Marco was in his huge, powerful gorilla morph
and getting ready to leave, too. "See you guys later. I hope," he said.
"Be there!" Rachel growled. She pointed a dangerous Hork-Bajir hand at him.
"0kay, I'll be there. But don't be too long or I may decide to take a nap," Marco joked as he lumbered off through the trees.
Jake was perched on a branch just over my head. A peregrine falcon, the fastest thing in the air. He spread his wings and took off, leaving me and Rachel alone.
Rachel had morphed into a mirror image of me. We were a fine pair of Hork-Bajir.
"Ready?" I asked her.
She peered at me from behind alien eyes. "You okay, Tobias?"
"Sure. Why wouldn't I be?"
"Well, you haven't exactly had a great day," she said.
I laughed grimly. "l'm a freak of nature, Rachel. Any day I stay alive is a good day for me."
high above the treetops Jake flew in his swift peregrine falcon morph, calling down directions to Rachel and me.
It was weird. It almost felt like Jake had taken over my role or something. Like he was pretending to be me. Normally, I'd be the one up there riding the wind.
"0kay, not far now," Jake said. "You're almost there. You guys know which direction to go after the Yeerks catch your trail, right?"
"Yeah, we know, we know, Mother," Rachel said. "What are we? ldiots?" Then to me she said, "We do know, right?"
"l'm pretty sure. I mean, it's harder to keep track of where things are when you're down on
the ground. Just trees and bushes everywhere. You can't see the horizon, you can't see the sun."
The forest was impossible for a Hork-Bajir trying to be quiet. I mean, we could have slashed our way through the brambles and thorn thickets, but that would have attracted too much attention too soon.
So we tried to hurry, but without making too much noise. And let me tell you - Hork-Bajir bodies are not built for quiet.
"That's why you have me up here," Jake said cheerfully. "To guide you.
Don't sweat it. I can see the ravine. I can see that Cassie and Ax and the two Hork-Bajir are getting into position. And I see Marco. Heck, with these falcon eyes I can practically see Marco's fleas."
"Easy for you to be cocky," I muttered. "You're up there safe."
"Do you see the line of fire?" Rachel asked Jake. "Because I sure do smell it."
"Yeah," Jake admitted. "ln fact, the fire forms a semicircle around you.
The Taxxons and friends are the other half of the circle. The only way open is the ravine. So we're just going to get one chance."
"Wonderful," I said.
"0kay, you guys. A big, fat pair of Taxxons are just on the other side of that pile of rocks."
"What pile of rocks?" Rachel asked.
"0h . . . well, I can see that it's a pile of rocks from up here.
From where you are it probably just looks like a thick tangle of weeds and thorns."
"Cool," Rachel said calmly. "l guess it's time."
"Yep. Ladies first."
"No, no. After you. I insist."
We pushed our way through the bushes and climbed to the top of what did turn out to be a pile of rock boulders. At the top we stopped and stared.
Just twenty feet away were two Taxxons. Two vile, disgusting Taxxons.
Allies, not just slaves, of the Yeerks. A species that ate its own when given half a chance.
I don't know if it was the hawk in me that was angered by the sight of the two humongous worms marching through a decent forest, or the human side of me that just didn't like gigantic worms, period, or some deep instinct of the Hork-Bajir mind. But I was suddenly filled with hatred and rage.
The anger hit me like a baseball bat alongside the head. It was sudden and ferocious. The plan was to run from the Taxxons. But all of a sudden, I didn't want to run.
I wanted to see what my Hork-Bajir blades would do. I wanted to hurt the Taxxons.
"Let'stake 'em," I said.
Rachel turned her snake head toward me. "What? That's not the plan, Tobias!"
"They shouldn't be here. Look at them! Look at them, slithering through the forest like they own it! They shouldn't be here. This isn't their place, it's ours. It's mine!"
"Tobias, calm down. It makes me mad, too. But we have to stick with the plan."
"No. We don't," I said. "l'm tired of plans."
Rachel grabbed my shoulder. I almost spun around and slashed at her.
That's how mad I was. My arm actually came up as if I were going to strike.
But Rachel didn't back away. "Look, Tobias. You're mad. But it's not the time or place. The person you're mad at is beyond your reach. You can't get back at the Ellimist for betraying you."
Somehow her words penetrated the black rage that had swallowed me up.
No, I couldn't get back at the Ellimist. And it was him I was furious with. Wasn't it? Rachel was right. She had to be right.
It was the Ellimist's fault.
"Stick to the plan, Tobias. Don't get us all killed because you're mad at the Ellimist."
"Yeah. You're right. The plan."
Rachel released my shoulder. I stared down at the Taxxons. They had frozen on seeing us. They
knew they were no match for a couple of desperate Hork-Bajir.
But then, through the woods, shadowy figures appeared. Hork-Bajir warriors. Hork-Bajir-Controllers.
"Ssssrrrreyyyaa ssseewwwitt!" the Taxxons shrilled in their own hissing language.
From the trees a dozen Hork-Bajir suddenly broke at full run.
"0utta here!" Rachel yelled.
"Right behind you!"