• Choose a category
• All
• Classic-Fiction

"No!" he said through gritted teeth. He refused to win against the plant-thing in this way. Zekk threw the retrieved staff aside and stood unarmed as the stinging tentacles drew back, then poised themselves to attack with renewed force.

But Zekk kept his mind clear, his thoughts calm. "I am not your prey," he murmured.

The tree had no intelligence, just a rudimentary mass of vascular plant fiber with reflexes that responded like muscles. Hungry tentacles lashed at him-only to slide harmlessly away, as if his entire body were coated with some invisible super lubricant.

"I wn not your prey," Zekk repeated.

The ineffective vines reached toward him, but they could not touch his skin. Sinuous appendages danced in frustration around his amns, his head, his back.

Zekk turned away from the tree and walked slowly beyond the reach of the grasping tentacles. He knew he had temporarily let down his guard, a failure of sorts. But he had seen the dark side, recognized it, and rejected it! He would put it behind him now. He felt as if he had emerged from a raging storm with only a few drops of water clinging to him. The storm was past. A sense of warmth and peace came over him.

At the edge of the clearing, standing beside the thick bushes, he saw Master Luke Skywalker watching him with a quiet smile on his face.

"I'm proud of you, Zekk," he said. "It took courage to turn away from your old instincts. Sometimes it's harder to unlearn bad teaching than it is to learn new skills. It will be hard to forget what Brakiss taught you."

"Yes," Zekk said. "I've got to learn it the right way now. I feel like a kid learning to walk again-and I thought I already knew how.

It's... intimidating." He said the word in a small voice, as if reluctant to admit it. "All the tests and exercises here remind me of what I learned at the Shadow Academy. I'm afraid to do things the same way. I mean, what if I do them wrong again?"

"There's no single way to become a Jedi," Luke Skywalker said.

"If it makes you more comfortable, we'll find a different path. Try a new assignment. Take something you're already good at-somethirg you enjoy-and use the Force, little by little, to enhance your abilities.

It doesn't have to be fighting with a staff, or levitating rocks, or sensing danger. The Force is in all things. Find a task that feels right.

Enjoy it, but let the Force guide you. You need to learn to accept your Jedi abilities, not fear them."

"I can try anything?" Zekk said. "Anything I enjoy?"

"I'm sure you can think of something, Zekk," Luke said.

The dark-haired young man just smiled.

Jedi trainees dragged a few more dried branches and pieces of dead wood from the surrounding jungle and piled it high in the courtyard.

Master Luke Skywalker readied a bonfire while his students gathered to hear him speak.

Jacen Solo ran a hand through his tousled hair, scratched an itch on his scalp, and settled down on the ledge beside his friend Tenel Ka.

They had found seats on one of the stone blocks of the rebuilt pyramid's lower levels; from there they would have a good view of the fire and Jacen's uncle Luke.

Jacen's twin sister Jaina, who loved to tinker with machines, had spent the afternoon with their Wookiee friend Lowbacca and his miniaturized translating droid, Em Teedee. They had worked beneath the Hapan passenger cruiser's navigational consoles, upgrading its starmaps and position-finding capabilities. As Princess of Hapes, the warrior girl Tenel Ka actually owned the Rock Dragon, but she preferred to let Jaina and Lowie pilot it.

Now the two tinkerers and the tiny, silver droid hurried up to sit beside Jacen and Tenel Ka as four new students prepared to light the bonfire.

Jaina still had a few smudges of grease on her cheeks and chin.

Lowie's ginger-colored fur was ruffled, but they both looked satisfied.

"So, the ship's up and working again?" Jacen asked. "There's no telling when we might need to grab it and go rescue somebody. We're Jedi Knights now, you know."

Jaina gave an