[Short Stories] - Tales of the Jedi - ...

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STAR WARSLight and Shadow(Tales of the Jedi Fiction)by Paul Danner"The Jedi who fall are the most dangerous of all." - line from a children�s rhymeDray watched the bright red star disappear into the darkness of the horizon. His thoughts were a jumbled mass, and as the sun vanished so did his hope of untangling those chaotic feelings... It was always worse at night, when he had nothing to do but stare up at the endless expanse of black sky and consider his plight.He had come to this world at the edge of the Galactic Frontier to try and salvage his very soul. The Republic�s Astrogation Survey Team had yet to explore the planet, so it had no designation. Since he made the discovery, Dray figured he should also give his new home a name... He called it Vigil.At first, the verdant forest planet seemed like a perfect place for introspection and healing. However, its pastoral beauty only caused Dray more pain as he came to a terrible realization. The idyllic serenity of the environment served as a daily reminder that such tranquillity would never again be his... In the past, Dray had been the master of his emotions, but peace was now merely a fleeting dream.He fled civilized space in order to escape his troubles. But there was never any escape, no matter where he went... Not even on Vigil.Dray often contemplated leaving, but to go where? He would merely be hunted down as he was before, and Dray was tired of running. So he remained on the planet - both his paradise and perdition....* * *He stretched out a tentative hand, like an infant reaching for its mother. Almost immediately he experienced the tingling sensation of the Force surging around his fingertips. A small chill touched the base of his spine with the knowing caress of an old lover.Dray sighed and rested himself in the small clearing under a canopy of wide-leaf arcosia trees. The delicately sweet smell of the foliage drifted through his nostrils and he drank in the aroma.Sitting cross-legged with his hands folded across his lap, Dray closed his eyes. The scent of arcosia swept into his lungs. He quieted himself down until all that remained was the sound of his own breath.Dray opened himself up to the harmony of nature... The shrill calls of the prismwings taking flight conjured up a breathtaking image of the brightly colored birds streaking a rainbow through the sky. He concentrated on distinguishing between the soft hoots of the other avians, the snuffling cries resounding from a hundred species of animals, and the tinny warbles of the bewildering array of insects.His breathing became slower, more exact, falling into an almost lulling rhythm. Dray tried to remember the meditative exercises taught to him by his Master, Ven-Mah Tyrrahl. He had not been able to call upon them in a very long time.Since...A sharp pain nearly cut through his concentration, twisting like a vibroblade in his gut.He would never forget that day.His meditation had come to an abrupt end when Yeres Threem burst into the botanical garden. The Vultan Jedi adept was demanding answers and Dray had none to give his friend.Dray�s face twitched as he relived the awful moment.Threem was beyond reason, attempting to kill Dray, but that hardly mattered. Threem knew the truth and therefore had to die.For what? a familiar voice demanded to know. Dray could not identify it, so for the moment he ignored it.Dray could still hear the clash of their lightsabers, feel the haft of his weapon vibrate in his hand, smell the horrid cauterization of flesh.Then he was standing over the body of one of his closest friends. Dray could still see the terrible, empty look on the Vultan�s face. Those dark eyes like dull transparisteel accusing Dray of betrayal long after Threem had stopped breathing.It was the first Jedi that Dray had killed. It would not be the last...Other memories began to flood his mind, threatening to disrupt his contemplation. Dray took a cleansing breath, let go his focus, cleared his thoughts.He tried again and suddenly heard the words of his Master echoing through his head.Try and you will always fail. Success is not a goal. It is a conscious decision.Dray increased his concentration.The characteristic sounds of his adopted planet fell away as he searched for something else. Sweat beaded on his forehead, matting his hair, and dripping down his back in icy rivulets. He released his awareness of the physical body and grasped for something greater.For a moment Dray feared the ability was lost to him... No... Wait.There.He heard it, hushed at first but growing ever stronger. The heartbeat of his new home... The resonant geothermal pulse that warmed the cold rock.Dray slowly timed his own heartbeat to Vigil�s, and they became as one. The crude vessel of the body could no longer contain his spirit. Dray did not fully abandon his physical form, but embraced it into the whole of his being and moved beyond. Into nature. He was the rocks, the trees, the animals, the lakes, the dirt. The world.It was not enough.He reached for the stars above, into the galaxy that surrounded him.Into the very heart of the Force.He felt his entire conscious being lifted into a place that words could never describe. His body was engulfed in flame and then dipped into a vast ocean of ice. He continued to rise, and as he did he felt his mind begin to open. It could not fully encompass what he was experiencing, but he knew he was about to reach a plateau. The most beautiful woman in the galaxy was wrapping him in her arms and pulling him higher and higher.Something abruptly stopped his ascension.He heard the rumblings first, the terrible thunder emanating from great stormclouds clearing the horizon. Then came the lightning, unnaturally violet and unerringly vicious. The winds roared with fury and nothing could stand against them.The great storm tore at the land mercilessly, striking at Dray�s own heart. The sky that had borne him aloft suddenly released him. Dray found himself falling...Falling.A coldness like he had never felt swept over him, chilling his breath even in the temperate clime of Vigil�s forests.The storm was coming for him; fueled by fear, rage, hatred. Dray braced himself, but knew there was no hope of surviving the onslaught.Then came thunder like no other and Dray thought it was the first strike of the dark side storm. The anticipated attack never arrived and Dray realized the jarring sound was not a manifestation of the Force after all.It was reality...His eyes snapped open and the trance was lost. The dreadful storm was gone as quickly as it had arrived.Dray immediately saw the streaking arc of light cutting through the sky; like a falling star only much closer. Whatever the object was it had just entered the atmosphere, burning as bright as any sun.It seemed to take forever to complete its descent. The flaring object disappeared momentarily behind the tree line and Dray felt the coldness of a metallic craft sheltering three lifeforms. He could feel the vital pulse of each being and for an awful moment, their emotions were also his to experience - fear, hopelessness, despair. A familiar tingle rippled down Dray�s body as the dark side began to feed...Suddenly, there was an explosion so great Dray felt it from over a mile away. The ground shook as if wracked by a rampaging herd of angry bantha. Dray lost his footing and rode the rest of the aftershocks flat on his back.All was silent once more.Dray was already up and running.* * *He stumbled through the last few meters of tangled underbrush, nearly landing head-first in the impact trench that stretched across the valley.Dray followed the track, running parallel to it, and estimated the size of the ship that may have caused the sizable furrow. His heart triphammered inside his chest as he closed in on the unnatural crater that yawned like an open wound.He skidded to a halt at the lip of the smoldering abyss and surveyed the situation. The vessel was some sort of scout craft; too small to be a freighter and not enough armor or weapons to be a fighter. The ship had split into two large sections and each half was a raging inferno.Dray slowly descended the dirt mound and moved toward the fiery remains, keeping one arm protectively over his face. He made his way over the minefield of flaming debris to what he guessed was the cockpit. He could see two bodies completely engulfed. For their sake, Dray hoped they died on impact.As sweat poured off him like rain, he carefully began moving away from the blazing inferno.He wasn�t sure what stopped him... Whether it was a slight tremor in the Force or a faint plaintive cry. Maybe it was neither; just his imagination riled by his failed attempt at a meditative trance.Whatever the cause, something drew him back to the downed craft. He stepped closer to the other half of the broken ship and peered into the conflagration. That�s when he saw her, a young girl no more than seven years old. Her blond hair was soaked with perspiration, her eyes wild with fear. The girl�s mouth moved again and again, though Dray couldn�t make out what she was saying.He could get no closer than a few meters because of the raging wall of fire. The girl could not come to him, her right leg was trapped under a large cylindrical power coupler."Can you hear me?" Dray called to her.The girl did not answer him. All of her attention was focused on the cockpit. "Mommy! Daddy!" Tears rolled down her cheeks as she cried out again. "Help me!""I�m trying," Dray said under his breath. He waved his arms at her, hoping her eyes would at least track the motion. "L... [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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