Star Wars_ Young Jedi Knights 01_ Heirs of the Force - Kevin J. Anderson [3]
sleep, sleep . . . and quiet. The coiled-up crystal snake dozed beneath Raynar in the folds of his purple under-robes.
"Here, Jaina," Jacen whispered. She left the door to crouch beside him.
The fabric of her stained overall hissed like another snake as she dropped to her knees.
"I suppose it's directly under Raynar's body?"
Jacen nodded. "Yes, where it's warmest."
"That's a problem," Jaina said. "I could roll him over, and you grab the snake."
"No, that would disturb it," Jacen said. "It might bite Raynar again."
Jaina frowned. "He'd sleep through a week's worth of classes."
"Yeah," Jacen said, "but then at least Uncle Luke could finish a lecture without getting interrupted by Raynar's questions."
Jaina giggled. "You've got a point there."
Jacen sensed the coiled snake with his mind, saw it resting peacefully; but just then, as if Raynar had heard them talking about him, the boy snorted and stirred in his sleep.
The snake surged with alarm. Jacen quickly sent out a calming message, using Jedi relaxation techniques Luke had taught him. He sent peaceful thoughts, quieting thoughts, that calmed not only the serpent but Raynar as well.
"Working together, we could use our Jedi powers to lift Raynar up," Jacen suggested. "Then I'll pull the snake out from underneath him."
"Well, what are we waiting for?" Jaina said, looking at her brother with raised eyebrows.
Closing their eyes, the twins concentrated. They touched the fringes of Raynar's colorful robes with their fingertips as they imagined how light he could be ... that he was merely a feather wafting into the air... that he weighed nothing at all, and they could make him drift upward. . . .
Jacen held his breath, and the still-snoring Jedi student began to rise from the tiled floor. Raynar's loose garments dangled like curtains underneath him, freeing the sleepy snake.
Suddenly deprived of its warm hiding place, the crystal snake woke up in anger, instinctively wanting to lash out. Jacen sensed it uncoiling and seeking a living target, ready to strike.
"Hold Raynar!" he shouted to Jaina as he flashed forward to snatch the slithering crystal snake. His fingers, wrapped around its neck, grasping it behind the compact triangular head. He sent focused calming thoughts into the small reptilian brain, quelling its anger, soothing it.
Jacen's quick movement and release of the Force startled Jaina, and she managed to hold Raynar up for only a second or two. As Jacen worked to calm the serpent, Jaina's grip on the floating boy weakened and finally broke.
Raynar tumbled to the hard stone floor in a pile of arms and legs and garishly colored cloth. The thud of impact was enough to wake him even from a snake-drugged sleep. He sat up with a grunt, blinking his blue eyes and shaking his head.
Jacen continued to calm the invisible snake hidden in his hand. He sent tingling thoughts into its mind until the serpent fizzed with pleasure.
Content, it wrapped itself around Jacen's wrist, resting its flat, transparent head on his clenched fist. Even in the best of light it barely shimmered. Its scales were like a thin film of diamonds, its black eyes like two bits of charcoal.
Groggy, Raynar looked at the dark-haired twins standing next to him. He scratched his head in confusion. "Jacen? Jaina? Well, well, well, what are you-hey!" He sat up straighter and shook his left arm as if it had gone numb. Then he glared at Jacen.
"I thought I saw one of your... your creatures in here, just for a minute. And that's the last thing I remember. Is one of your pets loose?"
Embarrassed, Jacen slid his snake-covered hand behind his back. "No," he said, "I can honestly say that all of my pets are com pletely accounted for."
Jaina bent down to help the other Jedi boy to his feet. "You must have just fallen asleep, Raynar. You really should have gone to your sleeping pallet if you were so tired." She brushed his clothes off. "Now look, you've got