Obi-wan reached for the cable line on his belt. He lassoed the detonator and jerked the line, sending it in the opposite direction, back toward the attacker. He saw the attacker bare his teeth in an admiring smile at the Jedi's skill even as he reached up to catch it in his bare hand. Then he flung it backward, where it detonated harmlessly.
The attacker did not have to move. His weapons could be launched from a distance. But Obi-Wan and Anakin had to maneuver through thick snow to get to him. Anakin had his cable line out and was ready to lasso the next detonator. Obi-Wan ran through the snow. The wind had formed deep drifts, and he had to use the Force to guide him. He used his lightsaber to melt the snow when it piled up against him.
The detonators flew toward them furiously. Occasionally they could hit one with a rock or lasso one. But mostly the two Jedi had to outrun them.
Obi-Wan's legs were beginning to tire from struggling against the snow. He could hear the rasp of Anakin's breath. How long could they keep this up? Obi-Wan wondered.
Beside the attacker, Obi-Wan saw steam rising from the snow. He caught a glint of water and realized it was a thermal spring.
'Anakin, head right,' he called to his Padawan.
They moved silently to the attacker's right. Every time they moved, they brought him closer to the spring.
Ten detonators left on his belt. Obi-Wan took a chance and leaped, ducking to avoid a detonator headed his way. It exploded and he felt shock ways against his skin. He landed on the snow awkwardly and slid down the slope toward his attacker.
Anakin leaped in order to land in front of him, blocking his descent. Two detonators headed their way, and Obi-Wan lassoed one and sent it crashing into the other. The two smoking orbs fell into the deep snow.
'The thermal pool,' he said to Anakin. 'Drive him toward it.'
Anakin nodded. He looked tired. Obi-Wan was, too. Yet he knew that beyond their fatigue lay their stamina.
When they were close enough, Obi-Wan risked a leap straight at their attacker. He knew he would cause him to back up, and the attacker did. He slid on the ice and fell back, crashing into the spring.
The attacker slipped beneath the surface of the water, then emerged, treading water. He shook the hair out of his eyes and gazes at Obi-Wan with a hostile look.
Obi-Wan stood at the edge. He held out a hand. 'You have about ten seconds.'
'Yes.'
The attacker knew the extreme heat would cause a fusion reaction. The thermal detonators would blow.
His eyes were a vivid color between silver and lilac. There was a scar on his upper lip. His hair was long and tied back with a silver cord.
'Come on,' Obi-Wan said, keeping his hand steady. We won't hurt you.'
'Not you, but another,' the bounty hunter said. 'If I return to him without you, he will kill me anyway. I will have an easier death this way. You don't know his power. It comes from the pyramid itself.'
'You don't have to return to him,' Obi-Wan said.
'Ah. But he will find me.' The bounty hunter closed his eyes.
Obi-Wan reached out over the water. 'You must give up!'
'I cannot,' the bounty hunter replied, his eyes still closed. 'And I must tell you this — neither will he.'
Obi-Wan leaped into the pool. But it was too late. The thermal detonators exploded. Water rose and hit Obi-Wan in the face. He choked and slipped beneath the water, then surfaced, struggling against the waves created by the explosion. Smoke rolled toward him.
The smoke cleared. Deep below the clear surface of the water, he saw the bounty hunter's body spiral down, down, to a bottomless pool beneath.
Chapter Fifteen
Anakin hurried over to the thermal pool. His Master had hauled himself out and stood at the edge. The steaming water pooled at his feet, melting the snow.
Through the smoke and the steam, he could see the sadness on his Master's face. The Force was strong here. His Master was reaching out to it and gathering it around, as though warming himself. Obi-Wan's gaze was far away.
'Master? Are you all right?'
'I am saying good-bye to a being I did not know,' Obi-Wan said softly.
The reverence in his tone surprised Anakin. 'He could have killed you.'
'Yet he did not. There is always a need for grief when a being dies, Padawan. Qui-Gon taught me that.' Obi-Wan looked down into the steaming pool. 'I saw someone take his own life in a pool like this one. It was Xanatos, Qui-Gon's greatest enemy. A being who hated Qui-Gon and who would stop at nothing to destroy him. Still, when he took his own life, Qui-Gon stopped to mourn his life's passing. I will never forget it.'
Anakin nodded, though he did not understand. His greatest enemy so far in his life had been a slave trafficker named Krayn. When he had died, Anakin had not paused to mourn. Far from it. He had rejoiced in his death. It could only be good for the galaxy that such a terrible being had ceased to exist.
