“That’s just what we wanted to hear!” said Kairn. He lowered his voice to a conspiratorial whisper. “But before you can join our group, there’s a little test you have to pass.”
“Yeah, we’re particular about who joins our group,” said another.
“Most people in Necropolis say they don’t believe the old legends, but they’re still scared of their own shadows,” Kairn continued. “At the landing pad you proved you were a little brave, but we need to make sure.”
Zak scowled. “What kind of test?”
“Come on, we’ll show you.”
Kairn led the group of Necropolitan boys down the winding streets of the dark city. Zak followed eagerly. He was on a new planet, walking through a gloomy, alien city in the middle of the night with a group of boys he had only just met, but he felt at home for the first time in months.
Zak had lost all his friends when Alderaan was destroyed. Uncle Hoole hardly talked to him. Deevee was all right, but he wasn’t the kind of friend who would help you climb out of your bedroom window in the middle of the night. Tash, Zak had to admit, could be a good friend sometimes, but she was his sister-so, in his book, she didn’t really count.
But these boys, especially Kairn, reminded Zak of his own group. back on Alderaan. They had never caused any real trouble, of course, but they had their share of fun. Once, Zak and some of his friends had snuck into the teachers’ washroom at their school and replaced the mirror with a hologram screen programmed to reflect anyone’s image exactly-only twenty kilos heavier. Snack sales at the instructors’ cantina had plummeted until the prank was discovered.
Now, for the first time in half a year, Zak felt like he had a chance to have some real fun. He decided instantly that he was going to make the most of it. By the time they reached their destination, Zak was laughing and joking with Kairn like they were old friends.
“This is it,” Kairn said as they stopped in front of a huge, black wrought-iron gate.
Zak couldn’t see beyond the thick mist of Necropolis. “What is it?”
One of the other boys said ominously, “It’s the cemetery.”
“The boneyard,” Kairn added.
“Sacred ground!” said another in his best imitation of Pylum. They all laughed.
But Zak was too awestruck to smile. The cemetery was enormous. Beyond the black gates, row upon row of gravestones stretched on forever into the darkness.
“It’s huge,” he whispered.
“That’s the true Necropolis,” Kairn said. “The city of the dead.”
“It’s the most popular place in town,” one of the others joked. “Everyone goes there. Eventually.”
Zak asked, “You mean everyone’s buried here? It must be crowded.”
“I suppose, but so far no one’s complained,” Kairn said, laughing. “Here’s the challenge. You have to go into the graveyard in the dead of night and stand on a grave in the middle of the cemetery.”
“Go in there?” Zak asked hoarsely. He peered through the gate, imagining the rows of dead stacked just below the ground.
“Sure,” Kairn said. “What have you got to lose?”
“His nerve,” one of the others teased.
Zak considered. “If I accepted, what else would I have to do?”
Kairn grinned. “Not much. Just get to the middle of the cemetery and back.”
Zak peered through the iron gates. The mist made it hard to see. Through the drifting clouds of gray fog, he could just barely make out the first line of headstones in the darkness.
“Maybe he’s too scared after all,” said one of the boys.
“I’m not scared,” Zak insisted.
The mist is so thick, he thought, that they’ll hardly be able to see me ten meters beyond the gate. How will they know how far I’ve gone?
“It’s a bet,” he said with a gleam in his eye.
“Good.” Kairn said. “All you have to do is go in and follow any path. They all lead to the center of the graveyard, where you’ll see a large tomb. That’s the Crypt of the Ancients. According to legend, that’s where they buried Sycorax and her son. Pick any of the graves around the crypt, stand right on top of it, and then come back.”
The wrought-iron gate was locked. Zak watched in amazement as one of Kairn’s smallest friends managed to squeeze through the bars of the gate. He went to a control panel on the inside wall and pressed some buttons. The gates swung open with a mournful squeal. Zak was about to step in when his new friend stopped him.
“Oh, I almost forgot,” Kairn said with a grin. “You’ll need this.”