The Promise

~ Rlilim-Assgarit-Pathroil~

< AHHHHHHHHHHHHh! > Tithilain yelled.

< Ahhhhh! > I agreed.

I am Rilim, and I am one sorry Andalite who was trying to complete his mission.

Our fighter crashed into the belly of the blade Ship, due to a computer’s malfunction.

What can I say? It happens.

< I thought I suggested west not north! > He yelled at me.

I was the one at the hull, he was at the weapon’s station, he now had a bruise on one side of his face. He had crashed into the metal bulk and was now climbing to his hooves, he was just starting to complain. That was all Tithilian ever did, it was complain, complain and complain. It always makes my head hurt.

< It’s not me, > I said, sounding annoyed, < The computer malfunctioned. >

< Great! Just Great! > He said, < What about our communications? >

I looked up suddenly. Oh no.

< What? > He asked.

< We broke into the blade ship! Quick, lets get in the ship before they come to us! >

He nodded his eyestalks. I cut open the damaged part of our fighter and stepped out into the blade ship.

Where to go? I looked around wildly.

< Storage room! > Tithilain said privately, so that no one passing might overhear.

We ran down the corridor occasionally ducking in some of the quarters to hide from view. We were doing fine until we reached an occupied quarter.

Apparently, it belonged to a Hork-Bajir.

I raised my tail to kill it. Only Tithilain bet me to it. He didn’t kill it though, he just knocked it out.

< Let’s acquire him, it’ll be easier to walk around. > He said.

He reached down and acquired the DNA. I stared at him, < What about me? We can’t both morph the same animal. >

< I’ll get you another one. > He said exasperated, < And it’s called a Hork-Bajir. >

I rolled my stalk eyes at him.

He shook his big Hork-Bajir head and went out. He came after two minutes with an unconscious Hork-Bajir in his hands.

I walked over and acquired him.

I sucked in a deep breath and started to morph.

The first change was unexpected the blades grew out.

SPROOT, SPROOT, SPROOT, SPROOT

Three blades on the top of my head and four on my arm, two on each wrist and elbow. Another two formed near the joints of my hind-legs.

Then my arm and hind-legs changed, they bulged and grew stronger, at the same time, my tail slackened grew limp and I no longer had the mobility to use it as freely as I could in m own body. The blade changed to an almost stud, longer than a female Andalite’s tail blade.

My stalk eyes melted together and disappeared in my head, my eyes grew bigger and moved slightly, increasing the angle in which my eyes could see. They turned red and had black slits. My ears grew larger and longer.

My height increased and so did my weight –not that I felt it. Up to now I was a blue furry Hork-Bajir, the fur sucked in and the skin hardened and turned into the typical reptilian green, but so dark that it looked black.

I looked at Tithilain with red eyes. I didn’t even feel the Hork-Bajir brain, I only realized that it was there when I looked at my comrade.

The Hork-Bajir was peace full, it wanted to go and find trees, and it wanted the Hork-Bajir in front of it come with it.

Tithilain had only two blades on his head I had three. I wonder what it meant. I didn’t need to wonder for long. The Hork-Bajir brain gave me an answer.

And I concluded from it.

Tithilain morphed a female Hork-Bajir. I was a male.

< Come on, lady. > I said, just to provoke him.

< Oh come off it, > He snapped.

We walked out of the quarter as if there was nothing-weird going on. As if two Hork-Bajir walking out of a quarter designed for one was normal. We might as well have advertised that we were the two Andalites who had –the first in history- crash-landed on the Blade Ship, I can just imagine myself telling this tale to my sister, < No really, I crashed on a Visser’s blade ship. It was entirely not my fault, it was the computers, you see->

“What are you two doing here?” A Hork-Bajir growled at us, “Go to your stations.”

Then he stared at us expecting us to turn around and head away.

“What is it with you two!” He snarled, “When your Sub-Visser gives you an order I expect it to be done!”

He sounded a lot like Berit, I could stand War Prince Dorrath more than the Prince and commander of all squadrons. I hated Berit.

< We have a problem! > Tithilain said privately, < Where are we suppose to go? >

I thought about it for a second. < How does this thing speak? >

< Use the mouthparts? > He suggested, < I don’t know. >

“We were changed,” I said, my voice was guttered, like all Hork-Bajirs. “No one told us of our new position.”

He snapped at us and left.

We got rid of him, for now.

< Let’s go to the Docking area. Maybe they grabbed our fighter and threw it there. > He said.

< And hopefully, > I said, < They’d have tried to repaired it. >

We walked quickly down the ship, and reached the docking area. Surprisingly there were no guards there!

< Lets borrow a bug fighter, > I said, < One that we intend not to return. >

Tithilain snickered.

We entered the docking area.

ABRAAAT ABRAAAAAAT ABRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT

What the?

Hork-Bajir filled in.

They leveled Dracon Beams at us.

It would have been stupid to deny what we were. We demorphed.

How did they detect us?

< Ah, > Said a voice, < My fellow scum bags, leaving so soon? >

< The abomination! > I gasped.

That was his blade ship!

< I really hate it when you Andalites find out about our plans, > He said. Glaring at us. He was referring to our mission, we had succeeded.

No wonder the ship smelt fowler than it should have, for a Yeerk ship I mean. I could feel his cold evil radiate from his stolen eyes.

< Wondering how I found you? > His mad evil eyes danced with glee, I could not believe that an Andalite could actually look that evil.

I raised my tail, Tithilain did so as well.

< The hostility. > He sneered.

He smiled at us, this very cold smile.

< Don’t kill them, > He said to his troops, < I want to play with them. It had been a while since I played with an Andalite. A very long time indeed. >

His troops laughed, lowered down their weapons and wanted for the show.

They wanted a show? I’ll give them one.

The Visser had moved to Tithilain he stood in front of him.

< Go on, > He snickered, < Take your best shot. >

< What am I supposed to do! > He whispered franticly at me.

< I don’t know, > I said privately, < Chop his head off. >

< Easy for you to say, you’re not standing in front of him. > He muttered.

All of what we were doing was nothing but an act. In reality we were terrified.

We wanted a way out! Not a way to die!

My stalk eyes searched for a way out of this mess. And I saw it.

The Visser and Tithilain engaged into a fight.

FWAP

Tithilain struck at the Visser but his blow was blocked by the Vissers tail blade,

< Is that all it? > He laughed,

He struck at Tithilain and managed to cut into his left arm, a glancing blow! But I could see that he had hit in deep, very deep.

Tithilain screamed in pain.

I fired my tail muscles not at the Visser, but at the sprinklers at the top, I cut it in and managed to hit the release button, dense columns of water rained down, I ran towards the nearest bug fighter, Tithilain followed.

We blew the hatch and entered, the Visser was screaming at his troops, < Get THEM GET THEM! >

My head hurt from the bellowing.

I ran in and started to power up the fighter. Tithilain secured the hatch.

< Power up the weapons! > He told me, < We’re going to blow our way out. >

I opened a window and saw the Yeerks glared angrily at us, they backed out of the docking area and sealed it off.

We blew our way out.

The Vissers was still screaming.

< We made it! We made it! > Tithilain yelled.

< Hey! > I said,

It was true, the ship was more advanced, even though we’d be reprimanded for losing a fighter, we brought something more useful than a crippled model thirty-three, we brought a new model bug-fighter.

< I thought we were going to die in there! > Tithilain said,

I looked at the controls, < Think again. >

The sensors showed two bug-fighters on an intercept course.

< Oh, no. > He groaned, < Can’t they let us off. I thought that was more than enough excitement for the day. >

Tithilain went to the weapon’s station, but it was difficult, there was something in the way, something cylindrical.

< Get ready. > I said.

He nodded,

< On my count. >

< Weird controls, > he muttered.

< One. >

The Bug fighters came in to view.

< Two. >

They were accelerating closer,

< Three… >

They were almost in shooting range.

< NOW! > I yelled.

TSEEEEWWW!

One of the fighters went down.

TSEEEEEEW!

We were hit by the other fighter!

TSWEEEW!

We were hit again! This time, it had come from the ground’s direction not the bug-fighter! It was a human, a female I believe.

But even though the force was not very damaging, our fighter served madly, due to flying at a high speed in a planet’s atmosphere. The fighter flew passed us. The shock of the energy on the rocketing fighter was too much. We were too close together.

BANG! WAAOOOOSHHHH!

We collided. Scarping off surface metal of the already damaged fighters.

I was thrown off my hooves and knocked into Tithilain, who was still bleeding from his arm wound.

The fighter started spinning to the ground at a startling rate.

There were no emergency engines nothing came on. Not even the boosters.

< Yeerk piece of crap! > I shouted as we fell down form the sky, < What do they build theses things out of? Scrap metal?! >

The other fighter crashed down into the ground.

BOOOOM!

It blew up.

We were not so far behind.

But as we fell, with the engines down, I saw some sort of creation accelerate in our direction. Apparently it had not noticed us. The human female that had shot us slunk back into the alien forest. I saw her hair shimmer in the sun, it was golden…

BANG!

We hit the ground dragging the other fighter with us.

BOOOOM!

My conciseness went dark.

Chapter Sixteen ~Marco~

My Irish Settler’s nose gave me no more detail than what was already said.

I looked up at my friends from the driveway, < Nothing. The dog’s nose can’t track down a car. >

Jake clicked his fingers, and cursed under his breath.

< Anything new? > Tobias asked from above.

< Nope, not anything more from what we were told. > I answered.

“Why don’t we do what Tobias said. Go and check out every route that leads from here? Maybe we’ll see a disturbance of some sort.” Jake said

< Tobias, > I called up, since he couldn’t hear us, < We’re talking your plan. >

< Now they decide. > He grumbled.

We hid away from prying eyes and I demorphed, my friends morphed to birds and I followed.

We were all there except for Ax, who was supposed to be meeting with us about now.

Far off I saw a Harrier come flapping towards us. When he was within range I said, < Not much luck, we decided to take to Tobias’s plan. >

< Oh, > he said, then he fell silent.

< What did the Andalites say? > Jake said, < Did they do it? >

< Prince Jake they had stopped the Yeerks from succeeding. > He said.

< Ax? Why does it seem that you were implying that something bad happened. >

< One of the Andalite fighters crashed into the ship, no one knows why. But it is believed that the two Andalites aboard the ship died. The Andalite’s names were Rlilim, the other was Tithilain. >

< Oh God! > Cassie said, < That was one of the Andalites we talked to! >

< Yes, > Ax said grimly, < It was. >

We were silent for a while. It was a shock, already people were dying.

But it was far off, you know? It wasn’t like he was someone I knew. That fact made me guilty.

We flew aimlessly over the terrain; we followed the tracks for two hours, stopped demorphed and decided to take a rest.

We sat down on the coarse grass. Ax stood by and Tobias was perched on a tree.

< I wonder where she is. > He said, looking out in the distance.

“Don’t worry, we’ll find Rachel.” Cassie said.

< Huh? Rachel? Yeah I suppose we will, she’s a hard person to miss, > I laughed at what he said, < I was wondering about mom. >

That killed off the humor. There was nothing funny about losing a mother, realizing that she was alive and alone somewhere.

I missed her too, I missed mom, and I hoped for Tobias’s sake that she wasn’t a controller. If she was, then this battle is getting way too personal.

That’s lethal, it stops us from doing what should be done. The bright clear line gets blurred and out of focus, and suddenly, you’ll see that there was something between the letter A and B.

But of course there isn’t. To a ruthless mind anyway. The only thing that can exist between the line AB is nothing but imagination. Or, personal hang-ups.

I looked up at Tobias, and realized for the hundredth time how much he amazed me.

I was amazed about the way he handles his life. He’s stuck in a morph, his father is…er…was an alien, he witnessed his murder and at that time didn’t know it was him. And the person who tells him that his father was an alien, was the person who so ruthlessly murdered him. He’s in love with a wild beast, too bad Romeo the Montague was a human, not a bird.

I don’t know how he coups with all this stuff. I mean, when Visser three oh so casually told him that Elfangor was his father…and Tobias had seen him get murdered without knowing who he was… That would have been like me, in hammer head morph, swimming past my drowning mother. And then get Visser one to tell me that she had helped to save herself.

She’d say that my mother was ‘expandable’. Uhuh, and I’d have strangled the life out of him/her. Who knew the gender of Yeerks? Or even if they had one.

“Well find your mom,” I said, dead serious.

< Uhuh, Marco. Come on guys, we’d better move along. >

We morphed to bird and flew again. We where know in the remote places of the national forest.

< Guys look! > Tobias said.

< What? Where? > I said.

< Over there, by the trees. >

I looked down, I saw tire marks, like when a car squeals. In my head I could almost hear the EEEEERRRRRRR! Of the car brakes being slammed down violently.

< But is it the right car? > I asked,

< We don’t know for sure. >

W followed the tracks for a bit longer, then we saw a car, we saw fire, we saw three crashed Bug-fighters.

We saw Sarah, Rachel’s youngest sister lying out side the car. Rachel’s father was covered in burns and was bleeding. The car was nothing but scrap metal, the windshield was broken and blood had splattered every where, especially near Sarah.

< Oh my god! > Cassie screamed.

Three Bug fighters were hovering around. They were getting prepared to land.

< Oh, man, the Yeerks are involved in this, I knew that her father was a Yeerk, I just knew it! >

Man! What happened? Her father must have found out what Rachel really was, who she fights and what she can be.

The Yeerks were involved, Oh goody. I felt like celebrating.

Rachel was nowhere to be seen.

Chapter Seventeen

~Rachel~

My dad had a gun, I was in the car, Sarah was crying and I had concluded that my dad wasn’t a controller.

He was a lonely, sad, tired man who was hunted by his work and was trying to seek happiness in his life.

He could have asked me, I’d have come.

Yeah right. What about the war?

I was mad, I was scared and I really didn’t think that the gun was necessary, I had tried to grab it but my dad won the fight and threw it in the glove compartment.

“You’re pretty strong Rachel.”

I didn’t answer him back. Let him be, I didn’t care anymore.

ERRRRRRRRR!

As I was looking out of the side window I was thrown into the back of the driver’s seat and Sarah fell off the seat and rolled on to the carpet of the car.

“Oh my God!” My dad gasped. He sounded scared, excited, terrified.

I looked through the windshield, I wasn’t excited, and I wasn’t scared, I wasn’t terrified. I was petrified.

For in front of us, crashing towards us, was two bug-fighters.

One of them fell before the other. Sarah had gotten up and stared at the sight.

When the metal made contact with the earth, sparks flew, the metal glowed red, it crashed and exploded. The shock wave hit us and my dad was still driving towards it. I don’t know why. I think he was unconsciously trying to get a better look.

The second bug fighter fell and it just crashed, no explosions. Only, the fire of the first fighter was starting to chew it’s way up the second crashed fighter.

“Cool!” Yelped Sarah, “Like in the movies.”

My dad had to hit on the brakes to stop us from getting crushed by the second fighter. Only one major problem, the fighter was going to hit us, it was. My dad’s slamming down the breaks sent me crashing against his seat, I didn’t know what happened to my dad. But Sarah? Sarah was thrown right out of the backseat and into the windshield, the windshield shattered, taking along with it my sister.

CRASH!

“SARAH!” I screamed.

I grabbed the handle of the door and tried to open it. Damn! The child safety lock! I leapt across to the front seats, took one look at my dad, almost fainted, He was covered in blood, but he was still awake, half conscious. All around thee front seats was shattered blood stained glass. Glass that had been broken by my sister’s body and glass that had rained on my father cutting his skin.

“GET OUT! getoutgetoutgetout!” I screamed, looking at the advancing fighter.

My dad yanked himself out and dragged himself out of the car. He helped me out and after that it was all confusion.

My dad was crying walking to my sister’s fallen body I was trying to keep up, the fighter crashed down and we got separated.

So now, Sarah and dad were at one side, me and the car was at another, and in the middle were the two burning bug fighters. I saw another fighter hover over the wreckage.

What the…?

Why did the two bug fighters shoot each other?

I ran to my dad’s crushed, upturned car, squeezed in, opened the glove compartment and grabbed the gun, to my disgust it was loaded.

I then ran to the burning fighters.

The two fighters had collided into each other making it one big messed up fighter. I approached carefully and cautiously. Not the entire collided fighter had caught fire, only the far side of it. But all around me, the forest was starting to catch fire.

As I walked in, I kept my arms raised in case of an attack. I heard a faint noise.

I spun around, “WArrorrr”

I screamed, a Hork-Bajir with half it’s body melted bellowed at me and fell to the ground dead.

This was a bad idea, what was I thinking? Going into a Bug-fighter without morphing. This was a-

BOOOOOOM!

CRASH! CRASH!

I jumped up as if the devil was behind me.

What was that?

I ran out and saw the car standing on it’s right side up again, funny, it used to be upside down. And it was smoking. The ignition had been on! The car had exploded and fell on its right side.

A wave of relief and queasiness washed over me, I turned round and headed to the fighters.

I climbed in and started to look around, this time I was prepared.

I saw another dead Hork-Bajir, and a mass of Taxxon garbage.

I heard a noise behind me and I whirled around, gun raised.

I saw…Visser Three! And…an Andalite?

No both were Andalites and one of them was out cold and looked as if someone had jumped all over him and broke his bones. The other wasn’t any better.

“Jeez!” I said, he was bleeding all over the place. He was groaning and moaning about something.

He looked shaken up, scared and lonely. He must have been in for some time. He turn a stalk eye (he was lying pinned to ground) And looked up at me.

< The human! > He murmured, astonished.

I crept up to him, still checking to see if there was-

“Andalite filth!” A guttered voice screamed.

I turned around. A Hork-Bajir was running towards me.

The Andalite screamed, I screamed.

I had a gun but I didn’t want to use it.

My hand found the trigger and I pressed.

BAM!

The noise was so loud that I was temporary deaf, when I pressed the trigger the force of the gun was violent, I almost dropped it.

The Hork-Bajir dropped, but he still wasn’t dead.

I felt sick in side. Through all the years I had fought I had never killed or hurt anyone with a gun. It had always been a fair fight.

My hands shook. I felt like throwing up but couldn’t quite do it.

I doubled over and groaned.

The Andalite scrambled. Trying to free himself. He cried out in pain.

He reminded me of Elfangor, the cry of pain wasn’t too different.

I looked at the piece of metal pinning him down. It was too heavy for me to move.

“I can’t take it out.” I said carefully. After I had absorbed the fact that a smaller metal piece had pierced through his flank. If I moved him, or took it out, he was sure to bleed to death. The metal piercing him was about…three inches in radius, which would make it about six inches…what I did know was that his friend was pretty bad off; I stared at the other Andalite.

He was totally crushed by parts of the fighter. His ribs looked like someone had jumped on the causing the to crash inwards, but I could see breathing, there was nothing I could do for him. He was trapped deep.

< Is he all right? > He asked.

I said nothing, just stared, it was a good thing that this Andalite couldn’t see his comrade, I was afraid that if he saw… He’d probably freak out.

I creped closer to him, “What’s your name?” I asked.

< Rilim-Assgarit-Pathroil. >

My head perked up at hi name, hey! Wasn’t that the guy who cracked the wise remark at Tobias?

“I’m Rachel.” I said. “And I honestly have no idea on what to do.”

He laid back and stopped struggling.

< Can you find the controls of the ship? > He asked.

I looked around looking and saw the too familiar computer interface.

“Yeah,” I reported, “It isn’t that damaged.”

< Good, > he gasped, < There is a pad, about two inches in length and two in width, it’s colored yellow, do you see it? > He asked.

“Uhuh, I do.”

< Punch it. >

I looked at him, his main eyes were staring at the darkening sky. “Excuse me?”

< Press it. > He muttered.

I did.

He told me a series of instruction to how I use the communicator and what the frequency was and what I should say, when it was ready, and when I was ready, I ‘input’ the frequency and waited.

It took them a while to open at the other end, when I asked him why he said that our frequency showed, and they would recognize it as a Yeerk frequency.

They must have gone to call the captain.

The screen snapped on and I saw a hard suspicious face glare at me. < What do you want? Yeerk? >

“I’m not a Yeerk.” I said,

< How can I be so sure? >

Irritated I said, “Look, you either listen to me or not, it’s up to you.”

He stared at me, I touched my forehead my fingers came away bloody.

< What do you have to say? >

“I got one…er …two” Rlilim groaned and said something I didn’t understand, “Of your men here, he uh, said that somehow or the other he managed to get into the blade ship, he and his comrade stole a bug fighter to escape.” I turned around and looked at Rlilim to see how he was doing, apparently, the answer was not so good.

“Look, one of them is knocked out and the other one is hurt.” I said, “Bad.”

The Andalite stared at me, < Can I talk to him? >

“He’s pinned by the wreckage he’ can’t get up. I -”

BANG! KABOOM!

I whirled around, hyped up.

The collided fighters that I was in crashed into each other further, trapping us in!

I saw that we were trapped inside. No way out. And the fire was eating it’s way in.

< What happened? >

I cursed, “We’re trapped! The fire’s eating it’s way in!”

< We sent someone for you. We need->

Wwaoooooom!

I looked up, I saw something trying to get it’s way through…it was Bug fighter! The one that had been hovering around!

“You have to come quick!” I said looking up, we haven’t got much time.

< What is happening? > The guy from the communications asked. < Where are you? >

“We’re about south east of the-”

The face I was looking at disappeared.

The screen went dead and so did the power.

I stepped away form the controls, staring at them.

PISSTTTTT!

Sparks flew and the interface exploded in flames.

“Yah!” I commented, jumping back.

I ran to Rlilim, < What do we do now? >

“I have to find a way out.” I said, “I don’t think they’ll find us easily, I’ll have to go and call my friends.”

He said nothing.

“I’ll come back, really, I wouldn’t leave you.”

Again no answer.

Waoooooom.

More metal was being moved. I had to move quickly!

I searched around franticly. Where, where? I couldn’t morph; I’d expose my self!

But I was trapped, there was no way out!

Rlilim!

I had an idea!

I turned to him, “Rlilim?”

He turned a stalk eye, “I need you to do something.”

< What is there for me to do? > He laughed bitterly, < You’re leaving and I’m helpless, it wouldn’t take the Yeerks long to come. > “I, have this feeling…” I said, not really knowing how I should explain this, I just knew, in my heart I knew that they were there, “I need you to call someone, in private thought speak.”

He turned both his eyestalks to look at me, < Your plan being? >

“Just call, him, his name is Tobias.” I said, getting excited. “If he’s near us he’ll answer.”

< It’s that human boy, the bird nothlit. > He said to me.

I nodded, “Just call him.”

He seemed to almost shrug, < Tobias!? >

He continued for approximately thirty seconds. He turned his stalk eyes at me, < Any other idea->

< Who’s calling? > Tobias said.

“Tobias!” I exclaimed he was here.

< Okay, how did you know he was here? > He looked at me, < Do humans have a special ability to locate their fellow species? >

“No,” I said, “Lucky guess.”

< I don’t believe in luck. > He muttered.

< Rachel is that you in there?! >

I looked around “Where are you?”

< Here to save her highness in fly morph. > Marco said.

“Marco?” I asked.

< The one and only. > He replied.

< How did you get in this mess? > Jake asked.

“Don’t ask.” I said. “Jake, I need someone to tell Ax to tell the Andalites of our location, they were looking for us and we got cut off.”

< I’ll go. > Marco offered.

Jake demorped,

“What are you doing?” I said, “They’ll see you!”

Tobias rearranged his wings nosily,

“It’s okay Rachel,” Jake said, “We got them to go, you stop worrying.”

Something was wrong. I could feel it, in his voice, his actions. The way he was looking at me.

“What-” I started to say, then froze.

I spun around climbed up the inside of the collided fighter, climbed up and started to squeeze my way out a gap.

I saw three Andalite fighters, so soon? But that was not my concern.

I ran and tried to avoid getting burnt by the fire, which was now getting extinguished.

I headed to the two figures lying on the ground, I saw a dog-like figure standing there, all of them were silhouettes against the setting sun.

I ran to them.

< Rachel! > Tobias cried behind me, I ignored him.

As I came closer I saw a wolf standing, head cocked, ears down, staring at the other two figures who were lying on the ground.

I saw a bug-fighter close by, undamaged, I saw three dead torn, ripped Hork-Bajir.

Not so far away two Andalite fighters landed, one was still above, hovering.

But I didn’t care; all I cared about was the two figures.

The two lying figures were…

< I’m sorry, > Cassie cried, < Rachel I’m so sorry, I couldn’t do anything I was too late. We came when they were- > I fell to the ground before the two figures.

No. No. No. No.

This wasn’t happening. Not to me, it was happening to someone else.

But that was a lie, wasn’t it?

I crouched near the two, they were laid near each other, both their hands were around each other.

Blood had formed a circle beneath them.

A crude, red circle a bloody circle. My friends say that I’d thrive to a seen filled with blood and gore. After this I may never be sure.

There was nothing exhilarating about watching the blood run down form your family members. Nothing funny about seeing them die.

Nothing funny about smelling the red bright liquid leak, noting funny about seeing life drain away.

Nothing funny and victorious about losing life, losing blood.

Sarah my little sister, she was gone. She was gone. Lying against my father, her lips open slightly, the last thing she had done was try to snuggle against my father, press against him for comfort. I could still see the tears that had run on her once lively face. I could still see her, in my memory, cock that head of hers after saying something silly and then laugh crazily, in that way of hers.

Tears ran down my checks. Realizing that she had probably died a few minutes ago.

Died and I hadn’t had the chance to say good-bye, died and I haven’t had the chance to speak to her for the last time.

I’ll never see her again. I felt sick. I’ll never see her run in our house, yelling and screaming at Jordan, never see her run yammering into the dining room, wanting us to buy her that new Barbie she wanted.

Oh god! That Barbie doll she wanted! My mother had hidden it and told me to give it to her as a surprise. She’ll never get to see that doll, the doll she wanted to play with.

Sarah had died a few minutes after crashing through the windshield. I looked at my father’s butchered body. That’s putting it mildly.

He had died protecting the only thing in the world that mattered to him, he had died protecting his baby daughter.

Hot tears continued to roll down my cheeks.

My dad stirred, I knew this was going to be his final moment in life, there was no way for him in surviving.

He grasped my hand weakly, but firmly.

His eyes opened and I crouched near him, he leaned against me. Looking into my eyes.

“Rachel.” He whispered to me.

I leaned closer to him; he put his other arm around me.

“I had always loved you, always will. I had loved your sisters as well, tell Jordan that I loved her. Tell her that I thought of her to the last minute. I never forgot her. Tell your mother, that even though I fought with her, tell her that I still had love for her, in me, there always was. She never understood this.”

I was crying, I didn’t want to say good-bye. “Daddy. Don’t leave me.” I whispered.

He reached out and whipped away the tears on my cheek, “Be strong, fight them, always remember that I am with you. Promise me, promise me that you will not think of me as being dead, think of me as being alive, in your memories. Promise me that you wouldn’t be sad.”

I can’t, I can’t. A gust of wind rustled my hair as well as my father’s. The gust stung my eyes.

“Promise me. Promise me that I’ll be alive, in your heart.”

“I…I promise you.”

He smiled at me, that boyish smile of his, he grasped both my right hand, he squeezed my hand hard, “I love you Rachel, you were always the son I never had.”

“I love you too. Daddy.”

Then he died.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw two Andalites head our way, the others were going to the two crashed fighters.

I didn’t care.

< What happened here? We need to know your report, we need- > He trailed off and I felt his eyes on the back of my head.

I had closed my eyes and hugged my dad’s dead body fiercely. Almost willing his spirit to come back.

I knew that all of my friends were around me. I knew that the Andalites realized what had just happened.

< Rachel… > Cassie trailed off, I looked at the wolf body, the fur was matted with Hork-Bajir blood.

With my expression hollow, I said, “It’s okay Cassie, there was nothing you could do.”

Nothing you can do but watch my family die.

My voice cracked slightly, and knowing that my friends had seen this, seen this weakness in me… I suddenly felt like I was suffocating, like I couldn’t breath, I wanted out of here.

I yanked myself off the ground and ran to the forest.

< Rachel! > Tobias cried out. < Rachel! >

Chapter Eighteen

~Jake~

“Tobias,” Marco said, “Let her be.”

< What are you crazy?! > He yelled.

< Tobias > Cassie said < Let her go for a while. >

He ignored us and flew away.

I was shocked, my uncle just died.

What would my dad think?

Sure the relationship between them wasn’t perfect but he wouldn’t want to know that his brother died.

My cousin died, what would her mother think?

Rachel, what’s she going to do?

“Jake?” Cassie demorphed, “Are you okay.”

No, I was bewildered.

“Yeah, I’m okay,” I said slowly, “I better go home before them tell dad. He’d …”

I trailed off, I heard sirens in the distance. The Andalites were clearing their things out. They also took anything and destroyed any evidence that would lead the police to think that there were aliens involved.

All of them left and I flew home. I demorphed. And entered.

“Jake?” My mother said, “Where have you been? Dinner’s ready.”

“Uh, I don’t feel like eating.’ I muttered, felling sick to the stomach.

I disappeared up to my room.

I threw myself on my bed and put my hand on my head and groaned,

“What is this world coming to.” I said.

“Jake?” I jerked up and stared at my mother, she shrugged, “Your door was open.”

She came in and sat beside me on my bed.

“It upsets you, doesn’t it?” She sighed, “There are a lot worse things than parents breaking up.”

Mom, I thought, Rachel’s father is dead and so is her sister, and you want to know what killed them? The war, the Yeerks.

“Come on, Jake,” She said, “Let go eat dinner.”

I followed my mother silently.

Through out dinner, I kept looking at Jordan and her mother, wondering what would happen to them if…

Knock! Knock! Knock!

“I’ll get it.” Tom said.

“Don’t bother yourself.” Jordan said.

She got up and advanced to the door. I heard her open it.

Then…

“Rachel!” Jordan yelled.

“Rachel!” Aunt Naomi cried out. She got up and ran to the door. My parents followed. Tom and I sat at the table.

“Sweet heart. What happened to you?” Her mother said. Rachel started crying.

My mother and aunt took her to the couch in the living room. My dad talked to the police.

Tom looked at me and I looked at him.

Outside the window, I saw a flash of red and brown feathers,

The police left, my dad closed the door and went to the living room. We followed.

My dad sat on a chair and stared at Rachel, looking astonished.

I knew why. No one else but Rachel and me knew.

“Jake, take Rachel and Jordan upstairs.” My mother said.

I took Jordan’s hand and Rachel followed.

“What happened? Where’s Sarah? Where’s dad?” Jordan kept asking Rachel who looked stonily ahead.

“Jordan,” I said, helplessly.

“They’re dead,” Rachel said coldly, “Dad. Sarah. Car accident.”

“Wha…?” Jordan said

“Rachel!” I cried.

Jordan sat down, hard. She looked at Rachel, “Where’s dad?”

“Dead.”

“Where is Sarah?”

“Dead.”

“Where were you when it happened?” She cried.

Jordan might as well have accused Rachel of her father and sister’s death. Rachel had a cold look in her eyes. A cold darkening look.

“You ask the wrong questions. Why don’t you ask the Hor-”

“Rachel!” I interrupted, glaring at her. She sat on the other side of my bed and turned away, not wanting to face me.

She got up and looked out of the window. She grabbed the windowsill and whispered in a husky whisper “I’ll drag them back to where they came from, if it’s the last thing I do.”

Staring at the stars, her eyes twinkled with a dangerous light, “I’ll make sure every single one of them dies, I’ll butcher every one of them, the way they did to my…”

She trailed off, turned and looked at me, her eyes shown with a menace that could have only been described as evil revenge.

She stared directly in my eyes. A bitter cold smile formed.

“I’ll kill them,” She whispered, it sounded like a dire promise, “I’ll kill them all.”

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