The walk back to the clearing is quiet and truly uneventful, although slower than before on account of me still not being able to breath normally. I'm hoping the Regalians will be to do something about that and my shoulder.
The flight back is also quiet, except for Luxa murmuring our discovery to Aurora. Kel divided the rest of the plums between us and the bats, but no one was really hungry. My body wants to rest, to take advantage of these few hours of flight before I know we'll have to speak with the council and tell them what we discovered, but I'm unable to rest. They'll be furious with the Queen for leaving, I'm sure, but will probably send me out with others to investigate the men myself.
I suddenly remember the flier who attacked me during training. She said her bond was killed, and I think I know who did it and why she blamed me. I'll have to visit her to make sure, but I will take revenge. That's for certain. No one should get away with separating two bonds like that. The criminal deserves death for such a crime. I know how it feels to be on the receiving end of that offense.
      When we land, there are already several Regalians waiting for us, including a few guards, doctors, and Ripred. The scouts in the tunnels must have seen us fly in. Luxa approaches a few of the guards and hurriedly relays instructions. I catch the words "council" and "everyone" before being distracted.
     Howard, another of my favorite Underlanders, is among the doctors. He doesn't waste any time with words and immediately wraps me in an embrace. I hug him back as best I can with one arm. When we separate I ask, "How have you been Howard?"
     "Well enough, Gregor." Howard's welcoming expression turns to disapproving. "You've hardly been in the Underland a day before you once again run off with our Queen. I hope the explanation for this is better than another 'date'."
     I flush a little at the reminder of how I embarrassed myself making excuses for our last "picnic". That hadn't gone so well.
     "Our reasons shall be explained soon enough before the council, Howard." Luxa answers, leaving the guards and coming up beside me. "And I shall be sure to allow you entrance to the debates afterward. But first would you be so kind as to tend Gregor's shoulder?"
     Howard takes one look at my arm and nods a little. "I can fix this now, Gregor, if you will hold still. Unless you wish to go to the hospital for pain medicine first?"
     I shake my head and close my eyes as Howard takes ahold of my arm. I remember how Hamnet did the same thing to Aurora and how much it hurt her. But I can bear this. Nothing can hurt as much as losing Ares.
     A sharp wrench of pain and a pop later, my shoulder is fixed and Luxa, Kel, Aurora, Osiris, Ripred, Howard, and I make our way slowly toward the council room. A few messengers fly ahead of us to alert the members that it's time to convene.
"You know, Luxa." Ripred drawls sarcastically. "I knew you would go off on a quest by yourself, and I wasn't going to be the one to stop you. But I though, as bonds, that you might trust me enough to tell me."
I'm surprised to see a guilty expression cross Luxa's face, and I again wonder how close their bond has become. It's obviously not as close as between a human and flier, but it's still something important and personal. Ripred actually seems hurt that Luxa didn't trust him enough to tell him we were leaving.
     "I am sorry, Ripred." Luxa stares at the floor, and I get the feeling she would say more if present company were elsewhere.
     "At least you weren't hurt, although the Warrior looks a little worse for the wear."
     "I'm fine." I say, and incidentally start coughing as my throat flares with pain.
     "My point has been proven." Ripred grins. "Your title is just as ill-bestowed as before. If generous beings like Luxa and I didn't care enough to watch your every step, you would be dead a hundred times over already."
     I wanted to argue that Ripred was exaggerating, and that I'd saved both their lives before, specifically when Ripred was trapped in a pit with his teeth so overgrown he couldn't talk, but Luxa takes my hand in reassurance.
     The rest of the walk toward the council room is silent, and when we stride through the doors I'm surprised to see how full the room is. The seats along the sides are filled with Underlanders, and more trickled in through other entrances to stand nearby. It seems every Regalian is to be present at this meeting.
     There are also several other creatures in the room. Representatives of the gnawers, nibblers, crawlers, fliers, spinners, shiners, and diggers sit in two rows alongside the council members. They don't converse between the species, quietly pretending the others don't exist, but at least they're here. This is proof that the negotiations following the war were successful, and the thought makes me smile.
     In between two of the roaches, seated on the ground with his legs curled beneath him, is a certain little Half-Lander I know is in charge of breaking the language barriers. I wave to Hazard, Hamnet's only son, and the boy's bright green eyes sparkle with happiness as he waves back.
I stand at the edge of the room with Luxa while every last Underlander files in. There are even a few hospital patients on gurneys wheeled by doctors. The last to enter are guards who sweep in through the tunnels on their fliers. As soon as the last one lands--it's Ade, the man who gave me a ride into Regalia on Flite his bat--Luxa strides forward toward the center of the room, motioning for me to stay put.
     "Members of the Council!" Luxa's voice rings through the hall, and silences the chattering creatures. "Regalians! Representatives of the fliers! Gnawers, nibblers, and crawlers! Diggers, shiners, and spinners! My people and my friends. I have called this meeting because a new prophecy has arisen, and we face a threat that we never have before. The prophecy is thus:

"The Overland creeps into the Under
The Warrior shall return from the grave
Hiding people cower under a web
From it, they must be saved"

     After each stanza, Luxa pauses to let the meaning settle in. I'm surprised that she knows the words so well, that she's thought on them enough to ingrain them in her memory.

"Greed comes with picks and axes
For stone and pale stone faces
Eleven shouters descend below
On breaking spider strings and laces

"Besieged by the diamond will
Beset by a flimsy, green wish
Careful or stones will come raining
And gasping will come the fish

"But in the face of sickening brutality
The Under must not lose morality
And forget their own mortality
Or it's own will be fatality

"The Warrior must hold them together
In the face of the oncoming flood
The peace of the Under has forgotten
It's past memories of blood

"Two can be saved from the dark
But nine are lost at heart
The killing greed must be undone
It will split the Under apart."

     Silence fills the hall for several heartbeats following the recital. Every eye, animal and human, rests on the Regalian Queen. Even the spinners take part in the lack of motion. This prophecy is not just about the humans--the killers--but about every Underlander.
     The last line of the prophecy echoes around the room ominously, predicting the end of every life in this room, and every member of their individual species, every living creature that inhabits the miles of caves and tunnels beneath New York City.
     Unless I can save them.