The Unchronicled Adventures Of Ahsoka Tano, Book Ten

Chapter One Hundred And Seven: Knowledge And Power

EZRA BRIDGER

The echoes of Ezra's steps called faintly back to him as he scrambled up the last few steps to the glowing maroon pyramidion at the very top of the Sith Temple.

He slowed to a stop as he finally reached the terrace, pausing for a moment to catch his breath and get a better understanding of his surroundings. Kanan was always telling him to take a good long look at everything around him, because that was was when he would find advantages use against his opponents.

And, as Ezra knew from experience fighting Darksiders, that oftentimes meant the difference between victory and defeat.

The apex of the Temple was darkly welcoming, and the manner with which it pulled at his mind was almost magnetic. It wanted him – and the holocron he was carrying with him – to come. And, most importantly, it wanted him to seize the knowledge, and use it to take down his enemies.

Besides, Ezra could sense that in some limited way, it wanted to be whole again, and that Ezra would be fulfilling its wish as well as his by doing as Maul had told him.

His resolve renewed, Ezra hesitated only a moment before setting out again. As he passed beneath a stone overhang to the cavernous chamber within, he craned his neck to stare up at the bold, geometric carvings and imposing forms above him, wondering at the ancient majesty of the place.

Before long, his eyes found the obelisk Maul had spoken of: two giant slabs of stone hovering a few feet above a pedestal on the ground. Ezra took the holocron from his pouch, cradling it in the palm of his hands as he gazed up at the structure, whose ancient repulsorlifts still worked perfectly, in something like wonderment.

Before long, Ezra began to feel a genuine tug on the holocron clasped between his fingers, and he realized what he had to do. Carefully, he extended the Sith artifact out on one hand and summoned the Force, using it to lift the tiny red and golden pyramid up to give the Temple its last missing piece.

As it drew nearer to the obelisk, the Temple began to pull it in by itself, nudging it subtly this way and that until it had reached a spot about three quarters of the way up. The markings on the weathered stone surface began to glow a bright red, crackling with electricity as tiny facets of the holocron were slowly drawn apart.

Ezra's hand fell to his lightsaber as tongues of lightning flared up, ready to deflect them if necessary. But he soon realized they were going up to the ceiling and walls and too far away to hurt him, and dropped his guard again.

WHO COMES FORTH? a thunderous, vaguely female voice demanded from within the obelisk, as though speaking from the very core of the holocron itself.

"Ezra... uh, Ezra Bridger," Ezra said, taking a few steps closer. "I was told this holocron is the key to knowledge."

INDEED, EZRA BRIDGER. AND DO YOU KNOW WHAT KNOWLEDGE IS?

"Tell me!"

KNOWLEDGE IS... POWER!

Suddenly, there was an explosion of white light and energy tinged with red. Ezra winced, throwing an arm up to shield his face from the blast as it spread from the center of the obelisk out to the edge of the pyramidion and beyond.

I HAVE BEEN WAITING, the holocron hummed.

"What's happening?" Ezra called, the spark of unease that had been with him since they arrived catching fire in his heart. Maul hadn't said anything about this!

THE POWER TO DESTROY LIFE IS AT YOUR COMMAND.

Ezra gawked. "What? No! No, no, that's not what I wanted!"