A Song Of Light and Darkness - Book One: Dawn Of New Force

Chapter 10: Trials Of The Jedi

Rey
Her footsteps echoed softly against the hard stone floor. There were no force ghosts around her now, and she wondered where Anakin's had gone.

But as she turned her head to look back, something closed the mouth of the already dark tunnel as if there was a door. She flinched and took a step back, her breath caught in her throat. She never realized how frightened she was in fact, until she was left alone, in the dark.

Yet there was not dark at all. Apart from the lightsaber ignited in her hand, there was that faint light that kept shimmering at the end of the narrow tunnel. That faint light that gave her hope.

"No!" she found herself pleading with it in a small voice as she could see it fade away.

But eventually, it did fade. And then, the only light that could hold the darkness at bay was the ignited lightsaber. Yet, Rey's faith faltered, and even her lightsaber closed, leaving her in a pitch black darkness.

A fear so dark and terrible overwhelmed her that moment. And she only wished it was just a passing nightmare.

For a fleeting moment, she stepped back and made to run back to where she had come from. But remembered in time why she was there. If the fear overwhelmed her courage, her path as a jedi would be lost, maybe forever. And she did not wish that.

I must not look back, she repeated to herself as she stood her ground facing the darkness before her. In truth, it was her trial. If she overcame her fear, her path as a jedi would be free. And she couldn't deny that there was her curiosity, too. Deep inside, under those fears of what it might be, of what she might face, she yearned to know what her biggest fear was. And she wanted to let her ancestors know that they could rely on her faith, as she had relied on their help when facing Palpatine.

And suddenly, as a chilly breeze went around her, she could feel the same sensation she had felt in Takodana at Maz's castle when she had first touched Luke's old saber. The Force. And her vision kept shifting and swaying.

Rey frowned, confusion overwhelming her. And suddenly she felt the need to run away. No, not away, but forward into the shifting dark tunnel. For back, the way was sealed into stone. There was no going back now, and she understood that. The only exit to that dark cave was somewhere forward.

Her heart beat faster as she ran even faster and faster. And her breath came out in shallows.

As she veered around a corner, the place turned inside out and she stumbled to her knees on a patch of muddy grass. The fall had drawn the air out of her lungs as she stood on all fours. In that place there was almost night, and a drizzle was falling down over her, wetting her skin and plastering her hair against her neck and face.

The atmosphere was a foul one, and a stale and dark smell overwhelmed her.
Her head snapped this way and that, her eyes looking desperately for an exit to this madness. But there was nothing. Only dark and foggy moorland as lons as the eye could see.

But suddenly she could hear a faint splash and rippling through the muddy water, as if something was actually making its way out of of it.

"Aah!" she yelled as her face turned to see her ankle wrapped in what seemed like a thread made out of that dark water. She yanked her leg free, and dragged herself on her back, away from the moor.

But her eyes widened in horror when she realized what was rising from the water. The head of a terrible creature dark as pitch was pointed to her, and three pairs of eyes blinked the dirty water out.

Tears began to form in her eyes and her arms and legs seemed to be broken, pinned in place.

She whimpered as her breath came out in shallows, her windpipe was almost closed. But somehow, she scrambled up to her feet and managed to stand up, eyes fixed on the ever-growing thing before her eyes. And the sky seemed to have darkened with its rising.