mischievous smile. 'But there is still one more small matter.
'I will have to leave Coruscant in the next few days to attend to other business. As you can imagine, this is a difficult time for our order.'
'Of course, Master.'
'But you must understand that I cannot leave a Padawan here on Coruscant unsupervised.'
It was true. All Padawans were required to be under the constant care and watchful eye of a Jedi Master until they completed their training. 'I'm afraid I don't understand. If you are leaving, then what new Master will I serve?'
'I think your period of service is over, my young Jedi.'
For a moment Johun just stood there, unable to wrap his mind around what he had been told. Only when he realized Farfalla had used the honorific Jedi instead of Padawan did it become clear.
'You mean… I am to be knighted?'
'That is precisely what I mean,' Farfalla confirmed. 'I have met with the Council and they agree that you are ready.'
Involuntarily Johun's hand dropped to brush against the hilt of his lightsaber. He had constructed it on Ruusan at Hoth's insistence only weeks before his first Master's death. He realized the general must have been preparing him for this moment even then. However, building a lightsaber was only one step on the path to Jedi Knighthood.
'What about the trials?' Johun asked, trying to contain himself. 'I must still pass the final tests of the Council.' 'I have spoken with them about this, too, and they agree that you have already proven yourself many times over during your service on Ruusan. Assigning you to Valorum's guard was your final test. In accepting the position as you did, you have demonstrated beyond all doubt that you are willing to sacrifice your own wants and desires for the greater good.'
'I… I don't know what to say, Master' the young man stammered.
'You earned this, Johun,' Farfalla assured him. 'General Hoth would be proud.'
The Jedi Master's lightsaber appeared in his hand, igniting with a clean, crisp hum. Johun bowed his head and turned it slightly to one side. Farfalla flicked his wrist, and the lightsaber sliced away the dangling apprentice's braid. The young man felt the weight of it tumbling away as it fell to the floor, then raised his head with tears in his eyes.
He was unable to speak, his mind still swirling with all that had happened: his ascension to the rank of Jedi Knight; his posting to Valorum's guard; the tragic news of Irtanna and her crew.
'You will forever look back on this day as one of great joy, but also one of great sorrow,' Farfalla told him, offering one final piece of advice. 'It will help you to remember that, in life, the two are often closely linked.'
'I will remember, Master,' Johun vowed, realizing that for the first time he was offering his word not as a Padawan, but as a true Jedi Knight.
Darovit moved with a slow but steady pace across the cracked soil of the sunbaked field. His left hand clutched a walking stick while the stump where his right had been was wrapped in heavy bandages. A hovering bouncer matched his pace on either side; their round bodies bobbed along like a pair of furry green balloons tethered to his shoulders. They had wide, soulful eyes but no visible nose or mouth. Their long, flat tails streamed out behind them like ribbons fluttering on the breeze.
The bouncers had first come to him in the cave, where he had lain for days in a near-catatonic state. Huddled and clutching at his maimed limb, he had given up all hope. When they found him, he had wanted nothing more than to die.
The compassionate, telepathic creatures had circled above him, speaking directly to his mind, offering words of comfort and assurance. They had soothed his troubled spirit, and though they could not heal his wounds they were able to ease his physical pain.
They had guided him safely out of the underground tunnels and back up to the bright sun and fresh air of the surface. They had led him to a grove where he found cool water to slake his thirst and sweet berries to sate his ravenous hunger. They'd even shown him where to find an abandoned cache of medical supplies, so he could properly clean and dress his amputated stump to stave off infection.
For several days the young man had stayed hidden at the bouncers' grove, gathering his strength and recovering from his terrible wound. He was too afraid of being recognized as one of the Sith to seek out others of his own species, too ashamed by his actions and his mutilated limb to face others of his own kind. But more powerful than either his fear or his shame was his rage-Rain had taken his hand! His own cousin had betrayed and maimed him! Thoughts of vengeance and retribution consumed him; images of hunting her down and destroying her filled his restless dreams.
Yet as his body began to heal, his anger began to fade. Desperate to cling to his hatred, he had replayed the encounter with Rain over and over in his mind… only to have the truth suddenly dawn on him. Rain had been trying to save him!
Surrounded by the gentle bouncers and their calming presence, Darovit was finally able to understand what she had done. The Sith at his cousin's side would have killed him without a second thought. By crippling him, Rain had spared his life; a final act of mercy before she fell under the sway of her new dark side Master.
And with understanding came acceptance, Darovit's hand was gone. Rain was gone. His dreams of joining the Jedi-or the Sith- were gone. All he had left were the bouncers.
Darovit was grateful for their kindness, but he couldn't understand why they had helped him. Perhaps it was because everyone else was gone: The Sith were destroyed, their minions had fled the world or been taken away as prisoners of war. The Jedi and Republic soldiers serving in the Army of Light were all gone. Two nights earlier he'd seen the telltale flicker of ships making the jump to hyperspace in the starry sky as their fleet had left orbit. Even those who lived on Ruusan had gone back to their farms and villages, abandoning the site of the great battle between the darkness and the light. For several days now he had seen no living creature other than the bouncers who had saved him.
He understood that they had given him a second chance at life. He could put his past behind him and start again. But to what purpose? To what end? The bouncers spoke often of the future, as if they had some ability to see glimpses of what was to come. Like most oracles, however, they used words that were couched in vague riddles and generalities, words that offered him no clue to his own fate.
Darovit sad, one of the creatures projected into his mind, a statement more than a question.
'I just don't know what I should do now,' he answered out loud. While the bouncers could project their thoughts and empathically sense broad emotion in others, they weren't able to read minds. It was necessary to actually speak to carry on a conversation with them.
'What kind of future is there for me?' he continued, giving voice to the problem he had been struggling with internally. 'I failed as a Jedi. I failed as a Sith. What could I hope to become now?'
Man?
The answer actually made him stop short. 'A man?' he repeated.
Not a Sith, not a Jedi. Not a mercenary, not a soldier. Not anything but a simple, ordinary man. He nodded and resumed his march across the empty, open field, feeling as if a great weight had been lifted from him.
'Just a man. Why not?'
Chapter 10
Ten Years Later
The Outer Rim world of Serenno was one of the wealthiest planets in the Republic. It was also a breeding ground for anti-Republic sentiment and radical separatist movements, often secretly funded by the vast wealth of various Serenno noble families eager to free themselves from the political yoke of the Galactic Senate.
Yet despite the dangerous revolutionary undercurrents of its culture, or perhaps because of them, the great
