“Is there anything left in the Jedi ruins?” Tash asked. “Anything worth seeing?”
Maga shrugged. “No one knows. Dantari do not go there. When offworlders built their hills of stone, they did go to ruins. But they left.”
“We’ve got to go!” Tash said. “Maga, please take us.” Zak looked from Tash to Maga and back to Tash. “Are you sure that’s a good idea?”
Tash hardly heard him. “Zak, don’t you see? This is my chance to learn more about the Jedi. There could be old tools, or datadisks, maybe even a whole library that can teach me about the Jedi. Come on!”
And she was off and running before Zak could protest.
Distance was always hard to judge on Dantooine. Hills that seemed far away were actually less than a day’s walk. Ruins that looked close enough to reach in a short sprint turned out to be a long-distance jog. By the time Tash got close enough to the ruins to see them clearly, she was out of breath and hot from running. She had stripped off her long-sleeved overshirt and tied it around her waist. Even in short sleeves, she felt the sun beating down on her.
She had planned to enter the ruins whether or not Zak and Maga caught up to her. But as she reached the first few scattered building stones on the outskirts of the ancient Jedi site, she decided she couldn’t go on, and sat down to rest.
The ruins looked old, as old as anything Tash had seen. She had been to the planet Gobindi once, a jungle world where the ancient inhabitants had built huge stone temples as high as mountains. She had also visited the abandoned space station Nespis 8. These ruins looked older than either of those places.
Once, several dozen buildings must have stood here, protected by a ring of stones that encircled them all. But over thousands of years, the buildings had collapsed under the wind and rain of Dantooine’s weather. Stones had fallen, ceilings had given way, walls had tumbled. Still, through the maze of stone blocks that were taller than she was, Tash could make out at least one building still standing somewhere amid the rubble.
By the time she had her breath back, her brother and Maga had caught up.
“Tash,” Zak said between huge gulps of air. “I think we should go hack. The Dantari will want to break camp soon.”
“Dantari will not move,” Maga stated. “We camp at river for many days. Dantari will not move.”
“Good,” Tash said, pushing herself to her feet. “I want to see what’s in there.”
“Tash,” Zak said, grabbing at the shirt around her waist to hold her back. “I don’t think this is a good idea. Uncle Hoole-“
“He’ll understand,” she said. “Zak, this is a Jedi place. Don’t you know what that means to me?”
Zak shook his head; “Yeah, but it’s not like these ruins are going anywhere. They’ve been here a thousand years. They can wait until tomorrow.”
“Maybe, but I can’t!” she said, and jumped ahead. She reached the outer ring of stones that had once been a protective wall. Passing inside, she soon vanished behind a stone the size of a small starship.
Zak sighed. He knew he should run after her, but he had sprinted to catch up, and his legs felt as if they’d fallen into a black hole.
Beside him, Maga chuckled.
Zak suddenly thought of something. “Hey, Maga, I thought you said the Dantari would camp close to the river.”
“We do.”
Zak pointed to the river, which was less than a kilometer away. “But this was the closest way to the river. Why didn’t the tribe just come this way?”
Maga shrugged. “Dantari do not camp here. It is too close to the fallen stones.”
“So?” Zak asked.
Maga pointed at the ruined Jedi fortress. “Dantari fear the place of fallen stones.”
“Why?”
Maga grinned. “Because of the legends.”
Zak didn’t like the way Maga was dragging this out. “What legends?”
“The ancient garoos say,” Maga chuckled, “those who enter the place of fallen stones do not come out again.”
CHAPTER 5
Tash was much too far away to hear Maga’s triumphant laughter. And she might have heard Zak shouting faintly after her, but if she did, she thought it was the wind that moaned among the rocks.
She entered the ruins of the Jedi fortress.
Even after thousands of years of decay, the ruins were impressive. Most modern buildings were made of steelcrete. Even the ancient stone temples she’d seen on the planet Gobindi looked as if they’d been put together by machines. But these-these looked like ruined works of art. Tash walked up to the remains of a stone wall. Only three or four blocks were still standing, but each block was twice her height and several meters thick. They must have weighed many tons apiece.