Grelb couldn't believe his eyes. To his utter amazement, he saw Qui Gon Jinn leap from his small cave onto the back of a draigon. The Jedi wheeled away. Down toward the ship.

Grelb's jaw had dropped and he dove for cover beside a rock. There, he sat trembling. The Jedi was alive and heading back down the mountain. That meant only one thing.

Grelb was done for. Jemba would kill him with one blow as soon as he showed his face. Or perhaps he would kill him slowly, as a lesson.

He had not clawed hi way to a position of power, second only to Jemba, to let a Jedi defeat him. he had worked so hard! All that killing could not go to waste.

He would have to kill the Jedi himself, before Qui Gon reached the caves and Jemba saw him.

As fast as he could, Grelb slithered among the rocks.

Clat'Ha fell to her knees next to Leila.

Leila's coughs had slowed somewhat.

Quickly Clat'Ha sat her up.

The coughing stopped.

Leila's head lolled back against Clat'Ha's arm.

Obi Wan sagged to the floor. What was the use of his Jedi training? He had never felt so helpless. Nothing he had learned, not even anything Yoda had told him, could have prepared him for this moment. He looked over at Si Treemba.

He hadn't stirred in hours.

Obi Wan had come to the end of everything- hope, faith, belief in himself. He had failed. All his life, he would remember this, his darkest moment.

Darkest moment…

A memory stirred in him. He remembered a twilight conversation with Yoda. "What is my limit and how will I know when I find it?" Obi Wan had asked. "And if I am pushed to the last, where can I turn for help?"

That was when Yoda had told him that in moment of extreme danger, when he had done everything he could, he could use the Force to call another Jedi. "Close, you must be," Yoda had said. "Connected.

Him and Leila where connected. But he needed help for her. Qui Gon may not have thought they had a connection. But Obi Wan had to try.

In the dark cave, he reached out for the Force. He felt it's pulse and he drew in its energy. He reached out with his Jedi sense, tried to feel the Jedi Master's presence. But Obi Wan was a young man and could not control the Force as he wanted. So silently, he simply spoke: Qui Gon! Come back now! Leila is dying. And the Arconans will die without the dactyl.

Slowly Clat'Ha lay Leila's limp body back gently on the floor. She stroked the young girl's forehead.

Startled Obi Wan looked at her. "What happened?"

"She's resting again," said Clat'Ha. She touched her cheek. "So young," she said softly. "And yet…so strong."

From the mouth of the cave, there came a great rumbling laugh.

Obi Wan looked up. he could have snorted in disgust. He had tried to call Qui Gon with everything he had but instead, he had roused Jemba the Hutt. So much for his abilities.

Jemba's immense bulk filled the mouth of the cavern. "How are you all feeling? Well, I hope," he taunted. "Well, is case you're not, I have dactyl for sale! Dactyl for the needy. All it will cost you is your lives. We have some here and much more hidden elsewhere." He turned and looked right at Obi Wan. "I hear the little girl needs some to live."

All around the cave, Arconans began to moan. Some of them turned over and began to crawl painfully toward to the Hutt.

Disgust filled Obi Wan. He shot to his feet. "Stop this!" he shouted. Before he knew it, his lightsaber was out. He bounded over the ground, leaping over dozens of poor Arconans, until he stood in front of the Hutt. He flashed the lightsaber overhead in a practice swing. There was a dozen other Hutts and Whiphids filling the tunnel behind Jemba. But Jemba's bulk made it difficult for them to shoot.

"Well, well," Jemba roared. "I'm lad to see that you are brave, even when your Mater is not at your back!"

"Leave Jemba," Obi Wan managed to say. He was choking on his anger.

At his back, Clat'Ha appeared, blaster drawn. "He's right. You're not welcome here."

"Very well," Jemba boomed. "If that's what you want, I'll gladly leave your friends to die. Even the girl."

"Leave the dactyl," ordered Obi Wan. He gripped the lightsaber handle tightly.

"Isn't this amusing!" Jemba rumbled to his cohorts. "he is no Force user, this one. It's in the ships' records. He is nothing more than a farmer, a reject from the Jedi Temple.

For long seconds, Obi Wan struggled as he sought within him for a place of calm, of peace. Then he remembered Qui Gon's words. Jemba was not the true enemy. Anger was. Leila's face floated before him and he relaxed. At last he found the calm he needed. Suddenly, he felt something else: Qui Gon was calling him for help. He blinked. But the feeling grew stronger. He glanced back at Leila's limp form. Then he turned. "Jemba, get out of my way. Qui Gon's in danger."

The great Hutt roared with laughter. "Why does that not surprise me? Maybe it's because I sent my men to kill him."

But it wasn't just Qui Gon. Danger was coming to all of them. Qui Gon wasn't just calling for his help. He was trying to warn Obi Wan. "I mean it, Jemba. We're all in trouble."

"What would you have me do, little on?"

Behind them, Leila began coughing again.

Clat'Ha turned and ran back to her.

It took everything Obi Wan had not to go back to her. She had ordered him to watch out for her Father. Obi Wan somersaulted through the air and landed behind Jemba. He took off running. He raced through the tunnels, ducking and deflecting the departing blasts from the Whiphids. Jemba's roar of anger shook the caves. Over it all, he could hear Clat'Ha shouted

"Hurry, Obi Wan!"

He bent his head and ran all the harder. His need to find Qui Gon was overpowering. He was astonished to feel the Jedi Knight's warning call. He could also feel Leila. She was in pain, terrible pain,

Behind him, he heard Jemba shout, "Leave him to me! The boy is mine!"

"There, my friend," Qui Gon said to the draigon. He pointed to the caves. He fought for control of the draigon's mind. He was worried. As far as the eye could see, draigons flocked toward the caves. Their roars were deafening as thy called to each other.

These creatures where deadly and like Qui Gon, they were headed toward the caves.

Qui Gon called with his mind, warning Obi Wan again of the danger. Then he waited as the draigon wafted downward, close to the narrow ledge outside the caves. He waited until the right moment, then he sprang off the back of the beast. He landed on the ledge, steadying himself with a hand against the outside wall of the cave. The draigon flew off with a soft confused cry, his mind released.

Qui Gon had taken two steps when he saw Obi Wan race from the cave, his lightsaber held high. He was shouting something that Qui Gon couldn't hear.

Obi Wan had run from the cave only to stop short in the mouth. He stared up at the sky in horror.

At first, he had thought it was just dark clouds. But now he realized it was scores o draigons, blocking the sun. and they where winging toward the caves.

Never in his young life had he imagined such terror. His legs went weak and his mind was suddenly blank. He didn't know what to do.

Then he saw Qui Gon coming toward him. The Jedi Knight was battered and bloody, and holding one shoulder stiffly but he was still alive. He ran toward the man, shouting. "Look! The Draigons! Hurry!"

Qui Gon turned.

"Duck!" screamed Obi Wan.