Fame and the Force

Chapter Nine

Chapter Nine

Han slowly took in his surroundings. To his utter surprise, despite the fact he'd lost his glowrod on the 'ride' down, he realized he was no longer in total darkness. The cave was increasingly growing lighter and lighter. Above his head were long stalactites, hanging off the cave roof in shimmering, undulating sheets that started out bright white at the ceiling, then slowly changing colors as they lengthened. At the tip of many of the stalactites were incandescent crystals. The floor of the cave was filled with those same glowing crystal shards that seemed, somehow, to pulsate with a living warmth. It was obvious that the crystals somehow grew from the stalactites, dropping off like jeweled dewdrops.

That wasn't all, however. The crystals on the floor were set in a distinctive pattern. From the far end on the left side of the cave the crystals were all pale yellow, before the color slowly shifted to a darker, richer gold, then moved to a light green, then to medium greens, followed by shades of teals and then, finally, darker and darker shades of blue running all the way to the opposite side of this amazing room. Without warning the colors suddenly changed, and the blues became yellow, and the yellows turned to blue, like a shifting, ocean wave of color. It was stunningly beautiful; like finding the end of a undulating rainbow, minus the oranges and reds.

Despite the pain radiating from his ribs, Han stood up and carefully wandered through the crystals. Not only were they glowing, they also seemed to softly hum. He'd been in other caves in his life and knew from experience they were rather on the cool side. In fact, the spider-made tunnels had been quite chilly. This place, however, was pleasantly warm. What's more, the longer he stood and gazed at the beauty of the crystals, the more at peace he felt. Everything and everyone seemed to be fading away from his awareness.

I want to stay here forever...

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The kinraths rounded the final corner, coming fang to face with the Jedi Master and Leia, who may have not yet have become a full Jedi, but still strong in the Force.

The huge creatures, looking part spider and part mantis, reared back, waving their dangerous front legs at the intruders before lashing out. Although they were blind, they could sense heat, and the lightsabers signaled danger to them.

Luke swiped his saber forward, removing the front claws of the closest creature, who hissed and drew back from the weapon before turning and running away. "Don't let the appendage coming from the mouth touch you, Leia," he yelled in warning. "Poison!"

"Yes, you already told me about the poison," Leia replied as another spider took the place of its fallen comrade. Although not nearly as adept as Luke, the Princess held her own and cut a large line down the front throat region of the beast and it slumped down, quite dead.

The twins were then faced with another type of assault. Two of the kinraths spit out webbing in their direction, temporarily covering both of them with a thin layer of very sticky, fine threads. Struggling against the binding, Leia and Luke spun around, pulling their sabers in a complete circle and removing the majority of the web, barely in time to prevent the kinraths from sinking the poisonous barbed fangs into their flesh.

With the skill of a Jedi Master, Luke leapt over the two remaining creatures, beheading one as he twisted in mid-air before landing on the opposite side. The one remaining, confused now that heat was radiating from both its front and back, hesitated where to strike. That hesitation was all Leia needed, and she stuck her lightsaber into its torso and drew the blade up sharply. The kinrath let out a death rattle, then fell over and died.

Gasping for breath, Leia couldn't help but give a shaky laugh. "We did it."

Luke nodded, feeling a bit winded himself. "Yes, we did." He pointed to the pile of eggs. "I think we'd be doing Dantooine a favor by getting rid of this particular clutch of eggs, don't you?"