Author's note: I am no way connected to Scholastic, and I don't own any of the characters except for Aaron and Eliza, whom I created. I only borrowed them, and will return them after playing with them in the sandbox of creativity. I will also make no promises about their cleanliness. Now that's all done and over with, let's get on with the story. Enjoy. Signed – ShannonL.
Chapter 1
It was a cold, brooding night. The kind where the lost ones, the phantoms are supposed to roam, and do. Two such phantoms were roaming now, flying beneath a pale pearl moon, wrapped in billows of black velvet smoke. The wind wailed a mournful dirge, echoing the silent cries of the two, and masking whatever noise they made by racing through silent urban streets, and vacant fields.
"Eliza. Stop." One of the shadowy, ghostly figures said to the other. "If we keep on like this, we'll collapse from fatigue. Better to crash, until we know what to do. Or they'll certainly grab us."
His compatriot wordlessly considered, platinum hair whipping wildly around her pixie face. The only thing unpixie like about her were her eyes. Steely ice blue things, as cold as the mountain glaciers.
Suddenly sirens pierced the darkness, smashing the calm to jagged shards.
Frantically, he snatched her hand, pulling her into the darkness of a side alley, melting with her into the shadows of the night, and waited.
One, two, three. Three inky black shapes suddenly screamed past the two, and then faded into the ebony void.
"Eliza, we're in trouble now. Those were the special Yeerk tracking forces."
"Yeah, those dammed hover cruisers are hot on our heels. Though I wonder, why are the Special Forces are after us? We're just two renegades, two souls who refuse to let the Yeerk scum take away our freedom. We've never even hurt them, just ran away and hid from them." She replied bitterly, a bit of Irish brogue lacing her words. "Why us? We're just a waste of their time. Just two specters. There are certainly more dangerous, threatening people they could go after, Aaron."
"Yes, certainly" mused Aaron, noting an unlocked cellar door. He was wondering the same thing. Why would the Yeerk Special Forces take an interest in them? Two lost souls, who sometimes raided the encampments for food and clothing. That wouldn't be harmful to the Yeerks, would it? Wouldn't the much more dangerous and elusive rebel groups, like the Animorphs, be a much better target?
Crrrrreeeeeeaaaaaaakkkkkkk.
Eliza had opened the cellar door. She smiled with amusement and concern as she noted the startled expression on this face, and the way his hand had practically flown at the speed of light, to the stolen dracon beam hanging from his belt.
"Relax Aaron, there's no one down there. I would have heard them, if they were."
"Don't be so sure Eliza. Hork-Bajir can be very quiet when they want to be."
"I still think we should go down. I mean, you were right before, they'll get us for sure if we stay out here. Whatever is down there has got to be better than whatever the Yeerks have planned for us."
"Fine Eliza. But, let's go with our dracon beams at the ready. Who knows what's down there?"
She nodded once and palmed her beam from the chain that served as a belt. And with a glance to the eerily silent street, she began to swiftly descend the stairs with a fluid, delicate, wraith like grace, that Aaron had always found mysteriously fascinating. Aaron quickly glanced around, then whisked off after her, not wanting to spend more than an instant outside, alone and vulnerable.
A soft "Yes" floated up the stairs to greet him as he silently closed the wooden door behind him. Suddenly, a warm, golden light flooded the darkness, healing his tattered soul.
"Eliza, can you dim that thing down. We don't want the Yeerks on to us, do we?" he chided as he finished descending the stairs.
Instantly the light dimmed a few notches, and so did his fear of being discovered. He turned the corner from the stairs, into the room and gasped.
The cellar was in actuality an underground apartment.
Chapter 2
"Uh oh, Eliza?! We should get out of here. This place probably does belong to someone, and they could be back at any minute!"
"No way Aaron. Take a closer look around. Nobody has been here in years. Just check out that dust."
Indeed there was a thick layer of dust all around the place. Clearly no one had been there for years, if not decades. Aaron repressed a shiver as he glanced around the Spartan décor of the room. The place had the feel of a tomb. He didn't want to think about what had happened to the room's last tenants.
As he looked around, he gasped as he caught his reflection in an alcove mirror. Ragged golden blond hair, and vivid, almost fluorescent green eyes set into a drawn, weary face stared back. A face that seemed somehow wrong on a seventeen year old.
He turned around, adjusting the rags that served for clothes, to face Eliza. For some odd reason, the image in the mirror had disturbed him greatly. But how? Aaron's face wore a pensive, worried look as he searched inward for the answer for whatever had shaken him. He knew it was there, but the answer kept eluding him, evading his every effort to call it up.
Eliza noticed the expression quickly. In an instant her delicate face went from a cold, impassive stare to full-blown concern, and for a few precious moments, genuine warmth sparkled in those Arctic eyes. But that was short lived. She shook off those emotions, and regained her customary composure. Feelings and emotional ties were downright dangerous in this high stakes world of survival. They could get you killed or worse, and she and Aaron knew it.
"You must be getting tired Aaron." She warily muttered. "You should rest. I'll take the first watch. Go to sleep. Relax, I'll be fine."
Aaron weakly nodded as he lay down on a very dusty couch. There was no use arguing with Eliza. She was right. The fatigue was already battering him, dragging him down a well of darkness, down from the world of the waking, into the domain of dreams….
Chapter 3
Hoofbeats thundered, against a backdrop of fire and gore. Horrific scenes of violence raged around the small child, scenes no child should ever see. Even the very evening winds seemed to scream a melody of agony, rage, and hate. Hate never seen before or ever since.
Grrrrrraaaaaaawwwwwhhhhh!!!!!
A horrid shriek made the child whirl around, bright, tearful green eyes widening as he took in this new horror. The bladed demon raised its knife like arms high, and….
Fwapp.
Something faster than the eye could see sent the monster flying into a brick wall. The child turned slightly and beheld his savior for the first time, an otherworldly creature of blue furred, mouthless centaur, with stalk eyes and a long, fast, bladed tail. The child should have been frightened, but no, he wasn't. He felt this stranger held no malice towards him.
"Aaron, thank God you're safe. Ax; please take him away, away from all this. Forget about us, just save my son please." His father, seemingly coming out of nowhere, cried.
Tobias?!
"Ax, just leave us. Save him." Tobias pleaded. Then he fixed his eyes, with his son's frightened gaze. Eyes that were exactly the same as Aaron's and the alien called Ax. He gently scooped the child up in his arms, hugged and kissed him, and lightly rested him on Ax's back.
"I love you Aaron, I always will, never forget that. Ax, keep him safe. Now go!"
Tobias, come with us.
"I have to help Rachel. I can't go. Please Ax, for the love of God, GO!"
Ax reluctantly did so. It was last Aaron ever saw of his father.
Slowly at first, then faster and faster, the two fled from the carnage of the battlegrounds. Past the city center, past the suburbs, into the woods, Ax ran all out, while Aaron lightly rode. They didn't stop until they reached Ax's shelter, an oval pit with one end covered with a roof.
Aaron shakily slid off Ax's back, while Ax himself fought to get his wind back.
At last, when Ax was finally able to breathe, he said Aaron, my name is Aximili Esgarrouth Isthil. I am a close friend of your father.
"My parents. Are they O.k.
I'm sure they are fine.
"Really."
Really. Ax said reassuringly.
"Why were all those bad people trying to hurt my family? What did we do to them?"
There are two reasons. One, your mother, father, their friends and I ruined many of their evil plans. But, they never knew that we were the ones that were destroying their nasty schemes. Until a few days ago. I don't know how they found out, but all that matters is that they did. They by the way, are an evil mind controlling alien race called the Yeerks. All of us who fought them, belonged to a group called the Animorphs. The Animorphs were founded by my brother, your grandfather, Elfangor.
"My grandfather?"
Yes Aaron. Which brings us to the second reason. Visser Three, the murderous Yeerk overlord, has quite a vendetta against Elfangor and his family. Which includes you. He won't rest until we are extinguished from the universe.
As soon as he had said that, a crashing, crunching noise arose from the bushes. A young girl, scratched and bruised, tumbled out.
"Help! They're after me! The evil ones are after me! Help!" she shrilled.
No sooner than she had finished, three bladed forms of death burst from the bushes and froze. They looked first at the girl, then Aaron, and then they locked their gaze on Ax.
Ax recovered from his shock, screamed Run, children, RUN!
Aaron needed no second invitation. He grabbed the girl's hand and bolted, dragging her behind him as he went.
At last when they could run no more, they stopped and hid in a small cave, partly concealed by brambles. They huddled together, souls shaking with terror; bodies trembling with fatigue, in the cold, cramped, dank cave. When dawn finally appeared, spreading her fiery fingers across the children's wan faces, only then did they emerge, tired and shaken, but relatively unharmed.
Aaron turned to the girl, and asked her a question he had wanted to ask her all night, but hadn't for fear of being caught.
"Who are you?"
The girl smiled, the last expression of warmth to cross her face for a long time, and replied.
"I am Eliza."
Chapter 4
Aaron woke up in a cold sweat, every cell in his body tingling. He knew what he had seen was real. The vision was no dream, but long repressed memories, just now breaking to the surface. He could feel in his heart of hearts, the trueness of it all. But why now? Why after all these years, would the memories surface now? What could have triggered them?
Wait a minute. The reflection in the mirror. Aaron's face had appeared exactly like his father's on the night that he lost him. The weary, horror-ridden face and the sad, hopeful, anguished eyes were the same. The reflection had triggered the memories.
Aaron prepared to return to the peaceful, blessed empty void of sleep, but something stopped him. One nagging question that Aaron couldn't quite forget forbade him to sleep, a question that grew more urgent with every waking moment. Why were the Yeerk Special Forces after them? In a flash Aaron had the answer. Didn't Ax say that the Yeerk warlord was obsessed with wiping out all of Elfangor's family, a family that Aaron was apart of? No wonder the Yeerk Special Forces were after them. Visser Three must have found out about him, and was now trying to destroy him.
He suddenly felt confined, trapped. Like the walls of the suite were collapsing around him. Suffocating, he couldn't breathe. Have to get out of here he thought need to escape. He clawed at the blanket that Eliza had draped over him earlier. Out! Have to get OUT!
Eliza ran over. "What's the matter with you?!" she demanded. "One moment your sleeping like a little lamb then, BAMM, you and your blanket are having a lovers quarrel!"
"Specters of the past."
"What?"
"Haunting memories."
"Oh."
"Eliza, I badly need air. I'm going topside."
"Aaron, are you crazy. If you go out, you might be captured or killed. Is this really what you want? To die or worse. Come on Aaron, be sensible. Stay inside."
"Eliza, if I stay in here, I'll go insane. Anyway, I want to find out if the Yeerks have picked up our trail."
"Fine Aaron. Go out. Just don't stay out too long and be careful."
"Fine, I will, Mother."
He turned and walked out of the apartment, totally missing Eliza's wry smile that had ghosted in and off her wan face.
Chapter 5
The night air was cool and sweet on Aaron's face as he stepped into the side alley. He stopped for a moment, just enjoying the evening breeze's soft caress on his face, the absolute silence of the night. Then he began to look around for an emergency fire escape ladder and found one. His hands closed on hard steel, and he started to climb under an ebony sky festooned with a million burning gems.
At last when he had reached the top, he flung himself over the ridge of the roof, and lay down on the cold concrete, not wanting to do anything but just breathe. He lay there and stared up at the stars, taking in the fresh air and trying to sort through the recently erupted memories. But it was no use focusing on that task, not while he was expecting some Controllers to appear over the edge of the roof and grab him. He sighed and rose to a crouching position. He had a job to do anyway. He slowly crawled to the roof edge, always keeping to the shadows. Finally he reached the edge of the building. He peeked down, not sure of what he would find, and found nothing. The streets were completely empty. He glanced around. It was too quiet, even on a slow night there was always some noise.
"Something's wrong."
A high pitched, banshee scream suddenly tore the night.
Eliza!
She was being mercilessly dragged out from cellar by two Hork-Bajir. Her ethereal face was panic stricken, and there was a large bloody gash in her arm. Yet she still stood strong, still defiant to the very end. And then the devil himself, the overlord of demons, Visser Three appeared out of the shadows like the abomination he was.
Well, well, well, what have we here? A small, pitiful, human girl all lost and alone?
His voice was deep, menacing, laden with undertones of death and destruction. Absolutely overpowering, was the dark light that flowed from him. The visser literally stank of evil. Aaron felt a wave of hatred rise up against this vile creature. The very sight of this monster made Aaron want to hurl.
"Pitiful? If you want to see pitiful, head to the nearest mirror, you jackal! Then you'll see pitiful!" Eliza spat, hatred coating her every word. She was no longer panicked; instead she was completely enraged. Aaron found himself admiring her courage. It took a rare kind of person to stand up and talk back to that unholy person!
Visser Three said nothing. Instead he merely looked her up and down. Studying her with his intimidating gaze, like an entomologist studying a very interesting ant. Aaron realized that the visser was most likely shocked speechless. Aaron was willing to bet that not many people had done that to the visser.
So the little human girl has a temper. Amusing. But that paltry show of defiance does not disguise what you are; a weak, fear filled child who is only good for being a vessel for one of my kind. He mocked. Your planet is defeated, little girl and so are you!
This drew chuckles from all of visser's troops, they apparently enjoying Eliza's predicament. Eliza herself was shaking, not from fear as the visser thought, but from boiling, burning hate. Aaron saw the look on Eliza's face and realized, as Eliza already had, that it was a no win situation. Eliza knew that she was doomed no matter what she did and Aaron with a shock, realized Eliza's tragic, but necessary course of action. She would chose suicide, over infestation or torture and then death, as the preferable outcome.
Aaron wept silent, silver tears over Eliza's imminent death. He wanted to go down there and tear the visser and his troops apart, but Eliza wouldn't want that. She would want Aaron to survive to another day, and to make sure that her death was not in vain. Even though it made perfect sense, Aaron didn't have to like it at all. He stared down at his companion of many years, not looking away, honoring her bravery.
Visser Three stepped forward on dainty hooves. His menacing eyes locked onto Eliza's face, while she stood tall and stared straight back, an expression of utter contempt plastered on her face.
I have dallied long enough. Now on to business. Where is Aaron, the grandson of the Beast Elfangor? I made a promise to wipe out all of Elfangor's line, and I always keep my promises.
"I don't know. And if I did know, I would never tell you, Yeerk scum! I never betray my friends!"
Visser Three smiled slowly, maliciously with his eyes. I was hoping you would say that. Because I think you are lying. But don't worry, we can cure you of that vice. A few rounds of torture should loosen your tongue and get you talking truthfully. He sneered. Then with a gesture to the two Hork-Bajir that held Eliza captive, he commanded Take her away.
As the Hork-Bajir dragged her away, Eliza, with a desperate burst of strength, broke both her captors' holds on her wrists. She grabbed one of the dracon beams from one of her stunned guards, and before they could react, she spun away while setting the weapon for maximum.
"You will never take me." She screamed. Then Eliza thrust the weapon like a thunder bolt towards her, and fired!
TTTSSSSSEEEEEEEEWWWWWW!
Eliza disappeared in a shimmering energy cloud of fire and light.
Chapter 6
Aaron, after all the Yeerks had left for sometime, slowly climbed down the metal ladder. As he descended the cold steel rungs, his head whirled with a thousand thoughts. How did they get passed me without me even noticing? Even though I didn't see them, I should have heard them. Did they come in another entrance? Oh Eliza, I miss you! It should have been me, not you; I'm the one that they wanted. I unknowingly dragged you into this; I'm so sorry Eliza.
He jumped down to the alley from the last rungs of the ladder, and ran to the spot where she died. He stared down at the pavement; all he could see was a small pile of ashes, all that was left of the brave Eliza.
He ran his fingers through the gray ash, thinking this is the last time I ever touch her. Goodbye my courageous friend, goodbye Eliza. I promise you that what happened will be avenged. Somehow, somewhere, you will be avenged.
He stood up; ash trickling from clenched fingers. He looked up at the sky, at those deadly diamonds, and vowed with tears streaking down his face, that Visser Three would not be unpunished for his crimes. For crimes committed against Eliza and his family, he would pay and pay dearly.
Aaron turned raced from the alley, heart heavy with grief, away from the scene of the tragedy. Not knowing where he was going, he ran on.
It was a cold, brooding night. The kind where the lost ones, the phantoms are supposed to roam, and do. One such phantom was roaming now, flying beneath a pale pearl moon, wrapped in billows of black velvet smoke. The wind wailed a mournful dirge, echoing the silent cries of the one, and masking whatever noise he made by racing through silent urban, and vacant fields. The phantom raced on.
Fin