Chapter Five

My name is Prince Aximili-Esgarouth-Isthill.

Throughout my life, I have been known as the little brother of legendary war hero Elfangor. Only in the last few years of my life have been put in my own light, as the young Aristh who had destroyed the Yeerks along with his human friends, and in the process, received the quickest promotion in the history of the fleet.

Since then, I have been known as 'Aximili of Earth', and various other honourable titles. However, I still didn't feel the part, as I was one of the most unordinary Captain the Andalite people have ever seen.

Although I don't like to think much of it, I have called the 'Living Legend.' They would probably send half a dozen Dome Ships out to help if I was in distress. But not here in Kelbrid space. Here, I was entirely on my own, with no hope of my people coming to rescue me….

Once again, I scanned my surroundings. I was in a sealed chamber, with no apparent way out.

I had been in this cell for so long, I could no longer guess at the time frame. I have been given food on occasion, but have never seen those handling it.

Yeerks, probably. Was I certain, no. The one thing that seemed odd was that the Yeerks would very likely have wanted to take an Andalite as a host, not a hostage. Which made things ever more mysterious.

I have relieved the day on board that alien craft every day now. My crew and I had sauntered onto the vessel, perhaps carelessly, perhaps not. Menderash had been certain that there had been no life on board the ship, and I had no reason to refute him.

He was, however, awfully mistaken. I have little memory of what happened after that moment when I heard the first gunshots, leading up to my realization that I was in this cell.

Throughout my time hear, I have never heard or seen any signs of other Andalites, let alone the people who had taken me prisoner. I could only assume that it was either Yeerks or Kelbrid.

Neither brought me to a pleasant conclusion as to what would happen next.

So I waited in the cell, knowing not what was about to happen.

Until finally, a human knife lacerated the wall. No Dracon Beam, no claws, just a mere human creation. Although primitive, it was quite effective.

Who is there? I asked, unsure of whether I wanted to know the answer.

There was a low, feminine voice on the other end of the knife. I did not recognize the species, nor the language.

Which still left with two possibilities, Yeerk or Kelbrid. Yeerks could take on any body, and Kelbrid were unknown to me altogether. So I had to retain my guard.

Then, with amazing force, the alien female ripped back the walls that had kept me in isolation for so long.

I then got my first glimpse of the creature. She had to be four, maybe four and a half feet tall, no more. Humanoid, but her skin was a brilliant green colour. Like the humans, she wore 'clothing,' a type of material some species use to cover up themselves in order to stay warm.

Her clothing was brown, and looked like it had come from the hide of some wild animal that was unknown to me. Attached to the garment were several small weapons, ranging from a single Dracon beam, to some sharp-edges objects, and finally to the human knife that she had used to free me.

Beneath the hide I saw four arms, two on each side. All ended in long pointed fingernails, making the knives appear unnecessary. She had two almond shaped cyan eyes, pointed ears, and a long array of black-coloured fur trailing from her scalp.

She began to speak to me again in her language. I told her that I could not understand unless she said some more, and so she did.

It took several seconds for the translator chip in my head to kick in, showing how far away I was from home. In the more populated areas of the galaxy, one would get a reading almost instantly. It was obvious that this creature was of a species not known to my people.

"My name is Rana," she said. "I am a Jawnee, of the planet Kryptore. And you are Aximili, an Andalite Prince, far from home."

How do you know me? I asked Rana. And where are we?

"We have been captured by The Yeerks," she told me. "They plan to make hosts of us in a short while. But in the meantime, we have been consumed by the One."

The what?

"There is no time to explain," Rana said. "Please, come with me."

I did not know if I should trust this creature, the one that called herself Rana. I did, however, want to get as far from that cell as I could manage. And so I followed her.

As I kept my main eyes on Rana, my stalk eyes searched the room, looking for signs as to where I was. There was not much, to tell the truth: some old messages written on the wall in Galard; a second cell, which I had assumed must have been empty; and a window, revealing the pitch black of empty space, revealing nothing as to where I was, and who I was with.

"Through here," Rana said, opening a door ever so cautiously. I followed her out into another room, where I saw two unconscious Hork-Bajir and an Earth creature called a buffalo.

We are definitely on board the Blade Ship, I noted. Earth creatures have rarely been known to be transported intergalactically. Especially endangered species like the buffalo.

"You recognize those bladed things?" Rana asked me. "How about the horned beast?"

I couldn't help but smile. Not only was she unaware of Earth creatures, she had never seen a Hork-Bajir before, either! The 'horned beast', as you call him, is the buffalo. The other two are called Hork-Bajir.

"I have much too learn," Rana said quietly.

As do I, I added silently. As do I....

And then, footsteps!

"The Yeerks! They are onto us!" She then took a knife from her belt, handing it to me. "We'll have to fight our way out of here."

I looked at the knife, and frowned. I have my own weapon, I said, motioning my tail over my head. But the Dracon Beam would be useful.

Rana motioned to the beam weapon, and handed it to me. "Better in your hands than in mine, Prince Aximili."

Thank you, Rana, I said. Now, where are the Yeerk scum?

TSEWWW!
TSEWWW!
TSEWWW!

Three holes appeared in the wall, causing it to collapse. Behind that wall was a human, pointing a Dracon Beam straight at me.

In all my days, I have always stared at the weapon when it was pointed at my face. But now, today, it was the face of the human that interested me more.

He looked so familiar, so much like the Controller who had caused the Blade Ship to escape in the first place.

Tom. Tom Berenson, Jake's brother. He was alive....