[Thrawn Trilogy] - 01(17)

For a handful of heartbeats he and Thrawn locked eyes. Thrawn broke the silence first. “I am Grand Admiral Thrawn, Warlord of the Empire, servant of the Emperor. I seek the Guardian of the mountain.”

The old man bowed his head slightly. “I will take you to him.”

Turning, he started back toward the palace. “Stay close together,” Thrawn murmured to the others as he moved to follow. “Be alert for a trap.”

No more arrows came as they crossed the square and walked under the carved keystone archway framing the palace’s double doors. “I would have thought the Guardian would be living in the mountain,” Thrawn said as their guide pulled open the doors. They came easily; the old man, Pellaeon decided, must be stronger than he looked.

“He did, once,” the other said over his shoulder. “When I began my rule, the people of Wayland built this for him.” He crossed to the center of the ornate foyer room, halfway to another set of double doors, and stopped. “Leave us,” he called.

For a split second Pellaeon thought the old man was talking to him. He was just opening his mouth to refuse when two flanking sections of wall swung open and a pair of scrawny men stepped out of hidden guard niches. Glowering silently at the Imperials, they shouldered their crossbows and left the building. The old man waited until they were gone, then continued on to the second set of double doors. “Come,” he said, gesturing to the doors, an odd glitter in his eyes. “The Emperor’s Guardian awaits you.”

Silently, the doors swung open, revealing the light of what looked to be several hundred candles filling a huge room. Pellaeon glanced once at the old man standing beside the doors, a sudden premonition of dread sending a shiver up his back. Taking a deep breath, he followed Thrawn and Rukh inside.

Into a crypt.

There was no doubt as to what it was. Aside from the flickering candles, there was nothing else in the room but a large rectangular block of dark stone in the center.

“I see,” Thrawn said quietly. “So he is dead.”

“He is dead,” the old man confirmed from behind them. “Do you see all the candles, Grand Admiral Thrawn?”

“I see them,” Thrawn nodded. “The people must have honored him greatly.”

“Honored him?” The old man snorted gently. “Hardly. Those candles mark the graves of offworlders who have come here since his death.”

Pellaeon twisted to face him, instinctively drawing his blaster as he did so. Thrawn waited another few heartbeats before slowly turning around himself. “How did they die?” he asked.

The old man smiled faintly. “I killed them, of course. Just as I killed the Guardian.” He raised his empty hands in front of him, palms upward. “Just as I now kill you.”

Without warning, blue lightning bolts flashed from his fingertips—

And vanished without a trace a meter away from each of them.

It all happened so fast that Pellaeon had no chance to even flinch, let alone fire. Now, belatedly, he raised his blaster, the scalding hot air from the bolts washing over his hand-

“Hold,” Thrawn said calmly into the silence. “However, as you can see, Guardian, we are not ordinary offworlders.”

“The Guardian is dead!” the old man snapped, the last word almost swallowed up by the crackle of more lightning. Again, the bolts vanished into nothingness before even coming close.

“Yes, the old Guardian is dead,” Thrawn agreed, shouting to be heard over the crackling thunder. “You are the Guardian now. It is you who protects the Emperor’s mountain.”

“I serve no Emperor!” the old man retorted, unleashing a third useless salvo. “My power is for myself alone.”

As suddenly as it had started, the attack ceased. The old man stared at Thrawn, his hands still raised, a puzzled and oddly petulant expression on his face. “You are not Jedi. How do you do this?”

“Join us and learn,” Thrawn suggested.

The other drew himself up to his full height. “I am a Jedi Master,” he ground out. “I join no one.”

“I see,” Thrawn nodded. “In that case, permit us to join you.” His glowing red eyes bored into the old man’s face. “And permit us to show you how you can have more power than you’ve ever imagined. All the power even a Jedi Master could desire.”

For a long moment the old man continued to stare at Thrawn, a dozen strange expressions flicking in quick succession across his face. “Very well,” he said at last. “Come. We will talk.”

“Thank you,” Thrawn said, inclining his head slightly. “May I ask who we have the honor of addressing?”