If mediation does not ease my spirit, rigorous exercise does. I have been in the training center since dawn. Stretching my physical limitations gives me focus and determination as I seek to improve myself. It always takes my mind off troubling thoughts. And for a time there is nothing else but the sheer power of my muscles and sticky sweat trickling down my back.
It is after midday and Teppa has not come to me. I thought that we would see the Council this morning, but I have not heard from her or seen her since sunrise. I am getting impatient; exercise is not diverting my thoughts as well as it usually does. I will go seek her out.
As I leave the training rooms, I see Master Diola approaching. He is my mentor, I have not spoken to him in some time, and I amazed to see him coming to me. He entreats me to speak with him on a matter of urgency and leads me away to a private mediation room.
“First, I have to apologize, Ayani,” he starts gravely, “I feel that I have abandoned you but I now understand that just because you are no longer my apprentice does not mean that I cannot still act as your mentor.”
I do not know what to say. I must confess that sometimes I feel lost without Master Diola’s guidance. He sees my thoughts so all I need to say is, “Thank you, Master Diola.”
“The Council was made me aware of the situation, they felt it wise that I give my insight considering how well I know you.”
“Situation?”
“You and Teppa and your dreams. The Council feels that your feelings for Teppa are dangerous and with the combination of your dreams…your future appears very dark, Ayani.” I cannot help but tremble at his words. “Do not fear this, Padawan. I have heard tales of Jedi that were destined to fall to the dark side, but I do not believe it. If you desire to stay in the light and escape this dark fate, you can. It will not be easy and you must not do it alone.”
“And will you help me?” I feel hopeful, I would be glad of his guidance.
“I will try, Ayani, but already you’re dreams have become something far more dangerous than anything the Jedi have seen. Teppa reported your latest dream to the Council. It has them all very unsettled.”
“Teppa went to the Council without me?”
“She said that you were too unsettled to go yourself. She is very worried about you.”
“Should I be worried about myself?”
“No,” Diola shakes his head, “you know who you are, hold to that and you will be fine. Your mission will be challenging but as long as you remember that, you shall triumph.”
“What mission?”
“The Council believes that it is a powerful Sith who is causing these dreams, they think that perhaps you and Teppa, because of your shared dreams may be able to track down the Sith. It is very dangerous, the Council knows that and so they have decided to send me along to help guild the way and make sure you stay in the light.”
“How could they know that?” I ask skeptically. “Why might these dreams not just be visions of my future?” I don’t like the idea but somehow it seems more likely. Why would a Sith want me to dream these things and what would they want with me? However, neither option is very comforting.
“Teppa says that in her dreams she feels as if she is not alone as if they are originating from some place outside of her mind.” Diola reveals.
“I have never felt that,” I reply even though I am unsure it is true, but I feel angry that the Council is solely listening to Teppa and not me. I have forgotten that Teppa was inflicted by the dreams but she did not have this last one, she did not write in Sith script on the wall of her room. I feel that I am suffering more than her.
“If you are suggesting that you projected your dreams to her, that is a possibility except that she has consistently had the same dream a number of days before you.” Diola studies me thoughtfully. “This writing on the wall is a good indication that your dreams are coming from somewhere else. There is no possible way that you could know how to write it.”
“If it was a vision from the Force….” I start.
Diola nods understandingly. “It is a very frightening thought that a dark lord of the Sith could be inside your head, but we must consider this as a very likely option.”
“But tracking down this Sith?”
“The Sith might already be trying to lure you to him.”
“That is very risky…”
Diola nods, knowing my thoughts, “the Council believes that with my help you and Teppa will stay in the light.”
“I do not like this but I suppose that we have no choice, and if I must wager my life to destroy the Sith than I suppose that is a worthy cause.” I decide, still feeling uneasy about the whole idea.
Diola nods again, “I am quite in agreement. We leave in the morning. Get some rest.” He advises and I feel like I am still his pupil, then he leaves me and I wonder why Teppa went behind my back.
My master said that she wanted to protect me, I understand this, but Teppa knows me. She would have known that this would upset me. I would have told the Council everything, I would have been honest, not that I could have lied without them knowing anyway. Why did she go to the Council without me? I must find her and demand an explanation. I don’t understand why she did this.
I cannot find Teppa. I’ve searched the Great Hall, the Library, and ship hanger but she is not there. I have tried to concentrate upon her with the Force but I feel this strange resistance, it is almost like this physical block that will not let me get near her. I think she is hiding from me, but she need not hide. I am not angry with her. I understand what she did, I do wish that she had not done it, but that cannot be helped now. I suppose that will just wait until she is ready to come to me.
Waiting makes me restless; it is the afternoon and still no sign of Teppa. I’ve spent my time thinking about this mission that the Council is sending us on. I feel there is something more behind it, something that Diola hasn’t told me or perhaps something that the Council hasn’t told him. This is a dangerous mission but yet there was no fear in Diola. I would expect that the prospect of hunting a Sith would be some cause for anxiety. I know that I am terribly apprehensive about it. I don’t think this is a good idea, but I must trust the judgment of the Council. If only it wasn’t so hard for me, I know that I have much to learn, and the Council is wise. I know that they are, but it’s so hard not to feel a little skeptical at times.
If the Council had allowed me to become a knight this might not be happening to me. I was very angry for some months after they told me that I’d failed the Trials and that Diola had been assigned to a new Padawan. Members of the Council had sessions with me to deal with my anger, especially Master Avoosi. I think that my anger disturbed most of the masters but not her. It was soon after my failure that I began to have these dark dreams. I don’t really remember those ones, they were very vague, simply manifestations of my frustration or so I thought. With Master Avoosi’s counseling the dreams ceased and I came to accept the Council’s decision. I do not feel as I did then, but the dreams are worse then before, I do not understand it. They say that a Sith is in my mind and giving me these dreams, but I don’t know if I believe it. I think that I would have had some notion that these dreams were not a manifestation of my own consciousness. Even so, how could I possibly be able to read the Sith script?
I have not returned to my room all day. I do not wish to look upon that darkness on the wall, but I begin to think that I should. Perhaps it will give me some insight into the cause of all this. I tremble as I enter my room, I can feel a shadow here, some terrible darkness. I turn and look at the lines of foreign script on the wall. My eye goes to the upper left corner and strange words from in front of my eyes, I press my tongue against my teeth and a strange fluid sound pours out of my mouth as I begin to read.
“Thund arinhat morrhin sadyala wefhree collsirg da quesun rhey,” I feel light headed and my knees feel week. What have I said? I cannot stop. I must continue reading, “Orhar athind cohsvi aghar ahhan da borvin rhey.” What’s happening to me? I fall to me knees, my heart is pounding so hard, I think the walls are shaking. “Movha tohra lesh da quesun, lesh da ahhan borvin, sadyala lesh er sarshoon wheh lhen rhey.” My voice begins to sound strange to my ears; it is much deeper and colder. The words echo inside my head with a ferocity and maliciousness that is strange to my ears. The words bombard me from all around but it is not me, I am not speaking, and yet I hear the words and see nothing as the world turns dark. “Esuh amha lesh da rhey, lesh vher quesun da Sith!”
It felt as if the sun had suddenly imploded and the whole world was left in darkness. I felt a sharp pain across my forehead as if I’d been stabbed with a needle. I felt an urgency to get up but as soon as I did I fell to the floor on my knees. The pain in my head was growing and the ringing in my ears blocked all other sounds. I felt the ground tremble like an earthquake. My head felt like a weight on my shoulders as I struggled to raise it and I saw the other Jedi around me on the floor in agony.
The pain seemed to last forever and I eventually blacked out. When I came too, I was still on the floor and the other Jedi were picking themselves up. I remembered the earthquake and jumped to my feet, ready to help incase some one had become stuck. Everything looked as it had before and I realized that the shaking had been all in my head. The other Jedi looked just as mystified as I felt and I knew that we had all experienced the same pain. It was a tremor in the Force, something very terrible and evil had just happened.
“Ayani,” I whispered. Instinctively I knew that he had something to do with this. “Oh, no!” I took off sprinting down the hall. I had to get to him before one of the Masters did. He must have read the script, why did he do that? He should have known not to do that.
I sensed a few masters coming my way and I immediately slowed down and tried to clear my mind. They were in a big hurry and seemed very disturbed. They were Council members heading to meet with the rest of the Council to discuss this recent event. As soon as they were gone, I resumed my quick pace.
When I got to Ayani’s chamber door, I tried to open it but the mechanism was blocked. I reached out with the Force but when I tried to probe inside the room, a black hand reached out and slapped me. I was pushed against the wall. I felt dazed for little bit, but quickly picked myself up off the floor. I threw myself against the door and pounded my fists upon it, but it was no use.
Dim voices jumped into my head, and as I began to concentrate on them the Council room suddenly sprang up before my eyes. I could see each of the Council Members as well as Master Diola. They were all very troubled.
“This is a very strange and dangerous situation,” Gorron was saying. “We may have a Sith in our presence.”
“He should be taken care of immediately,” Master Limzeek, a twi’lek, declared.
“It’s not all that easy,” Avoosi replied calmly. “I believe that he was an aware of what he was doing.”
“Nevertheless,” Gorron continued, “he has brought darkness into this temple and that is unforgivable. First with dreams and then this script…No, it is enough.”
“His mission ought to continue,” Brey proposed. “He is never to come back,” he eyed Diola.
Diola had been looking down the whole time but when he felt Master Brey’s eyes, he raised his head. “Nuuco is dangerous and must be killed. I will do my part.”
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