Chapter 26: Demon of the Desert
From the moment that he saw the planet, Arkunov hated Tatooine.
There were a multitude of reasons for this. First was the sand, it made for unstable and unreliable footing. Making it difficult for a swordsman to find purchase underfoot. Arkunov could compensate of course, but he found it irritating to do so. Second was the heat, it made his suit of heavy armour incredibly impractile. Even a Sith was likely to suffer from heatstroke or dehydration if he wore that in the desert long enough. Instead he'd opted for a crimson robe made of armour weave instead; yet still felt annoyingly exposed.
As he exited the Ruination, Vette at his side, the Sith pondered what sort of lunatic would choose to live on this damned planet. He was about to find out.
"The harsh sands of Tatooine welcome you. I am Sharack Breev." Though he kept his expression under control, inwardly Arkunov frowned at the greeting. It almost felt like she was being literal, then again Baras had said Sharack was eccentric. Sharack continued, "Our lord and master Darth Baras bid me to impart my knowledge of this planet and help you track down the Jedi Master Yonlach."
"Just tell me where to find the Jedi," Arkunov said, barely managing to keep the impatience out of his voice.
"Unfortunately, it is not such a simple matter," Sharack replied, placatingly. She explained, "You will have to find Master Yonlach by retracing the path the Padawan and her Master took. I can tell you where they started. I followed them to the forbidden lair of the ancient sand demon, a truly terrible beast. The Padawan left her weapons and entered alone, impossibly, she returned unharmed."
"She brought the force," Arkunov scoffed. "It is a powerful weapon."
Sharack shook her head, "I have witnessed the power of the force in our Master's hands, yet this goes beyond wonder. The Sand Demon is the fearest creature on the planet, they hunt Krayt Dragons! You don't just walk into its lair and return without a scratch."
"How did the padawan survive?"
"It is the most curious thing. Upon investigating further I discovered that the beast still lived. It was undamaged and perplexingly its skin seemed to be... glistening."
Arkunov's brow furrowed, "Somehow she avoided fighting the beast. Yet it was still wounded. How did she do that?"
"I do not know. Yet that is the only conclusion that can be drawn. It is a mystery, as is where the Padawan and her Master went afterwards." She paused for a moment, thinking. Eventually she said, "There is perhaps one man on Tatooine that might be able to explain. Izzeebowe Jeef. He's as old as the sand. Part madman, part soothsayer."
"Get me an audience. I want to speak with him immediately."
"I will go ahead. He lives in a small farming settlement not far from here. I will make sure that he is prepared to speak with you, upon your arrival."
"Very well," Arkunov nodded. "Send me the coordinates, I will join you shortly."
Sharack bowed, recognising the dismissal. Once she was gone, Vette who had remained quiet thus far, said, "Well she's weird."
"Baras did say she was eccentric."
"Yeah. Never would have figured she would be his type though. Definitely an 'acquired taste'."
Arkunov cocked an eyebrow, "I highly doubt that is the nature of their relationship."
Vette's eyes widened in horror, "Ugh! I just pictured it! Why would you say that?"
Arkunov only brought Vette with him as they left Mos Ila. He had ordered Quinn to stay aboard the Ruination. The Sith Apprentice had reasoned that should they run into trouble in the desert, Quinn would be able to perform an emergency pickup.
The Captain had agreed. Making mental note of the numerous environmental factors that could be caused by spending time on a desert world. Yet that was not the only reason he had agreed to stay behind.
Quinn had offered to perform maintenance on Arkunov's training droids. As despite the Sith Apprentice's best efforts, he had still dealt a considerable amount of damage to his sparring partners. Arkunov had accepted the offer and thought nothing more of it.
Just as the Captain had anticipated.
He had the red droid's head open now and had just finished placing a small chip inside.
Closing it up, Quinn whispered, "Forgive me, my lord."
It had taken longer than Arkunov thought to arrive at Jeef's.
A few overly ambitious Exchange thugs had attempted to gun them down. Needless to say it hadn't gone well for them. Now the thugs were little more than a pile of dismembered limbs. After that, they had not received any more trouble.
As Arkunov crossed the threshold, he paused. Something was prodding at the edge of his awareness. Yet it was not intruding, just gently brushing against his senses. Turning, the Sith Apprentice located the source of the sensation.
A small, shriveled man stood next to Sharack. The force emanated from him, yet it was neither light or dark. It felt like a calm desert wind, warm and gently brushing against Arkunov's skin. He had not noticed Arkunov and Vette yet.
"The world is weeping," he said, "and the tears evaporate from the heat of our sins."
"I think you mean from the heat of our suns, Izzeebowe," Sharack replied, gently.
Jeef shook his head, "No child. There is a dark presence newly arrived on Tatooine."
He turned toward Arkunov, fixing the Sith apprentice with a look of calm intensity. Arkunov's eyes narrowed, reaching out with the force he got more of a feel for Jeef's power. Yet again he could sense it hanging around the man, but upon further inspection realized that Izzeebowe had no conscious control over the force. Perhaps if he had been found by the Sith or Jedi in his younger days, the old man could have become truly strong in the force. Instead his potential was ignored, like countless unformed grains of sand. Yet now, he had a connection to his planet the like of which Arkunov had never seen.
Sharack followed Izzeebowe's gaze and spotted Arkunov, "Sith you made it. The hostiles outside were no match for you, I see."
"They tried to stop me. They failed."
"Failure can be contagious and hard to dispel once contracted. You are the seeker Sharack spoke of. You wish to understand the Jedi's purpose in the lair of the sand demon?"
Arkunov felt a flicker of temper, but kept it under control. "You see it correctly."
Jeef replied, "My eyes may be aged and failing, but my mind sees."
Sharack's gaze flicked towards Arkunov for a moment, and perhaps seeing his rising anger said, "Please Izzeebowe, make haste. Tell my friend what you know. I will remain after to hear your wisdom."
"Fine," he said, voice willed with age and weariness. "Gather close. Few are aware that Tatooine once used to be a place of positive force energy. Jedi make pilgrimages here to renew and purify. The sands speak of a ritual called the Demon's Blood. This is likely what the Jedi that Sharack saw was engaged in."
"What does this ritual involve?" Arkunov asked, he was genuinely curious. He hadn't realised that the Jedi practiced such rituals.
"The Demon's Blood: A Jedi seeking enlightenment would cover himself in fresh sand demon blood and enter the village of the savage ones." Jeef explained. Arkunov frowned, he was surprised at the nature of the ritual. One does not usually think of the Jedi as spillers of blood, so it was rather bizarre to hear such a ritual described to him. Jeef continued, "cowering before the demon slayer, the savage ones would reveal the path to self discovery and to that which the slayer seeks."
"According to Sharack, the demon still lives. How did the padawan complete the ritual?"
Jeef shrugged, "I know not. There must be another way to bathe in the beast's blood, but you will have to discover that for yourself. If you care to. To know where this Jedi girl went, you will have to perform the ritual yourself, and then see if the savage ones speak."
After leaving Jeef's dwelling, Arkunov and Vette had gone to the local Imperial garrison. Upon seeing the Sith in their midst, the Imperials had only been too happy to help. Providing Arkunov and Vette with a pair of speeder bikes, as well as fuel and extra provisions. Arkunov had no idea how long they would be spending in the desert, so had insisted on the supplies.
This was gathered efficiently, and the pair departed within the hour. It took several hours to cross the desert and reach the sand demon's lair. This was not helped by the persistent attacks of the sand people. The savage people taking pot shots at the speeders. They were always dealt with quickly and efficiently by Arkunov and Vette, yet this did not stop more of them from attempting the same.
However, eventually they reached the lair of the sand demon.
It was large, though not as big as Arkunov had expected. When the Sith Apprentice had heard that it hunted krayt dragons, he had thought it would be of a similar size. The demon was insectoid in nature, with six sharp legs and a greenish-brown chitin. Fierce red eyes glared out from two long stalks, darting around looking for prey.
"Huh," Vette said, frowning as she looked at the creature. The pair of them were crouched behind a large rock, watching the demon as it prowled about its lair. Assessing the creature.
"What is it?" Arkunov asked.
"Looks almost exactly like a lylek. Doesn't have the tentacles though."
Arkunov raised an eyebrow, "How do you know that?"
"Lyleks are basically top of the food chain on Ryloth. Saw one eat a whole crew of miners. So if we could avoid mixing it up with the sand demon, I would be very grateful."
"I need you focused here, Vette."
"Sorry. I just have an irrational aversion to attacking monsters that can swallow me whole," she said, only slightly panicked. She hesitated for a moment before saying, "I'm thinking, if the Jedi performed the Demon Blood ritual without a fight, we might be able to as well."
"I was already planning on doing that," Arkunov grunted. He had no wish to needlessly expend his energy. "But I make no promises."
Before Vette could reply, Arkunov stepped out from behind the rock. Directly into the demon's line of sight. The creature snarled and hissed at the Sith. It began to edge forwards slowly, taking the measure of it's prey.
Arkunov raised an eyebrow. The beast was intelligent then. Perhaps even sentient to a degree.
Its body was tensed, ready to pounce in an instant and tear the Sith limb from limb. The demon never got a chance to. Reaching out with the dark side, Arkunov stabbed at its mind with the force of a missile.
The demon writhed in pain, fighting furiously against Arkunov's will.
"I stand my ground, monster!" Arkunov snarled, his teeth gritted. "I will not yield!"
He tightened his grip on the creature's mind. The demon, thrashing about sending send flying up into the air.
Vette backed away and lowered her hands to her weapons. But she hesitated for a moment. Arkunov hadn't moved an inch, the Sith stoically stood his ground. Glaring up at the beast.
Raising a hand, Arkunov reached out and grasped the beast in a telekinetic grip, forcing it to look directly into his eyes. Red locked onto yellow, both sets of orbs hatefully glaring at one another. The beast's will struggled against Arkunov, fiercely struggling against the Sith.
It was not enough.
The demon cowered, Arkunov released his hold on the demon and smirked as it's massive form fell to the desert floor. It's defences now lowered, the demon's eyes flickered and closed. The beast was now asleep.
Arkunov's crimson blade blazed to life. It screamed forward and cut open the demon's skull. The creature's shell exploded beneath the blow; blood and carapace flying through the air. Covering both Arkunov and Vette in a shower of scarlet viscera.
"Ugh!" Vette exclaimed, "So much blood, if I knew we were literally going to bathe in it, I would have waited outside. And this smell! We're gonna stink for days! What if it never wears off?"
Arkunov's only response was to turn towards the cave exit. Seemingly unbothered by the blood. Vette ran to catch up with him, still looking rather irritated. Sighing Arkunov replied, "It will be alright, don't worry."
"You'd better be right," she muttered, "I take great pride in my hygiene. So let's get out of this stink pit, huh?"
After leaving the cave, the pair of them proceeded straight to the sand people encampment. It hadn't taken a lot of work to deduce that they were the 'savage ones' the ritual spoke of.
Breaching the compound was surprisingly easy.
At the mere sight of Arkunov and Vette the sand people backed away, retreating into their tents. Eyes were lowered to the ground in mix of fear and, bizarrely enough, seeming reverence.
"Okay, what is happening?" Vette asked.
"The blood," Arkunov replied, "we smell like the sand demon. They know that we are the ones who killed it."
Vette grimaced, "Handy. But I think I'd rather fight sand people, than smell like this."
Soon enough they reached the center of the encampment. They stood alone, every one of the sand people having hidden themselves.
Arkunov's eyes flicked over the camp. They came to a stop in front of a large tapestry, that hung over the largest tent. Arkunov made a closer inspection of the tapestry. There were a series of images, four in total.
The first image showed a sand demon crudely woven into the fabric. A small humanoid figure stood before the demon, in its hand the figure held a burning blue blade. A Jedi. The second showed the figure standing over the bleeding demon, with several sand people bowing to the figure. Next showed the figure taking a scroll from a bowing sand person. The final image showed the figure standing before a pool of clear blue water.
"So, this is what we're supposed to do?" Vette asked, frowning slightly.
Arkunov looked over his shoulder, "It appears so."
Vette turned and saw a sand person kneeling at Arkunov's feet, a thick scroll proffered in his hands.
And Chapter 26 is done!
I'm really liking this new schedule so far and hopefully I'll be able to keep it up.
Next Chapter will be the reflecting pool. Honestly felt that part needed a whole chapter to itself, really good chance to get inside of Arkunov's head.
See you next time!