This will be a pretty boring and short chapter. Not really much to say.
I went to the armory for my belt before Ella led me to the same room that I had went before: the start of the Prophecy of Gray. Except that this room had way more council members than before.
Clearly I was late, as they had already started babbling about the Bane. Everyone, except Lizzie, bowed when I had entered the room. I decided to sit next to Lizzie as she was the nearest one, while Ella stood behind me. I told her that she could sit down as well, but she politely refused, stating that she didn't have the right. I shrugged in response and turned to Lizzie.
"So you decided to come after all, huh?"
She nodded. Stubborn little kid.
"What did I miss? Fill me in."
So she did. According to her, Vikus had called a council meeting to discuss our journey to find and kill the Bane. The only thing the council members agreed on was that I needed to get moving as soon as possible. Lizzie informed me that she had been spotted by rats on her way to Regalia. She didn't tell me that in the prophecy room. She had been keeping secrets. I kept that in mind.
Since they knew that she was in the Underland again, they would surely take extra measures to conceal the Bane and hunt her down.
Apparently Regalian spies also had brand-new information and had just locked in on an area where they thought the Bane was hiding. Although none of them had personally seen the creature, their sources indicated a place called the Labyrinth. It meant nothing to me, but it meant something to her.
"It'd be cool to try and get through a giant maze," Lizzie said excitedly. "Unless, of course, your life depended on it."
She had wanted to join in the council members to find out which way to travel to the Labyrinth, but they had pleaded her not to, and to leave it to the more experienced.
We went back to hearing the conversations of the council. Although they examined many options, every route that went through the web of Underland tunnels was judged too dangerous. While the humans controlled a much wider range of the Underland than they had before the war, the Labyrinth was situated in a remote corner of the rats' land. So remote, in fact, that most rats never even went there. But if they had the Bane there, it was sure to be guarded.
"That leaves the Waterway," Vikus said with a frown. "It is not ideal, but it is the least treacherous."
"What of the serpents? Their mating season is nigh," said Howard.
No wonder they had Howard here. But was he joining us, or just giving advice? I hoped it was the former, as he had told me that he could aid others in water.
"A good point," agreed Vikus. "And yet another reason to begin the journey at once. Perhaps the party can slip by before the serpents awaken."
And about the serpents. Was one of them the one I had seen when I was sending Lizzie and her father off?
"Now, Lizzie, there is something we need to address," said Vikus. "It is the opinion of the council that Boots should remain under guard in Regalia while the Warrior pursues the Bane."
"She can stay here," replied Lizzie. "Dulcet can take care of her. It's the safest choice anyway."
"What about you, Ryan? Do you also wish for Boots to stay?"
"Yeah. What Lizzie said."
The council members nodded and murmured in agreement. I almost rolled my eyes. It took them this long to decide? Besides, the lesser the people, the more freedom I have.
Vikus then asked - which was more of an order - Ella to escort Lizzie to the museum. I volunteered to follow them, in case she decided to bring along something that she couldn't carry with her.
This time, the Underlanders decided to categorize the museum in neat rows, filled with carved signs on top of them. The weapons category caught my eye, while Lizzie went to the lights section.
I scanned through the rack. Pickaxes, hammers, nails and the likes. They were mostly mining tools, with a few knives here and there. But what interested me was a sheathed machete lying on the corner. I had no idea who would bring that in a cave, but still, I picked it up, unsheathed and tested it, swinging it around. Surprisingly lighter than I thought. I found a small rock, aimed, and slashed down. It cut roughly in half. Not bad. It had a few scratches on the blade and hilt, but it'll do.
I wiped off the dust on the sheath with the flat surface of a hammer and kept it horizontally at the back of my belt, almost perfectly. It was nostalgic, getting used to the feeling once again.
Lizzie called my name, and when I turned to her, a life jacket flew poorly towards me. I caught them with no effort.
"Why two?" I asked. "I can swim, you know."
"In case someone else doesn't. Three is too much, and one is too selfish," she said while holding another life jacket and adjusting her bag, which bulged what seemed like flashlights and a roll of something.
I shrugged. "Yeah sure, let's go with that."
Ella told us that we're supposed to meet 'down the river', and led us there. I noticed Lizzie's eyes drooping when she heard river.
"Still regretting that, huh?"
She nodded silently.
When we arrived at the docks, I was surprised. A team of Underlanders were loading up two boats that were suspended by ropes at dock level above the river. They were long, narrow vessels that reminded me of boats I'd seen in museums before, boats Native Americans had used hundreds of years ago. But secured to the bottom of each was a large gray triangular fin. A real fish fin. Strapped along the sides of the boats were more fins that could be extended and retracted horizontally as needed. A curved bone was attached to the back of each boat as a rudder.
And all this while I had thought that we were using the boats Lizzie had escaped from. Damn, these Underlanders never failed to impress.
"Why boats? Isn't it faster by air?" I asked Vikus, who was overseeing the loading. I wanted to get to the Bane is fast as possible. Travelling by water was going to take so much longer.
"Ah, yes, but the Waterway is vast and provides few hospitable places to rest. No bat would have the stamina to cross it, so much of your trip must be by sea," said Vikus.
I inwardly complained, but what could I do?
Just then, Twitchtip slunk out onto the dock, with a paw covering her snout. Considering our previous encounter, she was the quiet loner type. I could do with some peace and quiet while travelling. I wonder, how strong was she? She had survived the Dead Land on her own, so I estimated that she was at least above Fangor and Shed combined.
I saw Ella helping Lizzie put on the slightly oversized life jacket - or at least, trying to help - as Boots and Temp were playing beside them.
She couldn't fasten the belts. Feeling bored, I went up to them and clipped the belts, making sure it was tight enough to be secure, but loosened enough for her to breathe. Ella seemed ashamed at my help. Lizzie appreciated the help and answered Boots' questions of where she was going and so on.
During that, I saw the Queen, Solovet, Mareth, and Howard come out of the palace. The Queen and Solovet were wearing fashionable gowns, not the long pants they had traveled in before. I snickered, but made sure I had covered my mouth. Who would've known that even the gowns were royal-like.
"You're not going, aren't you?" I asked the Queen, not because I pitied her, but because I wanted to tease her.
It worked. "I... cannot. This has been deemed too unnecessarily dangerous for a queen," she replied, glancing at Vikus.
"So who's going?"
"Well, first you should know that we had no lack of volunteers," Vikus said, as if to reassure me that this was going to be a guaranteed good time, which wasn't wrong. "But the openings were very limited. Besides yourself, Ares, Lizzie, and Twitchtip, we will be sending Mareth and Howard and their fliers."
That makes it eight people. Not too bad. At least it's smaller than last time. But one more was missing.
"So how about Ripred? Isn't he coming too?" I wanted to talk to him about our abilities.
"He left this morning for the Dead Land," said Vikus. "Oh, I see the boats are loaded! We had best get you on your way!"
Ares landed beside us. "The river is too hazardous. We will fly to the Waterway and then board the boats."
I nodded and hopped on, followed by Lizzie. Twitchtip slid into one of the big boats and flattened herself in the middle. Her nose poked over the side, trying to catch the breeze that blew up the river.
Teams of bats lifted the two loaded boats by rope loops and started down the river. As Ares took off after them, Lizzie shouted goodbyes to Boots and then hugged me tightly, which I was trying to get used to. I was becoming familiar with the journey now, the fading lights of Regalia, the glimmer as we passed the crystal-walled beach where I had had his first encounter with rats, and finally the wide-open expanse of the Waterway.
We flew a few miles out over the Waterway before the teams of bats lowered the boats into the water and took off. Howard's bat landed in the boat with Twitchtip. Ares settled in the second boat, as did Mareth's bat.
"This is Andromeda. She is my bond," Mareth said, touching his hand to the wing of his gold-and- black-speckled bat.
I greeted with a simple "Hey." while Lizzie did with a more excited "Hello! Nice to meet you!"
"I am honored to meet you also, Overlanders," she said.
Mareth also introduced us to Howard's bond, Pandora, a graceful bat with beautiful rusty red fur. All she said to us was "Greetings."
Vikus had flown out after them to bid them good-bye. "Lizzie, I forgot to deliver you this," he called. His large gray bat swooped over our boat, and something fell to the floor. She picked up a scroll and, from what I could see, found a copy of "The Prophecy of Bane" written in Nerissa's elegant hand.
"Fly you high!" Vikus headed back toward Regalia, giving us an encouraging wave. Lizzie waved back in thanks.
I sat at the middle and observed the giant vessel. It rose up to my elbows when I stood. It was about twenty feet long and made of some kind of animal hide stretched over a bone frame. A two-foot-wide strip of floor ran down the center of the boat. About a third of the way from the front of the boat, Mareth hoisted a wooden mast into the air and secured it at the hinged base. It was only the second wooden object I had seen used in the Underland, the first being the door to Sandwich's room. There were a few seats fashioned from leather, and a lot of supplies. Especially food.
"Why do we have so much? I don't remember seeing that in our first journey." I pointed at the stack of food.
"The shiners will require a great deal of food," said Mareth.
"Who are they?" Lizzie asked while I guessed the species. Jellyfishes? Glow worms?
"Vikus did not tell you?" began Mareth.
"Obviously not."
That put a smile on him. "On long voyages, we cannot carry enough fuel to provide light. So we hire shiners to aid us," said Mareth. "They should be here directly - yes, see... here they come now."
Both Lizzie and I looked out in the dark and spotted two points of light. I used echolocation, and 'saw' giant flying insects, approaching us with flickering lights. I automatically knew what they were. So did Lizzie.
"Fireflies," mumbled Lizzie; her eyes widening in amazement. Their lights brightened most of the vessel. I could see why we needed them. But I wonder what their personalities were. Did they relish in the fact that they were extremely important to the Underlanders, or not acknowledge their importance at all?
"Greetings, Shiners," said Mareth with a bow.
"Greetings, all," one of the fireflies said in a high and impossibly annoying whiny voice. "I am he called Photos Glow-Glow and she is Zap."
Okay, maybe they hadn't used their voices that much.
"It was my turn to make the introduction," wailed Zap. "Photos Glow-Glow made it last time."
My standards for them were getting lower by the second.
"But we both know that, as a male, I am more visually pleasing to humans," Photos Glow-Glow said, his rear end blinking in a variety of colors. "Zap can only make one color, and it is yellow."
"I hate you!" shrieked Zap.
So much for peace and quiet.
Note: I should be quite busy starting from April onwards. Just a warning to y'all. So this might probably be in hiatus during that time period.