Chapter 12: The Ellimist and The Flock
We ran hard that day. I morphed to human and led the other escapees through the streets and out of town to the forest. None of them could fly, so it took us a while, but we got there eventually. I showed them the hut Ax had helped me make, before plonking myself down on a low branch. I sighed deeply.
~~Do not rest yet, Max. There is still much for them to learn~~ I jumped. That voice. It was unlike anything I'd ever heard, yet familiar at the same time. It spoke without words, but it wasn't thought speak. I looked over to Angel. She was fast asleep on my bed.
"Ellimist?" I asked. A figure appeared before me. An old, grey haired man with small, round glasses. But he radiated a sense of power, wisdom, and patience. "Yes. I am, among other names, the Ellimist. I see that the Animorphs have told you about me and my games with Crayak." I jumped down from the branch and stormed over to him.
"They said you were not to be trusted, that you were a puppet master. You say you can't interfere, yet you put people in positions they have only one real way out of. You used Tobias to free those Hork Bajir and left him with an insanely difficult choice. Yeah, I've heard about you," I snarled.
"Then you would know that I could create a safe haven for you and your flock." I stopped.
"My what?" Just because I'd rescued them... He sighed.
"You do not know this, but you are not of this universe. You and the Flock were brought here from another universe by Crayak. I believe he was trying to help the Yeerks in the same way that I help the Animorphs. By giving them a choice. I have kept an eye over you long before you were kidnapped, and I believe you are ready to be returned to your own universe. That is, if you want to go..." Slowly, my brain processed what he was saying.
"Wait a minute. The Erasers, the cliff. That was you, wasn't it? Well of course it was. But why?" I asked. He smiled.
"Because it was necessary that you knew about the Erasers. And what is the point of having wings if you can not fly? It may not have been essential that you learnt, but I believed you deserved a payment for the pain you have endured." I thought for a minute.
"What happens if I choose to go with you to this other universe? What about the Animorphs? Will they remember me? Will they even know I existed?"
"Only if you want them to. I realise that this must be a hard choice, and as such, I will give you a day to decide." At that, the figure of the Ellimist began to fade. "Remember Max, your choice will affect many people, both directly and indirectly, which ever way you choose. Choose wisely." He faded almost completely, only his mouth showing like a Cheshire Cat, before that too disappeared.
