PURPOSE | The Mandalorian

XVI

I didn't know how it was possible, but it was dramatically colder inside the Temple that it was on the outside. The chill sent a shiver up my spine and I noticed Din had pulled the child close in an effort to keep him warm.

The Temple was completely dark on the inside, save for the shaft of light that filtered through a rectangular hole in the ceiling above. The hole seemed to be left open on purpose, but the shaft of light did not appear to have a purpose except to slice through the darkness.

I faced Soleil and asked, "What am I supposed to do now?"

She stood in the large entryway, her small frame completely dwarfed by the huge slabs of stone that were the building blocks of the Temple walls. I heard her slight intake of breath before she said, "Now, we wait."

Well, that wasn't what I was expecting her to say. I placed my good hand on my hip, still holding my bleeding one close to my stomach. My breaths fogged before me as I said sarcastically, "I though you just said we didn't have all day?"

"I did," She countered seriously, "We need to wait for the sun to rise higher."

My brows creased, my voice cracking from the bitter cold. "How long will that take?"

She shook her head, not even bothered by the cold. "Not long."

So I turned around, watching as the shaft of light slowly traveled closer and closer towards the middle of the huge Temple. After a short time, a large, heavy arm wrapped itself around my waist. I didn't even realize I was shivering until Din pulled me closer into his side, his delightful warmth settling over me.

I involuntarily leaned into him. "Thanks," I breathed, fog pluming in front of my face.

He nodded, looking down at me as the kid cooed in the crook of his other arm. He glanced to the little green guy, sighing, "Yeah, yeah, I know you're hungry."

I smiled as I clenched and unclenched my injured hand, preventing the blood that still trickled from the cuts from freezing.

Din hummed in my ear and Force damn me, the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end at the sound. He said in a low voice, nodding to my hand, "I want to wrap that when get back to the Crest."

I nodded, begging myself to not look at him. "Okay," I whispered between chattering teeth.

As the shaft of light inched closer to the middle of the room, it began to reveal a small stone pillar. It was wider at the base and slowly shrank in circumference until it revealed a gemstone as large as my fist resting at the top.

Only it wasn't a gemstone. It was a crystal.

As soon as the sunlight shone on the crystal, it refracted the light and illuminated every corner of the Temple. The sheer size of the room was so overwhelming that it took my breath away.

Aside from their size, the walls of the Temple were quite bare. On three of the four walls, a single tapestry adorned the stone. They depicted scenes of some kind, possibly battles fought by the Jedi or a representation of the Jedi code. But on the fourth wall, the one directly in front of us, there was a huge frozen waterfall that cut right through the middle of the stone. It fell from the ceiling all the way to the ground, the water falling into a moat that outlined the inner walls of the Temple.

Where there was eerie silence before the Temple was illuminated, now came the sounds of trickling water coming from the waterfall.

Soleil came to a stop beside me. She breathed in complete awe as she admired the ice, "It's glorious, isn't it?"

I could only nod in response.

She continued, leaning closer to me, "The waterfall is melting."

So that's why there was the sound of trickling water. I also noticed that the temperature in the room had begun to rise. Once it had gotten to the point where I didn't think I would freeze to death, I reluctantly unlatched Din's arm from my waist. He quickly looked down at my hips, no doubt about to protest the disconnection, but I gave him a reassuring squeeze on his forearm just above his vambrace. "Thank you," I whispered.