Vision of the future

But if either of them fell...

'Cozy, isn't it?' Mara commented, looking around. 'Very symbolic, too. The great and powerful Jedi Master forced to rely on someone else for his survival.'

'I wish you'd drop that,' Luke growled. 'I've already admitted I can't do everything.'

'Which isn't quite the same as relying on other people,' Mara said. 'But okay; consider it dropped. Looks like we're just high enough.'

Luke looked down. The river of fire creepers, as he'd already seen, sloshed a fair distance up the walls of the passageway as too many insects tried to travel through too small a space. Here at the archway, where the tunnel was still narrower, they roved even higher, with some of the insects passing barely centimeters beneath their footrests. 'You think they can eat through our boots?' he asked.

'If enough of them climb aboard and start chewing, they can probably eat through anything,' Mara said. 'And all it'll take will be one of them noticing us to wave whatever chemical flags they use to whistle up the rest of the swarm.'

Luke nodded grimly. 'So in other words, if any of them look like they're getting close, grab them with the Force and get rid of them fast.'

'Better still, throw them across the cave into a wall,' Mara said. 'What I'd like to know is what they're doing down here. There can't possibly be enough food in this entire cavern complex for a swarm this size.'

'Maybe it's a shortcut from one part of the surface to another,' Luke suggested. 'There's that underground river we passed a ways back—maybe they come here for the water.'

'Could be,' Mara said, peering to the side. 'I wish we'd had time to move our packs up off—what in space?'

Luke followed her gaze, just in time to see Builder With Vines swoop down in a shallow dive over the scurrying fire creepers and curve up again with what appeared to be some of the insects in his mouth. 'He's eating them,' he said, not quite believing it.

'Of course he is,' Mara said. ' 'Eater Of Fire Creepers,' remember?'

'But then—?' Luke floundered, thoroughly confused now. 'Are they really not that dangerous?'

'Of course they're dangerous,' Mara snorted. 'You ever hear of the topshot in any clan who picked a name that made him sound calm and reasonable? This has to be the Qom Jha version of kick-the-rancor.'

'Kick-the-rancor?'

'A slang term in Palpatine's court,' Mara said. 'Any stupid stunt where the risks were way out of proportion to the gain.'

Luke worked moisture into a suddenly dry mouth as he watched Builder With Vines finish his snack and swoop down for another pass. Why in the name of the Force was he taking such a terrible risk?

And it was a terrible risk. Luke could feel the danger involved, his Jedi senses tingling almost as strongly as if the threat had been aimed directly at him. Surely Builder With Vines couldn't be that hungry. Could he?

'Offhand, I'd say he's showing off,' Mara muttered, answering his silent question.

'For who? Us?'

'Hardly.' Mara nodded toward the wall behind Luke. 'For the kid.' Luke craned his neck to look. Balanced precariously on a stone near the Qom Jha opening, Child Of Winds was watching in utter fascination as Builder With Vines swooped over the mass of insects, his wings quivering with excitement or nervousness or envy. 'Uh-oh,' Luke said. 'You don't think—?'

'I would hope he's not that stupid,' Mara said. 'But the Qom Jha have been riding him ever since we headed out on this little trip. He just might.'

Luke grimaced. 'Child Of Winds, you stay where you are,' he ordered, putting Jedi firmness into his voice. 'You're not to try to do what Builder With Vines is—' And suddenly, a terrified shriek screamed through his mind. 'What—?' he gasped, his body twitching violently with the shock of the sound.

'It's Builder With Vines,' Mara bit out, her fingers tightening around Luke's to help maintain their balance. Luke looked down—