Chapter 42

'Punishment and Betrayal'

''Rising from the Abyss'

'Slow Decent Into Hell - Part IV'

A dark sadness shrouds the Lnteel Fjord.

Per Erik Horn stands inside a beautiful sculptured ice cavern of the funeral parlor. The attendant waits patiently as Magnus carries Sigrid's body and places it on the sculpted ice bier. If one were to look at her, there are no visible signs of trauma. The only thing out of place from this view is the missing braid.

"How? Why did he do this? What sort of monstrous mind would do this?"

"If there is any consolation, Sir, she went quickly. I doesn't make her death any easier to take but…"

"Thank you, Magnus. I believe what you say is true but it doesn't lessen the pain her mother and I feel. I cannot allow her mother to see her like this. It would break her heart." Professor Horn utters a heart-wrenching sigh then turns to Magnus. "What about you? How are you?"

Magnus glances at his left arm. It is bound in a temporary sling. He had dislocated it in the fall through the crevasse. A portion of the collapsing glacier landed flat which helped break the fall to a certain death. The rucksack he had been wearing also cushioned his fall or he would have suffered the same fate as Sigrid.

The intense cold numbed the throbbing pain from the initial plunge. He lost consciousness for over two hours. When Magnus awakens, he discovers Sigrid's body on the glacier landing a few meters away to his left. He thought she was lost in the void of the immense glacier. A wedged opening less than a foot wide separates him and Sigrid. Magnus regains his balance and then gingerly slides through the opening to reach her. Sigrid is on her back and her eyes are open as if she is looking up at the sky. Magnus notices a dark frozen pool of blood on the slab of glacier ice directly under her body. The crimson mass is a stark contrast to the blue ice framing her head. It resembles a halo. A blast of wind from the fjord whips through the opening. Strands of blond hair blows across her face. The coat that she wore during her last trip to Hoth is in perfect condition. Finis Valorum had given the coat to her. The wampa lining sways in the wind. She is beautiful, even in death. Magnus was never one to cry but this tragedy is unbearable.

Magnus takes a deep breath. The frigid air settles to the back of his throat and in his chest. When he exhales, he quivers. He does not hear his own sobs coming from his mouth. It is as if he is breathing in a vacuum. Once he gathers his wits, Magnus begins the arduous task of lifting Sigrid's broken body through the crevasse.

It must have been fate or the Jedi gods were with him, but he is able to grasp onto the sharp ridges in the ice and hoist himself and Sigrid to the surface. He does not recall the pain in his dislocated shoulder, but somehow he manages. He sees the sunlight above as he reaches the top. He looks around for her missing braid on the ridge where they were standing before Dantius sent them tumbling into the icy void. The braid is gone.

Magnus has no idea how he manages to carry Sigrid through a sudden windstorm. A sudden cacophony of otherworldly voices urges him onward. The force guides him along the trail that he could barely see.

By the time he arrives at Lnteel, news of the event had reached the Horn residence. Roman and Fern have been fortunate enough to see a team of wampa trackers heading in their direction. Fern contacts Professor Horn. He is in shock when he hears the devastating news. He wants to recover his daughter's body and immediately hires a search team. It is not long after the team is dispatched; Magnus appears at the foothills of Lnteel Glacier. The team is ready to assist Magnus, but he is determined to carry Sigrid the rest of the way. He carries her broken body to the funeral parlor.

The reality for Per Erik does not sink in until he sees his daughter's body placed on the death bier. The funeral director remains silent. He cannot find any words to comfort this father in mourning.

A doctor is summoned to tend to Magnus' injuries. He refuses to go along until Finis appears and who urges him to receive medical care. He asks about the others before the medics take him to the ambulance.

"Has anyone seen the others? Fern? Boone? Roman? Son'ya?"

Finis gently places his hand on Magnus' head.

"Son'ya is seriously injured, Roman and Fern fared better…Boone, I am sorry to say, has been taken from us."

"No!"

"Roman had to make a decision. Son'ya was still alive so he carried her to safety. He could not help Boone. The rescue team is retrieving his body to return him to Alderaan to his parents."

He heard Dantius confess to harming Boone but he thought perhaps there was a chance, any possibility that he was just injured and not dead at all. He wanted the nightmare to end. It was just beginning.

"I want to accompany him back home. I have to."

Per Erik nods reflectively as he tries to set aside his own grief.

"I believe his family would appreciate that."

Finis is grief-stricken and buries his face in his hands. He wishes he were there to save her.

Per Erik turns to Finis.

"You were the son-in-law I was hoping for…perhaps to bring balance into her life."

He leaves Finis alone to kneel and pray at her funeral bier. Per Erik is weary and mourning his daughter is quickly taking its toll. The normally jovial and energetic architect is visibly drained.

Theed University posthumously honors Sigrid with her diploma. The 'Fantastic Six' is no more. It is just Roman, Son'ya, Fern, and Magnus. Fern attends Sigrid's funeral, and then accompanies Roman and Magnus to Alderaan for Boone's funeral Mass. It is a ceremony befitting a Jedi Knight. Boone's mother rests her head against the blue Permafrost crystal burial bier. She sobs inconsolably. She cannot comprehend this senseless loss. Boone's father is numb. Boone's was his pride and joy…faults and all aside.

Son'ya remains hospitalized on Lnteel. The Horn family watches over her while her family travels to Hoth to be by her side. The Horn's are heartened that Son'ya and Sigrid became fast friends and dorm roommates.

After the end of the funeral services on Hoth and on Alderaan, Fern leaves with no indication of her whereabouts. Magnus and Roman decided for now it is best not to know her safety as well as their own. They would still worry about her. Dark times are in the wind. Those who had insight into the future decide it is time to take precautions, especially against any apocalyptic fallout from the Sith.

Across the galaxy on Core Worlds, Master Yoda senses dark times ahead. Restless nights preceded the massacre on Hoth. Peaceful slumber is disrupted by a great disturbance in the force. The Jedi Master sensed great discourse leading up the events on Lnteel Glacier. The disturbance also generated great physical pain, a pain that Yoda had never felt before. It hurt his heart and his body. He knows these people.

Yoda makes the journey to Hoth and pays a visit to his dear friend Per Erik. They speak after the funeral.

"A dark Force it was…hovers over such a peaceful place. Disrupted this beautiful home world of yours it did. Whatever the source, it was strong enough to punch a hole in this world and take your daughter from you. Not the end I feel this darkness. Great evil is at play and the Dark Side Force is strong with whoever is controlling this person. This individual has been led astray by false promises. It has awakened a deep seated evil and desire for power."

"How does one fight this evil?"

"A way to seek revenge is to wait. One will eventually destroy the other. More danger is in the future there is. Grave fear I have for this place you call home. Must leave you and your family."

"But this is our home. I have built a home, raised a family…My business is here."

"Attachments here you have, yes. Time you have, perhaps…yes…time. Many changes to come. Prepare yourself you must."

Per Erik shakes his head is defiance. He does not want to leave his beautiful, clean home world of Hoth. Yoda gazes up at him with a sorrowful expression. He does not want to tell him that Hoth will become a desert tundra with few inhabitants.

"I can do many things. I have just buried my beautiful daughter. I cannot abandon her if what you predict comes true."

"Per Erik, never misled you have I."

Per Erik has never appeared or sounded as broken as he is right now. He takes an exasperated breath and then wipes his face. His agile, long fingers shake. These hands created architectural masterpieces across the galaxy. Now he does not know how to steady them. After a moment, he speaks again.

"How long? "How long do I have?"

"A decade…perhaps two…waiting until then I would not."

Back on Naboo at Bassa Ridge there is a cold dark room. It was a sacristy, in the days before this place was condemned. Dantius kneels alone to contemplate his deeds. His new master appears and stands behinds him.

"Still mourning your friends? They cannot hear you. You want to attend their funerals to listen to the great tributes about their lives. You know you would not be a welcome presence. You think it will be the same, just as you attended the funeral for your family? All of those coffins lined up in the family chapel. How did it make you feel?"

"I felt nothing."

"But you feel sadness."

"Why didn't she love me?"

Plagueis lets out an ungodly laugh.

"You continue to pine for this dead girl. Her family had nothing but contempt for you. Alas, you took an oath to follow the Sith. I sense regret in you. There is no place for regret in this new lift you have chosen."

Plagueis' calm taunting takes on a deliberate turn. He slaps his new apprentice. The young Sith does not see this assault coming. The impact is sudden and intense that it leaves a red mark on his white face and almost knocks Dantius to the stone floor. He struggles to regain his balance. The ancient stone floors are covered with soot and the corners of each stone slab are broken. Beneath each slab is buried a priest from long ago before this place was condemned. He feels something cold and wet running down his nose. It is blood.

The torture is just beginning.

Dantius' initiation into the Sith fold is simple but stirring nonetheless. To Dantius, this 'ceremony' trumps graduation from university.

Two pillar candles illuminate the dark chapel. The cold room and pews are a sharp contrast from outside the monastery walls. The cursed monastery still overshadows the nearby village but somehow slivers of sunlight still reach the small cobblestoned streets. There is still good pulsing through this forgotten place and it is fighting with the evil that has stepped upon it

Bassa Ridge may rise from the darkness some day but not now. There is no rest for the wicked this evening. No peace for the innocent.