CHAPTER 14: Escape from the Darkness
(MIKE'S POV)
Whoever said that the eyes are the windows to the soul definitely had the right idea. I decided that as soon as I saw Visser Three close up for the first time. He may have had an Andalite body, very similar to Elfangor's, but there was an evil presence that emanated from him. You could see it in his eyes. A darkness.
One of the Taxxon Controllers next to Visser Three started talking in a bizarre insect language. It was complete gibberish to me of course, but clearly the Visser understood what he meant.
--This Taxxon fool says you are wild animals,-- Visser Three explained. --He wants to know if he and his brothers can eat you.-- He laughed. --But I know you are not animals. I know who and what you are. So, not all of you died when I burned your ship.--
That assumption will be your downfall Visser. I thought to myself. As long as he mistakenly believed us all to be Andalites, we would be safe… sort of.
As Visser Three began to morph, he said something about acquiring the beast he was becoming on the fourth moon of the second planet of a dying sun. I guess that was supposed to impress us all in some way. To be honest he could have morphed something he found on Pluto and I wouldn't have cared. The only thing that I was worried about was the fact that the creature he was turning into would have eight arms, eight legs, eight heads and the ability to shoot fire at anything he didn't like.
I was seeing a creature not found in most people's darkest nightmares. It was so terrifying to look at that even his Hork-Bajir guards backed away fearfully, not wanting to get hit in the crossfire. The Taxxons were less concerned, or maybe they were scared too but their hunger was stronger. The ever hungry Taxxons knew that fresh meat would soon be available. Somehow I doubted they would be put off by barbequed flesh.
Man I wish I'd acquired something bigger, I thought nervously as I stared at Visser Three's morphed body, which even managed to dwarf Rachel's Elephant morph.
--Run!-- Jake yelled. --Up the stairs!--
No arguments here. I raced for the stairs as fast as I could manage with my wounded shoulder. The Dracon burn still hurt, but it was only a superficial injury and (thankfully) didn't hinder me much. I only hoped that I could make it out without suffering any further damage.
--Yes, run,-- Visser Three sneered. --It makes a more challenging target.--Visser Three then, quite literally, opened fire.
"Ahhhhhhhhhh!" Visser Three hit one of the two people riding on Cassie's back with a large fireball. With my enhanced Jaguar senses, I could even smell the flesh burning as the poor woman fell off Cassie's back and landed in the murky Yeerk Pool. Cassie must have been scared, but she kept on going with just the one remaining rider.
--Target practice!-- Visser Three laughed manically as he continued to hurl fireballs, filling the underground cavern with deadly flames wherever they struck. I felt like I was going to be deafened by the screams of terror. There were even cries of pain in my head whenever my fellow Animorphs were hit by Visser Three's fireballs.
As we reached the stairs, I noticed that Rachel starting to demorph slightly in order to fit her massive Elephant body up the steps. That made me a little more grateful that I hadn't morphed anything as large as an Elephant. Being a Jaguar certainly helped when it came to speed and agility. Sadly, the hosts we'd freed from the cages weren't so lucky. Only a handful of Humans and a pair of Hork-Bajir were still with us, as the rest had been burned or re-captured.
--Burn Andalite filth!--
Visser Three unleashed another round of fireballs, taking out the last of the freed Hork-Bajir and hitting my left hind leg. I roared in pain and rage, and before I realised what I was doing I had turned round and pounced on one of the few Hork-Bajir Controllers who had been brave (or stupid) enough to put themselves in the Visser's line of fire. Alien blood spurted from the Hork-Bajir's chest as it fell back down the stairs.
However, this still wasn't enough to stop some of the other Hork-Bajir and Human Controllers from pursuing us. I guess they assumed that Visser Three would kill them anyway if they let the Andalite bandits escape. Although they were probably right, they were in just as much danger of getting hit by the balls of flame that the Visser was still throwing at us, since the Visser was infamous for not caring about the deaths of his own troops.
I let loose another roar to make the Controllers behind us think twice and then continued the journey up the stairs. Looking ahead, I saw that Cassie had nearly made it to safety, but the rest of the Animorphs and the few rescued Humans who were still with us had a while to go yet before we were out of the Visser's reach. Visser Three's massive form wouldn't be able to make it to the top of the stairs.
--You won't get away that easily Andalites!-- Visser Three shouted before firing a barrage of fireballs at the stairs ahead of us, making them burn. We were trapped! Trapped between a wall of fire and a freak of nature.
"No you filthy creep, you aren't going to win this time!" Tom yelled before charging at Visser Three. Alone and unarmed, Tom attacked a beast that was probably one of the most deadly creatures in the galaxy. It was the bravest thing I'd ever seen.
--Tom!-- Jake cried out for his brother, but it was too late to save him. Visser Three lashed out with one of his giant arms and knocked Tom off the stairs. He was unconscious but clearly still breathing.
It was then that Jake went ballistic. He dived at the Visser, tearing at the alien body and ripping out the throat of one of its many heads. Desperate to shake him off, Visser Three started throwing fire everywhere again. Jake dodged the first few shots before his flank got badly burned. Some of the fireballs continued up the stairs, heading for the last remaining humans we'd freed from the cages! Blood curdling screams filled the air as their flesh burned and withered. Even if they survived, they would simply be re-infested. I couldn't bear to watch it happen.
This is going to hurt! I thought as I jumped as high as I could into the path of the last fireball. It struck me hard in the back and I screamed in agony as I felt, heard and smelled my fur and skin scorching away. Ever accidentally burnt yourself on something hot? If you're lucky it's nothing serious and the pain soon passes. The pain I felt was so much worse, like somebody had stabbed me in the back with a red hot poker. However, as agonising as it was, seeing that I had saved a free human from one of Visser Three's fireballs made the pain more than worth it. Even so, I had no intention of making a habit out of it; being set on fire is seriously not fun!
I started to run towards Jake to help him hurt Visser Three, until I realised that I was limping instead of running. My Jaguar body had taken a lot of damage and I wouldn't be of much use to Jake in that state.
--Jake come on! We have to get out of here!-- I shouted.
With a final angry roar at the Visser, Jake jumped clear and started to head back up the stairs, with me limping after him as fast as I could. The others had already made it out of the Visser's line of sight, safe from any further fiery attacks. Only a few more seconds and Jake and I could join them and escape from this hell hole and out into the sanctuary of the school. How ironic...
It was in these last moments before we escaped that another surprise appeared. It was Erika. She had recovered faster than I expected from when I had attacked her earlier and was now charging up the stairs wielding a Dracon Beam and a furious expression on her face. Somehow I knew that she was gunning for me. That's the worst thing about bad guys, they take the whole vengeance thing way too seriously. You'd think that she'd at least be grateful that I didn't kill her when I had the chance.
"Die Andalite!" Erika screamed with a blood curdling rage. I could scarcely believe that this was a teenage girl talking and not her Yeerk (who was still in the pool).
Ignoring the searing pain in various parts of my body, I began to run up the stairs trying to distance myself from the deranged girl. I was fast, but still not fast enough. My Jaguar body had taken a beating and Erika was a good shot. A quick glance behind be showed her aiming the weapon, her fingers about to squeeze the trigger–
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" A fireball struck Erika square in the back and she plummeted into the murky depths of the Yeerk Pool. Even if she survived the wound, she would most likely drown in the pool before being rescued. She would just be another nameless victim of Visser Three's arrogance and carelessness. Just another accidental friendly-fire statistic for the Yeerks.
In the times when I think back on that moment, I sometimes find it hard to remember how I felt when I saw Erika fall. Confused, angry, but mostly grief. Funny really, that only a few minutes earlier I had wanted her dead and now I was sad she was gone. Sure she was a traitorous piece of scum that had voluntarily accepted a Yeerk in her head, but she was still human and so was I. Besides, she may also have unintentionally saved my life. The fireball that had accidentally hit her could easily have finished me off. I guess I'll never know for sure.
Finally, I reached the top of the stairs and was relieved to find my fellow Animorphs had already made it out. Jake, Rachel, Cassie and Marco, they were all there… except for Tobias.
Mentally kicking myself, I scanned the cavern and managed to spot a Red-tailed hawk hiding in the shadows. If it weren't for my enhanced night vision I would never have spotted him.
--Tobias come on! We have to get out of here now!-- I called out to him. I saw his hawk head nodding in reply. I saw him spread his wings, about to take off. I also saw half a dozen Human Controllers armed with Dracon Beams heading up the stairs after us. We had only a few seconds before they reached us and opened fire.
--Go on without me,-- Tobias told me. I got the feeling that it was in private thought speak. --I'll wait until the coast is clear and sneak out. I can stay hidden until it's safe.--
--No you can't! You have to come now!-- I yelled back. That was when Jake noticed I'd fallen behind.
--Mike, what are you doing? We have to get out of here!--
--You don't understand! Tobias, he's going to be trapped in morph and it's all my fault!-- I tried to head back towards the Controllers, but my injuries must have been worse than I thought because my hind legs suddenly stopped working and I fell to the ground helplessly.
So this is it for me, I thought with despair. I'm going to die in the most horrific place on Earth on my very first Animorph mission. I couldn't even save Tobias.
Suddenly, a pair of very strong and very hairy arms grabbed me by the mid-section and lifted me off the ground.
--Hang in there man,-- Marco said as he carried me towards the exit. --And don't think I'm going to be making a habit of this, you need to stay away from the tuna little kitty!--
--Please, we have to go back.-- I pleaded desperately.
Marco shook his head.
--Go back now and we're road kill,-- Marco said. --You saved my butt with those giant worms back there so now I'm returning the favour.--
I knew he was right. Going back there would be suicide even if I wasn't currently paralysed from the waist down, but that didn't make me feel any better about leaving Tobias behind. I could have saved him, I should have saved him and I didn't.
Wait, was my vision blurry a second ago? And why is it so cold all of a sudden? I wondered as everything started to lose focus. This can't be healthy, maybe I should demorph? It's so hard to think with all those voices…
"Hey Mike, you can turn back now."
"Is he okay?"
"Jake I think he's going into shock from all these burns."
"Is he going to make it?"
"Where's Tobias?"
"Mike! Snap out of it!"
"Demorph now!"
Demorph? What a great idea. I thought idly. I focused on my human body and felt my body rearranging itself as my vision returned and my mind cleared slightly. My fellow Animorphs were standing around me with various concerned expressions on their faces.
"Are you alright?" Cassie asked. Of course Cassie would be the one to say that.
"I'll probably have one hell of a headache in the morning," I replied. "But besides that I'm fine."
"Fine? Fine?!" Marco demanded. "You tried to take on an army of guys with ray guns by yourself and you expect us to believe you're fine? Are you insane?!"
"You kept yelling something about Tobias," Rachel said. "Is he alright? Did he make it out of there?"
"No he's not alright!" I snapped at her. "He's down there right now about to be trapped as a hawk forever and it's all my fault!"
"It's not your fault." Cassie told me reassuringly. "There's nothing you could have done."
"Yes there is," I sighed in despair. "I knew it was going to happen."