When Light Meets Dark - A Reylo Romance

Don't Go

  Picture of Atollon from SWR. Also, trying out a new cover, hope you guys like it. The art isn't mine obviously lol. Oh and this is quite a long chapter....

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"Absence is to love what wind is to fire; it extinguishes the small, it inflames the great."

― Roger de Rabutin de Bussy

Rey

I woke up in a chair. As soon as I was conscious I began to relive the pain of my crash and the flames blazed bright in my memories. I looked down at my skin, studying the burns and welts that decorated my arms and legs. I couldn't see my face but I guessed that it looked just as bad. My entire body ached and I was lucky to be alive. But wait, why was I in a chair?

In a panic I quickly surveyed the room around me. It was dimly lit with an old curtain that hung low, covering a doorway in the corner of the room. The floor was bare, but there were paintings and sketches hanging on the walls which I couldn't make out. Groaning in pain I stood up and made my way towards the curtain. In the next room I found three creatures, sitting around a table talking in hushed tones. They all looked up when I entered.

One of them, a Gran, spoke first but I couldn't understand anything he was saying. Then the female sitting next to him spoke up. I couldn't tell where she was from but she had the most piercing blue eyes and wrinkled milky white skin.

"You. Safe." she said, as if that somehow explained everything.

"Where am I?" I asked her, briefly eyeing the third creature at the table. Every inch of it's face was covered except it's eyes, which were hidden beneath the rim of it's helmet.

"You on Attolon. You crash. We pull you out." she explained as best she could, staring at me the whole time.

Not sure what to say I replied, "Thank you." she nodded but didn't smile. There was a moment's pause. "Do you have a transmitter?" I asked, searching the room which was almost as empty as the one I had woken up it.

She pointed to the doorway that led outside, this one covered by a bigger brighter curtain. I stepped out into the sunlight. The desert stretched far out to the horizon and was dotted with a few huts and bushes and buildings. I walked round the back of the house and found something that resembled a shed. Stepping inside I found the transmitter and switched it on. The lights flickered on briefly, then it made a loud crackling sound and went off. I tried the switch again but it refused to come on. Banging my fist down in frustration I stormed out of the shed and out into the blistering sun again.

I started to make my way back round to the house but stopped as the sound of voices wafted from the window. I heard an unfamiliar voice which I presumed was my third mysterious rescuer. He was speaking Uthuthma, a language which I'd heard many times on Jakku. I wasn't an expert, but I was able to pick out a few words and phrases.

'Slave' was the first one I heard. Listening intently I also managed to make out the word 'credits'.

I was confused until I heard the woman respond, in perfectly fluent English, "There's no way she's worth that much, look at the condition that she's in." Then I heard the muffled sound of the Gran's voice. "Fine, we'll split it. But we'll have to drug her first." The Uthuthan replied and I heard him say 'lightsaber'. "That wasn't part of the deal." the woman answered.

As realisation swept over me I gasped. At once, the room inside fell silent and I began to back away from the doorway, slowly at first, and then I broke into a sprint. Seconds later I heard the whoosh of the curtain being drawn aside and the Grant yelling. I ran as quickly as I could but my legs soon gave way and I fell face first into the sand. Pain surged through my body as I tried to scramble to my feet.