Star Wars: Fragile Threads

Fragile Threads

A blast from a bowcaster dropped the remaining archer. As the Wookiee covered him, Geerd began planting the charges along the tunnel walls and hiding them beneath rock and gravel. Leaving them to the task, Drake descended farther into the cave at a cautious run, led into the darkness by torchlight and a lightsaber.

The terrain remained unrelenting with steep, undulating slopes that led ever downward into the heart of the mountain. Altered by wind, blaster fire, and the fierce glow of a lightsaber, the shadows flickered erratically. Drake narrowed his eyes, trying to keep his eye on prospective targets as Tiaja swept through the Nightsisters in a tidal wave of rage.

He dropped a would-be assailant sneaking up behind her, drawing the notice of the fallen lancer's companions. Moving faster than expected, one of them fired an arrow at him. The plasma head caught him in the neck, grazing the skin as the impact slammed him into the natural rock wall. The second Nightsister charged him with her lance. Abruptly, her head snapped back, blood trickling from her forehead, and she fell dead at his feet.

Drake looked farther up the path and saw his first mate carrying Geerd's Tusken rifle. She worked the bolt and slammed another cartridge into the breech. Behind her, Geerd knelt down, securing another thermal detonator under a rocky ledge. They all paused at the sound of high-pitched screams reverberating from farther down inside the cave.

"Jani!" Tiaja drove her lightsaber through the remaining Nightsister and sprinted down into the tunnels.

Drake ran after her, less surefooted on the path as a slippery, sticky film covered the lower tunnels. Repulsed, he carefully made his way through the build up of webbing. "Tiaja, the spiders—"

Before he could finish his warning, a glistening thread of silk wrapped itself around Tiaja's wrist. She screamed as the acid in the web burned her. Spinning the lightsaber in an abrupt arc, she cut through it and desperately removed the acidic strands before they could cause further injury.

Scowling, she leaped from the upper path across a ten-meter span to engage the broodling. Slicing off one leg, she held her hand out. Without touching the spider, she slammed it backwards into a wall and held the beast until its hardened carapace cracked and splintered. The creature's innards seeped out through the stress fractures as it quivered in its death throes.

"Jani!" Taiaja screamed in the hollow of the lower cavern.

"Tiaja?" a little voice squeaked. It came from beneath a granite outcropping of rock that was too small for the spiders to access.

The body of a broodling blocked the small hole, which was covered by a crumbling mound of rocks. The arachnid had clearly tried to press itself into the rift and had injured itself in the attempt. Through the dust and debris, a small arm reached out. Tiaja grabbed the child's hand, pulling the girl into her arms. "Jani, are you hurt? Were you bitten? How did you get away?"

No older than seven or eight standard years, Jani looked back into the hole. "You said to always be aware of my surroundings. So when the Nightsisters brought us down here, I hid." Her hair was knotted in neatly tied bundles across her head. "I knew you'd come." She wrapped her arms around the Tiaja's neck. "I used the dreams like you taught me. Uncle Geerd, you came to rescue me, too?"

Geerd stared at Tiaja, but made no reply.

"Paulsen, in the event of your death, what happens to your ship?" Densin asked over the comm. "The Steadfast is something of a legend. I wouldn't mind adding her to my stable."

"Why do you ask?" Drake questioned, fearing the reply.

"Those Nightsisters caught the droids. They know they've been duped, and they're on their way back to the stronghold. Fast."