Gregor and the Prophecy of Destruction - a Gregor the Overlander fanfiction

Chapter 4

Gregor was stunned. "What do you mean, this is Regalia?"

Howard sighed. "This is why we need your help. The city has been attacked."

"By the rats?" Lizzie asked.

Howard nodded as he looked at the ground. "It turns out that a lot of the rats still see Ripred as a traitor. And they refuse to accept an alliance. That being said, many of the rats are good and trying to protect Regalia." He looked at Nike. "Thank you, Nike." She nodded and flew off.

"Is everyone okay?" Lizzie wanted to know. Her brown eyes were wide with fear.

Howard shook his head. "Not everyone."

"What... what about Queen Luxa?" Gregor asked in a shaky voice.

"And Ripred?" said Lizzie.

Howard turned to Lizzie. "Ripred's... um... stressed. He's been fighting nonstop." He turned to Gregor. "Luxa's worse."

"What do you mean, Howard?" Gregor asked, frantically looking around.

"When Regalia was attacked, the rats set off bombs," Howard told them. "Unfortunately, a bomb blew up right near Luxa. She's temporarily deaf, and she has a lot of broken bones. Yesterday, she suffered from a heart attack." Howard sighed. "The doctors say she has two weeks left."

The cave went completely silent. Lizzie clutched Boots tightly to her chest. Gregor clenched his fists and teeth, trying not to cry. He dug his fingernails into his palms.

After a moment of silence, Gregor spoke. "Tell me about the prophecy."

Howard nodded. "Sandwich didn't write any more prophecies about you, but... Nerissa did."

"Nerissa?" Gregor was shocked. Nerissa had been so weak... so pale... he was honestly surprised she'd survived. "She wrote a prophecy about me?"

"Yes," Howard replied. "And your sisters."

Gregor guessed it made sense. Nerissa's visions of the future were almost always accurate, just usually not in the way they expected. Sort of like Sandwich's prophecies.

"What do we need to do?" Gregor questioned.

"I... I can't explain it here," Howard said, looking around nervously. "The rats don't know about the prophecy. They could be listening."

"Just tell me if I need to go on another quest," Gregor said.

Howard sighed. "It is unclear."

"Well, take me to Luxa." Gregor was insistent on the fact that he needed to see Luxa. If she really had only two weeks left...

Howard nodded. "Follow me."

Boots squirmed in Lizzie's grip as she walked. "Temp! Wanna see Temp!"

"I know you do," Howard said. "Just wait a little longer, okay, Princess?"

"I a pincess!" Boots declared, crossing her arms. Howard chuckled a little at that.

"I've missed you guys," Howard told them. "I really have."

"Me too, Howard," Gregor responded. "I just... I can't believe all that's happened here. When was the attack?"

"Three days ago," Howard replied. "I wish you'd been able to come sooner, but I understand."

Gregor nodded. "Yeah. I can't stop thinking about this place. The things that have happened here... they're awful."

"For a while, things had settled down," Howard said. "Or so it seemed. Turns out the rats were just making a plan for future attacks." Howard sighed. "They had an inside man telling them all of our weaknesses. A rat pretending to be on our side. We trusted him," Howard continued. "Now, it is hard to trust any rat. But at the same time, we need every fighter we can get."