready to head back.
"We can't yet, Nike," he told her back. "We still do not have any information, either way. We're supposed to find him."
"No. We were supposed to see if he was here. He is not."
Gregor only shook his head. "You can leave, Nike, and send Aurora to come get me later if you'd like. But Ripred waged war practically for me. He betrayed his bond, something that is punishable by death."
Nike only sighed. "We shall stay longer then."
Gregor knew that she wished to go and he felt kind of bad. He also suddenly felt like he made a bad choice in his flier. Aurora would never care for Ripred, but she would not have wished to get back to the capital quickly. She would wish to kill time, as she found staying in Regalia constantly boring. Nike, however, liked to constantly be doing something. If there were a little more action put into finding Ripred, she would have been content.
He just didn't want to go though, was the problem. Not if there was a chance at finding Ripred…or at least something. Honestly, he was bored at home. And yeah, okay, so the wedding and pregnancy stuff was kind of stressful too. It's not like either were ever something he planned for. Especially not in such a surprise manner. Quite honestly, he still hadn't really adjusted to either revelation. And he had a feeling he wouldn't until they were both over and done with, until there was a crown on his head and a baby in his arms. Could anyone blame him though?
…Luxa. Luxa could. She could blame him for a drought though, so that wasn't really groundbreaking.
"See that tunnel down there? It is too cramped for you. I will-"
"Overlander, enough," Nike said then, about twenty minutes later. "It is time to turn home if you are going to resort to that. I will not let you."
"Nike-"
"It is dark in there. And any other creature in the Underland can smell you from miles off. Perhaps even smell the Overland linger on you. They could be hiding in there, planning on attack you. Are you prepared for that, Gregor? Are you?"
"…Yes."
"Overlander-"
"You worry too much," he told her with a shake of his head. "I will be back."
He could tell that Nike did not wish for him to go, but there was no way for her to stop him. He was ultimately the one in charge of the journey. And he knew too that she was slow to anger and was not one to keep a grudge. She would forgive him by the time he to out of the tunnel.
"I will not stray far," she called out to him finally. "But I wish to fly on, to see if I can find anything else."
"It is up to you."
"If you call for me, I will get to you."
"And I you."
The tunnel was extremely cramped. He had to hunch over to crawl around in there and he didn't think that Ripred would be there. He was interested to see where it would lead him though and thought that possibly Ripred had huddled up in hiding maybe. Either way, Gregor had found Nike on going in the dank, retched cave and now he was stuck with that decision.
He scrapped his arm on the rocks a few times, as in certain areas the tunnel walls were so narrow there was no other way. Part of him suddenly feared a cave in or something of that sort, but then he pushed it out of his mind. He was too far in at that point to go back out. Turning around would have been a nightmare, and walking backwards was just out of the question. He had to push forward.
He felt filthy once he got to the end of the tunnel. He was not shocked to find it opened into a cavern, but he was shocked to find that the light at the end of the tunnel he saw wasn't his mind just playing a trick on him.
There was a fire. And he could tell from the size that it was a roasting fire. Not to mention the smell of meat in the air. Immediately he was brought back to when he and Aurora discovered the banished's darkest secret and he had immediately vomited, like a coward, and been unable to act.
But it was fish roasting. And it actually smelled pretty good. Fish wasn't really something that he ate a lot, as Luxa wasn't rather fond of it. She ate very little meat and in turn, he only got some when he would actually eat in the mess hall, which was becoming rarer and rarer.
He also knew almost immediately that it was not a gnawer. Not a normal one, at the very least. All gnawers ate their fish cold, raw for the most part. So did many creatures, he was certain. Even in the Fount, that's how they liked them. It was just Regalia that was weird.
Another thing that the fish told him was that he was close to a stream. Not the Waterway, he knew that. They were far too deep in the cavernous systems of the Dead Lands for that to be possible. There had to be a tiny river or something. It was not unlikely. Streams ran all over the land, after all.
The only problem was that Gregor could find nobody around. That made him suspect that someone had heard him coming and fled. It made sense. Whoever it was did not want to be found. That alone made Gregor think of Ripred and that excited him. Maybe he had acquired a taste for fish being cooked? It was not completely implausible.
Gregor could see around the entire cavern, but the different tunnels that led out of it were shrouded in darkness. It did not smell so horrible in there, however. And not just because of the fish either. It seemed to be well ventilated, which was good. Being in that cramped tunnel had about killed his nose.
"Hello?" Gregor called out, his voice echoing amount the stalagmite and stalactites around. "Ripred?"
Nothing.
"It's me," he tried then, looking around. "Gregor. Luxa's real worried about…well, about you, I guess. More though she just wants to be certain you're dead so she can forget about you. At least that's what she says."
He thought that would get a rise out of Ripred. Even if he was keeping himself hidden away for whatever reason, he knew that he would not take kindly to Luxa speaking ill of him or threatening his life.
Still, he got nothing. So maybe it wasn't Ripred. But then who would hide from him? Most gnawers were crawling at the chance to kill Gregor or at least have combat with him. The other faction that weren't didn't believe him to be bloodthirsty and actually respected him. That left no in-between for those that might be fearful.
"I'm not going to hurt you," Gregor called out then, walking around while peaking into the darkened tunnels all around. "I'm just looking for someone. Ripred. But…if you don't know where he is, that's fine. I'll just go then. Okay?"
Nothing. Sighing, Gregor thought about going over to some of those tunnels, but then remembered that he still had Nike to worry about. He couldn't go off, trekking around in tunnels, after someone that most certainly wasn't who he was looking for. He didn't want to bother the person either.
"I'm going to go now. If you don't need my help. I could help you, if you want."
Nothing. Sighing, Gregor finally turned his back, planning on heading through that dank little tunnel again. He was not versed well in the area of the Dead Lands they were in and did not feel like getting lost, after all. He had to find his way back to Nike and that meant going back the way he came.
He heard something then. A shuffle, off to his side. As not to give away what he knew, Gregor glanced out of the corner of his eye at the area he heard the noise from. There were only two tunnels over that way and he could see a shadow coming from one then. It was the shape of a gnawer.
When he saw that, Gregor grinned, turning to face the gnawer then. "Ha, Ripred. I knew I would find-"
That was just a distraction though. He should have known better. Whether the gnawer was Ripred or not, he was not the one that Gregor should have been paying attention to.
In his excitement over possibly finding his lost mentor, Gregor hadn't heard the person quickly approaching him from behind. Not until it was far too late at least.
Whoever it was hit him with something hard in the back of the head, hard enough to make Gregor fall backwards onto the ground, smashing his head once more. He didn't go black immediately. He had a quick glance at who it was that hit him. A person. A human. An...Underlander?
He woke with a start. It was dark and he was alone. For a minute he panicked. He could smell blood and knew it was his own. The back of his head was matted with it. When he reached behind him, he could feel the gooey liquid clumped in areas.
How long had he been out for?
"Nike?" Gregor called out, his voice rough and throat dry. He slowly sat up, his head swimming, his gut all torn up. He felt like he had to vomit, but he hadn't eaten since breakfast. Nothing came up, but vile when he tried. He fell back to the ground with a groan.
He had to get up. He had to find out where he was. Was he still in the same cavern? He had no way of knowing. His tongue was thick and it took a lot out of him just to click it a few times.
He seemed to be in the same place, but he had no way of knowing. Closing his eyes, he let out a low groan. He was stuck, honestly. His body felt too weak to move and he had no way of getting to Nike. He would have to gather his strength and hope that his head wound clotted.
What had happened? He remembered seeing Ripred…no, just a gnawer. Or was it Ripred? He couldn't remember. And then someone delivered a horrible blow to his head. They had to be a mighty powerful person to knock him out in one blow.
…Person. A human. He could almost picture them, but he was still a little fuzzy. Who was that person? And were they still around? Waiting to get him?
His stomach heaved as he rolled onto his stomach. He just took a few deep breaths before slowly trying to crawl away. He had to get to Nike. How though? He was so disoriented that he could not remember which tunnel he had entered from. He knew from when he was a kid that people always told you to stay put when you were lost, but that just wasn't an option in that moment. Sometime you had to save yourself, even at the risk of only bringing detriment.
His head was in more pain that it had been that time that man swung a battle hammer at it. Was…dying? It sure felt like it. His vision was nothing, as it was so dark, but even his echolocation felt off. All of him felt off though, in reality. He wasn't even sure if he was crawling in a straight line. He was just dragging his legs behind him, causing some tears in his pants when they snagged on rocks and such. He could feel some cuts on them as well, but they were useless to him. When he fell, he must have rolled his ankle or something. It was impossible to use.
There was no way that he was going to be able to crawl through that damp, rancid smelling tunnel. He gave up halfway to it. He knew that if he went in that small space, Nike would never be able to get to him. She'd have to get someone else, a human, to come to his rescue and that could take too long. He needed another plan.
He needed a better plan.
Rolling onto his back then, he started clicking. He needed to think. There was something that could help him in the cavern. There had to be. He couldn't die there, in some unknown cavern, where his body would rot without anyone ever knowing what happened.
Nerissa had told him as much. He wasn't allowed to have such a death.
"Suck it up," he breathed out to himself. It was what Luxa would do if she was in that situation. Or Ripred. They would fight until they were dead. Ripred once survived by hiding under the carcass of another gnawer, using it to shield his body from carnivorous bugs. He wouldn't lay down in die. He couldn't lay down and die.
He had promised.
Think. He had to think. He had to think of everything. There had to be something that the people that left him there hadn't thought of. They had to have left him for to die, right? But there had to be a flaw somewhere in that. Somewhere, something…
Water.
He almost laughed at the thought. Water. He wanted some so badly that he had thought to push it out of his mind, while it was actually the one thing he needed to think about. The fish that they had been roasting, they had to have gotten it from a stream or river. Water. And water came from somewhere. It had to lead back to the Waterway. If he could get there, if he could just push through, then someone would find him there. A scout, some gnawers, someone. Even fliers might fly over head and notice him. And Nike might pass as she headed back to Regalia to get backup.
The only problem was that he didn't know how to get there. There were so many caves and tunnels. He had to…to…think. Think about the lay out of the Dead Lands. The river could be branching off in any direction, but he knew thee path of the Waterway like the back of his hand. It was so encompassing, after all. Took up most of the map in the war room. He just had to think of where Luxa had told him Ripred would be, the path that he and Nike then took, and the direction that the tunnel left him out into the cavern. From there he had to figure out which way to go and just pick a tunnel and hope for the best.
The only problem was that he didn't know how much strength he had in him. It was all good and well, deciding to suck it up and push through it. Eventually thought he'd have to give out. He might even pass out. He had one shot at the whole getting to the Waterway thing and he had to decide on it fast.
Thinking hurt his brain, but he was forced to just push through it. He really had no other option. If he didn't devise a plan as to which tunnel to take, he was for sure dead. He just had to get a grasp on his directions and go for it, hope for the best.
When he finally made his choice, he didn't allow himself to admit that it was mostly an educated guess. It was also slightly a process of elimination type thing. He knew for certain that a few would only lead him further away. Of course, he couldn't account for the turns and bends that the tunnels might take, but he was going to have to pretend that was not a possibility. If he couldn't plan for it, then it didn't' exist. That was just the mindset he was going to have to have in that moment.
His ankle still felt horrible, but he forced himself to walk on it. He nearly fell many times, but it was better than belly crawling through a damp tunnel. He cut up his hands then though, as he had to catch himself against the walls of the tiny cave walls that led him out of the cavern. That was the least of his problems though as his head continued to twirl without stop.
When he got to the end of the tunnel, he found that it only led to a smaller cavern and no river or stream. That wasn't a total loss, however, as he knew if he kept on his path, eventually he would have to find the Waterway. Or at least he hoped.
Endurance was Gregor's strong suit for the most part and he continued to just fight through his pain. He just had to keep thinking of the goal. He had to be found by someone. It was only the chance.
A fire. He saw a fire at one point. And he should have been hesitant to go near it, as the last time he had seen one, it only caused him trouble. Still, his mind was mostly shot at that point and it was his only option, really.
The closer he got, the more he realized that it wasn't a fire. The fire light he was seeing was being given off by a torch. And that only meant one thing, truly.
"Overlander?" The man had heard his footsteps and labored breathing, prompting him to immediately come out of hiding. "What are you- What happened to you?"
Gregor almost fell forwards as the scout immediately moved to support him. "Attacked. Lost the flier princess."
"Here." The scout took Gregor over to where he was hiding, setting him down gently with his back against a big stone. He was shielded from immediate view, but Gregor didn't really fear anyone being around anyhow. He was mostly concerned with his injuries.
"Wine." The man grabbed his wineskin off the ground before uncorking it and pressing it to Gregor's lips. "What are you doing here?"
"Luxa. Mission." Gregor almost chocked on the wine. "Ripred."
"Ah. I am the scout who spotted him in this area." The man took the wineskin then before standing. "I have a bond that is out catching us dinner at the Waterway. I shall get her and send her back for you. I shall also alert the other scouts in the area to look for the flier princess."
"I can…I can go," Gregor groaned out. "Just let me-"
"No." The scout put a hand to his shoulder before standing once more. "There is wine, but no medical supplies here. They are with my bond. You stay here. I shall return as quickly as possible."
Gregor wanted to go, but really didn't think that he had enough strength to continue on. Besides, he would only slow the scout down. Honestly, he was just glad that the man was kind enough to help him out.
Though he tried hard to fight it off, Gregor dozed there in that tunnel, hidden behind a rock, with the scent of mildew and filth all around. He knew it was not good for a head injury, but what more could he do? Sleep was just too easy to give into when you were in such pain as him. And it's not as if the wine was helping any with that.
It was the approach of a flier that awoke Gregor fully. He felt glad that the tunnel was big enough to accommodate him. Though he did not know the flier by name, he seemed to know Gregor. That wasn't too shocking though, as most fliers were not only thankful to Gregor for all he had done in the past, but also felt as if they were in debt for the fact he had saved their princess. Most fliers would do anything and everything for him. All he had to do was say the word.
The scout had gone off to find Nike, of course, so it was up to Gregor to get onto the flier. He was extremely patient with him and did not fuss when Gregor got his blood on him. He had such crimson fur, the flier did, that it did not matter much.
"Your bond, he-"
"I am taking you back to the palace, Overlander. He can fend for himself well enough. He is going to find the Princess."
Gregor only laid on his back, staring upwards as he tried to stay as still as possible. "I…I should stay. Look for her."
"Just sleep, Overlander. I-" The flier stopped speaking then, if only for a moment. Then he spoke again. "You cannot hear, but I can. It is the Princess. She is calling out for fliers in the area."
Gregor strained his ears, but of course got nothing out of it. "She's close then?"
The flier hesitated before saying, "Extremely."
He shut his eyes. "Tell her. Can you? That I am safe?"
"I can," the flier assured him as they zoomed along. "You are still going to Regalia however, Overlander."
"If I must."
He fell asleep for some amount of time there, though he wasn't a very good judge of how long. He felt safe again and knew that the flier was going to get him home, which put his mind at ease.
Nike caught then as some point in the tunnels and was most overjoyed at finding him. She offered to take Gregor back and let the flier, who Gregor found out to be named Hephaestus, get back to his bond, but the flier refused. He insisted that he be the one to take the warrior home, which annoyed Nike to no end. And besides, the flier told her, his bond still had work to do. He would get back to his duty of scouting.
This annoyed Nike to no end, but she avoided using her status to get her way. The way that the fliers all revered Gregor was rivaled by their commitment to Nike and Queen Athena. They clearly held them in high esteem.
Gregor dozed again, now content with the fact that Nike was fine. She tried to keep him awake by talking to him, but Gregor couldn't help it. He felt horribly drowsy and knew it had to do with his head wound.
When they made it to the gates of Regalia, the guards on fliers started to stop them, but almost immediately recognized Nike and Gregor and decided to leave them be. It was in the High Halls that anyone noticed that Gregor was in ill health.
There were some soldiers hanging around, as well as a guard. When they saw how sick he was and Nike explained the situation, someone went off to get a medic. This embarrassed Gregor to no end, who insisted on getting up and taking himself to the hospital wing. His ankle felt somewhat better after being off it for so long and with two guys helping him, he was able to walk, though it was rather slow.
"What happened to you then, Overlander?" one of the men asked as they went on. He was one of Gregor's men and had never done him wrong. "Where were you?"
"Dead Lands," he mumbled, hardly able to get it out. "Queen's orders."
One of the doctors met them halfway and immediately began to scold Gregor. It was some female doctor that he knew he was supposed to know. She used to oversee Howard when he was still studying to be a doctor. Her name was lost on him in that moment, however.
"Oh, Overlander," she sighed as she led him to a room. "Eventually you are going to have to learn to return to the capital without injuries."
He felt horrible and was dismayed to find that his eyes were still fuzzy, even with all the brightness around. With his constant suffering of head injuries, he knew that he was just walking a fine line between doing some serious damage. He saw it all the time, dealing with soldiers on the battle field. The brain was a very complex system and hit the wrong way or the skull shattering could possibly destroy a life.
They did not have to put him under, as he only needed stitches, but time seemed to go on for eternity. It was hours before they stabilized him again and left him alone, hopped up on pain meds and some sleeping pills.
Luxa was his first visitor, though she had been filtering around outside his room for some time, waiting to be allowed in. When she was, she only sat down next to his bedside, staring at him. He was drugged by that point and only grinned at her. She gave him a stoic look back.
Eventually, she reached out to take one of his hands, which were both wrapped due to the deep cuts he had gotten on them from falling all those times. She only stroked the white cloth tied around it, gazing at him for awhile. It took awhile, but in the end, it was her that found her voice.
"Propose to me."
He was still pretty dang drowsy and only stared sleepily at her with half-closed eyes. "Mmmm?"
She was looking down at his hand then instead of up at him. "You are injured and drugged. It will make a good story. Propose to me."
He was as she said. Drugged. Reaching over with his other hand, he poked her nose with a slightly chuckle. "You propose to me."
She ignored him, only shaking her head slightly. "There are guards outside your hospital room. If you say it loud enough they shall hear and then I can announce it. Propose to me, Overlander."
"Mmmm." He yawned, his head lolling to the other side then. "I'm sleepy."
"Gregor." She was not longer kidding. Her low tone had taken a murky cadence. "You are going to ask for my hand and I am going to pretend to be excited and say yes. That is how this is going to play out. Either that or you are about to be in a lot more pain."
He blinked. Then, slowly, he asked, "You care 'bout me?"
That caught her off guard. "Of course, but-"
"Didn't ask me 'bout nothin'."
"Nike and Hephaestus told me everything. You were attacked. I am sorry. When we get back to my wing, when you are out of here, we will discuss it in much detail. Right now, though, I have been presented with an easy out to announcing our wedding. You are injured and are afraid of dying without me. I am..." She grimaced at her own words then. "I am….stricken by you and wish to be with you always. It is actually quite romantic in comparison to reality."
He poked her nose again. "What you know 'bout that?"
"Being with you? Not much." She grabbed his other hand then, frowning at him. "Ask me."
"Love you," he mumbled, shutting his eyes then. "Love Lu-"
"Ask. Me."
"Mmmm." He peeked an eye open. "Wanna get married?"
"Louder."
"Wan-"
"They have to hear-"
"Marry me!" He screamed it at her then, which made her blush. "God, Luxa, is that what you want? Marry me."
She was the one that said she was supposed to have a huge reaction, but she didn't. She just sat there and stared for a moment before nodding her head slightly at him. He had most certainly been heard, after all. No need for her to say much.
"Yes,' she finally whispered before clearing her throat. Then, louder, she said, "Okay. Yes."
"Good." He tried to settle back into the bed then, but Luxa was moving to hug him then. He sat up slightly to allow this. She kissed his cheek even. When she moved back to look at him, he was clearly out of it and she only sighed.
"You had better remember this when you awake, Overlander," she grumbled as she gently let him go and helped him settle into bed. "Alright?"
"Mmmm. I'm 'bout to sleep." He only smiled at her. "Love you."
She only sighed, leaning down to kiss the top of his head. "I love you too."