The Seeker from Above: A Gregor the Overlander Fanfic

Chapter 7

Previously...

Stella slowly nodded, trying to understand the whole thing.

"We will be making preparations to start the journey. I shall escort you to your sleeping quarters and tomorrow, you shall depart on the mission to kill the Bane."

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.

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Sleep was a thing of the past for Stella. She'd just tossed and turned on the bed, trying to push the possible image of the enormous rat out of her mind. Vikus had said that this rat was likely to be larger than Ripred. Stella wasn't really scared when she'd first met Ripred. But maybe that was because he didn't look scary or evil in any way. But this rat would look menacing. It probably had big, red eyes and large canines, dripping with saliva.

She shivered at the thought, and kept on following the woman that had taken her to the bathroom. Vikus had told her that he'd be organising a council meeting and wanted her to attend. She didn't want to upset the old man so she'd decided to go anyway.

The woman — who Stella got to know as Genevieve, stopped outside a doorway and gestured towards the room, "you may enter."

Stella quickly thanked her and walked through, not wanting to be late.

She was confronted by an awkward scene: the Underlanders — what Gregor had called them earlier, were seated around a large, stone table with a bunch of scrolls, Vikus and Gregor were also there. They all stopped speaking and looked at her when she entered; Stella never really liked a lot of attention.

"Ah, welcome Stella. Please sit and I will introduce you to the council," Vikus beamed.

Stella nodded and sat on an empty spot next to Gregor, glancing at him before turning back to the council.

"May I all introduce you to Stella the Overlander," he began. "She had only recently arrived in the Underland and will take on the role of the Seeker in The Prophecy of Bane. We cannot confirm if she may be the Seeker as none of us here have witnessed it. However, we have Ripred as a witness. Stella, these are the members of the council who would be governing Regalia by committee, until Luxa turns sixteen and of age to rule," said Vikus while gesturing to the older Underlanders.

They nodded at Stella as a greeting.

"This is Howard," Vikus continued, looking at a boy who looked around Stella's age, maybe around sixteen. "His family governs The Fount, the only other human settlement in The Underland. You have met Luxa before, Howard is her cousin."

Everyone is somehow related down here, Stella thought.

Howard smiled and nodded at Stella.

The nods must be some way of saying 'hello,'  thought Stella.

"I assume you know Ares," said Vikus. "We shall resume the meeting,"

The council members mentioned that Regalian spies had brand-new information and had just locked in on an area where they thought the white rat was hiding. Although none of them had personally seen the creature, their sources indicated it was in a place called the Labyrinth.

Stella remembered that the Labyrinth was a maze in Greek mythology that was guarded by a Minotaur. The names here sounded so old and fancy.

"Yeah, let's get going. The sooner the better!" Gregor said, when the council was currently talking about which way to travel to the Labyrinth. They all looked at him in surprise. Stella smiled at his enthusiasm, and wondered if he was looking forward to killing the Bane.

"We may need another Flier to accommodate the ratio of human-to-Flier," Vikus pointed out.

There was a brief moment of thought within the room.