The Living Dead

Chapter 21

Nike, being the youngest of all the fliers, was the one that led Andromeda that time. Her ability to track scent was assumed better because of her age. She flew with slight hesitance though, clearly not wishing to be wrong.

"We are off path from the map," Perdita announced to them at one point. "It does not mean that it is not the scout burning something, but it is now highly unlikely."

"We never did know for certain if we got all of the banished," Gregor remarked. "God, I hope it's not any of them though."

"We have no action against them if it is," Andromeda said. "Do we?"

"Luxa decreed any banished not surrendered after we sacked their city to be killed," Perdita said. "Of course, that was when we were smoking them all out of the Dead Lands right after it happened, but it holds still now."

"Then we will kill them on sight?" Andromeda did not sound alright with that. "I do not think-"

"We will merely investigate," Perdita told her. "I rarely am out here to look around for myself anyhow."

Nike made a sharp turn suddenly, nearly tossing Gregor from her. She apologized before speaking louder to Andromeda.

"I still am unable to identify this scent," she told the other flier. "It smells of meat, but I cannot decipher what sort of meat it would be. Gnawer, perhaps?"

Andromeda only said, "I imagine them smelling rather foul."

"Not if the meat is cured properly," Nike kept up. "And there are not a lot of other things out here to eat. Insects, mainly."

"Perhaps the gnawers are roasting nibblers."

"Forbid it," Perdita groaned. "Luxa would have us in another war over that."

"I have tired of the nibblers," Andromeda told them then. "They still fall back on the fact that the Bane ran them off that time. Do you not think that we have not been wronged before? Yes, many of their pups were killed. I feel horrible for that. But that does not mean they can do as they please."

"I don't think-" Gregor started, but Andromeda cut him off.

"They do whatever they wish, Gregor. They have already began to take claim to parts of the land we have given to the diggers. Luxa is allowing it. You have seen this. No one else would be allowed such a thing. The diggers could destroy all our lands, but we are going to risk angering them over some mice?"

"Calm yourself, Andromeda," Nike sighed. "Luxa is only overly loving towards them because they saved her and Aurora's lives."

"I know this, but-"

"They will never have any of our land," Nike said then. "And I promise you that. Anything else is irrelevant to us."

"We are bound to the humans and-"

"And if the humans go too far, I will deal with it soon enough. But my mother has enough on her plate to be worried over such things. Give it a few months and I will have it all worked out."

"What exactly do you wish for her to do, Andromeda? Align you more with the diggers than us?" Perdita was starting to get put out by hearing all of that. After all, she had been part of the work to get the treaty between the nibblers and the diggers. "That would do you no good."

"That is not what I am saying, Perdita. I only mean that Luxa favors the nibblers."

"In comparison to the gnawers? Yes. But she would never jeopardize our relationship with you guys over it," Gregor spoke up. "You know that. We need you more than anything. Luxa just feels guilty because the nibblers took her in. She might not be a fair queen, but she's fiercely loyal to people that help her out."

"Luxa also knows that we need you as much as you need us," Nike said then. "You would have lost the war with the banished without us, but I would have died without you."

Andromeda still wasn't pleased though. "Even the other humans have tired of the nibblers. Mareth tells me-"

"Mareth only knows barely legal girls who have no idea what goes on in the Underland," Perdita told her, no doubt frowning. "And I think that our conversation has come full circle now. Enough. We are done."

Rolling his eyes, Gregor let out a long sigh before shaking his head. York had warned him about traveling with all women. Boy was he wishing that he had listened to him on that one.

They flew in silence for awhile. Gregor spent his time clicking, though he did so softly as not to disturb Nike. He wasn't sure how hard it was to trail a scent and feared screwing her up. A few times, they had to turn around or she lost the smell, but Andromeda was always there to help her out. Honestly, Gregor was just hoping that it wasn't human flesh burning wherever the trail led them.

"The smell is stronger," Andromeda announced to them eventually. "Can you smell-"

"It is awful," Perdita remarked. "You find this-"

"In small dosages," Mareth's bond assured her.

"The closer we get, the worst it is, I will admit, but it still perplexes me," Nike said. "Do you suppose then, Andromeda, that it is gnawer meat?"

"I do not know. If it is, would you be willing to eat it?"

That made her laugh, though Andromeda sounded serious. After sobering, Nike said, "If whoever is cooking it is offering."

Though he was a meat kind of a guy, Gregor never properly liked the idea of eating his friends. At all. And although gnawers weren't exactly the coziest of allies, he didn't want to be, well, gnawing on them either!

After many, many twists and turns, there was finally a light. It was far off in the distance, but it was enough to get their stomachs all knotted up. Or for Gregor that's what it did. Perdita seemed more interested than nervous. Honestly, he was not thinking what was waiting for them had their best intentions in mind.

The smell was almost completely unbearable at that point for Gregor. He did not wish to seem weak in front of the others however and took to breathing through his mouth. Not that it helped completely. He could almost taste it then. Ugh.

The light was coming from a fire, of course, which illuminated the cliff that it was being burned upon. There, in the light, was undoubtedly a Regalian scout, huddled over as close to the fire as possible. Up on spokes over the huge blaze was some sort of cleaned meat.

"Prisca." Perdita jumped from Andromeda before the flier landed. Rushing over to the woman, she said, "What has happened?"

The woman looked up slowly at them, face sullen and void of emotion. She didn't even speak as Perdita came to stand before her, hardly even moved.

Dropping to her knees in front of the other woman then, Perdita reached out with her one arm to rest it on the others shoulder.

"What has happened? You are not meant to be here. I-"

"My bond…she died." Her voice was hollow and dead, her facing looking none the better. "Gnawers got to us. My relief never came. I waited and waited, but-"

"That can not be true," Perdita told her. "You should not be here. Caeso was supposed to relieve you. He did relieve you. I have the reports. He and his bond sent you to your next location and reported that you were-"

"Perdita," Nike said, stopping her then. "Clearly something went wrong."

"No. Caeso we…we have served together." She looked back at Gregor and the others then. "Andromeda, you know him. And his bond, Hyperion? They-"

Gregor only shook his head before saying, "I think we finally found the kink in the chain."

Perdita would have glared at him for that had she had a chance. It suddenly happened upon her to think less of herself and more of the woman in front of her. Springing to action, she stood before looking to Gregor.

"Help her to her feet then," she ordered him before glancing at the scout. "We have a vessel, Prisca. And when we return to it, I shall figure a way to get you home immediately. Safely. Fret not longer."

Gregor went over before looking down at her. "Can you stand or must I carry you?"

It was slow for her to stand and she almost immediately fell back over once she was to her feet. Gregor caught her though and immediately took on most of her weight, allowing her to lean heavily against him.

"This is Nike," Gregor said as he helped her over to the flier. "Perhaps you know one another?"

"No," Nike said, shaking her head slightly. "But-"

"My bond was Pontus," the woman said slowly as she climbed onto the princess' back. "And he spoke highly of you as a future leader."

"Pontus," Andromeda said softly as Perdita went to work extinguishing the fire by dousing it with the sand and rocks around.

"You knew him?" Prisca looked up then, over at Andromeda. She had dropped her head though and said no more. Gregor only went over to Perdita to speak softly.

"Now what?"

"Now I need to focus on getting Prisca home," Perdita said. "Then, I must go over my map and track where Caeso is. He was supposed to be here, of course, but as he is not, that means he has to be somewhere. My other scouts, perhaps they…but no…I…I must…"

Gregor just reached out to pat her on the shoulder. It was starting to look as if, once again, her scouts were proving untrustworthy.

"Hey," he whispered. "Let's just get back to the boat and go from there, huh? We'll figure this out. We always do."

She glanced up at him before nodding. He was right. They always did.

Gregor rode back with Perdita on Andromeda, as he did not want to disturb Prisca. She seemed rather withdrawn and did not wish to cause her anymore problems than the ones she was going through.

Andromeda was eerily silent and Gregor could tell it wasn't just out of respect. She must have known Pontus, the way that she was acting. Perdita was mumbling softly to herself scenarios in her head in which she could come out of the entire thing without an traitors in her ranks.

It was impossible.

"More humans to feed. Great," was the first thing out of Flux's mouth when they arrived back at the boat. Nike allowed Prisca to get off her back before Andromeda landed. Dorian asked no questions however and just immediately went to work on helping the woman.

"What's wrong? What was the smell?" Kent, however, had not matured enough to know when to butt out of things. "Gregor? Perdita? What-"

"Be quiet." Perdita sent him a single look that made him shrink back to a far side of the boat. Gregor only sighed before looking to Flux.

"Maybe a white light instead of this blue, huh?" Gregor asked. "Dorian needs to see, you know."

"You are making commands of me then? As if I am-"

"It has been another hour and I have still not been able to kill a damn thing. You really want to play with me, shiner? Huh?"

"Gregor." Perdita turned her glare onto him. "Go sit with Kent. Now. Less you can make yourself useful."

The fliers were all speaking then to one another, taking places perched upon the sides of the boat. All except Andromeda. It only took Nike a few moments of speaking in their own tongue to Rhea before she went off to an opposite side of the boat.

"What's wrong, Rhea?" Kent took notice of this and figured it was okay if he at least spoke to her. "Are you-"

"Not now, Kent," was all she told him. He looked concerned, but Gregor only scratched the back of his neck, truly feeling useless as well. Rhea must have known Pontus as well. He'd have to ask Nike about it.

It took a few minutes for things to become calm again. Perdita went to work staring at her map, studying it for a few minutes in silence. Gregor went to stand by her, awaiting instruction.

"Aether," she finally spoke. "You are not only male, but also have the largest wingspan. Tell me, do you believe yourself to be able to go the furthest distance with a passenger?"

He looked up when she spoke to him before slowly saying, "No disrespect to my fellow fliers, but yes. Of course."

"Then I wish for you to take Prisca to the nibblers. They are the closest trusted ally. They will house the both of you for a night and then you would be able to make a journey back to Regalia the next day."

Aether nodded. "Understood."

"The problem is that if you go, you may not come back. And who will go with the two of you?" Perdita groaned then before saying, "Kent, would you-"

"No way. I have to stay with you."

"I will go back," Dorian spoke up. He had given Prisca something from a bottle, though Gregor figured it was something for her shakes. She was feverish. There was no telling how long she had been living alone, in the cold, dank Dead Lands. "With her. Aether is my bond, after all."

"You are our medic."

"I will leave half my supplies. Kent's brother is Howard, yes? Certainly you have learned much from him as well as your mother, Kent."

The boy had taken to sulking in the corner and only stared at them wide-eyed. "Uh-"

"We cannot be without a medic," Gregor said with a shake of his head. "Kent, you have to go."

"No way. I-"

"I will go alone." Prisca was leaning against the back of the boat then, huddled under the only blanket on the boat. It hadn't been used much, other than by Kent when he slept. Dorian had thrown it over her shoulders though, in an attempt to warm her. "With the flier. Aether. If you will take me."

"If Perdita so commands it. And Dorian, if you agree."

He hesitated before bowing his head. "I am the same as you, Aether. It is as you command, General."

She took a deep breath. "Kent would be no help to anyone anyhow. He would only be a liability to you, Aether, if you ran into trouble."

"It does not sound completely safe, sending them out alone," Nike said slowly. She was ignored though. They had not other option.

"There is a direct line that I could show you, Aether, from the point we are around to the nibbler territory in the valley. They are not the same nibblers that helped Luxa, but rather hail from a further south land." She walked over to him then, holding out her map. "I was there before, however, not many months ago. They are kind people. And we will repay them when this is all said and done."

"Promise them a consideration to some of our land in the Uncharted Lands." Gregor looked up suddenly, unable to stop himself. "They have wished for a new area for a long time now and Luxa and I are going to be excavating the banished's old territory. I know for there is a good river there. I-"

"Gregor." Perdita gave him a hard look then. "You have no idea what-"

"I am King. And this is one of my scouts that needs help." He nodded at Aether. "You will say that King Gregor has promised them consideration to some of our land."

Aether dropped his head then, bowing it. "As you say, warrior."

Perdita did not look to happy then, but did go to work explaining a path to Aether to take. Dorian went to work quickly then, checking Prisca for broken bones or any other ailments.

"Aether," Gregor spoke to the flier when Perdita was done. Making sure that Kent was busy with finding something to eat, he said softly, "When you get back to Regalia, I want you to speak with Susannah. Do you know her?"

"I am sure someone could refer her to me."

"Right, well, tell her who you are and that Kent's doing fine."

"I do not-"

"I know that he's not, but she's his mother, you know? And she's real worried about him." Gregor shook his head slightly. "Please? It would get a lot of guilt off my back."

"I will see to it then, warrior, if it is help towards you."

"Thanks," Gregor said, smiling slightly then. "And make sure that the nibblers know that it's just a consideration, not a promise."

"I will convey it as such, Overlander."

"And I'll watch out for Dorian while you're gone," Gregor told him then. Finally, Aether laughed that odd flier chuckle.

"Believe me, warrior, Dorian does not need such a thing."

"I do not believe that you should be promising the nibblers anything," Perdita told Gregor as they sat in the boat later. "Especially those nibblers. It shall look as if-"

"I am giving them consideration. That means-"

"I know what it means, but you must also realize what it sounds like."

Gregor shook his head. "I was out there, Perdita, for a few days. And you were out there too, while we were checking the area out. The few banished we speared told us of the creatures there. Many of them had already been beaten back by the banished. That town was held by them relatively easily, as well as the surrounding areas. We will no doubt look into giving that away. Why not-"

"You heard Andromeda. Many feel the same way. That we give into the nibblers too easily."

"They are one of the few reasons that my wife lives. I can do whatever I-"

"But you cannot. And that is what I have been trying to tell Luxa. Everything relates to everything," Perdita told him. "Luxa sees things in a very basic way. There is us, the good guys, the fliers, our friends, the nibblers and crawlers, the weak ones we protect, and then the gnawers, the evil ones. But it is not so. Many live in the Underland and they all have feelings and needs. Not just the ones that we find to be in our main sect."

Kent was asleep, as always, over in one corner and all the fliers were resting other than Rhea, who was fishing. Dorian had taken to trying to reason with Flux to find a better pace at eating, using the guise that as a medic, he did not wish to see him get overweight or something. Honestly, they were running low of food and all knew that soon enough, Flux would be taking off.

When Gregor would not say anything else, Perdita only shook her head before changing the subject.

"I do not know what we are going to do about the scouts," she admitted to him then. "It is most upsetting to me to admit, but it is appearing that my scouts might be compromised."

"Look, let's just get to the next guy, alright, and go from there," Gregor told her with a sigh. "It's the only thing to do, really."

"I just cannot believe that Caeso would do such a thing," she said with a frown. "He is friends with both Mareth and I. We both know him well."

"It's no use, playing it over in your mind now. We just need to check in on the other scouts."

"Not to interrupt," Flux eventually spoke up, apparently just going to ignore Dorian, who he actually cut off. "But did we ever find out what that delectable smell was?"

"I did," Dorian spoke up, not one to be ignored. "I asked her before I got her settled on Aether. It was gnawer."

Gregor snorted. "I'm gonna have to tell Nike she was right. She'll enjoy that."

"Your fliers seem most upset," Flux remarked, but Perdita only shook her head.

"Who is not upset?" she asked back with a sigh. "When Prisca and Aether arrive in Regalia, Luxa will no doubt begin forming ammunition against me and my scouts."

"Stop worrying about what's going on in Regalia. You have to focus on this. We're going to get to the next scout soon. We'll go from there, remember?" Gregor gave her a long look. The last thing that he needed was Perdita losing it. "How far to the next scouting point?"

"Another hour or so," she sighed, hanging her head. "This is the most travel I have done by water and it is not enjoyable."

"In the Overland, people, like, pay money to go on these big boats and travel."

Perdita only sighed. "Maybe we should have used two vessels. Only another mistake on my part."

"You cannot start with the self-pity stuff, Perdita," Gregor told her then with a frown. "Honestly, you just can't. If the scouts are compromised, then we need your full attention on the problem. Huh? Tell me about Caeso, huh? And Prisca, maybe? So I get a little background."

That was his only hope of distracting her and it was working.

"Well," she began slowly. "Prisca has only been a scout for two years now. She was investigated during the banished breaching, but nothing came of it. She and Pontus also had many ties to people in Regalia and the flier territory. No, they would betray no one.

"I have been getting reports from her, supposedly from her new location," Perdita continued then. "Or at least I thought I was. She was supposed to be out of this area months ago. Caeso was meant to relieve her with his bond Hyperion. He has even sent me reports of this area. I do not…know how this could have happened."

"You trust Caeso then?"

"Of course," she said, frowning at Gregor then. "I have known him since we were children."

"But do you think he is capable of selling you out to the gnawers?"

"Well," she started slowly before shaking her head. "He is not bloodthirsty against them like some are, but he has never shown any sympathy on their behalf."

"Then there has to be another answer, right?" Gregor asked. "Maybe Caeso has been taken or stranded as well and it is another scout that is causing problems."

"Maybe," Perdita agreed softly. "I just…"

"How do you get information from your scouts?" Dorian spoke up. "Do they check in or-"

"I have other men ride around with their bonds and pick up their report scrolls as well as deliver more parchment to them. It takes days to complete," she told them. "When the man leaves Regalia, he and his bonds go around to the closest scouts first, rest, and then the next day go to the next. I have teams of men to do this, in a full rotation, so I am constantly getting reports in."

"Hmmm. It sounds very complex."

"It is not as hard as it sounds," she assured him. "But when something goes wrong, it seems as if everything goes wrong. Horrible wrong."

"Being a scout is a very hard job," Dorian said then. "I would not be shocked to find one turned by a gnawer."

Perdita shook her head. "Solovet never has such a problem."

"That's because Solovet did not need scouts. She had actual battlefields spread across the Dead Lands because she was always fighting with gnawers," Gregor told her. "It is harder to keep scouts sane during peace. There is nothing for them to really do out here."

Perdita only shook her head before going back to her map. "I always wanted to be the head of the military. This is my punishment."

"Are you kidding? You're the best head of the military ever!"

Great. Kent was up.

Glancing over at him, Gregor found that he was sitting up then, staring at Perdita.

"Really. Even Father thinks so. He says that you have done a wonderful job," Kent gushed. Perdita hardly even looked up though. Kent wasn't deterred. "You have gotten us peace with many different species for one thing. And your death tolls in comparison to your predecessors is-"

"The more you speak the more I wish I had sent you back with Aether and Prisca."

Kent stopped speaking then, his gaze on her changing as he slowly started to frown. Gregor made a face seeing this before lowering his voice and speaking only to Perdita.

"Hey, I know that you're in a bad mood, but don't take it out on him, alright? He's only trying to be helpful."

"Try being the operative word," Perdita said dryly before getting to her feet and walking to the other side of the vessel. Leaning over the side, she looked around before spotting Rhea, still flying around somewhere ahead of them. She called out for the flier, waiting until she appeared to follow her instructions.

"The rest of us are no longer allowed to eat the rations. They must all go to Flux now," she said. Kent, hearing that, started to protest, but a look from Gregor shut that down. "I would like for you to fish for us, if at all possible."

"Of course," she agreed. "But I fear that only Kent will enjoy raw fish."

"And only partially," he remarked softly, the thought of eating only fish for the remainder of the trip annoying to him.

"Believe me, it beats starving," Perdita said. "A fish for each of us a day would be enough, I would think."

"I will catch you all many fish, if I am able to," Rhea told her laughing slightly. It was clear that she was still rather uncomfortable though, mourning for Pontus, Gregor was pretty sure. "I have seen the Overlander eat before anyhow. He will require at least ten a day. And Kent is still a boy. He needs many as well. And Dorian, you seem rather strong. Ten for you as well? I will get to work then."

The last thing Gregor wanted was raw fish, but they desperately needed to keep Flux around. There was really no other option.

When Nike awoke, she went to work helping Rhea fish. Andromeda slept for some time though. She seemed most effected by Pontus' death.

Dorian was the most bothered by eating raw fish. Not that he complained. It was just obvious that he found it disgusting and Gregor was afraid that it would make him sick, honestly. Perdita only ate, as she had suggested for them all, one fish. The rest of hers she allowed Kent to eat who, though he complained heavily, was eating far more than his fair share of food.

"It is time to find the next scout," Perdita announced eventually. Andromeda was awake then and fluttering her wings. "Gregor-"

"I want to go," Kent said that time. "Can I go?"

"No," Gregor told him. "We stay in pairs now."

"Then you and Dorian stay here. I want to go."

"No," Gregor said again as he looked for Nike. She had finished eating herself then and was clearly excited by the idea of going off. "You are-"

"Rhea and I have not gotten to have any fun. It isn't fair! We-"

"Dude, what did we say about being mature?" Gregor shook his head at him. "Be a big boy, Kent. Life isn't fair. You're not coming. Get the fuck over it."

It was not until they were up in the air a few minutes later that Gregor spoke again. And then it was to Nike.

"I feel bad for Dorian, getting stuck with Kent."

Nike only said, "You and Perdita are the ones that brought him along. Remember that."

"Yeah, I know," Gregor sighed, glancing over at the general. Perdita and Andromeda were flying a little ways away from them, neither speaking. Perdita was no doubt still beating herself up over Caeso and Andromeda was probably upset over Pontus still.

"So what's the deal then? When Pontus? Was he Rhea and Andromeda's friend or something?"

"Or something. Mate at one time or another to both of them, I am nearly certain."

Gag. Gregor frowned before saying, "Yeah, didn't want to know that."

"You asked."

"I did," he agreed. Then he paused, taking a moment before asking, "So what do you think about this Caeso business?"

"Perdita says she knows him and has faith in him. For that I will not think ill of him yet," she said. "However, Perdita does not find fault in any scout. Why would she? They are handpicked. If we uncover something about any scout, she will be shocked and dismayed. She cannot help it."

"I thought that maybe we'd uncover some underhanded things with the scouts, but I mostly was hoping that we'd find the Reclaimer or Henry."

"That was not our intent with this mission, Gregor."

"Yeah, well, no one else seems to remember that the Reclaimer is what started this whole thing. If I could just get in there, kill him or track him or whatever, everything would be suddenly be fixed. Right?"

"Other than Henry, yes, but-"

"I do not fear Henry or the Living Dead."

"You do not fear anything," Nike sighed, though she did not seem to think that was a good thing.

"Of course not. Fear is for the weak."

"Everything that you do not like is for the weak. I'm sure that you will end up telling Luxa that changing diapers is for the weak."

"Isn't it?"

They were all on high edge as they sought out the next scout. He was far harder to find than the other two. Perdita assured them that was a good thing, as that meant more than likely he was in hiding, as a scout should be. They would just have to scan the area in order to find him.

"I can search from the ground," Gregor offered up, though he was immediately shut down by all three of his traveling mates.

Ugh. He really was beginning to wish that he was traveling with Mareth, York, and Barrett. They would have all just done whatever they wanted, gotten into tons of battles by that point, and had an overall good time. So far, all Gregor had gotten accomplished was resolving his friendship with Perdita after bringing up her dead fiancé, finding out that the fliers had…mates (which he knew, of course, but still. No one wants to think about their friends have sex. Period.) and saved the life of a scout. Only the last one was making the whole thing worthwhile.

Oh, and he found out that Kent got seasick easily. That was pretty much useless too.

Still, they were slowly making some headway. Or at least he thought. If they could just find the next scout, then maybe they'd be able to get some more information about Caeso.

"I can hear Gaia," Andromeda announced eventually. She and Nike had been calling out for the flier in their native tongue once Perdita told them who was supposed to be stationed there. "Can you not, Nike?"

"I can," she agreed. "She is in distress. We should get to her quickly now."

"Lead the way," Gregor remarked, resting a hand then, finally, on the hilt of his sword. Thank God. It was time for some action.

…Hopefully.

Short chapter, yeah, but I'm definitely reaching a lull in this story now. Sigh.