Star Wars: Tears of Fire (Book II)

Chapter 6 - Shadow of the Beast

The beast let out an ear-piercing scream as it lowered its massive head and charged at Jolis. Before the creature reached him, however, Jolis gathered the Force within him and—with a burst of energy—vaulted over it. While doing so, he swung his sword at the head of the monster hoping to inflict a debilitating wound.

He was dismayed when the razor sharp edge of his sword merely grazed across the surface of the beast's rough skin. As he landed behind the massive beast, Jolis swung his father's sword at the back of its legs—slashing repeatedly while hoping to inflict several serious wounds. Once again, however, his sword was unable to penetrate the beast's hide.

The beast roared as it turned and swung one of its massive clawed arms at Jolis, narrowly missing the latter as Jolis ducked and rolled out of the way at the last possible moment.

Before Jolis could fully recover, however, the beast was on him again.

Clenching its large clawed fists together, the beast swung at Jolis who once more had to leap out of the way and onto a larger boulder which led him deeper into the cave.

Swinging again, the boulder Jolis stood on exploded into pieces as the beast's fist landed—narrowly missing Jolis. This repeated again and again as Jolis leapt from one rock formation to the next with the beast smashing the large boulders while in pursuit.

Letting out a blood curdling scream, the monster leapt into the air towards Jolis.

Looking upward and seeing the massive creature merely upon him, Jolis reached out with the Force and projected a heavy wave of energy towards it hoping to send the beast flying backwards.

The creature, however, seemed unaffected by it and—with Jolis once more forced to retreat further into the cave—it landed with a heavy impact which sent dirt and debris flying into the air.

It almost seemed as if the beast was immune to Jolis' efforts to use the Force against it.

Taking a brief moment to analyze the situation, Jolis seemed to be almost out of options. The situation wasn't looking good as his only choices seemed to be to retreat further into a dark and unknown cave or continue to attack the creature with the hope of finding a chink in its armored hide.

The former seemed the safest option but given this was more than likely the creature's home, he would be at a severe disadvantage regarding his knowledge of the cave system.

The latter option also seemed ill-fated. His previous attacks had all been ineffective at stopping or even slowing the beast. Jolis knew, however, that he had more tricks up his sleeve.

Standing his ground, Jolis reached deep within him and called forth his darkest memories. Feeling the powerful energy of the Force rising within him, it was suddenly met with a sickening feeling. The growing surge of power within him was suddenly cut short as Jolis' mind betrayed him once again.

It was primal but powerful nonetheless. The creature—which was lining up to charge at him again—was somehow able to not only use the Force but direct it at Jolis. So much so that it was capable of overpowering him with his very own thoughts and fears.

Although Jolis was using his memories to fuel him, his own memories were suddenly morphed into a terror and turned against him.

The memories of the Trandoshan attackers pursuing him through the streets of the Opachi village suddenly turned to hearing the horrifying screams of his childhood friends as they were carried away by the invaders.

He watched as rows of his fellow villagers—those fleeing for their lives—were gunned down by the invading force; dozens of lives cut short in an instant.