Gone. Both of them were gone.

I sat on the edge of the camp where Jake insisted that we take a short rest. The ravine was no longer within eyesight for the others, but I am a Farsight, and I could still see the remains of the bridge.

The bridge that had collapsed underneath Arbron and Strike.

That made for three dead. First Mat Hewk, who we had to leave behind at the cave back in the previous territory. Now Arbron and Strike, who had fallen into the ravine when the bridge had collapsed. All three had been very close friends of mine.

Now they were gone. I had had a chance to save Strike and Arbron, but Strike had insisted that I let go. When I had refused, she'd forced me to. That was the last time I saw them. When I had looked again, they were gone.

A hand touched my shoulder.

I looked to my right at Ax. <Are you okay?> he asked.

I shrugged. "Why wouldn't I be?"

He looked skeptical. <You know, there wasn't anything you could've done to save them. Nothing. They did what was right -- they put the group before themselves. It's not your fault.>

"Andalite, when I want your opinion, I'll ask for it," I snapped sharply.

Ax was slightly taken aback. Then he sighed. <If you ever want to talk, just let me know.>

Jake and Cassie had followed the exchange between Ax and me, and now they were frowning. I narrowed my eyes and glared at them. Then I stood up. "Where are you going?" Loren asked from near the fire.

"For a walk," I answered curtly. "I need to think. Not talk." With that, I stalked out of the clearing and into the woods.

Loren ran after me. "Tycoola," she called. I ignored her.

"Tycoola." This time she grabbed my arm. I didn't look at her, but I did stop. "Don't do this to yourself," she said. "Don't blame yourself for Arbron and Strike. They made their decision, but don't let them make yours. We need to get back to Elysia, and to do that we all need to work together. So stop pouting and put it behind you."

"Put it behind me?" I asked shakily. "Put Arbron and Strike, two of my best friends -- and yours, too, I might add -- behind me, like they don't matter?"

"That's not what I meant --" she started, but I cut her off.

"You can stop giving me advice, Loren," I said harshly. "Like I told Ax, when I want your opinion, I'll ask for it. Until then, back off."

I pulled my arm out of her grasp. I couldn't be there anymore. Even though my wing still hurt, it had already begun to heal. Farsights depend on strong wings, so we have developed to be quick healers. I gripped the side of a tree, climbed up a few feet, and opened my wings.

"Where are you going?" Loren demanded. "Jake wants us all to stay together!"

I laughed shrewdly. "I could care less what Jake wants. See you later, Loren. I'm out of here." I reached over and pulled of the patch that signified me as a member of the Elysia Core. "Give this to Elfangor when you see him. Be sure to tell him I have no regrets." With those words as my good-bye, I pushed off the tree, felt the thermals from the sun push up under my wings, and flew off as well and as fast as I could.

I stared after Tycoola in shock. Then I glanced numbly down at her Core badge.

I turned around and started back to the camp when suddenly -- FLASH!

The vision was brief. It wasn't even really a vision, just a sense. But it shook me up good.

I ran back to camp as fast as possible. Coming up behind Tobias, who was fully healed and very quiet, I grabbed his arm. "Jake," I gasped. "I need your help."

He looked at me. "What happened?"

"Tycoola quit," I replied. "She took off on her own. The virus has turned around -- she's heading right into its path. You’re the only who can possibly follow her."

Tobias stared at me. "Jake?" he asked, looking at Jake. I wasn't even aware that he had been listening.

Jake's face was pale and drawn. "Go, Tobias. Find Tycoola. Warn her. The rest of us, get going."

"Tobias?" I repeated.

"I'm the best flyer," he answered. "If I can't find her, no one can."

"But you'll be going right into the virus!" I gasped.

He nodded. Then he reached into his pocket and pulled something out. I couldn’t see what it was. "Jake. If I don't . . . you know . . . will you make sure Rachel gets this?"

Jake bit his lip. Then his jaw tightened. "I'll hold onto it. But you'll have to give it to her. Now go!"

Fully hawk, Tobias flapped once, twice, but he was having a hard time getting off the ground. I picked him up and whispered, "Be careful, Tobias. I don't want you to join us just yet." Then I gave him a push, just enough to send him off.

<Don't worry about me, Mom,> he replied so that only I heard him.

Now that I think about it, maybe I should start getting my head examined regularly. I can't believe that I am willingly going back towards the virus, when my friends are all heading away from it. What am I, crazy?

Then again, none of us have exactly been sane ever since Elfangor crashed into the local construction site and gave us a death wish.

<Stop it, Tobias,> I muttered. <You're starting to sound like Marco.>

That's not a good thing.

The sun was high in the sky, so once I was clear of the trees, I started getting some great thermals. There was one that rocketed me about seventy-five miles into the air in just a few seconds.

<Tycoola?> I called out. <Tycoola, you out there?>

No answer. Duh. She doesn't use thought-speak, so of course she can't answer me if I call out to her.

Suddenly I caught sight of something huge flying below me. It looked exactly like a Farsight. I killed my speed and put myself into a dive. I came out of it just a few feet from the Farsight. <Tycoola?>

The Farsight flared quickly. Killing her speed, she landed on a large branch on a tree below. I followed.

"Who said that?" That was when I realized it wasn't Tycoola; this Farsight wasn't even female!

I landed beside him. <I did. Tobias, the hawk, right next to you. Sorry if I scared you. I thought you were someone else. Have you seen a Farsight, looks a lot like you only her wing's probably broken or at least injured, answers to Tycoola?>

Apparently this Farsight was used to talking birds. "My name is Rar," he said, "and if you're talking about the Farsight who's been dive-bombing our community every five seconds, yeah, I've seen her."

<Really? Where is she?>

Rar didn't seem exactly eager to answer.

<Rar?> I asked. <Where is she?>

He looked at me. "Look, sometimes we get rogues out here. You know, from the wastelands. We've got a portal dangerously close to our community. So we've had to put up defenses. I wanted to try talking to her, but the Council . . . I'm sorry. They acted without consulting me."

<You mean . . . ?> I felt sick.

He nodded. "She was shot down by our aerial defenses. I got sent to scout the area, to make sure there weren't any others. Was she a spirit?"

<Yeah,> I whispered. I swallowed hard. <Do you have any idea why she was diving?>

"Being a Farsight, I have a tendency to read body language better than most. I'd say she saw something and was trying to warn us. But I'm the only Farsight in Maldova, so do they believe me? No. I'm just a scout," Rar said with a touch of scorn.

In a flash, I got an idea. <Follow me, Rar,> I said. I flapped and took to the air. Rar was right behind me, matching me evenly as I rose higher, even though I was positive he could go faster. We flew all the way up to the bottoms of the clouds. I scanned the horizon. <There. That's what Tycoola was warning you about.>

Rar stared in shock and horror. "I don't believe it," he whispered. "It's the virus. On the fourth ring?"

<It's been following my group since we crashed in the neighboring community. The one that's been destroyed,> I said. <We've been trying to reach Elysia to warn them. We clocked the virus at arriving later than it did.>

"So did we," Rar replied. "Come on. We must reach Maldova and begin evacuation. You said there were others with you?"

<Heading west, on foot,> I replied.

"We'll send scouts for them. You said you're from Elysia?"

<Yeah,> I answered.

"That's next over, to the west. That's where we'll be evacuating to. You're welcome to join us, of course," Rar said.

<Thank you. I better go find my friends.>

"Maldova is about a two miles to the right at our present location. You should have no trouble finding us!" he called after me.

<Thanks!> I called back as I raced top speed towards where I had last left my group.

Cassie was walking next to me as we moved quickly through the woods. With those of us who had been badly injured healed thanks to morphing, we were moving a lot quicker.

"What are we going to tell the others, Jake?" she asked quietly. "What are we going to say happened to Arbron, Mat, Strike, and Tycoola? And Tobias," she added in a whisper.

I took her hand. "Don't count Tycoola and Tobias out just yet, Cassie," I said. But she was right. Out of the nine of us in the crash, only four of us were here now -- Cassie, Ax, Loren, and myself. Tobias we were still unsure about, as well as Tycoola.

"Look!" Loren cried from up ahead.

We looked up. There, coming in for a landing, was a red-tail hawk. "Tobias?" I asked incredulously. "You made it!"

<Yeah,> he said dully. <But Tycoola didn't.>

I felt my throat close up. "The virus?"

<No,> he said. <The community in this area shot her down because she was dive-bombing them. Trying to warn them about the virus, which she could see from over the city. They thought she was from the wastelands. I ran into their scout -- a Farsight named Rar. He's getting ready to evacuate Maldova. He says Elysia's the next community over, and that we're welcome to go with them. He also sends his apologies about Tycoola. He says he had nothing to do with her death.>

"Where is this community?" I asked.

<About three miles from here,> Tobias replied. <I've got abut an hour left in morph -- you guys can follow me.>

"What about Loren?" Cassie asked.

<She can ride me,> Ax said suddenly. <I can easily keep up with Tobias and the rest of you as an Andalite, and we should reach the community quickly. Just don't expect me to play horse regularly.>

"Thank you," Loren said.

<Have you ever ridden an Andalite before?> Tobias asked skeptically as Cassie and I began to morph.

Loren had already mounted Ax. "Once," she replied. "Elfangor and I needed to get away from Visser Three. My riding him was the fastest way."

<Let's get going,> I said, flapping and getting altitude. Moments later, a red-tail hawk, a peregrine falcon, and osprey took to the air, with an Andalite and a human following on the ground.

If we hadn't been running for our lives, it would've almost been funny.

I'm not as strong as my brother, I'll say that right up front. I don't know how he managed with Loren riding him that one time, but by the time we reached Maldova, I was beginning to labor. Loren understood that, thankfully, and dismounted as soon as we came to a stop. Prince Jake, Tobias, and Cassie landed and demorphed.

"Rar?" Tobias called. We were at the very edge of Maldova, and the community looked deserted.

Suddenly a Farsight swooped down from a tall building and landed easily. "Is that you, Tobias?" he asked. "You look different."

"Morphing," Tobias answered. "It's the only way to travel. These are my friends Jake, Cassie, and Ax, and my mother, Loren."

Rar nodded to each of us. "The community is waiting to evacuate. The Elders weren't happy that I promised I'd wait for you, but after I told them about their mistake with your friend, they knew better than to try and cross me."

Rar led us swiftly to the opposite end of the community. Maldova was more like a town, whereas Elysia had clearly been a city. It didn't take us long to reach the evacuees. There were only about twenty of them. <Small community,> I commented.

"Yes," Rar agreed. "Maldova is a trading community, so we often send many of our people off to other communities to trade our stock. None of our traders have returned, however. We fear they are lost for good."

I didn't feel that it was right to agree with him. Probably he and his fellow Maldovans had suffered enough as it was.

"These are the Elysians," Rar said to a group of older people. "In exchange for helping them reach Elysia safely, they have agreed to help us try to survive this virus. In order for this to be accomplished, we must reach Elfangor-Sirinial-Shamtul in Elysia."

A being that even I didn't recognize snorted. He looked like an Andalite, only without the extra eyes and tail. His top half was human, his bottom was horse. "A centaur," Cassie breathed.

"Did you want to say something, Clory?" Rar asked.

"Yes," Clory replied. "How can we believe Elfangor-Sirinial-Shamtul, legendary here even among the communities of peace, will help us? We're not even his own community."

<Leave this to me,> I whispered to Loren and Tobias. I stepped forward. <I, Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthil, will vouch on my brother's behalf that he shall help you, as you helped his brother, wife, and only son return to him safely.>

This little speech caused great commotion. Obviously, it had not occurred to them that I, at least, might be in any way related to Elfangor.

Sometimes it's a pain being Elfangor's younger brother. Other times, it's a blessing.

This was one of those times.

"Are we ready to move out?" Rar asked. The Maldovans all agreed. So did we. "Then let's go!"

"Come on, everyone," Prince Jake said. "Let's get back to the others."

The five of us followed the twenty evacuees to Elysia, and hopefully, safety.

My mother slept for several hours once we got her back to the Core base. In the meantime, Cha-Nab and I had been desperately trying to get through to Loren. But somehow, our powers just weren't connecting with her at all. I knew Elfangor was very worried. So worried, in fact, that ever since we'd come back from searching, he'd done nothing but stand at his window and stare out over the city like a mannequin in a department store window. He looked so depressed that he was making me depressed.

Rachel was worried, too, but she was more vocal about it.

"Rachel, stop throwing things!" I shouted at the top of my lungs.

"Shut up, Marco," she growled from the other room.

My mom stirred. "Marco?"

I turned back to her and smiled. "Hey, Mom," I said softly. "Sleep well?"

She smiled shakily. "You could say that," she said, then yawned. "I never knew a hurt ankle could be so exhausting."

"Just relax," I said. "You're safe now."

Mom struggled into a sitting position. "What about you? Last I heard, you were a Controller."

I rolled my eyes. "It was a bluff. A total and complete bluff. I didn't expect that office to be occupied."

"What were you doing down there, then, if you weren't under Yeerk control?" she asked.

Rachel came in then. "Hi, Laura," she said. "Marco, what have you told her?"

"Nothing yet," I said. "But she's not getting taken again, Rachel. I'm not going to let her."

Rachel rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah. Free or die -- the Hork-Bajir motto. Are we going to make every freed Controller take that up."

Mom laughed. "It's not a bad motto. Free or dead. I like it."

"She's cool, Rachel," I assured her. "Trust me."

"The day I do that is the day wild pygmies eat me alive," Rachel said, grabbing a bunch of cans and walking back into the other room.

"Rachel, stop throwing things!" I shouted again.

"Shut up, Marco," she called back automatically.

Mom looked at the door. "What's with her?"

"She's worried about her boyfriend," I explained. "He got captured by the Yeerks, and we sent a search party looking for him. As far as we know, the ship they were on crashed. Remember the explosion we saw?"

"Yeah," Mom said. "Her boyfriend was on that? Wow. I hate to say it, but there's a good chance he didn't survive."

I laughed. "You can't say that about an Animorph until you find a dead body," I said.

"A what?"

"It's what I am now, Mom," I said. "An Animorph. There are six of us: Jake, Rachel, Tobias, Cassie, an Andalite named Ax, and me. We've been fighting to Yeerks for three years together now. You and I have even fought against each other."

"No we haven't," Mom disagreed. "I would've seen you."

"Remember the gorilla who was on the mother ship two years ago?" I asked.

She stared at me.

I considered morphing when I suddenly felt dizzy. I closed my eyes and touched my forehead gently, since it started throbbing. "Marco?" Mom asked, but her voice sounded distant.

Then I opened my eyes. "Rachel, get Elfangor! Now!"

Rachel came running out of the other room. "What is it?" she asked.

"Loren. She got through! She, Tobias, Jake, Cassie, and Ax are on their way here with a bunch of people from another community. She sounded pretty urgent, but we were cut off quickly. Go tell Elfangor."

Rachel was already halfway out of the room. Then she stopped. "What about the others?"

I shrugged. "She didn't say. Just go!"

I looked at my Mom, who seemed shocked. "Oh, yeah," I said weakly. "That's another thing. I'm psychic."

She just continued to stare. Then she stood up and limped to the cupboard. "I need an aspirin," she moaned.

I stood on the back porch, staring blankly over the community. There hadn't been any word from Loren. Cha-Nab and Marco were unable to contact her. Laura had been through a rough time, and hadn't yet revealed what she knew about the virus, which she referred to at as the Neutro-Virus.

<Loren,> I cried to myself, <Please come home. Come back to me. Bring Tobias back safely. Please be okay.> I'm not psychic; I knew she couldn't hear my silent plea. But still I said it, repeating it over and over again like just saying the words would let her show up at the door.

Rachel came running around the side of the house. "Elfangor!" she shouted, seeing me.

I turned my main eyes towards her, while keeping my stalk eyes turned to the direction I had been staring at. <What is it, Rachel?>

She was incredibly excited. "Marco says Loren contacted him! They're coming with a bunch of people from a neighboring community. That's all he heard before the contact broke, though."

Loren had gotten through! I felt new hope rise within me, and my hearts felt like they were about to burst with happiness and relief. <Where are they now?>

Rachel shrugged. "I don't know. But if they're in a neighboring community, and the call went out about twenty minutes ago -- I've been looking for you that long -- then they should be close, right?"

<Depending on which route they take,> I said, nodding. I grabbed the phone and rang up Srangi, making the thought-transmitter was in place. <Srangi? Dispatch scouts to search for a group of people heading this way. I'm not sure if it's Maldova or Serandon, so check both bridges.>

"Why are they heading here?" Srangi asked.

<I don't know,> I said truthfully. <All I know is that Loren is with them.>

I was just hanging up when Marco and Laura came hurrying into the backyard. "Marco just had another vision," Laura said breathlessly.

<What is it?> I asked.

He was shaken up. "It's another message from Loren. She said," He gulped and tried to calm down. "She said that they lost the others."

"Lost the others?" Rachel asked.

He nodded. "Mat, Tycoola, Strike, and Arbron. They didn't make it."

I stared at him in shock. <Why?> I managed to ask.

He shrugged. "We got cut off again. Cha-Nab isn't even getting the messages. I think something -- something powerful -- keeps cutting us off. We'll have to wait for Loren and everybody to get here."

I leaned against the porch railing. Arbron hadn't made it? My best friend was gone?

Srangi suddenly landed. "It has to be Maldova that they're coming from, Elfangor -- they've just issued a first-class evacuation. It just came in over the waves."

I snapped out of my reveries. <Go!> I ordered. <Take your scouts and make certain they make it here. And find out what this evacuation is all about!>

Srangi saluted and took off in the direction of the Maldova-Elysia bridge.

The landscape of Maldova was much easier to go through than the last one -- which Rar had said was called Galvin -- had been, since Maldova was a farming community and they had cleared away much of the landscape for their farms. We had no trouble, really, reaching the Maldova-Elysia bridge.

The front of the group, which included Rar and Jake, had just reached the edge of the ravine when something swooped down from above. "Well, you sure are a sight for sore eyes!" a voice called down.

"Srangi?" Loren asked, surprised. "How did you know we were coming?"

Two more dragons landed behind Srangi. The entire group stopped and turned. Rar and Jake made their way towards the back, where the three scouts had landed. "You sent out a message," Srangi said. "And the evacuation just came over the waves." He looked slightly uncomfortable. "We, ah, heard Arbron and the rest didn't make it."

"Unfortunately, you heard correctly," Jake said.

"I didn't know Cha-Nab heard my cry," Loren said.

"He didn't," Srangi replied. "Didn't Jake tell you and Tobias?"

"Tell us what?" Tobias asked.

Jake, Ax, and I groaned. "It completely slipped our minds," I said. "Marco. Turns out he's psychic, too. Did you find his mother?"

"Yeah," Srangi said. "She says she has information on how to stop the Neutro-Virus. Elfangor says we had to wait till we found you guys before we started building defenses."

The rest of us paled. "You mean you don't even know how to stop it yet?" Jake whispered hoarsely.

Srangi was confused. "No. Why?"

Rar, even though he didn't know Srangi, answered. "The virus is already here! We're evacuating Maldova because of it, and Galvin's already gone."

"Galvin is . . . you mean it's here? On the fourth ring?" Srangi looked like someone had just slapped him in the face. "Oh, lord. We need to get back to Elysia, now!" He turned to his other scouts. "Jericho, Makto: make sure these people get across the bridge." He looked back at us. "I can take one person back with me to warn Elfangor."

<Tobias,> Ax said quickly. <You're the one who's been clocking this virus, and you're the one who spotted it. You go.>

"I can't --"

"Go!" Jake, Loren, and I said.

He looked like he was about to protest, but Loren glared at him. So instead of arguing, he climbed onto Srangi's back. "Tell Elfangor we'll be right behind you!" Loren said as they started to take off.

Jericho and Makto were already beginning to lead people over the bridge, which happened to be in much better shape than the last one.

Jake, Rar, Ax, Loren, and I wanted to wait until most of the people started across. "Loren?" Jake asked.

"Yeah?"

"What will happen if we don't get the defense up in time?"

Loren glanced back at the direction the virus was coming from. "Elysia will have to be evacuated to the fifth ring," she said. "And that's about two thousand people."

I felt sick to my stomach, but I refused to let the fear take over. "We'll be okay," I whispered fiercely. "We've survived the Yeerks, we've survived Crayak, and more recently, we've been able to outrun this thing. We can hold out a little longer. We have to."

"Are you doing okay up there, Tobias?" I asked. "I know I'm going fast."

Tobias laughed. It was forced. "Well, I'm not entirely used to someone else doing to flying, but I'm okay with being in the air and going fast. I'm a hawk, after all."

"Yeah, I guess you would be used to it," I said, catching sight of Elfangor's house. There was a big crowd in the lawn. Probably waiting for the evacuees. I took a deep breath and let out a loud roar to get their attention. Everyone looked up.

<Srangi, where are the evacuees?> Elfangor demanded as I landed. <You weren't supposed to leave -- Tobias?>

Tobias jumped off me before I was entirely on the ground. The entire crowd was treated to the sight of Elfangor hugging his son. Then the entire crowd was treated to the sight of Tobias pulling away and gasping for air. "That was a little tight, dontcha think, Dad?"

Suddenly Rachel came up behind him and hugged him hard. Tobias didn't seem to mind this one as much, especially when Rachel kissed him a minute later. Marco was coming up next to me. "They seem happy to see each other," I muttered.

Marco was smirking. "Just you wait."

Rachel and Tobias parted and looked at each other. Then Rachel smacked Tobias, good and hard. "Hey!" Tobias cried in protest.

"Don't you ever scare me like that again!" she shouted. "Do you know how much I worried about you? Where the hell have you been?"

Tobias rubbed his injured face. "Running for my life," he snapped. "Geez -- If I had known you were going to hit me, I would've made Jake come instead."

"She's just relieved to see you, Bird-boy," Marco interrupted gleefully. Then his expression grew serious. "Actually, we all are. We thought you were all killed in that explosion."

Tobias shook his head. "Nope. Mom saved our lives."

Elfangor started to say something when I suddenly roared again. "Tobias, get to the point! I didn't carry you here so you could chat with your friends, you know!"

<What point, Tobias?> Elfangor asked. <What is Srangi talking about? Is everyone okay?>

"Well, actually, we did lose a few people, but that's not what Srangi's talking about. See --"

Suddenly something with hooves pounded up behind the entire crowd. We all turned to see Ax come running up. <We're all across,> he said breathlessly. <And it almost is, and picking up speed.>

"What?" Rachel asked.

"Don't hit me again, Rachel, but," Tobias gulped, "the virus. It's here."