Prologue My name is Tobias. I was restless. Don't ask me why, I just was. So I flew. There were no Animorph missions planned. The others didn't need me right then. So even though the sun was going down, I flew. I flew toward the mountains. Toward the secret, hidden valley the Ellimist had showed me. Even now I had trouble finding it. Even though I knew exactly where it was. Even though, as a red-tailed hawk, I had vision far better than any human. The Ellimist had concealed the valley from human eyes. How? Who knows? The Ellimist could hide all of planet Earth if he wanted to. But knowing where the valley was, I could find it with some effort. I found the narrow gap between two ridges. I was not fooled by the way my eyes kept sliding away from the gap, as if some negative magnetism was at work. I flew as the sun dropped and the air cooled and the lift beneath my broad wings failed. I had to flap harder to stay aloft. Stupid, really. Now I'd have to spend the night here in the valley. Then, below me, I saw a sight that

TSEEEW! TSEEEW! I felt shredder blasts hit the ground beside me. But now I was running ? terrified, but running forward.

TSEEEEW! TSEEEEW! The shredders missed us by inches. We jigged left. We jigged right. But the Andalite pilot would not let go.