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“This is a tuk’ata,” Luke said. “Also known as a Sith hound. They are guardians of the tombs.”

“Which, don’t tell me, is exactly where we’re going,” said Ben.

Luke nodded. “They also live on other worlds, but they originated here.”

“Sounds like Korriban exports a lot of things,” Vestara said.

“I’ve seen one,” Jaina said. Her arms were folded across her chest as she regarded the beast. “On Yavin Four. They’re sentient—at least somewhat. I’ve heard that it can understand the ancient Sith language. In this case, it understood gratitude, at least. It left us alone after—after Jacen healed it.”

There was an uncomfortable silence. Luke again thought what a tragedy that the young Jacen Solo, with his great heart and gentle love of animals, had somehow—and inevitably so—become Darth Caedus.

There were more things to beware, most of them lurking in caves in or around the Valley of the Dark Lords. Bat-like shyracks dwelled in the darkness of the caves. Reptiles thrived on this world. Clay-footed wraids, also found on the desert world of Tatooine, lumbered the sands of the planet. The waters housed dark-side dragons with the onomatopoeic name hssiss, and the sand was rife with pelko bugs. These insects were attracted to Force-sensitives, and their toxin produced a numbing effect that, depending on how many swarmed upon one, could paralyze.

“Let’s see,” Ben recapped. “Dark-side demons and dragons, Sith hounds, mutated rancors, deadly bats, and paralyzing bugs. Sounds like business as usual.”

Vestara gave them all a sudden grin, reached under her seat, and produced a small spray canister of droch repellent. “We’re ready for at least one of those creatures,” she said, and even Luke found himself smiling.

KORRIBAN

A few hours later, none of them was smiling as Luke brought the Jade Shadow into Korriban’s atmosphere.

They passed over a settlement, a dilapidated spaceport surrounded by small clusters of buildings that made up a sort of village. Luke knew this place better than he would have liked; there was no need to get involved with the locals. If the Lost Sith Tribe were hiding here, the locals would either not know or be too frightened to reveal anything of use, and he had no desire to make his presence here more public than it had to be.

“It’s so … barren,” Vestara murmured as they flew over the desolate place.

“Welcome to what happens to a planet steeped in the dark side,” Jaina said. “Use, abuse, and discard. That’s the Sith for you.”

“But our world is not—” Vestara fell silent. Ben gave her a quick glance, though it was hard to tear his gaze from the disturbing but oddly compelling sight of this rocky and sandy world. She still kept anything about Kesh that might reveal its location a closely guarded secret. Ben supposed he couldn’t blame her, and in a way welcomed the reminder that, funny and smart and beautiful as Vestara might be, until she could truly prove otherwise, he had to be careful around her.

It was not a reminder he enjoyed.

They were heading right for the Valley of the Dark Lords. “It’s the most logical place to begin our search,” Luke had said. “The holy of holies for the Sith. If they’re hiding here, they’ll gravitate to the place that has the strongest dark-side energy—and that’s the valley.”

Ben shivered slightly. He could feel it, and knew everyone else could, too; a sort of heavy, sinister tugging, as if his clothes were weighted with water, dragging him down to the depths. He’d felt this before, on Ziost, and this time was very glad to have his father and cousin as company.

And, odd as it seemed, Vestara. This was a rare chance for her to prove her loyalties—one way or the other—and if she was truly, as Ben believed, coming over to the light side, her knowledge would be a gift and not a curse.

A gift from the dark side. How about that?

Her face was alert, attentive, and unlike Luke, Jaina, and Ben himself, she appeared to be utterly comfortable with the energies wafting up from this ancient world. He recalled seeing a similar expression on her face on Klatooine, when the turbolift had