Jake sat in a black, smooth, weak-looking chair, holding his head

in his hands. He was shaking. Shaking badly.

Cassie came and sat next to him in a similar chair. Without a word,

she hugged him and held him while his shaking slowly lessened.

"Cassie did not hate," a detached, little-girl's voice said simply.

The peaceful, healing scene melted away, replaced by a huge,

metallic vehicle far underwater. Six creatures were swimming

away from it. Dolphins.

The vehicle exploded. Blinding light consumed everything,

including the dolphins. Water erupted and rippled away at

lightning speed. Even the landbeyond the water was affected by the

blast, trembling as if it was hit by anearthquake.

Ax fixed it so it'll be a dud, Tobias's disembodied voice

explained. Just asthe deadly waves hit the sea shelf and began to

grow, Lecrian's dream eyes grewdim, as if he was going blind, until

darkness consumed him, too.

Someone or something is using me, and I don't like it very

much. Tobias saidangerly in the total darkness.

The darkness remained absolute, but Lecrian could no longer hear

the trembling earth.Instead, he heard the sound of dripping water,

so faint that any other noicewould make it impossible to hear.

Then he couldn't hear it anymore. Someone was walking, and that

someone carried a light of some sort, because Lecrian could see a

light coming from the samedirection as the sound.

As the light drew closer, Lecrian could see that he was inside the

stone walls of a dungeon. The room was empty, and there were cell

doors all around. One of thedoors had a light behind it, and it was

growing brighter.

Without thinking, Lecrian walked to and looked into one of the

cells.

Aximili stood there. He looked haggard and tired, despairing. He

was surrounded by a force field, preventing him from using

aninsect morph to escape. Aximili heard the man coming, and

suddenly he wasn'thaggard anymore. In sheer, angry defiance and

frustration, Aximili's tailflashed, slicing atthe globe.

Lecrian heard the door open, but he couldn't turn his dream head to

see who it was. Instead, he began to float like a ghost into Aximili's

cell. No longerrestrained by the need for light, Lecrian saw the

crack.

There was a crack in the globe. It was small, nearly invisible, but it

was there.

But the cell was too dark. Even with the light approaching, the cell

would be too dark for Aximili to see it, especially now that he has

given up hope ofescaping on his own.

~~~

Everyone was on the move the next day. The dragons flew, each

one carrying many of the soldiers of Hivena on their backs. The

Animorphs, too, flew, but in bird morph. They only stopped to

land, demorph, and remorph again.

As night approached, Levakh came into view. Jake, Rachel, Cassie

and Marco saw it way before anyone else did.

My word! Cassie exclaimed.

The lush, vast Forest Sea that served as a natural boundary between

Levakh and the neighboring kingdoms came to an abrupt end.

Beyond it, the flat plain wasblack, as if it was burnt, even though it

wasn't. All light was absorbed by the

blackness of the land. Even the setting sun could not color that

land. The castle itself was a huge, lightless, spiring monolith,

scraping the sky.

As they flew closer, and before the sun could set, the four of them

gave their report.

Talk about overkill, Marco exclaimed. What could he possibly

use all thoserejects for? To teach him the "monster mash?"

"What is it?" King Themis asked loudly, trying to be heard over the

fast moving air. He knew that the Animorphs had excelent hearing

in their bird forms, but he didn't want to test just how good their

hearing was, especiaslly when he had ahard time hearing himself.

He rode the golden Dragon King at the head of the army with the

Animorphs, but neither of them could make out outline of the

castle, much less anything else.

He has a whole army! Rachel reported. Thunder lizards,

phoenixes, pegasuses,giants --

They might be giants, Marco interjected.

--vampires... Cassie, what are those called?

Perytons, gallu, manticores, bug bears...the list goes on. Cassie

finished just as the sun crossed the line between mostly over the

horizon to mostly underthe horizon.

Anyway, Jake said, there's a lot there.

"How many?" the Dragon King said, clearly heard over the wind.

I don't know. Anyone good at estimating?

Thousands of monsters, Rachel answered without hesitation,

and a few more thousand regular guys.

Marco looked at her in wonder. At least it looked like it should

have been wonder, being an osprey's face. What? Now Shopping

Queen Xena can count at a glance? I'm impressed.

Themis wasn't happy.

"Rurga! How in the world did he get that much power?!" he yelled

angerly.

Huh? What do you mean? Jake asked, shocked at the outburst.

"He's a summoner!" he stated lividly, still making sure that he is

heard. "That is all he is. He doesn't have very many sources of

magic. Certainly not fromhimself or from the land. He simply

doesn't have the power to summon such anarmy, much less control

it."

I don't understand, Cassie said. What was that about getting

magic from magicfrom the land?

Themis slowly calmed down. "There are many forms of magic," he

explained. He looked at his sons flying behind him. "Some magic

in part of us. It is limitedin that no more is learned, but it never

leaves you because it comes directlyfrom within. Your self is the

source of the magic. My magic is diverse andadaptable, but I can't

just call it up from anywhere. My magic mostly comes frommy

home, though I still do have a little bit that comes from me.

Summoners,though," he said as his face hardened, "get their magic

from others."

He looked back at the dark land. "He couldn't summon an army

that large. Not unless he's either tapping into a very powerful,

godlike being, or from a sourcethat doesn't run out of magic." He

sighed, this time calming down all the wayback to normal.

Themis? We need to rest, Jake said in private thought-speech.

We've been flying all day with no breaks. The others are trying to

not complain, but I knowthat they are out on their feet. You know,

dead tired.

Themis nodded. "I was thinking of the same thing about my men,"

he said to himself.

Soon, camp was set. A good dinner was cooked by the patient

chefs, gaurds were set, shifts were decided, the dragons flew

tirelessly overhead, looking forthrie own food, and the Animorphs

and the princes and king got ready to rest.

As the camp was settling down, Rachel sat next to a fire, alone.

She was thinking hard, looking for some answers and not finding

any.

"Hi, Rachel," Cassie greeted her as she came up to her. She saw the

frustrated, almost haunted look on Rachel's face. "Would you like

some company?"

Rachel grunted. "Sure."

Cassie sat down, looking at Rachel that sideways look that Rachel

was so familiar with. Rachel sighed, deciding to just give Cassie

the answers intead ofwait for her to figure out what was bothering

her.

"Why Tobias?" she asked, not really directing the question to her

best friend. "Why did David shoot him?"

"Maybe because it was because he thought he killed him before,

and he wanted to get him this time. You know, a grudge against the

one who got away."

"But Tobias was ~human.~ Didn't David himself say that he

wouldn't kill a human? Just animals?"

Cassie hasitated. "He's not human anymore. He believes that no

human laws bind him, now. An animal can't murder. At least that

would be his excuse.

Rachel looked away and was quiet for a while. Cassie knew what

she was thinking.

"But he hates me more. Much more than Tobias. Why didn't he

shoot me, instead?"

Cassie hugged her friend. For a while, she didn't answer. When she

did, soft and strained, feeling Rachel's pain.

"What could hurt you more," she said, "than seeing Tobias die?"

For a long while, neither girl said anything. They just listened to

the fire pop and to the blowing wind.

"He'll be alright," Rachel firmly said. "I know he will be."

"Yeah. He will," Cassie confirmed. "He will recover soon. He

always has."

Not too far away, something hovered unseen in the air. It was a

larah, an invisible, ghost-like being.

The larah scowled, turned, and floated away.

Bird-boy's not going to get away from me again, David vowed,

as he silently flew back towards Hivena.

* * * * *

The sun was just thinking of waking up. Nothing moved except a

small, black creature named Jake.

Jake crawled through the black land surrounding the castle of

Levakh. He was a pure black, scrawny thing that stood two feet tall

at best, with skeletal,spindly limbs with sharp joints, clawed hands

and feet, and small, sharp,shark-like teeth. He was a goblin, one of

the nastier members of the faeriefamily.

Jake crept closer to the sleeping castle and army, invisible against

the blackness of the land. He had to crane his thin neck to see the

tops of thetowers. Basilisks, a kind of large lizard, draped

themselves over the walls.They were joined by harpies, griffins,

phoenixes, pegasuses, and several otherflying creatures that Jake

did not recognize. At the base of the castle walls, amoat of oily

water swirled restlessly, in spite of the unmoving air. Outside of

the moat, hundreds of monsters laid asleep. Hundreds of giants of

all kinds,spinxes, scorpion-tailed manticores, giant bull men,

wingless lizards of allsizes, cats of all kinds, even the rare peryton,

a winged, man-eating deer. Onlythe vampires were up and around,

but even they were heading back to their coffins as the sun's deadly

rays slowly brightened. The drawbridge was down, butonly so a

couple of cyclopes could lay on it. Looking past them, Jake could

see moremonsters, but also the human half of the army. With his

goblin eyes, he couldsee that some of the soldiers' weapons were

glowing with the aura of magic.

How in the world are we going to get Ax out of there? he

mused.

Something virtually invisible floated up behind him.

Boo! it said.

Ahhhhh! Jake yelled. He spun around and hissed at the larah

hovering behind him. It was tall, with light brown hair and totally

white eyes. It looked like a human ghost, except for the fact that it

had teeth. Very, very sharp teeth.

Larahs look almost identical to ghosts. Ghosts, though eerie, are

basically harmless. Larahs are not.

And Jake didn't like larahs. Not in the least. He really did not want

to mess with one right then, and the goblin mind wholeheartedly

agreed.

Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha! the deadly larah laughed, its menacing

presense melting away as it held its sides in a feeble

attempt to control its laughter.

Jake recognized the voice.

Marco?!

Of course it's me, he answered, finally getting a hold on himself.

Who elsewould it be?

Jake shuttered, still trying to control his panic. You almost gave

me a heart attack! Please. Don't do that again. You know what

happened last time.

Marco remembered and winced. Sorry, man.

Jake finally calmed down. Okay, okay. What are you doing up?

Well, Marco began, it all started with the sudden silence.

What? Jake asked, confused.

You stopped snoring, Marco explained. The sudden silence

woke me up. Knowingjust how un-bright you are, I had to come

looking for you. And what are youdoing here, may I ask.

Jake looked over his shoulder at the castle. Checking things out. I

was hoping to find a way in, but I can't even get close. The soldiers

have magical weapons.I think Themis would like to know that.

No he won't. He'll hate the news. And you better get out of here,

fearless leader. Marco nodded to his left. Some cousins of the

ghost are scouting thearea.

Larahs?

Some are, but I didn't recognize the rest. So, get out of here

already, Jake. I'll cover you.

Jake nodded, looked one last time at the impenetrable fortress, and

scampered away just as the sun barely started to peek over the

horizon.

* * * * *

An hour later...

"Okay, guys," Jake began as he bent down to pick up a couple of

black twigs.

"Now all we need to do is decide who's going to go."

"Rachel will! Rachel will!" Marco cried excitedly but before she

could volunteer.

"Oh, shut up, Marco," Rachel grumbled good-naturely.

Earlier, Jake and Marco woke Rachel and Cassie up. They and the

rest of the army had a quick breakfast, then got ready for the battle.

Marco was right: Themiswasn't happy with the news about the

magical weapons, but he was gratefulnonetheless. Finally, the four

of them put their heads together and came to anagreement: Ax

needed special attention if he was to be rescued, but Themis

wouldneed help, too. Two Animorphs find a way into the castle,

the other two stay out

and fight.

"Hey, I was only trying to make life easier for you," Marco

defended himself.

"You failed miserably," Rachel grumbled again.

Jake snapped the twigs in two, making sure that one half of each

twig was smaller than the other half. He turned his back to them,

gripped them in such away that no one could tell which ones were

shortest, then turned back around.

"Shorter ones go. Long stay."

Rachel reached for a twig first. Long.

"Awwww, poor Xena," Marco said, reaching for his twig.

"Short," Rachel commented. "How accurate."

Then Cassie. Short.

"Looks like you're stuck with me, Cassie," Marco chimed, tossing

the broken twig behind him. Jake just looked tired.

Crimber, dressed in light leather armor, ran up to them. "Jake, we

are about to start. You ready?"

Jake nodded. The others nodded with him.

As they followed Crimber to his father, Marco muttered, "Whoa. I

just now realized just how insane our idea is."

* * * * *

One hour before dawn...

Rachel approached the golden Dragon King. She admired him, his

sheer power, grace, and intelligence, but she had a specific

question in mind.

"Hey, Dragon King!" she called. He turned his huge, beautiful head

to look at her with pure red eyes. "Is it alright if I morph that black

dragon? I'd ask him myself, but he doesn't appear to be here at the

moment."

The Dragon King grinned. His smile was full of polished, long,

sword-like teeth. "Of course," he answered easily.

Rachel grinned in return, then walked back to where Lecrian was

talking to her friends.

* * * * *

At dawn...

The sun just barely peeked over the horizon. The air was crisp and

chill, and a thin mist spread over the black lands of Levakh.

All of the earthbound monstrous army of Zilos silently stood at

attention, with the human half standing behind them with weapons

ready. They filled the the black plainssurrounding the castle.

Inside, more soldiers and a few of the smaller monstersguarded the

home of the summoner, who stood atop the highest tower,

hisfaithful, black pegasus standing nearby. The air above the castle

was filledwith all of the flying creatures at his command.

Advancing on Zilos and his army was King Themis, the Dragon

King, and their armies. Themis's human but strong, skilled and

forever loyal army spread acrossthe land and chanted their battle

song. Themis himself marched at their head, along with his sons

and a werewolf namedJake. Above them, the Dragon King and his

army of multicolored, multi-powered

dragons flew, and Rachel flew with them.

Jake loped alongside Herlim, alert. He didn't like the odds.

Maybe it's for the best, Jake mused.

"And what's for the best?" Herlim asked strainfully. He was

focussing on all of the blades of the army, making the edges of

them glow red-hot. Crimber washelping him, aiming Herlim's

energy with unerring accuracy.

How it's just me and Rachel out here and Marco and Cassie going

in. He sighedsadly, grateful that neither Cassie nor Marco would

be under direct attack, andthat Rachel was with him.

With a blood-curdling cry, the battle began.

Surging with the tide of humanity behind him, Jake sprinted

forward, teeth bared and claws gleaming. He leaped upon a cyclops

and scampered up its body withlightning speed until he reached the

head. With his clawed hand, he slashed at

the single eye, blinding it just as it swiped at him. It screamed in

pain and rage, but it was out of any real fight.

The army easily sidestepped its blundering feet and surged past it,

attacking more immediately dangerous monsters. Lecrian and his

brothers stayed with theirfather, who focused on a spell. Muttering

under his breath, Themis unleashed hisspell, and suddenly a grey

cloud formed overhead. In the sky above, dragons blewfire, ice,

lightening, light, sickness, and many other forms of the

breathattack upon the other flying creatures, while other dragons

dived at the giants.Rachel herself took down two fire giants,

ignoring their fire weapons andbeating them to the ground.

Unnoticed in the chaos, a beam of light flashed from the forest

bordering the black plains. The light ray shot over through the

battle and through a window of the castle, stopping at the first

door. The light came to an abrupt stop.

The light was Cassie, in a humanoid form with four arms, but also

glowed so brightly it hurt to look at her. In her hands, she helhd

tightly onto a man.

The man became intangible like a ghost. He grinned at Cassie with

shark-like teeth, then slipped through the door as if it wasn't even

there.

Cassie opened the door and followed Marco, trying to keep her

shining down. The door led to a stone hallway, with two stairways

on either side, both leadingdown.

Lecrian said 'dungeon,' right? Marco asked as he seeped through

the floor.

Yes, but...hey, wait for me, Marco, Cassie said, flashing over to

the one ofthe stairs.

Marco easily slipped through the stone floors, falling but with a

great deal of control.

He was flying! And without having to use wings, either, so it was

all effortless.

He looked to the side, where there was a flash of light. Cassie was

still trying to find a way to the dungeon, only she couldn't just fall

through the floors.Shewas searching every door, looking for ways

down, and so far she was keeping up with him.

Marco descended many floors, always with Cassie flashing by not

far behind.

He felt nervous the farther he descended, so he felt he need to relief

his stress.

Hey, Cassie. Having trouble?

No, she replied. I'm keeping up.

He passed through one more floor to find himself surrounded by

darkness. What is that glowing thing you morphed into? It looks

like a glow worm, only withlegs and too many arms.

It's called star-child she answered as she opened one last door

and flew down the stairs. Her glowing body lit the stairway leading

to the dungeon very well,andMarco had to cover his eyes from the

glare as she blew past him.

Cassie reached the bottom first. There was one last door. She tried

to open it, but it was locked.

Allow me, Marco offered smugly, sticking a ghostly hand in the

lock. He materialized for an instant, shattering the lock.

OW! he cried, pulling back his injured hand.

Cassie stared at him. Why did you do that?

I felt like being stupid, Marco said sarcastically. Besides, we

needed to get that door open somehow. And he slipped through

the door.

Cassie opened it and followed.

Oh, my, she gasped, looking around at the dungeon. On every

side, there werethick wooden doors with steel bar rods for

windows. There was not a source oflight anywhere. No candles, no

sunlight, no torches, nothing butCassie herself.

Marco grinned. You light up my life, he sang.

Marco? a weak voice said. Cassie?

Ax! Cassie cried. Where are you?

Here. There came a sound of scratching from on of the cells.

Cassie and Marco hurried over to the sound. Marco slipped

through the door while Cassie hoveredoutside looking in.

Ax was held in a globe, but he didn't look all that good. He looked

tired, worn out. Defeated.

Cassie! Marco! Ax exclaimed, visibly brightening, smiling with

his eyes. Then his face darkened. Forgive me.

Whatever for, Ax-man? Marco said, sliding through the globe to

stand with him.

For...for Tobias. For what I did to him.

Oh, come off it, Ax-man. We know what happened.

Zilos-The-Geek possessed you and made you attack him.

He's alright, Ax, Cassie put in compasionately. Tobias is not

dead.

He isn't?! Ax stated happily. That is very good news indeed.

But I need totell you something. David is here.

Yeah, Ax, we know, Marco said as he turned his attention to the

force field.

You do? Well, Zilos has a trap. I do not know what he has

planned, but he seemed very confident that his trap would succeed.

You must get word to PrinceJake.

We will, Ax, but only after we get you out of here. Jake wouldn't

be too happywith us if we left you to the dogs.

Dogs? But there are no dogs here.

Marco continued to study the globe. He thought he spotted

something.

Hey, Cassie, could you brighten things up a little bit in here?

Sure, but you may want to look away, Ax and Marco. And she

slowly began to brighten. Ax turned all four eyes away as she

became too bright to look atdirectly.

Ah, ha! Marco exclaimed. A crack.

What? Ax asked.

There's a flaw in this globe. And it looks like it's Andalite-made.

Ax cheered up considerably. Then there is a way out! Be careful,

Marco. And with that Aximili started to strike at the crack with

his tail repeatedly. Marcoslipped back outside the globe, turned

solid, and started hitting the other side

of the crack.

With the sound of broken glass, the force field shattered. Marco

became transparent again, and Ax stepped out of his prison.

* * * * *

Beneath the dungeon, something slept. It was large and black, with

black fur and a sharp ax. It had two hooves and two hands, and a

bull-like face. Standing at twenty feet, the Gallu towered over it's

relative, the minotaur.

It heard the sound of shattered glass. It openned its red eyes and

pushed itself up.

Loosening its muscles and testing its huge ax, the Gallu walked up

to the hidden staircase that led to the dungeon.

* * * * *

Queen Marah held the onto the fragile boy with one hand and held

her weakening servant's hand on the other. She was careful to not

take too much strength. Shedidn't need much, after all.

When she was done, she released her servant and said, "Thank you.

Bring in Phalie." The servant nodded, bowed, and left to get Phalie.

Marah turned back to her daughter's rescuer as the door shut. Every

now and then, Tobias would stir and mutter something, and he

actually woke up once, buthe was still too weak to have a

conversation with.

"At least he doesn't need extra strength as much as he used to,"

Marah said, trying to look on the bright side of the miserable

situation of being in thesame room with a comatose person for over

48 hours with no rest.

Queen Marah thought about the events of the last few days. So

many things had happened so fast, she almost found it hard to

believe. Her daughter'sdisappearance, the Animorphs' appearance,

the frantic search for Ariana, the many attacks on the castle,

Ariana's being found andbrought home, the ball, and the tragic

events that happened there that causedher husband to call for war

so that Aximili may be saved.

Then she realized that her servant had not arrived.

"Phalie!" Marah called. She waited a few moments, but there was

no answer.

"PHALIE!" she cried. Still no answer. She didn't like this. Not a

bit.

She checked up on Tobias once more, just to be sure that he could

survive without her help for a few minutes. Then she walked over

to the door and tried \to open it.

The door wouldn't budge. It was locked.

She started banging on the door. "Open!" she commanded it. The

doorknob turned, the door shuttered, then it fell silent.

"This is not good," Marah muttered to herself, backing away.

She strained her ears to hear. She could hear some bustle from the

court outside. She can hear the wind rustling the leaves from the

nearby forest. Shecannot hear anything else.

Unnerved, the Queen of Hivena sat next to Tobias. To her surprise,

the boy's eyes were open.

"Tobias," she said gently. "I'm glad you're awake. How do you

feel?"

Tobias thought, looking around the room weakly. "Not so good,"

he answered weakly. "Where are the others?"

Tobias shivered, even though the room wasn't cold. Marah pulled

the blanket over him tighter.

"Your friends are alright," she said to the boy. "They are going to

rescue Aximilifrom Zilos."

"Zilos possessed him," Tobias weakly blurted as best as he could.

Marah nodded. "I know. Lecrian found out."

"Eran shot me. He had a gun." Tobias said, still as weak as before.

His face still showed no emotion.

Marah shook her head sadly. "No, it wasn't. It was someone who

knew you. His name was David."

Tobias didn't say anything. Even though he didn't show a shread of

emotion on his face, Marah knew that the news had shocked him,

judging from the silence.

"But...how?"

"Tobias," she deflected the question. "You need your rest. Now, go

to sleep. No more questions. You need to save your strength."

Obediently, Tobias closed his eyes and relaxed. Marah felt better.

She had beaten death at his own game!

{Mother!} Ariana cried silently in her mind. That shook her out of

her smug thoughts.

{Mother!} Ariana called again. {The whole hallway is clogged up!

We have spydrs!!! And they have completely filled the hallway

outside your room withtheir webs. Wecan't reach you!}

Marah froze. "Oh, no," she muttered. Spydr's are especially

attracted to helpless victims.

Tobias. They were after Tobias.

Marah groped down under the bed until dhe found the old rusty

sword there. The pulled it out and looked around.

No spydrs. None that she can see, at least.

She felt and saw a shadow cloak the room. She turned towards the

window. A two foot tall spydr was crawling through, followed by

two others.

{Mother!!!} Ariana screamed as the three spydrs split up.

{What?!?} Marah thought back irritably, standing as close to

Tobias as possible and trying to keep each spydr in sight.

{One of those spydrs is the one who impersonated Eran. One of

them is David.}

Marah looked hard at the approaching spydrs. Each one had its

eyes focused on Tobias.

"I guess I shall find out which is which the hard way," she

muttered. She swung her sword.

Her rusty sword sung as it flew through the air at the nearest spydr.

It leaped back totally avoiding the blow, then leaped on to her

before she could recover.

"AHHH!" she yelled, hitting it away with her fist. She used extra

strength from her servants and put it into her arm. The spydr

shattered, twitching as it fell to the floor, dead.

Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw another spydr leap at Tobias.

She quickly swung her sword around, slicing the spydr in half as it

landed on the boy.

She pivoted back around, fiercely facing the last spydr. The spydr

hesitsted. A very un-spydrlike action.

"You are not going to get him, David," she spat. She could swear

the spydr blinked.

Then the spydr named David got angry. Get out of my way. He's

the one I'm after. Not you. But you'll die if you don't stay out of my

business.

Marah laughed bitterly. "Not my business? He saved my daughter's

life. And then you trapped me in here. Of course this is my

business. And I am not the one who isgoing to die if he does not

skitter out of here."

David laughed. It's a pity. You know, I don't want to do this, but I

have to. They did this to me. They destoyed my family and my life,

then destroyed itagain. So now I'm going to destroy them. One ...

by ... ONE! and David spat ather.

A long, thin line of webbing extending from David's mouth

snagged Marah's sword and jerked it out of her hands. With

lightening speed, David snapped offthe webbing and leaped at

Marah. She screamed and tried to swipe him off butmissed as he

scrambled out of the way of her flailing arms.

David opened his mouth again and spat in her face, blinding her

with his nauseous webbing. Then he leaped off her.

Marah knew why he left her. Using her extra strength, she tore off

the webbing and ran towards Tobias' bed.

Tobias was just beginning to stir. He felt a weight land on his bed.

He opened hiseyes to see a black, furry, ugly face with eight eyes

staring down at him.

You're mine, Bird-boy, David gloated over the sick hero. He had

leaped onto his bed and was now only inches from his face. He

opened his jaws to bit...

Marah screamed, grabbed one of his legs, and tore him off Tobias's

bed just before his poisonous jaws closed. In the same motion, she

threw him against thefar wall, stunning him.

She looked at her fallen sword, but it was covered in webbing,

useless. Turning back to David, she snarled and walked towards

him, fists clentched.

You're just asking to die, aren't you? David asked with a smirk,

shaking off the dizzines.

"I am not the one who will die," Marah repeated. She was only five

feet away from him.

Oh. You're not? And David attacked her. Marah, thinking that

he wouldn't haverecovered so quickly, was caught off-gaurd.

"Ah!" Marah screamed as David bit her shoulder. She swiped him

off while his teeth were still in her. The teeth came out, but tore her

flesh.

She could feel the poison course through her, igniting her. Setting

every nerve on fire. Her brain was bursting in burning pain.

She collapsed on one knee, clutching at her injured shoulder. She

didn't see David rush at her again.

David! a new voice called challengingly. A weak voice, but

very, very familiar. You rat! It's me you want.

David stopped just as he was about to bite the Queen again and

turned to Tobias. Tobias' head was turned to him, his blue eyes

staring straight at him. But hewas too weak to even hold his own

head up.

How many times do I have to kill you, Bird-boy? David asked

as he menacingly crept towards Tobias. Come on. I want a

number. But Tobias' strength wasspent. He couldn't even answer

as he fell back into unconsciousness.

Laughing quietly, David crawled up on Tobias's bed, ignoring

Marah, who was using the tapestries to pull herself up. He opened

his jaws once more to bite at Tobias.

He was too sure of himself to care about the movement to his side.

Suddenly, a slender, delicate hand clamped itself down on him.

The hand lifted him up and held him up high. Helpless.

Wha? he exclaimed. He couldn't struggle. No leverage. He

couldn't turn his head to see, either, but he knew who it was.

Impossible! David yelled. Marah groaned from the noise as it

echoed in her burning brain. You can't be walking! You can't!

Marah didn't listen to him. She wasn't thinking straight, either. All

she knew was that she had to get rid of this spydr.

She staggered to the open window, swaying from weakness and

pain. Ignoring David's screams, she threw him out the window, as

far as she possibly could.Then, with trembling hands, she reached

dangerously outside the window, grabbed

ahold of the shutters, and closed them.

Wordlessly, forcing one foot in front of the other, Marah made her

way back to the sleeping Tobias. She collapsed on the ground

beside him, not seeing theremains of the dead spydrs. She grabbed

Tobias' hand. If his heart ever stoppedbeating, she would give him

strength. Just enough strength.

Still touching the boy's hand, Marah slipped into painless

unconsciousness.

{Oh, Mother,} Ariana moaned. {Oh, Mother.}

* * * * *

Ah ha! Rachel cried as she blew her fire at another harpy. The

half vulture,half hag creature burst into flames and crashed to the

ground, landing on agroup of Zilos' knights.

Rachel was having a blast. Not so much because of the battle as

much as the sheer dragon experiance. Her majestic wings filled the

sky, lifting her tons of corded muscle as easily as a feather. Her

hands were strong, agile, and deadly.And she could see just about

anything. The invisible glowed. Her vision wassharp, though

nothing compared to her eagle morph. And her periferal vision

wasincredible, allowing her to see almost everywhere. Her hearing

tuned out thehowling sound of miving wing and focused on

animated movement. The dragoninstincts were calm, more fearless

than the grizzly, and more cunning than thewolf.

A huge bird made of fire flew straight towards her. Gracefully,

Rachel snapped at it with her trapjaw mouth, biting into its chest.

Her teeth passed throughthe fire, to the point where her eyes were

just out of the flaming body. But her teeth did clamp onto

something deep inside the fire.

A blast of supercool air coming from a nearby ice dragon hit the

firebird and her. The forming ice didn't hurt Rachel, but as she

watched, the flames of thefirebird blew out.

The firebird was nothing more than a blackened skeleton. A

burned, animated skeleton half the size of the image the fire

created. But even as Rachel watchedfrom the corner of her eyes,

patches of the black bones turned white, growinghot.

Rachel quickly snapped her jaws closed, crushing the skeleton in

two. She watched it fall to the ground. The white patches dimmed,

and the bird stoppedmoving.

Something slammed into Rachel.

Hey! she yelled as she turned her serpentine neck to see what hit

her while she was distracted. It was another firebird, about the

same size as the firstone. With the speed of a rattlesnake, Rachel

snapped it in two, then watched it fall burning to the ground. It hit

just as hard as the first bird, and stoppedmoving like the first bird,

but something was wrong. The fire comtinued to burn.

But then, off to one side of her, she saw a baalrog fly straight

towards the pale blue ice dragon while he was busy fighting two

others. Rachel turned awayfrom her doubts and flew towards her

comrade's assistance.

As the baalrog drew back his whip to attack the distracted dragon

from behind, Rachel reached him. She spun in midair, hitting the

demon full in the chest withher wing. She continued the rotation,

sending the demon cartwheeling backwards,

loosing control.

Rachel turned back to the ice dragon. He had chased off the other

two baalrogs. He grinned his gratitude, then plunged back into the

battle.

Rachel looked back down at the second firebird. It was still

burning.

Then it began to move. The broken pieces of it creeped together.

The spine began to straighten, and the head began to lift. The fire

filled out, once againbuilding the illusion of fiery flesh. The

firebird stood, looked up at Rachel,and flew.

Duh! Rachel exclaimed. The *phoenix* always rose. But

then she looked backat the first phoenix. It still laid there, cold and

dead.

But why? she thought. She wasn't the thinking kind, but she still

wanted to know what the difference was between the first phoenix

and the second.

The living phoenix reached Rachel then, distracting her. She easily

pulled her head out of its flight path, but as it zoomed past her, she

snapped at its hindlegs, catching it. The phoenix jerked to a stop

and gawked back at her. Itflapped its wings like mad, but Rachel

held on without anything remotelyresembling trouble.

She saw another ice dragon fly nearby.

Hey! Hey, you, she called. Yeah. You. Could you please put

this bird's fire out? The dragon breathed in, then blew out,

sending the freezing blast straightat the struggling bird. Its fire

blew out, and Rachel once again tore it in two. This time, it didn't

rise.

"Congratulations, Rachel," a familiar voice said behind her head.

"Ruthless and efficient, specializing in destruction. My favorite

Animorph."

Rachel spun her head around in shock and hate. She knew that

voice.

Drode!?!

Drode sat happily on her back, snugly seated between her wings.

He had a birdlike body, with two legs and a stubby tail, but with

many-jointed, flimsy hands. His head was vaguely human in shape,

with anarrow lower jaw and big, mocking, and intelligent eyes. He

was wrinkled like a prune, and was so dark he was almost black.

Green trimmed his eyes and mouth. Atfirst glance, Drode wasn't

much, but he grinned at Rachel without a shread offear as she

glared angerly at

him.

"Rachel, Rachel, Rachel," he said. "My favorite. Do you honestly

think that it'll be this easy? Just give him time, and by the time you

get back he'll be fit as afiddle?" Drode laughed. He leaned forward,

as if he had a secret. "You're goingto loose him, Rachel. You're

going to loose him soon."

Without thinking, Rachel snapped at him.

Ow! She recoiled sharply. An invisible electric field

surrounding Drode quieted slowly.

Drode clapped his limp hands. "Bravo, Rachel," he said. "I have

always approved of your hostile, aggressive side. Unfortunately,

that alone will not save your bird. Or maybe it will." He paused.

"You know what you can do something to savehim Rachel.

Something thatwill make Crayak happy. Happy enough that he will

save Tobias personally."

Rachel knew exactly what he was talking about. You can stuff

your offer, shesnapped. Marah is--

"*Was* taking care of Tobias." His laughing eyes twinkled. "She

isn't anymore."

Rachel swore. You did this! she yelled accusingly, hatred safely

blinding her.Your Crayak is responsible for this! He's the one

who put us here. He's the onewho gave David his power back and

sent him after us. No way how I am ever going

to do anything for Crayak. Ever! And with that, she barrelrolled,

sending Drode in a freefall. Before he fell out of reach, Rachel

swiped a clawed hand at him, ignoring the electrified force field.

Drode vanished just as she hit his force field.

Rachel stared at the spot where Drode disappeared. She felt eyes

on her.

She looked down on the battlefield and saw Jake. Jake was staring

straight at her.

Rachel turned away from him, hoping that not seeing him would

help her keep Drode's foul offer out of her mind.

Jake watched her for a second longer. Then he, too, turned back to

the battle.

* * * * *

Cassie, Marco and Ax hurried up the winding stone stairs. The

halls were surprisingly wide and tall, and the sound of their

running feet reverberated offthe stone walls over and again. Ax

was himself, since he was fast enough as is. Both Cassie and

Marco stayed in their morphs.

As Cassie flew through the hall, Ax ran up the stairs and Marco

floated through the ceilings, a thump! thump! thumping sound

followed. When they first heard it beneath theirfeet in the dungeon,

they each decided it was best to just get out of there. Not even Ax

opted to stay, since he had to warn Prince Jake. The heavy

footstepspursued them, but they were outrunning it.

We have Andre the Giant after us, Marco piped as he stuck his

head down through the floors to watch Cassie and Axblow past.

Maybe I can get hisautograph.Congratulate him on the excellant

job on "Princess Bride."

Autograph? Ax asked.

I liked that movie, too, Cassie responded to Marco. But I don't

want anyone'sautograph right now. Especially not from whatever is

chasing us.

Marco sighed wistfully. You'll never be a Rachel, he said sadly,

then he pulled his head back through the ceiling.

Cassie flew ahead of Ax. She flashed past a few chained doors. She

glimpsed what was behind one.

She pulled to a sudden stop and flashed back to the door. Like

most doors in Zilos' underground, there was a small window

carved through the door so shecould see inside. Her heart broke at

what she saw.

A unicorn. It was small and beautiful, with delicate hooves,

sea-foam white fur, a snow white, shimmering mane, sea blue eyes,

and with a small glow all around.It was easily the most beautiful

thing Cassie had ever seen. It was tied to the wall by a black chain

that was surprisingly long, and something round and a footin

diameter wasstrapped to its back, but those were not the first things

Cassie noticed.

In place of a horn was a bloody gash. The unicorn whinnied in

pain.

No, Cassie muttered.

She tried to open the door. It was unlocked, but it was barred.

She started to demorph just as Ax caught up with her.

Now would not be a fortunate time to stop, Cassie, he said

simply.

I'm going to free her, Cassie insisted, her light dimming. She

was well on her way to becoming human. "Help me," she asked Ax

as she made the transition.

I must warn Prince Jake.

"Of what?" Cassie interrupted, fully human. The sounds of

footfalls slowly grew louder.

Cassie looked around at the wide halls and decided she had enough

room to morph to elemental. She was just beginning to change

when Marco floated back down from the floor above.

I didn't hear any pitter-patter of Ax-man's dainty toes, so--whoa

Cassie! This is so *not* the time for a lunch break.

Cassie didn't answer. Marco floated down to the floor and looked

in through the door window.

Marco narrowed his eyes at Cassie, who had stopped morphing.

Nuh uh, Cassie, he said. We are so NOT here to save a white

horse.

"She's dying," Cassie argued.

So are a lot of men outside, Marco shot back. Get it together,

Earth Mother. We got Ax. Now let's just get out of here before

Thunder Thighs catches up with us. We. Are. Not. Rescuing.

Animals.

"Why would Zilos have an animal in the first place?" Cassie

reasoned. "He's using her power, Marco."

Who cares? Oh, I forget. Tree-hugging Cassie does.

Listening to his two friends argue, Ax looked at the unicorn. It was

truely a magnificent creature, despite its...

Ax saw the sphere chained to its back. All four of Ax's eyes turned

to stare at it.

"It's a *unicorn.* Maybe it can help Tobias. Heal him."

I have no clue of what you're talkihng about. How can it help

Tobias if it can't help itself? I certainly don't see it healing that

scab.

Marco? Cassie? Ax interrupted, not looking away from the

sphere. I think we should get in there.

Marco slapped his ghostly forehead and moaned. Never thought

I'd see the day that Cassie would convert you. The sound of heavy

footsteps was much louder. They sounded like approaching

thunder.

Convert me to what? You haven't noticed the proton-shift

explosive device attached to the creature's back?

Cassie and Marco stared at Ax.

What? A what?!? A *nuke?!?*

"You're kidding," Cassie gasped.

Marco looked at the stunned expression on Cassie's face, then

looked at Ax, who looked back with one stalk eye, then at the

unicorn with the bomb strapped to its back.

Oh, man. I hate this. He swore, then stuck his hand into the solid

oak door and turned solid. Completely and totally solid.

The door exploded. The sheer sound of it tore the air. Cassie was

knocked off her feet from the force, and Ax staggered back. Marco

was thrown across the hall. Wood shrapnel filled the air, nearly

blinding Ax and Cassie. When they opened thier eyes again, the

door was totally gone.

As Ax recovered and hurried inside, Cassie heard an agonized

groan behind her. Marco, semi-transparent again, was

painfully laying on the floor with his back towards her. His legs

were drawn up, and he seemed to be holding something close to his

chest. Numbly, her nerves still razzelled and ears still ringing from

the explosion, she crawled over to him. She looked over his

shoulder and saw what he was holding on to so painfully.

Marco was cradeling his arm, his bloodless, tear-streaked face tight

from trying not to scream. Tears squeezed out from beneath his

tightly shut eyes, and his mouth was sealed shut, holding back his

cries. Where his hand should have been,

there was nothing but a shattered stump. Cracks were drawn up his

arm, ending at just below the elbow. Even as a ghost, a clear fluid

poured out from the stump and the cracks like blood.

Cassie heart contrasted, crying out in sheer sympathy. "Marco!"

she shouted to him. "Demorph! Now!" To her relief, Marco's

ghostly skin darkened.

Trembling at what happened to Marco, but hopeful that he would

pull out of the morph, Cassie looked back down the hall, where the

giant's footsteps grew even louder, filling her ears.

She knew what she had to do. She was starting to morph elemental

when Ax's thought-speak yelled in her head.

Cassie, I can't get to the explosive device! he reported loudly.

Cassie winced from the shout, then turned to see what was the

matter.

The unicorn was the problem. Ax was trying to reach it so he could

get to the bomb, but the unicorn was running away from him. The

unicorn was just as fast as Ax was, and just as agile, and with the

long leash it was given, Ax was running all over the room trying to

catch it without using his tail. Every time he caught it, it tore out of

his grasp again and continued zigzagging through the cold stone

room.

Go ahead, Marco said weakly, partially demorphed. I'll take

care of whatsis down there.

Cassie turned back to him just in time to see white bones shoot out

from the shattered stump. She shuttered.

Marco agreed. Yuck. Yuck yuck yu-- Just then he lost the power

of thought-speak as he made the transition.

Cassie ran to the room where Ax was chasing the elusive,

frightened unicorn. Without a second thought, she walked towards

the jumpy unicorn, trying to ignore the thunderous booms of

something large running up the stairs.

"Ax, wait," Cassie said to him as she approached. Ax, quivering

with frustration, stopped in his tracks, deciding to let Cassie have a

try at the stupid creature with the bomb on its back. The

shimmering unicorn, seeing that Ax had stopped trying to touch it,

also slowed to a stop, still keeping an eye on him.

The floor beneath them gradually began to shake. The giant was

very close. Cassie looked back at Marco, and was relieved to find

huge, black bat wings sproating from his shoulderblades. He was

morphing as fast as he could, knowing even more than Cassie

knew that he had to delay the monster until Ax could defuse the

bomb, and that every second may be vital.

Cassie smiled at Marco's lightning quick thinking, then turned back

to the unicorn. She still had to comfort the animal before Ax could

get to the bomb.

She slowly walked up to the beautiful unicorn, who kept watching

Ax suspiciously. It did not even seem aware of Cassie's presense

until Cassie was close enough to touch it.

As Cassie reached out with one comforting hand to sooth the

creature, the unicorn turned its head and looked directly at Cassie.

Cassie looked back, and immediately froze.

The castle still shook with every step of the yet unseen giant. Ax

still waited impatiently on the other side of the room, eagar to get

to the bomb. Marco still morphed, and was now shooting from the

floor to full demon size, but Cassie couldn't pay attention to her

surroundings, much less move. Tears sprang to her eyes as she

looked into the unicorn's eternal eye, and saw innocence, wisdom,

joy, peace, and purity in them.

Cassie slowly stroked the creature as the unicorn calmed down,

who was not afraid of her.

Ax, seeing this as his oportunity, calmly walked up to them. The

unicorn, seeing him, hurried to the other side of Cassie.

Acquire it, Cassie, Ax instructed when he saw the stubborn

unicorn shy away from him. I have to get the explosive device.

Cassie nodded, patted the shimmering unicorn, and began to

acquire it. Almost to Cassie's disappointment, the unicorn acted

just like most other animals. It became calm and lax.

Ax jumped forward eagarly and started to study the bomb. The

unicorn didn't even flintch.

Boom! The castle shook so badly Cassie almost broke her

concentration. She looked out to the hall and saw a Baalrog

fighting a huge black monitaur-like thing welding an ax. A Gallu.

Nervously, Cassie turned back to Ax and tried to focus on his

work. She saw the globe flip open and Ax's many-fingered hands

reaching inside. She watched anxiously, but continued to acquire

the unicorn so it would not panic.

A few long seconds later, Ax said in calm relief, The explosive

devise is deactivated. He cut the cords that bound the bomb to the

unicorn and set it down. Then, almost absentmindedly, Ax severed

the cords binding the unicorn to the wall.

The unicorn, somehow sensing its freedom, broke out of the trance

Cassie put it in, pushed past her, and bolted out of the hole that was

once a door. Cassie shot Ax a look of sheer gratitude.

Oh, sure, Marco complained loudly. He sounded strained and

jumpy, though he obviously tried to cover it. Forget all about poor

ol' Marco.

We are coming, Marco, Ax called. He limbered up his tail for a

second, then blew out of the doorway.

* * * * *

The battle outside the castle of Levakh was not going well. Men

were dying, and even though the dragons won their battle in the air

and had started to aid their allies on the ground, Themis and his

army were being pushed back by the giants and various monsters.

Lecrian and Jake were soon separated from King Themis, and then

Lecrian somehow lost sight of Jake.

Lecrian ducked a beam of light aimed for his back. He spun around

and charged viciously at the basilisk that tried to ambush him. He

quickly slid his enchanted sword in its chest, and it died.

Lecrian quickly pulled his sword out of the heavy, limp body and

looked around fearfully, but no enemies were aiming for him at the

moment.

'Oh man,' he thought, as he pushed the images that surrounded his

vision back. His foresight saved him from the basilisk, warning

him of its actions, but that was all he was grateful for. It took away

his periferal vision, and what the images showed him were

disturbing.

A spydr was attacking his mother. His father was becoming

desprite enough to use his power. Marco's hand was destroyed.

Rachel was avoiding someone. His brothers were hard-pressed,

fighting back to back against a pack of bug bears. The images

showed him all of this, and none of it was helping him.

Pushing back the images that were trying to flood his vision,

Lecrian did not see the archer aim at him. He did not see the

poison-tipped arrow fly towards his back.

He felt the arrow hit him. The blackness consumed him before he

hit the ground.