But the Dune Sea was, Anakin thought bleakly as he scanned the never-ending sand. Midway through the third day, the Raiders began to travel more slowly, cautiously. What could be dangerous out here? Anakin wondered. His thoughts were cut short when one of the Raiders barked and all the banthas halted. Must be time for lunch, he thought without relish. Anakin slid off Bangor and gave Tahiri a hand down. The heat of the day hadn’t lessened with the onset of afternoon. Tahiri’s hair was matted down with sweat, and her lips had begun to crack from the beating rays of the suns. As the two children sank to the ground, one of the Raiders grabbed Bangor’s lead rope and drew the bantha toward him. Then, in a flash, the Raiders remounted their banthas and tore away from Anakin and Tahiri, bathing them in a prickling shower of sand. Neither moved as they watched the Raiders race into the distance. They saw Bangor struggle to pull away from the line, to return to Tahiri, but he was held firmly to the group. The Raiders topped a dune and disappeared from view.
Anakin scanned the Dune Sea through squinting eyes. He and Tahiri sat in the center of an unending desert. Above them the twin suns of Tatooine beat down relentlessly. There were no life-forms in sight. Just sun and sand. Sand and sun.
“Any suggestions?” Anakin asked Tahiri.
“By night, the tracks left by the banthas will be covered by blowing sand,” Tahiri began. “Let’s follow them until they disappear. At least that’ll head us in the right direction.”
“It’s a start,” Anakin said feebly. “What about food and water?”
Tahiri replied, “That will depend on what we come across.”
There was a hard glint in her green eyes. Anakin couldn’t help remembering something he’d read about the Sand People. Survival was the rule. Survival at all costs. He began to trudge beside Tahiri. They rose and fell over the dunes, their eyes never leaving the bantha prints, which were already beginning to fade beneath the blowing sands. Hours passed, and the twin suns of Tatooine began to set. And then, without warning, the trail disappeared and Anakin and Tahiri were left alone, truly alone.
Or were they? Anakin wondered as a sense of danger raced down his spine like lightning. Were they alone?
The sand beneath Anakin’s feet began to shift. Before he had the chance to run, the desert floor rumbled and shook. Tahiri lost her balance and fell beside him, then began to roll downward, toward a pit of sand several meters away that neither Jedi candidate had noticed in the fading light.
“What’s happening?” Anakin yelled.
Tahiri’s hands clawed at the sand as she continued to slide away from her friend. Her small fingers ran through the grains like water. Then her legs dropped over the edge of the pit, and in a flash she disappeared from view. Anakin threw himself forward, staring into the pit. Tahiri’s fall had been broken by a small dirt ledge, a meter from the edge. Anakin reached for her, his fingers just managing to grasp her hand. He tried to pull her back up the sandy hill, but it was all he could do to hold her in place. Tahiri’s frightened green eyes locked on. Anakin’s. He pulled harder, and slowly he began to draw her out of the pit. Tahiri dug her knees into the dirt walls and scrambled up the sliding terrain.
Suddenly, Tahiri’s feet shot out from beneath her. She struggled as she lost her footing, then gave a small cry as she slid back down to the ledge.
“Give me your hand!” Anakin called to his friend.
Tahiri reached up again. But something made her turn the instant before their fingers met. When she did, fear rolled over her in a tidal wave and she dropped to her knees and out of Anakin’s reach. A thick, puce-colored tentacle emerged from the depths of the pit and snaked through the air. Tahiri froze in terror.
The tentacle whipped through the pit, searching for the prey it had sensed. Three more tentacles snaked upward and joined the first.
“Tahiri, grab my hand!” Anakin cried. Still his friend didn’t move. I can’t reach her, Anakin thought with growing frustration and terror. Anakin crawled forward on his stomach, dug his toes into the sand, and leaned:into the pit.
He reached down and grabbed at Tahiri’s jumpsuit. The creature in the pit sensed his movement, and tentacles lashed toward the Jedi candidates. Anakin stopped breathing, his fingers frozen on Tahiri’s suit. The tentacles brushed along the walls of the pit, searching, searching. I’ve got to get her out of here, Anakin thought. He could barely control his panic as he watched the tentacles draw nearer. Tahiri slowly turned to her friend.
“What is it?” Anakin mouthed to Tahiri. Tahiri shook her head. She had no idea what the creature was, only that it wanted to wrap them in its tentacles and draw them downward. It doesn’t matter what it is, Anakin thought. He could sense the creature’s hunger.