Gregor and the Prophecy of Bane - 2 by Suzanne Collins Page A
Authors: Suzanne Collins
Tags: Fiction, General, Science-Fiction, Fantasy, Action & Adventure, Family, Juvenile Fiction, Fantasy & Magic, Brothers and sisters, Animals, Siblings, Friendship, Missing Persons, Imaginary wars and battles, Quests (Expeditions), Prophecies
Ads: Link
grossed out.
"He told her they were a delicacy reserved only for royalty and he could not offer her any. So of course she stole a handful and stuffed it in her mouth," said Luxa.
"Henry could trick her into anything," Ares said, followed by a few more "huh, huh, huhs." And then suddenly his laughter faded. "He could trick all of us."
A cloud seemed to fall on the bats and Luxa. Henry had treated them far worse than he had treated Stellovet.
"Whatever Henry was wrong about, he was right about my Fount cousins," Luxa said grimly. "Especially Stellovet. She dreams of Nerissa and me dying because she thinks Vikus would be made king then and she, as his granddaughter, would be a princess."
They were all quiet for a time, then Aurora piped up on a more positive note. "Gregor's feat will be good for you, Ares."
"We shall see," said Ares.
"It will. It will do you no harm to have a bond who can hit the total," said Luxa. "No one will dare ignore you now."
Gregor hoped this was true. It didn't seem like Ares had much of a life.
Suddenly Ares's and Aurora's heads shot up. Luxa listened a second and then leaped onto Aurora's back. They were gone in a flash.
Gregor could hear some kind of horn blowing in the distance. It had a high, wailing pitch.
"What is it?"
"It is a warning, Overlander. You had best mount up," said Ares. Gregor grabbed a torch and threw his leg over Ares's neck. They were immediately airborne.
"Warning? What kind of a warning?" he asked as they swerved out over the lake.
Ares spoke calmly, but his muscles were tense. "It means that rats have entered Regalia."
***
CHAPTER 8
Gregor gripped Ares's fur and immediately assumed the worst. If rats were in Regalia, they must have come for one thing: Boots!
"Hurry, Ares! Please!" said Gregor.
"Yes, Overlander, I will hurry," said Ares. His powerful wings were beating up and down in a blur. "And Luxa and Aurora will go straight to your sister."
It was only a few minutes, but it seemed to take forever to get back to the arena. Gregor had visions of an army of rats ripping their way across Regalia with one target in mind. Maybe the giant white rat itself had come to kill her!
As they sped into the stadium, a guard shouted at them and waved at the massive stone doors that separated the playing field from the city. "There are just the two! There, by the doors!
Stay back!"
Ares put on the brakes, but they were close enough to get a good view of the battle on the ground. In front of the doors were two rats fighting for their lives against a dozen humans on bats. The smaller rat seemed to be able to leap amazingly high off the ground. It was not getting a lot of action, though, because a much larger rat was shielding it from the brunt of the attack.
The big rat was moving so quickly that Gregor couldn't tell much about it. It was spinning in a circle, springing from its front feet to its back feet, lashing out at anything that came within reach of its claws and teeth. He could see bats and humans getting wounded, but not a single blow was landing on the rat. It was like watching one of those martial arts movies where no one can touch the main sensei or master or whatever, it was like watching —
"Oh, no!" Gregor exclaimed. "It's him. It's got to be —"
"Ripred!" Ares cut him off.
"Stop them!" said Gregor.
Ares was already diving. He swooped in from the side, knocking two riders off the front line. He did a figure eight that disoriented a few more, and did some strange hovering motion in the air over Ripred's head.
"Stop!" yelled Gregor. "Stop, he's a friend!"
The Underlanders pulled back to avoid hitting him, and began to shout angrily at Ares to move.
"No, you don't understand! He's on our side! It's Ripred!" Gregor hollered over the din.
They heard the name Ripred, and the Underlanders pulled back in silence.
The big rat stopped spinning and fell almost lazily on its back. Its scarred face broke into a big, fanged grin,
"He told her they were a delicacy reserved only for royalty and he could not offer her any. So of course she stole a handful and stuffed it in her mouth," said Luxa.
"Henry could trick her into anything," Ares said, followed by a few more "huh, huh, huhs." And then suddenly his laughter faded. "He could trick all of us."
A cloud seemed to fall on the bats and Luxa. Henry had treated them far worse than he had treated Stellovet.
"Whatever Henry was wrong about, he was right about my Fount cousins," Luxa said grimly. "Especially Stellovet. She dreams of Nerissa and me dying because she thinks Vikus would be made king then and she, as his granddaughter, would be a princess."
They were all quiet for a time, then Aurora piped up on a more positive note. "Gregor's feat will be good for you, Ares."
"We shall see," said Ares.
"It will. It will do you no harm to have a bond who can hit the total," said Luxa. "No one will dare ignore you now."
Gregor hoped this was true. It didn't seem like Ares had much of a life.
Suddenly Ares's and Aurora's heads shot up. Luxa listened a second and then leaped onto Aurora's back. They were gone in a flash.
Gregor could hear some kind of horn blowing in the distance. It had a high, wailing pitch.
"What is it?"
"It is a warning, Overlander. You had best mount up," said Ares. Gregor grabbed a torch and threw his leg over Ares's neck. They were immediately airborne.
"Warning? What kind of a warning?" he asked as they swerved out over the lake.
Ares spoke calmly, but his muscles were tense. "It means that rats have entered Regalia."
***
CHAPTER 8
Gregor gripped Ares's fur and immediately assumed the worst. If rats were in Regalia, they must have come for one thing: Boots!
"Hurry, Ares! Please!" said Gregor.
"Yes, Overlander, I will hurry," said Ares. His powerful wings were beating up and down in a blur. "And Luxa and Aurora will go straight to your sister."
It was only a few minutes, but it seemed to take forever to get back to the arena. Gregor had visions of an army of rats ripping their way across Regalia with one target in mind. Maybe the giant white rat itself had come to kill her!
As they sped into the stadium, a guard shouted at them and waved at the massive stone doors that separated the playing field from the city. "There are just the two! There, by the doors!
Stay back!"
Ares put on the brakes, but they were close enough to get a good view of the battle on the ground. In front of the doors were two rats fighting for their lives against a dozen humans on bats. The smaller rat seemed to be able to leap amazingly high off the ground. It was not getting a lot of action, though, because a much larger rat was shielding it from the brunt of the attack.
The big rat was moving so quickly that Gregor couldn't tell much about it. It was spinning in a circle, springing from its front feet to its back feet, lashing out at anything that came within reach of its claws and teeth. He could see bats and humans getting wounded, but not a single blow was landing on the rat. It was like watching one of those martial arts movies where no one can touch the main sensei or master or whatever, it was like watching —
"Oh, no!" Gregor exclaimed. "It's him. It's got to be —"
"Ripred!" Ares cut him off.
"Stop them!" said Gregor.
Ares was already diving. He swooped in from the side, knocking two riders off the front line. He did a figure eight that disoriented a few more, and did some strange hovering motion in the air over Ripred's head.
"Stop!" yelled Gregor. "Stop, he's a friend!"
The Underlanders pulled back to avoid hitting him, and began to shout angrily at Ares to move.
"No, you don't understand! He's on our side! It's Ripred!" Gregor hollered over the din.
They heard the name Ripred, and the Underlanders pulled back in silence.
The big rat stopped spinning and fell almost lazily on its back. Its scarred face broke into a big, fanged grin,
Similar Books
