[Legacy Of The Force] - 03(103)

Finally Skywalker feinted a leap for the hatchway. When Lumiya made the mistake of trying only halfheartedly to block his “escape,” he made an unbelievable parry across his body with his short blade, then spun into a slashing, whirling advance with his long blade.

Lumiya had no choice except to retreat. Skywalker vanished from the hatchway and out of Alema’s sight, then the last of the lightwhip’s metallic strands whirled past the hatchway. A fresh chorus of screams arose, and a jet of blood arced out of the cantina to splat down in a line of elongated red beads.

When Alema looked back into the cantina, it was to find Mara crouching opposite her, just inside the hatchway and facing away. Half a dozen meters beyond her, Skywalker and Lumiya were fighting a frantic battle in the midst of the crowd, Skywalker trying to remain in clear areas so no bystanders would be injured, Lumiya working to keep those same bystanders in front of her so Skywalker could not attack without cutting his way through them first.

Now was Alema’s chance-but it would not be enough to simply kill Mara. Alema was a Jedi, and Jedi served the

Balance.

As she filled her lungs, Alema was also reaching out to Skywalker, sharing with him all the sorrow and loneliness and despair he had caused her-the shame and hopelessness and unending anguish.

A bolt of surprise shot through the Force. Skywalker’s eyes widened and slid toward the hatchway-and that was all the opening Lumiya needed.

The lightwhip cracked again, wrapping Skywalker in a fiery cage of light and leather. The short blade went flying, taking along the hand that had been holding it, and Skywalker’s robe fell away below the armpits in ribbons, leaving the air pink and smoky with blood and charred flesh. Alema emptied her lungs, and the dart shot from the blowgun.

Mara heard Luke screaming and thought it was only because he had been so badly hurt, but then he touched her through their Force-bond and she realized he was frightened for her, that something was coming at her only slightly under the velocity of a blaster bolt. She dived away and felt her skin prickle as something tiny and dark shot past her shoulder.

A female Twi’lek cried out in astonishment, and when Mara rolled back to her feet, it was to find one of the cantina owner’s wives standing a couple of meters in front of her, staring back through the hatchway as she plucked a tiny cone-shaped dart from her thigh. Clearly, Lumiya had brought backup, but Mara had no time to think of likely candidates. The Twi’lek suddenly began to tremble and gasp for breath, then her teg buckled and she collapsed in convulsions.

Poison.

Mara whirled around to charge through the hatchway-only to find it blocked by a swarm of terrified Hapans trying to flee. She deactivated her weapons and rushed into their midst, Force-shoving the leaders into the dark corridor ahead of her. Luke was badly wounded and she knew it, but she was not going to save him by giving the dart blower another shot. As soon as she was through the hatchway, she reignited her blades and spun toward the dark corner from which the dart had come.

There was nothing but shadow.

Fleeing patrons continued to jostle past behind Mara, cursing her for blocking their escape. Thinking the attacker had already fled up the corridor, she turned to follow-then wondered why the corner had still been in shadow with the glow of two light blades shining into it.

Mara pivoted around to face the corner-but had to deactivate her Hghtsaber when a salt-drunk Arcona nearly impaled himself on her blade, whistling in panic and slamming into her so hard she had to use the Force to avoid being bowled over.

“Get off!” she ordered.

Instead of Force-shoving the Arcona back through the hatchway, she stepped back to let him continue up the corridor-and that was what saved her life when a deep blue, almost black, lightsaber blade came shooting out of his chest, so close to her throat she was afraid to drop her chin.

Reacting even before she understood what was happening, Mara whipped her left hand around behind the shrieking Arcona and felt her shoto’s blade rub across something. A female voice cried out in surprise, then the dark blade vanished from the Arcona’s chest, and he dropped to the floor gurgling and wailing.

Standing behind him was a twisted figure in a black Jedi robe. She held herself slightly hunched, as though it would pain her to stand upright, and one arm hung atrophied and limp beneath a sagging shoulder. The far lekku had been seared off just above the shoulder, while the near one had a smoking wound across the back where it had been grazed by Mara’s blade.

“Alema?”

Mara was not so astonished that she forgot to defend herself when the Twi’lek reignited her lightsaber. She caught Alema’s attack on her shoto, then swept the Twi’lek’s blade aside and brought her long lightsaber around in a killing slash.