(The Demon of the Forge)
Rarsk and three other Trandoshans were assigned by Ssravek to escort me to the Twi-lek settlement and were to remain there to guard the pilgrims against the Flesh-Raiders; they would remain there until Ssravek sent others to take their place. Rarsk was the only one who would talk to me, I learned on our trek that Rarsk was something of an outcast as his father had been from another clan, explaining why he was blue-gray instead of yellow, and because of this none of the other Trandoshans trusted him and viewed him as a stain on their clan, Ssravek was the only one who treated him as a fellow warrior.
When we arrived at the settlement Areeva came bursting out of one of the Huts and wrapped me in what felt like Twi-lek death grip but was only her relief and excitement at seeing I was still alive. She apologized profusely for what happened the evening before and proceeded to gawk as I explained both my ordeal with the creature and then with what happened in the Trandoshan cave. The Twi-leks were wary of the Trandoshan warriors occupying their camp but their matriarch Ranna Tao'ven thanked me for what I'd done and assured me that her people would in time. There in the Matriarch's House Areeva proceeded to explain to me and Rarsk why Master Denai Rann hadn't come for us the other night…
"How could someone poison a Jedi Master," was the first question on my mind.
"No one knows, Master Braga thinks that whatever this beast is it can reach out with the force and its killing her…" Areeva's face was calm but I could see the fear in her eyes.
"Beast worth many Jagganath points would be hunt of lifetime," Rarsk gargled.
"We can't rush into this and I for one don't want to be hunted by this thing again." Just talking about the beast was enough to send chills down my spine.
"Not hunted, have tracked beast before with clan, hides in caves under Jedi weapon place." Rarsk should his head in the direction of the waterfall.
"The Forge, we have to go, we have to kill it, before my master…" Areeva trailed off, I could sense her fear every time she mentioned Master Rann.
"Shouldn't we tell the council, they could send a strike team and maybe…" Areeva cut me off.
"No. The council will want to sit around and discuss the problem and every second we waste is a second my Master could die, we need action! The masters could debate this for days and Denai doesn't have…" Areeva was at the point of tears, "please, Kradok, trust me on this."
I liked Master Denai, and I had wanted to run after the beast the moment Rarsk revealed he knew where the creature lived but my encounter with Ssravek had made me cautious against rushing into fights, but I couldn't say no to Areeva, not when I felt as strongly as she did, "All right let's go, before it gets dark."
"No. Small-Hunter need Jedi weapon," Rarsk pulled at a glowing orange lightsaber crystal, "Ssravek said to give when you went to forge weapon, sign of respect, gift between brothers." I was touched; I knew winning the Jagganath Rights had earned me great respect with the clan, but brothers. Then I remembered my own brothers…
"Rarsk is right; you need a lightsaber, which means you'll need these." Areeva went and got a trunk and dumped its contents onto the table we were standing around, she explained that I was to pick a lens fixture, beam emitter, emitter matrix and various other parts that were necessary to construct a lightsaber, she briefly went over how to construct it by disassembling and reassembling her own within seconds in front of me, she offered to show me again, but I was determined to get to the forge before dark so I selected the components I liked the look of or spoke to me as a person and we left.
We followed a trail I recognized well, it was the exact same trail I ran along the night before, when I asked Areeva why we didn't go past the temple and she told me that we couldn't risk the masters finding out about our plan. Rarsk led us through the Waterfall Caves, his clan had thoroughly explored them and he knew the fastest way through to the forge. We had to do little fighting with Flesh Raiders as we raced through the ruins of an ancient Jedi Temple and through another set of caves that led us to the forge, one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen.
"Kradok, hurry and construct your lightsaber, I'll summon the beast." We had figured out the any use of the force was an irresistible lure that drew the beast to the force-user, which is why it came for us the other night. Areeva's body radiated with the force, I could see it coming off of her in waves and her eyes glowed bright purple as she lifted off the ground and turned away from the forge.
"Rarsk watch small-hunter's back, prepare for fight." Rarsk growled as he whipped out his electrostaff and assumed a guard position at the top of the steps as I went in to construct my lightsaber.
I took out the components I'd chosen and the orange crystal Ssravek had given me and I let the force guide me through the motions, my lightsaber came out looking rather quirky, with its obvious construction from mismatched parts all of different eras, but I liked it none the less. I had just ignited the blade and was reveling in the power I felt coursing through me when I felt it. The dark hunger from the night before, I turned around as the beast leapt up from somewhere way down the mountainside.
I recognized the creature almost instantly from what little studying I'd had of Jedi History. It was a Terentatek. A force-killing monster and weapon of the dark side of the force; a creature birthed to bring about the death of all Jedi. This monstrosity looked ancient, centuries old, like it had been here since the ancient Jedi left Tython. It may have been the reason the Jedi had left. I could sense that Areeva and Rarsk felt the same way I did. We were going to die here. I exchanged one last look with them both, and with sadness in our eyes we charged into battle.
We had numbers on our side the Terentatek couldn't decide who to focus on me or Areeva, and Rarsk who sneak in to leave large wounds on its sides; whenever the beast had one of us down, the other would either attack, in Rarsk's case, or unleash the power of the force to distract it. We must have been at it for hours, the sun was sinking below the mountains and the sky was pink and purple and all three of us were exhausted but the beast hadn't faltered.
That's when Areeva charged at the Terentatek, I screamed out for her to stop but the beast merely turned and with its enormous arms batted her off the edge of the mountain. I felt all the blood rush from my face, Areeva was… gone. Then the Terentatek turned on me, it bellowed and knocked me on my back as it charged forward to devour me. I closed my eyes and braced myself for the end, chastising myself for being so stupid.
Then I felt a strange presence, the force, but not Areeva, the same force I'd felt in the Trandoshan cave. The Beast must have felt it to because it had stopped its charge and was looking around. I opened my eyes and noticed a large, sharp stalactite hanging off the wall of the forge and an idea bubbled up in my brain. I reached out with all the force I had left and tried to rip the stalactite off the wall but I wasn't strong enough, the Terentatek must have realized what I was doing because it resumed its charge. In desperation I pulled even harder, that's when I felt someone else begin to pull with me and the stalactite ripped off the wall and plunged in-between the creature's eyes. It fell to the ground dead. I immediately raced over to the ledge to see Areeva hanging on barely to some rocks, with Rarsk's help I managed to pull her up and into my arms.
"Did we actually… win?" she panted, a smile beginning to stretch across her lips, we were all exhausted. Both Areeva and I were unable to stand, Rarsk stood over us with the closest thing I've ever seen to a Trandoshan smile plastered across his face.
"I think so." I breathed out excitedly, positively beaming. A loud cry of joy came out of Areeva as she pulled me back into her Twi-lek death grip; I could still sense her fear but I assumed it was only for her master. That's when she kissed me.