Page 4 (1/2)

Chapter 4

Ares had blasted straight into the war zone Gregor's senses were assaulted by what lay before him, beneath him, and all around him

They were in one of the Firelands' enoror had expected because the walls were studded with burning torches held in globs of so Clay, maybe? He saw an Underlander woround and replace it with a new one

Despite the extra light, it was still difficult to see because the army of rats had churned the volcanic dust on the floor into a choking cloud that rose to the ceiling Bats swirled around Gregor, carrying their hu obscured the faces of the people and the bats A person flew by and a packet hit Gregor on the chest "Don you this!" he thought he heard them shout, but he wasn't sure because the cavern was filled with a din of voices Gregor unrolled the packet and found two face masks, one for hi He quickly positioned the bat mask on Ares and slipped his own over hisit sure beat inhaling that junk in the air -- and it cut down on the reek of blood

Blood see bats' fur, pouring out of rat bodies on the ground It dawned on Gregor that the oal of each side was to relieve the other of its blood, thereby eli it For a moment, he felt sickened; then he remembered why he was here

"Do you see Luxa?" he asked Ares

"No!" replied the bat

It was next to impossible to find anyone in this mess It wasn't just the masks that made it difficult Where they weren't bloodstained, the rats, bats, and hunizable He could fly around for hours looking for Luxa and still not find her Then his thoughts turned to the Bane Even in the dust he ure But he could not spot any rat that was larger than average

Gregor was just going to have to keep an eye out and hope for the best In the meantime, he didn't exactly kno to join in the battle Should he report to so executed? Because if there was, he couldn't see it The whole thing just looked like soor said "Can we jump in anywhere?"

"Anywhere," said Ares

But even now, even after all he had been through and witnessed, so down and running his sword through a rat His a with his ability to connect with his rager side He concentrated hard for a second to establish his place in all of this chaos The reason he must kill the rats, the reason theyin the hospital and Boots and those baby mice in the nursery -- and Luxa, who must be, had to be somewhere out in this mayhem It had to do hat had happened, and would happen, not only to him but to those ere not warriors, if these rats were not stopped

"Down there! By the right wall!" cried Ares

Gregor could see a woround Blood poured fro at an oncoor's veins "Go," he said

They had never flown in a battle together, Gregor and Ares The one real battle Gregor had fought in had been with the ants in the jungle At that tiue in the hospital in Regalia But they had trained for hours and hours in the arena and had been in enough tight spots together to know they could count on each other co sideways to allow Gregor the closest possible range The rat was leaping for the injured woor's sword made contact His blade severed one of the rat's ears The rat turned on hiot its attention," said Gregor, as Ares looped back for another attack

A look of shock crossed the rat's face as it recognized them Even in thisas Ares with an Overlander rider "It's the warrior! The warrior!" the rat screah the army of rats as word of his presence spread He knew the rats had been laughing at hio under Regalia Twirltongue, the hypnotically persuasive rat who advised the Bane, had sicced two of her buddies on hi very well until one of the rats had s him to helplessness He had crawled around on the tunnel floor like a mouse cornered by a couple of alley cats and barely escaped with his life

"Good," thought Gregor "Let theh" Because noith the nuht Now he had seen what they had done to thewas different

The bat they had come to aid had swept up the wounded woor redirected his attention to the scene below hiathered beneath hier to claior wanted to see how high the rats could jump Ares dipped down and the entire pack leaped up The or's sword made contact with a pair of claws that was just about to shred a spot on Ares's left wing