I am practicing how I draw Andalites again, and an important question came up - the cover of The Andalite Chronicles shows what is presumably Elfangor looking like a sculpted god, but elsewhere in the series it's confirmed over and over that Andalites have weak upper bodies, particularly their arms. Ax's torso is described as boyish on like, two different occasions.
BUT THEN! VISSER confirms on its cover that Visser Three is jacked. Book 40, we meet Gafinilan, who is described like a bodybuilder. Book 41, Jake sees a super handsome and jacked Andalite and immediately assumes they're Elfangor. (It's not, but it *is* a morph based on his his younger brother Ax's DNA, so it's close enough?)
SO. IMPORTANT QUESTION.
Was Elfangor Buff?
Yes, he was a buff teenager, that's part of why Loren fell for him
Kinda - That's what he looked like AFTER he grew up and returned to the war
No, the covers are always misleading
All Andalites are buff and Ax is just unusually scrawny because he's a nerd
Why are you making me think about this in the year of our lord 2026
So much shit happened in The Andalite Chronicles but the only thing I can remember from it is Elfangor crashing a 1970 yellow mustang into the hive mind while drinking Dr Pepper and listening to The Rolling Stones.
The reason I wanna talk about this is because their friendship is a double edged sword. Marco and Cassie both want to protect Jake and keep him from making dumb self sacrificial decisions (for example in Elfangor’s secret they made a pact because they were the only two who saw immediately who Jake was planning to sacrifice, himself) but also they are complete opposites.
Cassie is conscious of her decisions and how they effect the line she has placed for herself to never cross. Her books purposefully put her into situations where she needs to make a choice between winning the battle and sacrifice her morality or possibly lose so she doesn’t need to end lives. She’s one of the smartest animorphs and her depth in empathy allows her to manipulate her enemies and even her friends, but we know she does not like or want to do this. She has repeatedly been shown to know the obvious answer and avoid it if it’s at cost for lives or morals. She was the one who first thought of the auxiliary morphs and immediately refuted it because she saw it was the obvious answer but it was at cost to her own morals.
Marco on the other hand, sees the obvious answer like Cassie, that line from a to b and focuses on just that. Ignoring the morals and hurt caused because if he can avoid thinking about the sad, murderous side of it, he can win the war. He is ruthless and so is Cassie although she won’t admit it. He and Cassie are so similar but foils of each other at the same time. Marco needs to be there to counteract Cassie and vice versa. This comes out in their interactions with Jake when planning attacks.
Cassie and Marco both are close to Jake, Cassie being his girlfriend and Marco being his best friend. They are the first people Jake listens to when he plans an attack because they are smart and vicious. They fight the most out of the animorphs because they are both sides of Jake. That’s why he listens to them the most because Cassie is that part of him he wants after the war but he knows Marco is the one who will get them through the war.
In The Proposal, Cassie is the first person to realize what is going on with Marco because her empathy allows her to read people very well. What made their friendship stand out in this book is the scene when Cassie comes over to his house to talk about his problems because she knows he can’t tell anyone else about them. Whilst Jake tells Marco to get over it because he needs “funny, cynical ruthless Marco”, Cassie knows the root of Marco’s problem and wants him to, in short, cry it out. Accept it and move on. Because out of any of the animorphs, she is the only one who could understand him. She’s had those nightmares after she did the “ruthless” thing. After she had to commit the “obvious answer” like in Elfangor’s secret when she prevented John Berryman from ever being born. That was the ruthless “Marco” way. So she knows more than a fraction of what he’s going through and she doesn’t just shove it down and try to forget about it. She feels it in the moment, the sadness and the regret. And then she moves on. And that is why that scene in the proposal is more important than you think.
Life with an alien isn’t always glamorous. But it is always interesting.
“Miss Harris?”
The name penetrated my half-awake brain and I shot up, scattering papers in the action. Giggles erupted from the class, and I wiped drool off my cheek. I wanted to sink into my chair, but Mrs. Pardue’s watchful eyes would not let that happen. Instead, I just sat there cowed and red faced.
“If you are ready to join us,” Mrs. Pardue said acidly, “Please answer this question.” She pointed to the board. There was a chalk drawing of three circles around a tiny circle with an arrow pointing toward it.
“Tell me, what happens to anything trapped within a black hole?” She said with the sick satisfaction all teachers had when they had a slacking student in their trap.
“It’s crushed.” I answered automatically, words echoing in my brain. “Down to the size of a single carbon atom.”
Mrs. Pardue twitched slightly then nodded, pleased. “Good job. Looks like you have been paying attention after all.” She returned to the lesson.
No teacher like experience, I thought to myself and began scooping up my papers. At the top of my math notes was a doodle of a horse-like creature with four curious eyes. The paper had signs of wear by the legs indicating the many erased tries before I gave up and made them perfectly straight. Class droned on and I added the tail arcing over his back in a long smooth swirl.
Finally, last period ended and I escaped into the hall. With a big yawn I closed my locker and nearly jumped a foot as Michelle appeared right next to my face. She leaned against her locker with a cheeky grin. “Alright girl spill, what’s up with you today?”
I scoffed. “Nothing's up, I just didn’t sleep well last night.” Or rather taking a three-hour detour in the middle of the night had taken a bigger toll than I expected. I had almost slept through the alarm that morning.
She shook her head, her tight black curls bouncing slightly. “Loren, I know you. You have never fallen asleep in class like that. And even when you have been awake you’ve been spaced out all day.”
I had to laugh. “If you must know,” I said as we started walking down the hallway, “I had a bad nightmare last night and couldn’t get back to sleep.” Michelle was one of my best friends, I didn’t really want to blow her off. But I had already endured a painfully long boring day at school by then. I would never be satisfied reading about space again when I had an actual alien waiting for me in the woods.
Michelle pursed her lips trying to decide if she believed me. “It’s a guy, isn’t it?”
I sputtered, “It is not a guy!” At least…not in the traditional sense. Michelle laughed and draped her arm around my shoulder.
“There there, when you’re ready to open up, I’ll be right here.” I shoved her off and we both laughed.
“Anyway, do you want to come over? Mom and Dad said we could bottle feed the colts today.”
“Thanks, but I promised mom I’d help with dinner tonight.”
She shrugged. “Suit yourself, the offer stands even if you want to bring your ‘not a guy’ around.” I rolled my eyes but part of me did wonder how an Andalite would react to a horse.
I waved ‘bye’ and hopped on my school bus while Michele walked to hers. I found an empty seat near the back and bounced my leg anxiously. Just a quick stop to check in with mom then I was free for the night and then the weekend.
It was a short ride home, but mom's car was gone when I arrived. There was a note on the fridge when I entered.
‘Had to cover on short notice, be back late tonight. There’s a ten on the counter for pizza.
-Love Mom.’
“Yes!” I exclaimed.
I grabbed the money and scoured the kitchen for an extra flashlight. Once I found one, I stuck it inside my backpack then headed to the backyard. We had an old shed where mom kept her gardening tools. After a minute of searching, I found a two-foot-long shovel. There was also one about as tall as me, but that would look suspicious on the bus. I couldn’t have people thinking I was burying a body when it was only a time machine.
Tucking the shovel into my backpack I turned to leave when something caught my eye. It had slipped between a couple of the garden tools and was now laying on its side. An unpainted birdhouse. I picked it up and inspected it for damage from the fall. I stared at it for a long moment.
Dad had promised we would paint the house together when he returned from his tour. We would paint it with blue walls and purple borders, Mom’s favorite colors. It was going to be a Mother’s Day present. I ran my thumb over the wooden hole where I had hoped a cardinal would make its nest.
When Dad had left, Mom didn’t get out of bed for a week. I had slept next to her, brought us food when we were hungry and told her bye when I ran to catch the school bus. It was only when her job called in a rage that she finally found it in herself to shower and leave the house. It took three months for her to seem like herself again. Or at least to pretend for my sake.
The Andalites had said that if we were to return to earth, Chapman and I would have to have our memories erased. Elfangor himself had said it was necessary, with an uncomfortable look in his eyes. There were several times on that long flight to earth when I silently entertained the notion of staying in space. Keep my memories and go on adventures in the cosmos. But then I would remember mom. I was all she had left.
There were of course several practical reasons I couldn’t have stayed as well.
~~~~~
In a strange lurch the ship burst from the blank white and back into the star filled sky. It was beautiful beyond words. Colors and shapes and lights that baffled imagination filled the darkness in every direction. It was easy to forget that the same beauty held instant death.
On the far horizon I could just make out a pale blue shape. Much closer was a rusty red mass that filled a quarter of the window.
“Look, it's Mars!” I exclaimed, unable to contain my excitement. The Skrit Na had kept us in a windowless hanger, it made me hate them even more realizing they had kept such beauty from us.
<Is that the name of the red planet?> Elfangor asked, standing next to me. Arbron had been standing at the computer since we entered Zero Space and Alloran was still at the helm. Chapman hovered nearby but didn’t seem concerned. I guess that left me for Elfangor to talk to.
“Yeah, at least what we call it on earth. But who knows, maybe there’s life there too. And maybe they have their own name for it.”
<Humans name planets without regard to their sentient species? Why?>
I shrugged. “Well before today I didn’t know there was other sentient life out there. Even humans that believe in aliens don’t have real proof of it.” I wondered if some of the people ranting about probing ufos had actually been kidnapped by Skrit Na. And later had their memories erased.
“Anyway, the planets are named after old gods in human mythology. Mars was the name of a god of war.”
<I see.> He said sweeping his extra eyes from the red planet to the blue. <What god is earth named for?>
I thought for a moment. “I don’t know. I know Gaia was the name of the god of the land. I’ll have to look it up when I get home.” If I remembered too…
I looked from earth and back to Mars. “How far are we from earth? Do we know how long it will take to get there?”
One of the eyes on Elfangor’s head looked towards where Alloran stood. <The computer says we are approximately eleven light minutes from earth. At the speed we are traveling it will take us four Andalite days to arrive.>
“Andalite days huh? Any idea how many human days that is?”
Elfangor looked a bit embarrassed. <I apologize but I can not convert to human time without an equivalent measurement. I have not been on earth and do not know the planets rotation pattern.>
I thought about that. “Ok how about this, one second on earth is about the time it takes me to say, ‘one Mississippi’. So, if I count one Mississippi two Mississippi three Mississippi, three seconds have passed. Does that make sense?”
Elfangor closed his eyes and bobbed his stalks. <Yes, 0.632 Andalite seconds are equivalent to ‘one Mississippi’.>
I grinned. “So, sixty Mississippis is one earth minute, sixty minutes is one hour, and twenty-four hours are one day on earth.”
<I see, that means that we will arrive on earth within 8.92 human days or 770,688 Mississippis.> He smiled with his eyes.
“Wow, quick math,” I said with a laugh.
Well, that was good to know. Secretly I was glad for a week to draw the adventure out. Even if I wouldn’t remember it in the end. But then I remembered why I had asked in the first place. It was a topic I had hoped to avoid, but if it really was going to take eight days to get to earth, I’d have to know sooner or later. And right then I needed sooner.
“So um, Elfangor, do you um…that is the ship…uh is there any…” I fumbled awkwardly, face growing hotter by the second. Elfangor just blinked at me confused.
“She has to poop. She needs a toilet.” Chapman suddenly blurted. I felt my face turning red, but I glared at Chapman who leaned against a wall snickering.
<Ah. Relieving yourself, that makes sense.> Elfangor stated, completely oblivious to my torment. <All fighters are outfitted with modular waste disposal systems. Let me show you.>
I shot another glare at Chapman wanting to wring his neck, but then I followed Elfangor to a strange square room. Dimly I heard him explaining how the toilet worked, but my nerves were already pushed past what I could handle. Without waiting for him to finish I thanked him and stepped inside shutting the door. And then I immediately wished I had paid more attention.
It took nearly ten minutes for me to finally figure out how to ‘flush’ and not a moment too soon. So, if they eat through their hooves, I wondered, where do they…actually I don’t want to know. When I finally left the toilet Elfangor was still standing outside waiting patiently.
“Uh thanks, sorry that was awkward.” I said rubbing my arm.
<That is all right.> he answered unfazed. <While we are here let me show you to the quarters where you will be sleeping.>
The ship was not very large, probably the length of two school buses and the width of three, so it only took a few minutes to reach the quarters in the back. Elfangor stood in front of one and waved his arm in welcome and I stepped inside. The room was a wide oval in the same muted cream color as the rest of the ship. Along the back of the wall was a small ledge jutting out at chest height. The ledge had a few plants, a large flower with sapphire blue petals lined with tan spots, a few strange machines and what looked like a bandolier. Framed in the middle of the items looking like a smoky 3d picture were three Andalites. Two were larger and looked solemn and between them stood a small lanky Andalite that almost looked like…
“Is that your family?” I asked.
<What?> Elfangor asked, peering inside. <Oh, I am sorry, these are my quarters.> He stepped in the room, gesturing at the shelf. <I had not realized our belongings had already been arranged inside. Yes, that hologram is of me and my parents.>
“Thats a beautiful flower.” I said pointing at the sapphire petals. To my surprise, Elfangor actually grimaced.
<It is a beautiful annoyance. But at least I can do my rituals here without people bumping into me.> He grumbled.
I couldn’t help but laugh at his pouty disposition. “I’m sorry what?”
<Thats right you wouldn’t know. That is a wish flower, it represents the sibling I will be getting in a few years. A brother if all goes according to plan.>
“And you’re that annoyed at the idea of having a brother?” I teased with a smile.
<Well… it’s not just that,> he defended sheepishly. <It is mainly that my quarters back on the StarSword were so small I could only turn around in them by backing into the hall. But thats were I had to keep the flower so thats where I had to do the ritual. I’m sure you can imagine trying to do all that chanting and bowing in that tiny space.>
“I’ve never seen any andalite rituals,” I grinned at him. “I don’t know what to imagine.”
Elfangor hesitated for a second before stepping forward in front of the wish flower. I stood aside to give him room. He bowed so that his torso was a few inches from the ground, arms spread wide, main eyes closed and tail splayed up and over his back in an arc. One stalk eye stared at the flower, the other looked back at me and I smiled.
<From peaceful waters and plentiful fields, our herd grows with the beating of new hearts and hooves. We welcome our hopes embodied. We welcome a new branch of the tree…>
I listened as he continued to chant, adding in small bows here and there. When he finished, he rose from the bow in a graceful fluid motion and clasped his hands together. He held the pose a moment, eyes closed, then relaxed and turned back to face me. <Now imagine that in a space only a little larger than my body.> He was smiling despite his earlier complaints, amusement in the thought speak.
“Yeah, that would suck.” I said with a laugh.
<Now then, let’s actually find your quarters this time.> I nodded and started to leave the room with him when I looked back at the hologram again.
His family were waiting for him to return safely from the war. Just like mom and I had waited for dad. Like mom was waiting for me on earth. I bit my lip and left the room.
I hoped we would both make it back safely.
~~~~~
Screeching breaks brought me back to the present and I leaned away from the window. The driver barely had a moment to announce the stop before I hopped down the steps. I took a moment to take in the surroundings in the dappled light of the afternoon. There were only a few other people exiting at the stop, the slope leading up to the forest edge had a clear line between managed grass and untamed brush.
Suddenly I couldn’t help the feeling that I was being watched. I scanned around the bus stop but only saw people entering the bus or walking down the sidewalk. Deciding it was nothing, I waited five minutes for the bus stop to clear then made for the tree line.
It wasn’t long before I felt the eyes on me again.
<Loren!>
I jumped in shock, “Elfangor? Where are you?” I spun around looking for the source of his thought speak.
<Up here. I am in morph.>
A shadow glided over my head, and I followed the movement until it landed in a flutter on the forest floor. It was a red-tailed hawk; I had seen them on power lines while riding in the car but never this close before. The bird ran its beak over its feathers then stared at me with intense eyes.
“Elfangor? Is that really you?” I asked the hawk in astonishment.
<Yes, one moment let me demorph.>
Elfangor had explained the broad concept of morphing to me. I had even briefly seen Alloran demorphing, although the slug wrapped around my brain at the time made it hard to concentrate on that. However, I don’t think I really believed it was real until that moment. And as the bird suddenly grew wormy blue tendrils on top of its head, I kinda wished morphing wasn’t real.
The bird body grew large and lumpy, the feathers fizzling into small hairs like a sparkler. Blue and brown ropes of flesh suddenly dangled out of the bird's chest, flopping like spaghetti noodles before they grew stiff with a sickening Crack! His talons melted together, the bird legs growing like a bamboo shoot as he shifted to stand on them. His beak melted like hot wax until his face was flat, save for the three long slits that made up his nostrils. The wings shifted eerily, bending and splitting into his many fingered hands.
When the growing and shifting seemed to finally stop he looked at me, and his ears unfolded from his head like a butterfly flapping its wings. It was so dainty after the five minutes of violent crunching that I nearly burst out laughing.
“Wow,” I chuckled, “that was horrible. Does it hurt?”
<No, our scientists ensured morphing is completely painless. Although I can feel things as they change.> He shook himself lightly, stalk eyes sweeping over his body, as if to assure all the right pieces were in place. Then he smiled. <I am glad to see you.>
Beaming, I wrapped my arms around him and laid my face on his chest. “Me too.” I sighed as his arms held me in turn. After a moment we parted, he kneeled low and I climbed on his back.
<Have you spent the day at your hollow house?> he asked as he calmly walked through the forest.
“No, I had school today.”
<Will you have it again tomorrow, Loren?> He asked cautiously.
“Today is Friday, I have the next two days off from school. Maybe you can come to my house sometime this weekend. I still want you to see my actual room.”
<I will need a human morph if I am to come inside.> He said thoughtfully. <But either way I would like to know where your hollow house is. I don’t like not being able to find you if I needed to.>
“Well, you can become that hawk, right? You can follow my bus when I head back.”
The eye stalk looking back to me blinked and bobbed. <Yes, I will do that.>
“As for a human morph…that could be a problem. You can’t just morph into some random person in the city. Someone would notice they suddenly have a twin.”
<I won’t need to do that. I can perform a Frolis maneuver.>
I frowned. “A what?”
<It is a method of morphing that uses multiple DNA sources from a single species to construct a new organism.>
“So, you’d be making some weird child of multiple people?” He laughed at my tone.
<Not exactly, the resulting morph will still be constructed from the DNA at the time of acquiring and will copy the DNA at that point. There are subtle changes DNA experiences through life you know.>
“Huh, interesting.” I muttered in thought. “So, then the body will be like a midpoint of all the donors’ phenotypes? Or are those genotypes? I need to re-read that chapter in my biology book.”
His stalk eye was grinning at me now.
<I will have some influence on the appearance of the morph, within reason. Morphing is activated through thought command and is always most successful in those able to fully visualize and comprehend the creature they acquired.> He hopped up a large boulder, laughing when I tightened my grip on the jump down.
<Of course, the process of morphing is still random to some degree. Except for the most talented estreens who can hold the image of themselves and their morphs in equal concentration. The nature of a Frolis maneuver requires the mental image of an organism that has technically never existed, and so truly directing the result of the morph requires a strong imagination to construct an appearance from the DNA collected.>
He snorted. <But often it is still mostly random.> I laughed.
“Well, all that aside, how are you planning to get the DNA? You said you have to be an Andalite when you acquire it and you can’t exactly go walking downtown.”
<I was hoping you would help me pick out potential samples. You know where to find humans and understand their behavior.> He paused as a squirrel crossed his path, his stalk eye following it as it scurried up a tree. <Besides, you are the only human whose body and appearance I care about Loren.> He continued walking obliviously. <I figured that you would have a better idea what would make for a suitable human male.>
I looked away trying to hide my blushing. “Are you sure that's a good idea? I might be kinda biased about the DNA I pick.”
He twisted his head in thought. <That is fine, I want the morph to be appealing to you.>
My cheeks could have lit a fire then. “Well don’t be too concerned about that.” I stammered. “You’re already appealing to me.” He stopped in his tracks.
I wanted to bury myself in the dirt. What was the matter with me! I could kiss him without a second thought but implying he was cute made me into an idiot?
But then…it wasn’t like he knew what I was doing when I kissed him. Or any human gesture really. I had been relying too much on that fact, I realized. I could safely show affection without actually risking rejection or reciprocation. The realization put a sour taste in my mouth.
I blinked when I realized that both stalk eyes were staring at me. He cared about me, and I cared about him. More than just cared. The least I owed him was honesty. I took a deep breath.
“I think you’re beautiful Elfangor.”
He blinked and stumbled a little. <I…um…Thank you. You are beautiful as well Loren.> He resumed his trot. <I will still need a human morph though.>
I couldn’t tell if it was a joke to lighten the mood or not, but I laughed dryly. “Yeah, I know.”
There was little conversation as we finally made it to the time matrix. I slid off his back and peered down the hole. It was much deeper than last night, at least ten feet as far as I could tell, the edges broader as well. A very steep slope opened to one side, so steep I wasn’t sure how he had gotten out of the hole.
I let out a long whistle. “How much further are you planning to go?”
<Ideally, I would have it reach twice as deep as it is now. But I fear I am reaching the limit of what I can do without equipment.> He scuffed his hooves and lightly jumped into the hole.
I sat my backpack on the ground and took out my shovel before following down the slope. My feet wanted to slide out from under me, but I managed to stay upright as I came to stand next to him. He had already started slicing into the dirt with his tail blade in quick right-left-right motions. In the same quick motion, he dug in and kicked back, sending the dirt against the growing slope. I joined in the digging with my tiny shovel feeling like a toddler on take your kid to work day.
After a while of calm digging and occasional conversation we had cleared another foot and a half down.
“Phew!” I wiped my brow. “I can see what you mean about needing equipment.”
<Yes. The lip is getting too high for me to kick out anymore.> Elfangor was running his tail blade along the circumference of the hole, leaving behind a packed wall of dirt and a two-inch indent in the ground. <I need a way to remove the soil from the hole.>
“Otherwise, we're just moving dirt but not actually going down further.” I noted, looking at the slope that was still accumulating dirt. “It’ll be too steep for us to walk out at this rate.”
<I can morph and fly out if need be.> he said offhandedly, then looked troubled. <But you will be stuck if that happens.>
“I could probably climb out eventually.” I shrugged. “The walls are soft; it wouldn’t be like getting stuck in a well.” I held my chin in thought. “I wonder if that could work.”
<What could?>
“A bucket and pulley to hoist dirt out, like getting water from a well. Michelle says that her dad occasionally uses the bucket to help chickens that have fallen into their well.”
<Perhaps,> he chuffed as his tail hit a rock. <Although I was hoping for something a bit more sophisticated.>
“Sorry but it’ll probably have to be a low-tech solution either way,” I leaned on the wall with a shrug. “I can’t exactly smuggle an earthmover on the city bus.” I stiffened when something wriggled near my shoulder and quickly darted away from the wall. The wriggling continued against my neck, and I swatted so quickly my wrist popped. It made Elfangor jump, stalk eyes darting to me and where I had thrown the bug.
<What was it?>
“Grub in the wall,” I mumbled as I stood and shook myself, roughing my hair with my fingers compulsively. “I think I shook it loose when I leaned here.”
Elfangor looked down at the dazed grub that was already trying to bury itself again.
<Is it dangerous?>
I shook my head one last time and slipped my hair tie out. “Not really, just gross.” I ran my fingers through the loose hair, making sure there were no stragglers. “But it felt like a centipede, those can be dangerous.”
He stared at the grub a moment longer. <It almost looks like a Taxxon with too few legs.> He noted.
I shuddered. I did not like thinking of those things. The way their huge rippling jaws had set on their own fellow Taxxons. Hundreds of them erupting from the ground suddenly while I stood idle on the ship ramp, still a prisoner in my own body. They had torn through soil and flesh alike as if it had been butter…
“That's it!” I exclaimed.
Elfangor’s stalks whipped up at me. <What is it?>
“You can still turn into a Taxxon right? A Taxxon could finish this hole- “
<NO!>
The force of the shout rang in my head. I looked at him, expecting him to be angry. But his eyes were haunted, his body trembling with barely contained terror. He noticed my gaze and shook himself.
<I am sorry. But I can’t, not with you here.> He grabbed his arm and looked away.
“Because of the morphing?” I probed gently. “I know it looks gross, but I can- “
<No, it’s not that,> he interrupted. <That hunger…with you here. No, I can’t. I won’t.>
Oh. I hadn’t thought of that. “Well, I could leave or maybe tomorrow…”
<No, even if you are not here, I will not do that again. Taxxons do not hunger like I do for grass or you do for Big Mac. Taxxon hunger…it is more like suffocating. I never understood what could drive a creature to eat their own kind.> He looked down with his main eyes and sighed. <And well, I never would have understood without morphing. Andalites can’t cannibalize each other.>
I hadn’t thought of that. The Taxxon hunger already seemed unbearable to me and I ate meat everyday. But Elfangor was an herbivore. I couldn’t imagine what it must have been like for him, suddenly thrusted into that all consuming drive for flesh….
<Please forgive me, but I will never do that morph again.> He sighed heavily. <Arbron could not resist that hunger, I am no better than him.>
Arbron…I wanted to kick myself for being so stupid. “No, I’m sorry, I wasn’t thinking.” He didn’t answer, only gripped his arm tighter.
I put my shovel down and cautiously walked up to him. One stalk eye watched me carefully as I laid my hand on top of his. “Hey, it’s getting dark. Let’s be done digging for now.” He still didn’t answer but he let me take his hand in mine and lead him out of the hole.
We emerged up into the forest, smelling of dirt and sweat. The air was starting to cool as the sun settled on the horizon. Elfangor looked through the canopy.
His fingers feathered lightly in mine. <I…may we run together?>
I smiled and softly squeezed his hand. “Of course.”
He bent slightly and I climbed on his back. It felt natural, like I had done this all my life. In a few quick gallops we were in the open plains, chasing the setting sun. He wasn’t slow but he was not sprinting as he had last night. Each thrum of his legs and body seemed to draw out the action. I felt each distinct stride, the power and grace shivering through me and I melted into his back. My arms woven tightly around his chest and my cheek on his shoulders, if I closed my eyes, I couldn’t tell where I ended and he began.
<When I was alone on the Taxxon world, and I found the pictures the Skrit Na had stolen,> he said without slowing, <Those pictures of earth…saved me. They gave me ideas, and hope when I had neither.>
He gathered speed and leaped over a stream, sailing across like the hawk in flight. When we landed, he continued the steady gait. <When I looked at the pictures of green countryside I thought ‘it would be a wonderful thing to run there with Loren’.>
I breathed deeply drawing in his scent, felt his hand squeeze around mine, each finger gentle and curious. If this is a dream, I thought as the soothing thrum echoed deep in my bones, please let me sleep.
