Promises Page 5

"I think I've found the problem," he began excitedly. "There's a short

  circuit in a connector." Anakin studied one of the cables.

  Its surface was slightly darker than the rest.

  "It's this one," he murmured. "Tahiri, can you find me another cable

  in that junk?" Anakin asked with a wave of his hand toward the pile of

  broken-down droids and machinery the Jawas had collected. Tahiri began to

  rummage through the metal scraps.

  "Will this work?" she asked as she held up a meter-long cable.

  "No," Anakin replied. "Its got to be longer."

  Several minutes later Tahiri held up two more cables. Anakin selected

  one and replaced the burned out cable.

  "Let's see if this will do the trick," Anakin said softly. He

  connected the cable to the control panel, then leaned over to push the

  sandcrawler's start-up button. With a deep, rasping rumble the sandcrawler

  hummed to life. Anakin and Tahiri emerged, to the cheers of the Jawas. The

  Jedi candidates were handed water jugs and brown lumps of food. They drank

  deeply, the liquid soothing their throats and splashing into empty bellies.

  When they'd eaten their fill, Tahiri turned to the Jawas and thanked them.

  Then she pointed at the Jundland Wastes, at herself and Anakin, and at the

  sandcrawler. The Jawas understood, and beckoned Anakin and Tahiri toward

  the sandcrawler.

  Soon the Jawas and the Jedi candidates were headed for the craggy

  mountains in the distance. And the smell that had tightened their stomachs

  no longer made Anakin and Tahiri feel sick. Now it was the smell of new

  friends. Anakin stared out the window plate of the sandcrawler. The

  Jundland Wastes loomed before him, its jagged rocks and canyons signaling

  that too soon the ride would be over and they would once again be traveling

  by foot.

  Beyond those canyons, Anakin thought, is Tahiri's tribe. And we have

  five more days to find them. His thoughts wandered as the twin suns of

  Tatooine set over the desert, transforming its glittering golden sands into

  darkness.

  The sandcrawler reached the scattered rocks that signaled the

  beginning of the Jundland Wastes on their third morning in the desert. The

  Jawas drove the battered sandcrawler until they could no longer navigate

  the rocks, then ground to a halt.

  "Thank you," Anakin said to the Jawas as he and Tahiri prepared to

  leave the sandcrawler. One of the Jawas grabbed his arm.

  "What is it, little guy?" Anakin asked. "Don't you want us to leave?"

  Anakin sensed that the Jawa wanted to tell him something. Maybe he smelled

  Anakin's and Tahiri's confusion and fear. Maybe he smelled danger in the

  distance.

  Unfortunately, Anakin couldn't understand the Jawa's speech. And

  neither could Tahiri. Finally, the Jawa filled two rough cloth packs with

  food and water and handed them to the Jedi candidates. Once again, Anakin

  and Tahiri thanked their new friends. Then they climbed out of the

  sandcrawler and into the beginning of the Jundland Wastes. One of the Jawa.

  s called out after them, and they caught two gaderffii sticks that were

  tossed through the air. The Jawas must have recognized the smell of bantha

  and Raiders on Anakin's and Tahiri's clothes and skin.

  Tahiri and Anakin hoisted the makeshift packs onto their backs. They

  used the gaderffii sticks to help them walk along the rocks. And, although

  he didn't ask, Anakin sensed that these were weapons they might need.

  "Tahiri, I need to stop for a minute," Anakin gasped several hours

  later. The travel was strenuous, and it was taking its toll. Tahiri was

  used to the heat, the sun, the dry climate. For Anakin, who'd lived his

  whole life in the city of Coruscant,

  Tatooine was a harsh planet. Tahiri handed Anakin a jug of water, and

  he drank sparingly. Both Jedi candidates ate some of the brownish lumps of

  food. Then they began traveling again, bathed in the glare of the sun. A

  high-pitched scream filled the air.

  "Tahiri," Anakin whispered behind his friend, amazed that she hadn't

  stopped at the horrific cry. "What was that?"

  "That was the scream of a womp rat," Tahiri said quietly. "But it

  wasn't about to attack us. That was the cry of a wounded rat. I know the

  sound-I've fought a lot of rodents over the years."

  Anakin and Tahiri wound their way along the canyons of the Jundland

  Wastes, the desert beyond now in sight and within their grasp. But Anakin

  sensed a growing fear in Tahiri. And he again had the disturbing feeling

  that they were not alone. Several high-pitched screams filled the air, so

  bloodcurdling and drawn-out that Anakin and Tahiri both dropped to the

  ground behind a large rock.

  "More womp rats," Tahiri whispered.

  This time the screams had shaken her. Anakin started to rise. He'd

  fight the rodents with his gaderffii stick if they were going to attack.

  "Those were death cries," Tahiri said, sensing Anakin's intentions.

  "Something killed them."

  "Another rat?" Anakin asked hopefully.

  "I don't think so," Tahiri replied. "They rarely attack each other."

  "Let's get out of here," Anakin said, grabbing Tahiri's arm and

  pulling her up. "Whatever's out there, we don't want to wait for it to find

  us."

  "It's a krayt dragon," Tahiri said, her voice dripping with dread.

  "I've sensed something following us for the last hour."

  Krayt dragons were large carnivorous reptiles that lived in the

  mountains surrounding Tatooine's Jundland Wastes. Some thought that the

  dragons no longer existed, that they'd become extinct when settlers came to

  Tatooine, exposing them to various infections as well as hunting them for

  food and trophies.

  "I thought krayt dragons were! pretty rare," Anakin said to Tahiri.

  "Tell that to the one stalking us right now," Tahiri replied with

  fear.

  All thoughts were wiped out of Anakin's mind as a rock-crushing roar

  filled the air. And this time, it was not the sound of a womp rat. This

  time it was full of the venom of a different creature. A creature that

  towered over the Jedi candidates, its massive jaws spread open to reveal a

  red forked tongue and rows of black teeth that glistened with the greenish

  ooze of womp rat blood.

  "Krayt dragon," Anakin said grimly. The beast was perched on the rocks

  above them, its head covered with seven black horns, its back ridged with

  sharp bony nodules and a jagged dorsal spine. The creature's scaly green

  body was tipped with claws of crimson that matched its reddish eyes-angry

  eyes, divided by black slit-shaped pupils that stared intently from Anakin

  to Tahiri and back again.

  Anakin slowly stood.

  "Leave us alone," he commanded in a voice touched with fear and only

  weakly ringing with the Force. The krayt dragon hissed, but made no move to

  leave the Jedi candidates.

  "LEAVE US!" Anakin called out. The dragon screeched, then struck out

  like lightning, one massive limb batting Anakin into the air. He landed on

  the rocks, ten meters from where he'd stood. The dragon's claws had ripped

  through his academy jumpsuit and made five bloody gashes across
his rib

  cage. The sliced skin burned, but Anakin sensed that his wounds weren't

  deep.

  "I'm all right, Tahiri," he called. That's when he heard her scream.

  Anakin bolted to his feet in time to see the monster moving in on Tahiri.

  "Stop!" he cried. But the reptile kept advancing toward his friend.

  "Fight him, Tahiri!" Anakin yelled.

  Tahiri rose and tried to strike the dragon with her gaderffii. The

  creature's crimson eyes flashed as it batted the weapon from Tahiri's grip.

  Then Tahiri was covered by the dragon's dark shadow. Anakin scrambled

  across the rocks. He had to save his friend. The dragon turned as he

  approached. Tahiri was pinned beneath its front legs. The monster's red

  tongue flicked toward Anakin, as if tasting him.

  "Let her go!" Anakin growled at the loathsome creature. The dragon

  charged Anakin, its eyes flashing. Anakin's ice blue eyes narrowed as he

  stared at the advancing monster. There has got to be a way to defeat it, he

  thought.

  But a split second later the creature grasped him in its jaw and

  turned to romp rapidly through the canyon. Tahiri bolted to her feet. To

  save Anakin, she had to trail the krayt dragon. She ripped her pack off her

  back and tore after the beast. It would take all her strength to keep up

  with the creature, but if she lost sight of it, she wouldn't be able to

  help her friend. So, you've decided Anakin is enough for dinner, Tahiri

  thought grimly as she climbed after the creature. She could feel Anakin's

  fear as he was carried away. Tahiri raced through the rocks. She only hoped

  the dragon's lair wasn't far away; the pace was quickly wearing her down.

  I won't let you down, Anakin, Tahiri thought. There are all kinds of

  strength-that's what Master Ikrit once told me. And I'm going to find the

  one that will defeat the dragon. If the creature sensed her as she

  followed, it didn't let on. In fact, it seemed to have completely forgotten

  Tahiri existed. She wondered if the krayt lost its desire to hunt and kill

  once it found its prey. Tahiri followed the dragon for fifteen minutes as

  it wound along the rocky canyon.

  Her breath escaped in ragged streams. She was exhausted, but she

  wouldn't stop to rest until she had saved Anakin. The monster was widening

  the distance between them, and Tahiri forced herself to quicken her pace.

  She hoped that wherever it was heading, there wouldn't be any more dragons.

  Fighting one was going to be; hard enough. Suddenly, the dragon

  disappeared.

  Tahiri's heart sank. Had she fallen so far behind that she'd lost the

  creature? She stared in every direction - there was no sign of the dragon

  or Anakin. Her shoulders sagged in defeat and she slowly sat down on a

  large boulder. Her eyes filled with tears and she angrily shook her head to

  get rid of the unwanted saltwater. Out of the corner of one eye, Tahiri

  noticed a dark hole between two large rocks. She leapt forward. From out of

  the hole rose an oily smell that burned her eyes and made her gag.

  She crouched and peered down. She couldn't see anything in the

  blackness. Tahiri grabbed the rough edges of the hole and dropped in, her

  body sliding several meters before coming to a stop at the mouth of a rocky

  tunnel that stretched deep within the mountain. Must be home, she thought

  wryly. Then she began to creep along the tunnel. Several times she had to

  step over the remains of what she could only assume were Raiders, judging

  by the white tattered robes that covered the skeletons.

  The carcasses of womp rats also lined the tunnel. Tahiri tried to

  ignore them as she snuck along. Anakin was crouched in the center of a

  basically round room, the only light there filtered through small holes in

  the ceiling that were exposed to the surface of the mountain. As Tahiri's

  eyes adjusted, she saw that the lair was also littered with the skeletons

  of womp rats and some brown-robed remains.

  The dragon was rustling on the far side of the room. Now that he had

  Anakin, he didn't seem to be in too much of a rush to eat him. Must be

  saving him for later, Tahiri thought with deadly calm. All the fear that

  had initially coursed through her veins had drained away. In its place, she

  felt the strength of the Force surging through her. There was no way she

  was going to allow the krayt dragon to hurt her friend. Anakin sensed

  Tahiri's presence. He raised his face and peered into the darkness.

  Slowly he rose to knees, then gained his feet. Tahiri stepped out of

  the shadows and moved to Anakin's side. The side of his academy jumpsuit

  was drenched in blood, and Tahiri stifled a cry. Anakin grasped her hand

  tightly, and for a brief moment their eyes met. The look they exchanged was

  one of calm and resolve. They would fight this beast together.

  The krayt dragon turned and rose on its hind feet. A thin screech

  rolled out. Its dinner was being threatened, and that made the reptile

  angry. Very angry. Slowly the dragon advanced on the Jedi candidates. And

  in a flash it had snatched Anakin and pinned him beneath its clawed feet.

  "My voice didn't work," Anakin groaned to Tahiri.

  "So we've got to try something else." He stared into the razor teeth

  that; lined the creature 's jaws. "And soon, because its breath will kill

  me if its teeth don't first."

  Tahiri stared desperately around the lair for a weapon. Her eyes

  stopped on a large boulder that jutted out on the far side of the room.

  Maybe I can distract him, she thought, and then we can try to run. Tahiri

  closed her eyes and focused on using the Force to pry the boulder loose.

  Nothing happened.

  "Any ideas?" Anakin gasped as the dragon stared down at him with

  hungry eyes.

  "Believe and you succeed," Tahiri murmured to herself as she continued

  concentrating on the rock. Moments later there was a thunderous crash.

  The rancid breath of the reptile rolled over Anakin in hot waves. It

  opened its jaws wide, preparing to crush and consume him. Tahiri stood in

  the center of the dragon's lair, her eyes closed. There was a thunderous

  crash behind the dragon, and clouds of dust and sand filled the room. The

  reptile whirled and raced toward the noise. It must think something is

  attacking from behind, Tahiri thought as she opened her eyes and watched.

  Anakin leapt to his feet and raced to Tahiri's side.

  "Run!" he cried as he tore toward the tunnel.

  "No," Tahiri called after her friend. "The dragon is too fast-it'll

  just catch us and bring us back. We've got to stand and fight it."

  "But it's too strong," Anakin exclaimed.

  "We can't."

  The dust cleared, and Tahiri watched the dragon slither away from the

  boulder she'd dropped. The reptile turned back. to its prisoners, crimson

  eyes flashing that it would not let them get away. She noticed several

  large rocks lining the ceiling of the cave, only a few meters in front of

  where the dragon now stood.

  "We have to trap it beneath those rocks," Tahiri murmured. "Anakin,

  we've got to try to drop those boulders on it," Tahiri said as she pointed

  to the outcropping of rocks. Anakin nodded, and t
he Jedi candidates began

  to focus. There wasn't much time. Tahiri sensed that the dragon was about

  to dart forward.

  She repeated part of the Jedi Code to herself: There is no try, only

  do. And, as the words faded away, so did her fear and frustration. Tahiri

  heard the boulders begin to move, a grating sound combined with dropping

  dust and pebbles. She opened her eyes and watched as the krayt dragon began

  to move forward.

  "Now, Anakin!" Tahiri cried. "Drop them now!"

  In a split second, five large boulders hurtled down through the air

  and landed with dull thuds on the krayt dragon's tail. The reptile roared

  with frustration as it tried to reach the Jedi candidates. Its tail was

  firmly pinned beneath the boulders.

  "Now let's get out of here before the dragon gets those boulders off'

  Anakin said,.

  On their way out, Tahiri grabbed several abandoned canteens of water.

  Whoever had brought them into the dragon's lair no longer needed them, and

  she and Anakin would need all the water they could find to cross the mesa

  region of the Wastes and the desert beyond, Tahiri thought. It took the

  night of their fourth day and all of the fifth to cross the mesa. They

  slept for two hours each during the hottest part of the day, one keeping

  watch, then the other.

  Once, Tahiri spied a tribe of Raiders in the distance, but the group

  didn't seem to notice them. By the evening of day five, Anakin and Tahiri

  reached the desert. They were almost out of water, now only taking small