Hello everyone, I hope you're glad to see this chapter. I've decided not to quit Fanfiction as of now, but I might take a hiatus for a while so I can recover and carry on producing quality chapters for y'all. Anyway, the following people have my genuine gratitude for giving me hope just when all seemed lost: Iron Carnotaur, koipbuiop, pyro159, Moeez, a guest reader (Hi! I can answer your question on how to write, but can you make the question more specific please?), HumanicHedgeHog, BLACKWOLFUNDER (haven't seen you in a while, glad to hear from you again), Randonfire, apukwa, Dragonfire, another guest reader, phantom1299, Im Blu, MarbleSky, CheesetothePower (nice to meet you!), Malorn FairyTail (nice to meet you too!), DeathDrayanD, NoahTheOverlander, The Writer of Mistakes and Bigboyyeah55 (thanks for that message).

All the people who reviewed gave me a glimmer of hope that maybe this story is still worth my time. I still feel tired and lonely, but if you can please still lend me your support. To those who still refused to review, well… I don't know what to say. I have nothing to say to you guys.

Hope you guys like this chapter, I put in special effort for this.

This chapter is written from Luxa's perspective.


Chapter 23: York

"SHIFT!" York bellowed.

The entire Fount army spun to face the rats and backtracked with blinding speed to create more space for themselves, unsheathing their weapons at the same time. They then closed ranks and locked shields, forming a solid block of metal and muscle in the middle of the battlefield, while York and his generals stood at one side, facing the army of rats.

Gregor shoved Bloodclaw's lifeless corpse to one side, obviously disgusted and frustrated by the turn of events sparked by the grey rat's vituperation. He then shifted from foot to foot, clearly uncomfortable in the armour he was wearing. It was then that Luxa realised that the black armour wasn't one of those forged by Regalia's armoury and designed by Miravet.

York had taken a suit of black armour and given it to Gregor so as to reinforce his presence on the battlefield, while providing him with a layer of protection simultaneously. Her uncle had spared the love of her life and even prepared him for battle.

Had York been on her side all this while?

She didn't know what to make of the situation. All the fog had cleared, but some mist still floated about, preventing her from seeing the big picture. What on earth was going on now, and what on earth had happened before hand?

The rats, armed with overzealous dedication to their cause which was undergirded by their devotion to the Bane, began to unleash a series of high-pitched squeaks, which raced along the plains and across the Underland.

Then they began to charge.

Within seconds, they had closed the gap between them and the Fount, slamming headfirst into the shields that greeted them. The whole Fount army stumbled back slightly, perhaps overwhelmed by the fervour and force which the rats drove at them. The rats then reared back before hurling themselves at the shields again, forcing the Fount's forces back.

A number broke away from the main pack and made their way over to where Gregor was standing. He instantly pivoted into position, adjusting his body for the coming attacks. A couple of rats peeled ahead off the rest to try and get him first, but two firm strokes of the blade later, they lay at his feet, their skulls breaking from the strikes he delivered.

The rest threw themselves at him wildly, slashing their claws at him with unbridled ferocity, forcing him to take a couple of steps back while parrying the blows. One rat dashed forward to attack his left side, but Gregor skilfully blocked the attack with his dagger, before responding by slashing the rat's throat.

At that moment, his body seemed to sag slightly, as if he hated what he was doing. Luxa couldn't believe her eyes- Was he feeling sorry for the rats? After they'd betrayed Regalia and attacked him with the intention of taking his life? Why in Sandwich's good name would he regret killing a goddamn rat, after all they'd done?

That glimpse into Gregor's psyche was suddenly overshadowed by a masterful display from the Underland's greatest rager, as he promptly recovered to bat away multiple attacks coming from multiple angles. With his hand movements flowing about like an artist at work, he slashed and feinted, taking down three rats in front of him with poise. Gregor was turning sword fighting and brutality into an art form.

But the beauty quickly plummeted into hard, gritty fighting again, as a swarm of rats just kept launching attack after attack relentlessly. Gregor struck the snout of one rat with his dagger, while fending another rat off with his sword. He then produced a slick feint towards the rat's throat, before pulling back in the last second to deliver a crushing blow to its skull.

He then proceeded to spin to his left again and block an attack from a salivating rat, before swinging his blade right into its jaw. With a yelp of pain, the rat stumbled back, its jaw clearly dislocated as it hung loose. Gregor was then forced to turn all the way over to his right, and he drove his blade right between the eyes of an onrushing rat.

He yanked his blade out of the rat and severed the limb of a rat charging straight down his centre, ending its misery quickly by stabbing his dagger through its skull and into its brain. The rat with the dislocated jaw tried to rush straight at him, but he was quick enough to slash its jugular vein, causing blood to gush out like torrential rapids.

Luxa could only watch on in amazement as he sprang into the air to intercept a leaping rat, nearly cleaving its head off its shoulders with a powerful swing of his sword. The moment he landed on the ground, he spun to face the rat again, demonstrating an impressive sense of awareness about his surroundings.

Was it really so surprising that Ripred was beaten by him?

The corpse of the rat killed in mid-air landed with a dramatic thud, distracting the other rats for a split second. And that split second was all Gregor needed.

He immediately closed the gap and began to slash wildly, causing flesh and blood to fly everywhere. Gregor's armour was now oily in bloody, and it was hard to ignore some of the unsavoury remains of rats that stuck to it. Yet he continued to wade through the rats, striking and blocking with a blistering reaction speed unlike any found in the Underland.

One rat was able to catch him off guard and slam into him from behind, but Gregor was able to scramble to his feet and avoid its snapping jaws. He killed it swiftly, sticking his blade through its mouth and out of its head, and then he turned around just in time to parry another attack. He then sent the rat flying back with a vicious kick, and it crashed into some of its fellow comrades with force.

Gregor stood there panting away, nimbly dancing out of range whenever a rat tried to attack him. The moment he regained full strength and focus, he was back on the offensive, launching another set of ruthless attacks which left most of them dead.

A rat which was lying motionless on the ground suddenly hauled itself to its feet and threw itself at Gregor, who took it down with a firm strike from his blade. Yet despite being presumed dead by both Gregor and Luxa, it got to its feet again and trotted towards Gregor, its ear dangling and its face drenched in blood. Gregor struck it down for a third time, and yet it still hadn't given up. With laboured breathing, it hauled itself to its feet and staggered forward, only for Gregor to finally kill it off by slashing its throat.

At that moment Luxa realised the lengths these fanatics would go to in order to fight for the Bane. As if on cue, half a dozen rats somehow found the strength to push themselves back on their feet, despite the critical physical state they were in. They were all soaked in blood and looked like they had dug themselves out of a grave, but still they hobbled towards Gregor with dogged determination.

These rats would fight to the absolute end for their cause. Only when their heart stopped beating and they stopped breathing would their fight come to an end.

Gregor, perhaps stunned by the fortitude of the crippled rats in front of him, took a few steps back to maintain his composure and reinvigorate himself. Drawing in a deep breath, he took another step back before charging at the rats in front of him, scattering their formation and halting their advance.

Despite being uncontrollably fixated on Gregor's battle, Luxa's eyes flitted over to see how the Fount's army was doing against the big bulk of the army of rats. And the situation was worrying enough to draw her attention away from Gregor for a while.

The Fount's line was on the verge of breaking and forming cracks, which would allow the rats to exert more pressure on the forces and disturb their entire formation. Right now, the front line kept flexing inwards every time a wave of rats rammed their heads into the shields. Occasionally, one soldier would find the opportunity to hack down a rat in front of him, but most of the time the soldiers were being pinned back and were forced to focus on holding their position.

A number of generals and commanders barked out orders, but they were drowned out by the furious screeching by the rats, while their tactics themselves seemed to be ineffective against the reckless hate that faced them.

Suddenly, a cloud of arrows flew through the air, before diving and hitting the army of rats. A small group of archers appeared on the Eastern side of the plains, with the army of rats just within range of the arrows.

A pack of rats quickly broke away from the main army and made a mad dash for the archers, who weren't guarded by infantry forces and were left horribly exposed. They launched arrow after arrow at the onrushing rats, but the arrows might as well have been insignificant insects to such a rabid cult. Ignoring the arrows which rained down on them furiously and which penetrated their skin, the rats somehow closed in on the archers and unleashed a wild assault, tearing into their throats and even trying to rip some of their heads off.

The archers quickly switched to swords, but they were hopelessly outnumbered and outpowered by the rats. Within moments, they were in full retreat, trying their best to shoot down any rats which still pursued them, while the stragglers were left behind, at the mercy of the merciless gnawers.

Luxa raised an eyebrow as the remaining archers positioned themselves behind their infantry to shoot at the rats. There was no way they were able to hit the rats from that kind of range, even for the most adept archer on the battlefield. And sure enough, just as they were about to fire, they received an order to stand down by the general. One of the most powerful weapons they had against the rats couldn't even be used, let alone to devastating effect.

The generals quickly made another signal and an aerial assault was suddenly in progress, as fliers took off from concealed positions and lowered themselves enough for the human riders to swing their weapons at the rats. But the rats shocked everyone on the battlefield by leaping up thirteen feet in the air and attacking the fliers, almost as if…

Almost as if they were being lifted up by a divine force.

Almost as if the Bane himself was offering his body for them to clamber up and leap at their bitter enemies.

Of course, no such power existed. But the lengths these rats could go to, the physical boundaries they pushed, was just… Was just incomprehensible. Fuelled by belief and a love for the Bane alone, these rats were performing feats which seemed to defy nature.

They savagely sank their razor-sharp teeth into the throats of fliers and brought them down to the ground, where they were subsequently mobbed by a small group of rats and torn to pieces. It was heart-wrenching to watch and Luxa couldn't help but let her facade drop for a second, as she turned paler than pale with fear.

Aurora's head dipped significantly, as she tried to avoid seeing the trauma her fellow brothers and sisters were being subjected to. It was painful enough to see them suffer, but to watch your own bond suffering so much was incredibly moving for Luxa. Even if Aurora closed her eyes, her ears would still pick up on the screams of anguish being emitted by her fellow fliers. Words couldn't describe how agonising it was for her.

"Your Majesty, do we attack?" Perdita asked.

Despite the setbacks the Fount faced, Luxa hesitated. They had put her through the vilest shit just to prove a point, and had punished her by trying to take Gregor away from her. Granted they had their reasons, but Luxa couldn't help but feel bitter resentment as she remembered how tormented and hopeless she was at one point, left alone as the only ray of light in complete darkness. They had left her frightened and vulnerable, a combination of feelings which had not felt so raw ever since her parents had left her in a small cave to protect her from Gorger.

"Your Majesty?" Perdita asked again.

Luxa's eyes narrowed.

"Oh for Sandwich's sake, Luxa, stop being a brat!" Ripred snapped. "They need our goddamn help!"

Luxa gazed at the Fount's forces, desperately holding out against overzealous passion personified.

"Did the spinners and diggers agree to fight with us?" Luxa asked Perdita abruptly.

"No, your Majesty," Perdita informed her. "They wanted to stay neutral in this fight. So did the nibblers and the crawlers. No other force will interfere in this battle."

So the powerhouses of the Underland were left alone to duke it out in a battle for supremacy, with the minor players in this game merely taking a backseat to ensure survival. How characteristic of the Underland.

"Luxa," Ripred snarled, his tone revealing not only anger and disdain, but despair as well. "Gorger has to be stopped."

Luxa's vision suddenly seemed to narrow down and zoom in on the newly crowned king of the rats. Figuratively crowned, of course. Luxa winced as she remembered how he had jammed her parents' crown on his head, not only to make him feel superior but also to serve as a trophy for him to gloat over.

And now, staring at the one being she hated above all else, Luxa knew what she had to do. If she didn't act, Gorger would manipulate these naive gnawers into fighting for him, rather than the Bane. Such was the nature of gullible followers who blindly threw themselves at deities and proclaimed themselves as ardent believers. No matter how good the cause was, as long as evil people led it, the cause would be perverted and corrupted into a vehicle for greed and destruction.

But more than just her hate for Gorger was her love for those fighting against him. She glanced at Gregor, who was now surrounded by mounds upon mounds of dead gnawer carcasses, piled unceremoniously above each other. York, meanwhile, had made the brave decision to throw himself into battle with his men, fighting bitterly against unceasing barrage of attacks.

Luxa now looked at Aurora, who had turned her head to face Luxa, her eyes pleading to fly into battle to help her friends.

And Luxa finally understood what it meant to be queen.

"Send our fliers in," she told Perdita. "Make sure they delay the gnawers long enough for our infantry reinforcements to arrive. Send the archers to support the fliers."

Perdita actually looked relieved and grateful as she replied, "Yes, your Majesty!" She then turned to the army and yelled, "PROTECT OUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS! PROTECT THE FOUNT!"

With a low purr of approval, the fliers took off in magnificent fashion, soaring above the battlefield like blackened clouds bearing fire and brimstone. They then made a mighty plunge towards the rats, crashing into them and sending bodies flying all over the place.

The archers, following closely behind, quickly capitalised on the distraction to fire wave after wave of arrows at the gnawers, making their already disorganised force even more disorganised. Luxa could hear Perdita hollering at the archers to fire at will, taking down even the resolute and tenacious rats. The fliers then flew out of the area, before diving down once more to attack the rats.

The rats, however, thrived in discord rather than harmony. They quickly arranged themselves in the most convoluted, messy structure Luxa had ever seen, before leaping up to take out the fliers. Despite the hail of arrows that the archers let loose into a rat, he would continue to fight on, and when dead he would be replaced by three or four more rats.

Then the Fount came to Regalia's aid now. "CHARGE!" York shouted, and the Fount's infantry barreled forward alongside their king, crashing into the rats and hacking them to death. The Fount's aerial army finally recovered and joined their Regalian brethren, rocketing towards the battlefield with intent once more.

Luxa tapped Aurora lightly and said, "Let's go in."

She then turned to Ripred and said, "Stay here. We can't afford to let you get hurt."

"That's right," Ripred grumbled. "Leave me here so you and Gregor can claim all the glory. I see how it is."

Smirking slightly, Luxa just winked at him as Aurora took off into the air. Within seconds, her bond was circling over the battlefield, allowing Luxa to view the battle from an aerial view. "Drop me next to Gregor," she told her bond. "You go and help your brothers and sisters."

Aurora nodded wordlessly and began to fly towards Gregor, who appeared exhausted and sluggish. Luxa leapt off Aurora and flipped through the air, landing next to Gregor gracefully. Every movement of hers was elegant, refined and sophisticated, which was juxtaposed to Gregor's calculated, mechanical movements as he hacked down the rats which still had the courage to fight him.

She glanced at him and grinned. "You need help?"

"Help your uncle," Gregor replied through gritted teeth. He quickly parried two slashes from a rat and responded with an upwards-swinging stroke of his blade, almost decapitating the rat. "I'm not sure he has the stamina to defend himself in a battle like this."

She nodded her head, and wove herself through the blood and muck around her. Despite how much she wanted to fight alongside Gregor, she knew that her own family and the lives of her people were of paramount importance. The artistry in her fighting that she wanted to demonstrate to Gregor could wait for now.

One rat tried to attack her right, but she calmly sidestepped the attack and hacked its front right limb off, before jabbing its shoulder. The rat fell back with a hiss of pain, and then it limped forward to continue the battle. Luxa feinted towards its right side, causing the rat to lose its balance and tumble over. She then quickly impaled its head with her sword, killing it instantly.

She soon found her uncle, who had one of the most distinct bodies on the battlefield. Towering and loud, he constantly hollered at the top of his lungs when in combat, and wasn't afraid to use his hands. She watched in awe as he grabbed a rat's throat with his bare hands and drove his knee into its face, breaking its snout. He then lifted it up and smashed it back down, before proceeding to pummel it to death.

He then tossed the body aside and picked his weapons up once more, readying himself for battle. A brown rat casually trotted up to him and swung its claws wildly, forcing him to parry the attacks with some skill. The rat tried to dig its claws into his legs, but with a powerful stroke he batted the rat's claws aside, and then stabbed the rat's throat with his sword.

"York!" she called out.

He turned to face her and smiled, although it was hard not to notice how he was wheezing away. "Luxa!" he greeted her. "Didn't expect to find you here!"

Luxa quickly reacted to a stray rat on the ground who tried to bite her, swinging her blade down and taking out its eyes with a slash. She then put it out of its misery by stabbing it through the head, before saying, "I'm sorry!"

"All is forgiven!" he replied, taking down another rat by thrusting his blade into its side, almost disembowelling it. "I-"

He halted abruptly and his eyes widened as they settled on something behind Luxa.

"LOOK OUT!" he yelled at her.

Luxa spun around to see Gorger standing right in front of her.

There was no time, she had to quickly think, but nothing came to her mind, everything was a mess, here he was, was he about to jump at her, where was Gregor, where did Gorger come from…

Millions of thoughts raced through her mind as the one nemesis who had torn her life and innocence apart stood mere metres away from her. She could only watch on helplessly as his legs tensed up, and the silver rat leapt straight…

Over her.

She spun back around to see him crash into York, before…

Oh no.

Gorger…

Gorger sank his teeth into York's throat.

The reality in front of her felt like a nightmare as time seemed to come to a complete standstill. She could see the little details of the scene before her eyes as the battle raged on about them. York's blood was flying through the air, while Gorger had just released his grip on York's throat. York's face bore pain, surprise and…

Regret.

Luxa swore she could have seen a tear welling up in his eye as his blood began to run. The world around her seemed to darken considerably, and she felt… cold. Like she was draped in a suit of ice, having to bear the suffering of a frosty world without warmth or love. Her mother, her father, her grandmother, her grandfather, Hamnet, and now York…

All taken away from her. Her own blood, all taken away from her before she could even grow to be the queen they had worked so hard to mould. Luxa's body felt so numb as the world laughed at her. Nobody had stopped to help her uncle, because of… what, fate? Fate was toying with her and slowly destroying her entire world?

What was going on?

And then she realised what had happened- Gorger had chosen to kill York. He could have killed Luxa there and then because she was truly helpless, but instead he had chosen to kill her uncle instead, just…

Just as she had begun to repair her relationship with him.

Gorger had inflicted the most bitter kind of pain on her- the agony of having to see the ones you cared about dying all around you. And this time, the feeling of regret didn't just belong to York.

It belonged to her, for trying to fight her uncle when all he wanted to do was to help the Underland.

Now he was gone.

He was gone.

Gorger suddenly moved off York's body and the present world slammed into her face jarringly. The ice which had frozen her heart was now the fire in her muscles as she unleashed a battle scream worthy of valkyries, before charging towards Gorger.

The rat's smug grin didn't falter, but he did begin to back away. He bounded off, occasionally glancing behind to see how she was faring. Driven by absolute rage, she screamed again, "COME BACK, YOU COWARD!"

Suddenly, a human figure landed in front of her to obstruct her path of vengeance. Luxa gazed at him in disbelief. "You," she snarled.

Conrad nodded and replied tersely, "My queen."

"I'm not your queen," Luxa spat. "Get out of MY WAY."

"Forgive me," he said softly, drawing out his weapon. "I know how painful this is for you, but it's necessary. Gorger's merely trying to even out the balance of power."

"Don't you dare defend that coward," Luxa hissed, tears cascading down her cheeks. "DON'T YOU DARE."

"I won't let you kill him," Conrad said adamantly. "Because if you do, you'll become the tyrant I always feared you'd be."

"Tyrant?" Luxa almost choked incredulously. "TYRANT? You brought this war on us, and you accuse ME of being a tyrant?"

"Yes," he said bluntly, and then he opened up his arms to invite her to attack.

She took two quick strides forward and jabbed at his neck fiercely, forcing him to parry her blade aside. He then responded with a quick jab of his own, but she easily turned his blade aside. "Excellent reflexes," he mused.

She thrust her sword at his torso before going for his legs, but he parried the effort easily and launched a counter-attack of his own, swinging at her shoulder. She brought her blade up to block, and conjured up a lightning-fast response by driving her blade at his shoulder.

But again, he was equal to the attack, retreating just out of range before her blade could penetrate his skin. "Please Luxa," he said, his voice strained with emotion. "You're still my wife. I don't want to hurt you."

"You won't," she responded coldly, flipping up and landing behind him. She jabbed at him, but he spun around fast enough to knock the attack aside. She then went low and swung her legs, sweeping him off balance.

Luxa then sprang forward to finish the job and incapacitate him, but he was able to roll aside, her blade landing mere inches away from his face. He leapt to his feet and tried a triple feint, but Luxa read his movements well enough to defend against the attack, parrying the stab at her right side.

She then moved forward confidently, slashing furiously at him and spinning about to disorient him. She arched her body back when he stabbed his blade forward with blazing speed and strength, and she was forced to flip out of the way when he tried to strike her with another trademark swing of his blade.

Their blades crashed against each other again, causing sparks to fly across the area. She then caught him off guard by firing a kick straight at his stomach, causing him to double over in pain as he backed off, slashing his sword wildly to fend her off.

"It hurts, doesn't it?" Luxa taunted him. "That's where Gregor stabbed you, wasn't it?"

Conrad managed a forlorn smile. "Was our relationship always this acrimonious?" he asked, clearly trying to spite her. "Because I remembered a time when we were happy in love, without the interference of… him."

"We were never truly happy," Luxa replied resentfully. "You could only love me when you had all the power, because deep down, I know you hate sharing power."

Conrad, having recovered from the blow, stood upright and said, "This isn't how I wanted this meeting to go. I haven't given up on us, Luxa. We can still work this out."

When Luxa stared into his eyes, she knew he was being genuine. And that was what hurt the most when it came to Conrad- it wasn't that they were in a loveless marriage. He really had done his absolute best to preserve the slightest bit of love they had for each other. But in the process of doing so, he had unwittingly driven them further apart and had alienated himself.

"You had that chance a while ago," she replied, her voice cracking slightly. "But you lost all hope when you allied yourself to Gorger."

Conrad nodded slowly, and with the pain evident in his voice, he said, "Fly you high, Luxa." He then whistled once, and Dionysus landed in front of him. He climbed on top of Dionysus, and yelled, "FALL BACK! KING GORGER CALLS FOR A RETREAT! FALL BACK!"

Dionysus then took off as the rats retreated in a frenzy, making a mad dash down the plains towards the caves where they had set up camp. "Do we pursue, your Majesty?" Perdita asked as she jogged up to Luxa's side.

"No," Luxa answered instantly, staring ambivalently at the retreating figure of Conrad.

"LUXA!" she heard Gregor call out desperately.

She pirouetted around and raced over to Gregor, who had taken his helmet off and was sitting next to the motionless…

And then the pain hit her again.

She knelt down next to Gregor, who was cradling York's head. Her uncle was now extremely pale, as blood seeped out of the wound in his throat. A quick glance at it revealed that his either his trachea or windpipe had been crushed, or maybe both. It didn't really matter, because all Luxa cared about was that her uncle was dying.

"FATHER!" a voice rang out, and a soldier rushed over to his side. Luxa recognised the soldier as Kent, but the pain and sadness in her heart was suddenly accentuated when she heard a much more familiar voice cry out in anguish.

"FATHER!" Howard wailed as he pushed through the crowd of people standing around York's body. His face was absolutely drenched in tears, and following in his wake was Hero, who looked absolutely devastated as well.

York, although close to taking his final breath, still had the strength to gently reach up and brush the face of each of his children in front of him. The plains were now as dead silent as a cemetery, just like it had been before the entrance of Gorger's and York's armies.

Luxa, whose tears were now in free flow, turned to face Gregor, who looked completely heartbroken as well. His shoulders were slumped, and while tears didn't fall down his face, they welled up in his eyes. For a man who had been through so much pain as a child, he looked so broken. Yes, she could still see the glimmer of the old, hopeful Gregor in his eyes, but they were obscured by the shattered expression on his face.

York's hand seemed to linger on Howard's face as his son sobbed uncontrollably. The pride in York's eyes was unmistakable- here, in his final moments, York was truly revealing how he felt to the people he loved most.

He then turned slightly to look at Luxa and he nodded his head, his hand resting on her arm and giving her a gentle squeeze that displayed his love for her in a manner which could not be conveyed through words.

But what caused her heart to truly ache was the pride in his eyes. After all she had wronged him, after the shit she had put him through, he still loved her and was proud of her. Unable to reign in her emotions, she began to cry out loud, her facade falling apart as her heart did.

Finally, he looked at Gregor, who was now openly letting his tears flow. "I'll keep my promise," he said to York, who looked satisfied by Gregor's comment. As his breathing became harsher and more strained, he reached out and gripped Gregor's hand. The two of them stared into each other's eyes as they shook hands and made their peace.

Luxa looked at her surroundings in despair. Yes, they had triumphed against Gorger's forces, but the price was far too high. Rats who were once Regalians lay dead, their bodies strewn across the mourning plains. Regalians and soldiers of the Fount alike were lying next to the rats, their lives claimed by irrational hatred.

York finally took in one last gulp of air and his body went slack. Screaming in sorrow, Howard buried his head in his father's chest, as Kent and Hero embraced each other, unable to bear the pain alone.

"So much destruction and death," she said aloud to no one in particular. "And for what?"

"As flies to wanton boys are we to the gods," Ripred's voice chimed in. "They kill us for their sport."

Gregor let go of York's head and gently lay it on the ground, bowing his head wordlessly. All around them, soldiers dropped to their knees and bowed their heads in respect.

It was finished.

Just when the silence became ear-splitting, an urgent voice smashed it unceremoniously. "Where's Gregor?" a panicked voice called out. "Where's Gregor?"

Gregor stood up and turned around to face the person calling for him, as did Luxa.

Mr Bennett burst through the crowd, panting away.

"Mr Bennett?" Luxa and Gregor said in unison.

"Gregor," Mr Bennett said, his eyes betraying the fear that had gripped him. "Snake has them. He has them."

"Them?" Gregor asked, clearly overwhelmed by the tragedy in front of him as well as the peculiar timing of Mr Bennett's interruption.

Mr Bennett swallowed, and said,

"Your family."


Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, it was one of the more action-packed ones in recent memory, I believe. And the ending of this chapter kinda signals the start of another major part of this story- Gregor rescuing his family and Calvin. There are at least 50 chapters planned out, so we're only near the halfway mark. Maybe I can churn out more chapters so that we'll hit at least chapter 30 by the end of this year.

Again, I continue to implore you all for support. This story was just saved by people who cared for it, and it will continue to thrive if more support continues my way.

Lastly, if I came across as being too aggressive and you found it offensive, I'm sorry. I apologise for appearing that way.

There is no question for this chapter. BUT THERE'S A TWIST: you guys get to ASK me questions! Yep, since I may not be updating soon please go ahead and ask me any question in the reviews, and I'll answer them on my profile page. Alternatively, you can also PM me the question.