Chapter 6
They were Kelbrid of course. A little over seven feet tall from end to end. Cats' legs beneath a gorilla's chest. One long arm ended in a ten-fingered hand. The other was massive with a foot-long stinger at the end. I knew the stinger was retractable. And that it was poisoned. Black, leathery flesh covered their bodies.
Their heads reminded me of an alligator's. They had the same flat jaws and little noses. Cats ears, swept backwards, were on the sides of their heads. Their heads were eyeless. Thin whiskers dangled from beneath their powerful jaws, probably sensing vibrations in the air.
Cassie was already morphed. A polar bear. Tobias was rapidly becoming one as well. Jake was turning into a tiger. Marco was almost completely gorilla. Jeanne was slowly becoming a leopard.
But even the others weren't morphing fast enough. The Kelbrid were almost on us. Only Cassie was in a position to fight. And me.
I opened up on the Kelbrid. The problem with Andalite Shredders is that they don't cause pain. So the Kelbrid didn't stop coming when I shot them. It only made them angry. They came on faster.
The first one to reach us was met with Cassie's claw in his face. The blow knocked him off the ground and through the air. He hit the ground and didn't move.
((Cassie, get to Esplin. Don't let him reach the Time Matrix,)) I heard Jake call. Cassie took off. I stayed where I was, shooting Kelbrid.
Tobias rushed past me, then Jake then Marco. Soon the ground beneath the statue was covered in blood. But the fight was eerily silent.
Maybe Kelbrid didn't feel pain or maybe they just didn't have the ability to speak because they never made a sound. Not even a roar of battle. Just totally cold silence as they slashed and stabbed and bit their enemies.
The Animorphs were silent, too. Occasionally, Jake's tiger gave a roar or one of the polar bears would shout, but there were no human sounds. No cries of pain or battle directions given. Not even any warnings.
It was the Kelbrid poison. The stingers had an anesthetic on them. I guess it kept enemies fighting longer, hurting themselves more. It also made the place too quiet.
The Kelbrid seemed to be everywhere. One would be knocked off into the darkness beyond the Time Matrix's glow only to see another one emerge to take its place. There could have been five Kelbrid. There could have been fifty. It didn't matter.
Jeanne rushed past me, a leopard eager for a fight. But I couldn't stand there and morph. I'd be a sitting duck, an easy target for any Kelbrid. I stayed where I was and looked for a clear shot.
It wasn't easy. The Kelbrid kept moving and moving fast. The only time they stopped was when they attacked one of my friends. I couldn't take the risk of my shot hitting one of my allies. I felt pretty useless.
A third polar bear emerged from behind the Time Matrix. I heard Tobias give an enraged shout. ((ESPLIN!)) A polar bear threw its arms open wide, scattering four Kelbrid. He charged at the Yeerk.
That was when the screaming started. Tobias hit him hard. The two of them fell to the ground. Tobias was on top, hammering Esplin's face with blows that could probably shatter concrete. Esplin screamed. Tobias laughed.
I saw the Controller's hand stretched for the Time Matrix. I shot it off. A bunch of Kelbrid mobbed Tobias. They dove on him, biting and stabbing. He cried out and was pulled off of Esplin.
The Yeerk rose and turned towards the Time Matrix. Tobias surged at him again, taking the Kelbrid with him. He hit the Yeerk and both of them fell onto the device. I didn't have time to think. I ran towards them.
I slammed hard against the Time Matrix. It felt like the world was spinning around me. I could feel Esplin and Tobias. I could feel their wills like a tangible presence. Now it wasn't only the world spinning, I was time itself.
The world disappeared. Time no longer had any meaning. My mind spun into oblivion. Minutes, seconds, hours, they all streaked by just as quickly. Or slowly. Not like it mattered.
I heard a voice. I think there was a face to go with it. Bigger than anything my mind could understand. The color…there isn't a human word for it. It looked at Tobias.
He was there but not himself. His body was human. Most of it. But he had wings. And an Andalite's tail. And a Hork-Bajir's blades. Where his face should have been, there was an expressionless steel mask.
TOBIAS. YOU HAVE COME…RIGHT ON TIME. I felt the presence turn to look at me. SANTORELLI. INTREIGUING. LET US SEE WHERE THIS LEADS. And then everything I thought I understood was shot straight to hell.
Chapter 7
The first thing I noticed when I came to was that the ground was red. It felt like soil, but it was the color of blood. I was in some sort of canyon with obsidian walls rising all around me.
Tobias was standing next to me, feeling the walls of the canyon. "Some sort of metal," he told me. "I have no clue where we are."
"Maybe we should go hawk and take a look around in the sky?" I suggested.
"That's what I was thinking."
He morphed in about fifteen seconds. It took me about three minutes. The feathers came first. They appeared like tattoos all over my body. Then they exploded into three dimensions.
Next came the talons. My toes squished together until I only had three of them. Then a fourth shot out of my heel. My nails turned into sharp claws.
Then I started to shrink. It was like the ground decided it didn't like me anymore so it was coming up to hit me in the face.
My jaw bulged out and turned into a beak. My ears got good enough to hear my organs twisting, changing to the hawk's digestive system. My new eyes could see every inch of the alien ground.
Then came the hawk's mind. I was hungry. I wanted prey. It wouldn't be hard to find. All I needed to do was get some air and take a look.
There was another hawk next to me. Smaller. Tasty. It wouldn't be hard to take him. I just had to get my talon around his head and squeeze…
The other hawk took off. I was about to follow him when I heard something that didn't make any sense to me. Some sort of sound. Not a bird sound. And not in my ears. It was right in my head. What…?
I heard it again. ((king Christ! This is impossible! Santorelli, we need to find a way out of this place right now. This isn't right. It isn't right at all!))
I snapped back to myself and was shocked that I had considered eating Tobias. I would never have been able to take him. He knew his morph in a way I never would. If I was lucky.
I flapped my wings, going up to join him. ((What is it?)) I started to say. I stopped because I knew.
Beyond the canyon walls was an enormous tower. It was miles tall. Too tall to have been built by anyone who ever lived. It hardly seemed possible that it existed. But there it was.
The whole thing was black. Darker than midnight. Darker than the Blade Ship. It was a darkness that absorbed light. I bet that's what a black hole looked like.
Only after a minute of staring did I see the top of the tower. At the top was some kind of creature. It had no arms or legs. Its head was a single eye. I knew that eye would see us if it turned this way. No one could hide from that gaze.
That wasn't a tower. And this wasn't some planet. It was a throne. ((Tobias, what the in the name of God is that thing?))
((Crayak.))
My blood froze. I think I might mean that literally. That kind of thing could probably happen when you're on the body of one of the most powerful beings in the universe.
((How are we here?)) I demanded. ((Why? Did you bring us here? Esplin?))
((I don't think this was anything any of us decided. Not even Esplin would want to come here. It had to be who or whatever it was who spoke to us a moment ago. We have to get out of here.))
((But how?))
((The Time Matrix. I don't know what's going on, but I'm sure it's some kind of test. It always is. The key is to get to the Time Matrix before Esplin does.))
((You think Esplin's here?)) I asked.
((Yeah. If we are, so is he. I don't know what the deal is, but we'll have to be careful.))
((Crayak likes you, right? I mean, he made you human, after all.))
((Yeah. So?))
((Why not ask him for help? He'll notice us soon.))
((Maybe. But I don't know what he wants to do or what he's planning. For all I know, Esplin did bring us here to get us killed. I don't want to bring the big eye into this unless I have to.))
((So what do we do?))
((We go back into the canyons and make our way to the Time Matrix as fas as we can.))
((Do you see it?))
((It'll be at the base of the tower.))
((You're sure?))
((I've done this kind of thing before. Trust me.))
Chapter 8
There's something really creepy about wandering around on someone's body. Especially when that body isn't even vaguely human. Not even close.
We were wandering through canyons. That was what I tried to tell myself. Just a hike through a canyon. Not something alive. Just a part of nature. How well do you think that worked out?
"Is this a maze?" I asked Tobias. "I feel like we've passed this…thing…before. Did we go in a circle?'
He shrugged. "Beats me. I don't know any more about this than you do."
"I thought you've done this kind of thing before."
"Never on Crayak's body."
We walked around for another couple hours without finding anything. Then we turned a corner and screamed out heads off.
Around the corner was a creature that made me think of Darth Maul. It had red and black flesh. Its eyes were a pale blue. Sharp claws came out of its wrists. I don't know what its face normally looked like, but I think it was surprised to see us.
Tobias reacted a lot quicker than I did. A Hork-Bajir blade shot out of his wrist. He swung it through the air. The next thing I knew, the alien's head was lying on the ground.
"What the hell is that?" I demanded, pulling out my Shredder.
"Howler," Tobias answered. "Crayak manufactures them here. I wasn't expecting to run into one, though."
"Did you make that blade come out on your own?" I asked. "I didn't think you had that kind of control."
"It was a lucky morph. And a lucky shot. The Howler must have been ten times as surprised as I was or I'd never have killed it."
"Are they good fighters?"
"One once fought Jake, Marco, Ax, Rachel, Cassie, and me to a draw. Then it walked away."
I whistled. Tobias smiled. "At least Esplin isn't going to have an easy time of it. The Howlers will tear him apart. They've got this howl that the Andalite brain is really sensitive to. For all I know, it could blow a the Yeerk right out of Ax's head."
"And probably take Ax's head with it," I added.
"Probably."
"You sound happy."
"We'd be better off with him dead than with him as a Controller."
"You don't have to tell me that. I just thought you might want to save him."
Tobias shook his head. "Back during the first war, Jake thought he could save Tom. That was his goal most of the time. We both know how that turned out. I'm not going to be that foolish. If I ever have the chance, I'll kill Ax and Esplin both."
"You're a cold dude, you know that?"
"It's a cold world."
I nodded. He was right. Working for Visser Six, I understood just how bad the world could be. And I knew I would rather have had someone kill me than be a Controller.
I liked how Tobias didn't have the illusions a lot of people had. We were in a terrible war now. One where death was one of the more pleasant options. Most people couldn't handle that.
Tobias knelt down next to the Howler. He held two fingers to its throat for a moment. Then he stood up. "Can you acquire something that's dead?" he asked.
I shrugged. "What you need to acquire is DNA. The DNA probably dies in the cells once the body dies, but there's probably still some in his body, if that's what you're thinking."
He nodded. "I think I just acquired it. I'm going to give the morph a shot. Stand back. Jake told me these things aren't inherently hostile, but I don't want to take a chance."
It took less than a minute. First, his stomach clinched like he was getting cut in half. For a moment, I could see his spine. Then veined flesh covered it. His skin turned red like a really bad sunburn. Black lines like cooled lava drew across his body. Steel claws came from his hands. His eyes turned a beautiful shade of blue.
Tobias nodded. ((It's…it's like being a dolphin. I want to play with you. Of course, that would probably end with you dead. It's weird, though…))
"What is?" I asked.
((The last time we beat the Howlers, the Ellimist said we broke them. Jake put the memory of love into their collective. I was told they would never be the same, but I can't find that memory anywhere.))
"It must have gotten erased."
((Must have. We should find you one of these. Then we could move around without much difficulty.))
"You think a morph will fool that big eye?"
((No, but it will fool the other Howlers. Set your Shredder to stun.)) He gave me the single scariest smile I've ever seen. ((We're going Howler hunting.))
Chapter 9
We didn't have far to go. The place was crawling with Howlers. I don't know how Crayak could stand having them all over him like this, but he obviously didn't mind. If he had cared, he had more than enough power to do something about it.
I was a fly on Tobias's Howler body. He walked calmly through the canyons of Crayak's body. He walked past several groups of Howlers. He didn't want to try fighting more than one of them.
We came across a lone Howler almost an hour later. Tobias approached him. ((Get ready,)) he told me. I buzzed off and started to demorph. I could sense the vibrations of a struggle. My fly eyes saw a thousand images of two Howlers grappling. One had its claws in the other's throat; Tobias trying to make sure the other one didn't sound an alarm.
I was human now. I needed to be human to acquire the Howler. But I didn't dare to get close. Tobias and the other one were far too dangerous for me to mess with in any morph.
The blades of their wrists clanged off one another. Tobias still held one claw in the Howler's throat. His other hand held one of the Howler's claws immobile. The Howler's other claw slashed Tobias repeatedly.
His wounds healed almost instantly. No wonder Tobias kept his claw in the Howler's throat. Tobias wasn't losing the fight. He wasn't winning, either. He needed help.
My shredder lay on the ground where Tobias had dropped it; far too close to the Howlers for me to get it. I needed to help Tobias and that meant a morph.
The problem? I had four morphs: fly, cockroach, rhino, and hawk. Flies and cockroaches wouldn't do anything to a Howler. A rhino might, but then I'd be back where I started.
The whole reason Tobias was fighting the Howler instead killing it was because I needed to acquire it. There wasn't enough time for me to demorph and acquire it if he killed it. Then I had an idea.
I morphed again to hawk. I could hear Tobias and the Howler grunting, now. They were both in a lot of pain. It seems even Howlers have their limits. It took me maybe three minutes to become the hawk; three more minutes of pain for Tobias.
I could see him slowing. The Howler was getting the upper hand. In its collective memory, Tobias assured me, it has never once remembered losing. The thought of defeat never entered its mind. Not so for Tobias. He knew he could lose; he knew he could die.
I took off and gained some altitude. Tobias glanced at me. He pulled his claw out of the Howler's throat and started to sag to the ground. He was tired and hurt. Or so the Howler thought.
My hawk eyes caught the sight of a fly buzzing along near Crayak's body. I don't know why, but it struck me as odd. I didn't think Crayak would let bugs live on him. But I had more pressing matters to worry about. I was dive bombing onto the Howler's face.
I raked my talons across the Howler's eyes as it advanced on Tobias. I wheeled around in time to see Tobias plunge a claw into the Howler's spine. The creature stopped moving.
I demorphed. "Dead?" I asked him.
He shook his head. ((Paralyzed. Good thinking. Taking my old job?))
"Not yet," I answered as I acquired the Howler. Tobias finished it off with a claw to the brain.
"You sure it's dead?" I asked.
((Probably not dead,)) he answered. ((Doesn't matter. Let's get going. I don't want to stick around until Crayak notices us.))
"I don't think he's paying that much attention," I answered. "He didn't notice the flies on him."
((He's got flies?))
"Just one that I saw." It's hard to read a Howler's facial expressions, but Tobias was surprised. Then angry.
((That fly was Esplin.)) That made sense. Tobias continued. ((He didn't want to be seen. Instead of running around playing tag like us, he's been buzzing around where the Howlers couldn't see him. Come one, we've got to get out of here.))
I morphed as I ran. It wasn't hard, since I kept the same basic body shape. It was weird, getting faster as I ran. Howlers are bow-legged, so running seems like it should be awkward. It is, but Howlers were still faster than most humans.
It was odd when my vision suddenly turned to Howler sight. I could see faint lines of heat where Tobias had moved. I could see the outline of his beating heart. I realized for the first time that Howlers were even more dangerous than they appeared.
What shocked me the most were the instincts. I didn't feel the rage and hatred I would have expected from a race built and owned by Crayak. I felt playful. I wanted to play the game we had been designed to play.
It was surprisingly easy to overcome the Howler mind. Maybe it was because only other Howlers were here. Still, I felt an odd reluctance as I did it. The Howler was happier than I was used to being.
Tobias and I followed the faint lines of heat Esplin had left. It's hard to hide from a Howler. We were getting closer, I think. Closer to Crayak's body, at least.
Then, everything stopped. I heard that massive voice again. IT IS TIME FOR THE TEST TO BEGIN.
Chapter 10
"The test?" Tobias asked. We floated in that odd, white nothingness like we had earlier. "Esplin just reached the Time Matrix. I thought we lost."
THE TEST HAS NOT YET BEGUN.
"Then what was it?"
THE TEST IS YET TO COME. THAT WAS A CHANCE TO ARM YOURSELVES FOR WHAT IS TO COME. THE HOWLERS ARE A DEADLY RACE. INTELLIGENT, SWIFT, STRONG, WELL-ARMED, AND REMORSELESS. HUMANS ARE EVEN MORE DANGEROUS. YOU WILL BE TESTED WITH THE MOST DANGEROUS OF THEM ALL. IF YOU FAIL, MANKIND WILL FAIL. IF YOU SUCCEED…
There was no sound effect or anything; the trick was all visual. One second, we were in the white space. Z-space, I think it might have been. The next instant, we were on a path between a bunch of reeds taller than we were. And Tobias is a tall guy.
We weren't alone. There was a man with a sword in front of us. Judging by his clothing, he was someone important from an ancient time. Some Asian country, I guessed. He spoke. I realized the words were some Asian dialect. I don't speak any of them. But somehow, the words made sense to me.
"Who are you?" he demanded. So much authority in that voice…he was a general of some kind. A very powerful one.
"We're demons," Tobias answered. Then I realized that we were both still in Howler morph.
"I can see that." He wasn't afraid. That was odd. "Why have you come, demons? It is not yet my time."
My howler nose smelled smoke. I could see a lot of heat a few miles away. I couldn't see what was burning because of the reeds, but a lot of things had been burning not too long ago.
"A test," Tobias answered. "We are here to test you. Are you the one we seek, mortal?" He played a good demon.
"There is only one Cao Cao," the man answered. Tobias's eyes went wide. So did mine. I knew the name of Cao Cao. He was Tobias's hero and perhaps the greatest general who had ever lived. His military was the marvel of the world; it still was in educated circles. I ran in those circles.
((Santorelli, that smoke, those flames, these reeds…do you know where this is? When this is?))
((Nope. You?))
((Chi Bi.))
((No way.)) But it was true. Chi Bi was one of the most crushing defeats in military history. Cao Cao's army of more than a million men formed a great navy to subjugate the south of China. They were destroyed by a force less than half their size due to an incredibly planned fire attack.
Cao Cao looked form Tobias to me and back again. "Well? Is it the way of demons to stand around all night? I am being hunted like a dog. We must move."
Of course. His enemies would be looking for him. He needed to get to safety. It would be a long journey. I knew this much from my history.
"In a moment," Tobias said. To me, he added, ((Let's demorph. I don't want to get trapped again.))
Cao Cao watched with mild interest as Tobias and I turned into humans. Then he shrugged. I guess he wasn't surprised that demons could change their form.
We walked for hours in silence. Then, he spoke to us again. "You said you were here to test me, demons. How do you intend to do that?"
"You'll learn in time," Tobias answered. I was content to let him take charge. He was the Animorph, after all. I was just the army grunt.
We slept on the ground that night, and every other night for more than a month. In that time, we got to know Cao Cao pretty well. He was even smarter than I expected him to be.
One day, he asked us, "Can demons see the future?"
"We can," Tobias answered. "To an extent. Why?"
Cao Cao was silent for a moment. "I want to ask you something about the future."
"Dangerous," I said to Tobias.
He nodded. "Yeah."
"Just one question," Cao Cao insisted. "What will become of my family?"
"When?" Tobias questioned.
"Once I am gone. I am all that holds back the tied of chaos. The land was within my grasp. I could have ended it all. But at Chi Bi…now, I do not know what will happen. Sun Quan will grow bold. He will attack. And with Liu Bei as well. And that Zhuge Liang. Will they spare my family if they take my country?"
"They will never take your land, Cao Cao," Tobias ensured him. "This, I can promise. Sun Quan will never have any great enough to overcome you. Liu Bei will be the threat. He shall take the lands of Ba Shu and oppose you."
Cao Cao laughed. "Liu Bei is no threat. No army under his command has ever won a battle."
"And that will never change. The threat is Zhuge Liang," Tobias corrected him. "But there is a man in your kingdom named Sima Yi. He can save you from Zhuge Liang."
"And what about when we are all gone? Myself, Liu Bei, Sun Quan, Zhuge Liang, and this Sima Yi?"
"Then, it will be up to those you have left behind. Zhuge Liang will find his apprentice. Sima Yi will find a greater one. The man Sima Yi chooses will overcome Liu Bei's land as last. And then he will die."
"And what about Sun Quan?"
"The Sun family cannot compete with you. They will never have any men to equal yours. In time, you shall overcome them, as well."
"And as for my family?"
Tobias was quiet. Then, "Your wife will die happily and prosperous. Your son, Cao Pi, shall sit on the throne as emperor. So will his sun, Rui."
"And after that? Nothing lasts forever, Tobias." We had given him our names. We didn't see any harm in it. "I know that my family will cease to hold the throne eventually. But will it go to good men?"
"What is a good man?" Tobias asked him. "Your people say you are a good man, but the people of Liu and Sun call you a monster."
"A good man is one who knows necessity. Right and wrong are all matters of perception, you know. They change from where you stand. But necessity is always the same. I am good because I have done what is necessary. The land needs to be controlled and, though the emperor cannot do it, I can. It is not right, of course, but it is necessary."
Tobias nodded. "I understand completely. In my own war, I did much that as wrong but necessary."
"I did not realize demons fought wars."
"They're almost as bad as the wars humans fight."
GOOD JOB. YOU NOW UNDERSTAND NECESSITY. THAT WAS THE PURPOSE OF THIS TEST; TO SEE IF YOU KNEW THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN PERCEPTION AND NECESSITY. YOU KNOW NECESSITY, BUT DO YOU HAVE THE DRIVE TO CARRY OUT WHAT YOU MUST? THIS NEXT TEST WILL TELL US.
