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Young Jedi Knights

Book 12

Under a Black Sun

Return to Ord Mantell

by Kevin J. Anderson & Rebecca Moesta

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To Angela M. Kato, whose hard work and charming personality helped us to find more time to write

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Special thanks to Sue Rostoni, Allan Kausch, and Lucy Autrey Wilson at Lucasfilm Licensing for their valuable input on this new story are; Ginjer Buchanan and Jessica Faust at Berkley for putting their full support behind this series; the Star Wars fans at Dragon*Con's Matters of the Force panels for their enthusiastic brainstorming; Dave Dorman for his marvelous cover art; Dan Wallace and Rich Handley for their research and resource materials; the work of Brian Daley, Al Williamson, and Archie Goodwin for providing fodder for our imaginations; Catherine Ulatowski, Sarah Jones, and Angela Kato at WordFire, Inc for keeping everything running smoothly; and Jonathan Cowan for being our first test-reader.

The tree stood in the middle of a small jungle clearing, its gnarled, woody tentacles wrathing through the air in search of prey.

As Zekk approached, the tentacles twitched, sensing his movement.

The sinuous vines were ewnouflaged, deceptively lush and green. He took another step forward. The ground around the tree's warty trunk was littered with bones-broken grayish-white remnants of previous victims, stripped of flesh, now decaying in the humid air of Yavin 4: Zekk moved even closer, and the hungry tree trembled in anticipation.

He told himself he had nothing to fear. Of course he would have been much more comfortable had he been carrying a lightsaber, a Jedi weapon that could counter any attack from this plant-thing-but that would have been too easy. Much too easy.

Zekk wasn't interested in a simple end to this exercise.

Instead, he conied only a plain staff. He had found the length of dried wood in the jungle and stripped off its bark. It was all the weapon he would allow himself to use in this important test.

He stepped forward, faced the wrathing tentacle tree, and prepared to do battle. "I will let the Force guide me," he murmured to himself, "allow it to direct my Jedi reflexes to respond to any tricks the enemy may devise."

The carnivorous tentacle tree reached toward him, its deadly branches whispering together in a leafy sigh.

"Most of all," he went on in a hushed voice, "I must not let myself be tempted by the easy power I can unleash through the dark side."

Zekk had already traveled the dark paths of the Force when he trained at the Shadow Academy. Now he was a new student learning to use the light side-but at the same time, he was an old student... with many scars on his conscience.

He raised his stick. The tree's tentacles quivered as it prepared for this easy prey.

"The Force is with me," Zekk said, and stepped in among the dangling branches, his staff held high.

Three of the whipping vines thrashed at him, making the stick their primary target. Zekk snapped his wrist downward. A loud crack rang out as the staff beat back two of the tentacles.

Another serpentine appendage crackled and wrapped itself around Zekk's right wrist. Without hesitation, he tossed the staff to his left hand, swung it up, and battered the offending tentacle as he yanked his hand free.

His skin burned and tingled as the clutching vine tore away from his wrist. He realized then that this plant-thing exuded some kind of irritating acid through its tiny spines. His hand began to swell, but Zekk turned his concentration back to the vines that still lashed at him.

He could deal with the pain later.

He struck left and right, knocking the thrashing vines away. His hand turned red and throbbed; he could barely bend his fingers. A forest of tentacles now whipped and clawed at him. He could have severed them all with a single sweep of a lightsaber blade, but Zekk drove them back one-handed, using only his staff.

Simple victories were not worth fighting for. Without a challenge, victory was meaningless. He