Page 26 (1/2)

Chapter 26

The stunned silence in the arena was broken by Lizzie's squeal of joy, "Ripred! Ripred!" She pushed her way out of the crowd and threw her arht you were dead"

"I told you, it takes a lot to kill s, anyway," said the rat

"But they found your skeleton," said Lizzie

"That must have been Cleaver's I dove under his body as soon as we landed and then ran The ht et away Funny, I always despised Cleaver, but I can't help thinking warmly of him now," said Ripred

"How did this happen?" asked Lizzie, reaching up to lightly touch the new slash on his face

"Oh, a rat cut ed Lizzie up onto a patch of fur on his back

"I'll hurt you," she said

"No You'll remind me why I'm here," said Ripred, and locked eyes with Luxa

"And why is that, Ripred?" Luxa said icily

"I told you To speak for the gnawers Or did you think I spent years risking life and limb so that you could dictate our future?" asked the rat

Now the creatures in the crowd found their tongues, and everyone was turning to their neighbor in either dis considered Ripred an ene with the huun to take his allegiance for granted But taking Ripred for granted was a bigthat he had always been working toward thiswith Luxa, otiate with hi as he stood for the rats

Luxa raised her voice above the hubbub "Is this true, gnawers? Does he speak for you?" The rats were clearly as amazed by Ripred's appearance as anyone else They shifted around, whispering a to reach some kind of consensus

Then a voice rose, clear and forceful, above the others "Yes! I say he speaks for us!" Lapblood and her two children made their way out of the crowd If Ripred had always been an object of suspicion, it was clear that Lapblood was trusted aue cure and had had the influence to lead the dissenters against the Bane A an to call for Ripred to act as their representative

Gregor could see the tension in Luxa's shoulders It was hard enough to have to lay out the postwar plan in front of the entire Underland But to do it with Ripred standing by to challenge her every ue and she knew it Who wouldn't be out of their league with Ripred?

To make matters worse, Nerissa suddenly cried out, "Oh, Luxa, see you the mark on his face?"

Luxa scrutinized the rat's face "It is but another scar a many"

"But look! It forms an X! The mark borne by the peacemaker!" said Nerissa

"Many of us have scars that cross!" York strode out of the crowd

"Think of the words," said Nerissa And the arena quieted to hear her recite the poe voice:

On soft feet, by none detected,

Dealing death, by most rejected,

Killed by claw, since resurrected,

Marked by X, two lines connected

Finally, they intersected, two lines met, one unexpected

"Do you not see?" insisted Nerissa "It describes Ripred exactly Slipping in undetected, deadly, hated, thought lost, but brought back to life And the X! One half was given by a hu And now the hunawer line meet in the flesh as well In Luxa and Ripred"

The arena went nuts but Luxa remained unmoved She waited for the commotion to die down, then said, "Do you fancy yourself the peacemaker, Ripred?"

"Well, I don't like to blow my own horn, but it doesAnd if I a I can do about it one way or the other, is there?" said the rat

Gregor could hear everyoneto one another that this was true, that the prophecies ritten in stone But the rat was looking at Gregor, shtly as if to say, "See what I or was suddenly convinced that Ripred had given himself the second wound It would be a snated the peacemaker

"Good Then you should have no problenawers into the Uncharted Lands," said Luxa

This surprised even Gregor, although in retrospect, maybe it shouldn't have When she had started the war, Luxa had told Gregor, "We et it over with Have the war that will answer the question of who stays and who goes" But he had thought, with all that had happened during the war, that she ed her mind Apparently not

With her proposal, everything becaly and hard

"Yes, I do have a problehness So much so that I flatly refuse to do it," Ripred spat at her "What do you say to that?"

"I say that you o peacefully or by force; it is your choice!" said Luxa

"If it is another war you are looking for, then believe rowled Ripred "But I wonder how you will fare, with your li army and your broken city and me at your throat instead of your back!"

"I do not need you, Ripred I have Gregor!" said Luxa

"Do you? I wouldn't count on it Even if he stays, I'll wager he finds your measures too harsh Perhaps he will even remember past kindnesses and take or'sabout? What were they both doing? Could they actually be going back to war? And did they plan for him to join them?

"We will leave it to him to decide," Luxa said, and then turned to hi to knohere he stood

"You're really going to do it, aren't you? You're really going to go back to war?" Gregor said He could feel soet about what happened The jungle, the Firelands, the Bane" His voice was rising and he could feel the rager side of hiet about everybody who's dead! Tick and Twitchtip and Hamnet and Thalia and Ares! And your parents, Luxa! And your pups, Ripred! Let's just forget about everybody who gave their lives so that you could have this ain! So you could stop the killing! We were fighting for the sa, remember? You te each other your lives! You owe me your lives! And now you stand there and ask or yanked Sandwich's sword fro it so violently that even Luxa and Ripred stepped back "Well, guess what? The warrior's not fighting for either of you!"

And with that, Gregor took the sword blade between his hands and sla with such force that it snapped in two He flung the pieces aside, one toward Luxa, the other toward Ripred Fresh blood was running from his empty hands as he held them up "There The warrior's dead I killed him"

"And so 'The Prophecy of Tior shook his head Would they never shut up about those prophecies? But he only said, "Whatever Nohat are you two going to do?"

"What, indeed, after such a display?" said Ripred to Luxa "Although the boy doesa nehile the blood is still drying fro at our borders" The crowd reacted, and Ripred circled around to make sure everyone could hear hi they're taking this opportunity to finish us all off, but you have to ad, and us so weak Of course, if things were different between us "

"Yes, I see We ht deter them," Luxa said sharply

"We have done it in the past," said Ripred

"The past is gone Hoe knoe can trust you now?" asked Luxa

"Trust us? You just tried to banish us to the Uncharted Lands! I think if anyone needs a little reassurance, it's the gnawers!" answered Ripred "So -- I don't knorite up a treaty or soo up in a flash," said Luxa

"Then you decide, Luxa Friends or enemies Trust or no trust Between you and me Between our species You decide how it is to be," Ripred said

It was the le playing out on her face Flickers of Solovet's hardness interchanging with Vikus's desire for understanding All of the old hatreds and sacrifices and debts and hopes swirling around inside her as she tried to decide the fate of the Underland War or peace Battle or compromise Solovet or Vikus It was the very decision that had destroyed Hao mad, then flee, then die in battle

Finally Luxa's expression solidified "There will be no treaties," she announced "They have always failed us in the past" Gregor's heart slammed somewhere down around his feet But she had not finished

"There will be no treaties!" Luxa repeated "But I offer this" She stepped forward and raised her right hand to Ripred

The crowd let out a gasp at what she was proposing Even Ripred was initially taken aback But he recovered quickly "A bond?"

"A bond between all hunawers A vow to defend each other to the death I offer it Do you dare take it?" asked Luxa

"Do I dare?" said Ripred "Yes, I do" He lifted his paw up and pressed it against her hand

After a nawer, I bond to you, Our life and death are one, o In dark, in flame, in war, in strife, I save you as I save my life