Tash looked more closely and noticed that there were no marks on the stone itself. The stone was rough. It hadn’t been smoothed by a construction droid, or even carried by one. If it had, there would have been scrape marks on the surface.
A small clump of grass grew at the base of the wall. Tash plucked a blade and tried to slip it between two of the stones. It wouldn’t fit. Tash realized that only one thing could put stones together with such precision.
The Force.
She felt the Force moving all around her. It was like the wind, but not exactly. She could feel a breeze on her skin, but the Force.. she felt that inside her skin. It was like
Chink, chink! Tash heard something scramble over the rocks to her left. When she looked, there was nothing there.
Chink, chink! Something scuttled between two fallen stones in front of her, but disappeared before she could see what it was.
“I’m not alone here,” she whispered.
She wondered whether to go forward or back, but when she turned around, she wasn’t sure which way was back. “These ruins aren’t that big,” she said.
She turned in the direction she thought she had come from and trotted along the half-ruined wall. She turned left, and found herself looking down a narrow alley between two ruined buildings. That was the way she had come… wasn’t it?
Chink, chink! Again she turned to look, and again saw nothing. Tash thought about running away, but she didn’t know where to run. So instead she bolted after whatever had vanished.
By the time she reached the corner, whatever it was, was gone.
However, she knew she had reached the center of the ruins.
Before her stood the building she had seen from outside, the only intact structure still standing in the ruins. It wasn’t very tall, and it wasn’t very wide. It was built in the shape of a short round tower.
And the Force was strong inside it. She could feel it from the outside.
Cautiously, Tash crept forward. She felt as if she were being watched.
She reached the entrance. There must have been a door here once, but it had been blasted away, leaving a hole framed by jagged edges. Carefully, Tash put her hand on the rough edge of the broken entryway and peered inside. The room was empty. But that didn’t stop a chill from running down her spine like ice water. She felt something here.
The dark side of the Force.
The sensation that someone, or something, was watching her grew stronger. Her skin tingled, and the tiny hairs on her arms and the back of her neck stood on end.
The dark feeling frightened her. But at the same time, she felt something inside her reach out for it. She didn’t want it to happen, but she couldn’t stop it.
Distracted by the cold feeling of the dark side, Tash never heard the footsteps that closed in behind her. She didn’t hear anything until a hand wrapped itself around her neck.
Tash felt herself jerked backward until she lost her footing. An arm encircled her throat, cutting off her air. Whoever it was, they were strong.
Maga! she thought. He’s trying to kill me!
But then she heard a male voice speaking without the harsh Dantari accent. “Don’t struggle, I-“
She didn’t know who her attacker was, but she didn’t plan to wait to find out. Briefly, Tash considered trying to use the Force to lift up a nearby rock and hurl it at his head. But she couldn’t concentrate, so she settled for something simpler.
She bit him.
Her teeth sank into his arm and the man howled in pain. He loosened his grip and she broke free, turning to face her attacker. He was human, with a round freckled face and reddish hair. He had backed away, preparing himself for more trouble as he clutched at the bite wound on his arm.
When she saw that the man had given up the fight, Tash eased up a little. “Who are you? Why are you here? Why did you grab me?”
“I think I should be the one to ask the questions,” the man said.
But he didn’t get a chance to ask any. Something large and dark and furry vaulted over Tash’s shoulder and slammed into the stranger, driving him into the ground.
CHAPTER 6
Tash couldn’t tell what species the creature was. All she could tell was that long, curved fangs stabbed out from its upper jaw. Then, an instant later, the creature shivered as if very cold, and transformed into a tall, gray-skinned Shi’ido.
“Uncle Hoole!” Tash shouted.
“Tash, are you injured?” Hoole said, never taking his dark eyes off the stranger. He loomed over the man, who lay flat on his back, stunned.
“No,” she said. “It’s all right, you can-“
“Tash!” her brother yelled. He came running up from behind. “Sorry it took me so long to get here. I thought I’d better go back and get Uncle Hoole. And then we heard the screams.”