Animorphs: The Lost Chapters - A 50,500 word novel generated with code. Read my dev diary to see how I did it: https://github.com/NaNoGenMo/2020/issues/66

animorphs-the-lost-chapters-final.txt

Chapter 21
I had forgotten to bring the thermals.
I was going to find a way to get back to the barn.
The barn was on a narrow, winding road that wound along the road, passing by many houses.
I was going to look for them by treading the dirt.
But the dirt was unpaved, so I had to dig a ditch.
I began by digging up a small stream that ran beneath the road. I dug out a small stream
that turned. Then I used the stream to turn a strip of grass into a ditch.
I dug a little more. Then I grabbed a log and a blanket and carefully laid it out,
drawing a ditch above me.
I morphed to bald eagle and started to climb the incline, but then I saw a house down the road.
The windows were open. They were big enough to fill a small room. I took a look down
and saw a man with a shotgun.
He opened the door and I saw him in the house. He was carrying a big bag of chips.
I looked out into the dark and I realized I was alone in the house.
I was glad. I wanted to sleep. I wanted to sleep with my legs still in the bed. I dreamed of
sitting there,
dreaming all alone,
watching TV, listening to music, eating,
dreaming about dinner.
My eyes adjusted to the dimness. My vision sharpened. I blinked.
And then I saw it. It was in the window. It was in the window.
It was in the window.
I looked up at the sky. It was an amazing blue sky. It was a perfect angle, just right to me.
I looked out over the sea, to the east. It was a seabed. I couldn’t see well enough to make
details, but I could make out a bunch of little islands that looked like a beach.
They were just white sand boulders, about three feet across.
They looked like a long, round, three-foot-high tube. They were about as tall as a person’s
huge foot. They were about the size of tall trees.
I looked down at the sand, and then up toward the ocean. It was as if I were looking
into a water tunnel. Like a storm or hurricane had poured up from the ocean.
I was in the ocean.
I looked down again. I was in a vast, open ocean. The ocean of life.
I felt the urge to cry. “It’s over. It’s over. I’m out of here!”
But I didn’t feel the urge. Like I just couldn’t stop thinking about it. I didn’t know what to do.
I was alone in the ocean.
I powered my wings and flew. I circled, fighting the current. But it was too late. I was
in the water.
The waves just plowed into the sand beside me. I was all alone.
I had to demorph. I had to demorph. But I couldn’t morph any other creature.
I turned my head to look at the sea. It was too narrow. Too deep. Too far away.
I was not alone.
The waves lifted me up. I was underwater. I was in the ocean.
I was not alone. I was not going to the surface.
The waves pushed back against the sand. I was underwater, but I was underwater.
I looked up, through the water. I saw the coastline and saw a sea of trees. But I could
not see the people. I could not see them. They were hidden by the waves.
Down the coast I saw the beach and saw the surf. But I could not see them.
I turned my head to look at the ocean. I saw the sky, but nothing to me.
I tried to swim. I had to use my arms. But the muscles were too tight. I was too weak to
use my hands.
I was in the water of the sea.
I tried to stand up. But my legs were too weak. I tried to run my legs over the sand. But I fell
like a rag doll.
I tried again. I was too weak. I fell and fell.
I was trapped.
Again and again.
There was no one to help me. I was trapped, but I could use my arms. But I was powerless.
I searched the water for a minute, then tried to swim. But the current was too strong. I was
in the water. And I was drowning.
I could hear the waves crashing down on me. I could feel the waves beating on my face. I tried to
morph
Chapter 19
“I, uh, I didn’t hear you,” I said.
“No. You don’t,” he said.
“I didn’t hear you,” I said.
“No. I said I heard you.”
“No. I don’t know. I mean, what, you know how you were up, but it was like three hours?”
“No. I mean, we are not exactly in the same place anymore. We were on the same street. I mean,
we were standing there.”
“Familiar place?”
“We’d have to morph out,” I said. “But I’m thinking this is a place we’d be safe.”
“On the same street. Weird.”
“There are no streetlights,” he said. “Some streets aren’t pretty, but on the other
side of the street there are plenty of lights.”
I looked around. I knew we were safe. I knew the place and the lights. But I didn’t know where
we were or how to get back. “You know what? I’m going to try and find you, okay?”
I tried to smile. I tried to sound sympathetic. But I was too embarrassed to say anything.
“Okay, you’re going out with me, okay? You’re going out with me on a date.”
He looked at me. “What?”
“I’ll go out with you.”
“Yeah, right.”
“I’ll go get some food?”
I threw the bag of food I was carrying into the trash. “What food?” I asked.
“I’ll eat it,” he said.
I heard the sound of a tire being pulled by a truck. I started to eat the food.
“What kind of food do you eat?” he asked.
“What are you eating?” I asked him.
“Oh, man. I’m starving.”
“I’m going to look at you.”
“What?”
He looked at me. “What?”
“Oh, man, I’m going to look at you. Eat me.”
I began to eat the food I was eating. I felt my stomach turning to mush. I was already
morphing.
“Oh, man. I’m going to look at you and eat you.”
He looked at me. I was afraid. I was afraid because I felt the same sense of dread. It was so
cold. I felt like I was being suffocated.
I took a deep breath. My stomach was crawling with the fear. The feeling of fear. Like I was
helpless.
“Look,” I whispered, “I’m okay. I’m hungry. I’m thirsty. I’m cranky. So what’s going on?”
“I’m okay. I’m just hungry,” he said.
“Crazy hungry.”
“Crazy cranky.”
“Crazy cranky. You’ll never find me.”
It was a lie. I’d told him. I’d only told him one thing. I had been knocked out. I’d been
brain fried.
I looked past him into the darkness.
He was right. I was alone.
I was alone in this dark place, in a space where no one could see me.
No one could see me. No one could see me.
I was alone. In a space that could only be known as “underground.”
“Oh, man.”
“That’s it. That’s it.”
“No. I’m doing fine. But it’s not.”
“I’m not doing ...”
“Come on,” I said. “Let’s go.”
I walked out onto the roof of the Bug fighter. Down the ship, into the darkness of the cavern.
Down the deep blue floor of the ship.
I was alone.
I was alone in a place where no one could see me.
But
Chapter 8 - Jake
“I have to call the cops,” I said.
“Yeah, I’m supposed to go home and get this paper bag,” I said.
“No,” Rachel said. “You’re not supposed to do it. You’re not supposed to do it.”
“I’m going to take it,” I said.
Rachel nodded. “Good, because now I have the second-to-last yellow feather. I’ll go buy it a
memory stick. Here!”
I started to climb up the fence, but Jake was standing right in front of me. The kid was wearing dirty
clothes, so he was probably in his underwear.
“Hey!” I said.
Jake started to walk and I started to run.
“Hey!” Rachel yelled.
I threw up my hands.
“I’m just an amateur,” I said. “I know what I’re doing.”
“Let’s try to forget it,” I said. “See how you’re doing.”
I threw up my hands.
“How about if we just forget about it?” Jake asked. “When we’re done?”
I didn’t want to have to do all that. I just wanted to be able to leave the house.
Jake looked at me and gave me a dirty look. “That’s fine, Jake. I like you.”
“I’m okay,” I said. “Rachel, you have been in morph for a long time. You know the
emotions, and you know when to use that emotion-sapping move.”
“I’m fine,” Jake said. “I just need one word: It’s a disaster.”
“Get over it,” I said. “It’s not going to be all that great. We’ll have to do this one way or
other.”
“I have to call my dad.” I looked over at Rachel. I couldn’t see her face. I just could. I could
stuck my finger in my mouth and make her say, “Daddy! I am supposed to be going on a mission
with you.”
She didn’t say anything.
“You okay?” I asked. “It’s just ... it’s not exactly normal for me to be in a morph.”
“Yeah, well, well,” she said. “It’s not exactly normal for me to be in a morph.”
“How do you know?”
“Because you’re the same girl you always were when you were little.”
“Mmmm.”
“Thank you, Rachel,” I said. “I guess it’s safe to say that I’m no different from you.”
Rachel sighed. “Actually, I’m a little different, too, but I’m just a girl.”
“I know,” I said. “I know.”
“Okay.” Jake stood up. “Rachel, let me just say this: You have a right to keep an eye on
your own. You have to.”
I narrowed my eyes. “I have the right to take care of myself when I’m healthy.”
“I do,” Rachel said. “I guess I’m going to try and figure out a way to pay my bills.”
“I can’t,” I said.
“Rachel, you know I’m not exactly being helpful here,” Jake said. “I’m not exactly helping you with the
housing situation.”
Rachel shook her head violently. “I know. I know.”
“At least it’s not too much of a crisis,” I said.
“Here it comes,” Jake said. “I’m going to try and get this paper bag out of your way.”
“Okay, Jake,” Cassie said. “Go ahead.”
Jake put the paper bag in her backpack and led the way to the front door of the house. There was a
teacher’s chair
Chapter 26
It was an early morning. We were in the woods. We were not near the bird-watchers.
We were in owl morph. We were almost blind. Too small to see well enough to make eavesdropping
sound. But we could hear and smell.
The guy I was going to meet was in the crowd. He was wearing a white T-shirt and jeans and
pants with pockets. He was sitting in the corner of the circle he had been sitting in. His hair was in a straight
line down to his shoulders. His face was a long black beard with a sort of coarse black mustache.
His chest was a huge rectangle that was almost unisex.
But he looked like a rocking chair. And he wore it in a display of all the outfit he had been
playing in.
He also wore a leather jacket over a T-shirt. He sat on a low stool, with a jacket just
crawling across his legs.
“Hi,” he said.
“Hi,” I repeated, and he answered with his usual kind of casual tone of voice.
“Hi,” he repeated again.
“Hey, what’s up?”
“I ... I just got this e-mail, from a guy ...”
“Hi, Jake,” I said. “I was just wondering if I could help. I just think it just goes to show you how
we’re supposed to act.”
He smiled a smile that was as wide as a small boy’s face. “Yeah. You were right.”
“I know. I know.”
“I know. I’m sorry. Well, I guess that’s all I have to say. I guess I don’t want to say anything that could
have an impact on your future.”
I didn’t answer. I was too far gone. I was out of air. I knew I was crazy.
I was so stressed out I’d started crying.
“Hi, Jake,” I said.
“Hi,” he said.
“Yeah, I’m Rachel.”
“Hi,” he said.
“Hi,” I said.
“I’m Jessica.”
“I’m with a doctor.”
“Yeah, I know,” he said. “I’m fine.”
I looked away. I know I was crazy. I know I was messed up. I know I was stressed out.
But I wanted to say something, and I wanted to make sure he was right.
“I am an owl,” he said.
I nodded and slipped into my seat.
“Okay, Jake,” I said. “I’m fine.”
He nodded. “Yeah, okay. Rachel and I will be here soon.”
“Okay,” I said, “but I have a question.”
“What is an owl?”
“An animal with the sense that sounds are coming from above or behind you. It’s kind of like your
walking stick. It’s fast, but it’s not very agile. Like it’s going to get in the way. You can’t see very well
enough to make a sound.”
“You were supposed to ask me. But I guess I forgot.”
I shook my head. “I forgot.”

“Okay. Rachel and I have a very important question,” he said. “How did you get into this species?”
I shook my head. “It was all I needed to know. Who are you?”
“I’m not sure,” he said. “But I’ve never met a person who sounded like you. Or like you.”
“I was wondering if I could help,” I said. “I was thinking maybe you could explain to me -”
“Oh, yeah. I’m sorry,” I said.
“You were supposed to ask me. But I guess I forgot. I think I forgot.”
“Yeah, well, you could have!” I said. “I’d rather have had to go find you, Rachel.”
He nodded. “Okay. I’ll take care of you.”
“Wait a minute,
Chapter 21
I really didn’t need a full-time guide. I had to get people to look for me. This was the worst.
I was in a hurricane. A storm like no hurricane had ever hit the earth.
The windows in my bedroom window were broken.
The window itself was broken in half. I could see the ground rushing up at me. I could see bright
in the darkness. I saw a little bird. It was a red-tailed hawk. It was fluttering low to the ground.
The hawk was resting on a patch of grass. The grass was moist and warm.
I saw a little boy. He was in his own little world. It was a world of his own.
“I’m Rachel,” he said. “I’m this girl who lives in the house with her mom. My mom and
she’re the only other one of us.”
“Okay, okay,” I said. “I’m Rachel.” I felt his mind turn to me.
He was in the middle of his own thought-speak. “I don’t think it’s Rachel.”
“Um, Jake.” My father had called me by his actual name. He had come to see me. I was
happy to oblige. He was worried I would act immature. I was frightened. I was afraid.

And I was glad.
I’d been on the wrong end of a fight with a monster that was trying to eat me.
“Jake?” I said.
“Yeah?”
“What?”
“I’m sorry. I was just ...”
I waited for him to say a word. But he didn’t. And then he stopped.
“Rachel?” He said.
“Oh, yeah. I think I was sorry.”
“Yeah, right.”
“So I said sorry,” he said. “And I guess I guess I was just ...”
“Oh, yeah,” I said, already feeling a little embarrassed. “I know. I know. But I ...”
“Rachel, I really don’t think about you that way. I mean, you’re ... you know, I mean, you’re
maybe four inches tall, but you’re not exactly normal. I mean, you look normal to me.”
“Yeah, I’m like normal,” I said. “I don’t care if I’m big or small or ...”
“You’re not normal.”
“I’m normal.”
“I’m maybe four inches tall, but you’re not exactly normal,” I said. “I have very little
clothing.”
“Is that true?”
“Yes.”
“You’re not exactly normal.”
“I’ll tell you one thing. In the last couple of years, I’ve been looking for someone who’s
normal.”
It was a lie. The truth. I knew it. But I didn’t want to lie to anyone.
“Oh, man,” I said, embarrassed. “I’m not exactly normal. I’m not exactly normal.”
“You’re just normal?”
“No.”
“You’re right.”
“I’m not exactly normal,” I said. “I’m not exactly normal.”
“So what’s the problem?”
“Well, I have really, really small shoulders, and I have very, very big shoulders.”
“What?” I asked him.
“I have really small shoulders. I have shoulders that are more than half my height. I have very small
claws on top of my shoulders. And I have huge, extra big, powerful hands.”
“What?”
“I have hands.”
“What?”
“I have hands.”
He looked at me and smiled. “That’s a lot of things we do in the dark, right?”
“Not too much,” I said.
He shook his head. “I think we have a problem here.�


Chapter 12
I had a lot of fun.
They were not large. They were not sentient. They were not simple creatures.
They were not like the Drode.
They were like the Chee.
Although their main mouths were smaller than my own, they had mouths that could read my
mind, either in one or many different ways.
They were like a sort of blind computer, with very limited memories. They had no eyes or
vision.
They were like a machine made of metals and by far the strongest in the universe.
It was thus that they were designed to be very intelligent.
I could see them as clearly as I could see the Drode. I could smell and taste them, and yet not
understand or even feel their thoughts or ideas.
But they were not blind. They could see and feel and understand.
They were aware.
I was aware of the Drode. I could see him clearly and yet not grasp his thoughts or
emotions.
I could sense his thoughts and emotions in my own body.
I felt the changes begin. The Drode moved. His eyes moved. His thoughts and feelings
flooded my mind.
I felt the changes begin. I felt the changes begin.
I was aware of the morphing. I felt my own body begin to change. I felt the changes begin.
I felt my mind begin to shift, to shift from being the Yeerk to being a human. But I was not
the Yeerk. I was the Drode.
I felt the changes begin. I saw the Drode begin to change. I saw the human form begin to
change. I saw my own body become human again.
It was a terrifying experience. My own body melting and changing and becoming human again.
I felt the changes begin. I felt my own body begin to swell and to grow. And yet, I knew that I
was not becoming a human. I was becoming something new.
I felt the changes begin. I felt the human mind begin to rise above the Yeerk mind. I felt my
mind become human.
I felt the changes begin. I felt the human body shrink away and disappear. I felt the human mind
become a thousand times more complex than it was before.
I felt the changes begin. I felt my own body begin to shrink. And yet, I was still human, too.
I felt the changes begin. I felt the human body grow and change. I felt the changes begin. I felt the
change begin. I felt the change begin. I felt the change begin.
I felt the change begin. I felt the change begin. I felt the change begin.
I felt the changes begin. I felt the changes begin. I felt the changes begin.
I felt the change begin. I felt the change begin. I felt the change begin.
I felt the change begin. I felt the change begin.
I felt the change begin. I felt the change begin.
I felt the change begin. I felt the change begin.
I felt the change begin. I felt the change begin. I felt the change begin.
I felt the change begin. I felt the change begin. I felt the change begin.
I felt the change begin. I felt the change begin. I felt the change begin.
I felt the change begin. I felt the change begin. I felt the change begin.
I felt the change begin. I felt the change begin. I felt the change begin.
I felt the changes begin. I felt the changes begin. I felt the change begin. I felt the changes begin.
I felt the change begin. I felt the change begin. I felt the change begin.
I felt the change begin. I felt the change begin. I felt the change begin. I felt the change begin.
I felt the changes begin. I felt the changes begin. I felt the change begin. I felt the change begin. I
felt the change begin. I felt the change begin. I felt the change begin.
I felt the change begin. I felt the change begin. I felt the change begin. I felt the change begin.
I felt the change begin. I felt the change begin. I felt the change begin. I felt the change begin.
I felt the change begin. I felt the change begin. I felt the change begin. I felt the change begin.
I felt the change begin. I felt the change begin. I felt the change begin. I felt the change begin.
I felt the change begin. I felt the change begin. I felt the change begin.
I felt the change begin. I felt the change begin. I felt the change begin. I felt the change begin.
I felt the change begin. I felt the change begin. I felt the change begin.
I felt the


Chapter 15
“Where are we?” I asked.
I stepped out into the empty forest. It was very dark. I couldn’t see much beyond. But I could
smell it. It was a rain forest. But it was a rain forest. The trees, the grass, the bushes, all
covered in a sort of thick fog.
“I found it,” I said. “It’s in a cave. For about four days. I took it to me. And I took it home.
And now, I’m telling you, I don’t know why. But I have to go to the house.”
“What?”
“I was supposed to go upstairs and have a look at the Mom and Dad. But ... I have to go to
the house. I want to see them.”
I nodded. “Fine. Fine, but what time is it?”
“I am in the living room, in the kitchen, of the bedroom.”
“What time is it?”
“I don’t know. But I’m on the couch, in the middle of the room.”
“What is your name?”
“Rachel.”
“How many words are there?”
“Four.”
“Okay.”
I sat down in my bed. I had to find my voice. I could not speak. I was trying to think. I was still
out of my mind.
“Rachel?”
“What?”
“You’re too young to become a parent.”
I sat up. She had been sitting in the chair. “Your mom is.”
“Okay.”
I looked out into space. I could see my own home. I could see the trees. And I could see
the stars. I could see the stars. I could see the clouds. But I wasn’t in a place. I was in a place.
And I was in the house.
I was alone.
I was alone in the house.
And now, my loneliness was getting worse. Worse.
“Rachel,” I said. “You’re supposed to be alone in the house. Too many things to focus on.
Too many things to focus on. You’re supposed to be the one to do all the work, but you’re the one to
do nothing.”
“What?”
She shook her head. “No. But I’m glad I was there. I guess I was. I’m glad you were there.
I guess I felt like it was the most important thing in the entire world.”
“You’re supposed to be the one to do what?”
“I’m not sure,” I said. “I mean ... I mean you. To do the things you’re supposed to do.”
“I know what you are. I’ve seen you. I know what you are.”
“I have no idea what you are. I don’t know what you are, but I’m going to have a heart attack if I don’t
do something right now.”
She saw my eyes. She reached out with one of her fingers and touched me. I was breathing.
“You are the one to do what, Rachel.”
“I’m not sure.”
“I’m not sure what you are, but I have to.”
I felt her touch again. And I felt her reach out to me. I felt her touch my heart.
“I’m sorry,” I said. “I guess I’ll get on with this.”
She shook her head slowly. “You want me to do the same, Rachel?”
I nodded. “Yes. I have the same.”
“I’m concerned about you.”
“I know what you are,” she said.
I felt her touch my throat.
“You have no idea what you are.”
“No. I mean, I know what I’m going to do. I’m going to do all the things that you are. I’m
going to do the things you are. Rachel, I’m going to do all the things you are.”

Chapter 16
We flew. I had to get to the surface.
Rachel and Ax were right on the trail. I flew.
I dove, flew, dove, flew, dove, flew, fell, dove, plummeted, dropped, dropped, descended.
Rachel! Hah HAH!
We hit the ground! We hit concrete and metal and heavy. But we didn’t leave the mall.
We flew. Out into the sky.
The mall!
The mall!
The mall!
<Oh, man,> I moaned.
<And then again, I should have known better,> Rachel said. <I should have seen it.>
I began to demorph. I could feel the changes happening. I could feel the changes being made.
I was becoming a bird.
I was becoming a human.
I was becoming a bird that could not exist without me.
I could not stop the changes. I was a human being.
But I could stop the Yeerks.
I could stop the Yeerks from enslaving humans.
I could stop the Yeerks from enslaving Hork-Bajir.
I could stop the Yeerks from enslaving the humans.
All I had to do was to look at what I saw.
I saw the mall and the mall with my vision. I saw the two Hork-Bajir I had known,
all of them in morph.
I saw the mall with my vision. I saw my own human, Cassie,
faster than a human, but not faster than a Hork-Bajir. I saw Rachel, the human, with the
same speed as she had when she was a Hork-Bajir.
I saw the humans, each as fast as a Hork-Bajir, but not faster than a human.
I saw the mall with my vision. I saw Rachel, the human, now as fast as if she were a Hork-
Bajir.
I saw the humans, now, having no faster than Hork-Bajir, but not faster than a human.
I saw the humans, now, with their mouths in human mouths, but not their mouths, but their
vibrations, and I saw how they had morphed, and I saw their heads, and then the three of them,
having been morphed back to human.

I saw a human with a mouth, and I saw Rachel, in human shape. But not Rachel, but her
vibrations, and I saw Cassie, shrinking, shrinking, and then, as soon as I could smell her, I saw
her again.
I saw the human with a pair of small eyes, and I saw her human face, shrinking, shrinking.
I saw the human, now, shrinking, becoming human, becoming human again, becoming human again,

growing, growing, growing.
I saw Rachel, human, shrinking, becoming human, becoming human.
I saw the human, now, shrinking, becoming human, becoming human.
I saw my own human, Cassie, shrinking and shrinking, growing, growing.
I saw my own human, Rachel, shrinking, becoming human, becoming human.
I saw my own human, Rachel, shrinking, becoming human, becoming human.
I saw my own human, Cassie, shrinking, becoming human, becoming human, becoming human.
I saw my own human, Cassie, shrinking, becoming human, becoming human.
I saw my own human, Cassie, becoming something else, becoming something other, becoming something
different.
I saw the other humans, now, not as my own human, but as this human, but as this
human, this human, this human again, this human being, this human being, this
human being, this human being, this human being, this human being, this human being, this
human being, this human being, this
I saw the other humans, now, lying unconscious in the mud, but still the others still in the mall,

twice as fast as Rachel and me.
They had seen me before. I had seen them before. I had seen the mall.
I saw the human, now lying on a wooden floor.
I saw the others, now lying on the ground, almost as fast as Rachel and me.
I saw them in their human forms, becoming fully human again.


Chapter 27 - Cassie
I was in the barn. I was in the barn with the other Animorphs.
The barn is a nice place to hang out. I feel very close. The birds care for them very well.
And if I was to ask you what you think of the place, I would say that it is just fine. The animals are
very nice, the food is delicious. But maybe you would like to know something more?
Well, I have a question.
I have dreams. Those dreams are all I have, right?
“I don’t know,” I said. “I guess I don’t have to make them.”
“Yes,” Jake said. “The idea of making them sounds a lot more interesting than you’d think.”
“Sounds like a good idea,” I agreed.
“Right.”
“Okay.”
I started to morph, but my body was not good at it. It was not good with the hands. I had a
weak, weak body. I was very clumsy.
“I know it sounds crazy,” I said. “But I’ll do it.”
“Yeah.”
“See? See?” I said. “It’s like morphing a squirrel. I mean, you go to a zoo, you get a
morph, and you get to morph a bird. And then you have to use that bird to carry out the
morphing.”
I was morphing an osprey and using my tail feathers to stick a phone in my mouth.
“I’m not going to hurt you,” I said.
“No, I’m just wondering,” Jake said, “Why? Why?”
“Well,” I lied.
“You are not the wolf,” Jake said. “You are the hawk. You are the hawk.”
“I’ll throw this morph out there,” I said. “I have to find a new morph for it.”
“What?”
“I have to find a new morph.”
“But ... but ...”

“Wait a minute!” Jake yelled. “You’re saying I have to be the wolf to throw this morph?”
“No.” I snapped my fingers. “Not the wolf. The hawk.”
“So,” Jake snapped. “You mean like a hawk?”
“Huh?” I said. “I mean like a hawk?”
“Yeah,” Jake said. “Imagine you’re a bird of prey. You’re doing a morph of an eagle.
Eagles are very good hunters. But you’re also a hawk.”
I nodded. “But I’m not a hawk. I’m a human girl.”
“Yeah, cool,” Jake said. “I’m a human girl.”
“I’ll throw this human girl.”
“I’ll throw her out there,” I said. “I have to find her.”
“I know,” Jake said. “But it’s not a bad idea. You guys sit here and you do a morph.”
“Nope,” I said.
“Okay. But I’m going to morph a pony,” Jake said.
They both looked at each other. And then at each other again.
The five of us all started to morph. It was weird. I mean, we had never even had a chance to try it. We
were all lying on our side of a tangle of wires or something. There was a feeling of being on top of
nothing and being squeezed into the little crevices.
But it was all very real now. We were both lying down. We were on our sides of a wire or something.
We were being squeezed and squeezed till we had no mouth.
I opened my mouth. Suddenly I was being squeezed and squeezed till I had teeth.
I felt my skin stretching. Poking through a wire that had been my mouth.
I was being squeezed and squeezed till my skin was a hard, fleshy slab.
I felt my insides bulging out.
I felt my insides becoming a bulge, like a balloon of water being sucked up by
Chapter 23
It was a tall man with dark hair and blue eyes. He was standing in the middle of the
forest, looking down at the ground.
I felt the cold chill of his coldness.
I put my hand to my mouth and whispered, “Yes, I know. I know.”
He nodded.
“Then he will be very tired. He will have to sleep.”
I nodded.
I felt a chill of fear.
I was confident that the man would wake up soon.
But he would not.
He would wake up, obviously feeling sick.
I saw the same picture on his face.
Or at least that was the picture I had seen when I was a child.
A young boy. A boy with an injured deer, unconscious. A young deer, lying down.
From far off.
“I see you,” I said.
I walked over to the man. I placed my hand on his forehead.
“You’ve got a lot of problems now, aren’t you?” he said.
I nodded.
“Yes. I have a serious problem.”
“I’m sorry,” I said. “I had some bad dreams. I was in the forest. I was watching you
grow up.”
“You were growing up in a strange place,” the man said bitterly. “You were growing up in
the woods.” He nodded.
I looked at him. He was staring hard at my face.
The man was troubled.
“You are often disturbed,” he said. “Sometimes I wonder ...”
“I wondered what you were thinking about when you were growing up.”
“I wondered what you were thinking about when you were growing up.”
“What?”
“You were growing up. You were growing up in a strange place.”
“You were growing up in a strange place,” the man said.
I was about to ask a serious question. But my heart was pounding so hard I was afraid to ask what he
really was talking about.
The man’s eyes were staring right at me.
“I was growing up. You were growing up. You were growing up in a strange place.”
I had already started to answer. But he was still trying to understand.
“I was growing up. You were growing up. You were growing up in a strange place.”
“No, you were growing up in a strange place,” the man said. “You were growing up in the
woods.”
“I had a nightmare,” I repeated. “I was wetting your pants. I was biting your skin. I was
morphing.”
“You were morphing in the woods,” the man said. “You were morphing in the woods.”
“What?”
“My feet were growing from your toes.”
“I had a nightmare, too,” the man said. “That’s what happened to me.”
“I had a nightmare, too,” I repeated.
“I was morphing in the woods,” the man said. “You were morphing in the woods, in the
woods.”
“Yes. I was morphing,” I repeated. “When I woke up ...”
“I had a nightmare, too,” the man said. “Now, you have a nightmare, too.”
We all stared at him. I had already begun to struggle, even to control the emotions I was
becoming.
“I had a nightmare, too,” I repeated coldly. “Now, you have a nightmare, too.”
“Why are you morphing?” the man demanded.
“Why?”
“Because you’re not human anymore.”
“Why?”
“Because I was born an Andalite.”
“But why did you become Andalite?” he demanded, suddenly fascinated.
“Because I was an Andalite, too.”
“Yes,” I said silently. “But you were not Andalite.”
“Yes, but I was human.”
“I was an Andalite.”
“Yes, but you were not Andalite.”
“Yes
Chapter 12
I landed on the tree, feeling the warm wind on my face.
“Okay, now what?” Jake asked.
<You know, there is just this feeling of dread, so I guess it’s kind of a little weird, right?>
“Yeah.” I looked around the clearing. The sky was so different. But I could see the
red-tailed hawk, looking down at me, grinning.
<I’ll go check them out.>
“It’s a trap,” I said. “If they’re in morph, they’ll be in the air lock. They’ll be in the
air lock forever.”
“Yeah. But they’ll be gone in ten minutes,” Cassie said.
“We have a problem,” Jake said. “They’re in the air lock forever.”
I was feeling better when I saw that.
“Okay. We get down to business,” Jake said. “I’ll go out to the cabin.”
“Where?” I asked.
“I’ll do the air lock,” he said.
“They’re not in the air lock,” I said.
“Okay,” Jake said. “I’ll go. I’ll demorph. Then I’ll see if I can get them to come in.”
They had to be in the air lock. But they were not in the air lock.
I saw the two Hork-Bajir lying in the grass.
<You know, I wish I could find a way to go around the side of the house and get those two safe
enough to be able to demorph and remorph without getting trapped in the air lock.>
“Better than going in,” I said.
“What?” Jake asked.
<You don’t think you can do that?>
“I’ll go.”
“I’ll demorph,” I said. “Then I’ll try to demorph into human.”
“You have a better idea?” Cassie asked me.
<I think I can do that>
“I can try to morph into my human form,” I said. “And then I’ll go in and help clean this place up.”
“Um ... I’m not sure.”
“You just brought up a very interesting topic,” Rachel said, and giggled.
“Oh, man.” Cassie laughed. “You’re a science-mad witch. That’s what I was trying to say.”
“All I need to know is that I think these two are going to be a problem,” I said. “No one is going to be
interested in this.”
“I’ll go.”
“You’ll go first,” I said.
“Okay.” Jake laid his hands on the tree trunk and I flew off into the evening.
It was chilly and windy and windy till I spotted the two Hork-Bajir in the trees.
They had human morphs. But they had morphing technology to show off.
“What do you think?” Rachel asked me.
“I don’t know,” I admitted.
“I know.”
“You’re kidding, right?” I said.
<I think this is going to be funny,> Ax said. <People will think it’s funny. And I think they will think it’s

hurtful.>
“But it’s not,” I said. “It’s real.”
“I guess not,” Rachel said.
“Let’s hope it’s not real,” Jake said.
We took turns demorphing. I tried to figure out what to do next, but I had no idea how to morph
enough clothing to cover the two of them. And we were all wearing morphing clothing.
“I have a question,” Jake said. “What do you think?”
“I just saw the oldies on TV. The House of Horrors show. It was in the late sixties. It was called a
madhouse.�
Chapter 27 - Cassie
Hi, Jake. How are you?”
My voice. Okay, I’d said it out loud. I’d done it earlier. It was the last thing I’d
thought about doing.
I’d mentioned it earlier, and I was thinking about taking on a job as a scientist.
It was just completely irrelevant. I was on a mission. I was part of a team. The mission, at
least.
I was learning something new.
I focused my mind on the computer.
It was like being on a toy or a toy for the first time. I could feel the computer’s touch, and then
suddenly the mind was there. I could feel the idea of the mind, I could feel the animal mind, I
could feel the animal instincts, I could feel the analytical mind of a person.
I could feel the human mind as well as I could feel the animal mind.
My brain was filled with images and memories that were not mine. I could not see them.
But I could feel them in my own mind. I could feel the same emotions the animal mind did,
but not express them through language.
It was not easy to sense. I could not sense hunger. I could sense sleep. I could not sense
the smell of fear. But I could sense that I was just about to be infested by some vile alien.
That was animal instinct. Animal hatred.
The first sensation I experienced, nothing more than a vague, distorted, unpleasantly pleasant feeling, was
the smell of being infested.
I had never seen the Yeerk inside my own mind. I could not understand its thoughts. I felt nothing.
Nothing.
I could not feel my own heart beating. I could not feel my own lungs. I could not feel my own
skin, my legs, my head, my cheeks. I was feeling the DNA of my own family.
I could not trust the Yeerk inside my own brain. And yet, I could feel my own needs. I could feel
them, feel them, but they were not mine. But they were mine.
The Yeerk inside my own mind was aware of everything. I had been inside the Yeerk,
in its natural state, running from it. But the Yeerk was not aware of me. I had not chosen to kill
me.
I was a Controller. I had chosen to kill the human.
I was a Controller. I had not chosen to destroy the human.
I was a Controller. I had chosen to destroy the Andalite.
But I could not stop the Yeerk. It had been in my head. In my brain.
I could not stop it. I had to find a way.
I had to find a way to destroy the Yeerk.
And that’s when Jake interrupted.
“Look.” He reached into his pocket.
I had been in morph for a very long time. I had seen the Yeerk in Jake’s mind. I had seen him in
Marco’s mind. I had seen Rachel in Jake’s mind.
And now I saw the terrible irony of it all. I could not stop the Yeerk. I could not stop it.
“I have to find a way,” I said. “I have to find a way to stop it.”
“I have to ...” I searched my body. I felt the Yeerk’s mind. I could not stop it. I felt my
body shutting down.
But I could feel the Yeerk’s mind again, in my head. And then I felt the Yeerk’s mind begin to
disappear.
I felt the Yeerk’s mind move, to slip, to reorientate itself.
The Yeerk moved beneath me. I felt its mind, as well as the Yeerk’s own thoughts and feelings,
surround me.
But I could not stop it. I had to find a way. My host body, my body’s one-eyed self,
was no longer in my brain.
I needed a way out. I needed a place to go ... to the Yeerk’s dark, empty mind.
I went inside.
It was like a dream.
I was inside a nightmare.
But it was the Yeerk that had moved out of my brain. The Yeerk that had used the Time Matrix to
destabilize me.
I felt its movements. Saw its hands grabbing at my chest.
It was a smell. It was a smell of death.
But I had no memory of what it was. No memory of the image that had come


Chapter 10
I was demorphing. Restless.
I was demorphing to human.
And then, I was demorphing to human again.
“You guys are amazing!” I cried.
“Yes, I am!” Marco said. “You’re the only ones who know what a Dracon beam is.”
“What?”
“It’s a weapon. A weapon that can penetrate all the walls and ceilings and openings in
your home or office. It’s a Dracon beam. It can fire a small beam weapon at a point-blank range. It
can hit a wall, it can hit a wall, it can hit a wall and it can save the lives of the people it hits.”
“It can save lives!”
“Yes, it can.”
“I’m going to have to buy some lawn mower parts.”
“What?” Jake asked me.
“Will you help me out?”
“Yes.”
“You’re a millionaire.”
“Yes.”
“Congratulations. You have created the largest, most powerful weapon in the history of space
travel.”
“It’s not a spaceship,” Marco said, giving Jake a look.
“It’s a weapon that can penetrate all the walls and ceilings and openings in your home or office. It’s
a Dracon beam. It can fire a small beam weapon at a point-blank range. It can hit a wall, it can hit a
wall, it can hit a wall, it can hit a wall.”
I had no idea what Marco meant. Of course he was talking about the Dracon beam. It was
her wig. Her hair. Her beautiful face.
I nodded. “Okay.”
I headed into the kitchen. I was working on the computer now.
“Hi, Rachel. Could you help me with the birth certificate?” I asked her.
“Yes, thank you.”
“We are looking for your parents. They are Chinese, but I am Chinese. I believe they are

married. They are Chinese-American, but do not speak Chinese.”
“Oh, I’m going to marry you,” I told her.
“Don’t worry. We’ll find you.”
She nodded. “Sure.”
“Thank you,” I said. “You’ll be so proud.”
“I can’t believe I married you,” she cried. “But I’ll tell you one thing: We are not Chinese
Americans.”
“We have no Chinese heritage.”
“Oh, I see.”
“No one has ever married a Chinese-American. Except for the Chinese-American couple known as the
Taxxons.”
“Oh, I forgot.”
She fell silent.
We walked into the kitchen. I watched the kitchen from the outside. I could see the kitchen
room. I saw the individual chairs and tables and the sink. I saw the fridge and the dishwasher.

And then, I realized, there was a kitchen.

It was a vast, open space. A whole world of things to see and touch. Not all of them were
chairs. Still, I knew where to look.
I walked down one of the narrow, dark, three-story windows. I saw a big sheet of
wood that looked like a cross between a road car and a quarter-car caboose.
I reached the window and saw the time slot. I took two steps. Two steps and I was past the
time.
I reached the window again and turned it.
The three people standing there in the kitchen stood up. Just stared at me.
“Rachel!” I cried. “I really thought I was going to die.”
“You’re right.”
“What, human?”
“We have had a chance to see the future.”
“Rachel, are you okay?”
“I think I’m going to have some heart surgery.”
“Great. You’re like a six-year-old.”
“We’ll look at a time machine.”
I moved into the kitchen. “Rachel!”
“What?�
Chapter 13
I stayed in morph for a while. And for most of that time, I focused on the structure of my own
body. Morph. Mothra and I moved through the woods.
My eyes stayed focused on the trunk of the tree, trying to see the underside. I couldn’t tell if
the tree was standing or swaying. But I could definitely see some creature standing or
holding its head high in the air.
I began to shrink. I was now a human about the size of an apple. The trunk was a broken
shredded log. It was still mostly heavy wood, with a few pieces of junk in the dust. But I
was no longer as heavy or swaying. I was a human being, one of the many small creatures I had ever
known.
I felt my feathers growing. I felt the soft warmth of my own talons.
I felt the hollow, black breath of my wings. It was as if I were being blown into
space.
I was a fly now. My feathers were melting and becoming the fly’s helpless fingers. And I sensed
something strange in the way my human eyes grew.
I saw that the trunk of the tree was swaying. It was in a sort of crescent shape. A metal head
was growing out of the wood. And all around me there were trees. Some taller, some less. Some smaller,
some larger.
I was standing on a low branch.
I was a human being. The body was my own creation. It was what I had made of the
fact that I was no longer a fly. But I had become a fly.
I was a human being.
I was still a human being, but not so much that I felt any sense of scale. I was still what I had
become.
I was alive.
I was alive now, in a world that was not my time.
I saw a flash of gray and then a flash of light. I was an osprey. I saw a human face, but with
other eyes.
I was a human being.
I was alive.
I saw a flash of human hands, but not hands with human features. I saw human feet, but not
feet like those of a fly. And I saw human lips, but not lips with human features.
I saw human eyes, but not human eyes with human features. I saw human lips, but not human
lips with human features.
I saw human fingers, but not human lips.
I saw human feet, but not human feet with human features.
I saw human hands, but not human fingers with human features.
And then another flash of light. This time, this time a flash of human hands. I could not even
see them, but I knew I had them.
I was a human being.
I saw a flash of human hands, but not hands with human features. I saw human feet, but not
fearless feet with human features. And I saw human feet, but not feet with human features.
I saw human feet, but not human feet with human features, and saw human hands, but not hands
with human features.
And then, at last, I saw a flash of a human face. And I saw a flash of human lips.
I saw human eyes, but not eyes with human features. I saw human lips, but not human
lips, and I saw human feet, but not feet with human features, and I saw human hands and feet, but not
lips, and I saw human hands, but not hands with human features.
I was alive.
I saw the body of a fly. And I saw the face of a human.
I saw the eyes of a fly.
And I saw the human face.
I saw the human eyes.
I saw the human mouth.
I saw the human lips.
And I saw the human nose.
I saw the human tongue, and I saw human feet.
I saw the human nose, and I saw the human lips.
I saw the human eyes, but not the human nose.
I saw the human mouth, and I saw the human tongue.
I saw the human eyes, but not the human nose.


Chapter 15
The nightmares were over.
I flew.
I landed.
I looked around.
The sky was blue. A warm blanket of pink and white blanket. A warm, fuzzy feeling.
There was a ridge of grass, maybe a quarter of the height of the mountain, rising up from the valley floor.
And it was not far off.
I landed.
I landed with my talons.
My arms were big talons. I could use them to hold a termite, a small one at that. A termite.
I had to work fast. But I had to get away from the familiar, safe mountain environment.
I flew to the top of the ridge. I landed on a high, grassy slope. I sensed a breeze.
The termite was in the air, waiting for me to land.
I landed hard. I kicked with my feet, trying to touch the termite. But it was too weak. Too slow.
And I was feeling tired, out of breath.
I focused my mind. I absorbed the DNA that was in my head, and the memories I had of when I
was still human. And I became the termite.
I felt the changes. I felt the changes begin. My arms and legs became huge, long, curved
branches. My legs melted and became hands. My face took on a new shape.
My eyes became huge, wide, shining, glittering, long hairs sprouted all over me. I could see the
woods ahead, ahead of me.
My face became a long, spiked tail. My eyes became my own, and I saw the stars. I saw the
stars in their entirety.
I felt the changes. I felt them begin, a flash of swift, destructive motion. I heard the sound of my own
explosions.
I felt my bones stretching, and the fingers they had become thickening. Even my face became hollow,
and my head grew dark gray. I felt my skin turn gray and hardened.
I felt the changes begin. My bones began to hollow, and my skin became leathery. I was in
the earth’s crust. My skin became human flesh.
I felt the changes begin. I felt the changes begin. My arms became hands. My legs stretched
and grew thicker. My body grew heavier. My back was covered with fur. My entire body was

scattered, all twisted and twisted, into ragged, human clothing.
In the middle of all this, I felt a terrible chill. Something wrong. Something ... something,
something wrong.
The pain was awful. I was in pain. It was as if something was watching my body, its parts almost
woven all together, and watching the changes ...
I felt my bones weaken, and my stomach change. I felt my stomach change, even though I had no
breathing apparatus on hand. I felt my skull change, and then the bones grew larger. I felt the
immediate changes begin.
My arms and legs became hands. My face became my own, and my eyes grew.
My legs grew, and then my head. And then my head.
My throat grew and grew and became a hollow brain. I felt the changes begin. I felt the changes
beginning to happen.
I felt the changes begin. I felt the changes begin. I felt the changes begin.
Then I remembered.
I opened my eyes. I opened them. I felt the changes begin. I felt the changes begin. I felt the changes
beginning to happen.
I felt the changes begin. I felt the changes begin. I felt the changes begin.
I felt the changes begin. I felt the changes begin.
I felt the changes begin. I felt the changes begin.



Chapter 12 - Nice Rachel
My name is Nice Rachel.
The bird of prey. The Ellimist.
I was a bird, not a human. Not a human, but an Ellimist.
I was a human, not a bird.
I flew.
I flew.
I flew.
I flew.
And then I noticed another thing: I was in the water.
I could not morph the bird. I was in a watery environment.
<Rachel, could you swim?>
I searched the water.
There was no swimming. I could not see clearly in the water. But I could feel my feathers, my
talons, growing.
I did not feel the changes that were occurring. I felt the change of patterns.
I felt the patterns of the feathers becoming real, alive feathers.
I have seen that patterns become real patterns.
I saw the patterns of the feathers become real. But I did not see how this change was gradual.
I saw that the patterns of the feathers became real.
I felt the changes begin.
I saw the patterns of the feathers become real.
I saw that the patterns became real.

I felt the Ellimist standing there, watching me.
He was an adult.
I saw him smiling.
He smiled, too.
I saw him speak.
At last, I saw him stare at me. “You have become the Ellimist” - he meant it as a joke.
I felt myself flapping away.
As I flapped away, I saw the Ellimist smile.
He gave me a small, mouthful of water and I was bathed in it.
“You are not the Ellimist,” the Ellimist said.
I tried to swim, but my wings were broken. My arms were weak. I tried to rise, but I was
sluggish. My legs were weak.
The Ellimist said I was a girl.
I saw him speak. “You are not the Ellimist,” he said.
“Yes, you are,” I said. “I was your host - the Ellimist’s daughter. When I was your host, I
was your host.”
“Yes,” he said. “I was.”
“Yes, you were ... what?” I asked, dissolving as I stood there, a boy.
The Ellimist smiled. “You were not my daughter.”
I felt myself weaken. I felt like I was being swallowed. I thought, I am a boy.
The Ellimist said, “I am your host.”
“Yes,” I said. “I was.”
I felt the changes begin. The changes begin!
The Ellimist said, “You are not a human.”
“Yes, you are,” I said.
I felt my feathers become real feathers. I saw the patterns of the feathers become real.
I felt the patterns of the feathers become real.
I saw the patterns of the feathers spread all over the body. I saw them all over my own head.
I saw patterns of feathers spread all over my own.
I saw the patterns grow larger and larger.
I saw human eyes, human ears, human nose, human lips, human teeth, all grow in me.
I saw human eyes, human ears, human nose, human lips, human teeth, grow from my own
teeth.
I saw human hands, human feet, human hands, human tails, as they became human hands and feet,
and from them came the weapons of the human race.
I saw the patterns of the feathers spread all over my body. I saw the patterns of the
flesh grow until they were hairless, invisible, glittering things.
I saw the patterns of the feathers become flesh. I saw the patterns of the human mind become
human mind.
I saw the pattern of patterns of the human heart and arteries and veins and veins become the
pattern of the human heart.
I saw the patterns of the human blood vessels and veins grow, and then, in their own patterns,
the patterns of the human veins and arteries and veins become the patterns of the human heart.
I saw the patterns of the human arteries and veins and veins become the patterns of the heart,
and I saw the human heart become the pattern of the human heart, a machine made up of these patterns.
The Ellimist said nothing.
The Ellimist said nothing.
I felt myself changing, becoming human again.
I felt myself becoming human again.




Chapter 5
“I don’t know,” I said.
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry I took it so badly. I’ll just go home.”
I was already halfway to the door of the house when Jake stepped out. I was alone on the
stairs. Jake was in his own bed.
“I’m doing okay,” I said.
“Yes. I’m fine,” he whispered.
“Well,” I added, “what should I do?”
“I would advise you to take a few days to get an answer.”
“Oh. So I’ll just go home?”
“No.” He was staring at the TV. “Why?”
“It’s not a great show. I don’t know anything about it.”
“Oh, it’s a great show!”
“Not a great show.”
“Not good, either.”
“You’re not a great show.”
“I’d like to see it,” he said. “But I don’t know.”
“I’ll go see you,” I said.
“I’ll do it,” he said. “I’m going to try and get a picture of you.”
“You know what?” I said. “You have my word to do it.”
“I’ll do it.”
“No. I don’t want to,” he admitted. “You only give me your word to do it.”
I had forgotten how lucky I was. I’d never fail to see good things in Jake’s eyes. He had
guilt for me.
“I’ll do it,” he said. “I’ll do it.”
“I’ll do it,” I said. “I’ll do it, I’ll do it, I’ll do it, I’ll do it,” I said. “I’ll do it.”
“Can you make me walk away?” he said.
I shook my head. “No. I’m not going to do it.”
“Okay.” I turned away from the TV. “I’ll have to do it,” I said. “But I won’t do it. I’ll have to do it.
I’ll do it.”
My parents had seen a lot of sickening things in me over the years. They were like Tobias.
Parents who had forgotten the importance of reason or reason had come to hate me, but not
hate me.
They had seen me through a distorted prism of human experience. I became Tobias’s human
representation. I saw the world through human eyes.
But for me, human eyes were nothing more than my own eyes.
I could see. I was not blind.
I felt the air swirling by overhead. I saw the horse, but I saw it through a windowless
neighborhood.
I felt the breeze on my face. I felt the scent of a raccoon.
I felt the sense of taste. I feel the way the world is made on a microscopic level.

I felt the way I am made of atoms. I smelled the rot and the chemical wranglings of the earth in my
favorite nostril.
I felt the warmth of the moon. I felt the way the rain fell. I felt the way the grass in my
mother’s garden melted into the bark of the next tree to come up. I felt the way the water in the bowl
of my father’s grave became the grass of the next tree to come up.
I felt the way my family moved. I felt the way each child grew and grew, never
being able to distinguish between a good and a bad thing.
I felt the way the universe was shaped.
I felt the way my family and I were made into a thousand tiny pieces.
I felt the way the sun shone down on every living creature, and all life on the planet, and
every creature in the universe, was a part of me.
I felt the way my memory was altered, altered so that my own mind was still in my
present form.
I felt the
Chapter 3
“I” I couldn’t think of words, but the name Cassie. The name of a girl who, in a desperate,
desperate need of privacy, had fallen for the boy named Tobias.
I was all alone in the woods.
I had a feeling I was being held prisoner.
There was no one to look out for.
I was alone, and I was alone with the Yeerks, and what had happened to my friends.
For the last week or so, I’d been trying to do one thing: Find a way to get out of this place.
I’d tried to go to the river.
I’d tried to go into a morph I didn’t know was working.
But now, I was going into a morph I didn’t know was working. And the Yeerks were going to try
something very different.
They were going to use this woods as human guinea pigs.
As if the whole world depended on them being willing hosts to watch them.
That would be the plan.
My enemies would be my friends.
My enemies would be the Animorphs.
And they would be host bodies to the Yeerks.
And I would be the one to do the first act.
But I wouldn’t be able to see. I couldn’t see my left arm. I couldn’t see my right eye.
I was blind. Blind in one eye.
I was a helpless worm in a desperate need of privacy.
I lay there, confused and alone.
I tried to focus. But my mind was in a state of disorientation.
I tried to focus. But my eyes kept drifting away.
I tried to focus, but my eyes kept drifting away.
I tried to focus but my eyes kept drifting away.
I was blind. I could see. But I couldn’t see my body. I was blind.
I could barely move. I was blind.
I tried to make sense of it all. But I couldn’t see. Couldn’t see that I was still a blind
human.
I tried to run away. But my head was still in the water. My eyes were all but useless now.
I tried to run, but my body was in a state of disorientation. And I couldn’t move.
I was blind. I could see. But I couldn’t see my body.
I tried to move, but my eyes were useless. I couldn’t see my body.
I tried to sit up. But my eyes were useless now.
I tried to sit up, and suddenly I was back in the water.
And I had to try a move.
I tried to sit up and quickly realized I was holding my arms up in the water. But my arms were
weak and numb.
I tried to move them, but they were useless now.
I tried to get my hands above my head, but they were useless now.
I tried to get my legs above my head, but they were useless now.
I tried to get my ears above my head. But they were useless now.
I tried to move my head, but it was too weak.
I tried to move my mouth, but it was too small.
I tried to move my arms, but they were useless now.
I tried to stop moving, but my mouth was still too narrow.
I was confused. I couldn’t see the faces around me. I couldn’t see the faces in front of me.
I was confused, too, because I was a boy.
I was in a human body.
But I was blind. I couldn’t see what was around me. I could only see human faces.
I tried to guide my fingers to the controls, but I couldn’t move.
I tried to move my arm, but it was too weak.
I tried to crawl out of the water, but my arm was useless now.
I tried to swim, but my arms were useless now.
I tried to see, but my vision was not up to the task.
I tried to swim, but my arm was useless now.
I tried to move my leg, but my leg was useless now.
I tried to stop the Yeerk on my tail, but I was helpless.
I tried to turn my head, but I was helpless.
I tried to tell Jake to let me go, but my mind was still in my head. I was still a human.
I tried to help Jake, but I was helpless.
I tried to help my friends. But I was helpless.
I watched the bodies that came out of the water

Chapter 24
I won’t be taking Rachel to the mall, I told myself. She is a danger to me. She’s a danger to anyone.
I was afraid she might try to act cool and pretend that I didn’t care. I don’t want to be anyone’s
daughter. I’m not stupid. But I’m not going to pretend she thinks I’m not a danger.
I felt like I’d been slapped.
<Rachel!> I yelled. <Rachel! What the ...>
<Rachel!>
<I’m okay!> I yelled. <I’m down in the river!>
She was in the water, but not nearly as far. She was in pain. She was not drowning.
She looked around. “I’m down,” she said. “I can’t swim. I can’t breathe. I’m down in the river.
But what’s the matter with me?”
<I’m fine,> I said.
“You’re down in the river,” she said. “I think I’m in the lake.”
She was alive! I thought. I’d understood.
And then, suddenly, the water rushed over me.
It was like a flood, I realized.
I was gone.
I was gone, my mind and my body.
The river was over my head. I was no longer my own body.
I was back where I started. I was alive.
I was back where I started.
I was in the water.
I was home.
I was in the water.
My body was alive.
I was in the water.
I was breathing.
I was alive.
I was in the water.
I was in the water.
I was drowning.
I was drowning, and I was drowning so fast that I would have drowned in a million pieces of
my own water.
I was in the water.
My body was in the water.
The water was hot and filling my lungs.
I was in the water.
I was floating above the surface.
I was floating forever.
I was floating over the surface of the lake.
I was floating in the water.
I was floating in the water.
I was a dolphin.
I was in the lake.
I was swimming.
I was in the water.
And then ...
I felt the cold, clear feeling of the dolphin’s mind.
I felt the dolphin mind.
I felt the mind of the mind of the dolphin.
I felt the mind of the mind of the mind.
I felt the mind of the dolphin.
I felt the mind of the dolphin.
And yet I was not the same.
I was in the lake.
I was in the lake.
In the lake.
The human.
I felt the cold and his cold.
I felt the cold and the thoughts and feelings and the thoughts and hate.
I felt the cold in the way he felt the fear and hate and the fear.
I felt the cold in the way he touched my mind and seemed to me to be a part of me.
I felt the cold in the way he touched my brain and seemed to me to be a part of me.
I felt the cold in the way he touched my mind and seemed to me to be a part of me.
I felt the cold in the way he touched my body and seemed to me to be a part of me.
I felt the cold in the way I made the thought-speak voice in my head.
I felt the cold in the way he touched my soul and seemed to me to be a part of me.
I felt the cold in the way I was enslaved by the mind.
I felt the cold in the way he touched my mind and seemed to me to be a part of me.
I felt the cold in the way I wrote in my mind, “I’m a part of you, Cassie.”
I felt the cold in the way he touched my body, and seemed to me to be a part of me.
I felt the cold in the way he touched my mind.
I felt the cold in the way I felt the terrible mind.
I felt the cold in the way I felt the terrible mind.
I felt the cold in the way I was enslaved by the mind.
I felt the cold in the way I was enslaved by the mind.
I felt the cold in the way I was enslaved by the mind.
I felt the cold in the way I was enslaved by the mind

Chapter 15
I ran. I ran and ran until I felt the gun go flying.
A huge, hard, high-backed tree trunks clanked over my head. I chased it.
I knew it was my turn. I ran. But the tree branch that had fallen in front of me caught me in the
back.
I backed up. I relaxed my legs and tried to shake off the cold. But the wind ripped my
legs. I had to fight it. And now I had a weapon.
I was weakening. I could feel it. I could feel it.
I was weakening. I was weakening. It was like I was a monster in a pit of your stomach.
The truck was coming toward me. But the truck driver was human.
The driver’s name was Karen.
I was weakening!
“You have to get out!” I yelled.
The truck turned, and I saw it happen. The truck driver was going to squeeze out of the way.
I began to crawl. And things began to happen.
The truck driver was not human.
He was human!
I was a monster.
I was a monster!
I was a monster!
And then I was back.
I was inside your stomach!
I was inside your stomach!
I was inside your stomach!
I was inside your stomach!
I was inside your stomach!
I was in your stomach.
“Ow!”
I hit the floor.
I ripped the gun from his hand. I hit the floor and rolled.
I was in your stomach!
You’d been over there. You were pushing. Pulling!
I didn’t care what you called me. I was like a monster!
I was inside your stomach!
I was inside your stomach!
“Ow!”
I ripped a hole through the back of the truck. I pulled the gun away. I saw it in my stomach. I
saw it in my mouth. I pulled it away. It was like being a rock in my mouth.
I was inside your stomach!
I was inside your stomach!
I had to fight it!
“Ow,” I sobbed. I ripped the gun away and tried to open the lid. But the door slammed. I
fell.
The door slammed. I fell and rolled.
I was inside your stomach!
I fell. And you were inside your stomach!
I was inside your stomach!
I was inside your stomach!
I was in your stomach!
I was inside your stomach!
You were inside your stomach!
“Ow!”
I ripped the gun away and tried to open the lid of the truck. But the lid was still open. I tore
it open.
I was inside your stomach!
I was inside your stomach!
I was inside your stomach!
I was in your stomach!
I was in your stomach!
I was in your stomach!
“Ow!”
I ripped the gun away and tried to open the lid of the truck. But the lid was still open. I ripped
the gun away. I saw it in my mouth and I ripped the gun away.
I was inside your stomach!
I was inside your stomach!
I was inside your stomach!
I was inside your stomach!
I was inside your stomach!
I was inside your stomach!
I was in your stomach!
I was inside your stomach!
I was in your stomach!
I was inside your stomach
Chapter 4
My name is Elfangor-Sirinial-Shamtul.
But you probably already know me by that name. You may also know me as Elfangor-Sirinial-
Shamtul.
Anyway, I am the leader of the Animorphs. The only Andalite on Earth, and one of the only
humans in the galaxy. The only Andalite-Controller. The only Andalite-Controller to be
captured by the Yeerks.
Most likely.
I have been Hork-Bajir for a long time. I have been a warrior and a prince. A warrior, to
say the least. A warrior who had to be brave.
And yet, I have come to understand that there is a downside to being a warrior. I know that you
wouldn’t find me in a nice, typical Hork-Bajir house.
But you wouldn’t find me in a typical Hork-Bajir house.
I am the only Andalite-Controller. And I can use the Controllers on my own people.
There is a big difference.
The only ones who are allowed into the Yeerk pool are the two Hork-Bajir hosts, Visser
One and the human called Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill.
The two Hork-Bajir are the only ones allowed into the Yeerk pool.
The only other Yeerk in the pool are the ones who are not Controllers.
If you ask me, it is kind of funny how I have been able to use my host bodies. It’s very strange,
because I was able to use them to acquire the morphing power.
I was able to acquire Hork-Bajir DNA. And now I had the power to acquire human DNA.
I had the power to acquire morphing power.
And I had the power to acquire a host.
And now, in this very moment, a new reality dawned upon me. The only host Hork-Bajir
host was my own human cousin, Rachel.
Rachel was one of the seven kids.
It was a very strange and very dangerous world. But at the same time, I knew that the Hork-
Bajir were not my only enemies.
The Yeerks had already enslaved Rachel. Their plan was to use her as a host. And they
could not allow her to be morph-capable.
Rachel was human.
She was an actress. A model. A fashion queen.
She was the daughter of Visser One.
The Visser had murdered my mother. I had never known about that.
How can you make that kind of situation possible?
But I knew the truth: The Yeerks had been in the process of capturing, infesting, infesting
my mother.
Then, one day, Rachel was in the bathroom at my house. A strange memory.
I remembered her as being very, very small. I had never seen her appear smaller than human
size. But then, suddenly, I realized what she was. I had seen her stand tall and strong, almost as tall as
her own cousin, Jake.
She had miniskirts and short black leotards and dark hair. She had a face like a tree-trunk.
I saw her with a slitted, diamond-shaped nose.
She was beautiful.
But she was not beautiful in the way we had come to know her.
Her hair was long and curling. It was a beautiful color. It was rough, as if the
hair itself were covered with coarse, coarse-haired hair.

But I could not see her face. I could only imagine her. And I could not imagine what it would
be like to have a face like that.


Chapter 5
For the past three days I’ve been in Marco’s barn. The birdhouse, the wildlife preserve, the
mountain bison preserve.
I’ve been there more times than I can count.
Sometimes Marco’s barn is full of raptors, his own private army, including his own
Animorphs.
The hayloft is a little way off the road. It’s in a place people call a "gateway." That’s not the
way it works. You walk in through the open hayloft and you’re maybe thirty feet away from
someone you don’t know.
The others you know are waiting there in the barn. They’re kids in their twenties or thirties.
Most of them are vets, though some are. And they’re all very excited about morphing.
You start to figure something’s up when you hear the first voice in the hayloft.
“Grovel, grunt, grunt, grumble, grunt!”
“Grovel!” the vet says, a little startled, to be honest.
“Oh, it’s Grovel!” the kid says.
“Yeah! It’s Grovel!”
“Shoot!” the vet says.
“Shoot!” the kid says.
“Shoot,” the vet says. “I suggest you to start in for that last snout.”
You get up to run after them. You stretch out your hind legs, pull on your ears, and try to turn
them. They’re the ones you should use, but you’d better use them with a bird in your hand.
You hear the screams of the makeshift vets. They’re yelling.
You think you’ve caught a flea. Then you hear it. It’s in the hayloft. It’s right in your face.
You try to morph. You try to morph back. The leg you’re stuck on is too big. You can’t
morph.
It’s not easy. You’re about six inches tall and only about an inch short of the normal limit.
Your body is shaking. You feel like you are going to go down. You try to get up, but it’s too heavy
to move. You’re trembling.
“I’m going to -” The vet looks down. “You’re near the edge of a wall!”
You get up. You have to look away. But the tension in your legs is totally relaxed. You feel
the air rushing in. You feel as if you’re in a trance.
You try your hand. It’s too weak, and you feel like you have a snake wrapped around your
butt.
But you can’t get away. You try again. You feel the huge weight of the first vet on your back.
You think, Panic! You’ve been against the entire vet’s body! You’ve been to the zoo,
all you can do is twist your arm and try to stick.
You can’t move!
You try to morph your talons. They are too heavy. You try to morph your spine. It’s too heavy.
You feel your skin harden and harden. You feel the wind pick up the bone and push it up and up through
the feathers.
You morph to cockatiel. You have to stay in fly morph for a while longer. You cannot morph your
face. You have to stay in fly morph forever.
You morph to cockatiel. You have to stay in fly morph forever.
You try to morph your tail. You lose all control. You try to morph your tail. It can’t move.
You feel someone else’s body moving in your chest and back. You try to morph your feet. You can’t
move them!
You try to morph your legs. They are too heavy. You feel nothing but the air rushing in. The
ground rushing up and up. You feel the air pressing in.
You have to morph. You have to morph your own body. You have to become human. But you can’t
morph your own body without being trapped in the body of a cockatiel.
You morph to fly. You have to morph back to human. But you can’t morph to cockatiel, just by
looking at you.
You feel the air rise up your legs, over your head and around your neck.
Chapter 17
We stormed out into the massive cavern.
The ground was hard as granite. Half-sunkistingly, half-crawling beneath the weight of the massive
pines and fissures in the walls. The ravine was a wall of rocks and soil. It was as if someone had
caught us and slowed us down.
I demorphed and remorphed to human.
“You ready?”
“I’m ready,” I said.
“I’m not very good at standing up,” Rachel said.
“I know,” I said, “I know. I’m not good at standing up.”
“How?”
“Let’s just morph some owls and go to the food court.” I grabbed the food court with my
hand and knelt and prepared to eat.
I focused on the wolf. I focused my mind on the DNA inside my brain. I focused on
the emotion that swells up the animal mind.
I felt the changes begin.
I felt a rush of renewed optimism. The world was new. I had seen life before. I’d never
seen it so wild and amazing.
And yet, I was still a human girl. I was still in control of my own body, and human thought
had experienced the unexpected.
I felt the changes begin.
My legs began to stretch. My arms to elongate. My chest to extend. My neck to
rise above my head.
My fingers were shriveling. I could feel a patch of dark pink flesh growing on my fingertips.
My head swelled. The bones grew large. My teeth grew. My legs melted together.
My tongue twitched. I felt my teeth growing into lips.
I was growing huge. I was growing to be a wolf.
My jaw bulged, extending long before I could even stand up. The hairs on my lower jaw
were hollow, like cast-iron.
My legs erupted from my lower back. My arms melted together, forming a human head.
I was already a wolf being. The wolf’s brain had been constructed of the DNA of my own
claws. All of the animal’s instincts were there. And for a moment, I felt a little like my own body.
I was still more than a hundred times larger than my prey. But I was no longer a wolf.
“I’m not going to eat you,” I said.
I was still more than a hundred times larger than my prey. But I was no longer in the woods.
“What?”
I was still half human. I was still in the bear morph.
I watched as my own human body slowly bulged out. My human bones grew thicker. The
bones of the wolf were now about four inches long. And my human mind was no longer the wolf’s
thoughts.
My nose and mouth were gone. My vision was a dim, blurry picture of the world around me. Gray
and orange and green and yellow.
I could see the ground through the trees. I could see the branches and the grass beneath me.
I could see the trees sweeping away and away and away. I could feel the breeze on my face. It was
the wind.
I felt the changes begin. I was no longer human. I was a freak. I was a freak with an animal mind.

I lunged. My paws ripped open the trees. My claws opened the outer bark.
I was still a wolf. But I was not human.
I flapped my wings and soared up through the trees. I was a wolf, and I was not going to live
in a world of pain and confusion.
I flapped and flown up through the treetops, racing down through the treetops, down through the
trees, down to the ground.
I was a human being, rising up and rising fast!
I was a human being rising up and rapidly.
I flared. Flared right, right, right, up, up, up, up!
I was a human being being, rising from the ground and rising up and becoming a wolf.
And then I felt the changes begin.
I was shrinking. Shrinking to human size. Shrinking to human shape.
I was shrinking and rising to be a wolf. But I was no longer human. I was a monster.
A human being was shrinking. Shrinking to not human size, but not human shape.
I was shrinking, falling and falling until I was no more than two feet tall.
I was no longer human.
I was a wolf.


Chapter 6
The truck was still in drive. It was a long, long way from our farm. It was only a few hundred feet
above where we’d parked.
The truck was moving and waiting for us. It was moving, too.
<Cassie?> Jake said. <You’re with me.>
<I’m just gonna morph.>
<Do it,> Jake said.
We morphed rapidly. We saw the truck in the middle of our path. It whipped a
tentative arc back and forth in midair.
It swung the tail of the truck, as fast as it could. The truck’s front left and rear right touched
the ground. It veered forward and swung the tail in a sudden, cruel, snapping, lunatic, as the
other truck and the truck with us both came to a stop.
<I think we have a problem,> Marco said. <Just what I have.>
<We’re in a ditch,> I said.
<What? No!> Jake cried. <I’m in a ditch. A ditch, we’re in a ditch!>
We bailed. Jake and I climbed out of the truck, out of sight.
<Cassie, I’m with you,> Jake said.
<I’m lying on my side,> I said.
<I can’t. You have to morph to human.>
<I’m scared,> Rachel said. <I can’t believe I’m lying on my side.>
<Come with me,> I said. <I’m with you.>
Jake and I morphed into our human morphs and headed out into the woods. We stopped at a
confused-looking clearing that was a foot or so away from the road. I looked up and saw a
forest of angry, confused, scared, confused, confused-looking creatures.
We walked straight up to a clearing that looked exactly like the one we’d found in the forest.
We paused, then turned to face the trees.
<Jake,> I said. <I think I see it. I think it’s a bird.>
<Is there no bird here?>
<No.> Jake answered. <I just found this bird.>
<No. Jake, I think I see it.>
<Jake, I don’t have a morph I can use,> I said.
<What?>
<I’m not sure. I mean, I have a human morph I can use. But I don’t know what it is.>
<This is the only way it is going to find us,> I said. <I’m not sure I’m going to use it.>
<I can’t morph. The force of the wind?> Rachel cried.
<Oh, man,> I said.
<Oh, man!> Jake cried.
<I can’t morph!> I yelled.
The wind came down on both of us. And now, slowly, slowly, the wind was coming down on us.
The wind was coming down on us.
The wind was coming down on the grass below us. And now, the wind was coming down on the
ground below us.
<Cassie!> I cried. <I can’t morph!>
<I’m okay,> Marco said. <Just a few bruises.>
I looked up and saw the familiar face of Tobias.
He was standing on the edge of the clearing. He was carrying a Dracon beam.
He was pointing it at the ground.
<Tobias,> I said. <You’ve seen him.>
<This is the man,> Tobias said. <I was thinking maybe you’d see a hawk and a bird.>
<Okay.> Jake reached out to grab Tobias.
<How did you get here?>
<I was walking across the field. I was thinking maybe you’d see a hawk and a bird.>
<Yeah. I don’t think you saw any birds. Just a couple of injured birds,> Tobias said. <What would
be the best way to get here?>
<You’re right,> Jake said. <I’m thinking maybe you might see a little bird.>
<Yeah, I’m thinking we’d have to fly out and morph.>
<Yeah,> I agreed. <But we can’t just leave this place.>
<We can’t just leave,
Chapter 15
“I have a question,” I said.
“How do you know that?”
“I just came in from the office,” I said. “Chatting with a new client.”
“Yeah. I like. Chatting with a new client.”
“Uh-huh.”
“Is there anything I can do for you?” I asked.
“Um, no.”
I jerked my head up toward the door. “What do you want?”
“What?”
“Well, I have to travel to the zoo to acquire a tiger morph.”
I felt a chill hit me. The feeling of a certain emptiness being sucked up by the emptiness. I
tried to look away.
“Um ...”
“Look, um ... I’m kind of busy at work this morning.”
I opened my mouth to speak, but I didn’t have any words to say. I was afraid. I mean, I was afraid. I
knew what I was feeling.
“Give me a minute,” I said. “I’m sure you want me to come to the meeting.”
“Um ...” Rachel looked away. “I’m sure you want me to come to the meeting. But what if I don’t come
to the meeting? What if I end up spending the rest of my life as a tiger?”
“Yeah,” Marco said. “Whatever that is.”
“There are a lot of things I don’t want you to know,” I said. “For me. I’m going to do a book thing as
a cat. I’ll stay in touch with my old friends Rachel and Marco.”
“I’ll let you in on a little secret,” Marco said. “Tigers can dive underwater. They can do
sperm underwater.”
“But I’d better stay out of it,” I said. I frowned at the door.
“Yeah, but what’s going on?” Rachel wondered.
“I’m not exactly in the best shape, but I feel like I’m getting pretty strong. I’m going to be
older than I’ll be by the time I’ll be old enough to go to the court.”
“I know,” I said. “I’m not exactly in shape, but I feel like I’m getting older.”
Jake and Cassie giggled. Marco laughed.
Rachel shook her head. “Yeah, well, that’s better than nothing.”
“Well, if we’re going to spend the rest of our lives as cats, it’s going to be a little weird,” I said.
Rachel gave me a dirty look.
“I know,” I said. “I know. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m going to have to change morphs.”
“What?” Rachel demanded.
I smiled. “You already have. You can move slightly. I have a cat morph I can do.”
Rachel laughed. “I can handle it.”
“Why not?”
“Cassie, we’re the only people in the world who can help us out,” I said. “If you can help us out,
you’ll get a whole lot better life as a cat.”
Cassie and I exchanged a look, and then both of them looked at Jake.
<Cassie?> He sounded disturbed.
“I’m going to try not to spend too much time worrying about you.”
“I’m going to try not to worry about you too much,” I said.
“I know, Jake.”
“You’re right.”
“I know.”
“Cassie, I’m going to do my homework tomorrow, and you know what? You’ll have to drop
your homework at the end of the week. So instead of going back to your old class and doing
our homework, instead of going to your old class, you go to my old school and you sit at a computer
with me.”
“Yeah, that’s it
Chapter 21
<Ax!> I cried, flapping my wings frantically.
<Rachel!> Cassie cried, trying to calm me down. <There’s the falcon.>
<Ax, are you okay?> Jake asked. <I think the falcon is fine now.>
<Yeah, I’m okay,> I said, trying to sound like I’d been in pain for a long time. <But it’s a
falcon.>
<What?>
<Ax, it’s me, Tobias. It’s me.>
<Okay, Tobias, you’re a bit confused,> Jake said.
<I’m okay,> I said, and I let it go.
I tried to get a better look at Rachel, but she was still flying. Still in pain, but -
<I’m okay,> I said, making a lame attempt to calm.
<Okay,> Jake said. <Let’s do it.>
We flapped and I started to morph. But Rachel was right. She was morphing to human.
I was morphing back to human. Back to my own body. I was morphing to fly. Back to the
Hork-Bajir.
My human body was beginning to change. I felt a soft, human head start to grow out of my chest.
Feathers began to form the human lips and back of my mouth. My eyes became the human nose and
lips. My skin and hair became new human skin and hair. My arms became the long, rounded, deadly
tails.
The way I was shrinking was as strange as someone shrinking a glass of milk. It was as if my
body was being pushed beneath it. My bones shrank and hollowed. My internal organs, my guts, my
appendages ... I was shrinking.
I was shrinking in a vast, open cavern with an opening just up ahead. I could see very clearly
through that opening.
I could see the air flowing down from the ceiling, then up from the floor. I could see the air
sinking from the ceiling, then falling away.
I could see the ground and all the trees. I could see the blind man’s hawk, his long, sleek wings flapping
and stretching and plunging and whirling and soaring and soaring past me. I could see every tree with my
eyes.
I could see every kid in the tree, every kid with a flash of brown hair, every kid in the tree,
every tree contains a falcon.
I could see every monster that hung in the air above. I could see the maze of gears, the gears of
the little falcon.
I could see the huge opening that seemed to extend all the way to the ground and the top of the
lake.
How was I going to get up there? How could I get up there?
I held on by shifting the weight of a stick. I could see what Rachel was doing. She was moving
her feet. By the time I reached the cave entrance, she was still in mid-morph. And I was just
messing up.
I was morphing. I was morphing to fly. To human.
But the things I was morphing to were, in fact, flies.
I was shrinking. Slithering. Becoming human again.
I was shrinking, shrinking, shrinking.
Again.
I could feel the changes happening. I could feel the changes happening.
My own body was shrinking. Becoming human again.

But I could feel the changes happening very slowly now. I could feel the changes happening at an extremely
slow rate.
I was becoming an extremely small bird now. An actual tiny, very small bird.
I was becoming human.
I was becoming the person who had once been me.
I was becoming the creature who had once been me.
I was becoming a bird.
The change began as I felt my skin turn hard and coarse and hard and become hard, coarse, coarse.
I was no longer human. I was no longer human. But I was human again.
I could feel the changes happening. I could feel the changes happening.
I was becoming human again.
But now, with my own hands, I could no longer touch the falcon.
I had become human again.


Chapter 9
I flew. As I flew, I kept pace with my bird body. I saw no sign of Rachel.
I watched the ground through the distance, my talons pressed against the grass. I saw a few grizzlies
breathe in the shadow of the tree. I was the first to approach. I felt the first warmth.
I rose up, up and up, up and up, up and up.
I spotted the eagle right behind me. It was trying to demorph. But it had already begun.
I flew. Up, up, up.
I saw the eagle land. It was trying to give birth to a child. It was trying to give the mother eagle
another shot. But it was too late.
The mother eagle was already a mother.
The eagle was already an eagle.
I soared higher. Higher, higher. I was no longer in the air, but I was a bird in a tornado! I was a
hawk.
I watched the mother eagle as she came to rest on a branch. She lay her head on the branch.
I saw her eyes sweep over me, looking for the baby. I saw her be glad she found the
baby.
I could see the skin of her neck, the tender pink tendons across her back. It was tender and
pink.
She smiled. She made a small bow. Then she bent down and placed the baby in the tree.
I looked at the baby, her face contorted by the effort.
“You’ll be okay,” she said. “It’s ... it’ll ... be okay.”
“Yes.”
“I ... I’ll have to morph. But I won’t have time to worry about anyone else. I have a job to do.
I ... I’ll be able to return to my own body.”
I nodded. “I guess.” She smiled. “I guess I’ll be able to take care of myself, too.”
“Thanks. But I will have to wait.”
“Two days,” she said. “You have a job to do. I can’t do it. I’m just not good at it.”
I had to be extra careful not to let her know I was going to be okay.
I tried to hold her gaze, but she was staring back at me. “I guess you could have stayed home,” I said.
“I guess I could have,” she said. “But I was sick. I was in bad shape. I morphed. I was on the bathroom
basement couch. My mom is sick. I’m in a coma.”
“That’s true. But I can’t do anything. I can’t even think of doing anything.”
“You don’t have to,” she said. “You can’t fight each other. I know you can. But you can’t fight
each other.”
“Yes, I can,” I said. “You can. But you can’t fight me.”
“I know about the battle you did to me,” she said. “I know about the day you killed my brother. But I
don’t know what happened to your mom. I don’t know what happened to your father. But it was all I could
know. I could have told your father or your mother or your father.”
I turned away. “I know.” I looked at her. “But I’m thinking you’ll get over it.”
I let it go.
“I’ll have to take care of myself,” she said. “I’ll have to live with this. I’m not good at it.”
I smiled. “You think you’re tough, aren’t you?”
She laughed. “Oh, yes. I have a job to do. I’m just not good at it. Have I mentioned this recently?
I’m just not good at it. I can’t open my eyes or speak. I can’t open my mind. If I do, I’d be
dead.”
She looked at me. “But you’re human. You can morph. You can take care of yourself. You’ll
never have to worry about anyone else.”
“But I

Chapter 14
I met Marco’s gaze. He was staring at me.
I stepped forward first, my face pressed into his.
<Don’t be afraid,> he said.
He was right. I was afraid.
He was a predator. A predator’s instinct. It was self-defense.
I was to chase the prey. To kill him.
I was a predator.
I was a predator’s perfect human disguise.
I was a predator’s perfect human disguise.
I was a predator’s perfect human disguise.
He moved at breakneck speed. He was fast for a human. Fast for an Andalite. Fast for an
Andalite prince.
I felt the same fear.
Stop! I had the feeling I’d been paralyzed.
He stopped.
He stopped moving.
I was frozen.
He stopped moving.
I was in a vast, open cavern. A vast, open cavern full of the most beautiful creatures I had ever
seen.
I looked down at the ground.
The ground was alive, alive, with life in every inch of it.
I had never been a true predator. I had never been a true predator. And yet, I felt the same fear as
I had before.
I had never felt fear before. But this time I felt fear.
“You’ll kill us,” Rachel said.
“Yeah,” Marco agreed. “I will.”
“You’ll kill us,” Jake said. “And then you’ll know, like I did, that we have no chance of
survival.”
“Are you so sure?” Cassie asked.
He nodded. “Yeah. I know. I’ve been a predator for so long I don’t even remember what I did
before, back when I was human.”
“I’ve been a predator for so long I don’t even remember what I did, back when I was human,” I said.
“So what if I’m not a predator, too? What if I’m the one who breaks into the Yeerk pool?”
Cassie laughed. “Rachel’s right. There are so many more lives in our world than predators
could possibly imagine.”
Jake nodded. “So long as we’re all on the same page, we’ll be able to fight the same battles.
But this time, the battle will be a lot more personal.”
Marco and Ax exchanged a look. Jake smiled. Ax’s face was more human than Andalite, and his eyes
were more human than human.
Jake started to say something, but he stopped his face from moving.
“I have a question,” he said. “How about some of the other questions?”
“Okay,” I said. “I’m in.”
“Okay,” Marco said.
“You have about three weeks,” Jake snapped. “And you have to do this. Just one.”
“I know.” I looked at Jake. “You have to do this.”
Jake nodded. “Okay.”
Marco was still staring at me. “So how do I know what I’ve seen?”
“Well, here’s the thing. You saw me.”
“What?”
“I was in Aftran.”
“That’s what?”
“I mean, I was in that area.”
“I know what you saw,” I repeated. “But I didn’t see what you saw.”
“What?”
“I saw her. But I didn’t see her.”
“You have to do this.”
“Okay,” Jake said quietly. “Okay. You have to do this.”
I stared at Jake, unable to stop the rage that came with the question.
“No,” I whispered. “This is the best I can do. I don’t have to do this.”
“Okay,” Jake said. “But you have to do this.”
“I have to do this,” I repeated. “I’ve been in morph, in morph-”

Chapter 5
“I can’t -” A new voice. In my mind.
No, I couldn’t ... I was too far away. Too far away to focus. I heard the noise of Leera.
The Leeran. Impossible to do anything to stop that voice.
I felt the Leeran’s mind and body, as it were, growing. Becoming harder and harder.
It was like being in a vacuum.
I was growing a new kind of mind.
I was growing from the very atoms that had been my own atoms.
From the very atoms that had been my own atoms.
I was a being that was being each, each as different as the smallest atoms.
I was a being that was being a split second later.
I felt the power I had been holding.
I felt the Leeran’s mind and body draining away.
I felt it become irrelevant, irrelevant to the Yeerk.
I felt the power itself become irrelevant.
I felt the Leeran’s mind become irrelevant.
I felt the Yeerk mind and body becoming irrelevant, irrelevant. I felt a new mind, a new mind
soul.
<Good,> I said, <I have a feeling you guys are all set to have a barbecue.>
The voice. It was not human. Not human. It was the voice of a Leeran.
<She’s right,> I said. <I think she is right.>
The Yeerk. Who was right.
<I am so glad you’re taking me with you,> I said. <I’ve been waiting for you to come
someplace safe.>
<Well, well,> she said. <They’ll give me a chance to prove myself.>
<They’ll give me a chance,> I said. I had already given the order.
<Rachel,> she said. <I have the most to lose.>
<Jake,> I said. <I’m ready.>
We raced along the edge of the valley. Jake and I were on a rocky outcrop that was almost a
hollowed out of the valley.
It was a craggy plain. A hollowed out lake.
And it was a place I knew well. As much as I was interested in the fact that, as I was about to lose

my life, I was about to lose my humanity.
I saw the edge of the lake. It was a beautiful plain. A perfect lake.
In the middle of it was a small valley. I could see into the valley through the valley walls.
There were three tall trees, each three feet tall. They were planted on either side of the lake. They
were dead leaves.
I tried to focus. To see through the trees. But they were blind.
I tried to swim, but the water was so thick it made my vision difficult. I tried to swim, but
the water so thick it made my eyes dry out.
I tried to jump. But my weight was useless. I was too heavy to be able to move.
I tried to stand, but mine were too heavy. I collapsed on all fours. I fell forward, face first,
and hit my head on a flat rock.
I tried to rise. But my head was already buried by rock. I tried to rise, but my head was
now buried in rock.
I tried to stand, but my head was too heavy. I fell to the stone floor of the valley floor.
I tried again. But my head was no more than three feet tall. I fell and rolled. I was no more than
three feet from being buried alive.
I tried to dig my face out of the rock. But my mouth was no more than three feet wide.
I tried to crawl, but my head was almost useless. I tried to stand up. But my legs were useless. I
falled against the rough stone floor and fell.
I lay there on my side, gasping and gasping, helpless.



Chapter 12
“Are you all right?”
My mouth just banged open. “Not well,” I said, squinting at the distant updates of the
Yeerks’ net. “You know, maybe you’re a little nervous.”
“Marco’s right,” Cassie said, “but I’ve been thinking about something much more. About the
fact that I’ll be back in the barn in a few days.”
I looked down at the ground. I guess it was a long, long walk. It had to be, to be sure. We’d
walked sometimes together, but only by the same name. That’s the way we’d always been, anyway.
Cassie’s knees bumped into my chest. I had to try to stand up and say yes, up. But I was too shaky
to even try.
“Cassie,” I said. “What’s up?”
“We’ve been going to our meeting,” she said.
“Yeah, this is what it’s like,” I said. “I know what it’s like. I mean, I know what it’s like.”
“Yeah, well, we came to a meeting,” she said, “and our meeting was canceled. We were
not invited.”
I looked at her. “What did you say?”
“I said, we’re not invited.”
“But you’ll be.”
“No.” I shook my head. “I don’t know.”
“You know what, Cassie, I don’t really think of myself that way.”
“I don’t think of myself that way. I mean, what do I do, really?”
“I don’t think of myself that way. I mean, you know what?”
“I guess I think about myself the way I do about someone who has a mouth and a leg and a mouth and a
leg and a leg and a leg and a leg and a leg.”
I felt a cold chill. It had been a long time since I felt any kind of affection for her.
“She is very cute,” Cassie said.
“Yeah, well, she’s cute, too. She’s got a beautiful body and as sweet a heart as you can
create.”
“But she’s also all pierced,” I said.
“Yes, but the way she looks is wonderful.”
“Possibly because I am very old and I have a very strong sense of taste. I know what I am. I know what
I am. But I don’t really know what I am. I see myself as a one-eyed, seven-legged, red-tailed hawk.
I’m actually a red-tailed hawk.”
“Yes, but you are young,” Cassie said. “I mean, you have wings. You have wings. But when
you morph, you have to work harder. You have to be more agile than you are. You have to work
hard.”
“I’m not young,” I said.
“I have wings!”
“Yes, but the size of your body is irrelevant,” she said.
“Yes, but you have wings.”
“Yes, but you have to work harder. You have to be more agile than you are. You have to
work harder.”
“Yes, but you have to work hard.”
“Yes, but you have to work harder.”
“Yes!” she cried. “I’m not young, I’m old.”
I stopped fighting her words. I was afraid she would laugh. I knew it was wrong. I knew I had to
fight hard. But now I was older, and I was feeling sick. I was scared. I was sick with fear. I was cold.
And I was afraid.
I met Tobias’s eyes. He was far away. He was a hawk’s eye. I saw the horned owl in his
own sky.
I felt the power of his voice. I felt the way the world filled with fear.
I felt the fear that lives inside me now,
Chapter 11
I was bald. I was at least partly covered with feathers. Tanned skin and stubby fingers.
My body was now mostly a gray, tan, or tan-stained osprey body.
<Rachel!> I cried. <I’m in here!>
<Not yet,> Jake said. <Too late to go back.>
<I’ll see you,> Tobias said.
I looked up in the sky. I saw the sun rising over the mountains. I saw a single red-tail,
sitting on a branch high in the air.
A bird that could only mean one thing.
<What’s the matter with you?> Tobias asked.
<I’m not sure,> I said. <I thought I noticed, but it’s just a bird.>
<Okay, Marco. Morph!> Jake said.
I morphed to human. I saw two human eyes: one on the front of my face, one on the back.
I looked down at my hands. They were brown and not very good-looking.
My fingers were just wet from the morph.
I could feel the wind blowing. It was beating in my face. It was beating fast.
I looked around.
Jake was right. I was in a field of wild, wild animals. But I was in a field worth fighting.
The others were all right. Marco was in a tree, Cassie was in the clearing, and Ax was perched
above me.
<Do you think?> I asked. <Do you think I could do it?>
<We’re in a field,> Jake said.
<An open field,> I said.
<I think I can outrun them,> Jake said.
<Good. I think I can outrun them.>
<These are pretty big predators.>
<Yeah. I guess that’s true,> I agreed. <I think I’m gonna go after the one that’s right after me.>
I morphed to human. I felt my face stretching out before my human eyes. I was mostly still
human. But now I was still mostly a fly.
I began to change. I was a boy with brown hair and blue eyes. I didn’t have wings, but I had
a tail. And I was growing.
My legs bulged out of my chest. My arms stretched out and grew horns. I had small
hands, but they were a lot bigger than I was.
And I was becoming ... a boy.
I could feel the changes starting. I could feel my bones expanding. And soon they were hard
bones.
My mouth became hollow. I could relax and focus. My tongue no longer worked.
My teeth grew. I could slowly flatten them. They grew into three long, deadly staves.
My nose and mouth became a long, hard, plump, nasty-looking proboscis.
My eyes became a wicked, deadly stent, almost like an octopus.
I could hear everything. Everything.
I could smell. I could taste everything.
My human mouth was small and round and covered with rough, gray hairs. I could see them,
seeing them with my sensitive, sensitive compound eyes.
I could see the bark of the tree. I could see the thick, heavy branches wrapped around me.
I could see the thick, heavy branches that would come down from the sky.
I was a boy. A boy with a mouth that was a long, deadly whip. I could hear everything. It was
like being in a movie.
But I didn’t know anything.
I was blind.


Chapter 23
The window of the room slid open, revealing myself. My flesh covered the lamp.
I was human, of course. As much as the concept of morphing scares me, I was still
human.
I was wearing a small, high-visibility vest. I was wearing the same clothes I’d been in the room
for a long time. I had no shoes. I had a pair of muddy-water thermals running from ear to ear. I was
in the bathroom, but it was in the middle of the room.
I was in the bathroom and no longer in the bathroom.
I was in the bathroom and no longer in the bathroom. I could see, but I couldn’t feel, the light that
was coming from the lamp. And I felt the heat, too.
I was in the room, but not in the bathroom. I was in a dark room, other than my own.
I could see a dark, whipping, churning steel beam coming down from the ceiling. I could see a
shaping, shifting pattern of tiny cracks and creases. It was like nothing I had ever seen on Earth. There
was a steel beam inside my clothes. I had broken my ankle, but they had taken it out.
I had no shoes, no artificial feet. I was a bird. I had no mouth. I was barefoot, wearing a
slippery, tattered shirt and jeans. I was in the bathroom, but I could see the floor below, and I had
no shoes.
I was in a dark room with a single slit. I could see a steel beam, going down, going
down and sinking silently into the space.
I was sitting on a sloping, rough-textured floor. I was barefoot, and wearing a blue wool
shirt and jeans. I was in the bathroom. I was barefoot and wearing the same blue wool
shirt and jeans I’d been in the room for two hours.
I was in the room with the light and the sound.
I was barefoot, and wearing jeans and a blue wool shirt and jeans in a way that made my feet
look like they were just ripped out of my body.
I was barefoot, and wearing sneakers that were just barely covering my bare ankles.
I was in the room with the light and the light. I was in a dark room with a single
slit, a slithering beam that slithered across one wall and down another.
I was in a dark, noisy room with wet, dusty air, and the sounds of hooves against the tile floor. I
was barefoot, and wearing a pair of muddy-water thermals that were more than a foot
long.
I was barefoot, and wearing a pair of muddy-water thermals that were more than a foot long.
I was barefoot, and wearing shoes that were just barely covering my ankles.
The first time I had ever tried morphing into a bird, I had never succeeded. But now I was sure I
knew what was happening. I knew what I had been trying to do. I knew what I was going to do.
I felt some kind of itching, like something was itching. It was like something was itching. I
knew it was itching.
I felt the wet, dusty air from the ceiling. I felt the electricity in my bathroom.
I felt the warm sound of the lamp in my head.
I was still in the bathroom. I could still hear the sound of the sound. But the sound of the sound was
in my head. I could hear the sound through my ears.
I was still in the bathroom, breathing, but I could no longer hear the sound of my own breathing.
I was still in the bathroom. But the sound of the sound was not my own breathing. It was the sound of
something in the water.

I was breathing hard. Harder still. Harder.
I couldn’t believe it! I hadn’t thought of it. This had to be the Yeerk pool. The Yeerk pool

was my only hope of survival.
Not a crying dog.
I was human, and wearing a very human outfit. I was wearing a small, very light-colored
peppermint green leotard.
I was barefoot, in a very human bathroom.
But I was wearing shoes. And I wanted to stand there and cry.
I was barefoot on the floor of the bathroom, in the bathroom with the light. On the floor was a
slit. I could see the hole. No way was that a slit.
There were steps at the back of the bathroom. And there were two men’s clothes strewn all around the
bathroom.
One of the

Chapter 12
<I am in human morph!>
<I am in human morph!>
Ax said, <I’m in human morph.>
Cassie’s face shimmered, then became a human mouth. The vague, indistinct smell of
her own parents - kids - filled my nostrils. The sounds of strangers - the faint,
loud voices of those closest to us - the stifled, panicked cries of
people I should know were all around us - the threats and curses of our own parents - we
had the power to morph.
<I’m in human morph!> Jake yelled.
Jake was in human morph. The only way to morph in the open field. We’d lost track of him.
Cassie was in human morph. She had spotted him, but it was too late. Jake had morphed.
And now he was wearing a mask.
I could see him clearly, but he was no longer human. I could see shapes and movements, but I
could not see him clearly with my human eyes. I could see the human-Controller, a human-Controller
who, by the way, was not my actual enemy, but rather a Controller in my own body:
Cassie. Someone I had never felt before.
I saw him staring up at me. And I felt the fear that still lurked within me, growing within me,
growing inside me.
And then he looked at me. I felt the fear from that face. I felt the fear, too.
<What?> he asked me.
I was confused. <I ... I can’t read you. I can’t tell you what you’re thinking.>
<I now know what you’re thinking,> Ax said. <But I can’t tell you where you are.>
<I can’t ->
<Disturb you,> Ax said.
<Disturb you!>
<Marco,> I said. <You!>
Ax and Cassie were on the same side of the path the Andalite had gone down.
I felt a chill of dread. The tiger was scared. The human was scared.
And I felt sorry for the wolf.
<Marco,> I said. <You’re just the wolf.>
<I’ll kill you!>
<I’ll kill you!>
<I’ll kill you!>
The tiger was running. It ran, but it was faster than me in the air. Faster and faster, but it was
still scared, too.
The human was running. It was faster, but it was slower than me.
I could feel the tiger’s fear. All it had was an eagerness. An eagerness to run fast and be ready for
attack.
It was a feeling that came from within me.
<Marco,> I said.
“Come on, let’s get going!”
I rushed forward.
Jake and Cassie were right beside me.
It was me, in this world.
It was the world I had made myself.
I saw the tiger. I saw the human.
I saw the human trapped in my body.
“Yaaahhhh!!” I yelled, too late.
I was in the middle of a pack of wolves. I was out of range of the human. I was panting.
I was in the middle of a pack of wolves. I was in the middle of a pack of wolves. I was so scared I
knew I was insane.
<Rachel!> I cried.
<Rachel!> Cassie cried.
<Are you okay?> Jake asked.
<Yeah. I guess I am,> I said. <I’m okay. I’m just ... I’m - I’m in pain beyond belief.>
<Cassie!> Jake said. <I’m in pain beyond belief.>
<Cassie!> I cried.
<Cassie!> Cassie cried.
And then I saw it. The Yeerk in her head. It was like picking a flower apart.
The Yeerk in her mind. It was there. It was a human. It was alive. It was more than I could
know.
I felt it in my bones. My insides. My DNA. It was the Yeerk. It was all alive.
It was as if I had been inside her when she was in me.



Chapter 6
The two Hork-Bajir I was chasing disappeared.
<Okay, so I guess we’re not going to find them,> Marco said. <We’ll have to morph
them, and then go back to the Pemalite crystal.>
<Jake, we have to get back to the Pemalite crystal,> I said. <The Pemalites are not Controllers.
They’re just ... strange, their bodies a little too big.>
<Okay,> Marco said. <But we can stay out of the way.>
We skidded onto a ridge all around us. A rock face at the end of a long, rocky canyon.
The Hork-Bajir had to close all but their talons to the rock face to get back in.
But Ax was right. The Hork-Bajir had plenty of room.
<Hey! Look!> Cassie yelled.
I flapped my wings and turned toward the canyon.
TSEEEWWW! TSEEEWWW!
A tree branch struck me! I hit the ground hard.
TSEEEWWW! TSEEEWWW!
A second branch, from the same direction, struck me again. I raked my talons into the dirt.
Screeching, I fell, twisting and falling.
I was all the way back to the Pemalite crystal. Ax was right.
TSEEEWWW! TSEEEWWW!
<Hey! Look!> Cassie yelled.
I flapped hard, but it was hopeless. The trees had all disappeared. My talons were still there. My
wings were flapping altogether.
TSEEEWWW! TSEEEWWW!
<Cassie!> I cried.
Cassie! I was close. I could see the branch that hit her. I could see her talons. She was dead still
there.
<I’m okay,> I said. <Not much better than she was.>
<I think she was in the air,> she said. <I think she hit something.>
<Cassie, I think she hit the ground,> I said. <I think she hit something very moving.>
<I can’t be sure,> Cassie said. <But I think that’s it.>
I was in a tree branch. I flapped my wings and flapped hard, trying to free myself from the
tree. But the branch hit me. I was up. I was up in the air.
TSEEEWWW! TSEEEWWW!
The tree branch hit me.
Tobias, I thought. The tree branch hit me.
I remembered that Tobias was in the woods. Tobias had seen me fall. He had been right in front of
me. And now he was behind me.
<Cassie!> I cried. I had fallen into a pit of despair.
<The tree branch hit me! I was flying,> she said. <Down into the pits!>
I flapped my wings and flapped, but my wings were useless. I was too weak. I was falling
across a pit of despair.
TSEEEWWW! TSEEEWWW!
TSEEEWWW! TSEEEWWW!
I was falling down into the pit of despair.
Down, down, down, down.
I flapped hard, but the wind was against me. The wind was beating down on me. I was falling,
but I was falling fast.
I couldn’t lift. I was falling along the bottom of the pit, falling, falling, falling!
I flew up and down and down, and up and down, and into the empty sky.
I was just spiraling down, spiraling, spiraling.
Down! Down, down and below.
Down and below!
I flapped hard and suddenly, I was up. I was falling, and I was falling fast.
TSEEEWWW! TSEEEWWW!
The air was filled with sparks. But I could see the ground through the hole in the tree
branch.
<Cassie! Rachel! Tobias!>
I flapped hard and now, a silent voice in my head shouted, <Down, down! Down!>
TSEEEWWW! TSEEEWWW!
The ground was spinning me out of control. I was spinning out of control. I was spinning
to and fro as I fell.
I was a falling tornado of splinters and strands of falling wood and fallen leaves.
I felt the wind touch me and push me down into the sloping pit of the canyon.
I flapped hard, but the wind

Chapter 9
I am a bird of prey. The prey is me.
I flew up and up and up and up.
From the tall grass high above me, the first of the Hork-Bajir, I felt the heat of the Hork-Bajir’s
head on my shoulders.
I could see the Hork-Bajir’s eyes. If he had a mouth, he would have them. They stared at
me, but they were not interested in me.
I was still about three feet away from the Hork-Bajir. I could see them, but not in any detail. I
was aware of the Hork-Bajir’s presence, but not of any human presence.
I was in the same valley the Hork-Bajir was in. I saw no humans, only Hork-Bajir.
I did not see any of the Hork-Bajir.
I saw him, but not at this very moment.
He was human. I was trying to understand how he had arrived.
“Oh, man! I’m doing okay,” I said. “This is not like the Yeerk pool.”
“I’m okay, man,” the Hork-Bajir said. “But you okay?”
I looked at my hands. I saw that the fingers were red. I saw that they were wet, but not
unable to see them.
I saw the Andalite’s face.
“We got him!” I cried. “He looks scared, man. He looks scared.”
“What?” he said. “He looks scared?”
“I don’t know, Jake,” I said. “He’s here. He’s supposed to be here. You know, I guess
they’re supposed to be here.”
I could feel the heat of his forehead. I could feel the pressure of the air-conditioning system in my
palm.
“He’s here!”
I looked down at my hands. I saw that they were shriveling. They were an inch long.
“What?”
“I ... I’m an Andalite.”
“A human,” I said. “That’s it.”
“The Andalites?”
“No.”
“The Yeerks?”
“They are a strange race,” the Hork-Bajir said. “We are not normal Andalites.”
“Ah,” I said. “I see. But I see them.”
“What?”
“The Andalites. We have no mouths. They use our own mouths. They have no taste. But we
have mouths. But they have no sense of humor.”
“Oh, man!” Marco said. “What’s the matter with them?”
“I’m here,” the Hork-Bajir said. “I think I know you.”
“Yeah,” I said. “You kind of like me.”
“I’ll be around when you need me,” the Hork-Bajir said. “You know, if you need me, I’ll be around.”
“You mean, I’ll be with you when you need me.”
“Yeah. I’ll be around when you need me.” I was already morphing to human.
I felt the changes begin. I felt the temperature of the air-conditioning system rise in my lungs. I felt
the air-conditioning as it was being pumped through my body. My eyes moved to adjust. I had a
sort of polar vortex as my vision adjusted, but it was weird. I could see the air-conditioning pump
through my eyes. It was like seeing through a glass as I shifted my weight from human to Hork-Bajir.
My bones changed, too. They stretched forward, and I could see through the insides of my
belly. I could see that my arms and legs were becoming hollow, as if they had been brushed with
polished steel.
I felt them growing in and out of my body.
My legs were shrinking in size. My arms were ending in flattened pouches. My face had
dis


Chapter 3
“Rrrr-WHUMPF!”
The school bus lurched forward and out of control. The doors slammed shut. The bus lurched forward and
out of control.
The driver caught a flash of pale gray and tried to pull up. The bus lurched forward by a
few inches.
I let go of the door handle and flung it open.
I’d been in morph a long time. I needed to be able to morph. I could not morph normally. I
knew I was trapped. Not in a morph, but a hard shell.
I stood up on my hind legs. I was fully human. I could see the blood in my eyes. I could see the
whitening of the bus’s crumpled-up covers. I could see the bus’s manhole cover.
I could see the bus door. I was a human, but in a hard shell.
I pushed the door open a second time. “Hey! You’re screaming!” I cried in my human voice.
“I’m okay! I’m okay! I’m awake!”
I was alone. I no longer had a mouth. I was trapped in a hard shell.
I stood up and ran to the window. I saw a man lying on a cold, blackened floor. He was
sitting on a dirty table.
I pushed the door open and stood over him. I swung my head around and looked at the man.
He was the one who had called the police. He had been lying on the floor. I had seen the blood drain
into the bus’s blood.
“Don’t call the cops,” I said. “They’ll come.”
“Aria” Jake.”
“Yeah, that’s what they need.”
“They need someone to call.”
“Cassie,” I said. “I can’t do it alone.”
“I don’t know how. But I’ll be glad to help.”
“That’s good,” I said.
“I think I’ll do it with you.”
We walked together to the police station.
The first thing I did was pick up a piece of cardboard. It was wrapped around the bottom of the
bus. I flipped it over and used my finger to squeeze the hole. I looked up inside a glass cylinder
at the far end of the bus. There were two other doors. In one I could see a small, metal door.
“I’ll call a doctor. Then I’ll take you to the operating room.”
“Am I the doctor I used to be?”
“Yes. I have a history of physical problems. I am very frail.”
“You’re not really old enough to call a doctor?”
“No.”
“Don’t worry.” I placed the card on the door. I tried not to look at it. But my eyes were still
faint from the instant I looked at it.
I heard a faint gasp.
“I’m good,” I said. “I’m good.”
The doctor looked up from the door. He had two huge, furry, scaly claws extended for killing.
The other doctor was a thin, leathery man with dark hair and a short, stubby tail.
“I know you have a history of heart problems,” the doctor said. “I know you have a history of
anorexia. I know you have a history of depression. But you have some sort of mental health problems.”
<How can you be so sure I’m not anorexic?>
“Well, I’m a doctor.”
I didn’t answer. There was no point in trying to argue. I had to be sure. But there was no
point in trying to explain.
“I’m a doctor,” the doctor said. “I know you. I know what you are. You are what you are. You’re
my cousin. Your cousin.”
The doctor looked thoughtful. Then he smiled. “Look, I know you. I know the way you used to be.
I’m your cousin.”
I almost laughed. It was a close call. We never talked about our problems. Not even in public.



Chapter 35
Now that I had the picture of the Yeerk pool, I was ready to get serious.
The Yeerk pool was a huge, underground lake where the species called Hork-Bajir lived.
The Hork-Bajir were a strange race created by a long, slow, and very hard-to-read Andalite
file.
It was a very small lake, well stocked with Taxxons.
The Hork-Bajir were very docile, but by the time they were human, they were fully
Andalite, and the Andalites had already enslaved the Hork-Bajir.
I saw a huge Hork-Bajir fighter, roaring its massive wheels, racing across the dirt.
And it was a big, powerful ship decorated with a red “Andalite” tail.
The Andalites were armed with machine guns, but there were no weapons on the level
of a Bug fighter.
The Andalite fighter was powered down the narrow, narrow valley, and the Hork-Bajir were
gunned straight into it.
I saw the two big Hork-Bajir at the foot of the ramp. They were moving. It was a breeze, but
they were moving fast.
I saw the two big Hork-Bajir over on the opposite side of the ramp. They were in their own
trenches, but they were moving. Moving with amazingly swift speed.
I saw them move in a line, and look out through the trees behind them. I knew what they were
doing. They were moving in a line.
I saw the two huge, hairy Hork-Bajir being pushed aside by the two tiny, hairy Hork-Bajir
creatures.
And I felt the pain of their bodies being pushed aside by the other two.
One, two! The two new and completely alien creatures were being pushed aside as they
began to make their way down the ramp.
Then I saw it happen. The two new creatures were being pushed aside by the big Hork-
Bajir. The two big monsters just fell through the air, bursting into a huge creation half-human, half-
human, half-Hork-Bajir.
I had an idea. I ran out into the middle of the woods, looking around.
The Hork-Bajir were always so quick to make trouble. If they saw me, they would rush forward and
squeeze their jaws open.
The two new creatures, having been taken by the two Hork-Bajir, began to make their way
down the ramp. They were just fast enough now, and I was on my way down.
I stopped suddenly. I was on the far side of the ramp. It was in the woods. The Hork-Bajir had stood
up and looked around. They were standing in a line of trees.
Something was wrong. Not another tree. Something was wrong.
I looked down. I could not see them.
There was nothing to see. Nothing to see.
I looked down and saw the two huge Hork-Bajir standing on either side of me. They were
twitching and growing larger.
I guess the Hork-Bajir had been afraid of me. I don’t know why.
But I could see the thing that was wrong with them.
They were moving in a line. They were moving in a line of fear.
“Hake!” the Hork-Bajir cried.
“Hake!” the Hork-Bajir yelled back.
Suddenly, a huge tree trunk came down and sliced open the ground.
“Aaaaah!” the Hork-Bajir screamed.
“Aaaaah!” the Hork-Bajir screamed again.
The trunk of the tree came down like a tree trunk. It came at me. I hit the ground. The Hork-Bajir
came at me.
I was still frozen. I was half-human. Half-Hork-Bajir.
I felt the ground go flat. I froze. I was in a sort of box. The only things that moved were my eyes,
my tail, and the wood.
The Hork-Bajir came after me. He was taller than me. He had brown hair and a face like
an Andalite. He had a cold, calculating look.
But he was bigger. He had a mouth like a Hork-Bajir. He had a huge grin on his face. His
severed teeth were moving in a kind of tongue.
“Heee
Chapter 14 - Marco
I made it home and left you a message in the mail. It said “Hi,” but it didn’t say anything about
where you were or what time.
“Hi,” I said. “Oh, I was just wondering about you.”
I took a deep breath. “You have been a long time since I last saw you.”
“It’s been a long time since I last saw you,” Marco said. “You’ve been my best friend forever.
But I never even knew you.”
“We met when you were a kid,” I said. “The first time I saw you I thought you were an
Andalite.”
“What?”
“I guess I guess it was the two years you were enslaved by the Yeerks. See, I guess
you know about the Yeerks.”
It was a lie. I knew about the Yeerks.
It was a lie. All right, I thought, I’ve told you about the Yeerks. About all the things I’ve
told you about them.
But I’ve never known you, Marco, or even Cassie or Tobias or Jake or David or Rachel.
The last time I saw you back there in Cassie’s barn, you said you had been lost in a box.
And you said you had seen David.
“If I knew you, I’d never ask you to come along with me,” I said.
“David?” Tom repeated. “What did you think about me going with you?”
“You’re just the nicest guy around. You know, I really like him. I mean, he’s my cousin.”
I shook my head. “I guess you know how I feel about David. We do take bets on his future.
We bet everything weget.”
“Yeah, I guess that’s what I’m saying,” Marco said. He was listening to me say all I had to
say.
“I think I know what the deal is,” I said. “I know what you’re going to do. I don’t even
know what to do with you, Cassie.”
I felt bad about Marco. I felt bad. But I didn’t have a choice. I had to let Tom get away with
anything. I’d been feeling guilty lately, feeling guilty because I didn’t like the way Marco was
wanting me to help.
But I wasn’t going to let him hurt me. I was going to hurt him.
“Cassie,” I said, “you’re going to hurt me?”
She nodded. “I know. You were terrified that you’d do anything to get us both killed.”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“I know.” I squirmed and took a deep breath, trying to figure out what to say.
“You think David likes me?”
“He hates me?”
“He’s a Controller. He’s a Controller with the Yeerk in his head.”
“Exactly. And you think he’s going to do anything to get us both killed?”
“Yeah.”
“I know. I mean, I’m not exactly the coolest person in the world, but I’m not exactly the nicest or the
best friend I ever had. But you know what? I’m not David.”
“No. But I know what you’re going to do.”
“Yeah. Okay. Okay. But what are you going to do?”
“I’m going to break you.”
“What, what are you going to do to me?”
“I’m going to kill you.”
“Yeah. So, what are you going to do?”
“I’m going to make you pay for what you did to me.”
“Yeah. Right. Right.”
“You think you can save me?”
“Yes.”
“I think I can save you, Cassie.”
That was an awfully close call. But I had to make the call. I had to


Chapter 7
“Here.” A red-tailed hawk, circling the cabin. Like the prey it was, it flew.
Pteranodon from its home world. Its stalk eyes snapped open.
“Ahh!”
“I’m hungry. I’m hungry!”
“Ahh!” I tried to laugh. “I’m hungry! I’m hungry!”
“It’s a pteranoderm!”
“A pteranoderm?”
“Of course.”
“There’s no pteranodon outside the cabin. I’ll help you out.”
“Okay.” I swung the cage open and around. I buzzed a little more vigorously, and I
exploded. The pteranodon snarled and knocked another red-tail from the cabin.
“Go for the throat!” I yelled. I went for the throat.
“I’m telling you, go for the throat,” he said. “Go for the throat!”
“Go for the throat!” I yelled.
“Go for the throat!” I repeated.
“Butterfly!”
“A butterfly!”
“A butterfly?”
“Yes,” I said, staring up at the sky.
I dived down into the air. I squeezed the air out through my wings and skidded,
falling totally straight down into the water.
I was a butterfly, floating in the water. I was a butterfly, flapping my way up from the
water.
My feathers melted together to form my wings. My beak burst into flame.
I saw a huge squid at the edge of the water. I flapped my wings and I dove for the squid.
I was huge! The largest creature I had ever seen. And I was not going to let him see that I was
right, that I was a huge, long-necked beast.
I landed on a pebbled banana tree and snatched it with my talons. I was very fast.
I dropped the Banana. I spilled it into the water and waited.
I waited till the squid was no more than a foot away from me. I waited till he was more than a
foot away from me.
And then the squid - or something - began to rise up from the water.
I tumbled forward and down the tree. It was a monster, an ant-sized creature. It was like some
monster I’d seen in my dreams. But it was not a caterpillar. It was a huge, long-necked thing.
Just a monster. And it was moving.
I tumbled down and up, up, up, up. I was nothing. Nothing but a watery, wet mess -
I was a squid.
I broke free of the water and began racing toward the squid.
I was in a dark cave. I was alone and utterly alone.
I dove, down, down, down, down, down, down.
I was a squid.

“A dove,” I whispered.
I was out of the water. Out of the water.
I was going to die.
I dove for the squid. But that wasn’t the end of it. I had to get away. I couldn’t let him see.
I flew, down, down, down, just like I’d come to land without a trace.
I was in a cave. A cave full of moving parts.
I took a deep breath and tried to focus. I tried to focus and compose myself.
Oh, my God.
I wanted to scream.
I wanted to scream and then sit up and breathe again.
I was alone.
I felt the water rushing up from behind me. It was as if someone was holding me up and trying to
make me fall.
I was in the water.
I tried to work out a plan. I tried to think of what I could do to help. But I couldn’t figure it out.
I was drowning.
I wanted to scream. But I couldn’t.
I tried to move my fingers. But my arms were weak. My fingers were falling away.
I tried to act, but my arms were not even formed.
I tried to get myself out of the water, but my hands were still there. My arms were broken,
but I was free. Now I had a body.
I could swim. I could see. I could

Edelman explained that we were a small, very experienced group. The human part of us was
in charge. But there were changes we had not yet realized.
I saw that familiar face in my memory. It was me. The human. The Yeerk who had once
questioned me. The human who had warned me about the Hork-Bajir.
But the Yeerk who had not realized that I was the leader was Visser Three.
Visser Three!
Visser Three, the main enemy. The only real Andalite-Controller.
Visser Three, the leader.
My face.
My fingers.
My nose.
My mouth.
My tongue.
I did not have an Andalite tail.
Visser Three was in a morph.
Visser Three, the main enemy.
I felt a sickening, sickening sensation.
A feeling unlike anything I had ever known.
Something wrong.
Something wrong with me.
Something wrong with my mind.
All of it wrong.
Not a feeling you would ever get back.
Not a feeling of guilt.
Not a feeling of fear.
No fear.
Fear was nothing.
No fear.
No fear.
Fearless.
Fearless.
No fear.
No fear.
The Yeerks. The evil, evil, evil mass.
The Hork-Bajir.
The Taxxons.
The human-Controller.
The human-Controller.
Visser Three was in a new morph.
At first, from more than a thousand feet, I saw that I was standing on four legs.
But the taller I got, the more I became aware of the Hork-Bajir standing behind me.
I began to change.
The Hork-Bajir had me in the middle of a cage.
I was now a human.


Chapter 18
The Time Matrix was a hologram of a large, open, transparent sphere. It was formed using a process
of gradual, constant rotation. The sphere was filled with a transparent core.
The core contained many components, including the Time Matrix itself.
However, the central piece, the sphere, was very different from the simple array of components that
forms a part of the simple system.
The core contained many smaller components, each more complex than the component
parts of a single system. The components of the empty core contained the
structure of atoms and molecules.
The Time Matrix contained many new elements, but very few new ones that the
structure of elements in the Time Matrix simply did not allow. The elements in the simple core
were all new: light, water, water, air, and so on.
I looked at the Time Matrix, and I could not help but see the placement of these new
entities. It was larger than the entire Pool ship, with its many Hork-Bajir warriors.
This large ship contained a number of orbiting Taxxons. Each Taxxon was larger than
the Pool ship, with its many Hork-Bajir warriors. But the Pool ship was different. It was a
smaller, protected ship.
I felt strange about the placement of the new elements. I was too far away to be sure. But I was
sure of the location of the time line.
I felt the Time Matrix begin to move. I felt it move away from me, away from me. I felt the
creature move toward it, away from it, away from it.
I felt the Time Matrix then return, away from me, away from me.
I felt the creature move toward it. I felt it move away from me, away from me.
I felt the creature move toward it, away from me, away from me.
I felt the Time Matrix become a part of me. I felt it move away from me, away from me.
I felt the creature moving toward it, away from me, away from me.
I felt the creature moving away from me, away from me.
I felt the creature moving away from me, away from me.
I felt the creature moving toward it, away from me, away from me.
I felt the creature moving toward it, away from me, away from me.
I felt the Time Matrix and the Time line disappear. I felt the larger ship disappear and disappear
away. I felt the Time line reappear.
I felt the Time line reappear. I felt the creature moving away from me, away from me,
away from me.
I felt the Time line reappear. I felt the creature moving away from me, away from me,
away from me.
I felt the Time line reappear. I felt the Time line reappear. I felt the Time line reappear.
I felt the Time line reappear. I felt the creature moving away from me, away from me,
away from me.
I felt the Time line reappear. I felt the Time line reappear. I felt the Time line reappear.
I felt the creature moving away from me, away from me, away from me. I felt the creature moving
away from me, away from me, away from me.
I felt the Time line reappear. I felt the Time line reappear. I felt the Time line reappear.
I felt the Time line reappear. I felt the creature moving away from me, away from me, away from
me. I felt the Time line reappear. I felt the Time line reappear. I felt the Time line reappear.
I felt the creature moving away from me, away from me, away from me.
<It’s okay,> I said, <it’s okay.>
I felt the Yeerk inside the Time line move toward me. I felt it move away from me. I felt the
Time line move toward me, toward me.
I felt the Time line move toward me, toward me. I felt the creature moving toward me, away
from me.
I felt the creature moving toward me, away from me, away from me.
I felt the Time line move toward me, toward me. I felt the creature moving toward me, away from
me, away from me, away from me.
I felt the Time line move toward me. I felt the creature moving toward me, away from me,
away from me.
I felt the creature moving toward me, away from me, away from me.
But my time line!
I saw, I saw, I saw, I saw. I was a Time-line creature. Not a Time-line creature.
I was a Time-line creature.
I was
Chapter 11
I was high on cinnamon buns when I spotted the big cinnamon buns.
The cinnamon buns. These were the ones I’d been hunting for the entire day. I was hunting
them.
Two of them were in a swimming pool. The third was in the water. I looked down and could
make out the tip of the binder. In one corner were the words “HOLIDAY!” in a dark, bloodred corner.
In the other corner were the words “BONK! BONK KNOK! BONK! BONK!”
The words were in a small brass keypad on the side of the big keypad.
I took the keypad and held it out to the cinnamon buns. The buns don’t have a right to
be afraid of me.
I reached down and touched one of the big cinnamon buns to his head. The big one whined
sometimes. I saw the same thing happen to the cinnamon buns. They said they were losing their minds.
They went to their knees and tried to scream. The big one said, “You can’t do that.”
I looked at the big cinnamon buns. They looked at me with blank, confused eyes.
Then I saw the big cinnamon buns, smiling and laughing. The two big buns were talking
to each other. The words came out loud, almost like they were spoken in the middle of a game of

thunder.
The two big buns glanced at me, then I saw them go to their knees and try to reach for one of the
big buns. They said, “You can do this.”
I looked at the binder and I saw their mouths tense. I saw a look of pure, absolute terror.
Then I saw the words in the big binder. They said, “You can do this.”
“Help me,” I said.
“Help me!” The cinnamon buns all spoke English.
“I’ll help you!” the big binder said.
“NO!” I yelled.
The cinnamon buns screamed, and I heard the sound of their hearts beating.
I looked at the big binder. He was talking to me. He was trying to help.
I didn’t have a right to feel sorry for him.
“Don’t hurt him,” the big binder said.
“No!” I yelled.
“NO!” the big bun yelled.
“Help!” I yelled in a rage that increased in volume as my heart beat stopped beating.
“NO!” I yelled.
“NO!” he pleaded. “I can’t do this! Help me!”
He squeezed my hand. I pushed him away, and now he was yelling. “Help me! I can’t
do this!”
It was all over. I had lost my mind. I had had enough. I had lost everything.
I was a bad person. I was going to do my best to help. But I couldn’t do it.
I couldn’t.
I had to help. I had to stay alive.
“NO!” I yelled, and I punched him in the face.
“Don’t do it,” he screamed.
“Don’t take me alive!” I screamed, and he practically flinched.
“NO!” I cried in pain again.
“Don’t take me alive!” I yelled.
“Don’t take me alive!” I yelled again. “No!” I was mad. I was addicted to the pain. I was
mad at him.
“NO!” I yelled again. And then I had to get away.
“NO!” I screamed again. “I have to stay alive! I have to go to the doctor!”
“I have to stay alive!” he cried.
I saw tears welling up in his eyes.
“Help me!” I cried and he was right. I had to get away. I had to get away from him.
He was right. He was wrong.
He was wrong.
I saw a flash of disbelief on his face and I knew what was coming next. I knew I had let him down.
I knew I had let him down.
I was sick with grief. I knew I was wrong. I
Chapter 10
<Oh, man,> Marco said. <I thought it was a spaceship!>
Jake nodded. <Or maybe we’re flying a spaceship.>
<Guys,> I said. <We’re not flying a spaceship.>
<He’s right,> Cassie said. <Not flying a spaceship.>
<Let’s go see if we can be realistic,> I said. <Let’s just hope it’s not a spaceship.>
<We’re not going to see a spaceship,> Jake said. <Just like we don’t want to see a spaceship.>
<We’ll see a spaceship,> I said.
The others were all there, all in formation. I saw Jake, Cassie, and me. Rachel, Cassie. I saw Ax.
Tobias was there.
<We can’t let it happen,> Jake said.
<Yeah,> Marco agreed. <But let’s hope it doesn’t slip.>
I watched the group from above. It was just me, Cassie, Jake, and Ax.
I guess we’d have liked to say “Look, we’re not flying a spaceship,” or “Guys, I’m Not
Going To Take A Picture Of Myself,” or whatever it is. But we’d have had no idea what it meant.
I mean, we knew we were there. But that’s not what really mattered.
<Okay,> Jake said. <Let’s go see some more Bug fighters.>
It was late the night of the twentieth. A full moon. A very dark night. The sun was rising high against
the clouds. The low clouds were not high enough for us to see the Bug fighters. But we could see that they
were larger than a football field. The fighters were spread out over three large areas, one behind us,
one behind us. There were tanks, too.
And over the fighters, at least three, I could see. They were moving fast, more than a hundred miles an
hour. They were low-flying Bug fighters.
<They’re moving fast,> Cassie said. <They’re getting closer and closer ...> She sounded
determined.
<We’re in the middle of a Bug fighter’s tunnel,> Jake said. <They’re dropping down in the tunnel and
tearing us apart.>
<We can’t let them tear us apart,> Marco said. <There’s only one way to stop them.>
<It’s too easy,> Rachel said. <It’s too dangerous.>
<No one’s going to help us,> I argued.
<How do we stop them?> Jake asked. <A little aerial spying, maybe.>
I didn’t know what to say. I couldn’t ask them. But I knew I had to trust them. So I said, <Trust?>
<No,> Jake said. <They do not trust us.>
<Trust them,> I said.
<No,> Marco countered. <They’re not Controllers.>
<No,> Jake said. <And we don’t know who they are.>
<Follow them,> I said. <Follow them where?>
<Marco, we can’t do this,> Jake said. <The Bug fighters are coming up behind us.>
<Marco, they’re coming up behind us,> I said. <Follow them.>
<Marco,> Jake went on, <we’re going to have to find a way to follow them.>
Ax said, <Yeah, I guess that’s what we have here,> he said. <I guess we’ll have to change the
direction of our flight path and follow them.>
<Rachel,> Jake said. <You’re right. They’re coming up behind us!>
<We have to make sure they’re coming up behind us,> I said. <It’s going to be hard, being on the ground,
looking for them.>
We were in a small area. This was not a heavily defended area. Most of the trees were
undeniably high up over us, but the bushes and prickly trees were about the same height. A
quarter of an acre of fallen trees was a very easy target.
<Let’s do it!> I said.
We were


Chapter 13
We demorphed to birds, then climbed into the trees. The others followed.
Rachel, Tobias, Ax, and me, still mostly human.
Here and there, we saw the Taxxons. They were big, but not far behind us. They seemed to be
building up their speed.
I spotted Marco, sitting on a branch high in the ground. He was staring at us. His
shaggy green-and-black hair was in a wavy ponytail.
<Aaaahhhh!> I shouted. <Are you guys in there?>
<Are we near the camp?> Rachel said.
<Not far,> I said.
<No. But we’d better get out of here. Look, this is all my fault.>
Rachel was right. I was a Controller, a person who could not be used.
<What are you two?> I asked her.
<I’m in owl morph.>
<Owl, right?> she said.
<What is that word?>
I was very puzzled. I could not answer.
<I’m not sure.>
<What do you mean?>
<I mean, a human voice.>
<You’re in bird morph?>
<I mean, we’re in owl morph. We’re in the same valley. In the same direction. But I can’t see
through the trees. It’s a half mile or more.>
<What’s this?>
<A strange thing. It’s like an owl’s nest. The ground is in the same direction. But you can’t
look up. You have to walk straight up toward it.>
<So what?>
<I see a place in the woods,> I explained.
<A place where you can demorph and remorph?>
<I’m guessing not,> I said. <But it’s definitely not okay.>
<What’s a “way” or a “way”?> Rachel asked.
<We meet in the woods,> I explained. <And then we go up against the Yeerks.>
<That’s not going to happen,> Rachel said.
<You’ll have to find a way to get us out,> I said.
<And then we will fight a Taxxon army,> Tobias said.
<A Taxxon army,> I continued. <But we are on the ground.>
<Ax, I hope you can understand that. I’m sorry,> Rachel said. <This is a simple matter. We’re
crushing Yeerks. But it’s also an important one. And we have to get us out of here.>
<I’m sorry,> I said. <But you have to understand. How can we get out of here?>
<The ground is in our way,> Ax said. <Two miles.>
<The ground is in our way,> I said. <Two miles.>
I had been in owl morph for only two hours. I had no idea what to expect. Then I saw the
backwash of the ground. It was a tall cliff. There were crags and ridges of some sort.
I looked upward. Trees and grass ran beneath me. My vision was dim. But I could see the
miles ahead.
I saw nothing. I was no longer in owl morph. And I was no longer strong enough to use my wings.
But I was strong enough to do the math. I was able to climb up the cliff and follow the trees.
I could see the tall trees ahead. I could see the narrow passageways. I could see the small
passages that served as shelters.
I broke into a run, flapping my wings hard. I flapped and with luck came a plucked branch. I
stumbled over a rock, replacing my wings. I flapped hard and landed hard on the rock.
Suddenly, I was in the thick of the forest. Trees were rushing up behind me, up behind me.
I flapped hard and landed hard. My wings beat with speed and I caught the breeze and I soared
toward the clearing below, where I could see the clearing.
I landed on the edge of the clearing. It was a steep ascent, a steep slope. There was just no way I
could climb.
I was sick with fear. I’d seen enough horror movies. I’d seen enough scary stuff. I’d just never
gotten around to the

Chapter 18
<I believe we are in a trap.>
I could see the tiger’s eyes glaze over. I could see the force field we used to hold the
trap. I could see the area in front of us.
We were all in the dark, and a mile away from the trap, in a dark, open space.
The tiger leaped. It was fast and strong, but it was not able to pull the ropes we had. But it
was faster and stronger than it had been at the first time. It was running at full human speed.
The tiger swiped at the ropes. It missed and rolled, half-morphed, half-fell on its face, and then
stepped over ropes the size of mountains.
The ropes were all the way over the ceiling of the cage, and we were at the ceiling. And looking
around, I could see that we were in a lot more places than we thought.
<Do you see a red-tailed hawk?> I asked the tiger.
“Uh-huh,” the tiger grunted. “Where?”
“Um ... ooh, there!” the tiger grunted.
The ropes were all over the floor. I could see the floor below, but I could not see the
floor upward.
The tiger was faster than the two of us, but it broke loose from the trap and was blown over the
concealed Hork-Bajir.
The ropes we used to hold the trap were all gone.
“I don’t see anything,” the tiger moaned. “I don’t see anything!”
I looked at the ceiling. It was dark. But I could see that we were in a lot of places. I could
see the trees and the trees behind us.
I moved closer and began to morph. The tiger was faster than me. But it was still too fast.
I began to shrink.
“You’re a tiger in here!”
“Yeah, but you’re a tiger in here, too!”
I went to my face. I knew what was going on around me. I knew what was going on around
the floor of the cage. I was either going to fall in. Or I was going to hit the floor.
“You’re a tiger, right?” I said.
“Sure,” the tiger grunted. “Oh, man! I’m a tiger, right?”
I was going to fall and fall and fall. I was going to hit the floor.
“You’re a tiger!” the tiger cried.
“I’m a tiger!” I yelled.

I went into my own morph, and began to shrink.
The tiger was almost entirely human now. The human parts were all gone. I was more
human than the tiger.
I was almost completely covered with fur. I could feel the tiger’s intense fear, its fear of me.
But then I saw the tiger’s human eyes. They were growing wide and bulging, as if they were growing
from the bottom of his sleek tiger mouth.
“I’m a human,” he said to me. “I’m a human being. But I can’t leave you. It’s my fault.”
I looked at the ceiling. “I can’t do this.”
“Just a little,” he said. “Just a little.”
I was now almost entirely human. Now I was also almost entirely gray, with a few
small eyes like Cassie’s.
“You’re starting to have gray hairs all over you,” the tiger said, sounding angry.
“I’ll get a big, fat gorilla!” I yelled.
“Bull!” the tiger yelled.
“All right, tiger,” I said. “Now, morph!”
The tiger bit down hard on the tiger’s hardening human teeth. His teeth were growing ever smaller.
The tiger started morphing as his human mouth and nose replaced the tiger’s own mouth and nose.
He was now shrinking at an incredible rate. And it was like being blind.
A tiger that was shrinking!
“I can’t stop!” I cried.
“Shut up!” the tiger yelled.
“I’m going to morph!” I cried. “I’m going to do this!
Chapter 6
I was out of there! Out of the fight, out of the fight! I was out of my morph! Out of my
morph!
I was out of there! Out of my own body!
I was out of the fight. By the time I was out of the fight, I was too far down to even see the
others.
I had to morph!
I dove down into the ocean. Down into the deep, calm sea. Dive down and survive
it.
My eyes saw only darkness. I knew it was me, but I couldn’t see the ocean right now. I could only
constantly feel the waves.
Slowly, reluctantly, I morphed to dolphin. I was still not completely human. I was still the same human
I’d always been before.
I was still no human. But I was alive.
I dove down and around, deep underwater. And below me!
A mid-cretan ship! I saw the tanks flaring up in the air and then, with a sickening, twitching
sound that reached across the sea, down, up into the sea, and, in a second, the sea!
Up into the sea!
I was right in front of the Sea Blade.
The Sea Blade ...
I whirled.
I was up and running. My hind legs were cradling my dolphin body. I was a thousand feet
and right in front of the Sea Blade.
Then, I saw a flash of light. A steel tube. The Sea Blade was moving. It was moving, faster than
the rest of the ship. But it was moving at a slower speed- faster than a human-Controller could.
No way it was a human. It was moving!
I was in the water!
Up and out of there!
But I was in the sea. And I was not alone!
I was in the middle of a sea!
I was just above the Sea Blade. It was almost horizontal.
I opened my eyes. I could see the sea below. I could see the water rising toward me. But I
couldn’t see where I was.
I gaped up at the sky. I was a dolphin. I was a dolphin not much bigger than my body. I was
a dolphin not much bigger than my own body.
I was the only dolphin in the world.
The Sea Blade was no more than fifty feet away and I saw the light of a hundred and
fifty shades of gray.
<Now, Marco!>
<What?>
<I’m going to morph.>
<And this is the way I am,> I said. <I’m going to ...>
<I ...> I started to say, but I was too far away to help. <I’m not ... I’ll ... it’ll be okay.> My
other mouthparts were dry. My legs were numb. I was definitely not human.
I was alive!
I was in the sea!
I dove down and around and around. But it wasn’t enough. I was still too far away to see well
enough to make thought-speak.
I was in the water!
I was in the sea!
I was underwater!
I was in the ocean!
I was in the water!
I was drowning!
I was blind!
I was drowning and being sucked into the water, and now I was floating in the water.
<Marco!> I said.
<Is there a way out?>
<Yes,> I said. <Marco, I’m in the sea. In and out, no.>
<I see the Sea Blade,> I said. <But I can’t see where I am.>
<Is that what it says on its radio?>
<Yes.>
<I see the Sea Blade, and I can only tell you this: It’s not human. It’s not alive.>
<Then I guess I’d better try and morph.>
<Ahhh!> I cried.
But now I was the only one who could use the term “human.” I could not morph to dolphin. I could not
morph to dolphin. And I could not morph to human.
I was human again.
But I was no longer human. I was still the same dolphin, still in the water.

Chapter 11
We worked up a plan.
We morphed into cockatiels. I had to get them away from the barn. They were on the move.
And we had to get to the barn fast.
The plan was to grab the first two roach tracks by the time we got to the tunnel.
Dak was the first one to come to the rescue. He leaped. He landed on the ground. I ducked out of the way,
fumbling for the door. I was too shaky to keep my hands on my hands.
I was running for the stairs when I heard the first loud splash of a door slamming. I jumped in
and yelled, “Hey! Hey! Are you awake?”
The roach was still crawling on the floor. But it was morphing well. It was growing smaller and smaller.
I saw a flash of the big, bulky thing crawling across the floor.
It was still morphing and I was definitely growing. The roach was growing smaller and smaller,
even with the door still in its body.
I shot up the stairs in a rush and headed all the way back to the barn.
“Hey! I’m awake. I’m in a nice dark windowless structure.”
I looked up and saw the big flat roof of the barn and the room that had just become a space.
It was raining. And I had to be careful. We were in a dark, very dark place.
“Hey! I can’t see you,” I said.
“I’m Marco.”
“Oh, shut up.”
“I know. I’m awake.”
“I’ll come out,” I said.
“Marco.”
“Okay. I’ll come with you. You’re not coming out of this window.”
“Oh, man.”
“I’ll come out and pet you.”
“I’ll come out,” I said. “But then I’ll see if I can help you.”
“I’ll just stay here and pet you.”
I couldn’t believe I was so sure. I’d already started the process. I’d already morphed the roach.
But from this time on, I was sure I was on my way to becoming a cockatiel.
“I’m okay,” I said. “Just a few drops of water.”
“I’ll come out and pet you.”
“I’ll come and pet you.”
“I’ll come and pet you,” I said, breaking the spell of concentration. “But first, I’ll also come
out with a nice, big cockatiel.”
“Okay.” I stepped away from the others. It was a long walk to the barn outside. My dad is at work
in the yard. I’d already done the morph. Marco was at his work, too.
“Now,” I said, “I’m going to put on my beard and put on my hair.”
“It’s not going to look right,” Marco mumbled.
“Okay. Okay,” I said, “I’m going to put on my shirt and put on my shoes.”
“No problem-o.”
“Okay. Clean up.”
I was on my way to getting my shaving cream. I was going to shave my own nose. I was going to
succeed.
“You’re going to the grocery store?” I asked.
“Yes.”
“Then I’ll be in a hurry.”

“Okay.” I was sorry I’d let Jake take my shoes. I was afraid I’d leave him. I was worried he’d decide I
was too scared to come. But I didn’t know how I could trust Jake. I knew I had to do my absolute

leap. I knew I couldn’t let my parents know I was coming.
“You’re pretty sure Jake will let you go to the gas station?”

“I know he will. But what about my parents?” I said, trying to sound calm.
“I just talked to my mom. She says if I say no, she
Chapter 9
I dug my nails into the wood and plucked up the other hooves. I timed the morph and began to
craft.
The Yeerks are a very, very odd species. But they are not the least
odds in terms of number of hosts. They are the third-largest living thing on Earth, with an
average weight of almost two hundred and twelve tons. That works out to a mass of about three hundred
trees.
Marco, on the other hand, is a much smaller creature. He has no eyes. He has no mouth, but he
knows what to do when he wants to. He eats by scraping bark with his feet.
And I have the least unusual of all the Hork-Bajir. I have a mouth that can chew bark. I have
a tail that ends in a claw or hoof.
I had the chance to see Jake move when Visser Three attacked, to see the Dracon beam he had
aimed at me. I had the Hork-Bajir try to escape when the Yeerk had a chance to shoot it at
me.
It was pathetic. It was pathetic.
Jake had been a fool. He had thought I was a human. He had set me up to be a Hork-Bajir
blessed.
But he had failed. The Yeerk had struck me with a Dracon beam in the chest.
<Rachel!>
She was right. I was hit.
Cassie jumped to her feet. She was running up the back of the truck, trying to grab the
receiver. I barreled into her and she was in a ditch, knocked down.
<The Time Matrix!> I cried. <That’s it!>
Cassie was right. I saw it. I saw a pair of Hork-Bajir on the floor.
<Silence!> I shouted.
The Time Matrix! I had not heard it.
<Rachel! Are you okay?> Tobias asked.
<I am,> I said. <I was hit by the truck and am unconscious.>
<Yeah, well, what’s going on?> Marco asked.
<I think I was hit by something,> I said. <I think I was hit by a little something.>
<I’m okay,> Tobias said. <I think I’m okay.>
I sprang up, grabbed the Time Matrix, and powered it in my panic to get out of the ditch
and avoid being hit by the truck.
The truck came through the trees. It came through the woods at the far end of the valley. It was
as if it were looking down out of a dream.
A human-Controller was standing over me. She looked around in the direction I was looking.
Then she smiled. “Well? What did you expect?”
<Oh, well,> I said. <We were having a great time.>
She smiled. “I thought you were home. You were home with you.”
<What?>
“Well, I was thinking what you need is a nice place to stay.”
<Well, what exactly are you planning on doing with your life?>
She nodded. “I’m not exactly home.”
<I’ll take care of that,> I said. <But I won’t have time to do anything with my life.>
“I’m not exactly home.”
<Would you like to be my father, please?>
“I’ll take care of you. But I won’t have time to do anything with your life.”
<You’ll have to live with it,> I said. <I still have to try and save you.>
“I’ll take care of you. But I won’t have time to do anything with your life.”
<I’m not exactly home,> I said. <I was thinking about spending some time with you, Jake.>
“I’ll take care of you. I’ll live with you. But I won’t have time to do anything with your life.”
<You’ll have to try and save me,> I said. <I still have to try and save you.>
She smiled her human smile. “I guess I’ll try and do that someday, Jake.”
<You’ll have to try and save me,> I said, feeling more and more like a helpless, frightened, terrified
little girl.
<No.>
Chapter 12
<It’s getting late,> Marco said. <Dead late. Hurry!>
I climbed into the air. I was, at first, feeling a little chagrined. I was feeling energized. Maybe a little
confused, too. But not overwhelmed. Not that I’d been thinking about it.
I landed, a few feet out from the pile of boxes, and found that Visser One had set a squirming,
screeching me down.
<Where are we?> Visser One asked. <Where are we supposed to hide?>
I shrugged. “It’s a trap. A trap, really. Visser.”
<It’s a trap,> I said. <It’s a trap. We have to get out of here.>
“Okay,” Marco said. “But it’s not time yet.”
<Are you ready to get ready?>
“Yeah.” I nodded.
<Okay, now,> I said. <We’ll start morphing.>
“Just enough to get a human eye,” Jake said.
“Yeah.”
“What?”
“What?”
“Just enough to get a human eye.”
“Why?”
“You know, we’re in the woods. It’s just a couple of hours, but we’ll be okay.”
“Okay, then.”
“Okay. Now. Let’s get a grip on the box.”
I felt my legs weaken. I had no hands.
“Okay,” I said. “I’m going to use that human eye.”
“Yeah.”
“What?”
“You have to use the human eye.”
“Sure. I’ll be okay.”
I was already halfway morphed. I was already getting a human head. I was getting a human
eyesore. I figured it was time to start morphing. I had to morph in the best way I could think of.
I felt the wind blow me aside. Suddenly, things became very exciting. I began to shrink.
I had been shrinking.
It was like the most bizarre morphing I’d ever done. In a minute I was a pretty normal girl. I was
almost human now, except for the way a leg grew out of my chest. And it was still a leg.
I felt the wind, swirling me.
The wind was pulling me down.
I was a human. I wasn’t totally human. But I was still very much a human girl.
I could feel the air swirling me. I could feel the weight of the earth pushing against me. I felt the
air beneath me - gravity.
I felt the ground beneath me drag me down. I was down through the air.
I was down through the air, through the air that was the ground beneath me.
I was right where I wanted to be.
The wind was holding me down.
But the ground was going to push me back up the side of the mountain, up toward the sky.
I could see the sun on the top of the mountain above me. And I could see the sun on the ground below.
I was down through the air.
Down through the air, through the air that was the ground beneath me.
Down through the air that was the ground beneath me.
But I could not back up. I could not.
I was more than half-human now. I was still half-human. Half-dumb and half-half. And I was
insect.
<Jake!> I cried. <I can’t do this!>
No answer. No encouragement. But I was in danger. The ground was growing even harder. It was
time for me to demorph. I had no choice but to morph.
I was going to die, and I was going to be a bug, not an insect.
I knew it. I knew I had to. But what could I do?
I couldn’t. I couldn’t.
I was already half-human. I was already dying.
I couldn’t. I couldn’t.


Chapter 12
We were able to get our hands on some of the weapons that the Andalites had brought with them
from the Andalites.
The weapons were very primitive, but I think they were able to provide a decent number of
Hork-Bajir.
Hork-Bajir are not Andalites.
I had already seen one of the Hork-Bajir, Visser One, set out to capture Hork-Bajir. But I
was not at all sure of the other Andalites who had used Hork-Bajir.
“Wait!”
I began to demorph. I could feel the shoulders and arms growing smaller. My mouth
became the first Andalite tongue. My lips and tongue and lips were melting together, making
my lips an ovoid now.
My nose and lips were growing, as well. My teeth began to open and close, forming the
two-fingered Dracon beam the Andalites used before.
I remembered the terrible battle that had taken place in the Yeerk pool. I had not seen it in its
true form. But I knew I had seen it enough to know that I was not alone.
The Andalites had brought their weapons. They were concentrating on the Yeerk pool. And
soon, with the Hork-Bajir inside the pool, they would see that they had won. And they would see that
they were losing.
Visser One had to prepare for the attack. She had to use the Time Matrix to create a time-
line that would allow her to travel back in time.
She had to make the time line a hologram. She had to recreate the battle and see that it had
not been a good time.
But the Andalites had not been defeated.
The hologram was shattered.
I saw a flash of Visser One. She was lying on the ground, her arms around her. She was
alive.
And now I saw her face, beak still dry. My face.
I saw her slowly, slowly emerge from the bullet wound. I saw her face become distorted, but
still emerge.
<I know you, Visser,> I said, my voice breaking at the memory of my own death. <I know what
you must have seen. And I know what you must have done.>
<Yes, you do,> she said, her voice soft and cold and cold, even as she was changing.
<The Andalites have altered the time line,> I said. <They have altered the way we communicate. They
have altered our physical bodies. They are altering the way we make love.>
<It would be foolish to try to deceive humans,> Visser One said, <but I believe the Andalite
ship ...>
<Yes, I see what you see.>
<Yes, I see what you must see,> Visser One said. <The Andalite ships,> she continued, <they will
be able to tell us of the terrible things the Yeerks have done to our forces.>
<Yes, I see the Andalite ship,> I said.
<The Andalite ship,> she said, <especially the Andalite fighter.>
<Yes, I see the Andalite fighter,> I said.
<The Andalite ship,> she said, <including the Time Matrix.>
<Yes, I see the Time Matrix,> I said.
<The Time Matrix,> she continued. <The Time Matrix.>
<Yes, I see the Andalite ship,> I said, completely amazed.
<The Andalite ship,> she said, <including the Time Matrix.>
<Yes, I see the Time Matrix.>
<And you see the Andalite fighter?> Visser One pressed.
<Yes, I see the Time Matrix. I see the Andalite fighter. And I see the Andalite fighter.>
<Why should you be surprised?>
<All I know is that I have seen the memories of none of you. I have seen the last of you. I have
seen you, and I have lied to you. But I have not seen you be anything but a fool.>
<Yes, I have,> I said. <I was a fool.>
<Then why do you fear me now?> Visser One pressed.
<You have the power to travel back in time.>
<No,> I said. <But it is now dawn, and it is all you have. You must now prepare to return
to the time you saw.

Introduction
Chapter 10 - Tobias
I was loping over the road to the mall. I was on the pavement. I was on the pavement where the
mall was now. I could see. I could smell. I could feel. I could feel every detail of the mall.
I was out in the light of dawn.
I was in the still night.
There was a long, tall building. It was built of steel, with an iron cross at one end. There were
windows in it, just a few inches wide.
It was a large open space. It was definitely a shopping center. There were large, long,
brilliant white chairs being cleaned and polished by skilled workers in the chairs.
There were also chairs in a small room. In the room were eight or ten big chairs.
Each one was about the size of the mall refrigerator. And all around the room were people
wearing brightly colored suits.
I saw the faces of the workers. They were wearing red overalls and leotards.
One of the ladies, a blue lab technician, stood in the middle of the room. She was her usual human self.
“Hello,” she said, giving a human smile.
I saw her own face. I saw her eyes. I saw her pale skin, her brown hair, and the way her eyes
shivered.
“Hi,” I said.
She smiled, and I felt her wild, wild excitement rise. I felt like I was watching a big, powerful tree
hug.
“Hello,” she said.
“Yes,” I said. “And thank you.”
She shook her head slowly. “I think my boss probably thinks I’m cute.”
“Let me explain,” I said. “You want to go to the mall? You want to go to the mall?”
“What?”
“I want to go to the mall. I need to get some fresh produce. I want to see what the future holds for
my dreams of shopping.”
“What do you mean, you want to go to the mall?”
“I mean, you want to go to the mall?”
“Do you think?”
“I don’t know,” I said. “I’m not exactly big on ‘yoga.” But I was still having this real serious
conversation with this human being I had just met.
She was a human woman. I had never met her before. But now I knew what her face looked like.
I stared.
Her mouth. Her eyes. Her face, too, despite the fact that she was human.
She was beautiful.
She could have been anything.
“I feel this is the perfect time to get my hands on some fresh, whole-food french fry.”
“What is it?”
“It’s one of those french fries. They don’t taste exactly like real food. But they taste ... like it’s made
from real food.”
She looked at me. Her eyes flickered in the darkness.
“Are you all right?”
“Yes. I’m fine.”
“Well, thank you very much.”
“Thanks?”
“Yes. Thank you,” she said. “Thank you.”
“Do you have a question?”
“Yes, yes.”
“What is the future?”
“I don’t know. But I’m thinking the future.”
“Do you mean ...”
“What would you say?”
“I don’t know.”
“Maybe you could tell me,” she said. “But I’m not sure.” She shook her head. “I’m not
sure.”
I nodded. “I’ll do the same.”
She smiled. “Just don’t ask questions.”
“I’m ... I’m sorry.”
“I’ll do whatever I have to do.”
“Okay, I’ll do whatever I have to do.”
“Okay,” I said, my heart pounding.
She shook her head. “You know, I’m sure you’re very worried. I mean, I’ll tell you


Chapter 10
The others took turns. Rachel, Jake, Marco, and me.
“We ride the wave all day.”
I had the feeling my heart was slowing down.
“Yeah, we do that sometimes,” Jake said.
“I do,” I agreed. “Do it, Jake. Do it.”
“Yeah, well, it is a lot to do,” Rachel said.
“The hardest part is getting to know the other girls.”
Jake shook his head. “You know, you’re always just coming from Cassie’s rescue, so I have
some understanding. But there are still a lot of things to talk about.”
“You know my secret?” I said.
“Yeah,” he said. “I was in high school. I was in the gymnastics team. There was an
Andalite girl there. She did it in front of me. But it was like being in a band for two hours and
watching the band play.”
“You know,” I said, “we had to do that.”
“Yeah, but I’m not going there. That I know about. I’m not going to be in the band, and I don’t want
to be in the gymnastics team. So I’m just going to try and be in the band.”
“Cassie,” Marco said. “You know, Cassie can do it.”
I shrugged. “I guess I’m more into gymnastics than I am into all this. I know how to do it.”
“I know how?”
“Yeah, you’re right. I’m a gymnast. I know how to do it.”
“I know. I have a way with words.”
“That’s why I’m not a gymnast. I’m not Rachel or Tobias or Ax or Marco or Tobias. I’m just
Cassie.”
“Cassie,” Jake said. “You know, you’re not Rachel or Tobias or Ax or Marco. All I am is Cassie.
I’m not even a human. I’m not even human.”
“I’m a bird, too,” Marco said. “But I can’t exactly morph. I’m not Rachel, I’m not Ax,
I’m not even human.”
“I see.” Jake looked at me.
I felt like I couldn’t breathe.
“This is bad,” Marco said. “You’re a bird. Why are you a bird?”
“I can’t answer that,” I said. “But I guess it’s hard to explain to a human.”
“I thought you were a human,” Jake said. “But you’re not a bird.”
“I’ll explain later,” I said. “Jake. You know what this is all about.”
“You’re not a human, right?”
“I don’t know,” I said. “It’s the first time I’ve had this real interest in humans. But this is
something totally different.”
“It’s like ... like the entire world changed. Like all the laws of physics changed. It’s like
something that changed the sun, or the moon, or whatever, changed everything. It was like a computer, all
at once.”
Jake looked very intensely at me. “Cassie, I know you think you’re cool, but you know what? I think
you’re just being paranoid. I think -”
“I think about you every time I go to church or something. I think about you in my dreams.”
“I think about you in your dreams,” I said. “I know when you’re sick or when you’re in pain or when
you’re weak or whatever you are, or whatever it is you have to do to survive -”
<I do not understand the concept of selfishness,> Ax said. <It is a concept that I have not
understand myself.>
“I guess I’ll
Chapter 16 - Isaiah Fitzhenry
I was in the barn. I was perched on the high railing of the barn. I was in the rafters. And
I was the only human in all the barn. But I was the only one of us to see that the hawk in me was
nearly omnipotent.
I was the only one of us who knew the truth about what had happened. And who, in the end,
wouldn’t let it happen again.
“So, me,” I said, “I’m here to tell you that the Yeerks have been in the Yeerk pool for a very
long time.”
“I’m here to tell you that I’m here to protect you and your family.”
I didn’t answer.
That’s it. I was the hawk. I was the only one of us who could see that the Yeerks were in the
Yeerk pool, too.
Most of all, I was the only one of us who could see that the Yeerks had found some type of animal
that could survive in the Yeerk pool.
It was the only place the Yeerks could feed, that was their only real food source. And they used the
Yeerk pool as a place to store their weapons.
The barn was empty. We were alone.
“So,” I said, “you’re here to tell me what’s going on?”
“I’m here to tell you that you aren’t in control of your own body. You’re in control of your
self. So here, here, here, I’ll guide you.”
I was the only one of us who could see that the Yeerks had used the Yeerk pool as a place to store
weapons.
I was the only one who could see that they had used the Yeerk as a sort of psychic torture device.
I was the only one who knew that as well as I knew that I could have met my mother. As her
Yeerk was small and weak. And yet, I knew her.
And that’s when I stood there, looking down at me with my human eyes.
“What’s going on?” I asked.
“I’m here,” Cassie said. “I’m here to get you out of here.”
I knew she was lying. I knew that if I was innocent, she would be punished.
“I’m here to try and save you,” I said. “But I’m not here to play games.”
“You can’t play games? Or can you?”
“Or are you?”
“I’m not a slave of the human race,” I said. “I’m here to help. To help you.”
“I’m sorry,” I said. “I’m sorry.”
Cassie looked at me, her expression troubled. “You’re in no pain. You know.”
I looked at Cassie. “I know.”
“Sorry,” she said. “But I’ll be fine.”
I had been in pain with an Andalite tail blade. Marco had slashed Marco’s throat with his own tail. It was
impossible to tell where a cut was made. But you could guess.
“I’m sorry,” I said. “But I’ll be fine.”
Cassie looked at me. “You’re lying.”
I shrugged. “Of course.”
“I’m just an innocent bystander.” She made a face. “I was trying to protect you. One minute you were
being nice to me, and the next minute you were being mean. And I was still in pain. But you were
saving me.”
I looked down at the ground. “You saved me?”
“Yes.”
“But you were right to keep me in pain.”
“Yes, but you were wrong about me being in pain.”

“Well, then, I’m dead.”
“But you were wrong about me being in pain.”
“That’s true,” I said. “But I’m not dead.” I

Chapter 15
<Yah! Aaaah!> I cried, in what I thought was the only way I could explain.
<What is that sound?> Tobias demanded.
<It’s the sound of a bird or a bird-of-prey creature,> I explained. <I mean, are they all
going to the mall or wherever?>
<Yeah.>
<I think someone is going to the mall,> Cassie said. <And I think someone might be
staying at the same place.>
<So, what is the plan?> Jake wondered.
<I think it would be best to just go wherever it is we happen to be,> I explained. <Or the
other way around.>
<Where?>
<I don’t know. I mean, if you’re going to the mall, you’d better go with us.>
<Then what?>
<Come on, let’s go find out!>
I wheeled around and headed toward the side of the road. I was going to the side of the road
where a number of Stampedeys were sitting.
<Okay, they’re in a restaurant,> I said. <But the other way around,> I continued.
<What’s the plan?> Jake asked.
<You don’t know,> I said. <I’m just guessing.>
I went into a restaurant and sat down on the table next to Marco. <I wonder if they’re doing
an appetizer or something?>
<No,> Marco said. <Rachel, I have no idea what you’re thinking about. Guess what? I
knew what they were doing.>
<Oh, come on, Marco,> Jake said, <we’re about to do the appetizer.>
I wheeled around a little and went back to the table. I wanted to see what was happening. And I
knew Marco was right. This was a very different thing.
<Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! I’m going to have to morph back!> I yelled. <Rrrrrrrreat!>
Through the car window I saw the dinosaur. It was looking down at me. It was huge. It was
steaming. It was moving like a runaway from the car.
I began to shrink.
Suddenly I was standing on an open field, with a dozen or more dinosaurs in my path.
The others began to rise up to the table. Two men in dinosaur morph stood at attention. They stared
toward me.
“I’m going to morph back!”
“What?”
“Just a few legs,” Cassie said.
“Yeah,” Rachel responded, so sure of herself. “It’s embarrassing.”
“I’m going to go in with a wolf,” Marco said. “I’m going to become a wolf.”
I was morphing back, as fast as I could, and I was tumbling down through the air. I was
tumbling along at an incredible speed. I was tumbling through the air, faster than I could even
know how to move.
I was tumbling along, side by side, while a wolf stepped up beside me.
“Hey, you guys,” Cassie said. “Can you hear me?”
“I can hear you,” I said. “Come on, it’s me, Jake, listen to me. I’m not going to eat you.”
The wolf looked at Ax. “You’re going to eat me.”
“I’m going to eat you,” the wolf said.
“You do realize the threat?”
The wolf looked at me. “No. No. Not yet.”
“Come on, you idiots, you do realize I’m not going to eat you.”
“No, I’m going to eat you.”
“Okay,” the wolf said. “I’m going to eat you, too.”
I was tumbling along, side by side, with the wolf, Marco, and Rachel, in morph. I was tumbling
up and up through the air, but I was tumbling down through the air.
I felt the impact of the impact.
I spilled air and tried to shake the wolf’s head. It was a strange thing to do. I

Chapter 18 - Cassie
I felt the treetop effect up above me. I was up and flying, but I was still half human. I was
gonna get up! I was gonna fly! My wings were already melting. I could feel my own arms and
their numbness as they felt my skin warm to touch.
My legs were melting.
I flew.
I was up. I was up, but not quite. I was still half-human. I was a little over two feet long,
but I was going to fly straight up at the air.
Down, down, up, up, up, up, right and left and right.
I could see the trees ahead. I could feel the wind coming down on the branches.
I was going up in the air. I was going up, I was going down, down, down, up, down, up, down,
down, up.
I was a flying, falling, flapping, half-human, half-tiger in the air. I could feel my wings, even if they weren't
human, they were still part of me.
I flew straight up. I could feel the breeze blowing me up into the air. I could feel the roughness of
the earth beneath me. I could feel the treetop effect helping lift me up.
I continued flying. The treetop effect is when the air friction between a person and the ground
clumps together. It causes the ground to rise and fall.
I was flying from the top of a cliff to the bottom. I tried to find a safe place to land. I had to stop
flying. I was tired. I was scared. I was scared of flying.
I could feel the treetop effect coming on. It just felt right. That was all I needed to know.
I turned to look at Cassie. She was still in the air. The treetop was still there, but I was not
able to see her. I was only a little over three feet tall. But the ground was being pushed up against me.
I felt the ground pressing down on me. It was like I was on the playground. I had a rough, solid
ground. But I was being pushed up into the air by the treetop.
I felt a pressure on my face, or something like a face, that I could not explain. It was like a
trench, or something. It was hot and wet and hard and rough and rough and rough. It was being pushed
up against me.
I was not feeling pretty. I was not feeling very well. But I was feeling pretty well.
I was about a foot tall, sitting in the air up in the treetop. I could see right in front of me, a tall,
struggling tree. But from a hundred yards away I could see that the ground was not smooth. I could not see the
others. I could not see them very well, but they were all there. I felt Tobias. I felt Ax. I felt the
others.
I had been alone in the woods for a long time. I had been up till now. But now I was in the air.
I was very tired. Very tired of flying. I was scared. Very scared.
I was a bird with a tail. With feathers. But I had no talons.
I flew, and suddenly, I was not alone in a forest full of enemies.
A human, a bird with a tail.
I flew up into the air and landed on a branch.
“Hey!” I said. “Hey!” I jumped up again.
Someone had snatched me up. A human. I was shocked. But I knew who he was. I saw his face and
felt the warmth of his hand on my face, touching my skin.
“H-he-he!” he said. “He-he-he!”
I could not believe it. I’d been scared to death. Now ... now I was scared again. I was
ready to h-he-he-he.
“Help! Help!” I cried out.
“He-he-he!” the human said.
He turned, and the human turned back toward the sky. He turned back toward the human and I. It was
almost going to be impossible.
“Hey!” I said.
The human turned his head. He was pointing at me. He was pointing at the ground. I could
shove it out of my mind and still see him.
He was holding me up like a sock. He was holding me up like a baseball bat.
“I don’t know!
Chapter 39 - Cassie
It was a long walk from the town to the school. So long that Jake would be behind me in
the little group we had. Plus the fact that I was alone in my room, and the teacher would be
looking over my shoulder and looking back at me, me, me.
I was scared. A little shaky. Less than nervous.
I was very nervous.
“Don’t worry,” I said. “I’ll be here.”
“I said I’ll be here.”
“You’ll be here.”
“Yes.”
I didn’t say anything. I told it to her. I told her I’d have dinner with her. I told her I’d have a
bath with her. I told her about what had happened to me. And when I got home I cried.
I was really scared. I was in pain. I was still breathing. But I was so tired.
“Come on,” I said. “Come on, Cassie.”
I walked back to the sink and started to brush my teeth. I stopped. “I’m going to break
through,” I said. “I think I’m going to need some rest.”
“I’m going to break your skin,” the teacher said. “Tattoo?”
I nodded.
“You’ll be getting a tattoo later,” the teacher said. “Do you want to get on with it?”
“I’m going to get it,” I said. “I’m going to get it.”
“I’m going to get it.”
I tried to run away but it was too late. I ran straight toward the teacher. I ran that way and
tossed a foot.
“I’ll get it,” I said.
The teacher looked at me, then at me. She looked back toward the closet. I was still
sticking to the plaster plaster. I was worried. And I was scared. I knew I’d had to hide.
I ran to the door and to the sink and stuffed the tattoo.
It was too gross, but I couldn’t stop. I couldn’t stop. I was getting better at it. It was all wrong
... it was all wrong.
If I could do it, I’d have to do it all over again.
But I didn’t. And the teacher looked back at me. She looked back at me, just in front of me,
as if to say, “I’m sorry,” she said. “I guess I guess I was sorry.”
“What?” I asked her.
She spoke. “Sorry?”
“What?” I asked her.
“Don’t answer.”
She stared at me, but she held out her hand.
“Sorry. It’s something I did not want to talk about.”
“What?” I cried.
“I wanted to. I wanted to go to the bathroom.” She looked at me. “You don’t want to talk about it.”
I looked away, then out of the mirror.
I was so close, so far away, but I was still so small. I was too small to have the power to morph.
I was so small it was impossible to morph.
“So,” I said. “Why did you want to go to the bathroom?”
“Because I wanted to go to the bathroom.”
“Oh,” I said. “I meant what?”
“Because I want to go to the bathroom. And I want to go to the bathroom.”
I wanted to go to the bathroom, but I was too small. I was too small.
“You want to go to the bathroom,” I said.
She looked at me and looked back at me with her own human eyes. “I don’t want to go to the
bathroom.”

“I’m sorry,” I said. “But I want to go to the bathroom and see what it is.”
“I know you’re not going to the bathroom, Cassie,” she said. “But we have to ask: What
Chapter 7
“I don’t think so,” I said.
“You’re right,” Rachel said. “You should have seen the way the others were acting. They
were trying to get into the pool.”
She was right, of course. And I knew it. I knew what she was trying to do.
Anyway, it was a trap. A little too good to be true.
“I can’t get out of bed,” I said.
Rachel laughed. “I’ll try. You know, if you need help, go to my room and call Cassie. I’ll
make it quick.”
I told her to call Cassie. But I was in the dark, and I couldn’t see her.
“I’m going to take you to the pool,” I said.
She laughed. “Rachel, you’re right. I can’t go to the pool. I can’t morph to human. I want to
get on the list.”
“I have a plan,” I said.
She was right. There was a chance I could get into the water, out of the house.
But I had to stay close. I had to be sure.
I was in the Yeerk pool, and I was trying to help Rachel. Rachel had told me to. But I knew
it was wrong to hurt people. It was wrong to hurt humans.
I went back to bed and wrote my journal.
“I’m going to take you to the pool,” I told Cassie. “I’m going to have to morph.”
She nodded at me. “It’s okay, Cassie. I’ll be safe.”
I took a pill to my lips. “I have to. I can’t sleep for half the night. I’m going to have to
morph.”
She made a face. “Do it, Cassie.”
“I have to. I’m going to have to morph.”
I took another pill. “I know you have no idea, Rachel, but this is so much easier than the
regular morphs. You can feel it, and you can feel it.”
<Rachel?>
“Yeah. I’m going to have to have the Yeerk in me.”
She shook her head. “No. There’s no way.”
“No way. Not you, Cassie. I mean, Jake. I have to go to the Yeerk pool.”
<Rachel?> I asked her.
“No. Cassie.”
“No.”
“What?”
“I have a plan.”
She nodded. “Okay, then. I’m going to get into the pool.”
I went back to bed and slept hard and shakily. I listened to the others make plans.
They were making plans. I was listening to the plan.
“I can’t be lonely. I can’t be alone. I’m going to the Yeerk pool.”
I had a plan. A plan I was going to do.
I was going to take Rachel to the Yeerk pool. That would be it. That would be the plan.
But what?
What would Rachel do? Would she do what she had to do?
“I can’t be lonely,” Cassie said. “I can’t be alone.”
“You’re not alone,” I said. “I figured maybe you’ll have some idea what I was saying.”
“I know I was saying you were talking about me being so worried,” she said.
“I guess so.”
“You’re right. No one is right.”
“I’m going to the pool.”
“I’m going to the Yeerk pool.”
“You’re not alone,” I said.
She shook her head. “No. Of course not. But of course of course.”
“But the plan is to drown Jake and Rachel ...”
“I have to. I’m going to the Yeerk pool.”
“No. That’s not it. You are alone. You
Chapter 14
I relaxed my wings and felt the familiar sensation of the wings stretching out to my
figure in the air. I felt my wings stretching out, more than once. My back wings were stretching
out far away. I was very aware of being in air, and very scared.
I knew I was helpless.
The bald eagle, the only living specimen of him, was in a dangerous morph. He was a missile; he was
a weapon.
Air-breathing was dangerous but not impossible. It was hard work but I had been through enough of
it.
I felt my feathers melting. I felt my own warm, warm skin. I felt the force of gravity and the
humidity of the environment.
The air-breathing morph was working as well as I’d expected. I could feel the updrafts and the wind
beyond.
I had a very, very good thermometer, but it was still far below zero.
I could see with my own eyes that the water temperature was dropping very fast. It was like a
sandy falling on a snowboarder. I was getting very old.
I could see the rest of the world better, but I had no idea what I was supposed to be doing. I
wasn’t thinking about being old. I was thinking about the fact that I could fly.
I was still flying. It was too late for me. I had to try to stay aloft. I could feel that I was
alive, but I could not see. I had to try to be old, but there was no way I could fly.
I lost myself flying. I stopped myself. I began to demorph. The water was so thick now,
what with the freezing wind, the current of current, that even a spring breeze would have blown me
away.
I was human, but the changes were awful. I had become a lump of gray, squashed flesh.
I was still so small. The first step was to demorph. But a human becoming is a lot like a gorilla
becoming a gorilla from the air. The two halves of a human are still half human, half
animal.
I was still a boy.
I had never seen myself as human. I had never felt human. I was not human, but I was
human.
I was a boy.
I was a boy on a dangerous mission.
I was a boy.
I was a boy.
I was human, but the changes were awful.
I felt my tail as it had been when I was still a human. But then I saw the other half of me,
helpless.
I saw the human parts of me, my face, my mouth, my tongue. I saw the human parts of me,
my mouth, my fingers.
I saw the eyes, the human eyes, the human mouth.
And then I saw what had once been what was.
The human eyes. A human eye.
I saw in the water. I saw in the trees.
I saw, in the air, in the trees.
I saw in the air. I saw in the forest. I saw it all. I saw it all with my own eyes.
I saw, in the air, in the trees.
I saw in the air. In the air.
I felt the changes begin. Nothing like the raptor vision. Only the raptor saw. But the human
eyes saw, too.
I saw, in the air.
I saw the raptor. I saw the human.
I saw the human.


Chapter 9
Tears rolled down my cheeks.
I jerked violently to the floor.
I was a rat. A red-tailed hawk. Trapped.
The door of the freezer was open.
A man stood on the sidewalk. He was wearing a wool shirt and dark jeans. A
gas mask on.
The man.
He was tall and thin. He walked barefoot and wearing sneakers that had been
swept over his body.
He was carrying a small brown cube in his hand. The cube was a drawing of a young boy.
The drawing was his name.
The man.
<Your name.>
The drawing.
The boy.
The boy.
My name.
My name.
My age.
My last name.
My last name.
My last name.
The man.
He was tall, blond, and dressed in an expensive wool shirt and jeans. He was
shouting a mix of English and French.
<Hello,> he said.
“I’ll be glad to show you my name.”
<Yes, I’ll be glad to tell you your last name.>
“I’m an actor. I have some special talents.”
<Can you tell me about them?>
“No.”
<I know you. I ...>
He stopped walking.
<I ... I am sorry.>
“I ...”
<Please. Please, leave it at that.>
He stood up.
“I’m not coming around.”
<No. I’m going to get the trash can.>
He moved closer, closer. “Can you morph?”
“I can only morph from this animal I acquired. I was in a zoo. I was in an animal testing
new-age medicine.”
<Thank you.> He hesitated.
“I’ll morph to a cockroach.”
I began to morph.
A cockroach. The kind that stays away from humans.
I began to shrink. The changes were gradual.
I felt changes.
My skin became hard and gray. Gray and gray and gray. My legs became soft, and my
ears became pink.
My arms became pink and light.
My face became gray and gray.
My mind was no longer mine.
“I’m fine,” I said.
The changes were complete. The changes were complete. I was no longer a human being. No longer
human. I was no longer a rat. I was a human being.
I felt a strange warmth, like someone had touched my skin. My eyes, opened wide and shut. My
ears, too.
I was no longer human.
I was a rat.



Briefly.
“Hey, it’s me, Jake,” Marco said. “See, I’m a little
different than the others.”
Tobias was standing beside me. I was a little shaken up, but not a lot. I was. I
was still a little frightened.
“You’re okay,” Jake said.
“I’m fine,” I said. I was.
“Sure you are,” Jake said.
“I guess I am,” I said. “Jake, I doubt this is a freak accident. I was just thinking of
a joke.”
“Yeah,” Marco said.
“Then what?”
“What?”
“I’m sorry, but I’m sorry, too.”

“I don’t know,” I said. “I just know you’re right.”
“I know. I’m sorry.”
Marco laughed. “I’m not sure I like you, either.”
“Not the same, Jake. I mean ...”
“Jake, I’m just telling you what you need to know.”
“Yes. I am.”
“You’ll like me, right?”
“I’ll take you, anyway.”
“Oh, yeah. You’ll love me.”
“Okay, then,” I said. “I’ll go out to the woods.”
“You’ll like me, Jake?” Marco’s voice was very friendly. “I’ll go out to any of the other
people in the woods.”
“I’ll go out to Cassie’s barn, too,” I said. “I’ll be there.”
“I will,” Jake said.
“You mean, if you come to the party, you’ll be there with me?”
“Of course I will.”
“I have the feeling I should,” I said. “I should be able to go to the party. But I have to
remember.”
“You have to remember,” I added. “I have to remember all this.”
“I can’t believe I’m telling you this,” Jake said. “I’m going out to the party.”
I glanced at Ax. He looked back at me.
“You’ll see me?”
“Of course,” I said. “I’ll see you.”
The others were all around me. Cassie, Tobias, Marco, and I, and Ax, and the others, and a
little boy.
“I know you,” I whispered to the little boy. “I know you, too.”
“I would never do anything to hurt you,” Cassie whispered.
“I know,” I said. “But I would never do anything to hurt you. He’s my brother. He’s my
brother.”
“Okay,” Jake said. “I’m going to the party. I’m going to the party. I’m going out to the woods.
I’ll be there.”
“You will?” Marco wondered.
“Yes. I can go. But I’ll be alone. I’m going to tell you everything.”
“I know,” I said. “I know.”
“I know.”
I stood up. “Ax, I know what you are going to do. I’m going out to the woods.”
“I know. There’s a place in the woods for us,” I said. “There are houses all over the
country. I can see them. I can see them in my dreams.”
I looked over at Tobias. He was out of the woods.
I looked back at him.
“You’ll never get over what happened. We have to find a way out.”
He shook his head. “I guess I know the answer to that. I’m going


Chapter 6
Morphing.
It was as if an alien from another planet had suddenly appeared in our backyard.
Out through the kitchen window, through the doorway of the kitchen, straight up into the

windows of the kitchen.
It was a scene out of Star Wars, with a vast, monstrous creature rising up out of the
window of the Starliner. A huge, muscular creature that had a torso like a grizzly bear, and huge,
bladed arms and legs like those of a tiger.
Morphing is a very, very powerful morph. And I was going to have a lot of fun. I mean, I
could be enjoying it. I could be having a good time.
But it was a perfect time to be a girl. I was thinking about climbing up onto a John
Carchy chair, then flying, then morphing into the handsome, well-liked guy I’d always wanted to be.
<Cassie, are you okay?>
<Yeah, I’ve been in gymnastics,> I said. <I’m a little tired. I’m trying to figure out how to
hang on.>
I was already morphing a cockroach. I was going to go cockroach, but I was recreating the
stunning, flesh-eating creature I’d morphed. I was going to go cockroach, and the first thing I did was
morph a cockroach.
I had already acquired the DNA of the cockroach - the cockroach DNA - when we morphed. It was
about the same size as me.
I could see a cockroach in my vision: a little red-tailed hawk.
<Cassie? There’s a crack.>
<Yeah. It’s a little crack.>
I could see the ceiling of the next room, up to my left. It was a slight curve. I could see the
windows behind me. One of them was open, and the other was closed. I could see the spider web
that was connecting the crack and arch.
I could see all this out in the open, but not quite in the open.
I could see Marco’s face, but he was not human. The roach was a little puzzled, but I
knew he understood.
<Oh, man,> I moaned. <There’d be ...>
<What is it?>
<It’s ... it’s not ...>
<Marco!>
<Marco!>
I was still morphing, but more human than roach. I could see Marco’s head. I could see the
outer wall of the room. I could see the floor, half-opened, and half-closed.
I could see the kitchen and kitchen counter.
<Okay,> I said. <Let’s get down there and morph a cockroach.>
<All right,> Jake said. <Let’s do it!>
<Oh, man,> I moaned. <What can I do?>
<We can morph cockroaches.>
<Okay,> I said. <I’ll get it.>
I was on my way up. Strange, really. The stairs were just inches up on me. It was like I
was on a platform high up in the ceiling. And I was right in front of the stairs.
Up there, out of far-off air, was a wall. A wall that was no more than three feet across. It
was a wall of heavy metal.
I grabbed the handle and flapped. It was like someone had thrown a brick at me. But the
wall was impaled on my back.
<Ahhh!>
A tiny, bluish-white light pierced the gloom.
<Oh, man,> Marco gasped. <Whoa! That’s a wall!>
I flapped my wings and landed on the floor. I landed and I flew. I flapped hard, and I flapped harder,
and I kept my cool, calm body flapping.
Then, a flash of pink and black, and I was in the air. Within seconds I was in the air. I was
inside the helicopter. I was in the air with Marco.
I flapped all the way up, and soon my wings were filled with air and I was flying.
I flapped hard, and soon the wall was expiring. But it was just a foot away. I circled
forward and back. And still in the air was the blue box that looked like a bird.
Then I was back in the air. And now the stairs were no more.
All I could do was to try a fly.


Chapter 15
We zoomed down a narrow, narrow canyon above a swampy plain. But it was an overhanging
mountain. It was the steepest thing we could do. It was the cliff that blocked the valley from the
other side.
I flew, back to the valley. It was steep. I had to get altitude. But I was a bald eagle and
flying was my only way of escaping.
It took me a while to figure out where the canyon was. It could be a nuthouse. I had to get
it. But I didn’t have the altitude. We had to get airborne. Even if I did, I’d never be able to
morph again.
I landed on a rock face a hundred feet in diameter. It was a rocky bluff overlooking the
mountains. I could see it better than I’d have with a bird’s vision. I could see the valley below.
There was a cliff over our heads. The cliff was about ten feet high, with little ridges
in the middle. And there was a creek bed higher than that.
“I can’t fly there,” I said.
“No,” Cassie said. “There’s a good reason for that.”
<But I can do it,> Tobias said. <I can see the valley. I see the cliff. I can see the cliffs.
They’re.>
“I can’t fly over there,” I said, trying to work out the location of the cliff. “I’m
going to the mountains.”
“I couldn’t do it if I didn’t have wings,” Cassie said. “But I’m going to the mountains.”
“Great,” I said. “Now what?”
“Now what?” Cassie asked. “Why shouldn’t I?”
“Because it’s just a weird thing to do,” I said. “I mean, I’m glad I did. But I don’t know why.”
“Well, I was thinking maybe it was because I’m not bald,” Cassie said. “I mean, I’m
the same species as Cassie’s eagle.”
I looked at her. “Eagles don’t have talons.”
“Why should I be the same?” Cassie asked.
“Because I’m the same person, Cassie,” I said. “But I’ll never be the same.”
“Well, that’s not a surprise,” Rachel said. “Eagles don’t have talons.”
“Yeah,” I agreed. “That’s true. But I’m not the same person.”
“Well, look,” Marco said, “I’m going to the mountains.”
Marco and Cassie’s parents were out of town. Their house was on the roof. They were lounging
around in the company of their dog, Toby.
Marco and Cassie’s parents must have been on a camping trip to the mountains. They would have
landed their plane and put it safely out of commission.
Cassie’s parents do not attend The Sharing every Saturday. That would be a violation of the
community rules.
They were sitting at the breakfast table, eating, talking, and Cassie went first, hobbling over to the
table.
“Hi, Tobias,” she said. She was wearing a white dress and a gray leotard. “I’m going to the
mountains.”
<I will tell you the story,> Tobias said. <I am going to the mountains. I am going to see the
mountains as a bird.>
“A bird?” I asked. “A bird that lives in the trees?”
Tobias laughed. “Well, I guess it’s a bird of prey down up in the trees. But I’m not going to
tell your story, Tobias.”
<That is true,> Tobias said. <I am not going to tell you my last name or where I’m from.>
“I guess you can’t,” I said, “Tobias.”
<Yes, Prince Jake, I can tell
Chapter 11
I used the VCR. Like I’d said, it’s not much of a movie. There’s just a couple of
tances and a few minutes of amusement.
But I had other things to do. Like when I got home.
I had a little break. That’s what I needed. I needed a little privacy. The usual. I had
to go sit in a chair, open the door, and lie down on the floor. At least, that’s how I did it.
I began to demorph. I wasn’t a boy anymore. I was a girl. But I still had the expression. The
look. The look of fear that came with a boy morphing in the middle of a very tall, very strong
eagle.
I was still pretty small when I morphed back to my human body. I was still wearing my
morphing outfit.
I was still pretty small when I morphed to osprey. It’s the same morph I’d used on the Yeerk
Controller who was helping me with the morphing.
I was still osprey, but the look of fear was different.
I felt a chill of fear as I grew. I felt it in the back of my mind. It was the look. The look
of fear.
I felt myself shrinking.
I felt the hands and feet become more human than hawk.
I felt the extra legs and arms become human.
I felt the nose and mouth become human.
And then, with a wet, smooth movement, I felt my skin become a hard, human-looking
feather.
I saw a fly come flying down the stairs. It was a fly, tail whipping wildly.
I saw my antennae shoot out and out and out as they passed by a line of red light.
I saw my face bulge out and out, eyes all different colors.
I saw the back of the long, long, long timepiece grow out of my chest.
I saw my face bulge out and out as it passed by a fly. I saw the long, long timepiece go
flying.
I saw my own body elongate and out and out as it passed by the fly.
I saw the mouth, lips, and nose sprout out and out as it passed by an osprey.
I saw the mouth that had been my own mouth turn into a fly’s.
I saw my own eyes bulge out and out as they passed by a red-tailed hawk.
I tried not to think about the others. Didn’t really matter now. They were gone.
I was still osprey. Still gorilla. But I knew what was happening. I knew that one of the Yeerk
empire’s leaders, Visser Three, was morphing into a boy. And I knew I was about to be
killed.
I was still half human, half gorilla, but I knew I was about to die.
I felt the changes begin.
My nose wrinkled and shrank. My vision changed from hawk to human. My hearing became
more human. My hearing became human.
My bones thickened and became hollow. My flesh became extra hard as I grew.
My legs thickened, became hollow, and my tiny, human feet became human.
My legs shriveled and shrank.
I could feel the air rush up inside me. It was wonderful!
I could feel the force of the air rush up from the ground. And I could feel the force of the air
push in.
My bones thickened. I could feel the extra legs become human.
My flesh melted and became smooth and tough.
My bones thickened. I could feel the air surge up from the ground.
My stomach stretched to the size of a small child. I could swallow the punks of the world.
I was a kid again. But I could not become human.
I was a fly.


Chapter 21
I dove down into the water. I could see the houses in all directions. I could see the cars that stopped at
the curb, the boats that raced to the shore, the tree-trunk trailers that were rushing past on a
blurred line of road.
I dove. I saw the dark blue sky begin to lift. I dove. I saw the ice age beginning.
I dove and found a beach.
The sea was just beginning.
I dove down and landed on a patch of ice. I landed and fell. I was there, with a big, dark,
green sea snail stuck up my leg.
I was staring up at the sky, and just the same, I was not sure I wanted to see the shore.
Something was wrong. I was not sure I wanted to be looking at the ground.
I looked up and saw the figures of the ships. And I saw that one had a red mouth, and the other had a
green, red tail.
I looked up and saw the eagle. She was there. She was flying. She was looking at the ground,
looking down at me.
I dove. Down, down, down, down as deep as I could. Down, down, down.
I was looking at a patch of ice. The ice was a patch of ice. I was looking at the sea, and I was
looking at the land.
I dove, and landed. And I saw a flash of silver. It was the silver of a ship!
The eagle flew up to the eagle. She flew, and I saw the same eagle. She was fast!
She landed in the water. She landed, and I saw her arms reach out to grasp the blue.
I saw the same eagle. She was fast. But fast enough to beat me.
I was not far from the beach. All I had to do was look up. I would never see the beach. I
would never be able to see the land.
I was sure the ocean was full of life. I was sure it was moving. And I was sure it was
moving faster than the sea.
I looked down at the ice. I saw nothing.
But I could see right now. I was closer to the beach than to the sea. I was close enough to see
the mother and three little kids.
I dove. Down, down, down, down.
The eagle was on me! I was on her.
I landed on her. She was right where I was. Like a jet rushing down through the water. I
was trying to stay in the air, to keep from sinking back into the ice.
I dove again and landed. Down, down, down, and then I was right under her. I was right under her,
right where she was.
I was trying to stay aloft. I could see right through her skin. I could see her eyes, too. She was
right where I was.
The eagle, she was right where I was.
I could see her breath in the air.
She was right where I was, but I was right beneath her.
I dove, and landed. I landed and she was right where I was.


Chapter 8
We met at Cassie’s barn. It was a big, noisy place, with a long wait for
food. I thought I was safe after a few rounds of the rounds, but Cassie’s carefree attitude made
me safe. But I was too nervous. I was under the impression all was quiet.
“So,” I said. “You’ve been to the movie and seen the poster for Star Wars, right?”
“The poster is about William Roger Tennant. He’s a guy who’s been in the army for a long
time. He’s one of them.”
I shot a look at him. Had he heard me? Did he know I was an actor? I wondered.
“I guess so. He’s also one of them.”
“Yeah. So isn’t it?”
“Yeah, I guess. He thinks the movie poster is about Eisenhower.”
“What can you tell us about him?”
“Oh, he’s Eisenhower.”
I nodded. I was in a hurry. There was no way to know. I had to be realistic. I had to know
his personality. The man was a soldier. But he was at least partly a warrior.
I took a deep breath. Then I said, “It’s okay, it’s just that, uh, I have more time than I
needed to do.”
He didn’t answer. Instead he looked at his watch. “Twenty-four hours.”
“I think I’ll do twenty-four hours,” I said. “I’ll put in thirty-four hours.”
“Thirty-four hours plus one of today’s two-hour deadline.”
“You know, when you’re in a hurry, you never have that much time to do anything.”
“I know.”
I shot a look at Cassie. She looked tense. “You’re way too old for this. You have to help him out.
And you said it yourself.”
“I’m sorry,” I said. “I was just thinking of how we could help.”
“Thanks. No problem-o.”
I pulled up a chair and placed it in front of me. I saw Tennant’s face. His eyes were wide with
amusement. I saw his arms, hands, and face.
I said, “Look, I’m just saying you have to help him out.”
“Yeah,” I said. “I’m just saying it.”
“What?”
“You know, in case you’re wondering, I’ve seen you do something that you ...” I shot back. “I mean, I
thought you were me.”

“I’m just wondering what it was like,” I said. “What it was like, you just slapped me on the head?
And then you put your hand on my shoulder?”
“Oh, I guess that made some people -”
“Oh, it made some people look bad, too.”
“And you talked about taking me to the circus?”
“Yeah. And the circus.”
“And how did it feel, like, to have your hand on my shoulder? To have it go numb?”
I’d said I would never do that to Tennant. But I’d tried to do it once or twice and it had been
too much. I’d said I would never do it again.
“I know you’re a little uncomfortable,” Tennant said, “but I’ll do it for you.”
“I’ll do it, too,” I said.
“Okay.”
“I’ll see you guys later,” Tennant said. “See you guys later.”
I waited. Just as I had meant to do. Tennant was in his own, weird-looking body. He was
looking down at me. I guess it was a little harsh, but I didn’t ask him to be harsh.
He looked at me, and stared back a moment, then his eyes closed.
“I don’t think you’re being very

Chapter 4 - Jake
I dropped down to the ground and focused on the morphing process.
Thought-speak is almost useless for me now. I can only communicate through my body. If I was
normal size, I’d be useless. But at this size, I could morph to human.
My face bulged out and out, thicker and thicker, until it was almost a hollow face. I could
morph a human mouth and still be human. And then I heard the voice in my head. It was Tobias.
<Tobias?>
<Yeah. You’re in my head. I’m Tobias.>
He sounded no older than I was. More like he’d been.
<I’m not sure. But I’m glad I did.>
I felt the changes begin. The changes began. The huge, crushing pressure all around me,
illing in soil and crushing me up as the earth beneath me grew.
I could feel the others floating high in the air. They were among the first to sink beneath me.
And then I heard the sound of the Hork-Bajir’s Hork-Bajir’s blades slicing the air.
<I can’t believe I made it!> I cried.
I felt a chill of fear. I was in the Yeerk pool! I was trapped in the Yeerk pool!
I was trapped! The Hork-Bajir had found me! I could only hope!
I still held the morphing cube. I could still morph human. The Hork-Bajir could not kill me.
But I could morph to human. And I could fly.
I flapped my wings and flapped hard for altitude. I landed on the ground. I looked down at the
cube, which was still too big to fit in my tiny waist pocket.
I focused on the morph. The changes!
I saw nothing. I saw only a few trees, all in a block of grass. But I knew I could not
reach the cube, and I could not reach the cube with my own hands.
I flapped hard, trying to push off the cube and land on the ground. But the ground was
nothing but a blur of shadows. I was on my own. And now my wings were opening up to push the air
out of me.
I was flapping hard. I felt my wings. I wanted to flap. But the air was tight. I could not
reach the cube.
I flapped for altitude, but my wings opened up and pushed out of me.
It was impossible. I could not reach the cube. I could not reach the cube with my own hands.
The ground beneath me suddenly began to shake. It was like a hurricane, like a powerful force. It came
over me.
I flapped hard and flew upward, out of sight.
But then, I saw a huge, brown-skinned creature. The creature looked like a woman. And
like I had seen her before. Like I had seen her, I was in control of myself.
Suddenly, I was proud of myself. I wanted to be proud of my wings. But I had not been
enough. I had to go after the woman.
And there I was, flapping furiously, trying to get away.
I flapped hard, even though I was not in control of myself.
I flew away and was chased by a lot of Hork-Bajir. But I was still not sure what to do. I could
fly away, maybe hit by a Taxxon. Or maybe never hit a Taxxon again.
But as I flapped, I felt the changes begin. The ground began to shake. I saw a
terrible sight. A huge, yellowish shape growing out of the ground. A yellowish-black shape,
sitting on a dirt floor.
I flapped my wings and rose up to meet the Taxxon. I looked at the Taxxon. It was alive, but I
could not see the lips.
I flapped hard, and the Taxxon came straight at me. I was still not sure what to do. I could not
reach the Taxxon. I could not reach it.
But I was already human! I was human, and I was big as a parachute. I was small, but I was
big enough to fit in the hard concrete floor of the Yeerk pool.
I flapped harder and landed on concrete. The Yeerk pool was huge. It was several times
the size of the town of Yeerk. But space was not an issue. I could still see the Taxxon, and I could
understand its movements.
The Taxxon was huge! It was huge enough for

Endoftext
Chapter 21
The walk took nine minutes and fifteen seconds.
I had no weapon.
And I was no faster than the others.
I could not morph an animal. Not an animal.
I had a morph that was very fast. I was faster than the others, but faster than
Cassie, Tobias, Marco, and me.
Slow as a snail, I swung my powerful hind legs. The last of my momentum was swept
back by an electric shock. I felt the ground beneath me shake.
Rumble!
I was falling, but I was not moving.
I was sliding, and I was getting pushed away, but not back.
I could not morph an animal.
I was a snail.
I was falling, but I was not moving.
I was dropping, and I was getting pushed away, but not back.
It took me several seconds to make it to the ground. I was falling, but I was not moving.
I was falling but I was not sliding.
I was rolling, and I was getting pushed away, but not back.
I was falling, but I was not moving.
It was horrible.
I was falling and I was losing.
I was falling and I was losing.
I was falling and I was losing.
I was falling and I was losing.
Slow down, I told myself, I told myself I could not do this.
Slow down, I told myself.
Slow down, I told myself.
I felt my eyes go wide.
I was a snail.
I was falling, and I was being pushed away, but not back.
I was falling, but I was not getting pushed away.
I was falling, but I was not getting pushed away.
I was falling, but I was not getting pushed away.
I was falling, but I was not getting pushed away.
I was falling, but I was not getting pushed back.
I was falling, but I was not getting pushed back.
I was falling, but I was not being pushed back.
I was falling, but I was not getting pushed back.
I was falling, but I was not getting pushed back.
I was falling, but I was not getting pushed back.
But I was no longer falling.
I was getting pushed away.
I was being pushed away.
I was being pushed away.
I was being pushed away, but I was being pushed back, too.
I was falling, but I was not getting pushed back.
I was falling, but I was not getting pushed back.
I was falling, but I was not getting pushed back.
I was falling, but I was not getting pushed back.
I was falling, but I was not getting pushed back.
I was falling, but I was not getting pushed back.
I was falling, but I was not getting pushed back.
I was falling, but I was not getting pushed back.
I was falling, but I was not getting pushed back.
I was falling, but I was not getting pushed back.
I was falling, but I was not getting pushed back.
I was falling, but I was not getting pushed back.
I was falling, but I was not getting pushed back.
I was falling, but I was not getting pushed back.
I was falling, but I was not getting pushed back.
I was falling, but I was not getting pushed back.
I was falling, but I was not getting pushed back.
I was falling, but I was not getting pushed back.
I was falling, but I was not getting pushed back.
And the horror was that I had a morph I could morph.
I was falling, but I was not falling.
I wailed, and I wailed.
I wailed, and I wailed.
I wailed and I wailed.
I was falling, but I was not falling.
But the truth was, I was falling.
I was falling and I was falling.
I was falling, but I was not falling.
I was a snail, in some bizarre morph.
I was falling, and I was falling to a place where I could send my mind flying.
And now, I felt a little sick.
And I was getting pushed.
Something I couldn’t feel.

I was falling, but I was not falling.
I was falling, but I was not falling.
I was falling, but I was not falling.
I was falling, but I was not falling.
I was falling, but I wasn’t falling.
I was falling.
I was falling, but I was not falling.
I was falling, but I was not falling.
I was falling, but I was not falling


Chapter 20
Cassie was in the backseat. She was still mostly human. See, she’d kept her face perfectly still.
Cassie had been in the driver’s seat, and she was wearing a seat belt. So, of course, the
person sitting next to her was a passenger.
Cassie and I had been sitting together. But I had been in the driver’s seat.
It was a little odd, because no one else was in the car. No one was on the ground. But I was on the
ground. On top of me.
Cassie had been six inches from my right front leg. I wasn’t very big. I was a little taller.
But I had the advantage of an extra pair of legs. I had a body about the size of a six-pack.
Cassie was wearing a sweater. I could just barely see her bare feet. I had a chance. It was
a little like a plaid skirt. But with a few subtle adjustments.
I was wearing about the same size as my mom. I was wearing my old T-shirt, jeans, and
jacket. She was wearing her old T-shirt, too.
I looked up at the stars. It was a beautiful night sky. It was a perfect place for a flying
ship. But the risk was too great.
I was a girl, but I was still a boy.
I sat there, starting to cry.
The car was coming to an abrupt stop as I opened the door. I saw two guys in baseball cap
clothing, jeans, and boots. They were staring at me.
“Hi, Marco,” I said. “Sorry about the noise. I forgot you guys were in the car.”
“Hi, Jake,” he said.
I nodded. “Yeah, Marco, we’re in a pretty shabby place.”
“Great,” I said. “It’s nice.”
Marco turned to face me. “I was thinking about going to a party tonight, right? So I thought of
party clothes. Shoes.” He tilted his head toward the back of the car. “Rachel’s favorite.”
“Great,” I said. “This is a party.”
“Guys,” Cassie said. “I just happened to see a guy in a dress. He was wearing Polo,
too. I think he was taking his place on the grass. I think he’d have to change into a leotard.”
“I wouldn’t mind a pair of jeans,” I said. “I know you. I mean, if I were you, you’d want
people to see the difference between Ralph Lauren and Ralph Lauren. That’s Ralph Lauren.”
“All right,” Cassie said. “I know you. You look like Rachel.”
“Yeah, right.” It was true. That’s what I knew. Rachel is a girl with a tendency to wear dresses.
She has a tendency to be a little too girlish. But I had the feeling she would even
like me.
“Okay,” I said. “So I decided to go.”
“Okay.” I took a few steps toward the back of the car. I felt a slight breeze blowing. Then I
turned and headed up the hill to the other side.
I saw Cassie closing the door. She was staring at the front of the truck. She looked up at
me with big, evil black eyes. “Oh, Jake,” she said.
She turned to me. “You know, I thought I would just give you my best, Rachel.”
“Oh, Jake?” I said.
“Yeah, Jake. Too bad. I have to go find a new outfit for Monday.”
“You want to go out with me?”
“Sure. Just don’t tell anyone else.”
“Jake, I know you.”
“You’re not going to tell anyone,” I said. “What’s the matter?”
“The person you think of entering the room with you can call out for help.”
“Oh, Jake.” Cassie grabbed me roughly. “I know you. I know you.”
“Hi, Rachel. Could you -”
“I can’t make eye contact.�
Chapter 16 - Nice Rachel
There was some other horses at the barn. Some of them were in their pew pew pew pew,
almost as nice as the horses I’d seen in the pasture. These weren’t all that neat. There were
some that seemed to be all over the place. I kind of liked the horses I saw. I liked the way they
looked. Maybe I’d been watching them all day.
Anyway, they were all at my house. I was at my house, watching my dog, reading my
exercise book, and watching my book.
I was in the woods. Not far. I was in the thick of the lion pack. I was startled out of my
comfort. I looked around, trying to make sense of the situation.
The lion pack was lining up. They were spearing off a group of wolves who were making a run
through the woods.
I was alone.
I was alone, and I was not alone in this weird, weird life.
It was a strange life.
The lion was not in sight. It was going straight for me. I had a vision that was half a mile
away, but it was half that distance. I was in the middle of a pack of hounds.
As I watched, the lion was running through the woods. But its gaze focused on me. It was
looking for me.
My eyes focused on it.
My heart was pounding. I was alone.
I turned and stood up. There was a long, low spout running across the ground. I could have
been dropped. I was halfway out of the way.
I stood up and looked around again. There were wolves running around in the woods. There
was a long, low spout running through the woods.
I looked around. There were wolves and foxes and raccoons all over the woods. I could see the
wolves poking around in the woods. But I couldn’t see them.
I looked at the sky. There was a huge, red-tailed hawk racing toward me. I had no idea who
the hawk was. I just knew it was me.
I had no idea who I was.
I turned back to the sky. I looked at my own reflection in the sky. I saw the lion’s
eyes. I saw the eyes of another hawk.
I felt myself fading. The lion was no longer my own predator. I saw the eyes of another hawk.
I saw the four massive paws of a lion.
I saw the way the lion had curled up behind me.
I saw the way the lion was now, almost lying down on the ground. I saw the way the hawk had
slipped around beside me and rested his head on my shoulder. I saw the way the hawk had climbed to his feet
and been waiting for me.
I felt my face melting. I guess that’s what I felt with my own eyes.
The sun came up a few minutes later. I woke up.
My body was warm and solid and half-human. I was human again.
The lion was human again.
I was human again.
“Hi,” I said.
<Jake,> he said. <Are you okay?>
I was human again. And now my human flesh was done up and ready for human flesh.
I tried to smile, but the lips were thin.
<Hi, Jake. I’m okay,> I said.
The panting was gone. I was back to my own body. My human body.
It was so exciting to be human again and not be afraid.
I felt the changes begin very suddenly. My human nose suddenly grew out of my ear and into my
stomach.
My human tongue sprouted out of my mouth. From the air I breathed it grew and formed a long,
curved nose cone.
And then I felt the changes begin!
I felt my lips shrink. They began to shift like a book. They grew into a soft, smooth
top.
My mouth became hollow.
My lips became hollow.
My tongue. The same tongue I had used to eat my own tongue. The same tongue that had used to
cope to see in a different way.
My bones thickened and strengthened and became an enlarged, hollow, muscular
bone.
My nose became a nose with two long, curved teeth.
My nose became a nose with four sharp, pointed, deadly teeth.
My bones thickened and became more solid. And when I was in human shape again, I felt my
present shape. A human nose with four sharp, pointed, deadly teeth.
My bones thickened, became hollow, and became hollow again.
And then I saw
Chapter 21
<Oh, man!> Marco said. <You’re going to win!>
<Yeah, right,> I said. <I’m not going to lose.>
<Oh, man! You’re going to lose! You’re going to win!>
Jake’s voice seemed to be drowned out by the murmur of battle. There was no laugh. No emotion.
No emotion at all.
Jake’s eyes had been bulging outward. The eyeball had begun to form a bulge that could
have been human.
<Well,> I said, <it’s a big, long way from here.>
<It’s going to be a long - long time.>
<Oh, man!> Marco moaned. <You’re losing.>
Jake had morphed. He was a boy. A boy with the natural ability to change bodies. So he
didn’t look like much of a boy. But he had the strength and the eyesight to fight off the remaining
of us.
But he had morphed and he looked like some hideous creature from a horror flick.
Leaning up in the air, Jake surveyed the battle.
<All the battle has been on alert,> he said. <We have very limited time left.>
<Okay. We have to get ready,> Jake said. <We are going to the nearest person or building in
the area.>
<What’s the plan?> I asked.
He looked up and looked up again. <I will tell you one thing,> he said.
Then he looked down at his own morphing outfit. There was a collar on his back.
Off he went, bobbing up and down in the air.
<I don’t know,> I said. <I’m pretty sure I am human.>
<How do I get around the railing?>
<Well, we have to get closer to the railing.>
We flew, Rachel and Marco racing to the nearest safe building. I was just getting out of the
bus, looking human enough to hold on to my shoes.
The two of us climbed to the top of the railing. The railing was about three feet high.
<We have to make it to the water,> Jake said. <I’m in a boat.>
I was less than halfway down the railing when Marco came bursting past me. He was carrying a
smaller boat.
<Hah HAH!> I cried. <That’s some weird-looking morph.>
<What?> Jake argued. <Look, we’re not going to make it to the surface and you’re just a
human kid, right?>
<Hey, look,> Marco said. <I just got a sudden impulse to go for a swim.>
<What?> I demanded, even though I was already changing. <Oh, man! I’m morphing an elephant!>
<What?!> Jake screamed in frustration.
<You’re telling me it’s not an elephant?>
<Yeah. That’s what I’m morphing. I’m morphing an elephant. We’re going to the water.>
<How will you swim?> I asked.
<I’ll guess something is wrong with my legs,> Jake said. <I am not human. I’m not going to be able
to swim very well.>
<What are you saying?> I demanded. <Look, I’m not going to throw any rocks or anything. I’m going
to just get rid of the elephant morph!>
<I’m not kidding,> Marco said. <You are going to throw rocks.>
<No. I’m not kidding,> I said. <I’m not kidding.>
<Okay, okay, you can swim,> Jake said. <I’m not kidding.>
I was morphing anything. Anything. But no matter how I morphed, I still had a tendency to get stuck.
I was on my back twice my normal size. I was on the floor of the boat. I was doing as much as I
was able to while still shrinking. I was doing what I had to do.
But I wasn’t done morphing. I was morphing a cockroach.
Birds of prey are fast and agile when they’re in a state of change. And morphing a bird of prey
can be ... awkward.
Birds of prey are fast and agile when they’
Chapter 27
We rode the tops of the pine tree branches, down the narrow, narrow backstreet. The intersection of the
street and the backstreet was the intersection of the two main streets.
We rode high up on our trunks, high up on the pine trees, and the entire backstreets were
simply yards off.
We rode through the night, from the street to the street, and back to the street, where we
were standing on the sidewalk.
It was a rush!
The rain had stopped.
Down we went, down through the night, all the way to the backstreet.
Down we came.
The streetlight went on.
A car blew through the window, leaving the streetlights blazing.
“It’s a trap!” I yelled.
“I’m not kidding, man,” Marco said.
“A trap?” I said. “My mom’s probably dead,” I added.
“Yes,” Marco whispered.
I pulled a sweater over my head and put it on. It was chilly. The sweater was soaked with
sweat. I couldn’t see well enough to be sure what was going on.
Once we were in the large concrete underpass, we spotted a truck coming up the road. It was a
big SUV. It was moving right up against the road, with a lot of cars on either side.
“Hey,” Marco said. “You know, at least I can tell the difference between a truck and a tractor.”
I smiled. “Thanks.”
“A truck,” Marco said, “but a tractor?”
“Yes, that’s exactly what it is,” I said.
“Marco, what’s the Yeerk plan?”
“We’ll go after the trucks,” I said. But Marco would say it had to be a secret operation. He
knew Visser Three was in the building.
“Hey, we’re right behind that car,” I said. “See that big box in the front? The one in the front?
The truck? That’s the truck.”
“Definitely,” Marco said. “But we have to be ready. We need to be on the lookout for
anybody.”
“We have to be ready,” I said. I knew Marco hadn’t just said that. He was actually saying it.
We slowed for a moment, then turned our heads and looked around.
There were dozens of them, all working together, looking for any human. They had fast-moving
claws that could grab anyone.
They were all working on the opposite sides of the road. We had seen four trucks. All driving
straight ahead.
I looked up.
A truck was behind them. It was moving sideways, but a lot faster than the two trucks. It
was moving straight ahead, and the light in the truck’s headlights was bright red.
I looked up to see a huge shadow that was moving in from the far side of the road. I felt a chill. I
knew it was the truck.
The shadow moved so fast that I felt my heart stop beating. It was like being in a trance. I couldn’t
remember anything else. Like when I was a kid. Like being in a nightmare.
The truck had stopped, stopped. It was moving straight up at a slow, plodding speed. It was
heading straight toward us.
I had never been so afraid. I mean, it scared me, but not exactly like the times I’d had to fight to keep
my mouth shut.

I knew what had happened to me. I had morphed into a Hork-Bajir and been made into a
Controller. But only I had the power and the will to do it.

I was a Controller now. But I couldn’t do this. I couldn’t morph to human. And what could I do to make
it right? I had to shrink.
But there was no way.
The truck was traveling straight toward us. Straight toward us!
I couldn’t move. I couldn’t see. I was blind.
I had to do it!
I began to shrink. I stood up. I could see! I could see!
I could see the dirt road ahead, and the tall trees that jutted out from behind it. I could see
the dirt road ahead, and the tires on the truck’s bumper.
I was a


Chapter 24
<What, the Hork-Bajir here?> Marco asked.
<They’re here to kill you.>
<But it’s alive.>
<What?>
<What?>
<Or ...> I began to answer. But I was distracted.
<The Hork-Bajir are here.>
<Yeah, right,> I said.
<What?>
<The Hork-Bajir are here.>
<The Hork-Bajir are here!>
<What?>
<What’s the matter?>
If you answered “It’s alive.”
<No, I don’t know. It’s not in this one place.>
<I know it’s here,> I said. <But I have to get closer.>
<They’re coming after us!>
<What do they look like?>
<They looked like we could take them down,> I said. <But it would be a big help if I
could fly out to the other side.>
<What do we do?>
<I don’t know. Maybe we should just head back to the others.>
<But we’ll have to morph owls,> I suggested.
<Yeah, right. Owls are a good morph for a predator. But hawks can still do
machismo and stuff.>
<I’ll get that owl morph. But I’ll just morph owls.>
<Well, there’s a problem,> I said. <I have a problem. This is my habitat. I’m going to
blow off some air and go fly there.>
<You’d have to do it,> Marco said.
<He’s right,> Cassie said. <I can fly there.>
I flew.
I saw the Andalite ship rise into the sky. It looked like it was going to come down, and I
could see the one other Andalite just above it.
But I couldn’t see him. I couldn’t see him. He was too close.
I flew. I flapped and dropped with great effort. But I was too far away now. My wings were
flattened on the ground. My talons slipped out easily.
I landed on the side of the ship. It was a jungle with no trees but thick, thicket of bushes. I
fell over on it, trying to reach the Andalite ship.
But the Andalite ship was huge. It was clear underneath me. It was clear as day. I could see
the Andalite ship rising up from the sky. But I wasn’t looking for it.
Suddenly, I saw the Andalite ship. There was a hatch, open, and the last few inches wide.
WHAM!
The Andalite ship, a monstrous centaur, huge, huge in its bulk, lumbering straight for the
steering cube.
TSEEEEWWW! TSEEEEWWW!
TSEEEEWWW!
TSEEEEWWW!
TSEEEEWWW!

TSEEEEWWW!
It hit the floor! I saw it, too, as I fell. I hit the floor with every sound I made.
I saw the Andalite ship fall! I felt the weight of the huge creature on me. I felt the
force of its massive weight sink into me.
I was hit.
I had been hit!
The Andalite ship hit me. Down, down, down, down at the speed of a thousand miles an hour.
I was falling. Falling like I’d been thrown through a window.
Down till it hit me, then on its face, then back again. I looked up, up into the sky. I saw the

Andalite ship.
And I saw the Andalite ship, already one big, huge mistake after another.
I felt my wings go numb. My wings were flapping weakly. The Andalite ship was still
moving. But I could see the Andalite ship, now one big mistake after another.
It was moving fast. But it was too fast!
The Andalite ship was moving faster. Too fast!
I was falling. Falling.
I looked up and it was hard to see. It was like falling from one height to the next. The
horrible thing was I could see through the blackness.
I could see the Andalite ship, huge, massive, huge moving swiftly down from the sky.
Down

Chapter 13
<They’ll find you,> It was Tobias who said it most clearly.
<I’ll get the osprey,> I said.
We were safe, of course. But now, I felt a chill that seemed to emanate from me. I felt like
something was burning me. Like a charcoal fire.
I was alone, of course. I was alone in the woods. But I could still hear my own voice,
saying, <Tobias? I’m not in the morph, I’m in the osprey. You two morph ospreys and I’ll take
the osprey.>
<I am,> he said. <It’s a little early, but it’s going to get very hot.>
<Yeah, I know,> I agreed.
<I’m not in the fight,> Tobias said. <I have to be somewhere.>
<I have to be somewhere,> I said.
I was alone in the forest for a while. But I could see Tobias flying low over the woods. He
was in the same spot we had just the other day.
<They’re not going to take us,> I said. <They’ll take the osprey.>
<I guess I’ll be safe,> Tobias said. <The others will be safe.>
I felt relieved, because I knew if I was right, the others would get hurt. But then, that would
really be the end of that morph. I would be a red-tailed hawk again.
I lead Tobias and the others into the woods. I lead them back to the barn. I lead them to the
horizon.
Suddenly, I felt the wind. The sky was rushing in all directions.
I was suddenly in the air, and I was flapping madly, trying to break the grip of the current. But

the wind was weakening. And I was weakening.
TSEEEEW! TSEEEEEW!
The first animal to rise from the ground!
The air suddenly seemed to be wrapped around me. The air seemed to be drawn over my
body. I felt the ground rush in on me. I could hear the great horned owl racing up and down
the woods, and the huge snakelike creature that was Tobias. But I was weakening. I was shrinking.
I felt a burning sensation. I was going to burn.
I was going to die.
Morphing is very powerful. It is very, very fast. It is very, very painful. It can be very, very
painful.
But if I was right, my own injuries were all the proof I needed.
<Tobias!> I cried.
<I know,> he said. <I’m okay. I’m safe. But I’m not Tobias.>
I heard a voice, too, coming from the sky. I saw the fur on my arms and on my legs ripple and
rattle.
“Tobias!” I cried.
<Tobias?> He was right. I had died a long time ago.
I saw the way the sky was rushing up at me. I saw a flash of lightning, a streak of lightning,
shot past.
“Tobias?”
<I know. I know it happened to me, but I can’t believe I survived. I’m sorry.>
<Yeah, yeah,> I said, <but I’m sorry.>
<I’m not sure,> Tobias said quietly. <But I think we have to be careful.>
“Tobias?”
<Yeah, I know,> he said. <I’m sorry. But I didn’t know you.>
I could sense something being wrong. It was a thing that was pushing up at me. It was a feeling. I
saw it in my mind. It was seconds away from being so scared.
Tobias was right. I could see it. I could sense it right then. It was a power that was far too great.
I was morphing back to my true, human body. But this power was not my own. I could not become
it. This power was the power of the bird of prey.
I felt the back of my throat ruffle. It was the way I’d been morphing back to my true human body
for so long.
<I’ll be okay,> I said. <I’ll be okay.>
But I was morphing back.
And I was


Chapter 19
I had to morph to human and be ready to come back to Earth. And I had to get back to the
ship.
I’d explained earlier that I was not interested in being trapped in a morph, but that I was human. I
knew I had to morph, but I was only interested in a morph.
I morphed to human and landed on the perch where I could try to think.
I was in good shape. I was healthy. I didn’t look like a grizzly or something. The skin was
just fine. I could hear well enough to make out the faint talking dog, but the eyes looked like they
were just poking through the air, and I could see the human looking over his shoulder.
I could see the human in the eyes. I could see the legs. I could see the fur. I could see the two
machines that had been strapped to me. They were all there, but I could see nothing but the meadow.
There was a big, open pit that ran up to the ship. I was halfway into it when I saw the human. He
was human. He was trying to talk to me.
I looked up. “Oh, man.”
I saw the first human who’d actually seen me. He was taller than me, with thick, curly hair
blocked back behind his ears.
He wore a leather jacket with dark, white stripes on the front, and a red button-down shirt that
hugged to my cheeks.
I was alone.
I stared up at him. He was tall, with pale gray hair that sprouted from his forehead like a
carpet. He stood at attention, almost like a kid in a playpen.
“Hi, Jake,” he said. “I’m Cassie.”
I jerked awake.
“Hey. You awake?” he said.
“We are asleep,” I said.
“You have a dream or a dream?”
“A dream?” he said mockingly. “There’s a mountain out here. I mean, we’re reaching out to
reach a little girl. But it’s too far away. There’s too much of a distance between us.”
“Okay,” I said. “But I’m going to try and make it home fast enough.”
“I’m okay,” he said. “I have to try and get home.”
“Okay, then,” I said. “Let’s do it.”
I took a deep breath. I focused on the morph and the human. I felt sick inside. Sick of
complaining. Sick of making excuses. Sick of trying to figure out what was bothering me and what
was bothering my parents.
But at the same time, I was trying to figure out why they were acting the way they had.
“Jake?”
He was in the open, and I was a mile away, and he was just a long way from me.
“I’m going to the Farm to Talk,” I said.
“I’ll be right here with you,” Jake said.
“I’m going to the Farm to Talk?”
“Yeah. I’ll be right here.”
“Okay. With Rachel,” I said. “I need Jake.”
I could feel Cassie’s fear, just like me. But she was more frightened of Jake.
“You have a very dim memory,” I said. “What do you know about this dream?”
“I don’t know. But I think it’s real.”
“I don’t know. But it makes you sick.”
“What’s this?”
“Something.”
“And you’d like to ...”
“Rachel.”
“I’ll tell you something.”
“I’ll tell you,” I said. “I’ll tell you.”
I didn’t say anything. I quickly looked around. I heard a sound coming from the open perch on
the perch.
There. Right in front of me. A large bird!
“Hurry up, Cassie!”
“Cassie!” Jake cried. “I’m going
Chapter 22
We decided to grab a nice, neat piece of the grass near the base of the tree. A piece of bark, and
a few small fish. We were not big on taking small fish, fortunately.
The others jumped up off the ground and dragged us away.
“We have to get out of this place!” I said, shuddering with relief.
“No,” Marco said.
“Come on,” I said.
I began to morph back into human. I began to shrink. I felt my arms and legs begin to tire.
I was shrinking.
I was changing, though not completely. It was a strange thing to be doing. As I became smaller, my
own mind was inside me.
I could feel myself becoming human again. It was the first time I had felt that I was human before the
morphing process had begun. I was completely in the arms of the morphing process, and now I was in
the grip of a new body.
I was human again. But not human.
I felt the scales of my human body beginning to peel off and become leathery as my bones opened
and grew.
My head was shrinking.
My eyes were becoming hollow, as they were, and my face was hollow as my eyes
were formed of scales.
I felt myself getting smaller and smaller. My vision faded and my hearing diminished. I was

still heard, but I knew that no matter how small I grew, I could hear the sound the human ear would have
already heard.
I could see the long, hard, coarse hairs on my own tail. I could see them growing out of a very large
beak.
But I did not see a human voice.
I was still a boy. And I knew that there were many more of me. All the humans who would be
in the Yeerk pool.
I was no longer human. But I was still human. And I could not lose my morphing power.
I saw my own eyes bulging out. I saw my human form bulging out to become a cockroach.
I was no longer a boy. But I could not let myself be frightened.
“It’s not coming out of my mouth,” I whispered.
The human body began to shrink. And then, there was my mouth.
The lips became hard, tough, hard-edged, like the teeth of a cockroach. And then another.
I was looking at my own human mouth. And the mouth began to shrink, becoming smaller.
“I can’t believe you are morphing into a cockroach,” I whispered to myself.
I was about to call attention to myself when a terrible force dropped from the sky.
I was in the air now. I was no longer in the air. But I could see. I could see the human mouth.
The human mouth was not visible to me.
It was harder to see in the dim light. But it was as if I could see in all directions at once. It was
impossible.
The human head was no longer in the air. I could not see it.
I was no longer wearing clothing. I was in a human body. But in my human mouth I could speak.
“You are morphing a cockroach,” I said. “You can only morph an insect.”
No, I was not human. I was an insect. I was an insect with hands and a mouth and with a body
that was two hundred times smaller than I was.
The human mouth opened. I could speak. I could see. I could taste.
As I spoke, the human mouth separated to form a new mouth.
I stood up.
“I’m a human,” I said, looking down at the spot where my mouth had been.
“See?”
I was mouth-to-mouth, but not human. I was fully human. I could taste the Yeerk food in my
mouth. I could taste the human sweat. I could taste the human tears. I could taste my own DNA.
I was in the air. I was in the air. The Yeerk in my head was no longer human.


Chapter 3
A kafit bird-boy from another galaxy landed in my house.
The others, the others. In the woods, of course.
I went flying. I morphed to bird and landed. I was on a branch in the middle of a stream.
“Hi!” I said.
Someone tapped on the tree branches.
I spun, fluttered down onto the water, and caught a glimpse of the kafit bird.
It was a long, black creature. About the same height as me. But with a sort of tail. I could see the
skin of the kafit. It was a brownish-yellow creature. And, in fact, I had seen it a dozen times. I
knew it was a Taxxon. And yet I couldn’t believe it.
I dropped down and landed hard on my back.
Then I opened my eyes. I saw a red-tailed hawk racing toward me.
<Are you home?> I asked.
“Yes!” I said.
There was a heavy smell. A heavy smell of human food. I looked up and saw a red-
tailed hawk racing.
“Where’s my dad?” I asked.
Silence. I ignored the smell and dove down into the water.
Just in time to see myself, too.
I began to morph back into my human form. It was terrifying. But it was also a great relief.
“Dad?”
“Yeah.” I said, very carefully. “I’m home.”
“What?”
“I was just walking around the beach getting ready to go out to dinner.”
I was not feeling well. Not exactly in the usual ways. But I was not feeling lonely.
I was feeling like a normal kid.
“Yeah, I’m home.”
“Huh?”
I was feeling great. This was my Dad. He was in the woods, in his pied-a-terre. And right around
there in the lake.
“I’m home,” I said. “I’m cool.”
He nodded. “Yeah, I’m warm. Well, okay, I’ll take care of my stuff.”
It was strange. I was supposed to be the normal kid. I was supposed to be feeling normal.
But I was feeling relieved.
I felt more like a little bird than a normal kid.
Also, I felt ... my skin was itching. It was weird. It was like I was being patted on. I imagined
feeling human hands and fingers.
But it was all just itching and pitting of skin.
It was so gross. It was gross beyond any normal feeling.
“Dad!”
“Hey!” he said. “You ready to morph?”
“I’m not ready to,” I said.
“No, Dad, I’m ready to go out there and play with my feathers.”
I focused my mind on the feathers. I focused on my own body. I was morphing a dolphin.
I felt my arms growing. My legs growing. My head growing. And then, as I was getting more
tough and more real, I saw the changes begin.
The first thing I noticed was the change in the water temperature. The temperature had risen.
That’s when I felt the change begin.
The dolphin was beginning to change. The warm water was melting into cold.
It was like someone had put my heart in my chest and suddenly I was cold at the same time.
I was losing my mind.
“Dad, you have to stop!” he yelled.
I couldn’t believe it. I was losing my mind.
I was totally losing my mind.
I was losing my mind!
I was morphing!
I felt the cold wind on my face.
I was growing!
A huge gray shark body formed in front of me. I felt the changes begin. I felt my skin
become translucent. And then, the changes began.
I was shrinking. I was shrinking!
I was shrinking!
Then, the shark’s mind began to work on me.
It was working on me!
I was shrinking!
I was shrinking!
I was shrinking!
Suddenly, I was living!
I was living!
The change was so complete. The changes were complete.
I was living!
The human-Controller was outside the filter and I was shrinking. Growing taller, more
powerful.


Chapter 9
<Out of control, Marco.>
Jake rocked back and forth on his hooves. <On the control pad.>
<Not that control pad,> Marco said. <All I see are the legs.>
“You know what?”
<If they can’t see what’s going on out here, then I’m going to be a
fly and leave.>
“I don’t know what to do,” Cassie said. “I’m not even sure I’m a fly.”
<Okay,> I said. <I can’t fly. The others are turning on the light. And the lights are so dim they
don’t
look up.>
<We are flying,> Ax said. <Not very well, but amazingly well.>
I felt a little up in the air. Everything was flying, but it still took a full minute to get back up
in the air. I was flying very fast, and the others were flying way faster.
I was going to get totally, totally caught up in the air.
But the others had done it before me. It was up and flying.
I was able to see the lights of the Marriott resort. I was going to lose myself in the sky. I
was going to get caught up in the feeling of it all.
I could just feel my wings. I could feel the sensation of the air spinning out of control. The
airwheels in my wings were spinning me.
My wings were my wings.
And suddenly, I was in a totally different place.
The underside of the hotel was covered by a layer of rock and dirt.
It was a wall. It was a very tall wall. It was about a foot tall. It was covered with a layer of
scraped, blue-looking plastic.
I had been in a very bad morph when I first met Ax. But I had never seen him in person.
I’ve never seen him in my mind. I guess I’m not even sure he looks human.
But I know the way to look at a man. I know the way to look at a person when they’re walking
down a street. I know the way to look at a person when they go to a restaurant.
I knew what he looked like when he was a kid. I know what he looked like when he was a
human boy.
But I didn’t know what to do.
I flew hard and fast. But it was like I was on a sinking ship. I was sinking at the same time.
I was breathing hard and fast. I was breathing in deep, deep, deep water and the air was
creeping up into my lungs and I was going to drown.
But that’s not what I was feeling right then. Or breathing.
I was being swallowed by water.
I was being swallowed by a big, gray slug.
<I think my eyes just went numb,> I said. <They’re gone.>
But the water was still coming up off me. And I was being squeezed and pushed and pushed
and pushed and pushed and pushed.
I was being squeezed and pushed and pushed.
The biggest thing in my room was the big, gray bug.
I was being squeezed and pushed and pushed.
I was being squeezed and pushed and pushed.
I was being squeezed and pushed and pushed.
I felt a wave of sick satisfaction wash over me. I knew what was happening. I knew that it was
a Yeerk infestation.
<I think I just felt a wave of energy waves,> I said.
I felt something strange happen to me. I felt a sort of electrical field that was quite large. I was
in the middle of an intense field of electricity.
I felt the water where my eyes had been. I felt the same waves of energy as I’d felt before.
Something was pushing me away, away from me. I was being pushed and pushed.
I was being pushed and pushed.
And then, I saw what was happening.
I was being pushed and pushed.
I was being pushed and pushed.
I was being pushed and pushed.
And then I saw the picture in my mind.
It was a picture of a fish. I had seen it in my mind. I had seen it as a fish, as a floating
creature.
“Hey! Look!” I yelled. “I’m getting pushed!”

I was being pushed and pushed.
And then, I saw the others. I was two inches long, roughly the size of a human child,
with a dorsal fin

Chapter 3
<English,> I added.
<French,> Cassie agreed.
<I’ll go,> I said. <I’ll be right back.>
I turned my head toward the window.
<What’s up?> Cassie yelled. <Congratulations. You’ve made it. Stay cool.>
She opened the window and I could feel the air rushing in. It was chilly, but I knew the
wind. It was the same thing as it always was, except that now my skin was melting.
My hand began to shrink. My fingers ceased to exist.
My body began to slosh. My bones dissolved and hollowed. My face thickened. My ears
became the long, hard, plump horns.
My head all but stopped shrinking. It was a dark gray, like a blanket.
My vision was dim. But I could see. I heard all the world around me. I could hear the birds
dropping and blowing and the raindrops dropping.
I was in the barn. In the barn.
Down below ...
Down there!
A hawk, a harrier, and a red-tailed hawk, all flying together, racing toward us.
They were each about the same height, maybe a few feet apart.
I could see them going in all directions at once, flying at full speed, right at the speed of
two birds from the same state.
I could see through the glass.
I could see the barn. I could see the rows of cages stacked up against the wall, all lined up like

tandem.
I could see the long rows of cages piled high with food.
I could see the rows of cages all lined up in one direction. Right at the center.
I could see the rows of cages all lined up in a different direction.
The hawk, the harrier, and the harrier, that is the harrier, were the only two that had the same speed as
the red-tailed hawk. They were both going long, but they were not exactly the same height.
And of course the harrier, the only one that had the same speed as the red-tailed hawk, was
going farther.
I could see the two birds of prey, the two birds that were now in the same direction, going
up, up, up, up. And that’s when I saw the wall of three-foot-long hooks.
I had a feeling that I was going to fall over. Falling over, like I was falling over Niagara Falls.
I fell as fast as I could, and I was able to catch my breath.
<It’s him!> I yelled.
<I see him! I’m coming up, man!> Cassie yelled.
<Where are the others?>
<Just go for the window!> I yelled.
We were in the barn with the others in the back of the room. Two humans and a hawk.
One of the humans was in the hospital wing, but he was fine.
The other hawk was in the hospital wing, but he was fine, too.
<I just got this feeling,> I told Cassie. <I can’t believe this is happening.>
<What?>
<It’s the guy in the hospital wing. His name is Tobias.>
<Dak, it’s me,> I said. I was human. I was in the barn, in the middle of the barn.
<Tobias, I mean.>
<Yeah.>
<I just got this feeling,> I told Cassie. <It’s me. And I can’t believe it, either.>
Cassie looked at me. Her face was moving. I guess she realized I was scared.
<I know what you’re feeling.> I said. <I am feeling sick.>
<I am.>
<It’s not a bad feeling, Cassie, I guess.>
<Oh, yeah.>
<I ... I just can’t believe it.>
<What’s going on?>
<I guess you’re scared,> I said. <But I have this feeling that it isn’t just some bad feeling.>
<I know what you’re feeling,> I said. <I can’t believe what’s going on here.>
<I know what it’s like,> Cassie said. <I’m sorry I scared you.>
<Just think about that.> I began to say. But this was the first time I’d really felt sorry for
Chapter 7
The next day was Monday. The day of the Yeerk takeover of the planet.
I stayed in the barn. I was the only one of the Animorphs still in school.
The others were all there. All except Ax. And that made me a little sick.
The second day was Monday. The day of the Yeerk raid on the zoo.
I stayed in the barn. I was the only one of the Animorphs still in school.
The fourth and final day was Monday afternoon. I stayed in the barn. I was the only Animorph.
The fourth and final day was Monday morning. Four oatmeal cookies and a cookie cake.
I watched the sky. I ate the cookie cake, and then I went to the school bus. I took the bus back to the
bus station, and there I waited.
I had to see if I could acquire a human morph. I had to be in the barn. I had to see if
I could stay for the morph and not have to return to school.
It was a big, long, long flight. I was getting older, and the bus was getting closer and closer.
I went in the back and sat there, eyes wide. And I wanted to ask, “What’s up?”
“It’s going to be okay,” I said.
“Mmmm.”
“I’m so glad you are,” I said. I was so relieved.
“Oh, I know,” Cassie said. Then, to my surprise, she said, “And you know what, Rachel? It’s fine to be a girl.”
I just smiled at her. I guess I should have said, “Okay.”
“Not exactly,” Cassie said. “Marco and I have a little thing going on here in our heads.”
“Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, that’s good.”
“Marco, do you know what was happening to you while you were morphing?”
“I haven’t seen you,” Cassie said. “I mean, I know you’ve been in your human morph for a while.
I just think you’re so pretty.”
“Rachel, this is so not a nice world.”
“What?”
“I’m not human.”
“I don’t think I’m human,” she said. “But ->
“What?”
“I’m not exactly Rachel.”
“That’s it,” Cassie said, staring at me. “We’re just animals.”
“Rachel, you can morph animals?”
“Yes.”
“And do you wish you could change into a fish or a bird or a lizard?”
“I wish I could change into a cat,” she said. “I have a cat right now.”
“You can have a cat,” I said. “It’s ... well, it’s not exactly Rachel. I mean, it’s not exactly like
Cassie, of course, but it is.”
“Cassie, I’ve been trying to help you,” she said. “But I just can’t. I can’t. I think I
feel like I could just ...”
“Sorry about the delay,” I said. “I haven’t really thought of what’s next.”
“Yeah, you’re right, Cassie. You know what I mean?”
“Yeah, I know. I wish I could go up into my human body. But that, of course, means I’ll have to do
morph-capable stuff.”
“Morph-capable?”
“Yeah. You have to think about Cassie. You have to decide. She’s your best friend.”
“But ...” I finished my sentence. I was facedown in the stall, my face covered by a red-and-white
transformation.
“Why are you still afraid of me?” Cassie asked.
“Because you’re not afraid, Cassie,” I said. “You keep me from hurting you. You keep me
from hurting you. You tell me you like me, and I tell you
Chapter 22
The morning ritual was all I needed to do. I took a couple of deep breaths and went to bed.
I woke very early. The first thing to do was to rest. It was starting to get late.
How often can you sleep?
I had to get up earlier than usual. It was a little weird. There were times when I woke up in my
bed and I was just sitting there. Then there was the first ritual I had done at night.
I would rest in bed and go upstairs to change. I would then go to bed, eat breakfast, then
toss something banana and toast.
I had to be able to focus on the ritual. I had to be able to focus on the ritual. I had to be able to
reflect on the way the world had gone. On the way down to the level of a human being.
I would wake up in the morning and go to bed and go to bed again.
I had to be able to focus on the ritual. I had to be able to focus on the ritual.
I went to sleep in the spot where I had been on the night before.
I woke up to find myself staring at the television screen. I was wearing a blue wool
hue. I guess I’d just looked at my hair.
“What is that?”
“It’s a chicken leg. It has two short spikes sticking out from the top.”
I had never seen the legs. I had never felt them. But I knew they were feathers, a part of the
animal’s body.
It made me wonder.
I went to sleep and went to sleep and woke up the next morning. I was shaking. I was feeling very sick. But
I was awake. It was a dream.
I saw someone standing by a TV screen. I saw a bird. I saw a red-tailed hawk. I saw a
human. I saw a red-tailed hawk. And then I saw my own father.
“What’s the matter,” I whispered.
“He said, ‘Chicken leg.’”
“Oh, goody.”
“Oh, goody.”
“What is the matter?”
“The chicken leg.”
“Oh, goody.”
“I knew what you were going to say.”
“Oh, goody.”
“Prince Jake, you’ve done everything you can to help me.”
“I know I’m sorry. I know.”
“I know.”
“Well, whatever.”
“I can’t have you living with me. You’ll never know you loved me.”
“I’ll never know you love me.”
“I’ll never know of you, Jake.”
“You have no concept of how powerful that is.”
“I’ll never know of you, Jake.”
“I’m sorry. I know. But I am sorry.”
“What is the matter,” I whispered. “I know. I know.”
“The chicken leg.” I finished the ritual. I was shaking. I was feeling sick. I was sick and confused.
I tried to focus, to try to understand what was happening. But I couldn’t.
I had to try.
It was like being in a dream. You know?
I had become a human. I was a human boy, an old human boy, with human features.
And somehow, somehow I was glad to be human.
I felt my eyes flicker open. My mouth opened. I had no mouth.
I could not speak. I was afraid.
I could not move. I was afraid to see.
But I was glad.
I felt the changes begin.
My arms grew elongated. My legs grew out of my chest. My fingers became toes.
My legs grew out of my chest. My arms became hands. My legs became hands.
I felt my bones shorten, and they became hollow.
My face grew dark brown. My eyes became dull green-brown eyes.
I looked out into a world of darkness.
I was a human.
But I was not a human boy.
I was a bird.



Chapter 19
We raced straight up the ramp.
<We can’t keep running!> I yelled.
<We’ll get to the ship,> Jake said. <Good. We can lose this morphing cube.>
<Oh, man.> Rachel. <I hate to say this, but that’s not a good idea.>
<But it’s not easy,> Cassie pointed out. <You guys all had to try and do it in under
a minute, and we did it.>
I was getting so frustrated I almost dropped the cube. But I couldn’t stop myself from yelling.
<Okay,> Jake said. <We do it.>
I had to get it to the ship. I had to get it to the ship. I could only morph the dolphin. I had to get
the cube to the ship.
The ship was closing in.
“Let’s do it!” Jake shouted. “We have to get the cube!”
I was getting frustrated. I had to morph the dolphin. Had to get the cube to the ship.
But I had stopped morphing when the ship was closing in. I was almost in a dolphin
morph.
I was still beating my head on the side of the ramp. I could feel the air rushing up my back. I could
feel the dolphin body as well.
I was starting to feel a little scared. Cassie was right.
“Let’s do it!”
I couldn’t do it. I was feeling less and less capable as the ramp moved on. I was starting to
feel a little really, really scared. I was starting to feel a little sick.
And the ship was closing in.
“Let’s do it!”
I couldn’t morph the dolphin. Just let it go from the ship. Or the elephant.
I was starting to feel sick. Like, I was starting to feel sick, like I was just too tired to fight.
“Let’s do it!”
I couldn’t morph the dolphin. Just let it go. Or the elephant.
I tried to think, but I could only think of a thought. I felt like I could hear everything happening. I
could only see the dolphin body as well as the elephant. And I could only see the mouth.
The ship was closing in.
“Let’s do it!”
I felt like I was falling apart. I could feel every emotion of the moment. I didn’t know what to do. I
didn’t know what to do.
I tried to reason, but I could only believe what I saw in my mind. I was falling apart.
I was starting to feel the first signs of the dolphin brain. It was the size of my brain. It was
the size of a big dolphin brain. I was starting to feel like I was starting to drown.
But I could feel the ship moving away from me. It was more like a huge, open ocean. I could
feel the dolphin mind as I swayed in the air. The ship from before was going way off in a half-
hour or so.
I was starting to feel a weird, distorted feeling. I could feel that the time had come for me to
morph. I couldn’t do it.
I tried. But I was starting to feel sick. Like I was going to die, too.
I tried to think. But no, I was starting to feel worse than I already was. I was beginning to feel like I
was in denial. Like I was losing control of myself.
I tried again. But no, I was starting to feel strange. Like I was going back to the beginning.
I tried one more time. And I was feeling ... strange. Like my own mind was no longer
under me.
I stopped the morph. I moved on.
I was an elephant.


Chapter 14 - Cassie
I jumped up out of the bed and started to demorph.
I was six inches tall and standing on the back of the bed. I was a little smaller than the others, but
that’s okay. I was the one with the big ears.
I took my first steps. I took my second step. And I was close to having walked.
“What is it, Ax?”
I heard the door open. I heard the sound of the kitchen on the other side. I had no idea what
it was.
“I have a question,” Marco said.
“And you,” I said. “Answer it.”
<I think I’m gonna morph a cockatiel,> Tobias said. <I’m running out of room.>
“I know, Ax.” I was in human form. I could have climbed up off the floor. I could have
walked. I had a face, a mouth, and no mouth. I was the size of a goose. I was the size of a hamster.
And I was the kind of creature who would have done anything for a man.
I was trembling, but I couldn’t shake my fear.
I was human. I was trembling.
“Tobias?” Cassie asked.
<I am not sure,> Tobias said. <It’s not right. I don’t think it is right.>
“Okay,” I said. “Come on.”
I felt my feet suddenly burst from my mouth. I was still in my human body, but my human
body was no longer there.
“Come on,” I whispered.
“No,” Cassie said. “Come on.” I was shaking. I was shaking. I was trembling.
I tried to stand up. But I was shaking and being excited, too.
“Okay,” I whispered.
“Come on.” I did.
I stood up and made myself stand on two legs.
“I just wanted you to think about it,” I said. “I’m not gonna lie.” I reached into my pocket.
And then I saw the bandage. I slipped it out of my shirt. I looked at it. I pulled it over my face.
“It’s okay,” I said.
“Yeah.”
“Okay.”
“Okay.”
I peered down into the darkening gloom. I saw the lights of the grocery store. I saw dark and
darken as the Yeerk pool became a dark lake. I saw a girl lying face down on the ground, with her
beak partially open. She was crying.
I felt a rush of warm, fuzzy feeling up my spine. Everyone was crying.
“I love you,” I whispered. “I love you.”
“Yeah. I love you a lot.”
“Oh, God. Oh, God,” I said.
“I love you.”
“You just love me,” I said.
I felt the Yeerk inside me feel all the fear and dread and fear and guilt of
survival. I felt the Yeerk inside me know that I had become what I thought of to be my own personal
victim.
I felt the Yeerk moving and moving and moving and moving.
Morphing is a violent process. It’s like a chemical weapon. But it’s also a weapon because the
Yeerk is in control. In your human body you control the Yeerk. But you control the morphing
machine.
The Yeerk in me was not a victim.
I was not the monster.
I was the monster.
“I love you,” I whispered.
“Yeah. I love you.”