[Junior Jedi Knights] - 03(15)

“Krayt dragon,” Anakin said grimly. The beast was perched on the rocks above them, its head covered with seven black horns, its back ridged with sharp bony nodules and a jagged dorsal spine. The creature’s scaly green body was tipped with claws of crimson that matched its reddish eyes-angry eyes, divided by black slit-shaped pupils that stared intently from Anakin to Tahiri and back again.

Anakin slowly stood.

“Leave us alone,” he commanded in a voice touched with fear and only weakly ringing with the Force. The krayt dragon hissed, but made no move to leave the Jedi candidates.

“LEAVE US!” Anakin called out. The dragon screeched, then struck out like lightning, one massive limb batting Anakin into the air. He landed on the rocks, ten meters from where he’d stood. The dragon’s claws had ripped through his academy jumpsuit and made five bloody gashes across his rib cage. The sliced skin burned, but Anakin sensed that his wounds weren’t deep.

“I’m all right, Tahiri,” he called. That’s when he heard her scream. Anakin bolted to his feet in time to see the monster moving in on Tahiri.

“Stop!” he cried. But the reptile kept advancing toward his friend. “Fight him, Tahiri!” Anakin yelled.

Tahiri rose and tried to strike the dragon with her gaderffii. The creature’s crimson eyes flashed as it batted the weapon from Tahiri’s grip. Then Tahiri was covered by the dragon’s dark shadow. Anakin scrambled across the rocks. He had to save his friend. The dragon turned as he approached. Tahiri was pinned beneath its front legs. The monster’s red tongue flicked toward Anakin, as if tasting him.

“Let her go!” Anakin growled at the loathsome creature. The dragon charged Anakin, its eyes flashing. Anakin’s ice blue eyes narrowed as he stared at the advancing monster. There has got to be a way to defeat it, he thought.

But a split second later the creature grasped him in its jaw and turned to romp rapidly through the canyon. Tahiri bolted to her feet. To save Anakin, she had to trail the krayt dragon. She ripped her pack off her back and tore after the beast. It would take all her strength to keep up with the creature, but if she lost sight of it, she wouldn’t be able to help her friend. So, you’ve decided Anakin is enough for dinner, Tahiri thought grimly as she climbed after the creature. She could feel Anakin’s fear as he was carried away. Tahiri raced through the rocks. She only hoped the dragon’s lair wasn’t far away; the pace was quickly wearing her down.

I won’t let you down, Anakin, Tahiri thought. There are all kinds of strength-that’s what Master Ikrit once told me. And I’m going to find the one that will defeat the dragon. If the creature sensed her as she followed, it didn’t let on. In fact, it seemed to have completely forgotten Tahiri existed. She wondered if the krayt lost its desire to hunt and kill once it found its prey. Tahiri followed the dragon for fifteen minutes as it wound along the rocky canyon.

Her breath escaped in ragged streams. She was exhausted, but she wouldn’t stop to rest until she had saved Anakin. The monster was widening the distance between them, and Tahiri forced herself to quicken her pace. She hoped that wherever it was heading, there wouldn’t be any more dragons. Fighting one was going to be; hard enough. Suddenly, the dragon disappeared.

Tahiri’s heart sank. Had she fallen so far behind that she’d lost the creature? She stared in every direction - there was no sign of the dragon or Anakin. Her shoulders sagged in defeat and she slowly sat down on a large boulder. Her eyes filled with tears and she angrily shook her head to get rid of the unwanted saltwater. Out of the corner of one eye, Tahiri noticed a dark hole between two large rocks. She leapt forward. From out of the hole rose an oily smell that burned her eyes and made her gag.

She crouched and peered down. She couldn’t see anything in the blackness. Tahiri grabbed the rough edges of the hole and dropped in, her body sliding several meters before coming to a stop at the mouth of a rocky tunnel that stretched deep within the mountain. Must be home, she thought wryly. Then she began to creep along the tunnel. Several times she had to step over the remains of what she could only assume were Raiders, judging by the white tattered robes that covered the skeletons.

The carcasses of womp rats also lined the tunnel. Tahiri tried to ignore them as she snuck along. Anakin was crouched in the center of a basically round room, the only light there filtered through small holes in the ceiling that were exposed to the surface of the mountain. As Tahiri’s eyes adjusted, she saw that the lair was also littered with the skeletons of womp rats and some brown-robed remains.