"Even the plants will attack," said Ares.
"Got the scars to prove that," said Gregor.
"Luxa speaks with an edge because she is in pain," said Ares.
Gregor turned to his bat in exasperation. "Look, Ares, we both know we're going! Let's just give it a few minutes so it looks like it was hard for you to talk me into it, okay?"
Ares gave one of his rare laughs. "Huh-huh-huh."
Gregor shook his head but then laughed, too. He stopped when his eyes fell on the mouse. "Should we do something with Cevian? I hate to leave her sitting out here. Something's just going to come along and eat her."
"We had best let Luxa and Aurora decide. She was their friend," said Ares.
"Yeah, I guess you're right," said Gregor. He noticed a crevice at the base of the big rock. "We could at least scoot her back in that crack. Hide her a little."
Together, they slid Cevian back into the hole. It actually did a lot to conceal her.
When Gregor turned away from the mouse, his torchlight fell on a mark on the ground. He had not seen it before, because Cevian had been lying right on top of it. Gregor squatted down and examined the mark more closely. It had been roughly scratched into the chalky rock. And recently, too, by the look of it. There was a straight line. At the top, going off to the right side, was a thin, slightly curved appendage. It reminded him of a flamingo's beak. "Look at this," he said to Ares.
"Do you think Cevian made this mark?" asked his bat.
"I don't know. Maybe. Maybe she was trying to write a word. Do the mice know how to write? Ripred said something about the rats not being able to hold a pen," said Gregor.
"Both gnawers and nibblers can scratch out a word if they wish," said Ares.
"Well, it kind of looks like Cevian started to make a P, but she couldn't finish it," said Gregor, tracing the mark with his forefinger. "P is for Pincess," he heard Boots say in his head.
"Perhaps she was trying to write a name. A P could also become an R or a B," said Ares.
Gregor felt a pang of guilt. R is for Ripred. B is for Bane. They were both running around out here someplace. Could one of them have attacked Cevian?
"It is strange. I believe Cevian died instantly when her head was struck. She must have made this mark before she was attacked," said Ares.
"She could have seen her killer coming and started their name," said Gregor. "If she recognized them." Both Ripred and the Bane were famous in the Underland.
"And then been attacked, yes," agreed Ares.
They both stared at the mark for a while longer in silence, but it gave them no more information.
"Has enough time passed for me to have convinced you to go to the jungle?" asked Ares.
"Seems about right," said Gregor. He swung onto Ares's back and they sped off.
In about thirty minutes, they'd caught up to Aurora and Luxa. When they did, Gregor and Luxa exchanged a glare and then ignored each other for the rest of the trip to the jungle.
The first thing Gregor noticed was the heat. The humid air hit him like a wall, and he knew that the ground below him had changed from barren stone to thick vegetation. Then he could smell the decaying plant life and hear the mechanical chatter of the insects. Gregor had nothing but bad memories of the place, with its poisonous frogs, flesh-eating plants, and stretches of quicksand. He hoped they could get in and out of it as soon as possible.
Their destination was a spring deep in the heart of the jungle. Gregor had arrived there some months before, severely dehydrated and caked in quicksand. A group of mice had lived in the area and, under their protection, Luxa and Aurora as well.
"Do not dismount yet," said Luxa when the bats touched down at the spring.
They sat quietly, surveying the area. The only good thing about the jungle was that it always had some light that was provided by the small volcanic eruptions on the floors of a network of streams. At least Gregor could not be thrown into total darkness here.
Nothing seemed amiss. "Nibblers! It is Queen Luxa! Will you show yourselves?" Luxa called out.
There was a ripple of reaction in the vines at the sound of her voice, but no mice appeared.
"We must check the caves," said Luxa, sliding off Aurora's back. She drew her sword. "I will lead. Then Aurora and Ares. The Overlander will cover your backs."