"You need a noise?" said Gregor in frustration. "I've got a noise for you." He picked Boots up and wrestled her into the backpack.
"No! No! No!" Boots said, her voice rising in pitch and intensity.
"Everybody ready?" asked Gregor, pulling a cookie from Dulcet's bag.
The Underlanders weren't exactly sure what he was doing, but in seconds they were prepared to take off.
Solovet gave him a nod. "We are ready."
Gregor held up the cookie. "Hey, Boots!" said Gregor. "Want a cookie?"
"No, cookie, no, cookie, no, no, no!" said Boots, way past the point of being pacified.
"Okay," said Gregor. "Then I'll eat it." And making sure she could see, he stuck the whole cookie in his mouth.
"Mine!" screamed Boots. "Mine! Mine! Miiiiiiiiine!" It was an eardrum-piercing shriek that rattled his brain.
"Go you, Luxa!" cried Solovet, and the girl took off on her bat. Now Gregor could understand why the Coiler was such a big deal. Luxa was rising up along the web spinning and twisting at a dizzying rate. She held her sword out straight above her head. It was slicing the funnel to shreds. Only an extraordinary and flexible rider could have pulled off a move like that.
"Wow!" said Gregor. He jumped on Vikus's big gray bat.
"Miiiiiiine!" screeched Boots. "Miiiiine!"
Above him he could see Luxa spinning and slicing. The other Underlanders were following her, cutting straight up the sides of the funnel web. Gregor brought up the rear with Boots and her blinding screams.
At the top of the funnel, the golden bat hung in space performing an intricate, upside-down figure eight. Under the protection of Luxa's flashing sword, the Underlanders zipped out to freedom.
Gregor was the only one still in the funnel when it happened. From above, a jet of silk shot down, encircling Luxa's sword arm and jerking her from her bat. The pair of striped legs reeled her in like a fish.
CHAPTER 18
Gregor's mouth dropped open in horror. Luxa was seconds away from dying. She knew it, too. She was writhing in terror, trying to bite through the silk rope at her wrist with her teeth, but it was too strong.
He felt around desperately for a weapon. What did he have? Diapers? Cookies? Oh, why hadn't they given him a sword? He was the stupid warrior, wasn't he? His fingers dug in the leather bag and closed around the root beer can. Root beer! He yanked out the can shaking it with all his might. "Attack! Attack!" he yelled.
Just as the fangs were about to pierce Luxa's throat, he flew up and popped the soda can top. The stream of root beer shot out and smacked the spider queen right in the face. She dropped Luxa and began to claw at her six eyes.
Luxa fell and was swept up by her bat. They joined the rest of the Underlanders who were fighting their way back to help.
"Blade Wheel!" commanded Solovet, and the bats formed into the tight flying circle that had surrounded Gregor when he'd tried to escape from the stadium. The humans extended their swords straight out to the sides, and the formation began to move through the air like a buzz saw.
Boots's unearthly shrieks were causing many of the spiders to curl up in cowering balls. Whether it was the noise, the Blade Wheel, or fear of the root beer, Gregor didn't know. All he knew was that in a few minutes they were flying free and leaving the spiders far behind.
Gregor unclenched his legs when he realized he was probably squeezing the life out of his bat. In one hand he still held the half-empty can of root beer. He would have taken a drink if he'd thought he could swallow.
Boots's screams soon became whimpers. She put her head on his shoulder and crashed. She'd been so upset, she still made little gasping sounds in her sleep. Gregor turned and placed a kiss on her curly head.
Luxa was stretched out on her bat's back alive but wiped out. He saw Solovet and Vikus flying near her, speaking. She nodded but didn't sit up. They took the lead, and the bats sped even faster into the darkness.
They flew a long time down deserted passages. Gregor saw no sign of life, either animal or plant. Eventually, Solovet and Vikus waved them down, and the party landed in a vast cavern at the mouth of a tunnel.
Everybody practically fell off the bats and just lay on the ground. Temp and Tick seemed almost comatose from fear. The bats staggered together and pressed into a tight, trembling knot.
After a while, Gregor heard himself speak up. "So, isn't it time I had a sword?"
There was a moment of silence, then all the Underlanders burst out laughing. They went on and on. Gregor didn't really get the joke, but he laughed along with them, feeling the darkness drain out of his body.
The laughter woke Boots, who rubbed her eyes and said cheerfully, "Where spider?"
Somehow that set everybody off again. Pleased with the response, Boots kept repeating, "Where spider? Where spider?" to appreciative laughterr
"Spider go bye-bye," said Gregor finally. "How about a cookie?"
"Ye-es!" said Boots, without a trace of anger over the earlier cookie incident. That was one great thing about her. Once she'd melted down and napped, she transformed back into her own sweet self again.
When they realized the princess did not in fact hate them, Temp and Tick rallied and ran around playing tag with her.
Mareth started to prepare food, but Solovet ordered him to lie down and prop up his leg. She and Vikus made dinner while Henry and Mareth played some kind of card game.
Gregor went over to Luxa, who was sitting on a stone ledge. He sat beside her and could feel she was still shaking. "How are you doing?" he asked.
"I am fine," she said in a tight voice.
"That was really cool, that Coiler thing you did," he said.
"It was my first time in a real web," confessed Luxa. "Mine, too. Of course, in the Overland, spinners are small, and we don't call them our neighbors," said Gregor.
Luxa grimaced. "We do not mix much with spinners."
"Well, that's probably a good thing. I mean, who wants to mix with somebody who spends the whole time thinking about drinking you?" Gregor said.
Luxa looked shocked. "You would not joke so had the queen trapped you!"
"Hey, I was hanging there yelling for an hour before you guys decided to show up," said Gregor. "And they really hated me."
Luxa laughed. "I could tell. By what Queen Wevox said." She paused. Her next words were an effort. "Thank you."
"For what?" he said.
"Saving me with the ... What is this weapon?" She gestured to the root beer can.
"It's not a weapon. It's a root beer," Gregor said. He took a swig.
Luxa looked alarmed. "Should you drink it?" she asked.
"Sure, try it," he said. Gregor offered her the can.
She tentatively took a sip, and her eyes widened. "It bubbles on the tongue," she said.
"Yeah, that's why it exploded. I shook up a lot of bubbles. It's safe now. It's just like water. Go ahead, you can finish it," he said, and she continued to take tiny curious sips.
"Anyway, I owed you one," he said. "You saved me from that rat the first night. So we're even."
Luxa nodded but seemed troubled. "There is one other thing. I should not have struck you for trying to escape. I am sorry."
"And I'm sorry I called your home creepy. It's not like it's all creepy. Some of it's great," he said.
"Am I 'creepy' to you?" asked Luxa.
"Oh, no. Creepy is like spiders and rats and, you know, things that make chills run down your spine. You're just... difficult," said Gregor, trying to be honest but not flat-out rude.
"You, too. You are difficult to ... uh ... make do things," said Luxa.
Gregor nodded, but he rolled his eyes when she wasn't looking. It was hard to imagine anyone more stubborn than Luxa.
Vikus called them all to dine, and even the roaches felt comfortable enough to join the circle.
"I am drinking Gregor's spinner weapon," announced Luxa, holding up the root beer can. He had to explain about the root beer all over again, and then everybody
had to try a sip.
When the can got to Boots, he said, "Well, that's the end of that," thinking she'd guzzled down the last few swallows. But instead she poured out two little puddles.
"Beeg bugs," she said, pointing to the first puddle. "Bats," she said, pointing to the second. Both sets of animals obligingly drank up the root beer.
"I believe Boots to be a natural ambassador," said Vikus, smiling. "She treats all with an equality I myself aspire to. Come, let us eat."
Everyone dug in like they'd never seen food before. When he'd slowed down enough to actually taste his food, Gregor asked the question that had been worrying him since they'd escaped from the spiders. "Can we still go on the quest without the spinners?"
"That is the question," said Vikus. "That is the question we must all consider. Clearly we cannot expect any spinners to join us willingly."
"We should have seized two when we had a chance," said Henry darkly.
"The prophecy says the spinners must assent," said Vikus. "However, we know the rats have taken many spinners prisoner. Perhaps we can free a few and persuade them to accompany us. I have often had good results with spinners."
"But you will not be there, Vikus," Solovet said quietly.
"What do you mean?" asked Gregor, feeling his mouth go dry.
Vikus paused a moment, taking in the group. "It is time for those of us not named by the prophecy to return home. Mareth, Solovet, and I will fly after we rest."
Gregor saw his surprise mirrored on Luxa's and Henry's faces.
"Nothing in the prophecy forbids you to come," said Luxa.
"We are not meant to be here. And beyond that we have a war to fight," said Solovet.
The thought of going anywhere without Vikus and Solovet filled Gregor with panic. "But you can't leave us. I mean, we don't even know where we're going," said Gregor. "Do you guys know where we're going?" he asked Luxa and Henry. They both shook their heads. "See?"
"You will manage. Henry and Luxa are well trained, and you show great resourcefulness," said Solovet. She spoke simply and definitely. She was thinking of the war, of the bigger picture, not of them.
Gregor instinctively knew he could not change her mind. He turned to Vikus. "You can't leave. We need you. We need someone -- someone who knows what they're doing!"
He looked at Luxa and Henry to see if they were insulted, but both were waiting anxiously for Vikus's reply. "They know," thought Gregor. "They act tough, but they know we can't get through this by ourselves."
"I do not plan to leave you stranded in the Dead Land," said Vikus.
"Oh, great, and we're in the Dead Land," said Gregor. "So, you're going to ... what? Draw us a map?"
"No, I have arranged a guide for you," said Vikus. "A guide?" asked Henry. "A guide?" echoed Luxa.
Vikus took a deep breath as if he was about to begin a long explanation. But then someone interrupted him.
"Well, I prefer to think of myself as a legend, but I suppose 'guide' will do," said a deep, world-weary voice from the dark.
Gregor shot his flashlight beam toward the sound.
Leaning in the mouth of the tunnel was a rat with a diagonal scar across his face. It took just a moment for Gregor to recognize him as the rat Vikus had knocked into the river.
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PART 3 The Rat
CHAPTER 19
"Stay you!" cried Vikus, as Luxa, Henry, and Mareth sprang up, swords in hand. "Stay you!"
The rat regarded the three armed humans with amusement. "Yes, stay you or I shall be forced to move, and that always puts me in an ill humor," he said languidly.
Luxa and Mareth stopped uncertainly, but Henry ignored Vikus's command and lunged at the rat. Without moving another muscle, the rat flicked his tail. It cracked like a whip knocking the sword from Henry's hand. The blade spun across the stone floor and slammed into the cavern wall. Henry gripped his wrist in pain.
"The hardest lesson for a soldier to learn is to obey orders he believes are wrong," said the rat philosophically.
"Take care, lad, or you shall end up like me, stripped of any respectable rank and warming your shabby old hide at the fire of your enemies." The rat nodded at the old man. "Vikus."
"Ripred," said Vikus with a smile. "We have just commenced dining. Will you join us?"
"I thought you'd never ask," said Ripred, pushing himself off the wall and slouching over to the fire. He squatted back on his haunches next to Solovet. "My dear Solovet, how kind of you to fly out to greet me. And with a war on, too."
"I could scarcely have missed an opportunity to break bread with you, Ripred," said Solovet.
"Oh, come now, you know perfectly well you only tagged along to wheedle information out of me," said Ripred. "And to gloat over your victory at the Flames."
"I destroyed you," said Solovet with glee. "Your army turned tail and ran howling into the river."
"Army," snorted Ripred. "Why, they were as much an army as I am a butterfly. I'd have stood a better chance fighting with crawlers." The rat looked at Temp and Tick, who were cowering against the wall, and sighed. "Present company excepted, of course."
Boots frowned and toddled over to Ripred. She pointed her chubby finger up at him. "You mouse?"
"Yes, I'm a mouse. Squeak, squeak. Now shoo-shoo back to your little bug friends," said Ripred, picking up a hunk of dried beef. He tore off a piece with his teeth and noticed Boots hadn't moved. He pulled back his lips to reveal a row of jagged teeth and gave her a sharp hiss.
"Oh!" said Boots, scurrying to her roaches. "Oh!"
"Don't do that," said Gregor. The rat turned his glowing eyes on him, and Gregor was shocked by what he saw there. The intelligence, the deadliness, and, most surprisingly, the pain. This rat was not like Fangor and Shed. He was much more complicated and much more dangerous. For the first time in the Underland, Gregor felt completely out of his league. If he fought this rat, he wouldn't stand a chance. He would lose. He would be dead.
"Ah, this must be our warrior," said Ripred softly. "How very like your daddy you are."
"Don't scare my sister," said Gregor, trying to keep his voice steady. "She's only a baby."
"From what I hear, she's got more guts than the lot of you combined," said Ripred. "Of course, courage only counts when you can count. I'm presuming the rest of you can count, and will be screwing your courage to the sticking place any minute now."
The rat glanced around at Luxa, Mareth, and Henry, who were keeping their distance. The bats were extending and folding their wings, unsure of what to do. "Well, come on, then, isn't anyone else hungry? I hate dining alone. It makes me feel so unloved."
"I did not prepare them, Ripred," said Vikus.
"Clearly," said the rat. "Clearly my arrival is an unexpected pleasure." He went to work on his beef bone, making an awful scraping sound.
"Meet you, Ripred the gnawer," said Vikus to the group. "He shall be joining the quest as your guide."
There was a quick breathy sound, as half of those gathered inhaled sharply. A long pause followed in which no one exhaled. Gregor tried to make sense of what Vikus had announced so calmly. A rat. He was leaving them in the hands of a rat. Gregor wanted to object, but his throat had frozen.
Finally Luxa spoke up in a voice hoarse with hatred. "No, he shall not. We do not travel with rats."
" 'The Prophecy of Gray' requires it, Luxa," said Solovet. "One gnawer beside."
"'Beside' could mean anything," snarled Henry. "Perhaps we leave the gnawer dead 'beside' us."
"Perhaps you do. But having witnessed your last attack, I doubt it," said Ripred, starting on a wedge of cheese.
"We have killed five rats since midday," said Luxa.
"You mean the idiots that I handpicked for cowardice and ineptitude? Oh, yes, bravo, Your Highness. That was a masterly piece of combat," said Ripred, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "Do not flatter yourself you have yet fought a rat."
"They themselves killed Fangor and Shed," said Mareth bravely.
"Well, then, I stand corrected. Fangor and Shed were excellent fighters, on the rare occasions they were sober," said Ripred. "However, I expect they were outnumbered and somewhat thrown by the arrival of our warrior. What say you, Warrior? Do you refuse to go with me as well?"
Gregor looked into Ripred's mocking, tortured eyes. He wanted to refuse, but if he did, could he ever find his dad?
As if following his thoughts, Vikus spoke up. "You need Ripred to guide you to your father. These tunnels are unmapped by humans. You would never find your way without him."
Still, he was a rat. Gregor had only been in the Underland a few days and he already despised rats. They had killed Luxa's and Henry's parents, imprisoned his father, and almost eaten him and Boots. He felt a kind of power surging through him when he thought of how much he hated them. But if all rats were bad, who was this strange creature staring at him from across the fire, offering to be their guide?
"So, what's in this for you?" said Gregor to Ripred.
"A fair question," said Ripred. "Well, Warrior, I am planning to overthrow King Gorger and I need you to help me."
"By doing what?" said Gregor.
"I don't know," admitted Ripred. "None of us does."
Gregor rose and caught Vikus by the arm. "I have to talk to you alone," he said. The anger in his voice surprised even himself. Well, he was angry! The rat was not part of what he'd agreed to. This was not what he'd signed on for.
Vikus took Gregor's mood in stride. Maybe he had expected it. They walked about twenty yards away from the group. "So, how long have you had this plan with the rat?" asked Gregor.
Vikus thought a moment. "I am not sure exactly. Perhaps two or so years. Of course, it was all dependent upon your arrival."
"How come you didn't tell me about it before?" demanded Gregor.
"I do not believe in giving people more information than they can handle," said Vikus.
"Who says I can't handle it? I can handle it!" said Gregor, obviously not handling it.
"Perhaps you can, at least more easily than Luxa and Henry. I may well have told you if we had ever finished our discussion of 'The Prophecy of Gray,'" said Vikus. "No doubt you would have asked, and, yes, I may well have told you."
Gregor pulled the prophecy from his pocket and said, "Let's finish it now." He searched out the part of the prophecy where they'd left off.