The flash of a blue blade came from behind Phes and he spun round just in time to block Kenobi's blow. One of the sabers sliced into the light as he turned, leaving a great black gash within its radiance. I grabbed my side where the stealthers bolt had entered my body as I felt a searing pain rush through it. Through my half closed eyes I saw Kenobi retreat from Phes, his eyes also narrowed, his lips drawn tight over his teeth.
"You think you can defeat me, you puny weak willed buffoon," jeered Phes.
"I don't need to beat you, Phes. You've already lost," said Kenobi, deflecting a series of blows Phes threw at him.
"This hasn't even started, you runt," spat Phes as he continued his onslaught. "and there's no Gon here to back you up." Even though Phes towered above Kenobi, he matched the quolip blow for blow and as he backed away from the creature I realized he was drawing Phes away from it.
"His name was Qui Gon and he would be so disappointed with you, Phes."
This enraged Phes even more and he moved in closer to the Jedi, swinging his blades in an intricate display that drove Kenobi further back.
"You never did understand the concept of our power over weaker beings, did you, you sniveling imp."
"I understand only too well your concept of power and the abuse of it." He dodged and parried with blinding speed and accuracy. "How many Delos council members did you dispose of before Qui Gon severed all your arms?"
A cry of rage erupted from Phes and he charged Kenobi.
"Why so tetchy?" asked the Jedi knight as he stepped aside, deflecting a couple of blows, "They grew back, didn't they?" And with that he brought his blade down, slicing one of Phes' arms at the elbow. Phes screamed in agony and as Kenobi moved in to attack the stricken quolip, the ground around them and under me trembled and shook violently.
Over the roar of noise I was just able to make our Kenobi say: "Vin, grab Sav and get clear."
I quickly got to my feet and stumbled over to Sav's limp body. Thankfully he was still breathing and I hoisted him over my shoulder and ran into the trees. We didn't get far before we were thrown forward by the blast of the hill erupting behind us. I rolled Sav and I behind a nearby tree as debris flew past us. I could see that Phes and Kenobi had also been thrown clear, but Kenobi was soon on his feet and running straight for the great being emerging from the hole. Phes was fast, however, and raised himself up enough to slice Kenobi across the back, which the Jedi was unable to escape.
He arched his back as the laser sword bit deep into his flesh. He threw his head back and the sound that came out was deafening and not just coming from him but from the creature also. He stumbled forward and stretched out his arms to the shaft of light and fell to his knees at its rim. The movement I had seen earlier within the centre of the creature reached out to him and held him up, but didn't draw him inside.
A sudden image of the blaster rifle filled my mind and I looked down to see one at my feel so I picked it up, firing several shots in Phes' direction. He had gotten to his feet and was heading for Kenobi, but he had to stop to deflect my shots and it prevented him from getting any closer to the Jedi. Sav began to stir beside me and I nudged him with my leg trying to get him to come round some more.
"What's happening?" he said dreamily.
"Grab a gun and fire at Phes!" I screamed at him and without really knowing what he was doing he looked down, picked up a second blaster which was wonderfully and conveniently close by and started shooting in Phes' general direction. His shots were a little less accurate than mine, but they had the desired effect and Phes ran off into the darkness.
"Come on," I said and rushed to Kenobi's side, Sav followed,l half falling, half running along with me.
"Do you think he'll be back?" Sav asked as we reached the kneeling Jedi. I glanced into the blackness but couldn't see a thing.
"More than likely. Keep an eye out. Anything moves, shoot at it!" I gave him my rifle and knelt beside Kenobi. His back was badly burned across the right shoulder and down the small of his back, but the blow had just missed his spine.
"Ah, Vin, are you glad you came?" he whispered and he managed a weak smile. He took one of his hands from the creature and held it out to me. "Almost over, I'm so tired. I need some more strength from somewhere. Take my hand and place your other hand on the ground, and please, think of home and everything that's wonderful about this place."
I looked down at my hands and rubbed the dirt off them, then taking the Jedi's hand in mine and placed my other hand on the smooth warm grass, I filled my head with memories from my childhood, the first time I went climbing alone with Mum, the first time I saw Tai, helta cheese and warm yinpatta bread.
Through my haze of memories I heard Kenobi's voice far away say: "There she goes," and my eyes opened to see the great plume of energy lift up and sore into the stars. Part of me was flying with her, I could see out over the whole valley as clear as day, it was green and bright and so full of life. Then we were higher still, able to see the whole continent beneath us, a world of peaks and canyons, surrounded by a great rolling ocean. And still further we climbed until all I saw were stars, bright and clear, unblinking. We stopped and turned to look back at Loritians, my home world, a beautiful glowing ball of green and blue with the odd swirl of white and grey cloud. I looked across at our two moons, barren and cold.
"Time to go home, Vin," came Kenobi's voice and I looked over to try to see him but he was already gone and I found myself drifting back home. Something caught me for a moment. A sensation of overwhelming love and happiness swept over me and I felt the purest, most perfect kiss gently caress my lips. I didn't hear any words, I just knew she meant "thank you" and with that my descent resumed, and I looked out at the stars watching her disappear between them. I closed my eyes and sank back into the fall, which seemed to be taking a very long time so I reopened them to see dawn breaking and the great hole which had been in front of us was now a glistening pool of deep blue water.
I turned to Kenobi, whose eyes were still closed and he swayed a couple of times, his grip on my hand loosening. Then he fell back and I caught him in my arms, laying him carefully on the ground. We had no supplies and no way to treat his wound. Sav dashed over to us.
"We should grab him and get going. Phes is still around here somewhere."
I looked around us cautiously, the only sound being the gentle ripple of water in the pond.
"I'll carry him, you keep look out," I said.
I stripped Kenobi's shirt and jumper from him and used the torn and singed fabric as a makeshift bandage. Then I hoisted Kenobi's body over my shoulder and we moved off into the undergrowth.
"Where do we make for, Taris or Bowa?" asked Sav.
"Bowa," murmured Kenobi, but he immediately went silent again before I could question his decision.
"It is closer," said Sav bending down to retrieve Mum's walking stick. "How did this get here?"
He stared at it for a moment and then handed it to me. I examined it carefully, just checking it really was Mum's and there were the knots of polished wood, just where they should have been. Just holding it seemed to give me more strength and I felt ready for another march. Sav looked exhausted, but had the excited look in his eye of one ready to face another adventure. With a blaster rifle in each hand he looked like a badly dressed bounty hunter!
The rising sun revealed the billowing trees before us as a great gust of wind rushed through them and we started our journey. It was slow going, carrying a dead weight Jedi is not easy and I had to rest more times than I thought safe. The whole time we felt we were being watched, but we tried to keep our minds off it with our conversation, even though we never actually kept our eyes from the trees around us.
By mid-morning we were reaching the outskirts of the Adta woods and I had filled Sav in up to the point when I knelt beside Kenobi.
"So what happened there, with the thing?" asked Sav, "you were motionless for hours."
"It was wonderful, we set her free, she lifted up above the planet and on into the stars. I saw the whole valley, the whole world. And she kissed me, Sav, I'll never forget that kiss as long as I live."
"She?" said Sav, "It was a girl? I never would have guessed that. Should Tai be worried?"
I laughed at him, thanking him in my mind, for saying something to cheer me up.
"Don't be daft, it would never work. She's an intergalactic traveling ball of energy and force and I'm a farmer. The glowing thing would drive me crazy, I'd never be able to sleep!"
"Still," said Sav through his laughs, "harvesting would be a doddle, I mean, all you'd have to do is ask her to ask the crops to fall over or drop their fruit and it's done in minutes."
He continued to giggle as we walked, but then suddenly gripped my arm and took in a sharp short breath that had me turn to him. The sound of blaster fire now erupted around us and Sav crumpled to the ground. I hit the floor, dodging another volley of fire and grabbed the rifle from Sav's hand. Kenobi rolled off my shoulder and lay inert beside me. I pulled myself into a crouch and looked about as another few blasts came from within the trees. Still holding Mum's walking stick, I made a dash for the shelter of a fallen tree trunk close to where we had been attacked. I fired a few shots in our assailant's direction and tried to peer through the undergrowth.
"I have you now," came a voice from behind me and I just had time to raise Mum's staff in my defense as Phes brought a saber down at me. Incredibly, the sword just bounced off the pole and Phes screamed at me, giving me enough time to raise my rifle, which he promptly sliced in two with a second lightsabre. With his third arm, he reached down, grabbed me by the scruff of the neck and hurled me across the clearing. I landed and found myself covered by two men brandishing blaster rifles.