[Junior Jedi Knights] -05(16)

Out of the corner of her eye, Tahiri could see that Ikrit had climbed up onto Tionne’s shoulder and was whispering something in her ear.

“I…,” Orloc seemed to have forgotten what he was about to say. He blinked furiously again and then recovered. “Yes, I am the most powerful Mage in all the Galaxy, and-“

“But magic is just tricks,” Tahiri said. “Tionne and Ikrit are real Jedi. If you’re only a magician, you don’t know how to use the Force.”

Orloc waved a hand, dismissing her comment.

“No, I did not need to learn such things as they teach at your Jedi academy. I studied on my own. “I have magical powers far greater than your puny Jedi tricks,” Orloc went on, clutching the lightsaber handle to his chest.

“But you aren’t a Jedi,” Tahiri persisted. “And a lightsaber is a Jedi’s weapon.”

At the edge of her vision she saw Ikrit and Tionne with their eyes closed. She guessed that they were reaching out with the Force toward the Mage’s mind, perhaps to pull the lightsaber from his grasp. But whatever their plan, Orloc had already made his move. The lightsaber was no longer anywhere in sight, and the Mage’s face grew stormy.

“I have need of it,” he said.

“Then why don’t you build a lightsaber of your own, like Jedi do?” Anakin asked in a reasonable voice.

“Silence, fool!” Orloc thundered, pointing at Anakin with one hand. Fire flickered at the Mage’s fingertips, but it was not the electrical energy that came with extreme power from the dark side of the Force. It was something Tahiri had never seen before. The Mage took a step backward toward the rounded wall. He gave a bark of laughter.

“With my powers I see and know many things you do not,” he said. Orloc’s hand shot out and touched something on the wall, and instantly one of the flagstones beneath Tionne’s feet turned downward at a sharp angle, forming a kind of slide or chute. Taken by surprise, Tionne lost her balance, fell to the flagstones, and slid out of sight into the darkness, with Ikrit still on her shoulder.

Then, without a sound, the flagstone slipped back into place, leaving the floor as smooth and solid as it had been before. It had all happened in only a second or two. Tahiri cried out.

“What did you do with them?” Uldir yelled, his voice cracking with anger. Anakin rushed forward and pushed against the floor at the point where Tionne and Ikrit had disappeared. Tahiri ran toward the Mage with the idea of grabbing the lightsaber and forcing Orloc to help them find Tionne and Ikrit. But before she could reach him there was a blinding flash of light. Thick white smoke ballooned up from the spot where Orloc had been standing. His laughter rang through the room. Tahiri reached out her arms to grab his cloak, or his leg, or whatever she could get ahold of, but there was nothing there. By the time the smoke cleared, Tahiri, Anakin, and Artoo were completely alone. The three junior Jedi exchanged worried glances.

“Are… are they dead?” Uldir asked in a tone that said he feared the worst.

“No,” Tahiri said right away. “I would have felt it through the Force. “

Anakin shook his head as well. “I can sense them. They’re still here in the castle somewhere.”

Artoo beeped mournfully.

“Don’t worry,” Anakin said, “we’ll find them.” He sounded solid and sure.

“Of course we will,” Tahiri said, taking heart from Anakin’s confidence.

“It’s a big castle,” Uldir said doubtfully. “Who knows how many more Mages or pirates might be around?”

Tahiri gulped. She hadn’t thought of that.

“The Force will guide us to Tionne and Ikrit,” she said more confidently than she felt.

“But shouldn’t we be looking for that magician guy Orloc first?”

“Why?” Tahiri asked.

Uldir shrugged. “To get the lightsaber back before he has a chance to escape with it. The lightsaber is awfully important to Tionne. Isn’t that why we came here in the first place?”

ArtooDetoo gave a sad beep of agreement.

“Uldir and Artoo are right,” Anakin said. “This may be our only chance to get the lightsaber back before it’s gone forever. But what about Ikrit and Tionne?”

Uldir narrowed his eyes and looked at them shrewdly. “They’re Jedi, aren’t they? They can take care of themselves better than we can.”

“Let’s start searching for Orloc and the light - saber,” Tahiri suggested. “Tionne and Ikrit will probably find us along the way—or we’ll find them.”

“Well, yes…,” Anakin said with a frown. He stood and walked over to the panel by the door that the Mage had used. He closed his eyes for a moment and ran his fingers along it, then nodded and pushed a button. One of the flagstones in the floor fell away sharply. The companions gathered around the hole.