Chapter 33: Strange Stalker

Stealth was a lost cause as I booked it from the chamber as fast as my legs and the Force would carry me. Where before the walk down had been silent, the sound of the soles of my boots stomping on the floor filled the tunnel as I ran. Beneath me, the floor rumbled and shook.

My heart pounded in my chest, though whether it was from exertion or fright I wasn't sure.

Suddenly, I went deaf. I slapped my hands over my ears as the pain registered, stumbling to a stop and slumping against the wall as the disorientation hit.

It was a moment later that I felt the first vibrations as the monster's roar echoed throughout the mountain. As it faded, it was replaced by the shrieks of a thousand shyracks.

Their screams rose to a higher pitch as an orange glow flared and a massive wave of heat and pressure spilled out of the chamber, throwing me to the ground. I was left staring at the wall as silence descended once more.

All I could do was keep breathing. As I lay there unable to move, I heard it. Both with my ears and through the Force.

The sound of something tearing, repeated over and over again. In my daze, it took me a moment to realize that the shyracks had fallen silent.

My head felt like it was about to split in two, making it impossible to concentrate enough to maintain my Force Sight. Despite the pain, I cracked my eyes open so I could at least attempt to see what was going on.

Without the dying light from whatever it had done, I wouldn't have seen it. In the quiet and past the ringing in my ears, I heard the light scraping of flesh against stone as a pair of tentacles stretched from the unseen body, their glossy black skin reflecting the dim light.

Paralyzed by pain, I watched them with morbid fascination. They moved slowly, feeling their way along as they snaked along the edges of the tunnel. My heart stopped as it found the tip of my boot.

It too paused before beginning a slow crawl up my leg. It was like watching a curious cobra slither up my body. I quickly suppressed that image.

I didn't like snakes.

The other tentacle soon joined it, feeling its way up to my stomach and climbing further still. But both paused again upon reaching my breastbone.

My heart dared to beat once.

The pain receded from my mind, just a little bit. But it was enough to concentrate again. I reached out to the creature's mind, for there had to be one.

I wasn't prepared for the enormity of it, though.

While there certainly were no abstract thoughts, its consciousness was vast and I got a full view of just how enormous the creature itself was. Suffice it to say, the Empire fielded capital ships smaller than this creature, leaving me to wonder how much of the mountain was actually a mountain.

The monster was old and powerful and hungry, though a thousand shyracks had dulled the latter somewhat. It created the Force Nexus by existing. If something ever managed to kill it, I suspected that it would persist in death like Marka Ragnos.

The tentacles had started moving again, though more slowly this time, inching their way up my neck towards my face. However, my full attention was elsewhere.

Flashes of memory passed, of the trillions it had devoured and entrapped within itself. I saw briefly through their eyes as jaws snapped down around them or their bodies were consumed by flames. I forced the images away as best I could to focus on what I was doing.

It was hungry, yes, but it was also still drowsy, like a bear coming out of hibernation. I reached for the Force, trying to lull it back to sleep. Slime-coated skin tickled at my cheeks as the tentacles explored my face in a manner reminiscent of a curious child. But as I started to sing in its mind, the limbs stilled and wavered.

The unseen creature let out a gale of air as it breathed out and its tentacles were slowly pulled back into the chamber. Soon after they were out of sight, the ground rumbled as it buried itself back under the stones. The oppressive presence that had paralyzed me let up as it fell back to sleep.

Finally, I could move again, but all I could bring myself to do was stare at the wall opposite me as the light in the chamber finally died.

...

A few minutes later, I managed to haul myself off the floor and reestablish my Force Sight. With one last glance back at the chamber, I started the long trip back to the surface, using the knuckle bone to guide me back to where I'd found it.

For the longest time, only the sound of my footsteps marked the passage of time. I was starting to think about humming, just to have something to do now that the worst of it was over. All I had to do now wa-

I paused and smacked my forehead.

I did not just think that.

The moment I stopped walking, I heard footsteps much softer than mine down the tunnel opposite of the one I was about to enter, accompanied by the light of a glowrod. I thought about just ignoring it and going on my way, but the Force was pulling on me, suggesting I should investigate.

I gnawed on my lip as I thought it over, before slipping the knuckle bone back into a pouch.

Keeping to the shadows and softening my steps, I compressed my presence in the Force as much as I was able before advancing. Though this slowed me considerably, the target of my curiosity wasn't moving fast either, so I was able to keep up.

I allowed my Force Sight to fade and observed from a distance with my physical eyes.

The figure had their back to me, their head sweeping back and forth across the path ahead. Their pitch-black hair was pulled into a short ponytail, which bobbed slightly with each movement.

Their outfit was mostly concealed by a black cloak, which obscured most of their body shape, but I saw a hint of armored boots and heard the light clank with each step. I didn't see a sword poking out from under the cloak, but that didn't mean they were unarmed.

I learned my lesson last time.

As I matched the steps of the unknown figures, I wondered why the Force was nudging me in this direction. Did they have something I should want? Were they leading me somewhere?

I was so caught up in my thoughts that I almost didn't react in time. There was no warning. One moment they were walking forwards, then next a snap-hiss heralded a missile of rage flying towards me.

Just before the glowing red blade would have bisected me, I leaped backwards and further into the shadows. The sound of my boots hitting the floor as I landed was louder than I would have liked.

They paused to study the sound.

"So, someone was following me," A feminine voice commented over the hum of the lightsaber, "Do you make a habit of stalking unknown people from the shadows?"

Now that they were facing me, I could clearly see the blood-red skin of a Pureblood in the light given off by both her weapon and the glowrod clipped to their belt. She, and it was a woman, was dressed in sturdy gray and red battle armor underneath her cloak, which also served to emphasize her lithe, athletic body.

Something that I suspected was intentional, though on who's part, I couldn't say. She had four thin tendrils on her face, two of which stood in place of eyebrows. The other two ran along her jawline on either side before arcing down into two points at her chin.

Three rings glinted in the dim lighting, two in her lips and one around one of her eyebrow tendrils. They gleamed all the brighter next to the molten yellow eyes that tried to locate me.

"Do you always strike out blindly at said shadows?" I asked in response. If nothing else, she might find it amusing. I really did not want to fight a Sith Apprentice.

"Only when I believe someone is hiding in them," She shot back. So in other words, all the time, "Come into the light so that we might discuss things like civilized beings."

"And walk into arms' reach while you have an ignited lightsaber?" I scoffed, "I'm not that dumb."

The woman rolled her eyes and lifted an arm away from her weapon. At the same moment, I raised my active defenses and held on for dear life. My feet slid a bit on the ground as she tried to pull me forward with the Force, but I managed to hold my position.

She quirked an eyebrow up. Or "eyebrow," I guess, since she didn't actually have those.

We stared at each other in silence as the seconds ticked by.

Finally, she let out a huff and extinguished her lightsaber, "Very well. I have neither the time nor the wish to waste energy arguing with a particularly cautious shadow."

Though the Sith Pureblood still held the hilt in her hand, I started walking forward. If nothing else, I could just jump back out of reach again if she changed her mind.

As I stepped into the light, her yellow eyes scanned my face, pausing for a moment on my cybernetics and the brands on my forehead. She blinked in surprise at the latter.

"A slave?" She asked rhetorically before correcting herself after a quick glance at the rest of my ensemble, "No…an acolyte. Why were you following me?"

"Curiosity," I answered simply and truthfully.

"Curiosity killed the nexu."

"But satisfaction brought him back," I finished. So many people forgot that last part, though I'd use a different cat considering that nexu were giant murder machines with a lot of teeth, "When the Force nudges you in a certain direction, there is usually something to be gained nearby."

"There is little to be gained for you here," The apprentice replied, "A quick death is all you will find on my path."

"Sometimes the best rewards have the greatest risks," Truthfully, I preferred the low-risk path, though if the Force decided you needed to do something, it could be rather insistent.

"True enough," She acknowledged the point with a nod, "Though you are a fool if you wish to mooch off this opportunity."

I shrugged, "It's hard to judge when I haven't heard what the opportunity is."

"My Master has sent me to hunt a terentatek," The Sith explained, "He has need of its blood for a ritual."

I blinked before replying in a tone as dry as the desert outside.

"Wow. Your Master must really want you dead then."

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