New fiction arrives from the era of Star Wars: The Old Republic, All That’s Left.
“Sa’har?”
That voice–so familiar, despite the years since she last heard it. It sounded impossibly far away, yet close enough that she swiveled her head in search of its owner.
“Sa’har–is that you?”
The voice, its edges rippling with echoes, was louder. Closer. She ran toward the sound, but her feet were heavy… like stone.
“Sa’har! I always knew you would find me. I’m… so happy to see you.”
And there he was.
Sa’har reached a trembling hand toward the brother she had not seen since she was taken to be trained by the Jedi. As her fingers inched closer, she could see her brother’s gaunt face was marred by fear, by hopelessness. Just below, a heavy, rusted chain was tangled around his neck.
But the moment Sa’har’s fingertips brushed the cold metal of his bonds, her vision blurred. A low, pulsing hum grew louder and louder; an unbearable heat washed over her body. She grasped for her brother wildly, with both arms, but he crumbled away, like dirt and ash, at her touch.
“Ri’kan!”
Sa’har desperately called her brother’s name as she woke, but the only response was the ceaseless rumbling of a ship’s engine. As her vision cleared, the durasteel ceiling of the ship’s sweltering lower levels slowly came into view. She was drenched in sweat, her limbs twisted in the rough sheet covering her cot.
This was the fifth night in a row she’d had the same dream. Spending every single one of her waking hours meditating, reaching out, hoping to find any clue that could lead to her brother was obviously starting to take its toll.
But this was the first night where she got close enough to touch Ri’kan, and she didn’t like what had happened when she did. Was it a sign? Or was it her own self-doubt creeping its way into even the subconscious parts of her mind?
Sa’har shoved the blanket down to the end of her cot and slid onto the floor, legs crossed and back straight.
The passenger transport she’d snuck aboard was old and in desperate need of upgrades. But the utility room she’d quietly turned into makeshift lodgings was close to the engine, and the steady vibrations of the struggling pistons and turbines made falling into a trance easy. She had barely closed her eyes and begun to concentrate when she was in that place again, somewhere deep in her mind, her consciousness flowing with the Force as she called out to Ri’kan.
“We can still find your brother!”
His voice again. The Sith. Malgus.
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