I know, it's been a really long time.

I'm really sorry for not responding/updating in ages, I guess life hit me and I thought I'd leave this story behind. I'm not sure how many people still read this (maybe nobody at all haha) but I think I owe it to myself to finish this story. I can't post regularly because life is crazy and hectic, but I promise that I'll get this story over the line. I've realised recently that I loved writing this story, and I'd hate to leave it unfinished.

Thank you to everyone who reviewed the story and sent me messages. The reason why I wrote was because of you guys. I know many of my old readers are no longer on this website, but hopefully there'll be new people.

As usual, if you happen to have the time, leave a review! If not, that's fine too. My writing's a little rusty because it has been more than 5 years, but here goes.

This chapter is written from Gregor's perspective.


Chapter 33: The War Room

The doors swung open and Gregor strode into the council room.

Luxa stood at the head of the table, the centrifugal force which held each web in suspense. Her brows furrowed, now unable to conceal the weight of frustration from the last few months.

On her right was Ripred, his body hunched, a weary comrade to Luxa's Atlas, both just about keeping the world from falling off their shoulders. His lone eye darted across the room, pulling in more and more information with each movement. As it settled on Gregor, it finally held steady, and Gregor could now see relief flooding in. He was a welcome presence in this warzone.

Susannah was on Luxa's left, somehow paler than her niece, her eyes having sunk deeper into their sockets from witnessing the horrors and atrocities of the last few months. She was proof that not all broken things could remain that way. No, she had to be strong for her family, for her people, and for York. York would not have asked anything of her, but Gregor knew she was honouring her husband's sacrifice by being her. She had to finish what he had started, so their children could have a chance at happiness which they never had. Gregor understood that, despite not having kids of his own. He had to give other people a future when he never had hope for one himself.

Daedalus crouched between Heronian and Susannah, shifting delicately from foot to foot. This was not his place, not his idea of work. But now was not the time to seek comfort.

Perdita and Lapblood stood to Ripred's right, both expressionless amidst the entangled anxiety and sadness. Perdita's eyes remained soulless, devoid of the energy which had once possessed her spirit. Lapblood meanwhile, held a stoic look of determination, and offered Gregor a brief bow of acknowledgement.

Aurora lingered in the background, but this was not a moment which required her contribution. As far as Luxa was concerned, the bond she needed right now stood at her right.

Luxa looked up as Gregor approached the war table. Her shoulders sagged ever so slightly, having the web of expectation unwound from her body.

"How fares Apollo, Gregor?" she asked.

"He's fine. Just needs a little rest."

Gregor's eyes now met Ripred's firmly. "What's your plan?"

Ripred smirked. "If I had one, I doubt we would still be standing around here, my dear Warrior."

Gregor felt tempted to return the smirk. "I'm guessing this hasn't been a really productive talk then?"

Ripred's eye shifted back to the war table, a sprawling map of the Underland which clearly endeavoured to spare no detail. "Flyfur and Sixclaw currently oversee a garrison at the mouth of the waterway, less than two leagues south of the Fount. I have ordered them to build more tents than necessary in the camp to give the impression that we have more soldiers than we actually do."

"How many do we have?" Luxa asked.

Ripred shook his head. "Sixty - two dozen men, a score of gnawers, and the rest are fliers. If the schemers come in force, they cannot hold them. But it would buy the Fount some time." He glanced at Susannah, who nodded back wordlessly

If Lapblood felt any concern for her pups leading an understaffed force, she showed no signs of it.

"How many more can we spare?" Gregor asked, knowing he wouldn't like the answer.

"A dozen at most?" Ripred ventured. "Our armies are spread thin, Overlander. The schemers move quickly… they could easily outflank us."

"That would mean going through the Firelands," Perdita interjected. "They would be fools."

"You've seen them fight, general," Ripred shot back. "They adore their king. What's a little toxic ash against the glory of taking back their lands? They would turn their own bodies to ash if Flavius' kingdom could be built on it."

"It is alright, Gregor."

Susannah's words rang out with peals of defiance. Gregor could tell that the room was slightly taken aback by it.

"We will survive if Flavius invades tomorrow," she continued. "I have arranged for our people to make a hasty exit to the fleet stationed at Reynold's Bay. We can sail to Regalia within a day, if the waters are kind."

Again, Ripred shook his head. "That's what I'm worried about," he objected. "This whole time, Flavius has been one step ahead of us. He must know you'd have planned this. All he needs to do is to feign an assault on the Fount to spark the evacuation. Once you get to your boats, he'll have you surrounded and slaughtered within an hour. You'd all be dead shrimp."

"Foxes don't have boats," Gregor said.

Ripred's eye narrowed. "But Overlanders do, Warrior. Or have you forgotten what your people are capable of?"

Gregor shrugged sheepishly. He had to admit that Ripred had got him there.

"There is also the issue of the rebel gnawers," Luxa chimed in. "Our scouts have reported that they are holding their position in the caves between Regalia and the Fount. Any effort on our part to relieve a schemer siege on the Fount will surely be intercepted by them."

Gregor's heart sank. This situation was as hopeless as it was challenging.

"We're screwed then," he said tersely.

If any of the Underlanders were confused by what he had said, they showed no sign of it. They knew exactly what he meant. Bleak would be an understatement to describe Regalia's prospects of success in the coming war.

A deafening silence ensued. Everyone was too afraid to offer any suggestion, for fear that any glimpse of hope would be brutally shot down by the reality of their predicament.

"I see only one way to solve this," Ripred said, his voice laced with uncertainty. "We must lure the gnawers out of their caves, and into the open field."

Luxa frowned. "Surely we cannot. If you were in their stead, you would not leave those caves, even for all the shrimp in the world. To fight a pitched battle against them is the fool's hope."

"We've been one step behind Flavius, your Majesty. We've won every battle against him and somehow we're losing. He knows he doesn't have to defeat us in battle, he just has to outlast us. These gnawers are not positioned in those caves by coincidence. Gorger leads them now, and we know he was in league with Flavius."

Luxa's hand balled into fists, while Susannah stiffened. They both turned the slightest shade of pink, but Gregor knew they weren't turning red out of embarrassment.

It was murderous rage.

Gregor's hand instinctively found its way to the hilt of his blade.


York placed Gregor's blade in front of him. "One thing, Gregor," he said hesitantly.

"Anything, York," Gregor replied firmly.

"Promise me you will end all this. This arguing, this politicking, this war… promise me you will end all of it."

Gregor fidgeted nervously. "I'll try."

"By any means at your disposal, Gregor," York pressed him. "I have five children. I do not want them to see another war. They have seen more than their fair share."

"I can't promise that York," Gregor said weakly.

"You can, Gregor. It has to be you."

"Why me?"

"Because no one is better at taking a life than you are," York said sadly. "And because of that, you get to decide when all this bloodshed ends. All it takes is for you to put the sword down when it is over."

"You think it's my fault for everything?"

"No, but I do believe you can carve Regalia's future with that sword right now. And one day, perhaps you can carve our future without it."

"I broke my sword and they rebuilt it anyway," Gregor sighed.

"Fate works in mysterious ways. This time, you were meant to receive the sword. But there will come a day when they offer it to you, and you get to decide whether to hold it or abandon it. And when that day comes, you must remember this conversation."

"Why me?" Gregor asked again.

York understood his question. "Someone must," he replied sadly. "Most men live in fear. Few have the mettle to make the difficult but right choice. I implore you to do so, whether your hand is summoned for peace or war."

He paused for effect, before adding, "Something tells me I will not see the end of this war. Promise me Gregor. For my children."

Now Gregor nodded firmly. He knew he would have to make the decisions no one else could. Courage was doing what was necessary, but also what was right. And Gregor was prepared to do both.

"I promise."


Gregor realised he hadn't had time to grieve York's passing. He remembered clasping York's bloodstained hand, unable to believe he was watching his friend's life slip away with every passing moment. He had hoped that if he had gripped York's hand tightly enough, York might have held it back just as tightly, clinging to his life by the barest of threads.

But York would not make it. He knew he had to step aside to give Howard, Kent, and Hero one last moment with their father.

He looked up at Ripred, who had registered the tension in the room following his uttering of Gorger's name. "Gorger will meet the queen's justice," he said to Luxa quietly. "And yours, Susannah."

Gregor knew Ripred could feel their pain - he was perhaps the only figure in that room who truly knew what it was like to lose everything.

Ripred cleared his throat. "But like I said, we need to start being more unorthodox in our thinking. You're right that the gnawers are unlikely to take the bait, even if we send the Warrior out there to face them."

"What, you want me to take them all by myself?"

"Wait, you fool," Ripred snapped. "Even if I wanted to tie your miserable arse down in front of those caves and leave you to stew, they wouldn't dare attack you because they'd know we have an army waiting around the corner. Even if both you and I were unarmed, they still wouldn't come."

He paused. "But if it were you, me, the queen, the Gunner, and a handful of others, they'd think we were embarking on a quest…"

"... which means we wouldn't be backed by an army." Gregor realised. "You really think this will work?"

"It's Gorger," Ripred said flatly. "His entire army was undone by the eight of us when we sent him falling to his death."

He checked himself. "Or well, what we thought was his death. He's far more self-obsessed than he lets on. If this looks like a quest, he'll see this as a poetic circle, which will give him a chance to finally triumph over the Underlanders who humiliated him."

"They will smell us hiding in the background," Lapblood pointed out.

"Which is why you have to be at least a few leagues away when the fighting starts," Ripred explained. "Once blood starts being spilled, every rat will be so caught up in the frenzy that they won't notice our army approaching. Calvin will send a signal once the fighting starts, and that will be your cue to approach."

"Except one thing," Gregor butted in. "Calvin is basically living from panic attack to panic attack."

"That… is a problem," Ripred sighed. "I suppose the doctors can't fix him?"

"Not yet," Gregor said bleakly. "But we can teach him echolocation, I guess?"

Luxa shook her head. "We have not the time for this. If it is true that a schemer army has assembled, they will be upon us within a fortnight. If we intend to provide the Fount with military support, the gnawer rebels must be scattered so we can claim safe passage between the Fount and Regalia."

"I taught you fairly quickly," Ripred gestured nonchalantly at Gregor.

"You were horrible," Gregor retorted. "Besides, Calvin's gonna freak out when he figures out it's you in the dark."

"Fair point," Ripred conceded. "I suppose we'll just have to blindfold and gag him."

"I can be the bait."

Everyone's heads once again swivelled round to face the source of the comment.

Susannah cleared her throat. "I can travel with a small force back to the Fount. Gorger will surely seek vengeance against my family for betraying him. Killing me would send a message to both cities."

"No," Luxa said instantly. "We will find another way."

"Sacrifices must be made, my dear niece," Susannah said gently, reaching out to gingerly caress Luxa's arm. "In any case, I have faith that I will be protected."

She turned to face Gregor. "I overheard your conversation with my husband, Gregor. We both know he would have risked his own life to give the Underland a chance at survival."

"He wouldn't have risked yours," Gregor replied simply.

"I have faith you will arrive before it is too late. Whatever little faith we have left is more valuable than gold, but still I place faith in you, Gregor."

"She's right," Ripred admitted. "We would have to time everything right, but we could make it work. Now is not the time to pretend that we hold all the cards. Risks must be taken, and every second we waste with our indecision is one more second Flavius gains on us."

Gregor saw Luxa take a deep breath, and then gulp painfully slowly. Her face contorted into a grimace, but then she turned towards Susannah and nodded.

"We will send the Warrior and me to help Susannah first," Ripred suggested. "Lapblood can lead a force to back us up, while Perdita can lead another force to cut off any retreat they make towards the caves."

"I will join the both of you," Luxa said, and from the tone of her voice, Gregor knew that no one was arguing with her.

"One more thing," Ripred added. "I am thinking of sending Hazard to reinstate a formal alliance with the diggers, the nibblers and the spinners. What say you, your Majesty?"

The whole room froze once more.

Ripred looked around. "What?" he snapped.

The edges of Gregor's mouth twitched as he barely suppressed a smile of incredulity. "Just, you know," he began. "Usually you don't ask."

"Yes, it is not like you…" Luxa said slowly.

"Oh please," Ripred rolled his eye. "You pups spend half the time complaining that I leave you in the dark during these council meetings."

"Not that we don't appreciate this," Gregor offered, again very uncertainly, "But didn't think it was like you to change your ways."

Ripred trained his eye on Gregor. "It's about time we were all honest with each other. Flavius knows we all keep secrets, and he's been sowing discord because he knows we communicate awfully."

"That's fair," Gregor replied meekly.

"Hazard may go," Luxa declared. "But he must go with Heronian."

Heronian bowed slightly. "It would be an honour, your Majesty. But are we sure that Flavius does not monitor those routes?"

"He may, but I will send an early force to scout the routes," Ripred answered. "Hopefully our clash with the gnawers will not go unnoticed, and will distract the schemers he has stationed between Regalia and those bases."

"Speaking of the monster," Lapblood almost growled. "What do we do about him?"

Gregor had heard from Calvin that Flavius' betrayal of the group during the quest had left many of the quest members deeply disturbed, and that Lapblood had taken it poorly because she felt that she had led Flyfur and Sixclaw into danger by failing to detect Flavius' deception. He wouldn't be surprised if she intended to settle a score with him.

"We play his game," Ripred replied. "Give him a taste of his own medicine. He's been moving chess pieces while we swing our swords and shields around blindly. We need to stop playing like children and start making some moves of our own."

"What are you saying?" Gregor asked.

Ripred snorted. "Always the quickest to show off how slow you are, aren't you? I've always suspected there are more than a handful of schemers who aren't fully convinced by Flavius' vision for the Underland. There may be others who want to organise a coup to claim power for themselves. Those are the schemers we want to get to."

"Before the Battle of Regalia, I had overheard a couple of them plotting to overthrow him," Lapblood recalled. "Julius and Varius. There must be others."

The mentioning of the latter clearly piqued Ripred's interest. "Varius?"

"Varius," Lapblood confirmed. "But Brutus mentioned he had been killed."

"I'm not so sure about that," Ripred countered. "Before Clawsin disappeared, he mentioned a small contingent of schemers led by a leader called Varius. They were spotted near the Arch of Tantalus, and he followed them for a few days before losing them in the jungle."

"A group of schemers south of Regalia?" Luxa asked anxiously.

"I was worried about it too," Ripred said. "I wondered how leaky our eastern border was. But if this is a small group of insurgents, it would explain why they've been spotted so far from the main schemer army, and why they were able to elude our scouts. Varius may be the key to winning this war."

"Why would they parley with us?" Perdita asked.

"They might want the same things we want," Ripred offered, seeming more hopeful than convinced about his own plan. "The best we can get is a half-chance. And we must grasp at anything within our reach."

"Ten score schemers could not tear Flavius' empire now, let alone Varius' merry band of stragglers," Luxa said.

"True enough, but they could buy us time to organise a coordinated defence strategy between the Fount and Regalia. If we set a fire between the Arch of Tantalus and the Vineyard of Eyes, it will help our scouts to spot any potential invasion from the south too."

Gregor stared at Ripred. "You'd burn half the jungle down?"

The old rat nodded stoically. "Sacrifices must be made."

Gregor never had any love for the jungle. It only held memories of loss and betrayal for him. But burning it down would mean destroying the biodiversity of the Underland. If they burned everything just to win the war against the foxes, what would they have left?

York's words chimed in. "You get to decide when all this bloodshed ends."

"No," Gregor said. "We bring the fight to them."

"We led a quest into Flavius' territory once," Ripred cautioned. "It could have ended very badly if Calvin hadn't been lucky."

"It'll be different with me," Gregor responded. "We can't sit here and wait for them to get to us. If Flavius really is brainwashing these guys, they won't stop until he's dead. So the only way to end this war is to get to him and Snake, and to kill both of them."

"Cut off the head of the snake indeed," Ripred mused. "We killed the Bane but they made a martyr out of him. What makes you think this will be any different?"

"The foxes lived here long before you guys did. It's their land too. Give them a place in the Underland."

"We can't even sustain the gnawer population in Regalia," Ripred argued. "The schemers offer no trade and they'd cannibalise our resources. Sooner or later, they'll be at our gates the same way the rebel gnawers are."

"Maybe," Gregor admitted. He glanced at Daedalus. "But surely we can figure something out."

Daedalus craned his neck towards the map. "I have a few ideas."

"Yea, that's what I mean," Gregor said. "This is a room of soldiers and generals. But the answer isn't always war."

He locked eyes with Luxa, knowing that this hinged on her. She cocked her head to the right, and Gregor knew she was asking for his support as much as he was asking for hers. If she made the wrong decision, it would be a matter of months before another rebellion would be on Regalia's doorstep, and then it would be her head on a spike.

But Gregor knew he had to push her to make this decision. It was the right one, and he knew that he couldn't live with himself if they simply exterminated the schemers, or waited for them to invade. He had to take the fight away from the innocent Underlanders, who lived each day not knowing if it would be their last.

For too long, Regalia had fought beyond and within itself simply because everyone refused to listen to each other. He thought back to the rebel gnawers chanting Bane's name. Everything he, Ares, Solovet, Vikus, Ripred, and Luxa had sacrificed in the War of Time could have been for nought because they simply hadn't cared about taking care of the Underland. Winning wars was one thing, but it was another challenge to rule and preserve the peace. And Gregor had no intention of being the reason that the Underland was stuck in cycle after cycle of war.

Luxa took another deep breath. "Daedalus, I task you with the arrangement of a proposal to include the schemers within the Underland. We will present these terms to Varius."

Gregor let out a small sigh of relief. He glanced at Ripred, who seemed genuinely surprised by this turn of events.

"Well," the old rat drawled. "Looks like I'm in for another suicidal mission."

Gregor knew what he was suggesting. There was a high chance he, Ripred, and Luxa would not make it back alive. But it was a chance they had to take. "Sacrifices must be made," he said simply but bitterly.

Ripred snorted. "I'll never get used to you pups trying to be heroes."

Luxa looked around the room. "Heronian, you fly with Hazard on the morrow. Susannah will fly then too. The Warrior and I will take off half an hour after she does. General Perdita, you will take a hundred men and sail up the Waterway to flank the rebel gnawers and cut off their retreat. Lapblood and Ripred will lead our forces into battle shortly behind me and the Warrior. Are we in agreement?"

Everyone in the room nodded. At last, everyone was on the same page, even the usually opaque Ripred.

Aurora's voice cut through the silence.

"What of the Gunner?"

Gregor's heart fell slightly. It hurt to see the boy in agony and unable to be with the friends he needed the most. Snake was cruel, but this was a new level of torture. Snake hadn't just broken his body, but had surgically dismantled Calvin's mind.

Luxa sighed yet again. "We must give him time to heal. In the meantime, someone must find a human who can teach him to see in the dark."

She produced a cursory look around the room before saying, "Thank you. Aside from the Warrior and Ripred, you may all leave."

Visibly exhausted from the fretting and planning, the other war council members shuffled out of the room slowly, leaving Regalia's triumvirate standing around the map.

"Are you truly convinced this will work?" she asked them both.

Gregor was not sure what possessed him next, but perhaps overcome with grief and pain, he walked over to Luxa and hugged her.

Ripred stifled a laugh. "Truly convincing."

"We've got to do this," Gregor argued. "I know we might not make it back, but I made my peace with that a long time ago."

"I never liked my life that much anyway," Ripred deadpanned.

Gregor looked at Luxa as he held her hand. They had built something beautiful, but other people deserved the same chance they had. He believed that, and he knew Luxa believed that too.

She squeezed his hand. "I am relieved that you are back safely."

Gregor afforded a weak smile.

"You pups are insufferable," Ripred grumbled. "Are you finally happy that I'm an open book with you, your Majesty?"

Now it was Luxa's turn to smile. "I am grateful for your candour, Peacemaker."

The old rat let out a heavy sigh. "If we somehow survive all this, you can give that stupid title to someone else. For a peacemaker, I never get any peace myself."

Gregor joined him in sighing. This was the short calm before the storm, the brief moment of respite for them to breathe, the final deep breath before the plunge.

The abyss of tomorrow beckoned. They would answer the call.


And that's chapter 33! Hope you guys liked it, and that my writing wasn't too bad.

Question: Do you guys prefer dialogue-heavy or action-heavy chapters?

Share your thoughts in the review section!