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By Root 2437 0

and the three of them followed the path, staying alert for any other signs of ancient Sith activity that had survived the eons. There was no more writing on the walls, or caverns carved into the stone. There were, however, fragments of old bones, scattered pieces of what was clearly equipment, and an increasing sense of unease as they traveled deeper into the heart of the planet. The bones they examined carefully; some of them turned to dust in their hands, but others remained semi-intact.

“Human?” asked Natua.

“Impossible to tell without analyzing them,” Ben said. “We only know of the tiny hallucination-inducing bugs. All kinds of animals could have made this their home over the centuries.”

“You don’t need to protect me, Ben,” Vestara said. And from the quick flush of embarrassed compassion, she knew she was right. “If the Sith left those who had failed where they fell, surely it doesn’t matter anymore.”

“You wouldn’t want to—you know, bury them? Or do whatever the Lost Tribe does with their dead?”

“I’m not a member of the Lost Tribe anymore. And if that Sith’s own people didn’t care, why should I?”

She had intended it to sound as though she wasn’t upset. Instead, she knew it came out sounding brutally uncaring, and she frowned a little. “I didn’t mean that to sound as harsh as it did.”

“This place is unsettling us all,” Natua said, smiling kindly. “I think we’ve learned about all we can without getting hopelessly lost.”

It was a white lie. Vestara could sense that Natua wanted to continue for at least a bit more and was cutting the exploration short in order to make it easier on Vestara.

“Please, neither you nor Ben need to coddle me,” Vestara said. “If you want to continue, let’s continue. It’s better than sitting outside twiddling our thumbs while Luke and the others take down Ship. At least we’re doing something useful.” She strode forward purposefully. And because they couldn’t argue with her logic, Ben and Natua fell in behind her.

The tunnels continued on. And on. As long minutes passed with no further discovery, Vestara herself started to wonder if perhaps they had indeed discovered all there was to find. It made perfect Sith sense: provide a single chamber to collect the weapons and warn the initiates close to the entrance, then turn them loose to meet the Dream Singers, letting them lie where they fell. Her steps slowed and she came to a halt as the tunnel opened up into a large, naturally formed chamber, with smaller tunnels leading in different directions.

She had just turned around, her mouth open to suggest they retrace their steps, when they all heard the sound.

It was so soft at first that for an instant Vestara wondered if she had imagined it. But Ben and Natua were listening intently, as well.

“Were there any descriptions of sounds?” Ben asked Natua. “I don’t know my geology that well. Maybe caves make noises?”

It came again, a soft, low groaning, and Vestara’s stomach clenched. The air suddenly grew cold, as it had in the chamber they had first encountered.

Wordlessly the three activated their lightsabers and dropped their glow rods, automatically moving so their backs were against one another and they faced outward.

“What was that you asked earlier about animals, Ben?” Natua said. Ben didn’t answer, and neither did Vestara. She was too busy dealing with the sudden wave of dark-side energy that crashed over them like the ghost of the lava that had formed these tunnels so long ago. The shadows, black as full night and dancing now from the glow of the lightsabers as she and the two Jedi moved them about slowly, seemed like living beings as they surged forward and back.

And then one of the shadows reared above them, and for a second Vestara wondered if her protective mask had somehow been damaged. For surely this … monster could only come from the darkest corners of a deranged mind’s nightmares.

Well over two meters tall, its shiny, sectioned body a deep blue-black, the thing gazed down at them with two pairs of glowing red compound eyes. Its mandibles clacked as ooze dripped from them.