Sav and I nodded and I braced myself to leap into action.
"OK. Now!" cried Kenobi and we pushed off, going high into the night sky. The air was exhilarating as it whizzed past my face and as we started to fall back down, my stomach was filled with a strange but comfortable warmness, which seemed to hold me up and carry me along. As we came down to land I got ready for the impact, which was surprisingly soft. We sank down on our knees but only for a moment as we were off again, travelling across the valley at a speed neither Sav nor I could have run.
We continued in this way until we could make out the tall keb trees of Adta and with one final push off we came to rest just passed the first trees. As Kenobi released me, the warm sensation in my stomach slowly died away to a dull but ever present ember, which I still feel even to this day. It's a wonderful thing to be in tune with the living force and once you experience that you never forget it and it never forgets you.
I have often talked to Sav about this and he feels the same way, we felt an overwhelming sense of well-being and comfort and it was pulling us in. If it was one third of what Kenobi was feeling, his composure and clear thinking were truly outstanding. You see, Sav and I ran into the woods, almost blindly, only moments after our touchdown, desperate to find the source of this power so we could experience it again and share our strength with it.
We were drawn to small hill within the trees, which seemed to be watching us, their branches guiding us. At the summit of the hill the ground was breaking, cracking and a smell reminiscent of freshly ploughed soil filled the air.
As we approached the ground split across the hilltop and a white beam of light stretched into the night sky. Sav and I were in awe of the sight before us. It seemed so natural, so beautiful, pure and free. I wanted to be part of it, I needed to feel it all around me and through me, but Kenobi's voice was in my head, calming me down, helping me resist the pull. Images of Tai, my father, Welsa, everyone, flooded to my mind's eye, bringing me down from this natural high and the realization that home was where I belonged and home was where they were hit me full in the face.
I looked over at Kenobi who and joined us and smiled at me.
"Powerful stuff, isn't it?" he said and he looked into the brilliant beam. "That should get the Jedi Order's attention, don't you think?" He leant close to me. "By the way, I think Raina is in for a bit of a surprise when you get back." We looked round at Sav who was sitting against a tree looking down at the palms of his hands.
We walked over to him and as we did I realized Kenobi had Mum's staff in his hands, along with the one Sav had been using as a walking stick.
"Where did you get that? I thought we left everything on the mountain."
"What does it matter, it's here now isn't it? Now, take it and get ready for a fight."
He placed the long pole in my hands and I looked at it for a moment then realized what he'd said.
"A fight? What, with this? It's hardly a blaster rifle!"
"Just do what comes naturally, trust me. Come on Sav, you too, on your feet."
He gave a rather dazed Sav his walking stick back.
"We need to give the creature enough time to break free some more and then I'm going to have to give it a good hard shove to get it away from here and out of harm's way, got it? Al all costs, we must prevent Phes from entering the light, is that perfectly clear? He would surely corrupt its force power and destroy us all."
"But there's fifteen of them! And a guy with Jedi powers!"
"Leave Phes to me. They're not here yet, I'm going to find them and pick off as many as I can. I thin kthe fear factor of this situation should help a lot. In the mean time keep your eyes open and keep out of site. If anyone other than myself heads for that hill, hit them with the staff. And if you get the urge to step into the light, just remember where you came from, and the fact that Dil is in love with Tai."
"He's what?" I exclaimed, but Kenobi was gone, dashing through the trees and soon beyond my sight. "Son of a b-"
"So there's sixteen of them," Sav interrupted me, "including an ex-Jedi and we've got a couple of twigs! Why doesn't he just zap them with this new found power of his?"
"How the hell should I know, you want to go ask him?" I gestured in the direction Kenobi had disappeared to.
"But you don't understand," said Sav, a strange far away tone entering his voice, "I love Raina, I mean I really love her. I have to get back!"
I had to drop my stick to turn and stop him from running into the trees.
"Snap out of it, those guys are between you and her and we can't just leave this thing defenseless. Kenobi is relying on us, now get a grip. We can't let anyone near that light."
Sav shook himself then looked passed me at the trees behind me.
"You mean like him?" he asked and I spun round to see a figure approach the hill. Just then the ground shook as the hole grew and more light filled the clearing. Judging by the blaster rifle he was barely holding in his left hand, I realized he was one of Phes' men, but the peaceful look on his face was rather unexpected.
I grabbed the stick from the ground, raced over to the man and swung hard, hitting the man across the head. He spun around and looked at me with astonishment, dropping the rifle as he fell backwards. The ground split further and he fell straight into it. I backed away from the opening ground and watched as the man stopped falling, just hanging there as though he had fallen on soft cushions.
"Wow," he said softly, a serene smile on his face, "pretty!"
Then he was gone, every atom of him just disappeared leaving nothing but a dirty yellow stain in the otherwise perfect light.
"Aren't you glad Kenobi stopped us?" I said as I just stared in astonishment.
"I looked over at Sav who hadn't said anything in reply. He looked a little green.
"I don't feel so well," he said, clutching his stomach.
"Oh come on it wasn't –" I had to stop mid sentence. I suddenly felt really ill, like I'd eaten something that hadn't areed with me. I had to doubt over for a moment to get my composure back and I looked at the yellow stain, which was slowly dissipating. As the last of it faded my illness faded with it and I helped Sav up.
"That was a bad guy, right?" asked Sav. I picked up the laser rifle.
"That's the kind of impression I got, yes," I replied.
"I can see why Kenobi doesn't want anyone going in that thing."
Once again the ground trembled under us and the crack opened wider. I was sure I could see movement in its center now. An incredible urge to move forward into it swept over me so I closed my eyes, conjuring up images of Tai fending off unwanted advances from Dil.
Suddenly an image came unbidden to my mind. I was sitting by the kitchen fire at home, Tai beside me and our son resting on my lap. I could see myself lift him up and hold him close. I opened my eyes, looking deep into the light ahead and I knew, no matter what, I would give my life to protect this creature, just as I would have given my life to protect my son. I turned away to the trees, illuminated by the growing light and prepared to stand my ground, holding Mum's stick in one hand, the rifle in the other. I was ready for anything. A glance over at Sav quickly told me he felt the same way. He held his staff in both hands and assumed a stance allowing his body to spring into action when the moment arose.
A cry from the woods alerted us to their presence. Five of them, two rushing Sav, two at me and one with the glaze-face walking slowly to the light. Incredibly, I managed to dodge several laser bolts and fired off two shots at one as I rolled forward and, gaining my feet, swung Mum's stick in the other's direction. When it made contact my assailant flew through the air and landed with a sickening thud quite some distance away. I turned back to see Sav deftly strike his second opponent, the first of whom was already sprawled out cold.
My attention was then drawn to the fifth man, almost at the light's edge. I raised my rifle to fire, but a sudden powerful force lifted me up and threw me into the trees, knocking the wind out of me. Luckily I had landed in a patch of ferns, but I looked over to see that Sav, having been caught by the same force, was now lying at the foot of a tree, completely motionless. As I got up to go over to him, the terrible ill feeling returned and I was physically sick in the undergrowth, almost collapsing completely. I steadied myself against a tree trunk and looked over at the hill formation. The fifth man was nowhere in sight and a brown stain slowly shifting and swirling away into the sky.
Quickly recovering, I could make out the figure of a huge humanoid, its four arms each brandishing a lightsabre. Phes had arrived and still no sign of Kenobi. I was transfixed, what if this thing had killed him? Who could save the creature, who could save any of us? I had no weapons or Jedi skills, but I was all that was left so I ran, screaming straight at Phes, who turned to look at me with great surprise. He lifted one of his great arms and waived it in my direction and I found myself once again airborne and thrown clear.
"I'll deal with you momentarily," he said, his purple eyes glistening with devilish pleasure. He turned to the ever increasing hole, lifted his four arms and stepped closer. I couldn't move, suddenly more tired than I had ever felt before and could only watch in silent horror as Phes approached.