1 What really happened to Ax
- - -
"Answer this, Ellimist," Rachel said. "Did I… did I make a difference? My life, and my… my death… was I worth it? Did my life really matter?"
"Yes," the Ellimist replied, without hesitation, his voice kindly, assuring. "You were brave. You were strong. You were good. You mattered."
"Yeah. Okay, then. Okay then."
The Ellimist watched as her line, her strand of space-time, went dark and began curling away.
"Stop."
And, as ordered, things stopped.
"What do you want, One?" the Ellimist asked, annoyed, feeling the presence of the foul creature.
"The girl," the One said. "I know that you, Ellimist are bound to the rules of the game between you and Crayak. You cannot save her. I can."
"Who is this?" Rachel asked. She was drowsy, sleepy, partly faded but still not completely gone. A part of her was very much alive, very much aware. That part was also slightly irritated; if she was going to die, she wanted to get it over with. No interruptions.
"He calls himself the One," the Ellimist said. "He rarely interferes… with this part of the universe. He mostly keeps to his own part. As I strongly advice him to keep doing."
The One smiled. "Is that a threat, Ellimist?"
"If it needs to be."
"What does he want?" Rachel demanded.
"To help, of course," the One sneered, ignoring her and still turned to the Ellimist. "Would you care to let this girl live, Ellimist? I can do that. I can save her. Hide her, in another part of the universe. In a place where Crayak might know she is there, but can't reach her, if he would want to, if this angers him."
"You can't," the Ellimist said. "I will not allow it, One. I see who you are. What you are. What you do. I will not…"
"Ask the girl," the One spat.
The Ellimist was silent.
"Ask her!" the One demanded. "Ask if she wants to return home, with time. Avenge her own death, perhaps, if she wishes to. Ask her, Ellimist, if she wants to live."
Stubborn silence.
"Will you not grant her last wish if that is it?" the One said. "Will you refuse her life when life is within her grasp? That is not like you, Ellimist. Actually, it reminds me of… Crayak."
The Ellimist shuddered, space and time shuddering with him.
"Only ask her. If she wants life, I will grant her that. As a favour."
"What do you ask for in return?"
"Favours require favours returned," the One said. "Remember that, Ellimist. I grant her life…"
"But what kind of life, One? What tricks do you plan for her?"
"From the girl, nothing. I will leave her be. I will not interfere with her again. Even if she crosses my path, I will let her walk unharmed. This is a favour for you, not her. I expect one from you later on."
The Ellimist sighed. "Rachel?" he said, again his voice in a tone commonly used for speaking to a child. "Do you wish to live?"
Rachel hesitated. Fully aware, fully alive, she would have hesitated longer. Asked more questions. Questioned what she was hearing. Questioned who she was hearing it from.
But she was not fully alive. She was dying; falling over the edge of the cliff of death, hands waving, balance failing, her entire body out over the edge and only one foot still on the ground, also about to loose its grip. Her mind was set on resignation; the peaceful, calm resignation of a mind who does not fear death, nor welcomes it, but simply has seen too much of it to care.
"Rachel," the One said, for the first time saying her name. "Tobias misses you. He shouldn't have to miss you, Rachel. He will not have to."
Rachel again saw what she had seen on the screen in the Blade ship. Tobias had morphed human, for her. Morphed human and cried, for her. She was already dead and he was mourning. He was…
"He shouldn't have to cry for you," the One said, a hypnotic whisper in her ear. "Do you wish to live, Rachel the Animorph?"
All hesitations were gone.
"Yes."
- - -
THREE YEARS LATER
The reason for Captain-Prince Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthil to even be on the unknown vessel was that he had been bored.
But suddenly boredom seemed very far away. He focused all four eyes on the hairs held in his open palm as he spoke. «It is a few hairs. White,» frowning, he looked closer, already knowing in his mind and soul what his eyes hadn't yet discovered. «No, not truly white. Colourless almost.» Peering even closer, he added; «Hollow.»
The word, when spoken, caused him to burst into action. He dropped the hairs and readied his shredder, stalks circling, one hoof off the floor, ready to run or charge as he surely would need to.
«Draw weapons!» he roared at his warriors. Without waiting for them to react he snatched the communicator from the warrior who held it and said into it; «FO Menderash, raise the Intrepid's defences and go to condition one. I repeat; raise the defences and…» A far-off explosion was heard and communications were cut.
«Captain, what has happened?» a warrior asked. Taril.
«The hairs,» Ax explained, silently swearing in all the languages he could remember, frantically pushing buttons on the communicator, that only stubbornly flashed a hologram saying 'receiver not answering'. «The hairs came from a very powerful Earth animal, a polar bear. A Yeerk on the blade ship has such a morph.» He shook the communicator angrily, wondering if it would help to slam it into a wall – knowing it would certainly improve his bad mood. «Why isn't this thing working?!»
«Yeerks!»
The warrior who had cried out warning, Langur, had been standing by the turn of the tunnel, and now he disappeared in behind it, tail cocked and ready.
«Rafatal, Arifur, and Jakari, with me,» Ax snapped. «We're going to help Langur hold them back. The rest get back to the boarding craft. Contact the Intrepid, tell them to retreat. And if we haven't caught up in five minutes follow them to safety!»
«But, Captain…»
Ax swivelled a stalk towards the protesting warrior. «Yes, that would be me. And those would be your Captain's orders. Now obey them!»
They hurried to do as they were told. Rafatal, Arifur, and Jakari hurried to the end of the tunnel, to join Langur, while the others sped away in the other direction.
All except two. Aximili, who watched the group go, and Arayah, who turned after only a few steps. «Prince Aximili…»
Ax shook his head, already knowing what she would say. Arayah-Althasa-Neferia was the only female on the Intrepid, one of the few in the entire Fleet, and to prove herself she had had to make sure she played a key role in everything, and to succeed in all of it. But this was not the time. «Go with them.»
«I must insist to stay with your group instead,» she said. «Five are too few to keep the Yeerks back.»
«And six would be much better?» He heard shredders being fired and knew he had to hurry. «Arayah, you will do as you are told!»
She smiled a slow smile. «They've gone, Captain,» she said. «It is better for me to remain here instead of running around an unknown ship alone.»
Ax glanced behind her and saw that she was right. «Then come.»
He turned and galloped to join Langur and the others without waiting for an answer – he had always made a point of not treating her differently from the others. Although he knew none of the others would ever have gotten away with what she'd just done, he shrugged it off his conscience with the thought of 'what else could I have done?'.
A thought-speech cry.
Ax stormed around the corner, tail up in attack without even thinking about it, and shredder ready to be aimed.
What met him was a scene of hell. Rafatal was down, bleeding from a dracon wound on his chest, barely breathing, with Arifur standing in front trying to defend him against two charging Hork-Bajir. The Hork-Bajirs' dracons were both on the floor in several pieces, but Arifur had lost his shredder as well. Langur was cornered by a cougar and two wolves, and the cougar had just grabbed hold around his wrist, keeping him from using the shredder while the wolves attacked. Jakari just limped away from the polar bear that had slashed him from his right shoulder to his left front knee. He, though, should manage to get a good shot. If he hadn't been wobbling like an Andalite the first time in human morph.
«Rafatal, morph!» Ax ordered. «Arayah, help Langur.»
And he leaped forwards against the polar bear, tail flashing. He struck deep into the polar bear's shoulder, but the polar bear just roared, reared up on his hind legs and threw himself forwards.
Ax backed away, firing his dracon, pushing the badly bleeding Jakari with him.
Rafatal had begun morphing. But it was slow. The Hork-Bajir had almost outfought Arifur by then, and Ax glanced around. Langur and Arayah against the cougar and the wolves seemed to be the only part of the fight that was going well, since Arayah had shot one of the wolves on its hind leg, and was aiming for another shot.
Only keep the Yeerks back
, Ax reminded himself. Not get my warriors killed. Then go after the others.And the five minutes until the boarding craft left were ticking away.
The polar bear charged. Ax reacted slowly, deep in thoughts, and lifted his shredder as well as his tail too slowly. Teeth dug into his arm, closed around his entire side, and even though his tail flashed at the bear's neck it didn't let go. The shredder was gone. He screamed out when the polar bear lifted him clear off the ground and threw him away like a rag doll.
«Prince Aximili!»
Ax landed, rolled, stumbled back to his hooves, head spinning, his side throbbing.
A polar bear roar. The bear, the Yeerk in morph, had forgotten Jakari – now furiously attacking him from the side – and galloped towards Ax. He had heard the hated name being called and realised that this was an old enemy. One of the Animorphs. And in moments his padded feet and knifelike claws would be close enough to finish the familiar but detested Andalite.
A shredder burned away a chunk of muscle on the polar bear's flank. Arayah lowered the shredder again as Ax got out of the polar bear's way and focused his four eyes on his enemy. He flashed his tail again, partly aware that Jakari was doing the same on the other side, but the bear only rose on his hind legs and dove after Ax again.
Rafatal was half-way morphed and began reversing the morph. Arayah and Langur had taken care of the cougar and one of the wolves, and Langur was already on his way to help with the polar bear while Arayah kept the remaining wolf busy.
«Prince Aximili, watch out!» Jakari roared.
Ax leaped away again. «This isn't working,» he said. «Watch my back, I'm going to morph.»
Three minutes remained. Best to hurry. But Ax didn't want the polar bear still alive when they left. Two reasons; this bear was a dangerous enemy to turn your back to. And more importantly, he was the one that had killed Rachel.
Jakari slashed deep into the polar bear's back. The bear cried out and began turning, as Ax's blue fur was changing to white – hollow.
Rafatal was back on his feet. He began helping Arifur with the Hork-Bajir.
Ax, now almost completely polar bear, rose on his hind legs and rushed forwards. The Controller backed quickly away, straight into Jakari, who fell and rolled.
Ax ran into the Controller. But the Controller, more used to the bear morph, slammed down on Ax and grabbed hold, trying to hold Ax in place.
Jakari and Langur's blades slashed at the Controller's thick skin. Their blades didn't cut deep enough to stop him, but enough wounds should at least…
Ax twisted free. Rose halfway on his back legs, slammed his entire body into the other polar bear, and the two rolled, roaring, until they hit the wall. Ax felt teeth dig into his shoulder, and slashed across his enemy's face with all his strength.
«Captain Aximili! Which one are you?»
«I'm the one bleeding on the shoulder.» Ax pulled free again and reared up. The other polar bear was on his back on the floor. Ax slammed down, teeth closing around the bear's throat. He could see flashing tails help him.
The polar bear kicked, struggled, but Ax's jaws crushed his throat easily and the struggling stopped.
Ax backed away and began demorphing, looking around, but not as much as a look at the dead polar bear. There wasn't a single Yeerk left. There wasn't a sound heard from any direction. And they were very, very low on time.
«Retreat!» Ax snapped. «We've got less than a minute before the craft leaves!»
The five Andalites followed him as he turned to run, bursting around the corner again and… stopped.
It was large. So large, it filled the entire corridor. It glowed with a green, sickening colour, and it had a wide, evil grin across its robot-like face. It was hard to tell anything about what it looked like, other than its face. The green light stung their eyes, so bad that Ax turned his stalks away and held up his hands to protect his main eyes.
«What is it?» Arayah said. «What is it?»
«Keep behind us and you won't have to find out,» Jakari directed, stepping in between her and the being, taking her shredder and aiming it.
She snatched the shredder back. «Jakari, just because I've got a smaller blade doesn't mean…»
"Shut up!" the being sneered. "Foolish little Andalites. You nosy four-legs never learn, do you? KEEP OUT OF OTHERS' BUSINESS!"
«Prince Aximili?» Arayah said calmly. «Shall I blast him?»
Ax hesitated, but then nodded.
Arayah pressed the trigger. The green beam flew out, straight at the being's grinning, laughing face.
And straight through it.
Six surprised Andalites stared as the beam continued, unaltered, and burned a hole in the other end of the corridor.
«Who are you?!» Ax demanded. «What are you?»
"I am the One!" roared the creature. "I am Many! I am All!"
«That just didn't make any sense,» Langur commented.
«Neither does a shredder going straight through something,» Ax said.
"Sub-Visser!" the creature called. "Where you failed, I have succeeded. Come and take your prisoners!"
«Yeerks coming up behind us,» Rafatal informed them. «We're trapped.»
«How many?» Ax asked.
«Two dozen Hork-Bajir. And half a dozen Earth morphs.»
«More coming up behind the One,» Jakari added. «Captain Aximili, what do we do?»
The moment after that, the One turned slightly sideways to let the coming Yeerks pass by. The strange thing was, the One didn't really have a side. There was a collective gasp from the six Andalites, even Ax.
«He's two-dimensional!» Langur said, eyes wide with both surprise and fascination.
Having let four armed Hork-Bajir warriors pass by, the One turned back towards the trapped Andalites. "Yes, I am two-dimensional! And therefore you cannot harm me, you little space-filth! So cower before me!"
Arayah came up closer behind Ax, not taking his hand or even asking for support, but obviously being troubled. Her voice was free of any quaver, but not as confident as usual. «Prince Aximili. If we do nothing, we will be trapped. What are your orders?»
«The shredder went through,» Ax said, thinking aloud in thought-speech to his group. «I have an idea. Do not follow until I tell you it is safe.» He turned a stalk towards Arayah. «Did you hear that?»
She nodded.
Ax nodded, as well. He took a deep breath, and without warning threw himself forwards at full speed, crashing through the Hork-Bajir that blocked his path and leaped straight into the One.
A flash of green lightening cracked from his right front hoof to the two-dimensional creature. Another, from his tail-blade. He flew through the air. Halfway through the two-dimensional creature, and then he was stopped. One half of him on one side. The other half on the other.
«Prince Aximili!» Arayah cried.
Lighting flashed around him, between the laughing the One and his own body. The green light intensified. Ax's body began shifting and shimmering.
The pain was unbelievable. It spread from where the creature touched him, to the tips of his stalks, the blade on his tail. At the same time, he started being pulled into the One, flattened out to fit the creature's own shape. The green light already enclosed him. His organs were being pressed together, his heart almost stopping and lungs suddenly burning and unable to breath.
«JAKE!» Ax cried, not thinking about where he was or who was with him, not being able to consider it any further. He threw his head back in pain, main eyes rolling into the back of his head, hooves kicking wildly, arms jerking, stalks twisting. He let out a scream like nothing he had ever heard before, and…
Silenced. Why cry for help?
Foolish. Weak.
No-one could help him. No-one.
And, besides, he was not afraid. He could manage on his own.
He sensed the evil around him, the evil that held him, knew it crept closer and closer in on his own mind, uniting the two to one. But not really one; the evil was in control. The evil would take over. The evil would be the ruler, and he would merely be the mindless slave.
He was not strong enough to fight it. But why should he? He sensed strength. With that strength as a part of him, with him as a part of that strength, he could fight anything. Beat anything.
He would let the evil take over. He would let the strength seep into him. He would be part of this creature, this being, this… existence, as long as it suited his purposes.
And when he was strong enough, when the time came, he would break free, crush this evil under him, crush anything and anyone who tried to stop him, and finally annihilate anyone who happened to be nearby, just to try his new strength. Just to see how powerful he had become.
Yes.
When it suited him.
«Prince Aximili?» a shaky voice asked from somewhere far away.
Ax's new laugh thundered.
Time stopped. The Ellimist appeared.
"You cannot do that!" he roared.
The One put on a sneer and the green glow intensified again. "Who says what I can and cannot do? This is my part of the universe."
"That Andalite belonged to me," the Ellimist said. "He stood under my protection. He was a pawn in my game!"
"Return to your game, Ellimist. You were done with him. You have no need for him, so I took him."
"I demand you let him go!"
"Why? You have no use for him. Is this sentimentality speaking?"
The Ellimist growled and prepared to force his words through, gathering his strength.
"Favours require favours returned, Ellimist," the One snapped. "Remember the girl, Ellimist? I kept my promise. The girl lives. Free from memories of our deal. Free from my interference, although she causes me some trouble. I did you a favour. Now it is your turn."
"Let him go."
"Where is your sense of decency, Ellimist? An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth… or an Animorph for an Animorph. It doesn't get much fairer." He smiled. "You have no use for him."
"Someday, One, when Crayak and I are done…"
"You will go after me? Possible. We are not exactly friendship material. But not for this. I know you. Favours require favours returned."
The Ellimist nodded, curtly, bitterly, still steaming with anger.
"An Animorph saved for an Animorph condemned." The Ellimist's anger grew, and the One pulled back and added quickly; "Remember that you agreed, Ellimist. Remember that you agreed to this. You agreed to all of it!"
"Favours require favours returned," the Ellimist snapped. "I know. I might not like it, but I know. But, One, I warn you; I shall not forget this."
With that, he was gone.
- - -
Author's Note;
That's the start of the Kelbrid Chronicles, that I'll hopefully keep writing. I've got a lot of ideas. It's going to be about the Andalite-Kelbrid war, but mostly about a small group of Andalites and humans in "the centre of events". Tell me if you want me to put up any more. Any comments at all, please, they're all needed, because this'll probably be another long one...
Update, december 2007: I'm actually editing all this at the moment. Changing a few things, fixing some formatting, and dodging hatred of proper thought-speech marks. This includes removing the author's notes at the end of the chapters. They're all silly little review-beggers of standard type. If you wish, you may pretend they're still there.