I found a quiet place and prepared to sleep. I closed my main eyes, leaving only my stalk eyes open to look for danger. I relaxed my tail until it touched the ground.
Lonely.
Yes, it was lonely to sleep in a forest on a planet far from home. It was lonely to be the only one of my kind.
It was lonely knowing that Cassie was asleep in her home, and Marco in his, and Rachel and Jake. All had homes.
All but me. And Tobias.
Tobias. He would understand. But would he help me? If I did what I was planning, would he help? And could I trust him?
I raised my tail and opened my main eyes. I knew the place where Tobias slept. I found him easily. He stood with his sharp talons wrapped around a branch.
"Tobias?" I called.
"Huh? What? Ax? What's the matter?"
"Nothing is the matter. But ... I have a questions "I hope it's a good one. I was sleeping."
"Tobias. Are you my friend?"
"That's what you woke me up to ask?" He opened his wings and seemed to be stretching.
"Ax, we are the two strangest creatures on this planet: a freaky, four-eyed, half-deer, half-scorpion, centaur-looking alien, and a bird with the mind of a person. We've fought side by side. We've been nearly killed several times. Of course I'm your friend." 50 It surprised me that he would answer so quickly. As if there was never any doubt what the answer would be. "That's good," I said. "Will you keep a secret? Even from Prince Jake?
Even from Rachel?"
Tobias was silent for a while. "Is it something that would hurt my friends?"
"No."
"Then I'd keep a secret," Tobias said. "I swear."
"What do you swear by, Tobias? I have to be sure. What promise would you never break?"
"Ax, you know I was there when your brother was killed."
"Yes. I know. You were the last one to leave him."
"Yeah. I don't know why," Tobias said. "But something about him ... I can't explain it, but I was drawn to him. I wanted to listen to him. I wanted to hear everything he said. It was like .
. . like he was a magnet or something. Like I couldn't pull away. Until he ordered me to leave.
I can't explain it."
"You don't need to explain," I said softly. Even here, among aliens, Elfangor was the hero.
"You asked what I'd swear by. I'll swear by him. By Prince Elfangor." And so, I told Tobias of my plan.
51 Chapter Eight
"E.T. phone home." When I found that sentence in Cassie's book of human quotes, it surprised me. To be honest, it almost scared me. It was as if it were written just for me. I thought maybe, somehow, my human friends had discovered my plan and written it there. -
From the Earth Diary of Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill
The sun was just coming up over planet Earth.
I performed the morning ritual, as I always did. But I was especially impatient this morning. I knew Tobias was hunting a morning meal and would be back as soon as he had finished eating some unfortunate mouse or shrew.
"Freedom is my only cause. Duty to the people, my only guide. Obedience to my prince, my only glory ."
When Tobias returned from the hunt, we would go. He would lead me to the observatory, to the great radio telescope. And, with luck, I would be able to call my home.
"I, Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill, Andalite warrior, offer my life." With my stalk eyes I saw a hawk swoop low overhead. Tobias rested on a branch. He focused his fierce hawk's eyes on me. "Are you done?"
"Yes. The ritual is completes "Great. Because it is a beautiful day for flying. Thermals like you wouldn't believe. And a sweet little ground breeze for easy takeoff."
"Tobias, you understand that you don't have to do this," I said. "There may be danger."
"Yeah, yeah. Come on, Ax. Let's go, already."
I often go flying with Tobias. The bird morph I have is called a northern harrier. It is a type of hawk, about the same size as Tobias's red-tail. Tobias's feathers are mostly brown and light tan, while the harrier's are mostly gray and white.
I controlled my excitement and worry, and focused on making the change.
The harrier morph is always strange. For one thing, there is a great difference in size between an Andalite and a bird, even a large bird.
The first sensation was one of falling, as I shrank rapidly.
My stalk eyes went blind and wings grew out of my front legs, which is very awkward. It causes me to fall forward onto the ground, since I cannot stand on my hind legs alone.
Besides, my hind legs were busy shriveling down into the tiny yellow, scaly bird legs. And my tail was shrinking and splitting into dozens of long tail feathers.
52 Harriers also have mouths, like humans. Only these mouths are useless for speech, and have very little ability to taste. On the other hand, they are wonderful natural weapons. They are razor- sharp, and curved down into a ripping, tearing hook.
And the talons are excellent. I had long admired Tobias's use of his talons. He can swoop fast and low, just a few feet above the ground, and snatch up a mouse or small rabbit with those talons.
As I watched, the blue and tan fur of my own body was replaced by silvery gray feathers. The fur melted away to show the underlying flesh, and then the flesh became patterned with the millions of individual ribs of feathers.
I was used to the mind of the harrier, so I had learned to control its instincts. Its instincts were more forceful than those in the brains of humans.
"I've been meaning to ask you, Ax," Tobias said. "Not to diss you or anything, but why is it that Cassie is better at morphing than you are? I mean, you're an Andalite. But you look just as creepy as Jake or Rachel when you do it."
"Cassie has talent," I said a little grumpily. "Morphing does not happen to be my talent."
"Oh. You ready to fly?"
I checked. I opened my wings to their full three-and-a-half-foot spread. I flicked my tail feathers. I focused my laserlike hawk's eyes on a far distant tree and was able to see individual ants crawling up its trunk.
I listened to the forest with the harrier's superior hearing. I could hear the insects beneath the pine needles. I could hear a squirrel chewing open a nut. I could hear Tobias's heart beating.
I turned into the breeze and opened my wings. I flapped several times and lifted my legs clear of the ground. The breeze caught me and I was off.
Even with the breeze, I had to flap hard to get as high as the treetops. Tobias was already several dozen feet above me. But then, Tobias has had a great deal of practice.
I swept just above the treetops, flapping and soaring. The sun was beating down on the treetops and heat waves were rising. I caught the up-draft and shot higher. I was two hundred feet up in just seconds.
I could see Cassie's farm now. And as I circled to use the updraft for more altitude, I could see all the familiar landmarks: the homes of the others. The mall. The school.
"Stick with me," Tobias said. "We'll follow the water's edge. The observatory is north along the coast. About an hour's flying time."
We reached the ocean. There were cliffs along the shore, and here the real thermals rose up.