Star Wars: The Great Awakening (Book I)

Part 3 - Chapter 13 - Finding the Past

This was something Jolis quickly learned as he saw four of the creatures leap high into the air. They were about to descend on top of Jolis and tear him to pieces just as he reached out and sent a powerful shockwave towards them with the Force.

The creatures flew backwards and away from Jolis as they landed on their backs but were quickly up onto their feet again. Rather than attacking again, however, they appeared to be puzzled and began looking at each other. They emitted several scream-like sounds, most likely their form of communication.

The brief pause gave Jolis a chance to reach out through the Force and touch the creatures. As he attempted to do so, his mind was suddenly pushed back by the wereryks. Somehow sensing his mental probing attempts, they all screamed in unison as the ear-piercing sound from his childhood nightmares caused Jolis to cover his ears.

Breaking away from the pack, one of the wereryks suddenly leapt for Jolis. With its lightning fast reflexes and its claws raised to strike on impact, the beast suddenly froze in mid air. Jolis, reaching out at the last possible moment, grabbed and held the creature in stasis just inches from his face. Unable to move due to Jolis' hold with the Force, the creature's red eyes glowed intensely as Jolis got his first close up look at the nightmare-like creature.

Before he could fully examine the creature, however, the remaining wereryks were upon him. They encircled him but didn't close in.

Jolis—reaching out with the Force—could sense their primal fear. Oddly, it was him they were afraid of. And with one of their own now at his mercy, they appeared to be unwilling to attack because of it.

A dark thought suddenly filled Jolis' mind.

Destroy the creature. End its life as an example of your power.

It would be a simple matter. Jolis knew that with the power of the Force as his ally, he could end this creature's life in an instant.

As tempting as it was, however, the thought felt foreign to him. Unnatural.

The words of the Master returned to him from long ago.

"We desire not to be worshiped by life but to be at one with it. This is the path to balance."

Turning towards the creature, Jolis could still sense the other five wereryks circling him as he looked the restrained creature in the eyes. He could sense anger and hostility but also also fear and panic.

Taking a step back, Jolis did what others would conceive to be unthinkable as he released the wereryk from the stasis hold.

Landing on the ground with a light thud, the beast didn't attack as Jolis suspected it would. Instead, it stood motionless for a moment. Jolis stood poised and ready to defend himself if needed—the Force rising up within him and ready to act at a moments notice.

Looking at the one who was undoubtedly the first and only being to have ever been able to subdue one of its kind, the wereryk took one step towards Jolis and rose to its full height—towering over Jolis by a meter and a half.

The beast let out a scream which caused Jolis' skin to crawl. However, it and the other wereryks turned and leapt high into the trees in a sudden retreat. It took only a moment before Jolis sensed that he was once again alone in the dark forrest.

Still wary of an attack, the silence which followed was even more unnerving.

Jolis reached out with the Force once again but this time, he could sense the creatures. They were just on the very edge of his ability to detect. Close enough to sense but too far to pinpoint their exact location, the creatures remained at this distance as Jolis made his way deeper into the Low World.