My name is Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill.
I fought by the side of a wizard unknown to me. He was male, with gray steaks through his brown hair. He had deep purple bags under his eyes, a sure sign of human exhaustion. His face was pale and sweaty.
There is a human-Controller coming up behind you, I warned him calmly.
He whirled and said something I didn't understand. Scarlet light erupted from the end of his wand and blasted the Controller. He pushed his hair out of his eyes with the back of his hands and panted, "I don't know what you are, but you seem to be on our side."
I am, if you are fighting against the Yeerks. I replied.
He grinned a particularly wolfish grin, exposing larger-than-normal eyeteeth. "I'm Remus Lupin," he said.
Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill, I stated.
"Well, then, Aximili, what do you say we go show those Yeerks what we're made of?"
I am willing, I said, acknowledging him with a nod of my head.
Together, we ran off into the flood of battle. We both stopped short when the most ugly human I have ever seen stepped out in front of us. I didn't know who he was, but he seemed to radiate evil. I shuddered back, hooves scrabbling against the floor, which was slick with blood.
Only one other person I had met had an aura like this: Visser Three.
"Hello, werewolf," the man said in an oddly high-pitched voice.
I was about to demand the man to tell me where he had found out about my accident in the Forbidden Forest. Before I could say anything, however, Lupin had straightened up and looked the man in the eye, saying quietly, "Hello, Voldemort."
All my hearts nearly stopped. Voldemort? Wasn't that the man who had killed Harry's parents?
"Have you come back to hunt down some more innocent infants?" Lupin asked.
Voldemort raised his wand and shrieked, "Crucio!"
Lupin screamed and fell. He twitched violently and convulsed, head thrashing side-to-side. I was about to slice Voldemort's hand off with my tail, but he had ended the spell.
Lupin spat at Voldemort's feet. "You killed my best friend and his wife," he said, poison ringing in his tone, "Go on and kill me. I'm just disappointed that I never got a shot at you myself."
Voldemort smiled. "Oh, I'll kill you," he said, and Lupin squared his jaw in determination. "But not yet, werewolf. See, I have plans for you. And if that Andalite of yours so much as twitches, I'll make sure it'll be a long and painful death."
I stood transfixed with horror. There was nothing I could do. I shook with anger and fright that I did my best to mask. Lupin nodded slowly, indicating that I shouldn't do anything.
"It's a little dark in here, don't you think?" asked Voldemort, carefully inspecting his wand.
Lupin narrowed his eyes. "I think the light fixture is just fine, thank you very much."
"Really? I think that the moon could light the room beautifully," Voldemort replied.
"No!" Lupin cried. His eyes went huge with horror. He skidded backwards, but Voldemort stepped on the hem of his robes. He shook and moaned.
Voldemort pointed his wand to a corner of the ceiling. He said a word that made black fire erupt from the end of his wand. It cut through the ceiling and left there a perfectly sized hole. Through this hole, the moonlight shone as bright as a searchlight. It fell directly onto Lupin.
Lupin went rigid. His whole body shook. A snarl rose in his throat, a snarl that made my fur stand on end. His face elongated. His whole body twisted and convulsed. Gray fur sprouted all over his body. His teeth grew sharp and pointed. His bones snapped audibly. It sounded painful.
In seconds, a wolf lay where Remus Lupin had once been. It got to its feet and bristled. It bared its teeth at Voldemort, tail curled in between its legs.
I backed up in terror. What…?
A Hork-Bajir struck me in the hindquarters and sent me skittering forward. I tried to stop but the floor was too blood-soaked. I toppled into the moonlight.
I felt myself scream in thought-speak. It was pain beyond anything I had felt before! It was like morphing with the pain! My stalk eyes dimmed and disappeared. A mouth appeared across my face, as if someone had slashed it open with their tail-blade. Teeth painfully formed.
My upper body melded with my lower. My hooves become clawed paws. I felt every hair on my body grow gray and long. My tail blade disappeared.
When the transformation had finished, I had collapsed. I was no longer in control of my actions. My body acted of its own accord.
I realized with horror that this exactly like having a Yeerk in your head. The werewolf snarled and howled a cry to the moon. It licked its lips and bounded off to the side for a Controller.
Something large and gray hit my side. I fell with a yelp. Another werewolf wrestled me to the ground, a mad look in its eyes. The werewolf in me howled again and fought with all its brute strength.
Listen to me! The other wolf demanded.
The werewolf I was went limp with my shock. How… how could it be talking? I mean, it wasn't thought-speak, I knew that…
Good, it said, sliding off me. It looked at me and panted. Lupin? Yes, definitely Lupin. A werewolf.
The werewolf trembled with indecision. Should it do as the older, experienced, bigger wolf said?
I never knew that you were a werewolf, Lupin said with some surprise.
I didn't reply. I couldn't.
You never had the Wolfsbane Potion, did you?
Again, I didn't reply. I didn't know what a Wolfsbane Potion was, but I obviously hadn't had it.
Come with me, it said.
The werewolf didn't move. It was still unsure.
Lupin cuffed me with a paw and drew back his lips in a snarl. Come!
I felt a whine rise in my throat. The werewolf hung its head and its tongue lolled out. It docilely followed where Lupin led. He stopped in front of the empty cages that usually held hosts and said one simple word.
In.
How was I to disagree? Head hanging, I was ushered into it. Before I could do anything, he managed to slam the door closed.
The werewolf in me rebelled. It made me lunge against the cage's metal bars and fight to get out.
Lupin looked apologetic. I'm sorry, he said, it's for your own good. You won't bite anyone and be killed. You'll thank me later.
He turned and bounded off back into the melee.
I hung against the bars, snapping at them. The werewolf was hurting itself by trying to get out. I screamed at it to stop. The werewolf hesitated, confused by the voice in its head. It snarled and bit at the air. I screamed again, but it had gone back to trying to escape.
I sighed resignedly and retreated into the corner of my mind that I owned. It was my fault, really. Why hadn't I fallen back with the others?
I gave up trying to take control and watched the werewolf slowly killing us.
There was nothing I could do now.
~*~
I don't know who I am.
Or who I was.
My senses are returning to me. The pain is diminishing. I am morphing (or demorphing) faster now.
My thoughts are clearer. I can almost feel my body again. I can almost see. I can almost understand the noise I hear around me.
The pain is still too strong to pinpoint where my wounds are exactly. It seems to be all over. It's dwindling now, though. I almost remember who… who…
Memories flood my head too quickly for my numb brain to process. I'm not dying; I know this at least. Quickly, quietly, I slowly go spiraling…
Spiraling…
Spiraling…
Down into a black oblivion.
A/N: Sorry this is so short. I didn't know what to write, apart from Ax being a werewolf. The next should be better. Speaking of the next chapter, stick around for "Chapter 33: Rebellion (Hermione)"!
