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The Mix is not another Megamorphs. It is a series of short stories that don't work aywhere else, or aren't big enough to be a new book. They will be a part of the series, though.
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The Species
My name is Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill.
I used to live alone on this planet, with only my human friends to be comfort. But ever since three warriors, Raeolin-Ashul-Tallien, Tashe-Kelane-Fahleen, Casten-Tellon-Harelin, Princess Jekkal-Corlen-Fahlo, and more recently, War-prince Alloran-Semitur-Corrass, joined in the battle for Earth, that has changed. Prince Jake has remained so, but it seems harder to obey him when Alloran and Jekkal are around. I wonder if he ever thinks about that.
My human friends insist on reducing my name to "Ax". They have also done similarly to the others, calling them "Rae" and "Alli". Tashe and Jekkal's names are easy enough to say for human language, so they do not do that. They would have done the same for Casten, but he died too soon.
They aren't the only changes that have been happening. Lately, we've freed thirty-seven Semites, twenty-three Hork-Bajir, and forty humans. But we have had to build a village for all of them since they can't live anywhere else. Similar to when we saved two Hork-Bajir, but much more difficult.
I have been living near this campground, helping to smooth out any problems there may be with the experiment. Raeolin has not moved there, because he does not think it would work,even though what I have done with the Animorphs contradicts that.
One day, I was traveling down the river the village stream flows into, scanning the land. It has become necessary because they are not believed dead yet. But lately, nothing outside of what's normal has happened. UntilI notitced a small rustling down stream. I went into bird morph to check.
There was a pack that looked similar to Semites, with wings and all, but they all looked alike, with dull colors and each having all six limbs, except for the cloaked one who stood guard. He was white, like Cassandra. Yet completely different.
The wings were similar to bat hands, except they were not restricted. Similar style horns decorated the head, just in front of the ears. There were no hoods, and they looked more muscular around the limbs.
I went back to check with Cassandra about if she knew what they were. They certainly weren't anything I knew of. I demorphed and asked her.
She turned even whiter than usual.
Chapter 2
"English dragon. You know how humans, in Medieval times, wove tales of them?"
Yes. I was listening intensely as she was explaining, appearing quite scared. I had learned about that in my World Almanac, which I had acquired earlier.
"They were us. There were two groups, one of which was already flying to India, experimenting with a new spiecies, mating with king cobras to create a more limber version to escape the mobs. The other resisted, saying that would make the species weak. "
"So that's where the hoods came from." noted one of the teenagers in the village. Of the humans, thirteen were children, and four of them were teenagers. This one was a female with brown hair, light brown eyes, and olive skin.
"As I was saying, this has caused great buffers between the two, creating sworn enemies. On the other hand, The new Semite tribes spread over the earth, creating different versions. The Islanders, us, are the only ones with such diversity. The Chinese dragons have no wings, just arms, and the African verison looks more like a giant lizard.
The English have always had a strong hatred of all Semite groups, especially Islanders. Tavi-Lek, their leader, has complete control. But I feel that has changed."
Yes. They probably are all controllers.
"No. you said they were playing around in the water. That is normal dragon behavior. More likely only Tavi-Lek is, and controls the others from there."
I moved closer, in Semite morph, after we alerted the others, back to where they were playing. I watched as a new Semite approched the leader.
Visser Three.
My brother's killer. By Andalite law, I have to avenge Elfangor's death by killling him. But doing it now would blow my cover.
I tried to listen to what they were saying, but the churning, splashing water drowned them out. A lounging dragon streched out his arms near our bush.
FOOSH! Rustle... rustle.
WHUMP!
Cassandra and I were yanked out of our cover, exposing our plans. The dragons surrounded us, timing every move perfectly, until they had tight grips on every limb, limiting my resistance to tail thrashing.
"Well, well, well. The thief. Would the other be of a different type? A bandit, perhaps? An Andalite bandit?" He crowed. See, The Yeerks belieive all of us to be Andalites, even though half of the group is humans. My friends say it is important or them to keep thinking that.
Tavi-Lek moved closer. I caught a glimpse of his staff. It was brown, wood accent, with a dragon head, using an Earth metal called gold to show detail, and an Earth gemstone called ruby for the eyes. He planted the staff in the ground, and turned my head to focus on it. I quickly jerked out of the hold.
"Not much. But he is Andalite." He yanked the staff back out and pulled a rod at the bottom, handing it to one of his men. A powder fell into his hand. He lightly tossed it into my direction, causing me to cough. He replaced the cap.
Things seemed a lot simpler. My anger and frustration seemed to melt away, leaving me.
"You will do as I say." The impending voice said.
Yes, Master.
Chapter 3
Ax! What are you doing!? A voice growled.
Snap out of it!
You traitor!
Voices. I didn't recognize any, nor care about them. They were meaningless. My master's wasn't. His was the only one that mattered.
"Stand up." I sprang to my feet.
No, no.
"Demorph."
Resist!
I demorphed, while the voice grew stronger, seemed to take more control. I was returning into me.
Me!
Uh-oh.
"Follow my friend to the pool."
I don't think so. I leaped at the group still holding Cassandra, taking out dragons with each swing of my tail blade, freeing her. She picked me up and flew away from the madness, while I morphed in midair.
I met back in the village with the others. What happened, Ax? Prince Jake asked,That's the first time you ignored me. He was till in Semite morph.
I'm sorry. That powder.... it must have been for hypnosis. I wasn't in control. I pleaded. The only reason I'm free is that he asked me to demorph, clearing it, or maybe the powder doesn't work on Andalites.
That staff... it told...didn't it?
Yes. But I think I stopped it before it found out too much. He would have told Visser Three if he did.
"Axi... We should try to find out more about what is going on before we do anything rash." Cassandra suggested. Sometimes she calls me that.
I suppose so.
The Truth
My name is Tobias.
I haven't moved yet, but that's only because where I live now is good enough for me. That, and there's another hawk in the territory. I do commute there, though, just to help out. We haven't shown them that humans can morph, But they know one hawk can. It's bad for security, but I am hard to pick out of a lineup, so that makes it okay. To me, anyway.
It was night, and I decided to head off to sleep. Hawk eyes and flight are great during the day, but I'm almost helpless at night. Sometimes, I let the hawk mind take over, which dreams about eariler in the day, when I was having some fun. When I have control, I dream like a normal human does. Or at least as close as I can get to it, what being a bird and all.
This wasn't normal.
I was in this field, with blue grass. I saw what looked like asparagus spears and broccoli that must have been trees. The sky was red and gold. Then something that I swear looked like it was out of a cartoon, with a spring for legs and bulging eyes.
I took to flight, looking around for something that would make sense to me. I'd never seen, dreamed, or read about a place like this. It looked almost desrted, and this was supposed to be a dream. What the...
Who is more like it. I jerked around, looking at what seemed like a older Ax, but not quite. The voice was different. And the face. More like....
Elfangor?
How did you-
I don't know. My name's Tobias. And either there's a lot of explaining to do, or this is one heckuva dream.
Chapter 2
I perched on his shoulder as he walked around and explained his world. I started deciding it couldn't be a dream, the more I thought. For one thing, it didn't seem remotely familiar, and I knew the Ellimist didn't do stuff like this.
But it still seemed impossible. If this was the Andalite version of Earth, didn't Ax say it was eighty-two light years away or something? How could I have gotten there? And how did Elfangor still exist? I'd seen him die.HOW!?
How what?
This doesn't make sense. How could- It suddenly snapped to me. How. What. When. Why. Who. Where. His life. His species. Everything. I flew of his shoulder to branch in one of the further away trees. I couldn't belieive what I'd just realized. Dad?
Yes. You understand now.
For a few minutes we just stared at each other, hardly believing what I just found out. I almost think I would've cried if I could. I couldn't belieive it. I had family that stretched across a galaxy. I had a dad who understood what I was going through. I had an uncle who wasn't even the same spiecies I was. I had an entire family, that at one point or another, knew about the war. Why this way? Why didn't you tell me when we met?
You had just learned about the war. You wouldn't have understood then. You might have changed your mind about fighting. It would have been too much. I gave you enough at the time to understand the enemy better. When you grew exerienced was when you would find out the rest. The world started to waver, collapse. I woke up from the dream, now knowing too much to keep to myself. I flew over to the barn, morphing into Hork-Bajir and running as fast as I could to Haven.
That's what we decided to name it. It seemed right. After all, it was a safe haven for free hosts. I tried talking to the others about it, but they still seemed skeptical.
Name one thing only he would know. Jekkal checked. I'm not sure if she has a soft side for me, but it seems like it.
I know you two were dating on the GalaxyTree. She immediately started to blush, or at least that's what it looked like to me.
Chapter 3
"This whole month has gotten too weird. First we discover Ax wasn't the only leftovers from that fight. Then we find out about this virus which we cure. We freed about a hundred people, who, incidentally, the Yeerks are looking for. After that, we find out about this dragon who almost gets Ax turned into a controller, and now this. Have we gone insane, or just Bird-boy for that dream he got?" Marco whined.
"Just you, Marco." Rachel snapped. But she still semed skeptical.
Everyone had made it to Haven, in various forms, and away from the rest of the village. Like I said, they still don't know about humans being able to morph, so it was necessary.
"It would explain a lot. Although I don't know if it isn't just a dream." Jake summed.
I checked it with Ax and the others. They said it makes sense. But I think Alli might have the answers. Part of Dad's... I mean, Elfangor's life had something to do with him, so he should be able to verify it.
"So ask him."
That's the problem. He still thinks we're a bunch of Andalites. I don't think he'll take too kindly if he finds out a bunch of humans can morph. Or that Elfangor gave the power to us. The two of them didn't get along very well.
"But how do we know for sure?" Cassie mused.
We don't. It looks hopeful, but... I let it hang. I didn't want to think he wasn't. At least I'll know who he was, what he looked like, what he did. Be proud of him. And, for once in my life, Everything'll make sense. I didn't want to give up on that yet.
Not yet.
The Move
My name is Cassandra.
I am not one of the Animorphs, or the Andalites, but I am important among the people at Haven. I co-rule with Alloran, seeing as that he cannot morph as well. You see, when I freed him from the Visser, I only brought his body. None of his morphs or morphing power he has can be obtained. I suppose it could be given back to him, but it would take some time. It would be out of my hands. I have been talking with him about moving the village, now that we'd seen English Dragons.
They are a powerful breed. Slightly slower than us with their large bodies, but as strong as Hork-bajir, scrupulous in their work as Andalites, and thrive on fire. (At least that's what I've heard to explain why they breathe it.) They would be able to rip the forest apart for miles a day to find us. They may not have the filthy slugs in their heads, but they are dangerous enough.
I tried to focus on helping my people and their friends adjust to the move, making it as easy as I could. The humans carried survival gear, like utensils for cooking and catching fire (although the concept seems ridiculous to me) and coverings. The Hork-bajir and Semites carried the housings, which we made small and unanchored for just such a case, and the few Andalites helped with whatever couldn't be carried between the others, fashioning them on their backs. The Animorphs were in their raptor bodies, scanning the ground or skies for Yeerk activity.
Any huge walk in these woods was made infintely harder with our cargo, since you were blinded half the time by whatever you were carrying. Watching the ground? Forget the ground. That is, until you step in a gushy spot. It either means you stepped in a river, or you need a river to get it off.
Woah! Guys! Stop! You're about to end up swept down about ten miles if you don't.Tobias cried. I put down my cargo to come upon a dilemma. How do you get across a huge river with out losing a thing? It looked much too deep to walk, too strong to swim, and even flying across it, It would be too much strain for Semites to carry everybody over. It would take too long to build a bridge. No, maybe not.
I shared my plan with about ten other Semites. We formed a body chain, and spread over the span of the river. Hand to foot to joint to ground on each side. We opened our wings to widen the area covered. "All right. Use this to get over,and we'll handle it from there." I explained.
Man, I've heard of being walked all over, but this is ridiculous! Marco laughed.
Marco, knock it off. She's got enough trouble with her plan as it is. You're already being enough of a pain talking, so how about shutting up? Rachel snapped. But her words were worse than Marco's. There were problems. For one, Hork-Bajir feet were very sharp. They'd have to be careful walking. Two, Andalites are heavy. Very heavy. And they needed lots of room to walk. English Dragons, maybe could manage.Semites? Out of the question. And nasty hooves. They'd have to swim up beside us to get across. Three, I wasn't sure if Semite bodies could take the strain of others. If the chain broke, we could lose everything. Or worse, if someone couldn't take it... well, I didn't want to lose anybody, on my orders or not.
Chapter 2
I began to see in hindsight that this wasn't such a good idea. But it was working.
The Andalites had no trouble getting across. The Hork-Bajir moved with such liquid ease it hardly felt like they were there at all. And the humans were too light to be much trouble.
Trouble came in a log.
WHUMP!
"Woah!" A human was right on Sabina when it hit her arms. The grip had started to weaken. If the bridge broke, everyone would fall in. Not to mention we could most certainly lose a few people.
"Hold on!" Nacaro took my place as I went to the center of the river, Trying to help out the situation. I quickly grabbed both ends of the chain and reformed it. It was difficult trying to get over such a thin area, but they managed. We quickly moved out and away from that terrible place.
We were in a small clearing now, trying to stay under the canopy as much as possible to avoid sighting. We were going to have enough trouble with the Yeerks as it was. We didn't need any nosy, greedy humans messing with us.
We chose a new clearing that covered the top with overhanging branches and kudzu that sealed the rest of the holes, giving us a veritable roof to hide it. A river was right next to it, but was not too big for this to be covered, too.
I decided to fly back with the Animorphs and Andalites to Cassie's farm, so they could imprint the path to Haven. We were passing the old site, and decided to rest. It was tiring .
FWASH!
A tree top succumbed to the blow. Tavi-Lek was standing behind it, saber unsheathed. His pack moved out and around us.
"Move!" I gave the signal to fly. Too slow!
Dragons and Semites are about equally matched, except in the mouth. they have fire; we have fangs. That's a problem in long range combat. But the quarters were too cramped for that.
Good thing, too. They dragged us down into the fight. I really don't remember much more. Sometimes the cautious, thinking part of my mind leaves during times like this. The primitive, ruthless, kill-or-be-killed part boiling, seething section rules. All I know was I was biting, slashing, shoving, and whipping like a deranged lunatic.
We must have done plenty of damage, because they left. Then I looked around at it. We took out some of their men, but we also leveled trees for five yards, and made the ground barren. And Jake was on the ground, wings sliced off, and a nasty gash on his belly. I rushed to his side.
I sighed. "He'll live if he demorphs. NOW!" I surprized myself by yelling. I hadn't fought like that since the incedent with a drekel pack. My adrenaline was up and rushing through like a waterfall.
I tried to help him through it. He was demorphing slowly, stopping the blood.
I wasn't sure if it was enough.
Chapter 3
Jake was demorphing, albeit slowly. The others shielded him wtih their wings, making sure no controllers saw what he'd become.
But that didn't stop Alloran. All expression drained from his face.
What the... How the... Aristh Aximili! Start explaining! Now! He had not yet learned of the humans that morphed. I guess Axi explained it while Jake returned to his normal self, Because next time he looked, he seemed in awe. Why didn't you tell me sooner?
"I.. we think we don't have to give out more information than nedded. You know, in case they did find Haven. Tobias also said that, well.... we didn't think that you would go over the idea."
Actually. I'm impressed. You've done so much, outwitted the Yeerk forces for so long. But who gave you the powers?
"Elfangor."
He peered quizically again. Looks like he picked the right people.
"You're not outraged? Shocked?"
Well, of course. But I must say, I've never seen a better band of warriors than this.
The Andalites decided to stay along the outskirts of the farmland. I headed back to Haven, working out problems with the new land. We haven't had too may troubles, except for the stupid bridge over the river, always collasping.
Well, nothing's perfect.
Epilogue
I met with Alli at the forest edge just before sunset to perch on his shoulder.
No sense dragging it out. Alli, I need to ask you something.
What, Tobias?
I shuddered at the passing breeze. Well, you were sorta close to Elfangor. And I had this weird dream, that he was my dad. The information that I've had since, well...you know... It opened up to me. Told me the truth. Everything about him. I thought since you would know, you could tell me if I'm right. I explained the parts that had to do with him. About him being a disgraced War-prince. About the infestation on the Taxxon home world. About him and the little universe.
He pondered this for a moment. Then he held his head in disbelief. It's true. What I can't belive is that you are his son. It seemes to violate everything I know of. On the other hand, there is no way you could have known about it otherwise.
It does seem to make sense. I mean, it explains why I didn't have much of a family, why I was drawn to him, everything. I just wish I knew sooner.
Trust me, you'll know more than you've ever thought possible by the time it's all over.