[Galaxy Of Fear] - 12(19)

Traut’s final scream filled the air. A flying creature, startled by this last sound, flapped away into the distance. When the sound of its wings faded, true silence settled over the swamp.

Zak scrambled up and out of the hole. He dropped to the ground. All around him was the aftermath of a gory battle. Spider parts were everywhere. Green spider blood ran down the bark of the trees. Nearby, one giant spider flopped around on its two remaining legs, then sagged down into the mud and lay still.

Traut’s body lay on the ground nearby, bleeding from an ugly wound to the head. The other smuggler was gone.

Tash dropped down beside her brother. “Did the spiders … did they take him?”

“I don’t know,” Zak whispered. He pointed to a wide, shallow line that had been drawn through the mud. “It looks like something dragged him off in that direction.”

“F … Fe …”

“Traut’s alive!” Zak rushed to the smuggler’s side. His eyes were closed, and half his face was covered in blood. His mouth struggled to work. “F … Fe …”

“Fett?” Tash guessed. “Maybe that’s who he saw just now.”

Zak wasn’t so sure. “Traut sounded like he knew the person he saw. And if it was Fett, why wouldn’t he take both bodies?”

Something rustled through a nearby bush and a sickly white form pushed its way forward. “More spiders!” Zak hissed. He and Tash started to back away.

The figure that stepped through the bushes was as pale as a spider, but it walked on two legs. It was Galt, followed by another of the Children.

Galt looked completely surprised to see Zak and Tash standing in the middle of the battle scene. “Why are you here?” he asked.

Tash explained hurriedly, “We were hiding in that tree. The spiders attacked. Someone, or something, dragged the other smuggler away. But Traut’s still alive. We have to get him some help.”

Zak remembered how easily Galt had carried the body of his dead companion out of the swamp before. “You two have to carry him back to camp!” he told the skeletal man.

“We will,” Galt said simply. He and his companion lifted the wounded man by his shoulders and feet. Traut’s eyes fluttered, and he reached out, clutching Zak’s arm so hard that Zak felt the man’s promise ring press into his skin. He tried to speak, but swooned again.

“Hurry!” Zak said. “Uncle Hoole or Platt may be able to help him.”

The two Children started off through the swamp, moving faster than Zak would have thought possible. A lifetime of hard living in the dismal climate of Dagobah had strengthened them until they were all muscle-thin and hard like wire cable. Zak and Tash had a hard time keeping up as they slogged their way through the mud.

They were both concentrating so hard on keeping up with Galt and his companion that Zak almost missed it-a small figure, sitting serenely on a log, with a gentle smile on his face.

“Yoda!” he called out.

The two Children were so startled they nearly dropped Traut.

“The imp!” Galt shouted in pure terror. “It’s the imp! Run! He will kill us all!”





CHAPTER 12


Zak pointed at Yoda. “That’s the imp you were talking about? But he’s harmless. He’s just-“

“Run! Run!” Galt screamed. Still holding Traut, he and his companion bolted through the mist.

“Wait!” Zak called.

“You could not catch them,” Yoda said gently. “They know the swamp too well.”

“So you are Yoda. Zak told us about you,” Tash said. “I’m Tash.”

“Yes, you are,” Yoda agreed.

Zak wiped at his face where mud, or something worse, had stuck to his skin during the spider battle. “Are you really the imp that Galt has been talking about?” he asked.

“Come with me,” Yoda said. He hopped off his log and waddled away. Watching him move away this time, Zak sensed that Yoda was old. Very, very old.

“Where are we going?” Tash asked.

“Not far,” Yoda said. “Just around this tree.”

Once again moving with surprising speed,

the

little

creature disappeared around the bulk of a giant gnarltree. Zak and Tash hurried to catch up. As they rounded the tree trunk, they saw Yoda standing beneath a clump of its roots.

Then they realized that they weren’t tree roots.

They were the legs of a giant spider.

No, no, no! Zak thought. Galt was right. Yoda was evil. He had lured them into the spider’s jaws.

But the spider didn’t attack.

Even so, Zak didn’t trust it. He backed away, and Tash followed his example. After they had taken a few steps, they stopped. The spider remained where it stood, and Yoda squatted beneath it, an amused twinkle in his eye.