Hi everyone! Some of you may be wondering why this chapter has been updated for a second time. I did that to let you all know that I have set up a forum for a poll which will stretch over the next 2 weeks. I implore all of you to visit the forum(go to Forums, then Books, then Underland Chronicles, then find Polling!) and cast your vote for 2 questions. I accidentally made both topics the same name, but visit both of them to cast a vote for each question. The first question is: Do you want to see Ripred fight Gregor? The second one is: Are you on Ripred's or Gregor's side? PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE vote because your opinions mean a lot to me. It's a blind poll so that I can get the most honest answers from you guys. if you are a guest reader, please create a Fanfiction account to vote. If you are unwilling to do so, then just drop a review by over the next two weeks answering both questions SPECIFICALLY. Try to follow the forum because updates will come by some time or another. Alternatively, to answer the first question just visit my profile page.
Once again, I kinda got the feeling that exams have cropped up or something… but whatever, if you guys have the free time, I'd appreciate reviews coming in! Hopefully all of us will be less busy soon. But anyway, thank you to the following people for reviewing over the past one week: rlcapritta21(nice to meet you!), A happy reader, Clytuis, FierceDeity24, DeathDrayanD(I've been waiting to hear from you for quite some time. How's your story going?), TheGreatAthlon5, Lololol(don't worry, Calvin and hero will be together. But not quite yet), phantom1299(thank you for the whole stream of reviews coming in. It really lit my week up), AlphaDeath(good to have you catching up, old friend), athusoss(nice to meet you… how's the second story so far?) and last but not least, pyro159. I love you guys… please keep the reviews coming!
I've been very busy, which is why I'm uploading it now instead of on Friday night… what a goddamn pity. Once again, thank you to all those who dropped a review. You have my gratitude for sparing a couple of minutes to pen your thoughts on my story.
This chapter unravels a lot between Gregor and… I'll leave the surprises for later. Needless to say, I hope you enjoy this chapter, because it is absolutely pivotal towards the development of this story's plot.
This chapter is from Gregor's perspective.
Chapter 11: A Necessary Betrayal
Gregor had no time to curse his luck. Unless he somehow hauled himself out of his current predicament, it was his blood which would stain the palace doors and turn its state of magnificence into a picture of an ordinary abattoir.
He spun around and acted purely based on instinct. That was the cardinal sin for a rager- never surrender to one's instincts completely, or risk taking the lives of the people around you. But Gregor had run dry of any options he had left. Taking in a deep breath, he sprang into the air and wrapped his arms around the neck of a bat.
That move caught the bat by surprise, and the bat instantly jerked up abruptly, nearly sending its rider and Gregor flying off in the process. But while the rider grabbed hold of tufts of the bat's fur and held on for dear life, Gregor capitalised on the momentum to swing himself upwards and over the bat's neck to land on its back.
As the bat continued to hover in the air, Gregor was vaguely aware of the general hollering orders to his soldiers, who were scrambling about and becoming just as panicked as the bat was. The archers were seconds away from letting loose a wave of arrows, but were just able to restrain themselves in time.
This was Gregor's second chance to strike while the iron was hot. With confusion taking control of matters on the ground, Gregor sent the rider of the bat flying off with a sharp kick to the soldier's forehead. He slid off the bat and landed on the ground with a shriek of fear.
Gregor thanked his lucky stars that the fall wasn't too far down, or he would have another death plastered on his conscience. As it stood, Gregor wondered if he had killed anybody throughout the fighting earlier. He had flirted with killing some Fount guards on a number of occasions, but while he always reigned his violence back in, he couldn't help but fret over whether he had inadvertently taken someone's life in the process.
But once again this wasn't the time to worry about casualties. His eyes flitted about to find any opening into the palace, and his gaze quickly settled on a stained glass panel of the palace.
That was precisely what Gregor was looking for.
The bat he was standing on had finally regained its composure and began to slow down the beating of its wings in order to figure out what to do. "Shake him off!" Gregor heard the general yell, "Shake the bloody son of a bitch off!"
It was now or never for Gregor. Just before the bat performed a flip in the air to throw Gregor off, he took a couple of light steps forward to gain some momentum before hurling himself off the bat and towards the stained glass panel.
Time deliberately seemed to slow down as Gregor found himself flying through the air. It seemed to mock him, goad him, and draw amusement from his fear of heights. Gregor felt his stomach slosh about as streams of sweat came rushing down his face.
He couldn't bear to look down. It was almost as if looking down would pull him in and send him hurtling down that ravine which supposedly claimed Gorger's life all those years ago. His heart pounded painfully against his chest as he inched closer through the air towards the stained panel.
To his relief, the torture session ended as he connected with the glass panel, crashing through it and landing in a stone corridor. Shards of glass rained down on the floor and lay about in smithereens. Gregor almost regretted crashing through it when he saw the vibrant colours it possessed and the intricate design which was once a united, coherent masterpiece.
But nothing in the Underland stayed beautiful forever. In the end, all beauty was superficial and it always came crashing down to splinter into nothing but smithereens of broken dreams.
Gregor stumbled to his feet and had to lean against the wall for support. He righted himself and staggered forward slightly. His eyes instantaneously drifted across his surroundings, picking up on the small details and processing them like a machine.
The scarred stone walls, which displayed scratch marks with a striking resemblance to old scars that Regalia itself harboured. Scratch marks that bitterly hinted at an invasion two years ago- an invasion which changed the complexity of the relationship between Regalia and the Fount. An invasion which inadvertently dug up years of spite and hatred which had been hidden by brutality first, then a frail peace which ended up being a short respite before the Underland plunged back into the filth of war.
He was down a corridor on the second floor of the building, which didn't tell him much initially. But as he assessed the corridor, he realised that the carpet he was stepping on was a vibrant red.
Royalty probably resided on this floor.
An arrow came flying through the window, but it missed its mark by quite a bit. Another arrow flew in, but was once again off-target. Gregor staggered forward as he felt exhaustion starting to grip his limbs. But he bit down on the urge to yell out of sheer tiredness, and he forced himself to walk forward. He needed to get down this corridor quickly, or more arrows would fly in and eventually hit him.
He began to jog down the corridor, on the lookout for any room which might appear to belong to the royal family of the Fount. As he rounded the bend, he came face-to-face with an imperial guard.
Gregor spared him no mercy. He struck the guard with a vicious right hook, and then knocked him out with a backhand swing which nearly matched the viciousness of his earlier strike. Another guard came running down the corridor, but Gregor improvised quickly, springing into the air and sending him into unconsciousness with a flying kick to his head. Gregor gingerly stepped over their bodies and continued scouring the palace for the doors to the royal bedroom.
The corridors stretched on for what felt like miles and miles of nothing but stone walls and ornate designs hung up along the way to spur a weak bout of admiration within anyone who walked by.
He could hear voices echoing down the corridors and hallways. Judging by their proximity, Gregor was sure he'd be found in the next two or three minutes unless he could get to Susannah first.
As he made his way down yet another corridor, he spotted a couple of burly imperial guards standing right outside an imposing door. They caught sight of him as quickly as he found them, and the both of them instantly rushed forward to engage him, hollering a battle cry as they did so.
Gregor calmly pulled his sword out of its sheath and parried their attacks aside, before jabbing quickly through chinks in their shoulder and knee armour. Before he knew it, the tip of his blade was coloured bright red and both men unleashed screams of pain as they collapsed onto the floor. Gregor calmly sheathed his blade and strode over to the doors into the royal palace. He placed his palms against the doors and pushed. No response. It seemed like doors in the Fount had ousted Bane as his new arch enemies.
One guard rushed forward and tried to attack him from behind, but Gregor coolly dodged the attack and grabbed the guard's wrists. He then twisted his body around and flipped the guard over his shoulder. The guard slammed down onto the ground with a resounding thud. Gregor then picked him and with a grunt of exhaustion, hoisted the man above his head, before dropping him over his knee. The guard now landed on his knee with a sickening crack, and he fell down onto the ground with a stifled groan. That would strike would keep him incapacitated.
The other guard picked himself up and rushed at Gregor without his blade. Gregor once again kept his cool, blocking the man's strikes before grabbing his throat. With a guttural snarl, he rammed the man against the wall, before hurling him across the corridor. He slammed against the wooden doors and slumped down slightly.
With a roar of pent-up frustration and fury, Gregor lashed out with a violent kick at the man's chest, sending him crashing against the doors and flinging the doors wide open. As the man slid across the floor of the room, Gregor walked in and surveyed his new surroundings.
York was standing in front of Stellovet and Susannah, who were both cowering in a corner. A young girl, probably Chimney, watched the scene with wide, frightened eyes. Both Stellovet and Susannah let out muffled whimpers as Gregor advanced forward. York instantly barreled forward, yelling, "LEAVE MY FAMILY ALONE!"
Gregor sidestepped him nimbly and stuck out a foot, tripping him over. The big, ungainly man rolled around for a few seconds, before tumbling into an upright position. He struggled to his feet and charged one more time at Gregor. He swung his sword but Gregor's blade was out in a flash to block the attack. York was a mountain of a man, but his size mattered little when fighting someone as battle-hardened and as quick as Gregor.
York thrust his blade forward a second time, but Gregor was just about able to parry the thrust and respond with a deft flick of his own, pricking York's wrist and causing the big man to drop his blade with a sharp yelp. Gregor sheathed his blade and cracked his knuckles. He wasn't going to give York the dignity of saying that he had lost to Gregor whilst being unarmed.
York thundered forward and swung a hammer of a fist at Gregor's face. Gregor, however, was far too experienced to try and block a swing like that. He ducked under the swing, allowing its momentum to leave York off-balance. He then followed up by firing a vicious kick at York's kneecap, which resulted in York staggering backwards and falling heavily on his back. But with an animalistic growl, York heaved himself back up and panted heavily, his face flushing a bright red from the strain of fighting Gregor in his old age. He took slow, deliberate steps towards Gregor, clearly adopting a more tactical approach.
Gregor suddenly closed the gap and then fired an elbow at York's throat, causing York to gag from the blow. He then grabbed York's head and brought it down while bringing his knee up, ramming his knee into York's forehead. The big man staggered backwards and Gregor followed up by slamming into him and pinning him against the wall. He unsheathed his blade and pressed it against York's throat.
"STOP!" Susannah screamed as she broke out into desperate sobbing, "Stop, please!"
Gregor stared into York's eyes with the same rage which had consumed him when he was speaking to Ripred earlier. He felt his heart thud against his chest as his head throbbed violently. His skin seemed to burn as if they were set alight by fire as he glared at York with intense hatred. The Fount may not have set him down this road of misery, but they had taken Luxa away from him. They had taken the one reason of living away from him. They had stolen the one emotion that kept him grounded in rationality and kindness.
Why did York, Susannah or any of them deserve to live? Why was he holding back all this while?
Gregor then glanced over at Susannah, who was biting down on her fingernails as tears flowed out of her eyes.
But that didn't strike him the hardest. As he gazed at her falling tears, he saw the same fear and panic in his eyes- the same fear and panic that gripped him when Luxa stormed out of the Council hall. The same fear and panic when he saw Mareth at Conrad's mercy. The same fear and panic that tormented him when Damien's lifeless body was at his feet.
The Fount may have inflicted pain on him, but that didn't give him the right to inflict it back on them.
He was better than that.
He was the Warrior.
He was a symbol of hope for the whole Underland.
And above all, he was a human being like them. And he would be damned if he continued to put them through this excruciating agony.
Gregor let go of York, who immediately staggered to one side and collapsed on his back. Susannah promptly sprang to her feet and rushed over to York's side.
"He's alive!" Gregor barked at Susannah, who just as quickly backed away from York as she had arrived at his side.
The cold hatred in Gregor's heart almost melted away when he saw the vulnerability that Susannah displayed. Standing in front of him was the woman who had inspired him to pick his blade up again and fight for the Underland. In essence, she was the true saviour of Regalia, not Gregor.
"Don't hate yourself for who you are, Gregor."
"You're the one great hero still alive, Gregor."
"Would you rather die on your bed with a thousand regrets, or would you charge out into battle to fight for Regalia?"
Gregor almost stumbled back from the sheer volume of Susannah's voice that filled his head. He… He needed to focus. His conscience was playing far too many little games with him and he was becoming distracted because of it.
He turned to look at Stellovet, and any strong sense of admiration or respect he had for Susannah quickly simmered down. The icy loathing he felt towards her enveloped his heart completely once more.
He lifted his blade up and pointed the tip at Susannah. "Why did you ally with the rebel gnawers?"
When Susannah continued chewing on her fingernails and refused to respond to Gregor, he yelled, "ANSWER ME!"
"I… I… I… do not… Please don't hurt York, please… I beg you… d-don't hurt him…" she stammered incoherently.
"He will get hurt if you don't answer me now, Susannah," Gregor warned her, as he deliberately made the tip of his blade waver slightly as he pointed it at her.
"It wasn't us!" Susannah protested, "They were planning to invade us and ga-… gave us the option of… of… allying with them. We had to fight Regalia, or we would die at their hands. They're too strong, Gregor! They were far too strong!"
"Regalia would have come to your aid," Gregor told her, "At your request we would have flown an army here to protect you."
"No," York croaked out as he rubbed his head and slowly got to his feet, "No, you wouldn't have. Did you come to our aid when your kind invaded us, Gregor? Where was Regalia when the Fount struggled with its economy and with its social stability? Have you seen the actual city, Gregor? Have you seen how much we have suffered because of Regalia?"
"Regalia has always fought back against rebel forces," Gregor insisted, "We do not tolerate such movements and our army could have crushed them."
"Not them," Susannah replied, with an air of fear starting to settle back down in her voice, "You have not seen the atrocities they have committed yet. Nibblers have been brutally executed in front of our city walls to send us a message that their brutality extends to us too. What would you have us do?"
"Don't give in to terror," Gregor said firmly and bluntly, "By giving in to them, it shows that you are weak and that even the humans can succumb to their ideology. You've just made a huge mistake by allying with them against us."
"It would have been a bigger mistake to ally ourselves against Regalia," York spat back, "Do you know the real reason why the gnawers are rebelling? It is because the Regalians have treated them badly. Luxa has become so stuck-up and proud that she has gladly ignored the plight of the gnawers and left them to suffer. Their cult following of the Bane is because he was the gnawer who was closest to breaking Regalia. The gnawers and the humans are supposed to be living in peace, but the gnawers in Regalia have been treated like a steaming pile of shit. If we ally ourselves with you, we are supporting her reign of tyranny. Her power needs to be kept in check, and the rebel gnawers are doing the dirty work for the rest of the Underland!"
"Luxa is NOT like Conrad!" Gregor responded angrily, "She knows how to control her power."
"Don't lie to me, Gregor," York replied as he shook with fury, "She's just as much consumed by her own self-entitlement as Conrad was! She's beaten and hammered the gnawers to the point where they can take no more. At least Conrad had the intellect to promise them land near the plains of Tartarus. Luxa has no contingency plan to make their lives better. If anything, your dear Luxa is the one who has made their lives WORSE!"
"We saved the whole freaking Underland," Gregor snarled, "And our reward is your ingratitude? This is what you have to show us for saving your lives?"
"That is precisely what I mean!" York exclaimed, "Regalia won the battle with OUR help, yet here you are parading yourself around like Regalia saved the lives of the Underland. Without us agreeing to fight with you, there would be no Underland left, Gregor. YOU owe US. But of course, you all have somehow found a way of deluding yourselves into believing that you all are the saviours of the Underland. Is that what you teach the children in schools to believe? That Regalia won this battle on their own?"
History is written by the victors. Walter Benjamin.
A line that Gregor had never truly forgotten all these years, because it was right. Was the United States of America truly the hero of World War II? Were they always the heroes for every single war they participated in? Or were they the heroes just because they won?
He would leave the philosophical pondering for later. Right now, he needed answers, and he needed them fast.
Suddenly, three dozen soldiers came charging into the room yelling a battle cry. Gregor instantly shifted his body stance, ready to take them all on…
"THAT IS ENOUGH!" York bellowed, "I am having a conversation with the Overlander. I am NOT TO BE DISTURBED."
The soldiers came to an abrupt halt in mid-charge, and stared at York with a look of incredulous perplexion. "Sir, he is dangerous," the general warned as he strode into the room.
"I trust him with my life, general," York replied, "I need to have this conversation with him now. I am not to be disturbed."
"The Warrior could have knocked on the door," the general remarked in a disgruntled manner, before trudging out of the room with the rest of his bewildered soldiers.
As soon as the door closed behind him, Gregor turned back to face York. "You were saying?" he pressed on.
"I was saying," York said through gritted teeth, "That the Fount has only done what is right. The rebel gnawers may be a great evil, but it is a lesser evil than Regalia. In the end, our purposes are the same- to bring justice to the Underland, which has been devoid of true justice in decades."
"We aren't the evil ones here," Gregor growled, "We've been the ones who have held the fox- I mean schemers, at bay. We're trying to protect the rest of the Underland here."
Gregor knew he had hit a nerve as a bright flash of anger appeared in York's eyes. "So are we!" York snapped back, "We're protecting the rest of the Underland from you!"
"The rebel gnawers work based on ideology," Gregor told York, "Once they bring down Regalia, they will not stop until the whole of the Underland has fallen to them. Their alliance with you is destined to fail and you will be betrayed. Trust me, you WILL be betrayed."
"We are ready for that day," York responded haughtily, "We know they will try and turn this into a Bane-worshipping empire. But we will not let that happen."
"But you know you will be overpowered," Gregor persisted, "Don't bother denying it. Even your wife mentioned just now that they were far too strong. You can't stop them, even if you tried."
"Then at least we failed knowing that the greatest threat to the Underland has fallen," York retorted bitterly.
"We are not your enemies, York. We never have been," Gregor said softly, feeling his heart crack slightly when he saw the wild fury and pain that was glistening in York's eyes. He knew York was a good man, and to see him plummeting to such an emotional state was agonising even for Gregor. Even the brittle beauty in a good man could be smashed to smithereens too once reality caught up with him.
"Warrior, you may not intend to fight us today. But some time in the future, you will want to go to battle with us," York replied wearily, "We are just fast-forwarding to that day. The Underland only has the space for one great superpower, and it's worth a try for us to bring down the one corrupt superpower still existing now."
His words sounded eerily similar to Ripred's earlier comments- "The Underland only has space for one rager and his ego, whether you like it or not."
"War has never been the way," Gregor said weakly, glad that his sadness and disappointment was masked by the artificial modulator, "If we can look to peace…"
"How long have you been down here Gregor?" York replied scornfully, "There has been no peace since Sandwich dragged dozens of men down into the Underland to begin a civilisation. We never had, do not have, and never will have peace. The best option for us has always been war, and war is what we will bring to Regalia."
"I came here for answers," Gregor said slowly, "I just didn't expect to be disappointed along the way."
"I am truly sorry, Gregor," Susannah spoke up, "It was the last thing on our minds to put you through even more war and pain. But I think that enough is enough, and one day we are all going to have to wake up and confront the truth. The truth that either we die, or you die."
Gregor couldn't hold back from responding, "I never thought I would hear those words coming from someone like you."
Susannah was about to reply to that, but her voice cracked up and faltered, dejection and self-loathing written all over her face. Gregor now ignored York and focused his full attention on her.
"One last thing before I leave," he said coldly, "Why was Stellovet's marriage to me approved? I didn't agree to anything. And of all people, why did YOU approve of it?"
Susannah immediately looked uncomfortable and frightened. "That's none of your business," York snarled. But he instantly fell silent when Gregor glanced over at him and clenched his fists.
"I want to know the truth," Gregor insisted, "I am sick and tired of not knowing. So tell me now- why was Stellovet's marriage to me approved?"
"I can't… I can't… Please don't put me in this position," Susannah stuttered as Stellovet whimpered one more time in the corner of the room.
"I don't care what position I'm putting you in," Gregor growled menacingly, " This is it. No more hiding from you. No more lying."
"But… but…" Susannah continued to stammer away, "Y-You don't… Y-Y-You don't understand. He'll kill me… I know he will because that's what he does… he'll kill me for telling you…"
Gregor was instantly intrigued by her words. Was she suggesting that… it couldn't be, could it?... Was she suggesting that someone had… had forced her to…
It all made perfect sense now. If someone had forced her to say that, then that would explain why the announcement flew out of the blue and destroyed Gregor's life forever. She had been pressured into approving of a possible marriage… but why? He had only solved one piece of the puzzle- and the jigsaw pieces were scattered all over the place.
"Answer my question properly," he demanded, "My patience is wearing VERY thin."
Susannah opened and closed her mouth several times like a fish out of water, gasping desperately for air as the fishermen drew near. Gregor knew he was closing in on the answers. From now on, it was all about asking the right questions.
Then she finally said…
"Ripred."
Ripred.
Ripred.
The old rat.
Gregor's mind whirled around as possibilities floated about and crashed into each other in this grim whirlwind of realisation. No, it couldn't be… What did she even mean? Was she implying that he…
"What about Ripred?" Gregor pressed on, "TELL ME!"
"He came to meet us a month ago," Susannah blurted out, "He… H-He… He came to tell us how to bring Regalia down. He's been on our side for the longest time, Gregor. All he has wanted to do is to end Regalia's autocracy so that we can live in peace. He believes that Regalia has had too much power and wants to help us bring it down in the process."
"You're not answering my question," Gregor replied, his voice shaking with absolute fury, "WHY DID YOU APPROVE OF STELLOVET'S MARRIAGE TO ME?"
"It was him!" Susannah sobbed as emotion seeped into her voice, "He told us that to beat Regalia, we needed you to help us through a democracy. He planned the meeting just now, when the delegates met with Luxa and the Council. Everything we said… every word, every nuance, was crafted solely by him. It was an elaborate scheme to use demo… demo… what is it called again?"
"Democracy," Gregor answered icily.
"Yes, democracy," Susannah said frantically, "He wanted to use that. But he knows… he knows democracy cannot win unless he has you on our side. He knows that you are the one who will swing it towards our favour. If Luxa somehow survives this power shift, then we go to war against Regalia. But otherwise, we are taking the path where there is the least bloodshed."
"But why does he want my marriage to Stellovet to be announced there and then?" Gregor asked in frustration, "Why?"
"I thought it was obvious, Overlander," Susannah said quietly, as if she was afraid each and every single word she uttered would offend Gregor, "He wants you and Luxa to break up. That is the only way we can isolate Luxa and vote for her to be ousted. By forcing Luxa to leave you, that would give you little reason to vote for her, because you no longer have to defend her and protect her. Ripred forced Luxa to hear about you and… my daughter, because he knew Luxa would be too emotional to hear any reasoning, and that she would abandon you for supposedly abandoning her. You were then supposed to garner votes against her."
"Ripred… He… He told you that?" Gregor asked incredulously, still too stunned to make sense of the whole situation, "Why would he… why would you… why would he do that?"
"It was all of us," Susannah said softly, "I am sorry you can no longer be with Luxa, Gregor. But it had to be done for the good of the Underland. We know how much Luxa means to you but your relationship must be sacrificed so that justice is served."
So all the jigsaw pieces had been arranged nicely for him, and it added up to a picture of horror and deceit and lies. Yes, he had his answers… but they were supposed to set him free into the light, not break his heart. Would Ripred truly betray Gregor and destroy Gregor's life just so that the Underland could survive?
Yes, yes Ripred would. That was a stupid question to ask. Ripred would do whatever he deemed necessary in order to do what he thought was right. He had lied to Gregor before, back when the plague had struck Regalia. He had promised that Gregor only needed to stay down for a couple of days, but Gregor ended up being embroiled in a bitter and painful experience having to watch good people die.
The truth had unravelled itself in the end, but Gregor only found himself even more alone.
Ripred.
Ripred.
Ripred.
That conniving, deceitful rat. That son of a bitch had torn Gregor's whole life down for himself, and even when Gregor had accepted all the suffering that the rat had inflicted on him, he continued to spit in Gregor's face by taking away the one person who still gave Gregor hope.
But Ripred didn't care. He scarcely believed in hope anyway.
He hadn't even consulted Gregor- of course he didn't. Any sign of weakness and sympathy could potentially scupper his plans, so of course he didn't bother to tell Gregor or give him a heads-up. He left Gregor shocked, reeling, stunned, bleeding and broken, just so that the plan could work. A plan to introduce democracy as a lie and then take it away from Regalia when he needed it to, or when it suited his own agenda.
Ripred was a liar.
Gregor could barely contain the emotions that were beginning to consume him. He admired Ripred. He respected Ripred. He trusted Ripred. Who else trusted Ripred?
But most of all, he loved Ripred. Not the romantic kind of love, but he loved Ripred like an older brother or a father. He had always believed that while Ripred was a warped monster on the surface, deep down he was a good rat. One of the few good rats in the Underland who genuinely wanted to end war and establish peace.
The shock and hurt was quickly subsumed by his anger, which had slowly built up into an inferno. To betray Gregor like this and to break his heart was one thing, but for Ripred to do it… No, that was a whole new level of rage for gregor. Ripred was going to pay for betraying the trust Gregor had placed in him.
"Gregor," Susannah spoke up, "Please do not hate us for this. We were doing this for your good too. Staying so near Luxa is never a good idea. The kind, innocent girl she once promised to be was lost the day her parents died. You were having a relationship with an empty soul. It was a necessary betrayal on Ripred's and our part to protect you and the Underland."
"You have no right," Gregor snarled, "You have no right to tell me all of this. You have no right to ruin my life and expect me to accept that you are protecting me. YOU HAVE NO RIGHT!"
Susannah instantly backpedalled in her fright, while even York seemed fearful of Gregor's blazing fury. Gregor turned around and opened the doors to leave the room. Just before he exited, York called out behind him, "I will let you walk out of this city a free man, but mark my words Gregor, you will pay for what you have done. By attacking my city you have just legitimised an attack on Regalia from us."
Gregor glanced back at York and asked coldly, "What is your point?"
"As you represent Regalia," York said with an equally cold smile, "Regalia has technically invaded us through you. And you have given us the right to retaliate against you. And we will. If Regalia doesn't pay for this, then they will make you pay for bringing this war on them."
Gregor turned back around, but not before saying, "You know where to find me. And if you come looking for me…"
He deliberately trailed off and walked away. That threat should have been enough to wipe the smile off York's face. He was prepared to go to war with them anyway. He had nothing much left to fight for except for his own survival. Luxa had been stolen from him and Regalia was in shambles.
But before taking them on, he had one person to face first.
Or rather, one rat to face first.
As Gregor walked out of the palace and whistled three times for Apollo, he thought he heard the wind cackling away gleefully as a chill descended upon the Underland.
It was time for the Lord of the gnawers to take on the legendary Warrior of Regalia.
A clash of ideologies.
Rat versus man. The Peacemaker versus the Warrior. Rager versus rager.
Ripred versus Gregor.
I know many of you didn't want a Gregor vs Ripred battle, but… well, I still can't confirm it will happen. But this chapter served as a means to set up Gregor's hatred towards Ripred, and I hope you enjoy how the conflict between the two has been set up over this first part of the story. But as I said, maybe there won't be a fight, depending on how things turn out. I hope you liked this chapter and I hope you will like the chapters to come ;)
Anyway, I'd just like to announce I'm taking a break from updating next week because I'm busy and I'm exhausted. I hope I don't sound too selfish to the faithful readers of this story, but I really need a break. Hope to see you guys around again in two weeks time when chapter 12 comes up!
Favourites and follows are welcome, as usual. And please drop a review too!
Question: Just a fairly simple question regarding this chapter. Do you think Gregor is now justified in choosing to fight with Ripred? After all, Ripred did destroy his life. Since there are a lot of Ripred supporters out there, I think I shall help those supporting Gregor out. I think what we need to understand is that Gregor has no allegiance to the Underland, and thus has no obligation to defend it as a soldier. However, his life revolves around Luxa instead because she's his girlfriend and the love that keeps him sane and grounded in life. But anyway, let me know all your thoughts in your reviews.
