Gregor and the Prophecy of the Overland (Book VI)

Falling

"Whoa." I put my hands up in front of me to show I'm unarmed. "Calm down."
"Shut your mouth, demon." Marc growls, his hands unwavering on the pistol grip. "Go back to being dead or I'll make you, the hard way."
"What are you talking about?" I ask, completely confused now. I focus on the barrel of the gun and can feel my rager tingling in my limbs.
"Last time I saw you, you jumped into the damn river." Marc steps closer until the gun is pressed against my head. I try not to jerk away from the cold metal, try not to give any cause for him to kill me.
"I didn't die. There was a flier down there and it caught me. Ask Henry. He saw our fliers bring us up here."
"What's he talking about, Henry?" Marc turns toward his friend, but the gun doesn't move from my temple.
"He came out of the river." Henry shudders and inches away from Marc. "On these giant flying things. They looked like bats, and they left after."
"Bats." Marc says, disbelieving. "Giant bats. Flew out of Alpha. Are you high, Henry?"
"No, they're real!" Henry backs away further, obviously scared. "He can show you! Ask the kid!"
I flinch when Marc turns back to me. I breath deeply and sense that something in my surroundings has changed. In the shadows of the tunnel I came through, a flier is hiding just out of sight. Based on the size I'd have to say that it's Eris. And he's ready to attack.
"This demon wouldn't tell the truth even if he knew it, Henry." Marc growls. "I'm not believing anything he says, and not anything you say either. You're too gullible."
"You don't have to believe me." I say slowly, careful not to startle the lunatic. "You can believe your eyes. Eris, come out slowly. Don't attack. Just let them see you're real."
Eris inches out into the light until his whole front half is visible. The white, mechanical glow makes his silver fur shine even brighter than in torchlight.
"What the--" Marc stumbles back away from me, and I take the opportunity to knock the gun out of his hand and onto the floor. "That thing is--"
"A bat, yes." Howard steps out of the shadows after Eris, as I knew he would. Nike and Euripedes follow with Vikus. "But where we come from they are called fliers. Will you speak with us peacefully?"
"About what?" Joseph, the third man, says. His skin is so dark that he nearly blends into the shadows around him.
"About how you may help us." Vikus responds. "We could take you back to Regalia if you wish to speak to our Queen. Her name is Luxa, I am Vikus, and these are Howard and Gregor. We only wish to speak with you peacefully, if you are willing."
Joseph and Henry turn toward Marc. The two taller men seem to have a silent conversation while Henry's eyes flick back and forth between them. After a moment, Marc nods in agreement and they turn their attention back to us. "Fine." Marc says somewhat amiably. "We'll go meet your Queen and see if we can help you. But where is she? There's no Queen in New York. Is it some sort of vampire club?"
"Club?" Howard asks, confused.
"No, it's not a club." I answer for him. "And they aren't vampires. There's a kingdom down beneath us. Most people don't know it exists because you need a bat to take you there across the river. It's called the Waterway and leads straight to Regalia. We'll need to fly there, if you'll ride with us."
"Ride?" Henry chokes. "On those--those things?"
"Euripedes, Nike, and Eris will not let you fall." Vikus replies. "And one of us will ride with each of you to ensure your safety, and to give you peace of mind."
Nike speaks up. "You will not need to worry."
"Wait, they can talk?!" Marc's jaw drops, horrified at this new development. "What the hell!"
"Yes, we can speak." Eris answers, offended. "We are not simply dumb creatures to be trained and slain like in the Overland. And if you are ready, we can start toward Regalia where all shall be explained."
Marc nods, and moves toward Nike and Howard. Vikus offers a hand to help Henry settle on Euripedes. And that leaves me with Joseph, the tall dark-skinned man who was rappelling into the Waterway and presumably mining diamonds. He quickly unclips the harness from his chest and shoves it in the corner along with the rope that's still anchored in the concrete wall.
"So you're Joey?" I ask casually.
"Joseph." He grunts, and pushes past me to climb onto Eris. I quickly show him how to sit before climbing on in front of him. He places his hands on his knees, trying to act normal, like he rides on giant bats every day. Because who doesn't?
"Are you ready, Howard and Gregor?" Vikus asks. Henry is already holding onto the old man's waist for dear life.
"All set!" I answer, and Howard does the same.
With a rustle of wings, Euripedes and Nike dive through the hole in the floor, and Eris quickly follows. As soon as we leave the ground, Joseph wraps his arm around my waist tightly, forgetting how collected he was a moment before. Then we're soaring through the Waterway and toward Regalia. Henry's and Marc's flashlights are still on for a moment, now clipped to their belts, before Howard and Vikus tell them to turn them off.
Pitch black decends around us, and there's only the flap of wings and the crashing of water to fill the journey. But I can still see with echolocation, unlike the other humans. We're flying upstream fairly quickly, zipping over the river like flying speedboats. We pass a small beach on the right, and I know it's the same one I landed on when I tried to escape Regalia. Before I knew I was the Warrior.
Before I met Ares.
Eris bobs a little on a current of air and Joseph tightens his grip on me. I grunt, wanting to ask him to let go, but then remember how scared I was when I first flew and decide to let him use me as an anchor. This is just as terrifying for a grown man as it was for a twelve year old. It's not natural for Overlanders.
And there I go again. Talking like I belong down here. Like I'm a part of the Underland rather than the Over. But that's what it feels like to me.
I glance up at Howard and Vikus, each with a darker-skinned Overlander sitting behind them and holding on for dear life.
This is like déjà vu.
I start to tense, remembering what came next in my dream, but it's too late. I'm weightless as Joseph shoves me hard from behind, tipping me sideways off Eris' back. But I'm not entirely caught off guard and manage to catch ahold of the man's arm as I tumble.
A beat later we're both falling through the air, and in an instant we're engulfed in water. It's in my mouth and nose before I even have a chance to realize I shouldn't breathe it in. Joseph hits a half-second after I did, and his flailing hand grabs my arm before we even breach the surface.
Then I'm up, my head out of the water. I gasp, drawing in a choked breath, but then I'm down again. Joseph has my arm, and he's using me as a buoy to stay afloat. I kick upward and manage to get another breath before I'm under again.
Liquid fills my nose and mouth and I desperately remember the beach I saw a minute ago. The water's moving fast enough that we may just be passing it, but I start kicking, trying to swim toward the left wall of the Waterway.
I catch random images of the bats overhead, but the water is messing up my sixth sense. Eris swoops low over us but Joseph pushes me under again. It seems the fliers are also having trouble with their own echolocation so close to the constantly churning, thrashing surface of the river.
My head comes up one more time and I can sense the beach just a few feet to our left. I claw toward it and pull my upper body onto the bank. I can't even get my legs out of the water before I'm coughing, sputtering, and throwing up the liquid I swallowed and breathed in.
But then Joseph is on top of me. He pulled himself out, with me as an anchor, and for some reason is now attacking me. I flip over and elbow him in the face, breaking his nose with one strike. I'm still disoriented and waterlogged, but my rager sense doesn't ever leave me now that I can always see.
Joseph falls back, not into the Waterway but very close, and hurriedly flicks on his light so he can see me. I scramble to my feet just as he pulls a gun from somewhere by his waist and fires.
I scream. I can feel the hastily aimed bullet tear through my thigh. It lodges somewhere in my leg, not quite making it through but missing the bone.
Joseph cocks his weapon for another shot. I clumsily leap toward him, my rager still propelling me forward despite the pain. My fist connects with his jaw in one solid strike that knocks him out cold. His eyes roll back in his head and he falls backward toward the water.
But I'm done with killing.
I grab his wrist as he falls and pull him toward me, out of danger of death. The gun falls into the sand and I collapse next to it, unable to keep weight on my left leg.
Then the bats land.
"Gregor!" Howard calls. He can't see yet. Without light he has no way of knowing where I am or even that I'm hurt. But Eris is next to me in an instant, obviously smelling the blood.
"We need to get Gregor to Regalia." He nudged my arm. "Now, Howard! He is hurt!"
I struggle to pull a flashlight out of my pack and flick it on. Howard immediately moves toward the light and takes it from me. He catches sight of the bloodstained hole in my dark pants and gasps. "What did this?"
"Gun." I grunt, my vision tinted red and black from pain. I take the weapon from where it lies next to me and flick the safety switch before dropping it in my backpack. "Need to...get back. To Regalia."
Howard nods and carefully pulls me onto Eris, leaving the limp form of Joseph on the beach. He's face down in the sand so I can't see how bad his broken nose is. "Get him." I groan. Howard looks at me sideways, obviously unsure why I want to save someone who just tried to kill me. But he does as I ask. Vikus helps him slide the unconscious man onto Euripedes in front of Henry. Vikus moves between the two Overlanders, supporting Joseph's limp form. Howard tries to climb on Eris behind me but Vikus says something and he gets back on with Marc, who still hasn't moved to help.
At least he hasn't moved to fight.
My ears are ringing and my sixth sense vision flickers in and out with the noise distortion. I blink and we're soaring over the Waterway. I blink again and we're over the Regalian docks. Again and the city is beneath us, torchlight illuminating the silver fur beneath my cheek. And then we've landed and Howard is lifting me off Eris.
I hear the word 'shock', then a few seconds later 'knife' in a questioning tone. I realize the Underlanders don't know what a gunshot wound is. I have to tell them to take out the bullet, or they'll just close up my leg with it still inside.
I blink again and I'm in the hospital. A doctor rushes by and I grab her arm. "Howard." I groan. "Get Howard. He has to..."
The doctor nods, seeming to understand, and hurries off. Seconds later Howard is next to me. He mouths a question but with the ringing in my ears I can't hear a single word. So instead I say what he needs to know to fix me.
"Bullet." I gasp, blinking tears out of my eyes. "Have to--get it out." Howard still looks confused. "Take out--the bullet... It's a piece--of metal. You have to--to take it out."
Howard stares at me, putting together what I just said. Then he leaps toward one of the tables for a syringe. Two doctors file into the room and Howard presses a needle to my arm. "Howard." I croak one last time. He looks at me and says something.
I can't be sure, but I think he says, "I'll get it."
Then I'm out cold.