CHAPTER 26
Ax
As soon as I heard Prince Jake's thought-speak call, a call only I could hear, I knew I would have to run as fast as I possibly could.
Another time, Visser, I said. I withdrew my tail blade and bolted.
As I hurtled past the Hork-Bajir and Taxxons, I heard the Visser roar, AFTER THEM!
I raced through the Yeerk pool complex at a full gallop. I heard the shouts of the Hork-Bajir behind me, and I increased my speed.
I turned one stalk eye to give myself a view of what was going on behind me and tucked my tail down to decrease wind resistance.
I saw a Hork-Bajir-Controller ahead of me. He saw me coming and raised his Dracon beam.
I shot past him, whipped my tail to the side, and caught his neck with my tail blade. The Hork-Bajir's head toppled off his shoulders and fell to the ground, followed a moment later by his headless body.
I burst into an open space behind a shed just in time to see the Animorphs and Hunters in bird morph, about to take off.
Ax, morph! Prince Jake shouted.
I focused on the image of a northern harrier, my bird of prey morph.
Feathers sprouted all over my body, replacing blue-and-tan fur. My stalk eyes shriveled back into my head and disappeared, as a beak appeared in the lower portion of my face. My arms became wings, and my front legs were absorbed into the rest of my body, which was shrinking rapidly. The hooves on my hind legs became taloned feet.
As soon as I was finished morphing, I flapped my wings and rose into the air.
The eight of us rose swiftly over the Yeerk pool complex and headed towards the tunnel opening.
Then I heard a sound from down below.
TSEEEW! TSEEEW!
A Dracon beam flashed past me, searing the air, but missing. More shots echoed down below.
The Yeerks were shooting at us!
Don't look back! Prince Jake shouted. Just head for the tunnel.
TSEEEW!
TSEEEW!
TSEEEW!
AAAHHH! Tobias yelled.
AAAHHH! Cassie yelled.
I felt a burst of pain as a Dracon beam crackled past my left wing.
We can make it! Prince Jake yelled.
And then we were there.
Prince Jake shot up into the tunnel entrance, followed by first Cassie, then Tobias, then Rachel, then me, then Marco, then Susan, and then Txepiva in his golden eagle morph.
We all demorphed, remorphed, and then flew back down the tunnel to the drainage chamber where Tobias and I had started digging.
We shot, one by one, out of the open manhole, landed outside and demorphed. I used my tail to flip the cover back into place.
"Well, we did it," Rachel said.
"Yeah, we did," Prince Jake said, a look of disquiet on his face. I could sympathize. We had freed the Hunter the Yeerks were holding captive, killed the Yeerk who was overseeing the project to capture the Hunters, and all escaped. But we had been very lucky. Any one of us, especially Marco and Susan, could be dead now if I hadn't been able to take the Visser by surprise and force a standoff.
Susan's eyes had turned green. She and Marco embraced, as did Prince Jake and Cassie. Rachel rolled her eyes at Susan and Marco, but then smiled at Tobias, who was sitting next to her.
I turned to the Hunter standing beside me. He had returned to his human form, which looked much like a tall male human with gray fur covering his skin and long black hair. He looked over at me. "So you are the Andalite. My name is 'Awkx Txepiva."
I am Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill. But the humans address me as Ax.
"It is a pleasure to meet you, Aximili."
Likewise, I answered.
Prince Jake looked around. "Okay, the four of us," he said, indicating himself, Rachel, Marco and Cassie, "need to get back home immediately or we are definitely going to be grounded. We'll meet up tomorrow at the barn to decide what to do with Txepiva. Is that all right with you?" he asked Susan.
She nodded. "Yes. I'll take him to the forest, where he can sleep. We'll be there tomorrow afternoon."
"I'll call Erek," Marco said. "He should be there."
Good idea, Tobias put in.
"Okay, we'll meet at the barn tomorrow," Prince Jake said. He began to morph to falcon. We all quickly followed suit, all morphing to birds and flying off towards the others' homes.
Prince Jake and Rachel banked off after a while, flying in the direction of their own houses. The rest of us kept flying, heading for Cassie's barn and the forest beyond it.
We all landed at the barn and, with the exception of Tobias, we demorphed. Marco said good-bye to Susan, remorphed, and flew off towards his own house.
"You know, Txepiva," Cassie said, "you could sleep here in the barn. I have some empty stalls here that you could sleep in for the night."
Txepiva, who was presently in his human form, turned his head to her, surprise filling his features as his eyes turned violet. "You would… let me stay here?"
"If you need a place to stay tonight, sure," Cassie said. "I've got plenty of room in there for you."
Txepiva smiled. "Thank you, Cassie," he said. "You are very kind."
That's the way she always is, Tobias said.
Txepiva nodded. "Then this Jake person is very lucky."
Cassie turned red when he said that. I believe it is what humans call a "blush." I am not an expert at human body language, as it is so different from that of an Andalite.
Cassie stared at Txepiva for a moment, unable to speak. Then she spoke, her voice strangled. "I… I… What do you mean?"
"Come, child," Txepiva said, his eyes shifting into green. "I see the way you two behave around each other. I am familiar with such things. It is the same as this young one and the human called Marco."
Now Susan's face turned red, and her eyes turned pink. It is amazing how easily embarrassed young humans, both male and female, can become when the notion of relationships is brought up. Apparently, the same is true for Hunters.
"So, anyway, Txepiva," Cassie said, clearly desperately trying to change the topic of discussion, "come on in and I'll show you where you can sleep."
"I'll go in too," Susan volunteered. "I can tell where a Hunter would be comfortable."
Cassie, Susan and Txepiva walked into the barn and closed the door behind them. I morphed to harrier, and Tobias and I flew off towards the forest.
It's really amazing how embarrassed they got when Txepiva mentioned their relationships, wasn't it? Tobias said.
Yes, I said. However, I have noticed the type of actions he was talking about. And I believe I have noticed the same thing between them. And also between you and Rachel.
He slowed noticeably in his flight. Um… what?
Never mind, I said. We should probably be going.