...My name is Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill, brother of Elfangor-Sirinial-Shamtul ... I am the only Andalite presently located on planet Earth ... the truth is, we lost a Dome ship in orbit above this planet. The Yeerks destroyed it. We lost my brother, Prince Elfangor, in that battle, too. But before he died, Elfangor broke our law and gave the secret Andalite morphing power to five human youths ...

... I live among these humans now. With the group of human children who were given the morphing power by Elfangor. They call themselves Animorphs. They resist the Yeerk invasion of Earth ... my human friends insist on reducing my name to "Ax" ...

... I am very good at passing for human, if I say so myself. I have learned the customs and habits perfectly so that I seem entirely normal. That's how I am able to pass even in the most human of places. For example, the mall ... the mall houses the most wonderful eating places. You see, in addition to making sounds with their mouths, humans use them to eat. They place foods into the mouth opening and grind the foods with teeth while adding saliva. This involves a sense called "taste." Taste is very, very powerful ...

... I am the only living Andalite witness to the Ascalin incident. Only I - and my human friends, Jake, Cassie, Tobias, Rachel and Marco - know what truly happened aboard that ship on war-torn planet Leera. And even though I know what happened, I will never know why it happened. I know it seems impossible even to conceive of Andalites as traitors. I know the very idea makes any decent Andalite sick inside. But I am telling the truth. The Ascalin incident happened. We were betrayed by one of our own ...

... I live with humans. I respect them. But my hearts are still Andalite. No matter what anyone ever says about me and what happened on Leera, I am true to my own people. And yet there are times when I wonder: Who are my own people? My race, my species? My family? My friends? My allies? ...