Hi everyone! Of course, I'm extremely grateful for all of your reviews that came in over the past five days or so. It's very encouraging to see readers of my previous stories returning again. So here goes- thank you to: TheGreatAthlon5, Alpha Death, A happy reader, FierceDeity24, Thiazzie(welcome back!), SlyIntellect, HumanicHedgeHog, MyNamesGorger, darklord(welcome back!) MarbleSky, 1977(welcome back as well!), Clytuis, AresTheUnderlander(welcome back too!) Please continue to review my story. As you all probably know by now, I appreciate reviews the most.

On another note, favourites/follows are of course, much appreciated as well.

Anyway, to all new readers of my story, Ripred's personality in this story won't be exactly identical to the one from the original series, but hopefully you'll be fine with it. I've decided to make him softer and slightly nicer in his old age, but I tried to retain his sarcasm, dry humour, intelligence and wisdom. I advise that if you haven't seen my two previous stories, you read those first before reading this one. It'd probably make the experience much better.

This chapter(for the first time ever) is written from Luxa's perspective!


Chapter 3: Black Death

"How many of them, general?" she asked.

"A small army," Perdita told her, glancing nervously over her shoulder, "Our scouts have estimated a total of two hundred schemers approaching the eastern bank. The nibblers have already evacuated the area and our soldiers are in position."

Luxa sighed softly and looked ahead at the serene bank as the water gently flowed down the Waterway. Soon, the pure and unadulterated white of the stream would be stained with the red of blood. This was the first schemer army or battalion spotted in the past two years. The occasional schemer was caught now and then, but this was no mere schemer. This was a full force, bred by Flavius to wipe out most of the species in the Underland and establish a hegemony over the remaining weaklings. The ruthless cunning of the schemers was perhaps their most deadly asset, considering how one-dimensional and even weak-willed the Regalians were.

Except, of course, the rat who was sauntering into view.

"My favourite bond didn't invite me for a hunting trip," Ripred drawled with his usual condescending sarcasm, "I feel so betrayed."

"I am your only bond, you fat gnawer," Luxa replied sharply, "And this is no mere hunting trip."

"You called me a fat gnawer?" Ripred asked, feigning shock and surprise, "How deplorable, coming from the sole monarch of Regalia!"

Luxa shot Perdita an accusing glare, and asked through gritted teeth, "Why did you inform him of our little… hunting trip?"

Perdita looked ice-cool as she responded stiffly, "I apologise, your Majesty, if I have offended you with my actions. But seeing as this was a battle against the schemers, I saw it fit to invite Regalia's high general and best fighter."

"I am high general of Regalia but not its best fighter," Ripred pointed out, "Not anymore, at least. Where is our dear Warrior?"

Luxa narrowed her eyes in irritation as she replied, "I don't know where he is. He will come when he decides to come."

"You two sleep in the same bedroom," Ripred said with a wry grin, before quickly adding, "Not that I'm trying to insinuate anything. It's just that… you should probably know where he is."

Luxa had to force herself to pin down the rising anger in her chest, or soon she would be impaling her bond with her sword. "Well," she said slowly, as her face flushed bright red from both embarrassment and anger, "The truth is I DON'T KNOW. And that is all."

Perdita suddenly interrupted, saying, "The Warrior's egregious discipline is a source of excuses for my soldiers. With all due respect, your Majesty, I hope that you can influence him to work on his behaviour."

"Like that would work," Ripred snorted.

Luxa gazed at Perdita's stern and unflinching face sadly. A woman Luxa had once looked up to for being strong and kind had abandoned the kindness which was once part of her and settled for the strong. But with Perdita's firm resolve and strength now came a distant coldness to her, as if her military personality had consumed her gentle demeanour as a fire would ravage a house. All Luxa saw in Perdita now was Solovet.

Unable to look at one of her role models in such a negative light any longer, Luxa ordered, "Thank you, general Perdita. You are now dismissed. Organise the troops and prepare for battle."

Perdita bowed deeply and answered, "Yes, your Majesty. Your wish is my command." With that, she promptly made her way down the slope towards the mass of soldiers which was gathering on the western side of the river.

"You're concerned about her," Ripred said softly.

"Yes," Luxa said wistfully, "There was once a time when I adored her, even more than my own grandmother."

"That's not exactly surprising," Ripred said as he rolled his eyes, "Your grandmother truly epitomised the meaning of pain in the arse."

"It was Mareth," Luxa said aloud, ignoring Ripred's comments, "She lost what was left of her humanity after Mareth died. She has never gotten back on her feet since."

"They were very close friends," Ripred agreed, "Some rumours about the nature of their friendship persisted for a while."

"I thought it was no longer a rumour," Luxa told Ripred honestly, "I thought it had been confirmed as the truth."

"That's the problem with you humans, pup," Ripred sighed, "You let a rumour float around for so long that it suddenly becomes part of your identity, and that identity becomes truth. I never sniffed any romantic love between the two of them. They were just very close friends. Not like you and…"

"That's enough!" Luxa snapped at Ripred sharply, "You will not talk about my relationship with Gregor in front of anybody else ever again."

"Someone's grumpy," Ripred observed with amusement, "It's not like you have anything to hide. Everybody knows that the Warrior sleeps in your room. The attendants haven't even bothered to go to his designated room to call him for breakfast. They always go to YOUR room. I wonder why?"

"So he's in my room," Luxa conceded, "So what? Two people cannot stay in a room together?"

"Not when one of them is the unmarried queen of Regalia," Ripred replied with mock disapproval as he shook his head, "Need I remind you that the guards have spoken of certain noises coming from the room at night? I'm sure that-"

"That IS ENOUGH," Luxa stated firmly, "This conversation ends here and now."

Luxa almost regretted saying those words instantly. An awkward silence ensued as they stared ahead at the calm rivers of the Waterway. She was aware of Ripred stifling his laughter as he bit down on his lower lip, but she wasn't going to give him the pleasure of seeing her react. Deciding to change the subject quickly, she quickly said, "Perdita currently reminds me a bit of Solovet."

"Again, not surprising," Ripred said with a shrug, "She always adored Solovet. How anybody could idolise that woman is simply beyond me. I mean, she is an amazing general, but apart from-"

"Quiet!" Luxa snapped impatiently, "They're coming!"

One of the scouts had a look of consternation on his face as his flier rocketed back towards the army. He called out, "They will be on the eastern bank within five minutes! There are easily more than two hundred of them!"

"I'm assuming that's more than we expected," Ripred said grimly as hushed murmurs broke out among the Regalians. Luxa herself was fairly anxious. She hadn't mobilised the entire army out of fear of causing too much panic in Regalia, but now she might have just condemned the Regalians to an ignominious defeat if the schemers proved to be too much for them. A victory against the schemers would send out a powerful message and leave Flavius with plenty to think about. But a defeat here would be a huge blow against their hopes to keep Flavius at bay for as long as possible.

"Why such a large army?" Luxa wondered aloud, "Why would Flavius even send a small force to challenge our forces here?"

"My dear Luxa," Ripred said in that snarky tone of his, "This isn't an attempt to challenge you at all. I've been trying to decide how to break this news to you, but I guess I'll have to spill the beans for you now."

He cleared his throat, before telling her, "You've fallen right into his trap. And all because you didn't dare to trust anyone with this information, most of all me."

"What do you mean?" Luxa asked as she looked perplexedly at Ripred.

"Isn't it obvious?" the old rat sighed exasperatedly, "He's fighting a political battle with you at the moment and he is CLEARLY outwitting you. Just ask yourself, dear, what is the nearest city to our current location?"

"The Fount," Luxa answered immediately, before realising her mistake. She slapped her hand against her forehead and cursed herself under her breath. How could she be so unwitting?

"Flavius knows your political situation with the Fount," Ripred said slowly, "Otherwise he wouldn't be making his move so quickly. I'm assuming you didn't tell the Fount about our little rendezvous here with the schemers, did you?"

"This was supposed to be a confidential mission," Luxa responded stoutly.

"Which part of this battle was supposed to remain confidential?" Ripred asked sarcastically, "Did you truly expect York and his people not to notice a bloody battle being fought just a couple of miles from their city? They have eyes and ears everywhere within this boundary, my dear bond. York will know about it by the end of this battle. And he will begin to wonder why he wasn't invited to this party, or even informed about it in the first place despite the fact that it's going on RIGHT OUTSIDE HIS CITY."

She was playing a game of chess against Flavius, and she hadn't even realised she was part of it. He had been moving the chess pieces around for almost two years and was about to reap the rewards of a bold tactical move.

Ripred seemed to echo her thoughts, as he said, "You got to give it to him for making such a calculated decision. He was probably hinging on you being a distrustful person and not telling anyone but Perdita about this army. And it takes balls to sacrifice more than two hundred soldiers just to hurt the political alliances of your enemies."

"York may not take any offence to not being informed," Luxa said hopefully, "Perhaps he will not see anything wrong in our decision-making. We can always offer an excuse later."

"Let's be brutally honest here, Luxa," Ripred sighed again, "Your relationship with the Fount has been nothing but fractious and a farce over the past year. If not for the fact that you are his niece, he would have declared war on Regalia a long time ago, thanks to your horrendous sense of diplomacy."

"Regalia is not responsible for the wellbeing of the Fount," Luxa insisted, "We can barely afford to rebuild our own city, and yet they expect us to compensate for their own damages? We weren't responsible for that."

"Thanks to Conrad, I don't think that York necessarily agrees with your point of view," Ripred said with a chuckle, "It WAS your ex-husband who allowed the schemers to ravage all these cities in exchange for his own personal safety."

"It is true that we do not see eye to eye," Luxa admitted, "But that should have no bearing on the relationship between both cities. We are like siblings."

"Even brothers and sisters go to war against each other, your Majesty," Ripred said darkly, "And of course, there is the issue of the rebel gnawers as well. There are rumours circulating that they have made a pact with the Fount and they intend to exert some kind of pressure on Regalia."

"Then we will impose sanctions on the Fount," Luxa responded calmly, "Setting up a trade embargo should be sufficient. The nibblers would rather offend them than us, so we can expect them to adhere to our terms. As for the Fount, that will be a warning to them not to try our patience."

"I would love to discuss politics with you all day," Ripred said earnestly with a hint of his trademark sarcasm, "But I am very afraid that we have more pressing issues at hand." His tail shot up immediately, and he pointed the tip at an emerging mass of schemers on the eastern bank.

The brutes casually strolled into view, but never once broke formation. At the head of their army was a grizzled green-eyed schemer, who looked like he was a veteran of previous wars. "Who would their leader be?" Luxa asked Ripred.

"Gaius," Ripred answered tersely.

"That is a name I have heard, but I am not familiar with it," she confessed.

"Not many people know him, but based on what our scouts have been hearing, he's the new second-in-command to Flavius following Brutus' death in the battle of Regalia," Ripred told her, looking more tense than she had ever seen him in a while, "They call him the Bloodthirsty General. Some say that Brutus is like a pup compared to him."

"Anything else about him I should know?" Luxa asked, already starting to feel worried.

"He's not exactly a good fighter," Ripred said emotionlessly, "But he is undoubtedly more cunning than your average schemer. He's fought his way up the ranks to get to where he is today. It takes a combination of ruthlessness and intellect to make your way up from the bottom rung to the top in the hierarchy of the schemers' army."

"How do you know so much?" Luxa inquired.

"I've been talking to Gorger," Ripred said, staring ahead at the army of schemers, "He knows a lot about the inner politics within the schemer army."

"Is it something we can exploit?" Luxa questioned.

"Not the time for this discussion, love," Ripred replied, "Gaius looks like he is itching to say something."

The schemer surveyed the armies standing before him, and his eyes wandered up the slope to meet with Luxa's. Luxa steeled herself and locked her facial features in position. This wasn't a time to show vulnerability- the colder she appeared to be, the better. Gaius needed to know that he was up against a hard person.

But there was just something about his gaze that made her feel nervous and seemed to disarm her. She was instantly repulsed by that schemer and she felt the need to get away from the scene. He looked so… sadistic and twisted, more so than any she had ever laid her eyes upon. Gaius seemed to smile at her reaction, and he gave her a quick wink before speaking up, "This wasn't the welcome I was expecting!"

The schemers suddenly burst into raucous laughter, guffawing away as the Regalians looked on with indifference. The soldiers of Regalia were trained not to show any emotion, but Luxa wouldn't have blamed them if they showed the slightest sign of fear. The schemers were, at the moment, the very embodiment of chaos and evil. They cackled away gleefully, and Luxa was already extremely intimidated.

"WELCOME TO HELL, THEN!" Ripred shouted back. The schemers instantly stopped laughing, and Gaius looked up at the old rat.

"Tell me, Lord Ripred," Gaius called out, "Why does Regalia suddenly come out to intercept our diplomatic mission?"

"Your battalion is on a diplomatic mission?" Ripred chuckled out loud, "And I thought Brutus was insane!"

"It is a diplomatic mission, Lord Ripred!" Gaius responded sincerely, "We are here to discuss a possible alliance with the Fount!"

An involuntary gasp escaped Luxa's lips, as the rest of the Regalian army began chatting away excitedly, shocked by Gaius' revelation. "QUIET!" Perdita barked, and the army lapsed back into silence.

"Come on Gaius," Ripred replied scornfully, "You can't expect to deceive anyone with such sub-par bullshit."

"It's not bullshit, Lord Ripred," Gaius persisted with his stance, "We truly are here on a diplomatic mission. Do you honestly think that the schemers would send such a small number to fight a battle against the Regalians? Do you honestly see us as such stupid creatures?"

"Well, there's a first for everything," Ripred replied with his usual aura of confidence and self-assuredness.

"Not today, I am afraid," Gaius sighed, before saying, "We were hoping to avoid any kind of bloodshed, but seeing as you are so eager to confront us in battle, we shall satisfy your thirst for our blood." He let out a deafening howl, and the rest of the schemers howled back in unison. They were relatively small in number, but that howl gave an impression of a determined and fearless army, which was not good news for the Regalians.

"What's your plan?" Ripred asked abruptly.

"What?" Luxa asked back, caught slightly off-guard by his question.

"You do have a plan, right?" Ripred asked impatiently, his face starting to betray hints of nervousness, something which Luxa was unaccustomed to seeing in the old rat.

"Yes," she answered simply, before asking, "What is with you? I have never seen you so nervous in a long time."

"Something is amiss," Ripred said frustratedly, shaking his head in confusion, "Something has gone wrong and I can't quite seem to know what it is. I really am getting old."

The schemers began a slow advance forward, with the first few wading into the Waterway while the rest held back with admirable patience and discipline. But Luxa wasn't here to admire the schemers. "General!" she yelled, "Begin the assault!"

Perdita shouted back, "Yes, your Majesty!" before turning to the soldiers.

"Archers!" she hollered, "Volley!"

A whole line of archers strung their arrows to their bows and aimed at the schemers, who were starting to pick up the pace as they travelled across the river. "FIRE!" Perdita screamed, and the archers unleashed a stream of arrows at the schemers. Most of the arrows fell short or proved to be ineffective, but the message was clear as one of the arrows embedded itself in the eye of one schemer. The Regalians were not going to take this battle lightly.

Gaius bellowed, "CHARGE! FOR FLAVIUS!" The schemers looked like their leash had just been snapped, as they poured forward with even more purpose than the water rushing down the Waterway. With wild eyes that hinted at the mad fanaticism which gripped them, they unleashed a spine-chilling howl as they barrelled towards the western bank. But Luxa was unfazed by their sudden rush. Perdita knew how to handle this situation.

"NOW!" the general called out urgently. There was a deep groan coming further up the Waterway, and Luxa smiled as she heard the sound of rushing water draw nearer and nearer.

"Not bad," Ripred said, looking impressed for once, "You built a dam further upstream."

"Indeed we did," Luxa said with a cocky smile, "You are certainly not the only one in this army with a brain."

The water hungrily raced down the Waterway, spilling over the schemers and engulfing them. The currents slammed into the schemers and sent them flying off their feet, with the rushing water carrying the schemers further downstream as they thrashed about violently. Even if they didn't drown in this chaos, the currents were strong enough to carry them far away from the scene of the battle. An ideal scenario for the Regalians had been fulfilled.

"If you had planned to unleash this rushing water on them earlier, why did you look so worried, pup?" Ripred wandered with an unorthodox innocence in his tone which Luxa was unaccustomed to.

"Because I knew that even catching the schemers off-guard wouldn't have even won us half of this battle," Luxa explained grimly.

True enough, the schemers had regrouped quickly and more than half of them had escaped unscathed. They gathered around at the eastern bank, prowling about restlessly and waiting for the ideal moment to launch another assault. "Perdita, are they within range of our arrows?" Luxa asked.

"No, your Majesty!" Perdita answered, straining her voice so that Luxa could hear what she was saying, "We have no choice but to wait for them to attack!"

"Damn it," Luxa cursed. As the ferocity of the waters began to subside quickly, Gaius' eyes lit up.

Once again, Gaius and Luxa locked gazes. This time, Luxa was determined not to flinch, but she felt extremely uncomfortable when staring at him. This schemer radiated pure malice, and Luxa found it revolting and almost frightening when she realised how cruel he was. His eyes told her the full story.

"NOW!" he roared suddenly, simultaneously breaking and heightening the tension. The schemers burst into a sprint across the tamer waters, shrugging off any of the lingering currents which sporadically rippled down the Waterway.

"ARCHERS! FIRE!" Perdita yelled, and the archers began launching arrows at will. But with the schemers tearing across the Waterway so quickly, there was only so much damage the archers could do.

"FLIERS! INFANTRY!" Perdita screeched. The infantry, comprising of gnawers, nibblers and humans, rushed towards the stampeding schemers. The fliers, with humans and gnawers riding on them, swooped down towards the schemers. Some of the rats dismounted in mid-flight, hurling themselves off the fliers and into the thick of battle, while the fliers flew near enough to the schemers for the humans to draw out their swords and slash at the schemers.

It was a pure spectacle of chaos.

Luxa was uplifted by the scenes of Regalians fighting together, but couldn't help but feel her heart sink when she saw them fall at the jaws of the schemers. One schemer bit down on a gnawer's spine, incapacitating it instantly before tossing it down the Waterway, while another schemer sprang into the air and snagged the wing of a flier, before hauling it to the ground and mauling it. Two schemers were combining to devastating effect of the right wing, swinging their claws and decapitating half a dozen humans.

Those casualties were all someone's brother or sister or father or daughter, and even Luxa, who had been hardened by the loss of her parents, felt a sharp pain right through the centre of her heart. They were her people- it was HER duty to take care of the Regalians. But this… this was a necessary sacrifice, but that didn't make it any easier to stomach.

A leader should always remember the names of their dead followers. But there were too many names on the wall of her memory for her to remember.

Thankfully, the battle looked like it was coming towards a straightforward conclusion. The number of Regalians were, for once, overwhelming the number of schemers. Perdita had thrown herself into the mix as well, hacking down schemer after schemer as the Regalians ruthlessly launched unrelenting attack after unrelenting attack on the schemers, who had been quickly boxed in and surrounded by the Regalians. The archers were adding to the pandemonium by shooting down some of the schemers who just limped about helplessly, watching their comrades being slaughtered all around them. The retaliation was fierce, but no match for the Regalians. They were killing schemers with blinding anger and ferocity, which Luxa assumed was retribution for the battle of Regalia. This was Regalian vengeance on a whole new scale.

Within a couple of minutes, almost every schemer who was fighting on the western bank was dead or maimed. The rest had fought their way out of the heap of bodies and retreated back towards the eastern bank, with Gaius looking on with what seemed to be mild amusement.

Luxa heard Ripred muttering to himself, "Something is wrong, something is wrong", but she chose to ignore it. Ripred was long past the peak of his intelligence and abilities. She was more willing to trust her own judgement than to trust his. "General Gaius, was that all you had to offer?"

Gaius replied with a grin.

Luxa was beginning to feel uneasy. The schemers were known to be uncompromising in their pursuit of perfection, but this… Gaius' apparent indifference verging towards pleasure in their rout must be unprecedented in the history of the schemers. The schemer finally spoke up and said, "We were supposed to be on a diplomatic mission which has been turned into a battle. I'm just pleased that the Underland got to see who the real tyrants were."

"We never wanted to fight," Luxa said firmly, "You had the option to return back to your home with your tails literally between your legs. Unfortunately, you chose to fight us and saw yourselves overrun in the process. If there is any tyrant on the battlefield today, it is you, Gaius."

"I may be inclined to agree with you," Gaius said slowly, "But who said we were overrun? It's not like we didn't expect this confrontation, anyway."

Luxa was still trying to get the implication behind his words when she heard a second deafening howl. She turned to her right and saw another battalion of schemers charging headlong into the Regalian army. "I knew there was a catch!" she heard Ripred gnash his teeth in frustration, "I could smell their bloody scent!"

Perdita was desperately trying to reorganise the Regalians as wave after wave of schemers raced straight into the Regalians from the right. "They outflanked us!" Luxa spat in anger as she pulled out her blade,"The battle with Gaius was a distraction to buy them time!"

"I can see that!" Ripred retorted furiously as he stared on at the battle. The Regalians were being swarmed and their entire formation was in bits and pieces. Ripred yelled a profanity before throwing himself down the slope and into battle, before performing his usual rager spin which Luxa could barely see.

But through all the fighting, Luxa could only see one thing- yet another Regalian loss. She cleared her throat, preparing to bellow the command to retreat. There was no way the Regalians could achieve victory, unless…

Just then, she heard one of the Regalians scream, "HE'S HERE! HE'S HERE!"

Everybody's head swivelled around to look in Luxa's direction, but she knew they weren't staring at her. They were staring at someone behind her.

A massive shadow passed over her figure, and right in front of her eyes everybody in the battle suddenly seemed so minuscule compared to the behemoth which descended towards the fighting. The flier was heavily armoured, and riding atop it was a man dressed in complete black, carrying a sword in his right hand and a dagger in his left. Attached to his armour was a black cloak, which added another level of intimidation to his already fearsome appearance and stature. The flier flew close to the ground, and the man in black leapt off the flier and landed on both feet with a resounding thud. The schemers immediately backed off a few steps, some of them even trembling as a new wave of fear paralysed their forces. The figure in black tilted his head upwards. His visor didn't show his eyes, but everybody knew that he was staring intently at the schemers, waiting for them to make the first move.

A slight wind drifted by, causing his cloak to flutter slightly. While the schemers seemed fixed in position, the rest of the Regalians quickly reorganised their formation. The schemers, realising this, shrugged off the fear that gripped them, and a number of them began inching away.

Then the figure in black spoke, "You have five seconds to get away from here."

Five seconds crawled by as the schemers' eyes darted between Gaius and the Warrior. Luxa almost felt sorry for the dilemma they were in. Either way, the consequences weren't good.

Then the Warrior spoke up, "Your time is up."

Without any other warning, he flipped into the air and landed in the middle of their battalion. His sword flashed through the air, and all Luxa could see was red EVERYWHERE. The schemers, panicking instantly, tried to fall back, but Perdita yelled, "ATTACK!" and the Regalians stormed forward, engaging the schemers in battle again. Ripred was fighting all on his own on the right flank, but he didn't seem particularly uncomfortable. He was spinning away gleefully, and Luxa could have sworn he was laughing as he fought the schemers.

But Luxa had eyes for only one soldier on the battlefield. Gregor was a tornado, spinning and ravaging his way through the schemer battalion and leaving a trail of dead bodies in his wake. One schemer tried to surprise him from behind, but with reflexes that Luxa rarely witnessed from him, he spun and blocked the attack with his dagger, before impaling the schemer with his sword.

Two more schemers lunged at him from his right, but again he was too fast. He sprang into the air and swiped his sword, severing the backbone of one of the schemers while throwing his dagger, which embedded itself in the eye of the other schemer.

The moment he landed, three schemers were charging towards him, but he barely looked fazed. His hands instantly became a blur, parrying and blocking a whole series of attacks launched against him in quick succession.

Then he launched his counter-attack.

He slashed the throat of one of the schemers, dousing his black armour in blood. He then pretended to attack one of the schemers, before his sword wickedly changed direction in mid-attack and sliced off the snout of the other schemer. He then proceeded to lop off the limb of the schemer he had pretended to attack initially, before impaling it in the head. The snoutless schemer staggered forward and tried to slash at him, but he beat its strike aside with little fuss and promptly stabbed it in the throat. The schemer died gurgling on its own blood.

One schemer suddenly slammed into him, sending the both of them spiralling across the undulating terrain. As they tumbled around, Luxa saw Gregor quickly jab upwards, stabbing the schemer in the heart. He then got up slowly and dusted himself.

Luxa suddenly had her heart in her mouth as a schemer charged at him from behind. Gregor spun around with blinding speed and swung his blade, taking out both its eyes and stabbing it between what was left of its eyes. But another schemer crashed into him, knocking Sandwich's blade out of his hands and causing the both of them to fall and sprawl out across the ground.

Once again, Gregor was the first to recover and strike first. He swung his foot at the schemer, landing a heavy kick against its right cheek and knocking it back down on the ground. The schemer then snapped at his legs, but he danced out of the way just in the nick of time as its jaws clamped down on nothing but air. The schemer then leapt to its feet and swung its right paw towards him. Gregor ducked underneath the swing and gripped hold of the fur on its limb, before pulling so hard the schemer was yanked towards him and thrown off balance. He then lashed out with a savage kick between its eyes, causing it to go limp.

A group of schemers clearly sniffed out his vulnerability and began sprinting towards him. Luxa's heart slammed against her chest harder than ever as she could hear the thump with her very own ears. "GREGOR!" she screamed.

But with superhuman strength which seemed closer to being impossible than possible, Gregor lifted up the unconscious schemer with his bare arms.

He lifted a schemer up.

Luxa couldn't believe what she was witnessing. With a roar of adrenaline, Gregor hurled the schemer at the group of schemers. The body slammed into them, disrupting their charge and sending them into disarray.

Gregor then quickly sprinted over to retrieve his sword, before recovering to swing his blade and block a schemer from striking him. He then retaliated with a series of feints, before jabbing it in the eye. He followed up by inflicting a large gash on the schemer's left flank, leaving it screaming as it died in pain.

But Luxa had seen enough. Gregor was being far too careless in this battle, and if he wasn't careful, he was going to pay the price for it. She mounted up on Aurora and Aurora took off flying into battle.

Gregor himself had sprang back onto Apollo's back and was now switching his fighting style, choosing to let Apollo get close to the schemers before taking them out with his blade. Gregor suddenly took the notion of "reckless" beyond its original meaning by wrapping his legs around Apollo's body. He then dangled upside down from Apollo, and began to fight schemers…

Yes, he was fighting them upside down.

He parried a couple of swipes, before thrusting his blade into the head of one schemer. He followed up by swiping his blade through the air, and somehow, somehow, either by sheer luck or skill he decapitated a schemer while still dangling upside down.

Luxa didn't know whether to be astounded or frightened.

Apollo then took a quick stop next to a dead schemer, giving Gregor the opportunity to retrieve his dagger from the schemer's eyeball, and that was where Luxa had her heart in her mouth for the second time in quick succession.

A pair of schemers were quietly but swiftly making their way towards him from behind, with Apollo unwittingly angling his body in a position in which Gregor was vulnerable.

Luxa had to act, or the love of her life would be taken away from her in front of her very eyes.

With a shrill battle cry, Aurora burst forward with vigour, closing the distance between Luxa and the schemers. The schemers turned to face Luxa, and their temporary shock was the distraction Luxa needed. She flipped through the air and with the most delicate of touches, pricked the jugular veins of both schemers, as she had been practising for months. Blood immediately surged out of their wounds like the flood which consumed their comrades earlier, and once again Luxa capitalised on their distraction to slit their throats quickly. Blood churned out of their wounds even as they lay there dying.

Luxa looked up to find Gregor staring at her in amazement. Then his hand suddenly jerked up and he pointed at something behind her with his sword. "LUXA!" he yelled.

Luxa spun around and coolly blocked an attack from a schemer. With the calmness and assuredness she typically exemplified as queen, she kept her cool and parried another couple of attacks, before slicing off its right limb. With the fox essentially defenseless, she dug the tip of her sword under its chin and exerted force upwards, killing it in the process as the blade ran right through its lower jaw, upper jaw and finally through its brain.

"You shouldn't be here," Gregor said disapprovingly to her.

Luxa gazed at the forms of the retreating schemers as they organised a quick retreat across the Waterway, running past Gaius and into a series of dark tunnels. Gaius gave one last cold stare before joining his fellow schemers, turning tail and retreating into the distance. Despite the surprise assault they had launched, they were still outfought and outthought by the Regalians. "I don't need to be a rager to protect myself," she replied coldly, "And a 'thank you' would suffice."

"You are the queen of Regalia, Luxa," Gregor said angrily, "You have to think of your people."

"Maybe I wouldn't have flown into battle if YOU were capable of defending yourself," Luxa pointed out, "The schemer would have killed you had I not intervened."

"That's not true," Gregor said defensively, "You know I had it covered."

All Luxa expected from Gregor was some gratitude sometimes. Was that really too much to ask?

"Clean up the mess of bodies here," Luxa commanded Perdita, "Collect the bodies of the casualties and prepare a funeral ceremony in the arena. I want to honour the dead who lost their lives in this battle."

Finally, she turned to Gregor and said, "You and I will continue this discussion back in Regalia."


There we go! That's chapter 3. Like I said earlier, this is the first time ever we have a chapter from Luxa's perspective. I hope you enjoyed it, because I certainly did! I sincerely intend for this story to further develop the relationship between Luxa and Gregor, as the last story was more focused on the relationship between Gregor and Calvin. I know there are many Gluxa fans out there, and I hope to satisfy your thirst for Gluxa with this story.

If you are skeptical about Gregor's ability to lift a whole fox up, I personally feel it's entirely possible based on the concept of hysterical strength, which is the ability to achieve superhuman feats based on sheer adrenaline. Of course, if you have any other comments on this, do let me know!

Question: What do you think of Gregor's style of fighting? Did you like his entrance into battle? And what is your opinion on Luxa's behaviour towards Gregor at the end of this chapter? Let me know all your thoughts in your reviews.