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"Uh-huh," said Gregor "So Ripred's not co, either?" Nobodyif the big rat would kill hi for the Dead Land," said Vikus "Oh, I see the boats are loaded! We had best get you on your way!"

Ares landed beside them "The river is too hazardous We will fly to the Waterway and then board the boats"

"Glad you're co a resentful look at Luxa and, while he was at it, Vikus He climbed on Ares's back

Dulcet handed Boots up to hiroell!"

"I big girl! I ride bat! I ride bat!" Boots squealed in delight, bouncing in front of Gregor On the first trip, Gregor had carried her in a backpack, but she was getting too big for that, especially with the life jacket

"Temp ride, too!" said Boots The cockroach scurried up behind them, his movements somewhat restricted by his bulky flotation device

Twitchtip slid into one of the big boats and flattened herself in theto catch the breeze that blew up the river Gregor felt a twinge of syht be the only one more miserable about this journey than he was

Teams of bats lifted the two loaded boats by rope loops and started down the river As Ares took off after thehtly around Boots He was becoalia, the glimmer as they passed the crystal-walled beach where he had had his first encounter with rats, and finally the wide-open expanse of the Waterway

They flew a few miles out over the Waterway before the teams of bats lowered the boats into the water and took off Howard's bat landed in the boat with Twitchtip Ares settled in the second boat, as did Mareth's bat

"This is Andro his hand to the wing of his gold-and- black-speckled bat Gregor reht back on the crystal beach She'd been so badly injured that she had not coor still felt kind of responsible for that fight because it had happened when he'd tried to escape

"Hey, nice to ht?

"I am honored to meet you also, Overlander," she said Maybe, like Mareth, she had forgiven him

Mareth also introduced hiraceful bat with beautiful rusty red fur All she said to his"

Vikus had flown out after theot to deliver you this," he called His large gray bat swooped over Gregor's boat, and soor picked up a scroll and found a copy of "The Prophecy of Bane" written in Nerissa's elegant hand

"Fly you high!" Vikus headed back toward Regalia, giving theed a nod back

Boots rigglingher loose in the boat made him nervous, but he couldn't hold her for days at a time He set her down on the floor with strict instructions to "Stay in the boat!"

Fortunately the vessel was so deep that she couldn't get out, anyway When Gregor stood in the middle, the sides rose up to his shoulders It was about twenty feet long and made of some kind of animal hide stretched over a bone frame A two-foot-wide strip of floor ran down the center of the boat About a third of the way from the front of the boat, Mareth hoisted a wooden ed base It was only the second wooden object Gregor had seen used in the Underland, the first being the door to Sandwich's room There were a few seats fashioned from leather, and a lot of supplies Especially food

"Are we really going to eat all this?" asked Gregor

"Not by ourselves But the shiners will require a great deal of food," said Mareth

"The shiners?" said Gregor

"Vikus did not tell you?" began Mareth

Gregor wondered howto hear that in the next few days

"On long voyages, we cannot carry enough fuel to provide light So we hire shiners to aid us," said Mareth "They should be here directly -- yes, seehere they coor looked out into the dark and spotted two points of light They went out, and then turned on again, closer this tiht continued to approach, he could iant bugs had landed on the bows of the boats, he had identified them

"Oh, they're fireflies!" he said Back at his dad's fae of the woods at night Their little twinkling lights ical The three-foot-tall versions perched on the boat weren't nearly so enchanting But he had to adht

"Greetings, Shiners," said Mareth with a bow

"Greetings, all," one of the fireflies said in a high and impossibly whiny voice "I am he called Photos Glo and she is Zap"

"It was my turn to make the introduction," wailed Zap "Photos Glo made it last time"

"But we both know that, as ato hu in a variety of colors "Zap can only make one color, and it is yellow"

"I hate you!" shrieked Zap

And Gregor knew this was going to be the longest trip of his life