Twelve younglings were gathered around him, each carrying one of the silvery tubes. “Everyone ready?” With a small flourish, his own instrument twirling deftly between his fingers, the epicanthix let his weathered lips break into a broad grin as he began.
They were definitely getting better, the notes issuing from the collection of Arconan flutes almost recognizable as a melody. Xion played softly, listening to his students more than leading them. Blue eyes roamed the small chamber, pleased that each child was at least playing now. Several had lacked the confidence and merely been miming the action, but he’d always known, and encouraged them that playing anything was better than the fear of failure. Perhaps the ears of some passersby were a little worse for wear due to his advice, but the children seemed happier, and it was the only way they’d improve.
The (mostly) steady rhythm kept by a wild haired woman to his side abruptly cut out, Master Il’quoshyn Rhyl’s small drum rolling away as she threw herself to the ground. Xion was immediately at her side, the younglings looking on with curious and worried expressions. Some began whispering to each other. “Rhyl?” he prompted gently, cradling the frail seeming body of his master as she twitched, eyes rolling back into her head.
This was nothing new, the eccentric Jedi experiencing these sort of fitful episodes now and then, and it was no cause for immediate concern from the Knight. Mostly he was just making sure she didn’t spasm into knocking her head against the stone floor.
“It’s been a sunny day.” The innocuous statement was barely a mumble, but Xion caught it.
“Yeah?” he replied with a light chuckle, shooting a comforting smile to the students to reassure them that she was all right. “You want to go for a walk in the gardens?” Even after years at her side, he wasn’t at all certain in his interpretations of her ramblings. To be fair, she often had just as little notion of what she was saying when one of her fits took her.
“No!” She was insistent, bony hands snapping up to clamp on either side of his face and keep him looking at her. “After every sunny day comes a stormy night.” The hapan’s dark eyes bored into his, trying to impress upon him the sense of urgency her words were failing to instill.
Xion only blinked. “I don’t… It’s still seven hours until sunset.” He didn’t think that was really relevant, but wasn’t sure how else to respond.
She wasn’t done, though. With another spasm she returned to her esoteric murmuring. “Howling ghosts, they reappear…” And just as quickly she seemed lucid again, eyes welling up with tears. Her words, though clear, made no more sense than the rest. They also took on an almost sing-song quality as she rattled off a short rhyme. “Said goodbye to you, my friend, as the fire spread. All that’s left are your bones, that will soon sink like stones.”
“Rhyl,”he tried again, hoping she could help him reason through the words.
But with her vision passed, strength returned to the woman’s limbs and she sprang from his grip, fleeing the room with cries of, “They’re here!”
—
There were systems in place of course. The same scouts that led Sadow’s vanguard disabled all electronic alerts before they could transmit. It was only a growing sense of dread that served as an early warning for the Jedi. Or not so early. The dark side had a way of clouding perceptions, and while the initial dropships and the umbral life they contained were sensed before they’d landed, it was too late to do much about it but try and get the helpless to safety. Even Master Il’quoshyn’s foresight arrived only moments before the rest of them started to feel it. They were trapped.
The dozen younglings who had been with him had melded into a larger group being led down through the caverns to one of the secret hangars. The prodigal Knight, Seras Amadis had taken charge of shepherding them to safety, and as Xion sprinted through the tunnels toward the surface he could feel the residual warmth from the brief hand clasp they’d shared in what both Jedi believed would be their last farewell.
