Hisssssssssssss!
The serpent sprang up through the hole with its wide jaws open, baring long fangs, causing Obi-Wan to step backward and stumble on a stone. The serpent reared its head, flicked its tongue, and prepared to swallow Obi-Wan whole. This time, Obi-Wan did not hesitate to question whether the creature was reacting in self-defense. He drew his lightsaber and prepared to strike, but a stone suddenly sailed over his head and traveled straight into the serpent’s mouth. Carrying the unexpected weight of the stone, the serpent’s head fell back, slamming hard against the floor. The snake’s body trembled once, then went still.
Obi-Wan turned to see the Skull Queen behind him. She was brushing dust from her hands.
“Nice throw,” Obi-Wan said.
“I missed,” the Skull Queen confessed. “I was aiming for its nose.”
Obi-Wan and the Skull Queen wrapped their arms around the snake’s body and dragged it all the way out of the hole in the floor. Inside the hole, they found a beautiful blue gem.
“The first star!” gasped the Skull Queen, as she removed the power gem from the hole. She handed it to Obi-Wan, who put it in his backpack.
Obi-Wan said, “One down, two to go.”
Leaving the chamber of statues, Obi-Wan and the Skull Queen moved on to the next passage, which was lined with smooth walls made of a strong, highly reflective alloy. The ceiling appeared to be constructed from the same material. With their reflective quality, the ceiling and walls intensified the light of the glow rods so much that it was hard to see.
The two explorers dimmed their glow rods and moved forward through the passage, leaving a trail of footprints on the dusty floor. Soon, they were startled to see two shadowy humanoid figures—also carrying glow rods—approaching from the other direction. They quickly realized that these approaching figures were only their own reflections on a metal wall where the passage made a right-angle turn.
Following this turn, they soon arrived at another, and then another and another. The combination of the walls’ reflective surfaces and the numerous turns served to confuse even Obi-Wan’s sense of direction, leaving them both uncertain of which way they were heading. After several more turns, the passage ended at a metal door that was made of the same alloy as the walls.
A slender lever appeared to be the door’s opening mechanism. Obi-Wan pressed down on the lever and heard a clack, but the door did not open.
“It’s jammed,” Obi-Wan said.
The Skull Queen asked, “Can you use your lightsaber to cut through it?”
“Possibly,” Obi-Wan said as he held his glow rod closer to the door to inspect the lever. “But with all these reflections, I’d have a hard time seeing what I was doing.” He stepped back from the door, then launched a powerful kick that landed just below its lever. The door flew open.
Impressed, the Skull Queen whistled, then asked, “How are your ribs?”
“Still inside me,” Obi-Wan replied.
Passing through the open doorway, they entered a ten-sided chamber with a dust-free grated floor and ten mirrored walls. On each wall, there was a closed door, except for the open doorway behind them, which led back the way they had come. But as they moved to the center of the chamber, they heard a slam and turned to see that the door behind them had closed automatically.
All of the doors were identical, without any marks to distinguish one from another, and were made of the same reflective alloy as the walls. The only source of light was from the two glow rods, and all the reflections were disorienting to Obi-Wan and the Skull Queen. Hoping to regain his bearings, Obi-Wan considered marking the door through which they had entered, but then he realized he could no longer identify even that one. The dust-free floor prevented him from retracing his footsteps.
Obi-Wan looked down at the grated floor, then peered through the small, open gaps between the lattices. It looked like there was a stone-walled chamber about three meters below their position, but Obi-Wan could not see if it led to another passage.
“It’s bad enough that I feel completely lost,” the Skull Queen admitted, “but this room is making me sick to my stomach.”
“Close your eyes,” Obi-Wan said. “And take my hand.”
The Skull Queen closed her eyes, took Obi-Wan’s hand, and followed him as he stepped toward a door. “Do you know which way you’re going?” she asked.
“Out of here, I hope,” he answered. He followed his sense of the Force and reached out to push a door open, but his hand met empty air. He realized he had tried to open a reflection of a door. Moving slowly forward, his fingers met with a real door, and he pushed it.
The Skull Queen, her eyes still closed, heard the door open. “What do you see?”
“More mirrors,” he said. He closed the door and edged his way over to another, which he opened.
“What now?” the Skull Queen asked.
“A spiral stairway,” Obi-Wan said. “It goes down.”
“What are the walls in here like?”
“You might want to keep your eyes closed.”
Hand in hand, they descended the staircase, which brought them to a stone-walled chamber that was directly below the grated floor of the decagonal chamber they had just left. Obi-Wan saw another passage on the other side of the lower chamber and led the Skull Queen through it. As they walked, Obi-Wan said, “You can open your eyes now.”
The Skull Queen opened her eyes. “Stone walls,” she said. “What a relief.”
“I agree,” Obi-Wan said. “You can let go of my hand now.”
“But I like holding your hand,” the Skull Queen said.
“Oh,” Obi-Wan replied. He didn’t know what else to say.
They kept walking.
The passage led Obi-Wan and the Skull Queen to the largest chamber yet, a cavern with well-preserved natural features. The only evidence of an ancient alien presence was a timeworn path that weaved around the many stalagmites that rose from the floor. Long stalactites dangled from the high ceiling, and Obi-Wan imagined that one might have a similar view from inside the jaws of a gigantic carnivorous animal.
“I think I need my hand back,” Obi-Wan said.
“You think?” said the Skull Queen.
“Yes,” Obi-Wan said. “I draw my lightsaber with that hand.”
“Too bad you’re not ambidextrous!” said the Skull Queen, releasing her hold.
Their glow rods cast bizarre shadows as they walked quietly along the path. The sound of dripping water reached Obi-Wan’s ears, but because of the numerous formations of stone that surrounded him, the sound seemed to echo in all directions, and he was unable to pinpoint its origin. But when the path rounded a towering stalagmite, Obi-Wan and the Skull Queen emerged at the edge of a subterranean lake. There, Obi-Wan saw the source of the sound: Water was dripping from the smooth edge of a wide, sloping stone that extended from a wall and jutted out over the lake.
Each drip sent a gentle ripple across the lake’s surface. By the light of the two glow rods, the water was so clear that Obi-Wan could easily see multicolored rocks that rested at the bottom of the basin. Looking at the smooth edge of the wide stone from which the water dripped, he suspected the stone may have been contoured by a waterfall over the course of many centuries.
“The second star burns under falls,” said the Skull Queen.
“I was just thinking the same thing,” Obi-Wan said.
Keeping their eyes on the area of the lake below the smooth-edged, overhanging stone, Obi-Wan and the Skull Queen moved their glow rods behind a nearby stalactite so that the lake was once again in darkness. Under the water’s surface, at the bottom of the basin, a glowing red gem became visible among the multicolored rocks.
“I’ll dive for it,” said the Skull Queen, and began to remove her reptile-skin robe.
“Wait,” Obi-Wan said. “There’s another way.” He raised his right hand and gestured at the water. While the Skull Queen watched in awe, Obi-Wan used the Force to reach out to the submerged power gem.
The gem rose up through the clear water, broke the surface, then traveled through the air and into Obi-Wan’s waiting hand.
The Skull Queen said, “If I hadn’t seen it, I wouldn’t believe—” Her words were interrupted by a violent splash. Both she and Obi-Wan were suddenly seized by a vitreous-bodied aquatic creature with long tentacles. Because its skin was almost entirely transparent, they never saw it coming.
The beast yanked the Skull Queen underwater. Obi-Wan—still holding the red power gem—drew his lightsaber with his free hand and lashed out at the creature’s flexible appendages. The creature rolled, coughing up air bubbles, and threw the Skull Queen back at Obi-Wan, who deactivated his lightsaber just in time to catch her. As the wounded creature slipped off into the dark waters, the Skull Queen said, “I do believe you just saved my life.”
“I don’t suppose you have anything called a ‘life debt’ on this world?” Obi-Wan asked.
“A what?”
“Never mind.”
The Skull Queen noticed Obi-Wan’s lightsaber in his left hand and commented, “You said you drew your lightsaber with your other hand.”
“Yes, well…usually.” Obi-Wan clipped the lightsaber to his belt, then placed the red power gem in his backpack.
The pair left the subterranean lake and returned to the walkway that weaved between the many stalactites. They soon arrived at a passage that featured engraved hieroglyphics, pictures and symbols that illustrated the history of the ancient insectoid civilization that constructed the underground chambers. One sequence of hieroglyphs showed the insectoids welcoming a starship that carried humanoids, followed by the insectoids inviting the humanoids to a grand banquet; at the banquet, the insectoids revealed their true nature when they rounded up their guests and prepared them as the main course. In sickening detail, the hieroglyphs showed the monstrous creatures devouring all the humanoids.
Looking at the hieroglyphs, Obi-Wan contemplated the poem that hinted at the location of each power gem. The third star lives where monsters dwell. He wondered if the monsters were living creatures that might have survived through the ages, or if “monsters” was symbolic, like the “giants” of the clue for the first star.
Hoping they wouldn’t encounter any real, living monsters, Obi-Wan and the Skull Queen continued walking through the passage until they entered another spacious subterranean chamber with stalactites dangling from the ceiling. At the chamber’s center, a transparisteel case enclosed a pedestal, on which rested a green power gem. The enclosed pedestal was ringed by three stone statues of tall insectoids.
The Skull Queen said, “If those statues are the ‘monsters’ mentioned in the poem, it seems we won’t have to worry about them.”
“Perhaps,” Obi-Wan allowed. “But the poem didn’t mention any of the other creatures we’ve already encountered, so let’s stay alert.”
Loose stones lined a walkway that curved around the transparisteel case and led to another dark passage. Stepping past the stones, Obi-Wan moved closer to the case. As its name implied, transparisteel was transparent metal, a material typically used for viewports on starships. Although transparisteel was generally quite strong, it was not impervious to lightsabers.
While the Skull Queen watched, Obi-Wan activated his lightsaber and made a circular cut in the side of the case. When he was done, he deactivated his lightsaber, punched the circular cut of transparisteel to create a hole, and reached through it to remove the green power gem.
Still standing beside the transparisteel case, Obi-Wan was about to place the green gem in his backpack when he heard a loud hum. Before he could move away from the case, a force field surrounded his position, trapping him in the center of the circular chamber.
“Another trap?” the Skull Queen asked.
“It seems Nallastia Octan installed a force field as additional protection for this power gem,” Obi-Wan surmised. “I think the field was activated when I removed the gem from its pedestal.”
“But the power gems have auras that can shatter force fields,” the Skull Queen said. “Since you have the gems, you should be able to walk straight through the field.”
Obi-Wan held the green gem out before him and took a cautious step forward. There was a loud crackling sound as the force field was disrupted, and Obi-Wan walked safely away from the transparisteel case. “Amazing,” he said as he joined the Skull Queen near the three stone statues.
Suddenly, the three statues began to tremble. Obi-Wan and the Skull Queen backed away. To their astonishment, the statues suddenly burst open like exploding shells, revealing the bodies of three giant insectoid creatures that had been concealed within.
Standing amidst the rubble of their containers, the three insectoids were virtually identical, each with four claw-tipped arms and two multifaceted eyes. One was slightly taller and had a wider head. All three turned to look at Obi-Wan and the Skull Queen.
The insectoids were alive.
“I thought they were just statues!” the Skull Queen yelled.
“So did I,” Obi-Wan yelled back. “It seems they were coated with a layer of stone, an envelope to keep them in a state of suspended animation. Perhaps the energy released by the force field somehow caused the envelopes to crumble.”
Before the Skull Queen could comment on Obi-Wan’s theory, the tallest insectoid’s mandibles retracted, and it let out a shrill shriek. Obi-Wan sensed the shriek was a command, and was not surprised when the two shorter insectoids raised their claws and lurched toward him and the Skull Queen.
“It’s us or them,” the Skull Queen shouted.
“I’ll take the one on the left,” Obi-Wan yelled back. “Go for their heads.” His lightsaber blazed out at the same time the Skull Queen reached for her vibroblade.
Following Obi-Wan’s instruction, the Skull Queen faced the insectoid on the right. The creature took a swipe at her with its nasty claws, but the Skull Queen reacted with amazing speed, swinging her arm out and plunging the vibroblade through the insectoid’s neck. The insectoid’s head separated neatly from its body, but its arms reflexively lashed out, knocking the Skull Queen across the chamber.
As the Skull Queen crashed to the floor near the entrance to the next passage, the other attacking insectoid pounced at Obi-Wan, but the Jedi ducked and brought his lightsaber up behind him. As the insectoid’s leap carried its body over Obi-Wan’s back, Obi-Wan twisted the lightsaber’s blade through the creature’s neck, then dragged it through the length of the insectoid’s hurtling form. The insectoid’s halved body flopped to the floor, and its head bounced off the wall with a horrid splat.
Obi-Wan turned to see the remaining insectoid move toward the fallen Skull Queen. Above the tall insectoid’s position, a heavy stalactite was suspended from the ceiling. Obi-Wan instinctively calculated the distance between him and the stalactite, then threw his activated lightsaber high. Spinning through the air, the lightsaber’s blade sliced through the stalactite just below the area where it met the ceiling. The insectoid heard the hum of the lightsaber and the snap of rock overhead, and looked up. The last thing its multifaceted eyes saw was the pointed stalactite plummeting toward its body.
Obi-Wan retrieved his lightsaber, then ran to the Skull Queen and asked, “Are you all right?”
“More or less,” mumbled the Skull Queen.
“Come on, then,” Obi-Wan said, helping the Skull Queen to her feet. “Klay Firewell’s parents will be in worse shape than us if we don’t deliver these gems to the fortress.” Feeling a breeze in the air, Obi-Wan added, “This way.”
Obi-Wan and the Skull Queen traveled through the next passage until they emerged at a small opening that was partially obstructed by overgrown weeds. Obi-Wan pushed his way through them and felt some relief to look up and see the starlit sky of Nallastia. Following him out into the night, the Skull Queen took a deep breath of fresh air.
Incredibly, they were not far from the entrance to the Cavern of Screaming Skulls. Obi-Wan pulled the swoop out from its foliage co
ver. He was about to tell the Skull Queen to climb on behind him when she scrambled up over the machine, threw one leg onto the engine pod, and grabbed the controls. She said, “If you don’t mind, I’ll drive.”
Obi-Wan sat behind the Skull Queen and wrapped his arms around her waist. The Skull Queen gunned the engine, and the swoop launched off into the night. Bringing the swoop up to a cruising altitude, the Skull Queen steered over the trees and down the mountainside, heading back to the fortress.
Anakin was waiting for them. He stood near the Trinity Stones and watched the swoop’s descent. In the time that had passed, the Trinity Stones had closed to a distance of less than two meters from one another, and the forms of Tattyra and Hondu Firewell—still suspended in the air between the megaliths—remained motionless, apparently unaware of the fact they were mere minutes away from being crushed to death. Below their floating bodies, the shattered bones of previous victims had been pushed together into a high heap.
The Skull Queen brought the swoop down over the nearest megalith. Obi-Wan reached into his backpack, removed one of the three power gems, and placed it on top of the tallest standing stone.
“Where are Bultar and Klay?” Obi-Wan called out from the back of the swoop.
“They’re still inside the shuttle,” Anakin called back. “They’re fine.”
“And my warriors?” the Skull Queen asked as she steered the swoop to the next megalith.
“They’re in the fortress with Princess Calvaria,” Anakin answered as Obi-Wan placed a power gem atop the next stone. Without concealing his resentment, Anakin added, “Apparently, they didn’t have any problem sending innocent people to their deaths, but they couldn’t bring themselves to actually watch the Firewells die.”
“The warriors were only following my daughter’s orders,” the Skull Queen replied as she piloted the swoop to the final stone. “I assure you, Calvaria will never make this mistake again.”
Star Wars Adventures 002 - The Cavern of Screaming Skulls Page 4