Chapter 25 - Descent

The wind clawed at them, slowing their progress with its biting chill. Edric shivered as it swept through his thin tunic, a stark reminder of how woefully underdressed he was for the unforgiving terrain. The mountain loomed ahead, its sheer walls impossibly steep, their blackened faces streaked with ash from the planet's many restless volcanoes. Each step his feet sank a couple inches into the fine layer of volcanic dust before the soles of his boots found solid ground, hinting at how quickly the environment could change around here.

He kept his hand hovering above his lightsaber. Exposed on his belt, without concealing it was like reattaching a long-lost piece of himself again. It was both a declaration and a reminder: of what he had been and what he no longer was. The blaster on his other side felt foreign by comparison, an almost unneeded relic of his time in hiding, and it would remain in its holster for Edric wanted not to cower from being who he was anymore. Perhaps his own version of the Wayseekers he had read about in the Jedi Archives before he left the Order. Someone who had to understand the Force better to understand himself.

The chatter in his ear flared again. They had all taken comlinks before to monitor the battle overhead, though Edric wasn't sure it had been the right choice. Flashes of light darted back and forth, and the wind carried the shrieks of engines. The Partisans' chances were crumbling, and the desperation in their voices was palpable. Rono barked orders over the comms, trying to hold the soldiers together, but fear was contagious, quick and consuming. Not everybody was cut out for battle. Some were already panicking, their voices crackling with a fear Edric knew too well. That strange grip around their hearts, cold and suffocating. He let their emotions through the Force crash onto him, and then take their anguish away like grains of sand dragged back into the sea. They were giving their life for a mission they weren't even fully admitted into. It was the sad reality of a war fought behind the curtains between the forces of the Dark Side and the Light. Were they on the right side though? Asking so many to sacrifice themselves?

He waved the thoughts away. One step at a time, he remembered his former master's words. Even if Kael Asher fell, his teachings from back then still rang true. He could rush to aid the Partisans, leap into the fray as he once might have done, but he knew better now. Duty wasn't always action, sometimes it was restraint. Decisions cascaded into events, those events shaped the history of the galaxy, even if they hadn't realized how. Despite his reluctance to ignore the pleading words he heard in his ears, he had to let them go. The Force had guided him here, to this path, to this cave in front of them. Whatever waited there, it demanded his focus. The cries on the comlink pulled at him, but this time, he let go. It wasn't selfish to follow the call of the Force. Not now, not ever.

A shockwave rippled through the ground, followed by the low roar of a distant crash. Edric glanced at the others. Lyra had her DC-15 rifle raised as she walked, her brows knit together in deep focus. Her eyes were sharp and concentrating ahead of her, occasionally darting around to make sure there were no surprises behind the boulders they passed. Max kept his hand on his DL-44 blaster on his right, the other hovering over a blade he could throw if the need arose. His head turned left to right, mirroring the vigilance of Lyra. Both flinched at the thunderous echo of an explosion, though Edric and Edwin had braced for it moments before, forewarned by the Force.

The comms erupted in cheers. Commander Serra's voice cut through, triumphant: one of the walkers was down.

Thank the Force, Edric thought, sharing a brief glance with Edwin. His brother's barriers were lowered this time, allowing Edric to feel the flicker of fear buried in him. Edwin carried it well, tucking it into the corners of his being, but Edric at least knew it was there. The former Padawan recalled his brother's lesson, how each emotion was a part of him he shouldn't fight against, and that way—hopefully—he would be able to keep them in their channels and not break free to wreak havoc. A slight nod from Edwin was a reassurance that he was doing okay. At least Edric hoped so, until a strange feeling wrapped around him like a vise as he watched Edwin pass him. The Force stirred, sharp and insistent, like the blaring alarms they had heard before the crash. Only this warning wasn't tied to the present, it came from somewhere else, somewhere out of reach.

Edric recognized it instantly. That alien whisper at the back of his mind. The kind that told him, without words, that something terrible was coming, like it happened on Tarnos. Edric drew a deep breath, steadying himself. Let it come, he thought, the resolve hardening in his mind like durasteel. His heart thumped in his chest, but after a few breaths he managed to wrestle this new fear into a cage to be dealt with later.

The wall of the mountain was ever closer, towering above them like a dark curtain. Before long, they reached the entrance to the caves. A cold draft swept out, tugging at them with an eerie persistence, as though the mountain itself was breathing—its gaping maw ready to swallow them whole.

Max cleared his throat as they stopped at the threshold of the mouth. "And to think I could be sipping some mocktails on Niamos right now," he sighed, but his comment didn't earn him any responses.

Edric pulled up the goggles Sid loaned him before urging on Drone to hover in ahead. The tiny droid switched on its flashlight, and started broadcasting an image. Edric had to blink a couple times to make sure he wasn't hallucinating. The lenses filled with a blue hue, emphasizing the edges of the bedrock, while a yellow outline drew around possible obstacles in the way, like larger rock formations, boulders and even sharper outcrops. He took a few steps and the pulse refreshed the picture, drawing lines in the ground as an indication of where to go as Drone scanned and mapped the tunnels with something Edric suspected was similar to a sonar or radar. Which one, he wasn't sure of, but he made a mental note to interrogate Sid after.

As they ventured deeper into the darkness, the hilt of his lightsaber flew into his extended palm and the blade ignited with a familiar snap-hiss, raising it above his head to cast a brilliant glow that cut through the shadows. Beside him, Edwin followed suit, his green blade flaring to life, its light mingling with Edric's. Max and Lyra switched on their flashlights, their beams slicing through the gloom and adding to the collective glow of their weapons.

The howl of the wind faded, replaced by a bone chilling stillness. The only sounds were the soft echo of their footsteps and the rhythmic drip of water falling from unseen crevices, each drop ringing out like a faint, distant chime in the oppressive silence. The comlinks died not long after they entered, the static winning over the voices of the Partisans. Edric deactivated it with a touch.

The path was wide and tall enough for them to walk side-by-side, Drone leading their way and Edric could only hope the right way. They came up to a three-way fork after a handful of steps, but the little droid barely paused to get its bearings, already darting down the leftmost route. While he was sure he could trust the machine, Edric still closed his eyes briefly to touch the Force. It pointed him in the same direction, but its currents felt more agitated than usual, shifting unpredictably, like a storm-tossed sea. It was pulling him forward and holding him back all at once, as if screaming at him to both turn around and press on. The contradiction made his gut churn, but he followed, his grip tightening on the hilt of his lightsaber.

A few minutes in, the cave first narrowed slightly, before its mouth yawned open again, wider than ever. They reached a larger chamber, where the air thickened with humidity, clinging to their skin and making it nearly impossible to see more than a few meters ahead. The light from their weapons scattered uselessly, reflected and warped by the dense mist.

Edric noticed on the lenses Drone's latest scanner pulse, its lines drawing strange shapes at the top edges of his vision. Foreign, jagged patterns traced the top corners of the chamber, their forms shifting with every refresh of the scanner.

"Something's not right," Edwin whispered, his voice low and tense. Edric felt it too—shiver after shiver ran down his spine.

"You and your optimism," Max muttered with a scoff, though his voice was tight, betraying his own nerves. Edric tilted his head back, studying the upper reaches of the chamber. Another pulse from Drone's scanner lit up the shapes above them. At first, they seemed like stalactites. They blurred at the edges, refusing to stay still even on the augmented image. He focused on one, narrowing his gaze. Then another pulse flashed, and—

It moved.

He heard his companion's breath catching in their throats just as something heavy dropped from above, landing with a wet thud not far from them. A rush of air followed—a strange draft, then a shriek, piercing and alien. Another shriek joined it. Then another. And another.

"Edwin—" Edric began, but his brother was already stepping forward with him, their lightsabers coming up in front just as a blur shot toward them from the shadows—a bat-like creature the size of a man, its leathery wings cutting through the air with a furious whoosh. Edric swung his blade in a clean arc, but the thing veered sharply at the last second.

"Why does it have to be shyracks?!" Max groaned, stumbling back as another creature swooped low, missing his head by inches.

"Get behind us!" Edwin barked, his voice sharp with command. Without hesitation, the brothers shifted to form a protective wall, lightsabers humming and poised as Max and Lyra scrambled to position themselves between their backs, while Drone also returned to hover between them, its silent beeps hinting at its terror.

"How many?" Edwin asked. Edric caught the faint flicker of another scanner pulse in his lenses, its lines darting across the chamber.

"Too many," Edric replied, his tone grim. There was no way they could fight them all off and survive. His mind raced, grasping at fragments of what he had read in the Jedi Archives. Shyracks... cave-dwellers, eyeless, reliant on sonar-like organs to navigate. Sensitive to vibrations. The memory crystallized as another creature hurtled toward them, its leathery wings slicing the air. Edwin's lightsaber swung in a precise arc, deflecting it just in time.

Another pulse from Drone illuminated the chamber, and Edric's chest tightened as the swarm above seemed to ripple in agitation. His eyes widened when it hit him.

"Drone, stop scanning," Edric blurted out. He took a deep breath, forcing himself to think clearly. His plan wasn't perfect—far from it—but it might buy them the time they needed.

"Edric, what are you doing?" Edwin asked in a whisper, his blade still raised defensively as the shyracks circled closer, their shrieks growing louder.

"They hunt with sound," Edric explained hurriedly. "The pulses are drawing them in. If we stop giving them something to lock onto, it might confuse them long enough for us to get across."

He glanced toward the far side of the chamber, where their path continued. He remembered the last scan: a narrow passage, just wide enough for them to slip through, but too small for these creatures to follow. It was their best shot.

"Over there." Edric nodded toward the passage. "If we move quickly and stay quiet, we can make it."

Edwin's eyes flicked between Edric and the circling creatures. Another shyrack dove low, and Edric deflected it with a precise twist of his blade.

"Make up your mind already," Max drawled from behind Edwin, "Or, I don't know, do some Force-magic or something." He punctuated the remark with a sharp gesture from his blaster, its barrel tracing the erratic path of another swooping shyrack.

It wasn't a bad suggestion, Edric had to admit. Why didn't I think of that sooner? He took a deep breath and reached out to the Living Force, letting it flow through him. Closing his eyes briefly, he cast his senses outward, searching for the creatures swarming above them.

He felt them almost immediately. The subtle shifts in the humid air as their wings carved through it. The rapid, shallow rhythms of their breaths as they wheeled in tight circles. Their sharp, high-pitched calls—a language of sorts—signaling to one another, coordinating their movements as a flock. Yet beneath their aggression, something else hid. Fear. The shyracks were afraid—cornered by the intruders in their own domain, ready to defend themselves.

Edric exhaled slowly, letting the Force carry his intent outward, soft and steady. He pushed aside the tension in his chest, his frantic heartbeat, and let calm radiate from him like a ripple on still water. We're not here to harm you, he told them through the Force, his thoughts gentle but firm. We're passing through. We mean no threat.

For a moment, the energy in the chamber shifted. The shrill cries softened, and the flock's movements grew less frantic, their coordination breaking as uncertainty took root in them. Edric held onto the connection, willing the creatures to understand.

"Run. Now," Edric whispered sharply, his voice low but urgent. Without hesitation, they bolted. Edric led the way, his yellow blade illuminating the uneven ground ahead as Max and Lyra kept close behind with Drone, their flashlights sweeping frantically over the rocky terrain while Edwin brought up the rear. Edric glanced upward every few steps, his lightsaber still ready in case the fragile truce shattered.

The distant flap of wings grew louder as some of the shyracks began to shift uneasily, but they didn't follow. Edric felt their hesitation, their fear giving way to confusion. Stay calm, he told himself, focusing on the rhythm of his footsteps and the reassuring presence of the Force guiding him forward.

Up ahead, the chamber began to narrow, the jagged walls drawing closer together. The glowing beam of Edric's lightsaber reflected off the rock, signaling that they were nearing the passage he had seen on Drone's earlier scans.

They reached the threshold and Edric slipped into the narrow corridor, taking a few leaps forward before pausing and turning back to make sure the others also made it. The humidity began to fade in there, replaced by a cooler, drier breeze that whispered through the tight space as they all scrambled in.

"Everyone in one piece?" Edwin asked, his voice no longer echoing off the walls.

"I kriffing hate bats," Max muttered between gasps for air, leaning against the wall to catch his breath. He ran a hand through his damp hair and grimaced, but still managed a nod. Lyra followed suit, and Drone chirped again, as if to confirm its own survival.

"Nice job," Edwin said, offering Edric a nod. There was no need to say more—his expression conveyed it all. Edric allowed himself a small, fleeting smile before turning his focus back to the path ahead. One danger behind them. Force knew what else waited ahead though.

The passage narrowed further, forcing them to turn sideways, shuffling along with their backs pressed against one wall. Edric led the way, or at least tried to—his core kept brushing uncomfortably against the opposite wall despite his best efforts to suck it in.

"You know," Max drawled from behind him, "this would be a lot easier if someone hadn't been raiding the galley's snack storage lately."

Edric rolled his eyes. "Really? We're doing this now?" He grunted as his midsection caught on another rough patch of stone. "I haven't—oof—gained that much."

"Oh?" Max's voice dripped with amusement. "Because from where I'm standing, it looks like those late-night kitchen runs are finally catching up with you. 'Kid'."

"The walls are just... unusually close together," Edric muttered just as he found himself wedged tight between the walls, unable to move forward or back. He pushed against the stone, trying to wiggle free, but remained firmly stuck. His face burned hotter than Mustafar's lava rivers.

"Um..." he managed, mortified.

"Don't tell me," Max sighed theatrically. "You're stuck."

"...maybe?"

"At least there's more of you to grab," Lyra's teasing laughter echoed through the passage from behind Max. "Need a push?"

"That's not helping," Edric muttered, still squirming. He could sense Edwin's growing impatience behind the others, though there was definitely amusement mixed in. Drone's beeps sounded a lot like a laughing Kowakian monkey-lizard, which was just more salt on the wound of Edric's disappearing pride.

"Good thing I'm here to rescue you. On three," Max said, placing his hands on Edric's shoulder. "One... two..."

With a forceful shove and an undignified grunt from Edric, he finally popped free. He stumbled forward a few steps, face crimson, steadfastly avoiding everyone's gaze.

"Not. A. Word," he growled, though there was no real heat in it.

"Wouldn't dream of it," Max replied cheerfully. "Though maybe we should start avoiding the narrower passages with 'No Jedis Over Size Large' signs."

"If you're quite finished," Edwin cut in from the rear, though the Force hinted at his brother's mirth, "we should focus on—"

His words died in his throat as they stepped into a vast chamber that seemed to pulse with an otherworldly light. Crimson crystal formations jutted from every surface like frozen flames, their smooth faces reflecting the glow of their lightsabers in fractured, kaleidoscopic patterns across the walls. The sight was breathtaking, but a cold finger crept over Edric. These weren't kyber crystals—he would have felt their resonance in the Force. Something about them made the hair on the back of his neck stand up.

The floor was littered with shards of the strange mineral, some towering over them, others low enough to barely graze Edric's ankles. Drone's scanner pinged, overlaying a suggested path on Edric's goggles. The highlighted route snaked through the maze of crystalline clusters, but according to the readings, they would need to navigate carefully, stepping over or across the sharp outcrops.

"Let's try not to touch anything," Edric whispered. He took a cautious step forward, his gaze fixed on the uneven ground. Drone flitted ahead, its small light barely visible behind a towering crystal formation, the beam scattering wildly through the translucent rock.

Edric planted his next step with care, searching for a patch of solid ground between two jagged outgrowths. But as his boot brushed against one of the crimson formations, the contact sent a brittle crack splintering through the air. The crystal shattered beneath him, breaking into a million glittering shards, like fragile glass underfoot.

His grip on his lightsaber tightened instinctively.

Behind him, Max let out a low whistle, the sound ricocheting off the chamber walls. "Pretty. Probably worth a fortune, too, if it weren't so brittle—" He stepped forward casually, crushing more of the delicate crystals beneath his boots. Edric turned sharply, his eyes narrowing as each shattering step echoed louder than the last, the sound bouncing and amplifying off the cavern walls.

"Max, stop!" Edric hissed, but it was already too late.

The Force stirred violently, a wave of warning slamming into him. He froze, just as a deep, resonant crack echoed through the chamber—from everywhere. Including from the ceiling above.

His stomach sank.

Another crack followed. Then another. And another.

"Kriff!" Max cursed, swatting at the back of his neck as a thin line of blood appeared there. Edric's eyes darted upward just in time to see shards raining down from above—glittering fragments of crimson crystal pieces slicing through the air like a storm of razor blades.

He winced as one sharp edge grazed his cheek, leaving a shallow cut that stung. Behind him, he heard Edwin grunt in pain and Lyra hiss sharply, both of them dodging or deflecting the falling shards as best they could.

"Move! Now!" Edwin barked, his voice cutting through the rising chaos.

The four of them broke into a sprint, weaving through the treacherous maze of jagged crystal formations as more shards rained down like a deadly hailstorm. Each step sent smaller fragments crunching underfoot, the sound grating against Edric's ears as he tried to stay ahead of the collapse, as though the mountain itself was breaking apart.

A particularly large shard speared the ground just inches from Max, forcing him to stumble to the side. "I really hate this place!" he shouted, his voice rising with both frustration and fear.

"Less talking, more running!" Lyra snapped, ducking as another shard grazed her forearm, tearing through her sleeve despite her armor being inches away. Edric deflected what he could with the Force, while Edwin did the same behind him. The path led them toward what looked like another tunnel entrance.

Just a few more steps…

As Edric reached it, the floor suddenly dropped away beneath his feet. His stomach lurched as they all pitched forward into darkness, the passage becoming a steep, natural slide. By the time he realized what happened, it was too late.

They tumbled down the slick stone chute, the smooth stone offering no purchase. Edric tried to slow their descent with the Force, but the angle was too sharp, the momentum too great, and the surface too slippery. All he could manage was to nudge them away from the jagged edges of the walls as they spiraled deeper into the mountain's core. It was like trying to catch falling stars with bare hands.

Their lightsabers had deactivated in the sudden drop, and the erratic beams of the others' flashlights danced wildly, strobing across the tunnel like the disorienting lights of a Coruscant nightclub's dance floor.

After what felt like an eternity, the tunnel began to level out. With one final, jarring lurch, they were spat out onto a wider path, tumbling over each other in a tangle of limbs and curses. The silence that followed was broken only by their ragged breathing and Drone's worried beeps somewhere above them.

"If someone doesn't get their elbow out of my ribs in the next three seconds," Max wheezed from the bottom of the pile, "I'm going to shoot you. Immediately."

"That would be my elbow," Lyra grunted, trying to extract herself. "Though I think Edric's the one crushing all of us."

"Hey, I thought you liked having more of me to grab onto," Edric shot back, earning a playful swat as he rolled to his feet. He ignited his lightsaber, the yellow glow revealing their bedraggled state. Their faces were streaked with dirt and dotted with cuts from the crystal shower, clothes torn and dusty.

"Anyone seriously hurt?" he asked, his eyes lingering on Lyra as she brushed debris from her hair. She caught his gaze and gave him a reassuring smile, though he noticed her wince as she touched a cut on her arm.

"Just my dignity," Max groaned, climbing to his feet with exaggerated care. "And possibly every bone in my body. Remind me why I let you talk me into these things?"

Edwin's green blade joined Edric's, casting crossed shadows on the walls. "Because you'd be bored otherwise," he said dryly, wiping blood from a shallow cut on his temple. His eyes met Edric's, a silent question passing between them.

"I'm good," Edric answered, though he couldn't quite hide his grimace when his fingers found a deep scratch on his cheek. Something mumbled in his mind—a warning, or perhaps a threat—but he pushed it aside as it rose. All the warnings of the Force would not be stopping him this time. He knew what he was walking into, and he had to finally ignore all the pull that wanted him to turn back and let Kael do whatever he wanted.

Drone's scanner pulsed once, showing what lay ahead on the goggles' lenses. Edric turned his head to follow the arrows until he noticed the rough cave walls gave way to something definitely not natural: a perfectly smooth permacrete barrier.

The fortress.

"We're here," he announced, his voice barely above a whisper. His heart leapt and thundered against his ribs, each beat sending electricity through his veins.

Edwin reached the wall first, placing his palm against its cold surface. Edric hung back, watching, his breath coming in short, shallow bursts. His fingers wrapped around his lightsaber until his knuckles went white. He closed his eyes, letting himself feel everything—the worry gnawing at his gut, the anxiety coiling in his chest, the doubt whispering in his mind. They pulled at him like gravity, threatening to drag him under.

But there was something else too. Something brighter. He felt Lyra's unwavering trust, warm and steady as a hearth fire. His brother's quiet strength, solid as bedrock. Max's fierce loyalty, sharp and sure as a blade. Hope. It rose in him like dawn breaking over Dantooine's plains, holding back the darkness, keeping his anger caged. For now, came the whisper.