The next morning we headed out just after dawn. I had been unable to sleep, and Malak too was eager for excitement. Terentateks were supposed to be extinct; The Great Hunt took care of that. But it seemed at least one was missed. "We should go back, inform the Masters of this," I said as Malak scanned the ground for tracks. He seemed to slump a bit before turning back towards me.
"No, this is our chance! Think about how great it will be, the stories of our victory over a Terentatek!" His face beamed with confidence and expected glory.
"Or how about the lesson of our great defeat? Malak, these things are Force immune, many good Jedi—knights and masters—were killed by them. What chance do we, a couple of scrawny kids, have?"
"I'm not scrawny!" he yelped back. "And we aren't kids anymore. We are going to be Jedi."
"Maybe, but not this way. I don't like it," I said with a shudder. There was a sense of dread and foreboding I could not shake. But Malak's enthusiasm was limitless.
"We can do it Rev…no problem, the two of us? We are unbeatable!" he said excitedly. "We will show them. Hey, this is so big, maybe they will promote us right up to Knight!"
"Ambition does not become you," I said coolly. He stared back at me.
"Can't fool me—you want this too, I know it. Just be honest and admit it." I started to say something, but I never got the chance: A loud roar came from up ahead. We quickly took cover and waited as we heard thumping steps moving away from us. Slowly and carefully, we tracked the sound, and found ourselves standing before a massive cave. The ground at the opening had been trampled to bare dirt; chewed bones and half a kath carcass littered the area.
"Nice," I said sarcastically with disgust. "So, hero, gonna just rush in there and slice its head off for your wall?"
"Don't be stupid, Rev. Here, check this out," he said as he pulled something from his pack. He held out his hand and revealed a grenade. "I figured this would come in handy. Found it at the estate just before we left."
"You've been walking around with a live grenade? Why didn't you tell me?" I said with alarm. We had never used one, ever, or even held one. I didn't even know what kind it was.
"Because I knew you would act like this. Sheesh, it is just a grenade and it isn't activated! I figure we can use this to kill the Terentatek. Real easy, see? I just toss it in…and boom!"
"You are insane, you know that? I don't think they are that easy to get rid of."
"Well, let's find out!" With that, and before I could react, Malak tossed the small orb at the cave. It hit the dirt and rolled into the darkness of the entry. Nothing.
"Way to go…" I hissed at him as we cowered behind a boulder.
"But I pressed the button, I thought…" Just then, an explosion sounded and a brilliant, blazing light erupted from the cave…followed quickly by an annoyed trumpeting roar. It was a flash grenade—harmless. The Terentatek rumbled out of the opening. It was huge, covered in scales and horns, a mouth full of razor teeth, and sharp claws extending from its feet. It moved with uncertainty. It was blinded by the flash.
"It can't see! Now's our chance, let's do this!" Malak leapt from our hiding place, his lightsaber sparking to life as he took a wide arching swing. He landed a full hit across the creature's chest, but it seemed to do little damage, if any. He pulled back quickly, narrowly avoiding a wild swiping claw as the creature lumbered clumsily in its personal darkness. I jumped to join him. It did not seem to matter that the animal could not see. Already it had launched an offensive towards a visibly shocked Malak: this was going to be a rough battle.
The animal's blindness was soon no longer an advantage for us, if it ever was. The dust clouds we stirred up during combat left us nearly as sightless. The fight was ferocious; we hacked, it slashed. Malak was caught on the shoulder; I was grazed on my arm and side. At one point Malak ran around to the back, stabbing its legs to the hilt of his saber. The Terentatek turned, and fell, but incredibly got back up again and landed a blow on Malak. He fell backwards, but scrambled away and regained his feet. Instinctively he raised his hand to use a Force power on it, as did I. The animal was unaffected—immune, I remembered. Quickly I redirected my energy to heal us, somewhat. We dodged and parried, landing slices and stabs, but the animal persisted. We were covered in dirt and blood, both our own and from our enemy. We were wounding it, but not quickly enough, not badly enough. At this rate it would surely outlast us. A sweeping maul caught my tunic, ripping it open in shreds at my waist. I staggered back, realizing just a fraction's difference would have been my end. I redoubled my efforts, but I was getting tired. I heard Malak yell—not words—a loud war cry, maybe, but the sound nearly made my heart stop. I searched frantically for him, fearing the worst. Through the dust, I saw he had jumped on the Terentatek's back. He held his saber up, both hands locked in a vice-like grip around the hilt, then plunged it deep, down into the flesh of the beast, the blue of his blade vanishing completely. Stunned, and wounded badly, the animal reared up in a floundering attempt to reach behind to Malak. I took a chance, and with my remaining strength, I rushed up and delivered a similar strike, pushing the blade of my weapon into the soft chin of the creature. I pressed as hard as my muscles were able, until I saw the tip of my green saber break through the top of the Terentatek's head. I stumbled back quickly; the beast was falling forward, blood spurting in every direction, foul breath and spit encircling me as it roared a horrific death rattle; but still, somehow, it fought on. Its claws reached out for me; I could see Malak desperately, wildly stabbing at it.
That was when I felt it. A push, a slam, from behind. I turned to see a smaller Terentatek, its short but sharp and poisonous horn pressed deep into my hip. Then I sensed the pain, searing, blinding pain that left a ringing in my ears. A baby—no wonder this one fought so ferociously, she was guarding her young. I sliced at the infant; an ugly gash opened wide in its soft, unarmored hide, but it continued to gore me. A spreading circle of red darkened my apprentice tunic and pants. Sound left me, and darkness was closing in. I saw the ground rushing towards my eyes. I never felt the landing.