DISCOVERY
The air was dank and noisome and the stone steps slick that led down into the darkness. They had found the hidden trapdoor, following Ozymysc's lead until they could all feel it, behind the staircase to the upper floor. Now they stood over the open portal, slightly sickened by the dark aura flowing from the black hole. They heard a faint moan. Zon and Gal exchanged a brief glance, and then led the group downward.
The air at the bottom of the stairs was humid, the stone floor oily. Along one wall was a low black altar, a small sooty flame burning on it. It was flanked by a data reader and cubes, and even a few ancient sheets of printed plastic, the writing unfamiliar. Knives, pliers, electrodes, these and many more sophisticated implements of torture lay scattered about the space. Against the wall across from the altar was a man, or what was left of him. He was Mon Calamari, dressed in filthy rags, and he hung limply in sputtering stasis clamps. He moaned once more, a rope of saliva dripping from his mouth.
"Come closer, friends," he breathed weakly. "I can feel your power, like the sun on my face." He lifted his head and they saw that he had been blinded. It was obvious he had been grievously tortured in many other ways as well. Zon laid him down carefully as Dubn and Shen deactivated the clamps. The damage to the Calamari's body was incredible; it seemed miraculous that he still lived.
"Thank you," he whispered after a moment. "Your presence here tells me that the imposter is dead. Thank you for that as well. He was a thoroughly evil creature and terribly powerful. You are quite strong in the Force, but also so youthful. Who are you and how did you come to be here? Be brief, I have little time left and much of importance to pass on to you."
Zon told him of their journey, their betrayal and long flight from peril to peril that ended with the meeting here in this dreadful shrine to the Dark Side of the Force.
"I am Mujhar Din, Jedi Knight," he said when the youth had finished. "The being that you destroyed was an evil adept of the Dark Side. He was more powerful than I and he defeated and imprisoned me, taking my form and place. As I am quite sure is obvious, he has not treated me well. I have kept myself alive, hoping against hope that someone would find me. My struggle has been rewarded and now I must pass on a trust to you, for there will be no other.
"No, my children, you know not how orphaned you are, for the Jedi order has been swept away, and any that could shelter you or finish your training are dead or hidden. You will never be full Jedi by the standards of the past, for the Temple and the Council are destroyed. I do not know if a single member yet lives. Nevertheless, the Jedi need you. Our order may rise again someday if given a chance. You must provide that chance. Your order and I need you to find the Bloodstone of Draagen Raz."
AGAIN?
TO BE CONTINUED (Part III)
Back to Part I