Aldrea
They had us. For years we had fought. We had lost many brave souls, stolen victories from defeat on many minor fronts, but it was always doomed from the start. I had hoped that we would die fighting…
But they had us.
I wished that I could slit my own throat. I would slit Dak's, too, and Seerow's. We had all agreed beforehand that we would rather die than be taken. We had seen what the Yeerk evil did to such innocence. They had turned our brothers and sisters into tools. Slaves. It was not a life worth living.
I could do little more than curse the captors that marched us into a hidden ravine. My arms were tied around my back, and my tail around my right ankle. I only had my voice, and I used it as much as my throat would allow. My chest was ripped to shreds, a dark reminder of our final battle. Dak had been blinded in one eye and it was swollen in such an ugly way.
"You get your hands off of me, Yeerk!" I shouted to him as he pushed me on from behind. Three of them were shifting us, me and Dak. I was scared. More than that. Utterly petrified of what was to come. What use were we now that the resistance had failed? I feared for Dak, a Hork-Bajir too smart for his own good. I feared for Seerow, who I could only see being used as a means of torture. He wasn't even with us. That's was the worst feeling.
My own child… Was he already dead? I hadn't seen him anywhere!
No. They would keep him.
We approached the brow of the ravine, and another shove from behind almost sent me toppling down the side. It looked like some Yeerk outpost, with various transporters strewn around and a small Yeerk pool crudely dug into the ground. Three Hork-Bajir were before it. Two standing, one on his knees, a black strip around his head.
"There!" I called to Dak. "They have him! Seerow!"
I caught Dak in my peripheral vision. He lurched and twisted in his reaction, but he was held tight.
A feeling of dread rode through me. My son, restraint before the filthy Yeerk Pool. It was purposeful, I knew it. Visser Eight was a cruel monster, vengeful and merciless. He would do anything to make us feel weak and small. I knew right then that he would use my own son to torture me, one last time.
"Seerow…" I whispered under my voice. He was such a beautiful soul. He did not have the intellect of his parents, but that didn't matter. He was mine, and I had loved him from the moment I laid eyes on him. A bundle of innocence, thrust headfirst into unimaginable horror. The only escape from the evil that surrounded Dak and I.
"He has no Yeerk yet." Dak spoke glumly.
"He'll make us watch." I warned.
"Be quiet." One of our guides demanded.
"You didn't stop us before," I growled. "And you won't stop us now."
He gave me another shove, and my footing nearly gave way. We were closing in on my child, the ground growing shallower beneath us. Every step closer was another dagger of pain in my hearts, seeing him shudder and waver. He was being shouted at… And then the Yeerk hit him.
"No!" I yelped, surging forward. I broke free for my guide, but stumbled over my restricted legs. I collapsed to the ground hard on my chest, winded from the fall. "Monsters!"
"Get up!" My Yeerk groaned, hoisting my up by my bicep.
I looked to my child again, just as a foot was brought violently to his side as he curled up on the dirt. "Don't!" I cried. "You filth!"
"Can't we just kill them?" The Yeerk complained. "What a waste of time!"
His companion replied. "Visser Eight will handle them."
"I'll rip him to shreds, I swear!" I spat. "And you!"
He scratched deliberately at my arm. "I'd like to see you try, Andalite."
Dak was holding his anger back. He'd been watching Seerow the whole time. "Aldrea, I think… I think this will be the last we see of our child."
I put the hatred aside. I forgot entirely about the Yeerks, even as his hands moved me ever forwards. I looked to my son, now with his eyes freed, being dragged up back to his knees. He was confused and scared, and it broke me. I never wanted to see him like this. It was the worst of my nightmares. And Dak was right. He didn't think it, he knew it.
And perhaps it would be the last I saw of him, too. I turned to him as much as I could.
"Dak, we mustn't scare him. He needs some hope. Anything."
He was silent. I'd never seen him so defeated, his head held so low. But then he gazed back at me. "You are mine. He is mine."
We knew each other so, so well. We knew the exact moment to steal one last kiss, and we did. We twisted our necks simultaneously, and we gave a sorrowful, but prideful last goodbye.
Seerow recognised us, and bolted up. "Mother! Father! Fight the Yeerks! Make the Yeerks go!"
My child… I lost my voice, throat clogged with agony. He sounded harsh and beaten, but it was still the voice I raised and nurtured. A voice I heard whisper into my ear at dead of night, frightened of the rain and begging to be coddled. A voice that threw little tantrums whenever forced to eat Amam bark.
"Now, now, Seerow, it helps you grow big and strong, just like Father!"
We were merely metres from him now. His jaw was shuddering, his eyes flooded with tears. I couldn't find the words to comfort him as we were kicked roughly to our knees.
"Mother… Father…" Seerow whimpered. "No Yeerk. No Yeerk!"
I had to be strong for him. For myself and Dak. I had done everything in my power to never show weakness in the face of adversity. I was not doing anything for my own well-being, I was doing it for them. I couldn't tarnish that image. Not in front of my son in his last moments of freedom. "Seerow, my child, please don't cry."
My plea didn't work, but his tearful groans slowed just a little bit.
A Yeerk stepped forward from beside Seerow, the one that had hit him. I had the unquenchable thirst to rip him from his host's ear and crush him between my two sharpest claws. "So this is it! The resistance leaders. Nothing more than pathetic simpletons, really!" He boasted.
Dak raised his posture as much as his holder would let him. A guttural noise escaped his snout, before he demanded, "Kill us! Get it over with. Just leave Seerow alone!"
"He had nothing to do with it!" I agreed. "He's only a child!"
Seerow's tormenter laughed. "Looks like a grown adult to my eyes. Isn't that right, Hork-Bajir?"
The beast strode with smugness to my whimpering son, a cruel cackle emanating. He pressed a big toe to Seerow's thigh. "The end of the resistance…" He murmured. "It's about time. You've been nothing but trouble since we arrived. You've been so much trouble, in fact, that you've made a name for yourselves," His attention then moved away from Seerow, and back towards me. He was yet to even cast a glance to my Kalashu. I felt the vibrations of his footsteps as he stomped victoriously above me. "Especially you, Aldrea-Iskillion-Falan. It's so sad that you would sacrifice your Andalite body to live with such simpletons. What possessed you? Was it madness? Not like an Andalite to stoop so low. Maybe it's the embarrassment of your father. Then again, why name your son after such an embarrassment? How peculiar…"
"You aren't worth my time, Yeerk," I countered truthfully. "Not anybody's. You're nothing but filth!"
The scum laughed with mocking scorn. "I knew you'd be like this. It's been so long since you were truly Andalite, but you'd never get rid of that arrogant sneer, would you? If it were up to me, I'd have you made a slave like every other Hork-Bajir, but I'm afraid Visser Eight has other ideas." He moved back to my son, and said to the other Yeerk, "Do it." They took hold of my Seerow and lifted him harshly to his clumsy feet. They were going to do it. Right in front of us.
"Mother! Father!" He cried. "Seerow not be Yeerk!"
"No!" Dak screeched, pushing forward. He tried to swipe his arms from behind. I attempted to duck and spin, anything to get away from my captor, enough to birth even the smallest chance of rescuing my dear, innocent kawatnoj. All walls had broken down, the floodgates smashed. My eyes welled up, and I stuttered a saddened howl. There was nothing we could do.
"Seerow!" I called to him. "Don't let them beat you! Fight them!"
Oh, did he try. He turned this way and that, pushing back against the Yeerks. All the while, he watched us.
He was leaving us for good. This was it. The last I would see of my true son, before the evil would be forced into his head. Every memory of him replayed in my head. Every time he would snuggle up to me at night. Every time he complained of splinters. Every time he would play with Dak and I would watch with unfettered bliss. Every time he told me that he loved me.
"We will always love you, Seerow," I told him, holding back my pain so that I was loud and clear enough for him to understand. "No matter what they make you do! We will always love you."
He heard me, and he responded. "Love Mother! Love Father!"
"No matter what!" Dak reassured.
We knew what was coming. And we knew that Seerow would never forgive himself. We had to tell him that. I would have told him a million times if I could, but there was only so much time. They kicked his legs from under his as he stumbled to the edge of the Yeerk Pool, and a big hand grabbed the back of his head as it was driven beneath the surface. Bubbles rose as he screamed within the liquid, and his body writhed behind him.
"Seerow!" I screamed out. "Let go of him! Don't do this!
I was kicked in the back, just above my tail, and I felt a claw penetrate my tough skin. I thrashed and did what I could to retaliate.
"Give me my son! Give him back you beasts!"
And yet I couldn't remove my eyes as Seerow continued to flail uselessly in their grasp. His last moments of freedom. I was watching my son suffer. I was watching as he became dead to the world.
His struggles stopped. The hands that restrained him let go. My son was gone.
"Please…" I wept, having lost all sense of dignity. "Don't! My son…!"
The creature that rose from the pool and stretched off aching limbs was no longer truly my son. The Yeerks removed Visser Eight's restraints, and they exchanged a few words.
There was no telling it was him. He'd had it in for us for years. Only he would perform such a torture. A lunatic, brash and unforgiving. A competent leader, yes, but there was nothing respectable about him.
I hated him. I hated every part of him more than I ever could. More than anything! My poor, poor Seerow was inside something. Still feeling, still seeing. His would be the greatest suffering.
"You monsters!" Dak bellowed. "You let him go! Let Seerow go!"
Visser Eight strutted forward. He limped slightly, but he was determined to defeat pain in order to show off what he'd done. A cruel smile tarnished Seerow's face. I strained to see anything, anything of him.
It was his face, but even by looking, I knew it wasn't him.
He stood over us, folding his arms over his chest and smirking. "Aldrea, the Andalite nothlit, son of Seerow the Embarrassment. And your Hork-Bajir lover. Have you any idea how much stress you've caused me? How many sleepless nights?"
"I hope you never sleep again." Dak cursed.
"Was I speaking to you?" Visser Eight chastised. "I'm speaking to the Andalite. The Andalite that gave up her own body for a futile endeavour. Did you really think you'd get anywhere?"
How dare he speak to my Kalashu in such a dismissive tone! I would slit his thr-
The image of slicing into Seerow flashed in my head. Maybe…
And then I looked back into his eyes, expecting the cold and heartless stare of a Yeerk. I would wish for his demise, endeavour to regain some lost dignity. Instead, he was different. I saw fear, and I knew that some of him was trying to break through. I had to speak to him. I had to continue to show my sorrow, my adoration. "Seerow, we love you. We love you so much." I insisted. He would hear, and he would know.
"Seerow is dead!" Visser Eight crowed. "Talk to me, Andalite. Talk to me! Answer my question!"
I ignored the petulant fool. "We will always look over you. Till the end of time. Wherever you are. You're my son and I will love you forever."
"Silence!" The imposter screamed, face bulging with innate rage. "You stupid, ignorant Andalite scum! Don't you listen? I won't deal with this stupidity! Never! Answer my question or I'll tear out your eyes!"
"Forever, my kawatnoj!" Dak continued. He, too, had seen through the shell. "You'll never be alone. We'll always be with you."
"Enough!" Visser Eight screeched. "You'll say nothing more!"
Suddenly, Visser Eight stormed forward to Dak. Dak tried to lash out, but the Yeerk was behind him before he could react, and grabbed a firm hold of his larger headblade.
He started to pull. Hard.
"No!" I shouted. "No! Get off of him! Get off of him right now! Don't!"
Dak was groaning, and it grew increasingly high-pitched as the Visser pulled ever harder. Dak's neck was straining, stretched to its limit upwards as the other Yeerks held him to the ground. Visser Eight was halfway between utter rage and sadistic excitement, teeth baring in a horrific grin.
"My Dak!" I cried, tears streaming once more. "My love! No! Please! Please stop it!"
Blood started to trickle from his snout. Eyelids that had been opened wide and alert started to droop, and pupils began to dull. His neck stretched past breaking point, and with a snap and a rip, my lover's head was torn clear away. Ropes of flesh dripped and dangled, leaving behind his body to collapse. I stared into his open neck and felt whatever was left of my world just vanish.
Everything was gone. My Dak… My Stars and my sunlight… Was dead.
In that moment, I knew that I would do it. I would kill him. He wouldn't let me die. He would keep me as a prize, a trophy for his success. And that would be his undoing.
"This is what happens!" He thundered, waving Dak's head in the air, licks of blood splattering my face and neck.. "Do you listen now?!"
"You… You m-monster!" I stuttered. "I'll kill you! I'll kill you!"
My body took over and gave once last burst of energy, a feeble attempt to overpower them. With Dak gone, there were more hands to control me, and they did so forcefully. The Visser found such joy in it, and he cackled to my face. The evil beast. If only I could… If only…
He started to display my Kalashu's head deliberately to me. With a grip still on his headblade, he swung it lightly back and forth before me. Dak's one good eye was still open, but there was only death inside. He had long gone.
I could only imagine… Was he still alive in those seconds after his head was removed? Did he watch his own body crumble? Did he try to speak to me, to say one final goodbye?
The world around me froze. All I saw was that image. My dying husband, spinning in his last moments, more scared of what was to become of his family than his own painful demise, knowing that any chance he had to change the future had been snatched so surely from him.
But he felt no more pain. He wouldn't suffer any more. He would watch over us from Beyond.
I was jealous. And I hated that I was.
I snapped back to reality. Dak's head was still there, held in front of me, still staring with mouth slightly ajar at and past me. Behind him, I heard to Visser deride, "Aldrea, I think your lover has something to say! Don't you want to listen? Don't you?"
I was too tired to fight anymore. My struggling was weak and pointless. I just wanted any excuse for them to kill me, right then and there.
I turned away. I couldn't see him anymore. Nevertheless, the Visser sustained his mockery. In the corner of my eye, I saw him playing with the head, taking the lower jaw to impersonate my husband speaking. "No matter what!" He uttered with his most pathetic, sarcastic voice. Droplets of liquid were pelting my cheek, and I couldn't tell if it was blood or his spit. "Even if he tears my stupid little head off! I'll still love him!" He mocked. "I bet you'll miss getting fucked, won't you! Will you pleasure yourself, thinking of me? Look into my eyes and tell me you will!"
Throughout, I refused to acknowledge. I wouldn't give him the satisfaction or watching. All my body would allow was the uncontained crying and wailing. That, I couldn't stop. My Dak. My beautiful, loving, Dak… And Seerow… The Visser made Seerow kill Dak!
It wasn't him. It wasn't Seerow. How much will he hate himself for this?!
"Make her look!" I heard Visser Eight instruct. "Make her see her poor, pathetic lover!"
They wouldn't let me get away from it. His ego just wouldn't permit it. The Yeerks behind me grabbed my head and twisted it weightily to face ahead. I closed my eyes tight, but it only worked to persuade the other to use his claws to pry the lids open. His claws dug in, and I felt them pull beneath skin. Blood began to stream around and into my eyes. Through it, Dak's head was still being toyed with. The Visser had Seerow's hand locked around the lower jaw, and it rose and lowered to mimic the words her salivated.
"You'll get fucked again, my love. I promise! I bet you're wet just looking at me!"
"Stop!" I demanded. "Just stop!"
"Oh, you want him to stop?" He Visser spoke. "Are you sure? Is he being too forceful? Too crude?"
What could I do? There was nothing. Nothing at all.
"Say something!" The Visser shouted at the top of his lungs.
Why bother? If I said nothing, perhaps he would grant me the liberty of death.
Who was I kidding? That would never happen.
The torture would never end. Not until one of us perished.
He was growing more impatient. I had stopped crying, too far gone for that, and that made him angry. His mockery was no longer having an effect. He could have put Dak down, allowed his body to decompose as it was, but no. Not him. A grimace formed on him, and I saw his grip tighten on Dak's jaw and snout. He began to pry it. I watched it horror, staring down my husband's throat as his mouth opened to its widest, and then further, and further. The corners of his mouth began to tear, the bone snapping from its position. The noise was horrific as the sight, as the whole jaw was broken away from his skull. He growled, and threw them aside. They landed far away.
"Aldrea, the Andalite nothlit," he fumed. "Your fight is over! You've lost! Our Empire stretches far throughout the galaxies! One race after another, after another. Now that your pitiful little rebellion is over, I'm going to leave. There are billions more to enslave, and your son will be right there with me. A little place called Earth."
The Yeerks let go of my head and eyes, but I did not cower away. I stared at him directly, once again in search of that frightened Hork-Bajir inside. He was still there, so lost and hurt.
"I love you, Seerow Hamee," I told him. "Always."
Visser Eight knew that I would be stubborn. I could never let him get the better of me in that regard. Instead of showing off that petulant anger, he said, "Put her down. Make sure she doesn't move."
They grabbed at me again, and crudely shoved me backwards. I felt warm blood coat my back, heard the splash as I disturbed Dak's escaping blood.
Surely, this was beyond him! The thought of what was to occur brought back the urge to cry, and no matter how much I tried to hide it, the situation was too much to bear.
The Visser took a hand to my throat and gave a threatening squeeze. He smiled wickedly, and I felt the body of my son touching mine in a way that it was never meant to. Fingers approached my underbelly, and then dove to my genitals. There was no way to roll him off, too exhausted to resist.
I had to be strong for him. He needed to forgive himself. For anything. This wasn't my son. It was a monster.
"I love you, Seerow. No matter what."