[Junior Jedi Knights] - 03
3
Promises
by Nancy Richardson
OCR: Ăîëîäíűé Ýâîę Ăđűçëč upload: 29.XII.2005
The figure loomed above him. Anakin tried to shield his eyes from the brilliant glare of the golden globe. Tried to see the being whose body was outlined with a shimmering blue line.
“Young Anakin Solo,” a voice whispered, a hand beckoned.
Anakin followed the glow of the being away from the globe. As he walked, he felt darkness pulling at the loose cloth of his orange jumpsuit. Fear fluttered in his belly, but he followed, using the Force to calm the racing of his heart. The figure stopped before carvings in the crumbling stone walls of the ancient Massassi Palace of the Woolamander. The hand flickered with pale blue sparks as it swept over the message. Anakin’s eyes scanned the symbols. He and Tahiri had finally been able to read them after returning from Yavin 8.
Anakin read their message out loud.
“Peace to all. We are the Massassi. Our children have been imprisoned by the evil Jedi Knight Exar Kun. Locked deep within this palace, hidden in the glittering sands of a golden globe, they await. The crystal that holds them prisoner can only be unlocked by children, strong in the Force and dedicated to the battle of good over evil. If you are the ones, enter the globe and lead our children to freedom.”
The figure nodded, then fell to its knees before Anakin, head dropped. Anakin sensed its torment.
“Tahiri and I are the ones,” he heard himself say. “Don’t be afraid-we’ll fight this battle.”
The pale blue line around the figure began to spark and flicker until it faded into the darkness. The being still knelt before Anakiin, unmoving. Anakin bent down and reached out his hand. The figure slowly lifted its black hooded head and let out a roar filled with hatred and darkness. Anakin leapt away as it began to laugh in rolls of icy thunder. Eyes the color of blue gray burning coals fixed upon Anakin, held him with their power. The figure rose, unfolding into a creature twice its original size.
It continued to laugh, and Anakin felt swallowed by the darkness of its hollow cries. He ran, not knowing which way he traveled in the cavity of the palace. The black-robed being followed, howling in mad glee. Anakin reached the secret room that housed the golden globe he and Tahiri had discovered months earlier.
They had instantly sensed its evil, and pledged to understand, unlock, and free the prisoners that cried from its core. His back to the globe, Anakin watched as the black-robed figure approached, once again fixing him with those burning eyes. He backed up until he couldn’t move any farther without touching the globe. There was a powerful field around the crystal sphere. Tahiri had tried to touch it and had been thrown against the stone walls of the room. Anakin wasn’t going to make the same mistake. He held his ground.
“I’m going to fight you,” Anakin shouted. “Tahiri and I will use the Force to break the evil curse. We’re the ones the Massassi wrote about: `strong in the Force and dedicated to the battle of good over evil’! You can’t stop us-“
“Why would I want to stop you, boy?” the figure laughed. “I am you!”
The creature threw back its hood, and Anakin stifled a scream that welled up from the very core of his being and threatened to escape his trembling lips. He stood looking at his own face. Only his eyes were different. Instead of being a pure ice blue, they had been replaced with burning gray coals that smoked and sparked.
“Didn’t you hear me, boy?” the figure snarled. “I’m you, you fool. You knew, you’ve always known that you were meant to serve the dark side - to use the Force for evil. It’s in your blood. Your grandfather served us well, helped us defeat the Jedi Knights. You were named after him, after Anakin Skywalker who became Darth Vader. Stop fighting us and embrace the dark side….”
“It won’t work,” Anakin said calmly, summoning up the Force to control himself. “I know who you are.”
The figure hissed, recoiling from the power in Anakin’s voice.
“You’re a follower of Exar Kun, the evil Jedi Knight who enslaved the Massassi race thousands of years ago by imprisoning its children in the golden globe. You’re not me, and you never will be,” Anakin went on, walking toward the robed figure. “Tahiri and I are going to fight you, and break the curse of the golden globe.”
“This is not over, young Anakin Solo,” the figure said angrily. Then its form began to waver in the golden light of the globe. Moments later, it had completely disappeared. Anakin turned back toward the globe. He listened to the cries of the children from inside its swirling sands. Soon, he thought. Soon Tahiri and I will come to this place and attempt to enter the globe and lead you to freedom.