Cassie
I.
Aftran took out her nail brushes and said, casually, "So, how do you plan to kill the other tributes?"
"I'm not planning to kill them," I said, keeping my face calm so my makeup wouldn't crease.
"You're not squeamish, are you?" says Aftran, painting a red stripe. "Surely your parents have had to put down some animals."
"Only when they have to," I said. "I don't have to. I'm going to be merciful."
"Sometimes death is a mercy," said Aftran in a flat, distant voice, and I fell silent, because maybe she wasn't lying.
II.
Miracle didn't see me coming. None of them did, because they didn't acquire the tree squid, didn't know how to find it despite its camouflage. By the time I rolled the stone over the pool, it was too late.
«Please don't try to demorph,» I said. «There's not enough room. When Lysander tried he screamed like it was torture.»
Two hours later, Miracle whispered, «Mercy. Please, just kill me.»
«This is mercy. You know what death is like. This is better.»
«Are you sure? It looks so peaceful.»
It did. That was what scared me.
Jake
I.
"I think James should be in the alliance," I said.
"The cripple?" Octavia sneered.
"Have you seen the strength in his arms? Once he morphs…" I said.
Marius inspected James' biceps. "Fine. If he survives the bloodbath."
I went over and tapped him on the shoulder. "Hey, James. Want to join us?"
James stared at the Careers. "You want me?"
I nodded.
"No one ever wants me."
"That was in your District," I said. "You're a tribute now. You can be something more."
"All right," said James. "But I follow you. No one else."
"I can work with that."
II.
"How good is Octavia?" James said, as his skin became feathers. His eyes were still human, though, and they shone with anxiety and… something else.
You were the first person to ever really see him. He's in love with you, I realized. He's making this so easy.
"She's good. But you'll be fine," I lied. I reached out, caressed his face. "I believe in you."
James leaned into the touch until the bird consumed the boy. I turned so he couldn't see my face. Two down, I thought. Two to go. The rest is detail.
Rachel
I.
"Gotcha," said David, holding his knife to the Five girl's throat. "Morph and you'll bleed out. Hey, Rachel, can you take the knife? I want to morph lion and tear her head off."
"Why?" I said. "Just cut her throat. You don't have to toy with her."
He bared his teeth. The girl trembled against him. "Why not? You had fun tracking her down. I'm having fun too."
"The hunt is over," I said. "Claim your victory and be done."
David drew the knife slowly across her throat, and we both watched the blood flow down.
II.
I noticed the flash of disappointment on my district partner's face when I neatly snapped the Four girl's neck.
«You're not Saddler,» I growled.
I couldn't get to David before he demorphed and remorphed. The chase began, bear against lion, until he pinned me beside an unconscious girl.
«Eat her,» he said, «and I'll let you go.»
«No.» I flipped him over and tore his belly open. «You're right. I like killing. But it's better to hunt the powerful than the powerless.»
«I'm sorry,» I told the girl, and slit her throat.
Marco
I.
"I saw Mom, Mags," I hissed, seizing her hands. "She was on the Avenue of the Tributes."
"I know," she said.
"She's dead," I whispered.
"No, chico," said Mags, stroking my palms.
"You never told me or Dad."
"Too dangerous. That's why she kept this from you. They'd kill you. But she's the greatest rebel Four's ever made – too useful to kill. They've been using her to draw other rebels from hiding."
"She would never let them use her like that."
Mags sighed. "She has no choice. Let me tell you about the Yeerks."
II.
I'd turned the rest of the Career alliance against itself. I'd rejiggered the Three girl's traps so they'd backfire next time she checked them. And I was going to die, because I didn't acquire a cold-weather animal before the Sevens killed them all.
"Did you give her my message, Mags?" I mumbled through numb lips, wondering if she could hear.
A falling parachute blotted the cold light. My fingers fumbled at the note wrapped around the vial of blood.
Polar bear DNA. Enjoy.
(You're right. She'll behave, knowing I can hurt you.)
Edriss
Tobias
I.
I wasn't shocked. They reap a Fangor every generation. Something that one of our ancestors did in the Dark Days: rebellion, consorting with an Andalite, had doomed us. I was… resigned.
As I walked up to the stage, I caught a glimpse of my aunt and uncle in the crowd. I don't know what I expected to see, but it wasn't this: nothing but blankness behind their eyes. They were resigned. To them, I was dead already.
No, I decided. Better to be shocked, better to be scared. That's what my ancestor, the rebel, would say.
II.
«Your two hours are almost up.» Taylor circled below me in eagle morph. «You've spent more time hawk than human in this arena, haven't you? Maybe after the Games, I'll keep you as my pet. Then we can really play.»
I banished memories of knives against bone. The wind was finally right. I opened my beak and let the bomb fall. Taylor was right. I had mostly been a hawk. Which is why I didn't have to look to know I'd hit.
The helicopters came. I didn't care. They couldn't trap me forever.
Aximili
I.
We listened in numb silence to the transmissions from Earth.
«So,» said Elfangor. «This is how the Yeerk Empire has used its slaves.»
«The Andalite homeworld. What have they done there?»
«This isn't just about the homeworld, Aximili. The humans have their own worth.» Elfangor's stalk eyes turned toward the yellow star growing larger on the viewscreen. «I learned that half a lifetime ago.»
«375 of their years. With the Yeerks preventing our return to Z-space, and the time dilation effects…» I touched my tail blade to Elfangor's. «Oh, my brother. I wish it could have been otherwise.»
II.
I flicked my stalk eyes skyward, then toward the guarded fence. «The Time Matrix is not here, is it?»
«No. It is buried in the ocean, at pressures our ship might not withstand.»
«Then why are we here? The risk of discovery is too great.»
«The place where Loren and I lived is lost to the sea. But some of California lives on, in this place the Yeerks call "District 3." So I will pay my respects.»
I knew how the ritual began. «Did she die well?»
Elfangor's eyes glittered. «She died in the service of her people, defending freedom.»