Page 7 (1/2)

Chapter 7

Gregor opened his fingers, and the sword fell to the ground It was shiny with the red liquid, which, if it wasn't actually blood, sure looked like it He ran his sword hand across the front of his shirt, leaving a big red stain Suddenly he felt sick

He turned on his heel and walked away from the sword, froinning to talk in excited voices Word of what he'd just donearound the arena, because people were rushing toward the cannon area He could feel the to press in on hi hard to breathe

Suddenly Ares was there before hior automatically climbed on his back, and they took off He could hear several people calling for him as they flew out of the stadium, but Ares didn't stop They headed not in the direction of Regalia, but into the tunnels opposite the entrance to the city

"You ant light," Ares said, angling in toward a row of torches on the tunnel wall, and Gregor reached out and snagged one In the torchlight, his hand glistened wet and red He looked away

Ares dove off into a side tunnel that forked repeatedly Eventually they arrived at a sround lake flanked by dozens of caves The bat dove into one with a narrow entrance Inside, the cave opened up into a wide space Large crystal foror slid off Ares's back and onto the stone floor

He pressed his forehead into his knees and let his breathing return to normal What had happened back there? How had he hit all fifteen blood balls? He'd been running sword drills with Mareth and nothing unusual had happened, but when those blood balls had started flying at him

"Did you see? Did you see what I did?" he asked Ares He had seen so, but he hadn't noticed Ares

The bat sat motionless for a moment, then answered "You broke all the blood balls"

"I hit the to remember it "But I don't even kno to use a sword"

"Apparently you learn quickly," said Ares, and soh a little He looked around the cave There were food supplies, blankets, spare torches

"What's this place? Like, your hideout?" Gregor asked

"Yes, my hideout," said Ares "At one time it was also Henry's We came here e did not want to be around others Now it is less my hideout than my ho began to dawn on Gregor "So, you don't live with the other bats anyain -- about Henry and all"

"It spared me from official banishment But no one save Aurora and Luxa will speak to or asked, forgetting his own problems for a minute

"Well, yes, Vikus But he will speak to anyone," Ares said without s were so bad for the bat If he hadn't been banished physically, he had been banished socially froain, all he'd done was order him around "Look, I really am sorry about yesterday," he said "I was mad and scared about Boots, and I took it out on you"

"I was angry, too, about s that have little to do with you," said Ares

So, it was better between theer

"How'd you hook up with Henry, anyway?" he blurted out Maybe it wasn't polite to ask, but it was the or wanted to know

"Henry chose me because I ild and known to disobey many of the rules of my land I chose Henry because I was flattered and he was royal and under his protection I knew I could be absolved of ether and shared many of the same tastes In most ways, ere suited to each other In one, ere not"

So a bats Ares had been some bad-boy rebel type Of course, that was the kind of bat Henry would pick Gregor had picked Ares, too, because the bat had risked everything to save his life -- but would he have chosen him if the circumstances hadn't been so extraordinary? He didn't know