Assassin (A Star Wars Fan-Fiction) Book 2

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Thirteen

Denali barely had to call upon the Force as she heard her chains unlock. Her arms flopped down to her sides, causing everyone to gasp around her. Before anyone could stop her, she ran forward. The rancor watched in confusion as she approached him. This action from a human was very odd to the creature, but he didn't let his perplexity get in the way. It roared again, then began sprinting towards the human as well. It was quite hungry since its owners hadn't bothered to feed him in days.

The rancor was anxious for its next meal.

"What is she doing?!" Padme shouted in shock as the four watched her.

Then Denali stopped. She suddenly put the breaks on, causing a large wave of sand and dust to lift into the air. The sand immediately flew into the rancor's eyes, causing it to roar in pain and swipe blindly around himself. Denali quickly jumped over its arm, then ducked and rolled beneath his second one. The crowd screamed and shouted, waving their fists in disgust. They wanted bloodshed. And they wanted it now.

Denali back-flipped out of the way till she was a few yards away from the large beast, a smirk on her lips. This was going to be even easier than she thought it would be. She stood up straight and held her arms out forward, her fingers facing the rancor. Not even closing her eyes, the blue electricity surged through her and out of her fingertips. Like arrows, the bolts of lightning struck the rancor. It howled in pain as the it was overcome with electricity. The crowd gasped, so did the four still chained to their poles.

"No, this can't be." Chewbacca said under his breath. He refused to believe it. His master, his best friend, couldn't have gone to the dark side. He definitely didn't sense it in her when she had walked out. And he still couldn't sense it. She wasn't evil, she never had been and never will be.

So then how could she use Sith lightning?

After a second, the rancor lunged. Denali put her hands down, then sprinted back to where her pole was. She could sense her friends' confusion, and even their feelings of betrayal, but she tried to ignore that last part. She could feel the ground vibrate with each step the rancor took in her direction. Her heart was beating rapidly.

"RUN!" Denali shouted to her apprentice as she extended her hand up in the air, towards Chewbacca. He closed his eyes and flinched, preparing for a horrible shock. He heard the ZAP sound as electricity hit metal. Suddenly his arms fell to his sides and he realized that Denali had no intention of hurting him. He had just released her from his bonds.

"GO!" she shouted again. This time, he obeyed. Sprinting in the direction of Anakin's pole, three more blue flashes of electricity filled the air. Three CLINK sounds vibrated through the arena as the other three prisoners were released.

"Get the senator to safety, I'll stay and help Denali." Obi-Wan said.

"Quickly! Release the other beasts! The Jedi cannot escape!" Dooku shouted. Suddenly three more doors opened, three more deadly creatures hobbled out into the arena. Padme ran over to Anakin in fear, hiding behind him but trying to look tough and capable of defending herself as well. Anakin rolled his eyes in annoyance. That was another reason why he liked Denali more than Padme. Denali was tough, not a wimp like some women.

"Obi-Wan!" Denali shouted from across the arena. He immediately looked over at her and she pointed to something behind him. He barely had enough time to duck and roll out of the way as a large green scaly claw nearly stabbed him into the ground. Obi-Wan quickly got to his feet, not taking his eyes off of his new opponent. The monster was over ten feet tall, spider-like, and had a long fleshy neck. Its claws were thicker than Obi-Wan's thigh, and sharper than a knife. Countless sharp and thin teeth filled its mouth, each one longer than a lightsaber hilt.

"Hurry, climb up there." Anakin told Padme, quickly shoving the chain that was attached to the nearest pole into her hands. Suddenly she got on her tip-toes and pecked his cheek. She smiled and winked.

"For good luck." she said, then began to climb up. Anakin smiled, pretending to have enjoyed that, even though on the inside he wanted to vomit all over the ground. She quickly got on top of the red stone pole, sitting and watching everything happen below her. She was used to being the damsel in distress, it was her thing. She could handle a blaster well when the time arose, but she would rather be rescued than a rescuer.

 Chewbacca rolled to the side as a huge cat-like creature swiped its massive claws at his head. He gasped in fear as he ran to his pole. He didn't know what to do, he was weaponless, and had no idea what he could do to save himself or the others. He was on his own. Anakin was busy fighting some bull-creature, his master was battling a rancor, and Master Kenobi was dodging attacks from a huge green spider.

"Chewie! Climb up!" a voice shouted from above. He looked up and to the left and saw Padme sitting on top of one of the pillars. He nodded, knowing what to do, and grabbed the chain.

With all the strength he could muster, he heaved himself up, the cat-monster snarling in frustration below him. Once he was ontop, he pulled up some of the chain, bringing one hand of chain up after the other. The cat growled, clawing at the pole and circled cautiously until it leaped from the ground. Like blades digging into flesh, its talon-like claws dug deep into the stone, helping it climb closer to the top where its meal waited.

When he was sure the moment was right, Chewie flung the end of the chain at the cat and used the Force to add more power behind the attack. It howled in pain as the end of the hard metal slammed against its face, causing it to tumble back through the air to the arena floor below. Chewie could hear its skull crack like a watermelon as it hit the ground.

Meanwhile, Denali was finally getting close to winning the battle with her beast. She leaped up into the air and the rancor's claws flailed, searching for its prey but only finding emptiness. Flipping through the air, she landed on top of the rancor's scaly back. It roared furiously, but couldn't reach her. Its arms just didn't bend the way it wanted them to. Using one last bit of her energy, she slammed her fist against the monster's skull, sending bolt after bolt of electricity into its brain. The power was too much for the rancor, and it fell to the ground in a heap, dead.

Suddenly, an even louder roar filled the arena. Denali looked up and saw her wookiee padawan, on top of his pole. Three long bleeding gashes covered his back, horizontally covering his furry flesh. Denali could feel his sudden amount of pain, and anger surged through her. Sprinting, she made a run for the cat-creature. It didn't even see her coming as she elbowed it in the ribs, the Jedi Master using the Force to provide even more pain. It howled as it fell to the ground, its ribs now puncturing its lungs.

"Master...." Chewie rumbled as he began to wobble, losing his balance on top of the pole. Denali gasped as he fell down, off of his perch and she lunged forward, catching the bleeding boy in her arms. He was lighter than she had originally thought, and that was a good thing. Desperately, she pulled him toward the pole and propped him against the hard stone.

"Don't worry, Chewie. You're going to be alright." she said to him as he began to lose consciousness. She knew he'd live. If she could survive, then so could he. He was a strong boy, nothing could hurt him to the point of death. At least that's what his master believed. She stood up, searching the arena for her husband.

What happened next, she would never forget.