The Seeker from Above: A Gregor the Overlander Fanfic

Chapter 25

Previously...

As they flew off, she looked back over her shoulder. The Bane was sitting next to Ripred, eating the candy bar, paper and all.

Maybe it would work out in the end.

.

.

.

After they had flown for a while, Gregor spoke up, "you want to find a place and take a nap?" he asked. "I can keep watch." But even as he spoke, he yawned.

"I am strangely wakeful," said Ares.

"As am I," said Orion.

"Why do you two not sleep while we fly? We will rouse you when we have need of rest," said Ares.

"Alright, thanks," Stella stretched out on Orion's back. The fur was damp, and it smelled of rotten eggs, but Stella's clothes were in no better condition. Beneath the fur was the warmth of Orion's body. She closed her eyes and let oblivion take over.

The bats let them sleep about six hours before waking them. They camped in a niche high in the rocks of a cavern. The bats conked out immediately after providing Stella and Gregor with a few raw fish.

Stella picked up one of the fish and cut off a strip of skin with her sword. She had watched someone in those fish markets clean fish. It hadn't looked so hard so she decided to give it a try. Stella started off by removing all of the entrails and then she pulled out the large bones. Luckily, this fish didn't have many small bones, so she was done quickly. All the while, Gregor was watching in awe.

"You know how to clean fish?" He asked.

"Not really, I just remember watching someone do it," Stella replied.

Stella passed the cleaned fish to Gregor, "here."

Gregor took a bite of the cold meat, "thanks."

Stella repeated the process with rest of the fish until every fish was cleaned. She used her sword to push the entrails off the ledge and wiped her sword on the stone.

She shoved a piece of the raw fish in her mouth.

Still, hunched over her fish on the stone ledge, she felt like he was in a time warp. She'd become a Neanderthal or something, tearing into raw flesh, just trying to get the life-sustaining calories into her body. That must have been a hard life.

Stella wiped her hands on her pants and leaned back against the stone. Gregor finished and did the same.

She stared into the semi-darkness, catching silhouettes of rock, rock, and more rock.

Ugh! She thought. Will I ever get the Seeker's power?

Gregor swept the flashlight beam over the surrounding rocks. Nothing new.

Stella tried to calculate something she'd been consciously ignoring: the number of days she'd been in the Underland.

It was almost impossible to figure out. She'd been in Regalia less than two days before they'd set sail on the Waterway, she was pretty sure of that. She thought someone had said the trip to the Labyrinth was about five days. Then another day or two until they met up with Ripred? Nine days? Ten?

Her family must be a complete wreck. She would be coming home right around Christmas. But what would she say to Nora? That had been bugging her for a while. Should she tell her about the Underland? Leo would probably think Stella was lying; unless of course, she had proof.

Stella and Gregor sat silently on the rocks.

When Ares and Orion woke up, there was more raw fish and then they took off again. They followed the same pattern for a day or two. Gregor and Stella sleeping while the bats flew, the bats sleeping while Gregor and Stella kept watch, until finally Stella awoke to Orion's words, "Overlanders, we are here."