Page 17 (1/2)

Chapter 17

Gregor inched forward on his sto over Ares's shoulder Screah the streets of the city, killing any humans they could find The majority of the population had already reached the safety of the palace But there were still hundreds of people en route, on foot, and in carts, as the army of rats swept down upon them Some dreords, but they were not prepared to defend theor watched several people literally ripped apart

"My fault I didn't finish hiled to raise himself

"It was not possible," Ares said "Lie still!"

The Regalian ar, as they attempted to carry the victims to safety Ares dove down and plucked a pair of children froon just as their ht theently down They huddled together shaking and weeping, until someone came and took the people and then jetting off again

"Gregor, I must leave you," said Ares "There are others I can save"

"Yes Go I' off of Ares and onto his hands and knees His bat hesitated "Go I'll get help"

But as Ares flew off, Gregor knew help would be hard to coh Hall was in turs and the floor was quickly filling with bleeding huor was in too nal his distress And there were so many people in dire need of attention The best he could do was drag hiainst a large stone urn In this way, he could at least avoid being tra was really wrong The pain in his back was excruciating Maybe the Bane had killed hians or so to die It was the lower ribs on the left half of his back The side he eak at defending What was on your left side, anyway? The only thing he could think of was his heart, but the injury seeor tried to breathe as shallowly as possible Any movement of his ribs made it worse He wanted to moan, but even that see around hi He wished everybody would be quiet, just for a moment Then maybe he wouldn't hurt so badly If he could just have a er he sat there the or was that Sandwich's prophecy -- at least the part about hi fulfilled

When the monster's blood is spilled

When the warrior has been killed

He was dying And probably the Bane was, too Gregor had seen the blood gushing out of his tail Even a creature as big as the Bane had only soit? Or, like Gregor, was the big, white rat curled up so the final seconds of his life run out?

Tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick

Gregor could just see over the edge of the loall that ri over the rooftops, shredding the contents of the horouped and was back on the attack, but it was nearly ialia There were too many doors and s for them to duck into to hide, to leap out of unexpectedly With the ornate carvings on every building, there was no structure they couldn't scale, except the palace

Far across the city soor vaguely wondered how they were iant stone doors that could be closed between the city and the arena, but what about the tunnels that led into the arena fros slowly quieted down The light dih a haze of pain "Soon it will be night" Then he reht down here Maybe he was losing his sight Things did look kind of fuzzy Yes, he was pretty sure he couldn't see right, and that was probably the first sign that he was about to --

"Gregor!" He heard the alar tone "Gregor, it is Howard Can you understand me?" Howard's face swa?"

"Back" Gregor's lips moved to form the word, but no sound cah, because his hands slid around Gregor's body His fingers found the indentation at once As they probed his ribs, electric flashes of light filled Gregor's eyes "No!" This tior, I know this must hurt you very much, but I think I can help You must sit up," Howard said

The idea was alor couldn't move, let alone sit up

"Doctor! The Overlander has need of a doctor!" Howard called

A woor's injury, and then they were ht, at least he wastheo away and leave hi The woht by supporting hihten out She was giving soripped his hands, and squeezed theor Take very deep breaths"

"No way!" thought Gregor, whose strategy was breathing as little as possible "No way!" And he ignored the suggestion

"Breathe, Gregor! Do it!" shouted Howard "Inhale!"