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“I am now. Good timing,” he said, and gave Luke a weak grin. “She tried to—to drain my life energy somehow.”

“Looks like once the contact is broken you’re all right,” Ben said. “Good thing to know if she tries that kind of attack on us.” He smiled at Dyon, who seemed to grow stronger by the minute.

“Where did she go?” Luke asked.

Dyon pointed to the back of the cave. In the red glow of several lit lightsabers, everyone could easily see the mouth of a tunnel that opened onto utter blackness.

“There,” Dyon said.

“Do you know where this tunnel leads?”

“I haven’t the faintest idea.”

Luke turned to the others. “I think she went through here to better her attack position, and it was a smart move. There could be all kinds of traps or dangers in that tunnel. She’ll certainly be waiting to pounce the second we emerge on the other end.”

“I cannot sense her in the Force,” Taalon said, and the admission clearly pained him. “Now that Dyon is no longer with her, I think that this is, unfortunately, our only option.”

Unease rippled through those assembled. Vestara took a step closer to her father, who reached out to squeeze her shoulder briefly. It was, Luke mused, likely certain death. Abeloth held every advantage now. But if they were slain, or taken, there were at least several hundred other Sith who would come. It was not an even fight, but it was a fairer one than he had had any right to expect.

“I think so, too,” Luke said. “Ben and I can go first, and if it’s safe, we can let the rest of you know.”

Taalon flushed, his lavender cheeks turning dark purple. “Are you calling us cowards, Master Skywalker?”

“No,” Luke said. “You’re the one who used that term.”

“I am not afraid, nor is anyone else here,” Taalon growled.

“Then you’re an idiot,” Luke said. “You should be afraid. Lack of fear makes one careless, and being careless here will get you killed.” He gave Dyon a comlink. “You stay here.”

“I’d like to come with you,” Dyon said.

“You’ve already helped a great deal,” Luke said. “But I need someone here I can trust if this backfires and she comes back this way. Taalon, pick some of your people to stay here and give Dyon some backup support.”

Taalon’s eyes narrowed. Luke knew he was pushing the Keshiri by continuing to angle for control of the situation, but he also knew that showing anything that could be perceived as weakness to this Sith would be fatal. Luke was significant, in some way, to Abeloth, although that thought disgusted him. Taalon knew it. He might dislike Luke, might take joy in attacking him, but he would not until his own purposes had been achieved.

“It is wise to cover all avenues of her possible escape,” Taalon said, instead of what he no doubt wished to say, and nodded to two others. “Let us know if you see anything out of the ordinary here,” he told them, then turned back to Luke. He offered a completely false smile.

“Let us go to Abeloth then, Master Skywalker. And since this is again your plan …” He left the sentence unfinished, instead extending a hand mockingly toward the yawning black mouth of the tunnel.

Luke did not put walking through a dark, tight tunnel with several Sith behind him at the top of his list of highlights of his life, but it was not as bad as he had feared.

The tunnel was clearly artificial. It was almost a perfect circle, and was wide enough to permit everyone to walk erect, even to have some freedom of movement. It went slightly downward at first, leading them through the mountain. Roots, powerful on this world, had forced their way through the sheer stone in clumps, slicked with some kind of ooze that dissolved the corpses of the small animals clutched in their grip. Abeloth apparently had not had time to rig any elaborate traps for them. Nor did the tunnel suddenly abruptly collapse. The greatest threat came from the occasional root that came to life, pushing through the top of the packed soil passageway attempting to wrap around a throat, or from the bottom to seize an ankle. The ooze was not acidic, although it was likely toxic, and there were