My name is Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill.
My paws hit the dirt and dying grass with a small whuff of air. The air rippled through my gray-white fur. Above me, the moon hung as a foreboding orb. I threw my head back and howled, a chilling and lonely sound.
I have not been a werewolf for long, but I have been one for long enough that I know that it is a horrible way to live. The only other werewolf I have met had been at the battle in Hogwarts, and those moments had been precious few. I howled again.
Hey, Ax-man, said Tobias, fluttering down on a tree branch near me.
I could not answer him. However much I wanted to, I could not.
Rough night, huh?
I nodded my head and glanced up at the moon. Dawn was still a long way off. Growling softly to myself, I lie down on my belly and put my head on my paws.
I just checked up on Harry and the others, he said, They haven't killed each other yet. Thankfully, they're all sleeping. Harry looks exhausted, poor kid. Its tearing him apart.
I raised my head in alarm and cocked my head, one ear quirked.
No, he's fine, Tobias replied quickly, answering my unvoiced question. This was one of the reasons he is my shorm. I didn't mean it literally. I'm just saying that he's been very depressed a lot lately. I hope this thing is over soon. He's so far from home and basically alone. The day at the mall was good for him. We should do it again soon.
I nodded my agreement. He had looked much better when he had gotten home. It had disappeared the moment he had caught sight of Hermione and Ron. I do not understand what had happened in the new Yeerk facility, but I know that it was horrible.
With a sigh, I got to my feet and padded over to the Aniwizards' encampment. They were sound asleep when I got there. Hermione's face was twisted more than usual; Harry's, more sorrowful. They didn't so much as twitch in their sleep.
"Go jump off a cliff, Percy," Ron muttered, head rolling to the other side. "It's not Harry's fault that Sirius—"
He broke off with a sad sigh.
Hmmm… it's not Harry's fault that Sirius what? Tobias asked, unfurling his wings a little.
I did my best to shrug my canine shoulders. I had no idea what Ron was speaking of.
That was when Harry stirred. He thrashed wildly at his blankets, moaning softly. Sweat suddenly stood out on his brow. His fingers twitched spasmodically. "Sirius," he groaned, "Sirius… no… come out! You can't—you can't—NO!"
I shrunk back into the shadows when he sat up and looked around him, panting. He buried his face in his hands and rubbed his face. His whole body trembled, which I knew as I sign of cold or fear. Why he would feel either was a mystery to me.
Bad dream, Harry? asked Tobias softly.
Harry jerked and looked up. He sighed when he saw it was only Tobias. "No," he said, "More like a bad memory."
Care to talk about it? Tobias wheedled.
"No," Harry replied, looking away.
Softly, I trotted forward. The moonlight revealed a tear rolling down his cheek. He wiped it off on his shoulder.
"Hey, Ax," he said.
I bowed my head to acknowledge him.
Abruptly, his whole body went erect. He gave an odd croaking sound and grabbed his scar. His face drained of color. Falling back on his sleeping bag, he pressed his head against the ground and made his back arch. A high-pitched sound escaped his lips.
My hackles rose. With a growl, I backed away. I could feel an aura forming around him, an aura of magic—dark magic. There was only one person who could cause Harry so much pain: Voldemort.
As suddenly as it had happened, it stopped. Harry gasped and all his limbs went limp. His eyelids fluttered. "He's very pleased," he rasped, "and very confident. Something has happened. I don't know what—it wasn't clear enough to tell. But the emotions he's been sending off… they're stronger now. My scar has never hurt that badly before."
Could it be because your magic is gone? asked Tobias nervously.
Harry shook his head and rolled to his feet. "I don't know," he said, eyes darting around the clearing, "It could be. I was probably a little more protected when I had my magic. It's either that or he's just very happy."
A strange scent filled my nostrils. My hackles rose again. A wine rose in my throat. I did not recognize the scent, but I knew that it was a magic creature like myself. The scent it let off radiated hunger and danger. Though I did not know what it was, I knew that I did not want to meet it.
Harry could take a hint. Quickly, silently, he stripped of his baggy clothing to reveal the morphing suit beneath. He closed his eyes and furrowed his brow as he focused on the DNA inside him.
His teeth grew and extended past his lower lip, at exactly the same moment his nose flattened and his nostrils widened. Golden fur rippled down his skin and morphing outfit. Thicker, more coarse fur grew about his neck. His bones snapped and reformed so that he was on all fours.
At this moment, the underbrush rustled. Startled, his almond eyes snapped open and he looked over at the bushes as he continued to morph.
I let loose a yelp when a human head extended out of the bushes. It was a head unlike any other I had seen before. The eyes were completely red and had slits for pupils, like that of an Earth snake. Razor-sharp teeth were bared in a hostile grin. Facial fur grew all over its face, wild and untamed.
There was no doubt that this was what I had smelled.
"Manticore," Harry breathed through his reforming lips.
The manticore slid out of the bush, revealing its lion-like midsection. A deadly sting hovered over its back on a scorpion-like tail. Its quivering eyes landed on Harry and it began to croon.
Uh-oh, Harry said, growling and backing up.
The manticore lunged. Harry dodged and slid across the ground on half-formed paws. Its sting hit the ground where Harry had been standing only moments before. The grass in that area turned brown and shriveled on the spot.
Don't let the sting get you, he said, It will kill you instantly.
He was completely finished morphing now. With an ear-shattering roar, he leapt at the manticore.
Hermione sat up quickly at the same moment Ron sat erect in his wheelchair. She blinked her eyes and glanced over at Harry and the manticore. She screamed and scrambled to her feet.
"Godric," uttered Ron, quickly fumbling for his wand.
Though every instinct in my werewolf body rebelled, I bared my teeth and lunged. My teeth clamped down on one of its legs. It shook its leg, bellowing in agony. I was thrown to the side like a rag doll, for the manticore was three times my size.
Black blood slowly oozed out of the wound. It bent its eerily human head and licked the bite, whimpering.
"TSEER!"
Tobias, at a very high altitude, banked and dove at its eyes. It lashed out at him with his tail. Harry jumped with his powerful leg muscles and grabbed hold of its tail in his teeth, bringing the tail down and giving Tobias clearance.
A curse shot at the manticore and harmlessly bounced off its skin, instead coming at me. I howled and bounded away. The curse hit the tree and it exploded into flames. Hermione hurriedly doused it with a spell of her own, sternly telling Ron, "Manticore hide repels spells!"
The manticore shrieked when Tobias got one of its eyes. It tossed its head and flailed its sting.
Ginny came running into the clearing, pulling on her robes. She slept away from the others, more near the barn in case something happened. From there, she could more easily get to the barn and warn Cassie if something was happening.
She skidded to a halt when she saw the manticore, her face going pale behind her freckles. Shaking, she drew her wand from her pocket.
"Ginny, you can't curse it!" Hermione yelled.
She didn't notice the sting coming down at her.
"HERMIONE!" screeched Ron, helpless to do anything.
NOOOOOOOO!
Faster than my eye could follow, Harry was suddenly across the clearing. He knocked Hermione out of the way and slid across the grass on his back, exposing the soft skin of his belly.
"HARRY!" screamed Ginny.
Harry, through some miracle, was able to catch the sting in his paws. It was only inches away from piercing his midriff. He was unable to push it away. I knew that, if I tried to knock it away, I would only result in loosening Harry's grip and being at fault for his death. I hesitated.
Ginny was faster to react. She waved her wand and shouted, "Reducto!"
The ground beneath the manticore's feet exploded. With a shriek, it flew up through the air and landed on its side about ten feet away.
All ready, Harry was on his feet and closing the distance between him and it. I joined him, eyes fixated on the dangerous sting. If the sting got any of us…
"Tobias," I heard Ron say hoarsely to my shorm, "Go get Jake and the others. Quickly."
The sting snapped at Harry. I was one step ahead, for the tail had no sooner left the ground than my teeth were around it. Blood that burned like fire splashed down my throat. I gave a half-squeal, half-howl and released. My throat… It burned…
I looked up to see Harry's extended claws tear through the soft skin of the manticore's underbelly. It shrilled loudly and wildly kicked its legs. The tail, I noticed proudly, was hanging on by a thread. I had nearly bitten clear through it.
Harry stood over it and watched it die, amber eyes hard. His tail twitched and he narrowed his eyes. Slowly, the creature's struggles became weak and it finally fell limp.
I watched as he demorphed. The process was slow and erratic now that his magic was gone. When he had finished, his fists were clenched and his whole body trembled.
"How—?" managed Hermione after a long while.
"How… what?" Harry asked without turning around.
She swallowed. "You never… the Animorphs never gave you the power to morph!"
He closed his eyes. "Goes to show how much Voldemort knew when he…" he trailed off, unable to say what Voldemort had done to his friends.
An owl swooped down and landed on the ground, sprouting up into Cassie. She stared from the manticore, to me, to Harry, and back again. Finally, she gulped and asked, "W-what happened?"
"I heard a roar," Ginny choked out, "And when I came, I found Harry and the others fighting a manticore. Harry managed to kill it while in lion morph. It nearly killed him and Hermione."
"Hermione," asked Harry suddenly, startling all of us, "Hermione, will a manticore's skin still be spell resistant when its dead?"
Hermione looked surprised. "I—I don't know," she said slowly, "Probably."
He bent down and ran his hand along its side. By this time, I was back on my feet and could see it properly. The manticore's hide was not very damaged. Only the belly and leg were scratched, and the tail was hanging on by a thread. I cocked my head. Was Harry thinking what I thought he was thinking…?
Just then, Prince Jake and the others arrived.
"Whoa," said Rachel, immediately walking over to the dead manticore, "That's one lean, mean, killing machine."
Prince Jake then demanded an explanation. Ginny retold her tale and was backed up by Harry. He nodded his appreciation and circled the manticore. "Harry, did anything happen prior this?"
Harry chewed thoughtfully on his lip. "My scar hurt. Voldemort was extremely pleased. It must have been because—AAARGH!"
His knees suddenly buckled and he collapsed. I nervously shifted my weight from one paw to the other. His eyes rolled up into his head as he screamed his agony to the sky. When Cassie approached to soothe him, he thrashed at her so violently she had to reel backwards to avoid a serious injury.
Moaning softly, he suddenly fell limp. "He's angry," he croaked without getting up. No one asked who he was. "Very angry. He knows the manticore failed. He doesn't know where we are; he just set the manticore out with our scent and it found us. He was expecting it to kill me because I don't have my magic."
Ron looked decidedly unnerved. "How do you know all that?"
"Don't you remember last year?" Harry asked, eyes now open. He looked as if he regretted this statement and said, "My scar hurt and I told you what Voldemort" —Ron and Hermione flinched— "was feeling. Now that my magic's gone… some of my protection is gone, I suppose. The pain is stronger than before."
"This is great," Marco said, "Now Voldemort is sending dangerous, magical creatures after you. Maybe you should sleep in the barn or something."
"And let my dad find him in the morning?" interjected Cassie, "That won't work."
"Yeah, but he is too valuable to expose him to such danger," Prince Jake said, "We can't just let him stay out here."
"Would you stop talking about me like I'm not here?" demanded Harry heatedly.
Prince Jake looked, if anything, guilty. "Sorry."
"I have an idea," Harry continued. He gestured to the dead manticore. "Manticore hide is spell repellant, right? Well, if you made some sort of smock or something out of it, wouldn't it make the wearer spell repellant too?"
Hermione stared at him. "That's just so crazy it might work!"
"And that besides, it's hide from a magical creature. You may be able to morph it. Not only us Aniwizards, but you Animorphs too. It could possibly make the morph spell repellant, too."
Prince Jake clapped his hands together and rubbed them. "That's perfect! Now, does anyone here know how to skin an animal?"
There was complete and utter silence.
Timidly, I padded forward and butted his leg with my head. He blinked and looked down at me. "Can you Ax? Into parts that would fit Harry?"
I nodded.
"Good. That makes our lives much easier. We'll discuss this more in the morning. Get a good night's sleep."
He and the others left.
I tipped my head back to the moon. It was low on the horizon now. This meant that dawn was approaching. Harry and others fell back to sleep and I stood over them, a silent guardian.
There was no telling what other things would go bump in the night.
A/N: Dun, dun, duuuuun! How'd you like it? Ax isn't my favorite character to write as, but I think I did a pretty good job. Well, as I should say, the votes are closed. I am writing an Animorphs/X-Men: Evolution crossover. It'll be called, "The Xception". Now, I don't have it up yet. Bear with me.
And I thought I'd treat you to a preview of my original fiction, because this chapter was a little short. You can't find it anywhere else but here. And when I'm a famous author ::wink wink:: you'll be able to say you read it here first. Here it is:
As if in slow motion, Alexander stretched his hand toward me. I sat transfixed. In what seemed to be hours, his three middle fingers brushed my forehead. His skin was cool and dry.
I watched his face intently. His eyes slid out of focus and his eyelids fluttered. The tense muscles in his face relaxed.
Quite suddenly, the three fingers on my forehead burned like fire.
Alexander and the classroom dissolved, melting into one of the many streets of Utopia. Which street, I couldn't tell. All streets in Utopia were identical. Judging from the lack of light, it was night. The occurrences on this street were the only things that seemed out of place.
People were running for their lives, shrieking their terror though none could come and help them. The squealing of shadow-creatures filled my ears. I watched in horror as shadow-creatures leapt at unsuspecting, panicked victims. Some people were killed and then sucked into the shapeless black masses, while others were picked up and carried away. Still others were just slain and left dead on the street. These people were generally elderly or extremely young.
Blood was strewn everywhere. It filled my nostrils. I wanted to gag, but I couldn't. I was forced to watch as those captured had collars put around their necks and were brutally dragged away at a running pace. They often fell and injured themselves, adding to the blood all ready spilt on the pavement.
I wanted to scream. I wanted to close my eyes and block it all out. I wanted to jam my fingers in my ears to stop the sounds of the dying and the strange shadow-creatures. I wanted to stop the reek of blood from entering my nostrils. I wanted to—
It stopped abruptly. I nearly fell out of my seat. Suddenly, I could see Alexander and the classroom again. I was drenched in cold sweat. Tears trickled silently down my face. I gave a muffled sob.
"They're coming," said Alexander in a low voice, "And they're coming for us."
Ta da! Not a great selection, as it doesn't flow all that well, but I hope you enjoyed it. (It's 98 pages long! Squee!)
Now, stay tuned for "Chapter 12: Spell Repellant (Ginny)"!!