Star Wars_ Darth Bane 02_ Rule of Two - Drew Karpyshyn [49]
“You’re beast-riders,” she gasped, remembering Tallo’s warning when she’d first mentioned Onderon.
“Skelda clan,” the man said. “And like I already told you, you’re in our territory.”
“I’m … I’m sorry,” Zannah said. “I didn’t know.”
The man shrugged. “Doesn’t matter if you knew or not. You want to use a Skelda clan landing pad, you got to pay us for the privilege.”
From the corner of her eye Zannah noticed his companions slowly drawing in tighter around her.
“I don’t have any money,” she said, taking a half step backward.
“That’s okay,” the man replied nonchalantly. “We’ll just take your ship.”
Zannah spun on her heel and tried to run for the forest as the man lunged for her. He’d been expecting her to make a break for it, and he was quick. He was on her after only a few steps, tackling her from behind. He knocked her to the ground, his weight slamming her to the hard dirt. And the next instant he was flying backward through the air.
He hit the ground with a hard grunt, the wind knocked out of him as he landed on his side five meters away. Zannah scrambled back to her feet. The other members of his clan had rushed forward when she started to run; now they all took a quick step back, weapons raised high above their heads. They were staring at her with wide-eyed expressions of fear and disbelief.
She turned back to the leader when she heard him laughing. He picked himself up off the ground and winked at her.
“Looks like we got ourselves a little Jedi in training,” he said, loud enough for his companions to hear. “What brought you to Onderon, little Jedi? Decided to run away from your Master?”
“I’m not a Jedi,” Zannah said in a cold whisper.
“That’s right,” he agreed. “You don’t know how to control your power, do you? It only comes out when you’re mad or afraid. Isn’t that right?”
Zannah clenched her jaw and narrowed her eyes, but didn’t say anything.
“Listen, little Jedi,” he said, pulling a small blade from his boot and beginning to walk slowly toward her. “There are twelve of us and only one of you. You really think you can take us all on?”
“Maybe,” Zannah said, thrusting out her chin.
“What about them?” he asked, tilting his head in the direction of the flying beasts as he continued his cautious advance. “One command from any of us and the drexls will rip your pretty little blond head clean off your body. Do you really think your powers will be enough to stop them?”
“No,” Zannah admitted. In the back of her mind she felt something twitch, almost as if someone was calling out to her.
“It’s time for you to give up, girlie,” the redhead told her with a cruel grin. He was only a few steps away from her now, his blade held out before him. “You’re all alone.”
Zannah smiled back at him. “No, I’m not.”
As the words left her lips a dark shadow fell across the two of them. The man had just enough time to look up before he was plucked from the ground by the swooping talons of a drexl far larger than any of the four he had called down earlier. It let loose a scream that shook the ground beneath Zannah’s feet as it arced back up toward the sky. Astride the great beast’s neck sat the familiar figure of Darth Bane.
The drexl climbed to a height of thirty meters, then released its deadly grip on the redheaded man. His limp body plunged to the ground below, landing with a dull thud and the sharp crack of bones.
The sight of their leader’s mangled corpse dropping from the sky spurred the rest of the clan into action. With whooping cries and shrill whistles, they raced to their mounts to take the battle to the air, all thoughts of the little girl on the ground forgotten.
The first drexl off the ground had only two riders. The woman in front handled the reins, focusing all her attention and energy on the difficult task of steering and controlling