Chapter 4

Marco

"O man, this is the craziest thing we have ever done," I thought to myself. I looked around me and saw my fellow warriors on either side. Jeanne, in her fast and beautiful lioness morph, and Santorelli, in his powerful male lion morph. Tobias flew over my head. We raced down the middle corridor, leading straight to what we hoped was the bridge of the Yeerk ship. There were many other corridors branching off, but we stuck to the main, big one. We all could smell Jake, in tiger morph. There wasn't any blood, but if what we thought was right, Tom had only brought five morph capable crew members with him. One Rachel killed early on in her fight all of those years ago, and then the four we killed. Thought I realized that they were Yeerks, I still felt guilty for killing them. Inside it all, there were innocent humans there.

((We have to hurry. Jake hasn't contacted us this entire time. He was the one telling us all to keep contact, but he hasn't done it himself,)) Tobias urged. I glanced up at the hawk flying low above my head. I knew that Tobias must be exhausted. Flying low is hard enough, but flying in a cramped corridor with no moving air, well, it is just hard. I felt horrible for Tobias, but I also new that whatever it was that was haunting him, he had faced and overcome. He had been through a lot, and I couldn't help thinking that if, by a strange, impossible miracle, we survived this and got back to Earth, whether he would take his rightful place in society. He is a hero, as much as any of the Animorphs are.

The corridor's angle changed, moving upward. We raced up the slope and through a large open bulkhead. We were in the bridge. It was a large room, with a large, transparent viewing screen in the front that looked out into space. There were computer counsels all over and large, holographic projectors that had some words and numbers on them that I didn't understand. But it wasn't what was on the bridge that caught my attention, it was who. There, standing at the front of the bridge, was Menderash, Jake, Ax, and the Yeerk we talked to on the Rachel, Efflit whatever.

Menderash stood in a very battle ready stance, with his shredder blaster held ready. What really confused me was why Jake, in tiger morph, was on the ground and why Ax was standing over him, with his tail blade at Jake's throat.

((Ax, what are you doing?)) Tobias cried. He flew ahead of me and landed a few feet in front of Ax.

((Tobias, he attacked my master. I must protect my master,)) Ax said.

((What the hell are you talking about Ax? You do not have a master! What are you doing? Jake is your friend. Tobias and I are your friends. This guy killed your entire crew, made you a prisoner, and yet you call him your master! He is evil!)) I screamed. I was confused; I didn't know what was happening. After all, Ax was one of us. Why would he turn on us?

((Yes Marco, you and the others are my friends. And yes, my crew was killed, but you do not understand. You are so wrong Marco. The One is not evil. He brings peace to people, races. He only kills when necessary,)) Ax said.

((Is killing Jake necessary Ax? Is that going to save people, races?)) Tobias shot back. I could see him growing, becoming Human. In a few minutes, he was a twenty year old man again. He looked at Ax with his soft eyes, eyes that were confused and angry and sad. Something about seeing Tobias like this made Ax's angry stare soften for a second. I even noticed the smug smile on Efflit, who I assumed was The One, fade a little.

((No Tobias. Killing Jake is not necessary,)) Ax said. I could hear confusion in his voice. He moved his tail away, almost as a jerk reaction. Jake leapt up to his feet.

"Aximili, what are you doing?" The One asked. With that, Ax tightened back up again and his tail immediately whipped at Jake. Jake was ready and, in a very unhuman like move, rolled away. Tobias jumped backwards, as Menderash let loose a shredder blast which caught Ax right in the chest. Ax stumbled, and then collapsed to the deck.

((AX!)) Tobias, Jake, and I screamed all at the same time. I ran over to Menderash, fear in my eyes.

((He isn't dead. I shot him with a low power blast. He will be out for a while though,)) Menderash said. I was immediately embarrassed. Of course Menderash wouldn't kill his Prince if there was a way around it.

((Now there is no one here to help you. Tell us what we want to know,)) Jake shot at The One. The being only smiled, and in a flash of light, he became, well, a flash of light. His body, or rather Efflit's host's body, become a glowing ball of golden energy, hovering a few feet above the deck.

Jake, no. You cannot kill him A deep, booming voice said. I knew that voice. I really did.

((O man, not him again,)) I moaned. Then all of the sudden, time froze. The shimmering light of The One quit shimmering. Everything seemed to freeze, almost like the air froze as well. I looked around, to see that Jake and Tobias were both still moving. So was the rest of our crew. I also saw that they all were human, well, besides Tobias. He was a hawk again.

((Ellimist,)) Tobias said.

"Yes Tobias, it is I. I am here to help you, again," The Ellimist said. He appeared to us, looking like a slightly blue old man with a very long beard.

"You saved us. You stopped the Rachel from colliding with the Blade ship. Why did you do that?" I asked. I wasn't angry, but confused. Whenever the Ellimist came to us in the past, he had kept us alive. I knew not too not have faith in him.

"You are smart Marco. Let me make this quick. The One is another power, like Crayak and I. He is no where near as powerful, though hiis power lies in the mind. He cannot effect reality like my competitor and I can. He lives in real time, your reality. He is ancient, and can never die naturally. He also cannot take any physical form. Because of this, he lives off of the minds of others. He absorbs their conciseness and takes their memories and personalities. He can take the form of any creature whose will he has taken. He combines their minds, creating a meld. They, like Crayak's old troops the Howlers, all share a collective mind. This is different however. Each individual will keep their own identities, but he exercises control over them. This is why Ax attacked you Jake," the Ellimist explained. I was shocked. Never before had the Ellimist said so much. Explained so much. Obviously Jake thought the same thing.

"Before you disappear on us and leave us to deal with this, how do we beat him? How do we get Ax back?" Jake locked eyes with the Ellimist. The old being just gave him a soft smile.

"Jake, I am truly sorry. You have the same eyes. You and Rachel. She died an honorable, important death. I came to her, when she died. I comforted her, helped her understand. She was very brave and left me understanding her fait," I don't know why he said it, but what he said clearly brought emotions to Jake and Tobias. Jake's face instantly tightened and twisted up and tears fell from his eyes. He hadn't been ready for that. Though Tobias didn't cry, he couldn't being a hawk and all, he did shift from one talon to the next, flapping his wings. He also wasn't ready. I never really thought of Rachel's death. I did realize that I was sad. Rachel and I hadn't been the closest of people, but we had been friends, or at least comrades in arms. I guess fighting a war with someone for three years, someone who saved your life countless of times, kind of make you close to them.

((Was she….is she somewhere good?)) Tobias asked weakly. The Ellimist only looked at him and nodded his old head, giving a small smile.

"Please, answer my question," Jake said. He had gotten control of himself, but I could still see him shaking. Then I figured out what Jake already had. The Ellimist was stalling. He wasn't telling us what we needed to know because he knew it was bad.

"Jake, I can never get by you. What I said was true though," He added, giving a look to Tobias, then Jake, then me. Then, he turned back to Jake. "He can be destroyed. The One lives off of other people's essences. If you destroy each mind that makes him up, he will have no one to live off of, hence cease to exist. You already killed four of his minds, which did weaken him, but he has thousands of minds to live on. He has turned races against themselves. He has destroyed billions,"

"Then how do we stop him. How do we find each of the minds?" I asked. I was at a loss. I couldn't think of anything to say. Of anything to do.

"You don't. There is no way to stop him. You would have to kill everyone he has ever absorbed. You leave. I can get you control of the Blade ship, but only if you agree to this now," The Ellimist said.

((What is this. Why are you using us? You don't interfere unless it is part of your game. This can't be the game because you have already told us too much. You never before have told us this much. What are you playing at? Why save us?)) Tobias shot. I could head a calm tone in his voice. No anger, no fear.

"This is part of my game. The One has interfered with the ancient game Crayak and I are playing. He took one of my players. Though the war is over, the Yeerks are still around, and they are still Crayak's players. Though Ax was the only one of mine that still really acted against them, you are all still in the game. The One knew the rules, and he jumped in anyway. I believe he did not understand the rules fully. Didn't know what he was getting himself into. I also feel that Crayak cheated. He used The One to distract me so he could make a bigger move. This is why I interfered," The Ellimist said.

"But why did we come? If we can't beat him, or at least can't save Ax, why are we here?" Jake asked. With this, the Ellimist paused. He looked to the ground, as if avoiding our eyes. A very human move.

"There is another way. Another way to save Ax," I said. I knew there had to have been. I just couldn't think of what it was.

"Marco, you are very smart. Too clever for your own good," The Ellimist said with a soft, sad laugh. "Yes, there is another way. When The One takes someone, he takes them by going off of their fear, or anger, or hate. What someone would find as more "negative" emotions. He finds that darkness in your minds and exploits it. He gains control by it. I could only imagine what would happen if he took someone without that." And with that, the Ellimist, the great puppet master, disappeared.