Tobias asks if the voice will come out, and he replies yes. He warns you not to be frightened.
You peer through a crack in the half-wall. A creature steps out of the ship. For a minute, you think of a ballet dancer. Which is crazy, because this creature has hooves. Four of them. And blue fur, and four eyes, two of them on two little horns that come out of his head. A head with no mouth. No wonder the guy talks to your brain.
Oh, and the tail. You can’t keep your eyes off it. Or rather, the long stinger on the end of it that looks as though it could do some serious damage.
Here’s the funny thing: You’re not that scared. Not really. First of all, there’s a nice solid wall between you and the alien. And somehow, you suspect he won’t harm you.
<You’re right,> you hear in your head. <So you can come out. You don’t have to hide.>
You gaze around wildly.
<Yes, I’m talking to you,> he says.
And that part about not being scared? Forget about it. Now, you’re terrified.
You step out from behind the wall.
“Whoa,” Marco says. “Another alien. Let the games begin.”
But his voice shakes a little, and you know he’s scared, too.
You stand next to the others. The alien stumbles a bit and then falls, and you realize that he’s hurt.
<I am dying,> he says.
Then he tells you about the Yeerks. How they’ve invaded Earth by taking over humans. How their sluglike bodies invade people’s brains.
It all sounds crazy. And terrifying. You’re relieved to hear that the Andalites — which is what the creature calls himself — are fighting the Yeerks.
That means somebody else is taking care of it. You don’t have to worry.
<Yes, you do.>
He is the last Andalite, he tells you. It may take a year before the rest of them return. By that time, the Yeerks will have taken over the Earth and all its people.
“What?” you blurt out. “That’s impossible!”
<I have seen what they are capable of,> the Andalite replies, and you turn stone-cold at the way he says it.
There is one thing he can do to help before he dies. The Andalite directs Jake to fetch a small blue box from his ship. Jake looks a little nervous, but he disappears inside, then reappears holding the box.
The Andalite tells you that he can give you the power to morph into any animal you choose. You just have to touch the animal to require its DNA.
“You’ve got to be kidding,” Marco says.
You can’t believe it, either. It’s way past wacky. Way past unreal.
Suddenly, you see red lights in the sky. Rachel sees them, too.
<Yeerks,> the Andalite says. The hatred in his voice is like a living force. He calls the ships Bug fighters. <Hurry.>
You place your hand on the box next to the others. Six hands, and then the Andalite’s. You feel a shock wave run from your fingers up your arm, into your body. It doesn’t hurt. It feels … nice. Like a warm buzz of comfort.
But then a third ship appears alongside the red lights. It is larger. Blacker than black, it is like a piece of a starless night sky. It is a strange shape.
Jake says it’s like a medieval battle-ax. Rolling out from its surface is a feeling that you can only describe as evil. You’ve never felt this before. But you know what it is.
<Go now,> the Andalite warns. <They cannot find you. And remember, you can only stay in animal morph for two hours or you will be trapped in your morph forever. Now go! Visser Three is with them in the Blade ship. Run!>
Tobias stays behind for a moment, but the rest of you take off. You feel the urgency and the power of the Andalite’s order.
Suddenly, you see your hand glow. You realize that your hand is in the circle of white-hot light coming from the ship. A searchlight!
You snatch your hand back, out of the light, and run. With a burst of strength, the six of you leap over the half-wall. Your knees hit the ground hard, but you hardly feel the pain.
Now, the searchlight from the ship illuminates the dying Andalite. The Bug fighters slowly descend.
There is nothing you can do. Nothing.
You watch as Visser Three exits the black Blade ship. You see the creatures called Hork-Bajir, walking weapons with blades growing out of their wrists and elbows. They serve as hosts for the Yeerks. And then the enormous, spidery Taxxons, evil creatures who willingly allowed the Yeerks to take over their brains and horrible bodies.
Fear grips you. You’ve never known fear like this. A Hork-Bajir comes close, so close you could toss a stone and hit it. You hold your breath. You want to scream, you want to run. You have to get away….
But you feel something warm seep in, like a curl of warm water swirling around you. The Andalite has sent you courage.
You need the courage. Because you have to watch him die.
In a sneering voice, Visser Three calls him Prince Elfangor. He morphs into a creature more horrible than the Taxxons, taller, bigger, with teeth three feet long. Their points are sharp as daggers.
The fight is horrible. Already dying, the prince fights bravely. You can see there is no hope for him. And there is no mercy in Visser Three. Cassie covers her eyes. Rachel stares straight ahead, her eyes blazing hatred.
Visser Three opens that deadly mouth with the teeth like steel spikes. Jake almost springs to help, but you help Rachel pull him back. No one can help.
At the last very moment, you turn away. You can’t bear to see Prince Elfangor die. Not like that.
But you hear it. You hear the scream in your head. It is more awful than anything you’ve ever heard. Tobias leans over and gags.
The nearest Hork-Bajir turns at the sound.
