Missing

Luxa awoke with her head lying on the very cold stone ground. She looked around , trying to shake the grogginess from her head. Howard and Hazard were still next to a burnt out fire, snoring away. Why did something feel wrong? Luxa took another look around, and then it hit her.

Gregor was missing.

Luxa tried to reassure herself. He may have went to fly around, or to scout the cave. Luxa froze and looked down near her feet. Blood stained the ground around her. She rushed over and shook Howard awake.

"Gregor is missing!" Luxa urgently shook him harder.

"Erggggg."

"Wake UP ! Gregor is missing!" Luxa slapped her cousin across his face, which startled him awake. Howard groggily tried to get ridded of the cobwebs in his mind. "What" Howard said disbelieving her, but one look across the cave ridded him of any doubt. Howard's gaze fixed on the drops of blood across the cave. "Pack up. We're leaving" Luxa ordered, and Howard shook Hazard awake.

Soon, they were flying across the river. Luxa was very deep in thought. Howard nudged his bat closer, and spoke to Luxa. "We don't know where he went. It would be pointless to look for him"

"We need to find him anyways" Luxa spoke very harshly.

"I know you like him, but you can't go looking for one person when the Underland is facing a new creature."

"This discussion is over" Luxa spoke very coldly, and whispered in Aurora's ear. Soon, she was away from Howard, who was flying on Cosmos. Hazard was flying on Nike, and apparently asleep. The bats turned left. Aurora took the lead and Luxa asked her a question. "Where are we going?"

"West. This tunnel connects to a very huge ravine. Many have died there."

Everyone rode in silence for a while.

Almost 3 hours later, Luxa saw something that made her blood run very cold. In the distance, a bat-like creature flew right in front of them. It wasn 't a bat. It's eyes were a cold, penetrating blue. What scared Luxa the most was the body. Ominous black scales lined the abdomen, but the hybrid didn't have normal arms or legs. Instead, the appendages were human. Blood trickled down where the limbs were grafted on.

Luxa went pale. "A month ago, a bat and his rider were lost over the Uncharted lands, presumed dead."

Howard turned a very slight shade of green. Hazard looked nauseous.

They flew away.