The Broken Ones | REYLO [Complete]

32. We Go Together

—BEN—

The closer we get to Mustafar, the more I start to think this was a mistake. The Force is in turmoil around us, like an angry sea just before a violent storm. Rey hasn't said a word since we left the base, but I can feel her unease.

"Stop staring at me," she grumbles, shooting me a glare. "You're making it worse."

I mumble an apology and face forward again. The swirling blue and white of hyperspace is so hypnotic it's almost soothing. The peace is short-lived, though, as my thoughts drift back to hypothetical outcomes of the coming battle. Knowing what we do of the Empire, Vader, and the Emperor who survived by some unfathomable miracle, the wayfinder will either be heavily guarded or deeply embedded in a trap.

"We're approaching the coordinates," Poe's voice crackles across the com link. "Coming out of lightspeed...now."

I disengage the hyperdrive and brace myself as the small transport ship shudders. Rey inhales sharply, and the Force crescendos angrily around us. I can't tear my eyes away from the fiery red planet before us. It calls to me with whispered promises of untapped power. The voices are louder than I've ever heard, as if the planet itself was beckoning us closer in the ancient language of the Sith.

"Rey? Ben? Are you there?" Poe asks, shaking me out of my daze.

"Yes, we copy," Rey answers quietly.

"My squadron and I are on standby. We'll keep our distance unless you request air support." Poe is quiet for a moment, but I can sense he wants to say more. "I was going to say take your time down there since we brought a refueling tanker, but this system is giving me major creeps. I'd rather not stick around."

"I'm with you on that," Rey agrees, though for a different reason. I can sense her curiosity increasing with the temptation that bleeds from the planet at an alarming rate.

"Are you ready?" I ask her, guiding our shuttle down toward the planet's surface.

"No," she whispers, fear lacing her voice, "but I have to be." She takes a deep, steadying breath. "I feel like I should be doing this on my own."

"We're a dyad," I remind her, trying not to lose my composure. The thought of Rey facing this alone makes my blood boil. "You can't get rid of me that easily. We go together or not at all."

Poe's voice comes through the ship's coms again. "How are you guys going to find this thing? You can't exactly search an entire planet in one day."

"We don't have to. It's calling to us. We can feel it," Rey answers for us.

The descent through the thick, sooty clouds is nearly impossible. Between the nav computer going haywire and the Force guiding us like a broken compass, I struggle to keep the shuttle steady as we land beside an outcropping of magmatic rock. What was once a whisper in the back of my mind is now a resounding call that seems to carry into every cell in my body. My eyes squeeze shut in a feeble attempt to block out the temptation. My bones ache for the power that radiates from the planet's core.

"This place is evil," Rey whispers beside me. Neither of us has moved in several minutes. "I can feel something calling to me. I hear them. The Sith."

"Don't give in," I beg her, pulling her attention away from the river of lava that winds its way through the severe landscape like a predatory serpent. "Remember who we're fighting for. Focus on that instead. It's the only way to drown out the voices."

We gather our composure and open the shuttle to the hot, dense air of Mustafar. The porous lava rock crunches underfoot as we follow the pull, up jagged hills until we're standing upon a ridge that seems to stretch on forever. Far below us on either side lie simmering seas of molten lava, the heat from which scorch my face even at this distance. Darkness bleeds from every crevice of the planet, increasing in intensity the further we walk. It seeps into my feet and claws its way through my bones and muscles, infiltrating every inch of my body until it fills every part of me but my heart. It takes all my concentration to keep it from overpowering me.