Trial and Terror

Under the grey overcast sky, a gigantic, nine metre tall stone ring covered in veins and sheets of tarnished bronze sat on top of a large stepped stone platform lined with bands of bronze and copper, in the middle of a vast, empty, snow covered valley, surrounded by black mountains and nothing else.

In front of this ancient, mysterious structure there stood a three – metre tall humanoid being with digitigrade feet, wrapped in red and black robes, and a flowing grey cape, except on the upper part of its face, where it was pulled back to reveal grey scaly skin and heavy brow ridges, scarred with age, under which two large eyes glowed dim blue. It wore a stiff frown on its face, as if in deep concentration, and stood dead still, ignoring the chilling wind which tugged and brushed violently at its garments.

In its gloved, four fingered hands it held out a small translucent crystal, violet in colour with hints of swirling iridescence within, and rhombic in structure, with vertices broken off here and there. Staring forward, the light in its eyes flickered, and every time the blue glow became intensely bright, the crystal in its hands emitted a shocking flash of violet light, and at the same time, a blue white spark emerged in the bottom of the stone ring and twisted its way to the top, where it was absorbed into a blue diamond set into the structure. Smaller crystals which formed nodes among the intricate carvings on the stone platform below glowed and dimmed in perfect synchronisation.

The thick grey clouds in the sky above began to churn and swirl, as if a terrible hurricane was being formed. The sparks within the ring became more frequent, until they blurred and overlapped into sheets of blue white light, which shimmered like the surface of clear water under bright sunlight.

Zeratul lowered the hybrid crystal in his hands and gasped frantically for air. The blue glow in his eyes shifted to a dimmer purple. The activation of the Warp Gate had taxed him greatly, and he hoped that whatever lay beyond this portal was worth it. It had to be worth it. There was no turning back now. He was approaching the edge of known settled space, and it would be months before he could find another significant Xel'Naga relict like this.

He removed both his gloves to reveal a light bone-grey gauntlet in each hand. On the back of the palm, a mild ridge ran from the wrist to the point between the base of the second and third digits, where it ended in a small concave black crystal set deep into the ridge.

At his whim, a thin, translucent and ethereal thread of light flickered into existence from each black crystal and extended forward parallel to the forearm, tapering to a point like straight long flame as it reached a metre in length.

He swung his dual warp blades around at an imaginary target, then satisfied that his main weapon was working properly, he raised his invisible plasma shield, and stepped through the inter-dimensional threshold created by the Warp Gate…

And beheld a bleak landscape of nothing but snow and black mountains, under a grey overcast sky.

Zeratul blinked and stared bewildered at what appeared to be a cruel joke the Xel'Naga had played on him. He looked back towards the side of the Warp Gate from which he had come, then forward at the realm he had just stepped into, then backward and forward many times until a whirling and sizzling noise warned him that the gate was about to shut down, and he instinctively leapt forward onto the snowy ground below just as the shimmering exit of the wormhole broke down and evaporated into thin air.

Zeratul raised his warp blades and slashed the snow around his feet in frustration, sending up wisps of mist where the blades tore thin gashes into the ground. The thought of spending another week attempting to open a second warp gate by oneself would have driven a younger Protoss to the brink of insanity, if the latter could even figure out how to activate a warp with nothing but a mystical crystal at all.

It was then that he realized that instead of a valley, he was standing on a small plateau. Smooth black mounds and spires of various sizes jutting out of the snow here and there revealed the nature of the underlying rocks from which the plateau was formed. Spaced evenly round the sides of the plateau, three clusters of the black stone outcrops rose and converged into three titanic pillars which curved in over and towards the centre of the plain, where Zeratul and the warp gate stood, and ended in weirdly shaped knobs whose exact structures were obscured by the mist overhead.

Come…

Zeratul's body tensed with excitement at the faint voice which seemed to call to him from the ground beneath him.

Descend …

Zeratul climbed up the stone platform and looked around towards the edges of the plateau for a safe path down its cliffs. Gazing into the near distance from the other side of the warp gate, he saw where the line of black spires and mounds parted into a clearing which turned into a ramp leading down the side the of the plateau.

Without hesitation, he hopped down the platform and dashed forwards across the snowy plain.

Down and down the ramp he ran, stopping only where the exposed rock on the walls of the cliff revealed faint, weird relieves. It seemed that whoever built that warp gate eons ago had left these carvings as well. Zeratul inspected them for clues as to their identity and purpose, checked for hidden mechanisms, but they were too worn and weathered through the ages to yield anything useful now.

Then right ahead the cliff wall caved in and Zeratul realized that he had come to the entrance of a tunnel leading deep within the plateau.

Now Zeratul stood outside the tunnel and a pang of doubt welled up in him. The tunnel had an oval cross-section so that despite its width, its smooth black walls, corrugated and ribbed, seemed to press in from the sides, as far as he could see. Beyond that lay the black, unknown interior. Above the tunnel entrance someone had carved the relief image of what appeared to be a giant octopus like creature, whose tentacles draped over and around the tunnel mouth.

Had he finally reached the objective of his year long sojourn ? Or was he being led towards a terrible doom ?

Enter …

No matter, he thought as he took a step forward. If all else failed, he could just disappear, literally.

-

"You can go now. The Force be with you." With a wave of his hand, Farid dismissed his guide.

The latter spun round, walked hurriedly away from the tunnel entrance without looking back, and vanished behind a faraway clump of rocks.

"Hmm, I expected something grander." Kart sighed.

"Grandness is in the eye of the beholder. " Said the figure standing on Farid's other side. He had black hair with streaks of white tied into a ponytail. Two long barbells protruded from below the chin of an otherwise human-like face. He wore a white robe over a black tunic and pants. He caught Kart's surprised gaze and winked.

Jedi Knight Enri had been an enigma to others in the order. Sometimes he showed a strong aversion to violence, but in battle, he was feared by even the Sith. After weeks of abstinence, he would indulge in laughter and revelry. Despite having served in the order for longer than most Masters, he refused to take an apprentice, saying to the utter bewilderment of his peers that his tutelage would not make a difference anyway. Noone knew where he came from, what he did before he joined the Jedi, and he kept a low enough profile that few bothered to ask.

"External appearances can be deceiving."Farid drew his companions' attentions back to their current surroundings.

The brownish carven image of a monstrous insect with long spikes protruding from its back and legs sat on top of the tunnel entrance. The spikes ran in messy lines around the sides of the tunnel mouth and seemed to continue inwards, where they mingled and transitioned into the still menacing stalagtites and stalagmites growing teeth-like from the ceiling, walls and floor.

"What do you think, Enri ?" Farid turned toward his friend. Farid met Enri on this icy planet when the former had been sent to establish the new Jedi headquarters on this border world. On his invitation, Enri joined the order and the two had been close comrades ever since. To Farid, his friend had lived here forever and been a powerful wielder of the Force since the Sages knew when. It did not matter though. Enri's astounding knowledge, cheerful personality, and devotion to the order more than made up for his reluctance to reveal his origins.

"I sense an overwhelming presence …" Enri made a few exaggerated gestures of deep thought. " … which means, … it is time for action!" The white robed pointed his light sabre hilt forward in a manner which caused Kart to keel over in uncontrollable laughter.

Shaking his head, Farid slowly and cautiously entered the tunnel.

Still holding his hilarious combat-ready posture, Enri followed close behind, while Kart walked by his side, hands on his lightsabre and keen eyes scanning the tunnel excitedly for signs of danger.

As the tunnel grew darker, the natural spiky protrusions were getting larger and more numerous, and Enri raced to Farid's side, gripping the hilt of his weapon more tightly. A bright, blue white rod of light shot out from the outer end of the hilt and extended a metre into the air with a faint hum, flooding their surroundings with a faint blue glow.

Using this newer source of illumination, the trio walked on for a few minutes. Then, Farid was aware of a sudden disturbance in the ground beneath them.

"Kart !"

The young Jedi felt the disturbance as well, for he leapt up with all his strength and gripped the nearest stalagtite which he could reach with his hands.

Below him, where he stood just milliseconds ago, the ground cracked and broke as a huge black spine burst through the surface and thrust up two metres into the air.

Hanging precariously to the ceiling, Kart stared down in horror. Then he felt the stalagtite which he was holding onto shake and recede into the surrounding rock. "Oh crap."

With blinding speed, Enri dashed up to the spine and swung his light sabre across it, slicing it off near the base and kicking it away just as Kart fell and landed on the spot where he would have been impaled had Enri not come to the rescue.

Immediately, Kart rolled to his feet and switched on his own lightsabre, looking round for any clues as to what had just happened. "Wow … what was that ?"

Farid reached out through the Force and was answered with a sense of aggression and lethal intent rushing towards him. "Beware ! It is coming for us !" The Jedi master shouted as he reached for his own light sabre.

Both Kart and Enri leapt away from each other as a roll of similar spines sprang up in a line between them, throwing up stone and dust as the line sped towards where Farid was standing.

Calmly, Farid stepped to one side, and ran along the line of spines, pointing his ignited lightsabre towards where the bases of the spines continued underground. The purple rod of light tore through the ground.

An inhuman roar shook the tunnel, and the row of spines sank beneath the rocks.

"Did we get it ?" Kart hurried over to the large gash in the ground. He gripped his lightsabre tightly with both hands, eager to land some blows of his own.

"I have wounded it enough to discourage it from attacking again." Farid stared ahead into the darkness. "Come, stay alert, there is no telling what dangers lay ahead of us."

-

The thick folds in the rocks were getting more and more prominent now, and they impeded Zeratul's progress so much so that he was now clambering and groping his way along the tunnel.

Up ahead the tunnel opened up into a small cavern lit up by a strange blue radiance emitted by a small sky-blue crystal embedded into the wrinkled rock. At a glance, Zeratul recognized what it was, and he staggered towards it, reaching out a hand to pull it free.

The moment his finger touched the surface of the crystal, there echoed throughout the tunnel the weird noise of rocks being crushed and scraped together, accompanied by the organic sound of stretching and squeezing.

Startled, Zeratul spun round, and realized to his horror that, where he had walked through just minutes ago, the strange rib like structures in the walls had constricted and closed in towards each other, completely blocking the tunnel.

The warp blades shot out from the backs of both hands, and Zeratul slashed frantically at the newly formed wall. Bits of rock and dust flew off with each swipe, but it was no use. The warp blade was designed for cutting, not for scooping off rocks.

Now Zeratul froze as he heard a squelching noise, and a low, blood-curdling wail.

Turning round slowly, the Grey Templar beheld a horrifying sight.

What he had taken to be folds and ridges in the cavern walls now began to quiver and slither off in various directions. Some of them lifted clear off the surrounding rock. Tentacles.

At the farther end of the cavern, the mass of gigantic tentacles converged into a dark, brown green, pulsating body protruding out and up into a large, gourd shaped lump, at whose base a pair of black, slit-like eyes stared threateningly towards Zeratul. Faint bands of iridescent yellow, brown, red and black appeared at the tips of various tentacles throughout the cavern and flowed up into the main body.

Mesmerised and terrified, Zeratul stood rooted to the ground as three tentacles crept stealthily towards him like pythons stalking their prey. Then, all at once, they shot towards the unsuspecting dark templar.

Zeratul felt a violent push as the tentacles struck an invisible barrier and recoiled in a flash, smoke trailing between them and the invisible point of impact.

Warrior instincts took over Zeratul's body as he swiftly leapt up and spun sideways into the air, slashing in wide arcs with his extended warp blades. There was the horrid sound of rubber tyres being chopped up. Dark green fluid and mist splashed in all directions.

When he landed, he heard a low wail and saw three severed tentacles writhing on the floor before they shrank and dissolved into a pool of dark green liquid.

A distance away, the three reduced appendages waved angrily.

Then, they stilled, and from where each had been sliced short, a dark, brown green stump emerged, and they grew and extended into new tentacles, which hurled themselves towards Zeratul like vipers striking a rodent.

At this sight, Zeratul was surprised, but not shocked. He had fought monsters with regenerative abilities before.

Calmly, he lowered his shield and held out his hands, catching two of the tentacles as they approached him, and stamping the third one onto the ground with his feet. Before they could jerk free and throw him off, he channeled the energies of the Void into his extremities. His eyes flashed a bright orange, and orange sparks jumped off his arms and encircled the trapped tentacles.

Zeratul could feel them stiffen under the paralyzing effects of the Void, as the orange lightning shot down along the tentacles towards the main body of the creature.

Then, Zeratul heard three loud intermittent 'pop's and felt a sudden shift in weight. Staggering back to regain his balance, he stared forward and muttered a curse.

The creature had realized what he was up to and detached the three tentacles at their bases.

Throwing off the dead tentacles, he raised his plasma shield just as a dozen tentacles rushed up and swamped all over him. His shield sparked and hissed in protest. It would not hold for long. He could already feel an immense pressure threatening to crush him as the shield gave inch by inch.

Exhausted, and overcome with a sense of inevitable doom, Zeratul closed his eyes and let his mind drift through the Void…

… And touch with a strange alien presence.

Die !you are not worthy !

Zeratul felt a flood of images and emotions, and unfamiliar sensory experiences overwhelm him, and he realized that in his desperation, he had opened his mind to psionic contact with the nearest scientient being, which happened to be the being now trying to squash him to death.

Too weak to attempt a temporary Mind Control, Zeratul gave the first telepathic reply he could think of.

Release me and I will be gone from this place.

For a moment nothing happened, then Zeratul heaved a sigh of relief as he felt the tentacles around him relax and withdraw away from him, just as his depleting shield thinned out.

Kneeling and bending over to catch his breath, the exhausted Protoss warrior wrapped his grey cape around him and focused his mind, calling up the power of the Void to bend light around himself, while pretending to walk towards the exit of the cavern leading towards the outside of the plateau.

Gradually, the figure in a grey cloak faded away, breaking up as if seen through ripples of water, and then vanished.