“Well,” he said bravely, “what are we waiting for?”
The landscape had changed dramatically in the aftermath of the capricious storm. The hot whirlwind from the day side of the planet had blasted across ice patches and glacier fields, leaving spearlike icicles flash-frozen to the rugged cliffsides. Evaporated water that had crystallized in the air now blew around them as dry, scouring snow.
Kur kept his head low; his head-tails twitched around his shoulders as he trudged along the stony slopes toward the faint glow several rugged kilometers in the distance.
The snow that swirled around them blinded Jacen. He took Tenel Ka’s arm so that they wouldn’t get separated. Once, when they became disoriented, he ignited his lightsaber and let the emerald green blaze like a torch. Snow sizzled as it struck the energy blade. The wind whistled and howled around irregularities in the cliff faces.
As they climbed higher, the breezes grew more severe, and the biting cold drained Jacen’s energy. Every step seemed nearly impossible. Slogging through a sea of weariness, he pushed himself to go farther and farther. In his mind, he cried out with the Force, “Lowie, we’re here … don’t give up looking for us!”
Tenel Ka stumbled, and Jacen helped her up, only to find that she had tripped over Kur, who huddled on the ground in despair, refusing to go on. Together they pulled the old Twi’lek to his feet.
“Can’t rest now,” Jacen said. “You won’t make it to the Bright Lands.”
Kur moaned. “Then I’ll just die here.”
“That is not an option,” Tenel Ka said.
The night sky cleared again, showing a spray of stars. All the snow created by the heat storm blew away, gathering in small mounds against the cliffs. Jacen was dismayed to see that their destination appeared no closer than it had seemed hours before.
Tenel Ka pulled in a deep breath. “Master Skywalker once described techniques a Jedi can use to endure cold or heat,” she said. “We must use these skills now.”
Jacen nodded jerkily. “Our friend here doesn’t have those abilities, though.”
“Then we must help him reach the temperate zone before it is too late.”
The slope grew steeper, rockier, but still they kept moving toward the line of distant twilight.
Tenel Ka once again had to use her fibercord to help them to climb between rocky pinnacles.
With his lightsaber, Jacen cut sturdy footholds into the caked ice inside shallow crevices.
The two companions pushed and dragged the old Twi’lek exile, urging him to climb higher.
“Just a little farther, Kur,” Jacen chanted in a voice that was barely more than a whisper. “Just a little farther.”
But when they finally reached the top of the ridge, Jacen’s heart dropped. A sheer gorge and a landscape of cracked hills blocked their path to where the twilight lands would offer them safety.
“We’ll never make it across that,” Jacen said in dismay.
“This is a fact,” Tenel Ka agreed. Her voice was flat, but Jacen heard her despair.
Where would they find the strength to go farther? They were exhausted, freezing. The Twi’lek had slumped into an unconscious stupor beside them. Jacen drew his lightsaber, switched it on, and let it blaze into the darkness. Tenel Ka raised hers as well.
Jacen hoped his sister was all right, wherever she was … that she had managed to escape somehow, that she had found safety with Lowie.
Lowie!
Jacen looked up into the starlit sky.
Tenel Ka straightened, suddenly alert again, and waved her lightsaber back and forth. “Do you sense it?” she asked.
“Yes,” Jacen said. “The Rock Dragon. It’s coming!”
It appeared at first as a shadow against the sky, droning as it cruised low over the mountains.
Soon a constellation of running lights twinkled their message of warmth, of encouragement.
The ship was searching for them.
Jacen jumped up and down, yelling, “Lowie, we’re here! We’re here!”
Tenel Ka stood tall beside him and whirled her turquoise blade overhead.
The Rock Dragon wavered for a moment, then altered its course and arrowed straight toward them. “He’s seen us!” Jacen exclaimed.
Tenel Ka shook the old Twi’lek exile. “Kur, we are saved. You must come with us.”
“No … take me to the Bright Lands,” he gasped.
The Rock Dragon hovered, seeking a place to land, but found no clear patch on the broken, rocky ridge.
“You can always choose the Bright Lands later,” Jacen said, hope lending strength to his voice. “But for now, why not help the Twi’lek people? Nolaa Tarkona has done terrible things to them. Maybe you could help set everything right again.”
As the Rock Dragon hovered in the air, buffeted by freezing winds, its ramp extended until it nearly touched the mountaintop. Kur didn’t struggle or argue as they lifted him onto the ramp and carried him through the hatch.
Inside the bright cockpit, Lowie and Sirra both howled a greeting.
Their fur bristled and their fangs flashed with exultation.
Jacen and Tenel Ka, still shivering, sank gratefully to the floor. The deck plates were so warm and welcoming that Jacen could think of no place he would rather have been.
He just wished his sister were there with him.
21
With a sudden uneasy tingle felt through the Force, Jaina detected the danger before her eyes could spot anything outside in the unrelenting glare of day. She stood in the shadow of the alcove she had excavated, letting her eyes adjust.
Grabbing Raynar by the shoulder, she looked at the washed-out landscape under the pummeling sunlight. “They’re coming,” she said.
Raynar’s eyes closed in their dim hiding place. His shoulders slumped, and he panted heavily, dragging in breaths of too-hot air that seemed to scorch the lining of his lungs. “Then we’d better get ready to fight.”
Jaina gripped her lightsaber. The handle felt hot against her blistered palm. Raynar, without a Jedi weapon of his own, picked up a chunk of the rock Jaina had sliced free to create their cave. He hefted it in his hand, ready to throw.
Reaching out with her Jedi senses, Jaina could tell that their stalkers were coming closer, closer.
She could sense their anger, their hatred of humans….
Raynar’s eyes opened wide. “It’s Hovrak!”
Jaina pressed her back against the wall, felt the heat throb against her skin. She did not switch on her lightsaber blade. They would remain in the darkness; it might gain them an additional second of surprise.
The heat-suited soldiers, though, made no attempt at stealth. When they discovered the freshly hewn cleft in the rock, one of the guards shouted in triumph. He stumbled forward in his unwieldy silver suit.
Swinging his blaster from left to right, he stepped into the opening, prepared to fire—but Jaina was ready for him.
In a single blurred movement she switched on her lightsaber and slashed.
The Jedi blade severed the business end of the blaster, leaving only a smoldering lump.
Then Raynar threw his rock with Force-enhanced power, hitting the guard hard in the stomach and knocking him backward toward the rocky ledge.
His gloved hands clawed at the rocks, trying to catch his balance, but to no avail.
The jagged edges ripped open his suit, and the guard’s wall echoed inside his reflective helmet as he toppled over the side.
Hovrak called the rest of his team to a halt, shouting for them to retreat to the side of the ledge. Then, targeting on Jaina’s glowing light saber, the guards fired into the grotto shadows, from a protected position.
Trapped like a womp rat in a box canyon, Jaina swung her lightsaber to deflect the blaster bolts. Raynar crouched at the back of the crevice to keep out of the way, hurling an occasional rock at their unseen enemies. Jaina clenched her jaw and fought with all of her Jedi skills not daring to trust her dazzled eyes on the heat-washed ledge.