Page 13 (1/2)

Chapter 13

An Underlander or at the end of the hallith his armor While he dressed, someone roused Ares and the two of theor

"All twenty et soor He knew he should probably try to get soht and day down here, without the help of the sun

When they flew into the arena, they found it was jaee ca driven from their homes and sentenced to death by the Bane in the Firelands A thick layer of straw had been strewn on the , andthe walls There was an area set aside for the mice to relieve theh to overcome the smells of waste and sickness and too many bodies in too s around, a bat flew in carrying a half dozen mouse pups and a small boy with a head of curly black hair "Hey, there's Hazard Let's go say hello," said Gregor

The bat with Hazard landed in an area by the wall Gregor had barely touched down in front of hia protective barrier between the crowd and the bat carrying the or shouted to Hazard

"The babies We are trying to reunite them with their parents," said Hazard "But it is a difficult task"

Gregor bet it was There were hundreds and hundreds of mouse pups in the nursery Their parents could be anywhere -- lying dead in Hades Hall, in the Regalian hospital, still waiting to be airlifted froht be here in this mob, desperate to know if their babies had survived

"Hey, quiet! Quiet!" shouted Gregor, standing on Ares's back and holding his arot to be really quiet And back up before soets hurt!" By this time, a few people had run over to help theive the bats so space "How did you plan to do this, Hazard?"

"We are starting a list I a the babies, six at a time, and call out their names to see if their parents are here to take the you to do this?" Gregor asked They iven the job to a seven-year-old

"I am the best one Because I can speak to the babies," said Hazard But his lireen eyes were full of doubt "They can tell or Will you call theor asked, pointing to a sray-and-white-speckled pup

"This is Scalene," said Hazard, handing hi pup up over his head "Okay, this pup is nas to?"

There was an immediate cry "To me! To me!" The crowd opened up as a mouse ran forward "She is et out of Gregor's hands, whi

Ares dipped his nose to the ground and the pup ran straight down his neck and bolted between its s She nuzzled it quickly, but then looked pleadingly at Hazard "There are two more Euclidian and Root Do you have them?"

"Not on this flier But there are hundreds in the nursery They may well be there," said Hazard

The or helped pass out the rest of the pups Two pairs of siblings were instantly claimed When the final pup's name was called, no one answered,

"His nah above his head and tried to raise his voice so it filled the whole arena "Newton!" But there was still no reply

"I believe he is fro about that Luxa had told hiassed to death at the volcano had been frole colony

"Any of us will take hiive him to his parents now," said Hazard "And they may still be in the Firelands"

The mice did not protest No one wanted to further complicate the situation

"I'll take hi the others," said Hazard

"Okay, listen up! Hazard's going to be bringing in more pups But you have to leave this space open and not rush up when he lands All right?" said Gregor There was a general reement from the crowd

Two of the Underlanders volunteered to take over Gregor's job and assist Hazard when he returned "They await you, Overlander At the south tunnel," someone told hior could see that none of the onized silence as long as there was any chance their children ht show up He felt that awful helplessness that had consu in the pit This was just an extension of it And at thatto kill the Bane

"Let's go train," he said, now anxious for any advantage the dagger ive him

"Yes," said Ares "Ajax had a point I or slid off of Ares's back next to Perdita, she began to launch into a spiel about how they had all been called out of battle for further training, but Gregor cut her off

"No, you guys are right It would be better if I had a dagger So how do I use it?" he asked

Perdita clapped hi They concentrated h she did show him a couple of basic attacks "You would have to be alnawer to kill it," said Perdita Gregor could see that because the dagger blade was so much shorter than his sword, this would be true He was rarely in such close proximity to the rats

The lesson ell It was ht with teapons He rele during his spin attack had probably made the difference between life and death

"Good, Gregor Excellent Now let us try you out on your flier," said Perdita

Ares had been overhead, working with Ajax on span on different ly told Perdita, "At least he is able to take instruction"

Gregor could feel the difference in Ares's flight maneuvers They were sharper, h a series of drills and then Ripred showed up and they got so they were in actual battle At first, Gregor held back, but Ripred kept snarling at hior knew Ripred wouldn't try to kill the a scratch or sh their defenses By the end of the lesson, Gregor and Ares were pretty bloody, and even Ripred had a couple of cuts where Gregor had tagged him

"Better," said the rat as he waved theer's in your hand and compensate with the sword"

"Yeah, I could feel or

"And Ares, when you're down and decide to open those wings, do it! Bas if you use the hi on this," said Ares

A er bat arrived with an order for Ares to join the next airlift teaor

"So are we all," said the bat

"I can do it," said Ares

"What about training?" asked Gregor

"He's done for now Let's see your spin," said Ripred

After Ares took off, Gregor tried to show Ripred his spin attack It was hard to do without the real threat of death before hiot dizzy alle," he told Ripred

"Well, you stink now," said the rat "Let's start with the dizziness You've got to learn how to spot"

Ripred showed him how to pick a spot somewhere and find it with his eyes each time he turned "I do it with sound, by echolocation but, of course, that's out"

"Oh Yeah Maybe not," said Gregor

"Can I assu look on your face that you've finally had a breakthrough?" asked Ripred

"Kind of In the dungeon," said Gregor "Ihappened"

"I'll take him from here," Ripred told Perdita

Before he knew it, Gregor was under the palace in their old practice space, fighting off Ripred's attacks in complete darkness Except it wasn't darkness any, and sohed or even spoke in a certain direction, he could register detailed shapes and heat and eon o," said Ripred

"It's weird It's like having a whole new sense," said Gregor

"Yes Let's try that spin attack now Pick a distinctive spot on the wall and keep co back to it," the rat instructed "Wait, use or tried He could find Ripred with echolocation on the first few spins but then he started to get confused and dizzy It was toowith his ears -- for his brain to compute all at once Finally he tripped and his feet went out froh for today," said Ripred

"No, it's not I haven't got it," said Gregor

"We'll get it next tiht not be a next tiht be in a cave full of rats!"