Page 21 (1/2)

Chapter 21

Solovet studied Luxa a uards "Do so Confine her flier, as well"

Gregor forced hi, down the hall She was beating at the guards but her words were for Gregor, full of hatred at his disloyalty The things she said cut right through him That she should never have trusted him That he was as bad as Henry had been And while it was not included in her rant, Gregor felt sure that he had lost all of the affection she had ever felt for his, on the other hand, had only intensified when he betrayed her So he watched until the guards turned the corner at the end of the hall, taking her out of his life forever Even the sight of Luxa despising hione, his hand furaph they'd taken in the museum It was there He didn't pull it out But later, in some tunnel or cave, while the others slept, he would spend some time with it Tell the picture of Luxa what he would never have the chance to explain to her in person

"It was a wise or She will always hate you for it, but with time, she will understand its necessity," said Solovet briskly She went back to study theSolovet's approval didn't or feel any better He disliked her so ue into a weapon and setting rats on fire ise moves He would much rather have had her condeor hadn't even known the old man was in the room "She will not always hate you If she still cares for Henry, who put her life in jeopardy, will she not care for you who tried to save it?"

"I doubt she sees it that way," said Gregor "It's done Let's not talk about it"

"We shall depart froo to the armory to prepare," Solovet said

One hour? Was that all that was left? "I'll dress on the trip I want to be with or

"They will be acco us," said Solovet "Lizzie still may have use as a code-breaker Boots will rally the crawlers Rest assured, I shall keep theood distance fro with Solovet And her reasons for taking his sisters were valid Still

"They'll be safe," Ripred said "Count on it One rager to another"

When Gregor went to the arht for him After he ate, Miravet sent hi of finality to it Last hot , Howard caor

"Because I slept for two straight days," said Howard

"Oh, man! I was supposed to wake you Sorry, Ripred sent or

"Do not trouble yourself I am practically the only coherent person in the hospital There should be at least one," said Howard "Your wounds are or's calf, although he left the ones on his hip, and put on fresh bandages Then he refilled Gregor's bottle of painkiller "Well, then," said Howard, rising "I or thought He stood up and hugged hiht?"

"As if she were or"

"Fly you high," said Gregor He wished he could have said rateful he was to Howard for all he'd done, about how if he'd had a big brother, he would have wanted him to be just like Howard Someone as kind and brave and not afraid to say he cared about things or to ad But now Luxa would have Howard for a brother, and that was or's armor had been retrieved from the balcony, cleaned, and repaired Miravet had made some adjustments to make it fit more coirl hurried in with the pink backpack Gregor had taken on his last trip to the Firelands He had tossed it so about it in his worry for Luxa It contained the flashlight York had returned to him, batteries, duct tape, water bottles, Lizzie's cookies, and the travel chessboard "Howard bid ht need it"

"Tell hiave hior arrived at the dock on the river, he found a sole funeral rites for the dead Each human, bat, or mouse body was placed on a small raft of some kind of woven plant fiber A torch was inserted in a holder at their shoulder A woor couldn't catch Then the raft was set in the river and released Although it was not as fierce as it had been before the earthquake, the current was still strong enough to quickly carry the rafts away As far as he could see down the river tunnel, torches reflected off of the water

So this was how they buried their dead Sent theiant sea, where they would be sed up by the waves It or had seen what he would call soil only in the jungle and in the farht work, but it would have to be somewhere outside of the city You could burn the corpses, if there were only a couple, but hundreds? The air would be thick with s winds here, like there were in the Firelands, to blow it away

The six kids he had seen earlier hauled in a stretcher with a dead rat It was dumped into the river with no ceremony

Ares landed on the dock next to hior

"Yes," said Ares "Hundreds have ht the rats?" Gregor asked He wanted to knohat had happened while he was in the prophecy roonaere just entering the water fro and attacked from the air It was very difficult for thereat numbers Many were destroyed but soroup raided the hospital, killing the patients Others swar where they met resistance Eventually they were driven back out to river, and those who could swaor

"No Bane He has retreated toward his own land The others will find hior a nize the mouse they placed on the next raft He looked smaller, more vulnerable, dead "Is that Cartesian?"

"He died defending the nursery," said Ares "But the pups are safe"

Gregor felt sadness well up in hiether Witnessed the nibblers dying at the volcano Played hide-and-seek with Boots and the mouse pups He went over and patted the mouse's soft fur before they lowered his body into the water Ripred had said, "Everyone of significance to you still breathes" By that he or's faor cared about Who knew if they were alive or dead?

The rest of the traveling party arrived Lizzie, Hazard, and Boots were blindfolded and being carried by guards "No point in giving therisly halls and was glad of the precaution

Ares was best suited to carrying Ripred, so Gregor, his sisters, and Teray bat, Euripedes Solovet was beside theor heard Boots say behind hi at Nike fros, Pincess," said Nike, lifting her black-and-white-striped wings'

"We are both Pincesses," Boots said with a laugh

Gregor pulled the blindfold down over her eyes "Stay in there, you" He turned to Nike "Good to see you You co some of the code team," said Nike Reflex and Heronian climbed on her back "Daedalus and Min reor

"There's still plenty of information to decipher," Ripred said "And the code could unexpectedly change"

As they lifted off, Gregor realized there were so ood-bye to Mareth, Dulcet, Nerissa, Aurora -- well, forget Aurora, she was locked in the dungeon with Luxa, and probably cursing hiood-bye with Howard had drained him And there were still ht his friends would understand

They flen the tunnel and out over the Waterway It twinkled with the flames of the torches on the rafts of the dead About fifty soldiers on fliers joined the as well "Are the or asked Vikus