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“But where are we going?” Kyp asked.

“You’ll see soon enough.”

Unable to bear his feelings of isolation and loneliness, Kyp tried to keep the Jedi teacher talking. “Master Skywalker, what if I fail to distinguish between the dark side and the light side? I’m afraid that any power I use now might also lead me down the path of destruction.”

A feathery-winged moth flitted in front of them, seeking nectar from the bright flowers that blossomed among the creeping vines. Kyp watched the moth’s flight until suddenly, from four different directions, sapphire-winged piranha beetles zoomed in to strike, ripping the moth’s wings to shreds. The moth fluttered and struggled, but the piranha beetles devoured it before it could even fall to the ground. The beetles buzzed so close to Kyp’s face that he could see their saw-toothed mandibles ready to tear flesh to shreds; but the beetles ratcheted away to seek other prey.

“The dark side is easier, faster, more seductive,” Luke said. “But you can identify it by your own emotions. If you use it for enlightenment to help others, it may be from the light side. But if you use it for your own advancement, out of anger or revenge, then the power is tainted. Don’t use it. You will know when you are calm, passive.”

Kyp listened and knew that he had done everything wrong. Exar Kun had given him false information. The Jedi Master turned to him; his face looked haggard with the weight on his shoulders. “Do you understand?” Master Skywalker asked.

“Yes,” Kyp answered.

“Good.” Master Skywalker parted the branches on the other side of the clearing to expose a sight that made Kyp stop cold in his tracks. They had come from a different direction, but Kyp could never forget the site itself. Fragments of burning ice trickled down his spine.

“I feel cold,” he said. “I don’t want to go back there.”

They stepped out to where the vegetation dropped off at the edge of a glassy-smooth lake, a circular reflecting pond where the water looked clear and colorless and reflected the cloudless skies above like a pool of quicksilver.

In the center of the pond sat an island of volcanic rock on which perched a sharply angled split pyramid made of obsidian. Two halves of the steep pyramid had been spread apart to bracket the polished black statue, a towering colossus of a man with flowing hair, bulky uniform, and a long black cape. Kyp knew the image all too well.

Exar Kun in life.

Inside that temple Kyp had received his initiation into the Sith teachings, while Dorsk 81 had lain in an unnatural coma against the wall. The spirit of Exar Kun had meant to destroy the cloned Jedi student on a whim, as a gesture of power, but Kyp had stopped him, insisting instead that the Sith Lord teach him everything. He had seen things that still left yammering nightmares in the depths of his mind.

“The dark side is strong in that place,” Kyp said. “I can’t go in there.”

Master Skywalker said, “In your fear lies caution, and in that caution lies wisdom and strength.” He squatted on a comfortable rock at the edge of the crystalline lake. He shaded his eyes against the light reflecting from the surface of the pool.

“I will wait here,” Master Skywalker said, “but you must go inside.”

Kyp swallowed, terror and revulsion rising within him. This black temple symbolized everything that had rotted his core, everything that had led him astray, all the mistakes he had made. The dark lies and goading of Exar Kun had caused Kyp to kill his own brother, to threaten the life of his friend Han Solo, to strike down his Jedi teacher.

Another shiver passed through him. Perhaps this was his punishment.

“What will I find in there?” Kyp asked.

“Ask no more questions,” Master Skywalker said. “I can give you no answers. You must choose whether to carry your weapon with you.” He nodded toward the lightsaber handle clipped to Kyp’s waist. “You will have only what you bring with you.”

Kyp touched the ridged handle of the lightsaber, afraid to turn it on. Did Master Skywalker want him to leave it behind or take it? Kyp hesitated. Better