Hard Trials (Book Five of the Into the Fray series)

Chapter Two

      Rey was meditating. Or trying to, anyway.

For the past week she'd been getting unsettling ripples in the Force. First it was just a sense of unease. Then she started hearing whispers, but could never decipher what they were saying. Then the past two days she'd had nothing but nightmares, filled with fire, pain and suffering.

And insanity.

It was that last one that really got to her. It would creep up on her unexpectedly, attacking her sensibilities in a deafening barrage. Then as quick as it came, the assault is over. But the worst part was that this insanity wasn't for her. It was coming for someone she knew and loved. Someone very dear to her. But no matter how much she tried, she couldn't figure out who.

"Rey?"

Rey let out a slow exhale. She didn't respond immediately, trying to decipher the whispers in her head. They were growing fainter and fainter. "Yes Armitage?"

"I'm sorry, were you meditating?"

The whispers were gone. Rey got to her feet and turned around, smiling. "I was but it's OK. What can I do for you?"

"I'm sorry, I can come back--"

Rey narrowed her eyes. "Armitage."

Armitage entered the room. "It's about Ben."

"Of course it is," she muttered.

Armitage looked genuinely surprised. "What?"

Rey sighed. "I'm sorry. I've been a little stressed, I didn't mean to get testy."

"Is there anything I can do to help?"

Rey smiled genuinely, a little surprised at the offer. "I appreciate it, but no." She walked forward and gently took Armitage's arm, leading him to sit on her cot. They sat next to each other. "So, what about Ben?"

Armitage wrung his hands. "He just seems... Off. And no matter how much I pester him, he keeps insisting he's fine."

Rey giggled. "Did you try not pestering him?"

Armitage sighed. "Yes. I've tried asking him nicely, tried screaming at him, tried whining at him. Nothing works."

Rey grinned. "Do you often whine at him?"

Armitage turned red. "No. Yes. Maybe?"

Rey laughed.

"I'm about ready to withhold sex from him if he doesn't tell me."

"Woah now, let's not be completely rash."

Armitage smirked, but beneath it looked upset with worry. "Eh. I'm too selfish to actually do that, anyway..."

Rey put her hand on his knee. "Want me to talk to him?"

Armitage looked at her hopefully. "Would you? I feel like you're the only one he actually listens to."

Rey heard a menacing whisper in her head. Her smile dropped away. "Yes, of course," she replied, her voice far off. She was trying to grasp what she was hearing.

Armitage gave her a sidelong look. "Are you alright?"

The whispers ceased. Rey blinked profusely. "Yes." She forced a smile. "There's something I wanted to talk to him about, anyway."

~

"Rey."

It was raining. Rey was wearing her grey cloak, the hood up. Ben stepped aside and held out his arm for her to enter. She walked in and pulled down her hood. She then unclasped it, hanging it on a hook next to Ben and Armitage's cloaks.

"I wasn't expecting you."

"I know."

Ben narrowed his eyes. "What's wrong?"

Rey walked over to the table and sat. She looked slightly anxious. "Is Armitage here?"

"No. He's helping my mother with something." Ben sat across from her and leaned back, crossing his arms. When he spoke it was quietly. "You feel it too, don't you?"

Rey put her elbow on the table and leaned her head against her palm. Tears gathered in her eyes. "It's awful. I'm having trouble sleeping."

"Something's coming."

Rey raised her head, a tear trickling down her cheek. "But what?"

Ben drummed his gloved fingers against the table a moment. "I don't know."

"Do you hear the whispers?"

Ben looked confused. "Whispers?"

Another tear trickled down her face. "I hear them. They're menacing. But I can't make out what they're saying." She looked at Ben. "They frighten me."

Ben looked off to the side. "I keep on having nightmares about killing someone. Every time I can't see who it is, but I know it's the same person every time."

"There's insanity on the horizon," Rey said. "Both physically and mentally."

Ben looked startled. "Mentally?"

Rey looked at Ben, outright crying now, her face crumpling. "Someone close to me is going to go through something horrible. I can feel it, but I don't know who it is."

Ben came over, knelt down and hugged her. She clung to him, resting her chin on his shoulder. "It's horrible Ben. Something really, really bad is about to happen, and I don't know if we can stop it." Rey pulled back, looking desperately at Ben. "What if we try to avoid it and that's what actually makes it happen? Like with your grandfather."

"I don't know," Ben replied honestly. "Maybe we shouldn't try to change anything. Maybe that will help."

Rey was nearly becoming hysterical, crying harder. "But what if doing nothing is what causes it? What if--"

Ben hugged her again. "What is to pass will pass."

Rey shut her eyes tightly. "But I don't want it to. Not if someone is going to feel what I do. There's so much pain and suffering. I can't let it happen, I just can't."

Ben said nothing. After a little while, Rey calmed down. She still clung to Ben. "He's worried about you, you know."

"Who?"

"Armitage." Rey pulled back, wiping the tears from her face. She looked at Ben. "I think maybe he knows it's Force related, and that's why he wanted me to talk to you."

"A huge imbalance in the Force is coming."

Rey nodded. "I know. You should talk to him. He's really worried."

Ben stared off into nothing. "I think we all should be."

~

A person wearing dark clothes sat in an even darker room. Their eyes were closed. The Force swirled around them. They drew it in until it was nearly physically tangible, wrapping the heaviness around themselves again and again. With every looped envelopment, the more they tugged on the minds of Force-sensitive people, drawing them in.

This person was looking for two in particular. They were close. The dark figure could feel it on the outer reaches of their senses, like a word that was stuck on the tip of their tongue. Slowly a smile spread across their face. Close, so close...

Fear of the unknown. Fear of the impending death that floated on the Force like the putrid smell of a rotting carcass. Fear of fire, fear of suffering. So close...

Then an image. It became so suddenly crystal clear in the shadowy figures mind that it was as if she was seeing this person standing before her. Pale skin complimenting red hair. Bright blue eyes. A rather serious look. She couldn't discern how old he actually was, either being fairly young or looking good for his age.

Age didn't matter. None of it mattered. For at that very moment, she knew this man was the key. He was the key to everything.

She began to laugh. Before long she was downright cackling, her voice echoing in the darkness. She opened her eyes, two piercing yellow orbs in a swarth of darkness.