Page 4 (1/2)

Chapter 4

"Kill her? But why?" asked Gregor, stunned

"It is foretold by 'The Prophecy of Bane,'" said Ares

"The Prophecy of Bane" Gregor remembered it now When he had left the Underland the first time, he had told Luxa he would never come back, and she had said, "That is not what it says in 'The Prophecy of Bane'" And then he'd tried to ask Vikus about it, but the old iven the coor didn't knohat it meant, but the first prophecy in which he'd been mentioned had resulted in the deaths of four ered a war that had killed countless others A feeling of dread swept over him "What does it say, Ares?"

"Ask Vikus," Ares said shortly "I a interrupted"

He clialia without exchanging another word Gregor was angry with Ares but even angrier with hiain Yes, Luxa had mentioned "The Prophecy of Bane" It was just that once he and his or had put the idea of returning to the Underland out of his mind "Avoid the laundry room, avoid the Underland," he'd reasoned But how could he have taken Boots to Central Park? He knew about the entrance there! He knew there was a second prophecy! It had been foolish to think it would be safe

When they reached the beautiful stone city, it was so quiet that Gregor thought it httime was relative, since the Underland had no sun or ured it must be the time when most of the city was asleep

Ares headed for the palace and -less room that could acco patiently, all alone, was Vikus The old or remembered him, his silver hair and beard trimmed very short, his violet eyes in a web of wrinkles that was or disor

"Ah, Gregor the Overlander! Ares has found you I thought it would be best to seek you in the passage fro the Waterway I ascertain that, as bonds, you already think alike," said Vikus

Neither Ares nor Gregor responded Since they weren't actually speaking to each other, it seemed stupid to act like they had solanced from one to the other and then continued "Sowelcome! You look well And your faor He liked Vikus, but this whole situation with the roaches kidnapping Boots and the threat from the prophecy killed his mood for small talk

"Ah, the crawlers should arrive with her shortly Mareth led a party toBy now, Ares has, of course, explained our predicaor

Vikus looked at each of theor nor Ares elaborated

"Well, then To begin with, we should exaether 'The Prophecy of Bane' Perhaps you re the Underland, I made some small or muttered What he remembered was that Vikus had rushed hi

"Let us proceed to Sandwich's room now Ares, you will attend as well, please," Vikus said, and headed off into the palace

Gregor followed hi behind

Vikus did not resume the conversation until they'd reached a solid wooden door He pulled a key fro open "You will find it on your right," he said, and or pulled a torch from a holder by the door and walked in to the room It was entirely covered in tiny words carved into the stone walls in the 1600s by the founder of Regalia, Bartholomew of Sandwich The words formed prophecies, visions of Sandwich's, that the Underlanders lived and died by The first ti the door had been illuminated with a small oil lamp That here Sandwich had carved "The Prophecy of Gray" Now that area was in shadow The laht Above it hat looked like a poeor lifted his torch to get a clearer view and began to read:

If Under fell, if Over leaped,

If life was death, if death life reaped,

Soloom

Todown below,

Rat of long-forgotten snow,

Evil cloaked in coat of white

Will the warrior drain your light?

What could turn the warrior weak?

What do burning gnawers seek?

Just a barely speaking pup

Who holds the land of Under up

Die the baby, die his heart,

Die his most essential part

Die the peace that rules the hour

Gnawers have their key to power

Gegor didn't knohat it meant any more than he had understood "The Prophecy of Gray" But his ed on one phrase that chilled him to the bone: Die the babyDie the babyDie the babyBoots

"Okay, I want to go through this whole thing Right here, right now," said Gegor

Vikus nodded "Yes, I think it e dissect the prophecy immediately It is not as cryptic as the first, but there are things you ?" He ers over the first two lines "You have fresh eyes, whereas I have read this thousands of tior looked at the lines more closely this time

If Under fell, if Over leaped, If life was death, if death life reaped,

and realized he did knohat they meant "It's about me and Henry I'm the Over, I leaped Henry's the Under, he fell I lived, and he died"

"Yes, and King Gorger and his rats also died, reaping much life in the Underland," said Vikus

"Hey, how come you didn't tell me about this before? Then or

"No, Gregor, it is clear only in hindsight 'llnder' could have referred not only to Henry, but to any other Underland creature, or the Underland itself 'Over' could have been your father Your leap may not have been a literal leap but a ht have alluded to any variety of physical deaths, not to mention a fall from power or honor In truth, a hu to his death was not a popular interpretation Henry never would have suspected he would die in such a way," said Vikus

"Why not?" asked Gregor

Vikus glanced at Ares and hesitated

"Because he would have expected me to catch him," Ares said bluntly

"Yes," said Vikus "So, you see that the first prophecy was indeed gray to us, although now, of course, it seeor read the next bit to hiloom