Distant Horizons/Chapter 11

Chapter 11 Victims

Trisha had been walking for hours. The ship however, was still in sight, a dot in the distance. She loved this place, every aspect of it. She had past hundreds of trees, and shrubs, each one with a different kind of fruit hanging fresh from its boughs. She had tried to taste all of them, but they were so many she had given up. She simply admired them, their beauty, their colour, and their round surfaces. And when she finished eating one succulent fruit, she grabbed another, whatever the flavour. There were flowers in bloom too, some which changed colour, some which moved around and followed her with their heads, and others which grew so fast she could actually see them become taller. And there were animals here too. Lots of them. Insects with huge bright wings and furry feelers, birds which slurped nectar from the flowers like bees, and equine mammals with long legs and hooves, and striped fur, which looked at her curiously. She couldn’t fathom how all this was created by Hando only yesterday. Trisha stopped walking to admire the view. Suddenly, millions of birds rose from the jungle canopy miles below, and they flew out further and further. She looked towards the horizon. Which of course there was none. Trisha bent down to a large cup shaped flower and bent it back towards her like a cup. Then she slurped out the sweet nectar. She closed her eyes. Maybe this was what Duro was like all those millennia ago. A paradise. She turned around and headed the last steps to the next platform viewpoint. But when she reached there, she stopped. In front of her was the entrance to a dark cave. Dry rocks were all about, and the entrance to the cave was littered with bleach white bones and skulls. A shiver went down Trisha’s spine, and all of a sudden the light breeze seemed cold and loathing. It seemed to want to wear her down, blow her down and away. She stood there, petrified, and gazed with a subtle terror at the bones at her feet. This was extreme. Skulls were piled high to the right of the cave entrance. They were the skulls of what looked like humans, gran, devish, cerean, mon calamari, pa’lowick, and duros. Clearly, they had not been the first here. Bones were littered across the dry ground, and more were all over the grass further out. Trisha put her hand to her hip. No gun. Why was she so stupid, why didn’t she take the one precaution necessary? Just a blaster and it would have been all alright. Trisha started to whimper. She staggered backwards and looked fearfully at the cave. Sweat and tears dripped from her face, and all the while, nothing emerged from the cave. And then all of a sudden, the sky went dark, the dark of night. She started to run backwards, and then ran forwards, dodging rocks and sticks, and still moaning in dread. The night sky here had no stars, just a dim black curtain of sky. Trisha could see nothing, but she ran, and suddenly she tripped. And fell. She fell head over heels down an embankment and over a cliff. The vines and creepers snagged and twanged against her body, blocking her fall, until she finally fell flat on her face. She had landed in a heap of bones. When she realized this she flinched, and tried to shake the horrible bones and skulls off her, but then suddenly she froze. She had heard something. She dared not move, and she heard the animal come closer. She felt cold sweat and blood trickle over her face as she peered between the bones. Then she saw it. Out of the cave about 20 metres away, came a huge beast. It was like a rancor, only it walked on all fours, and its eyes glowed dark red. It had a broad, bloodied mouth, with possibly hundreds of tiny teeth. It had huge muscles, and when she looked closely, she saw something dangling from its mouth. It was some sort of tail. Then she realized. It was one of Shia’s lekku. Immediately, she whimpered in shock. The beast turned toward her, and she held her breath in silence. Strong emotions filled her mind. That was Shia, no doubt, his body gone, his lekku torn from his skull. And she knew Shia had never truly felt comfortable with her boyfriend Hando. Yet also, despite the fact he resented her for loving Hando, Trisha had always loved Shia. Not in a sexual way or a partnership way, but just compassion. Shia had belonged to them, a dirty band of smugglers, and yet now, he was dead. The hideous monstrosity that had eaten Shia went back inside, and Trisha cried silently. Nothing could replace him. She began to loathe the place she was in. Before she had loved it, yet now, hate, fury and misery were channelled through her. She wanted to leave this place now. Yet she couldn’t. The doors of that palace, they had gone. And now, more emotions came back, emotions about Hando. What he had done. All those happenings that lead up Shia’s death, and were bound to kill the rest of them sooner or later. This core of the Multiverse was evil, and yet Hando had forged it in his mind. Yet now, it seemed nothing could change this abomination of a place. Suddenly, Trisha felt a warm hand on her shoulder. She jerked around. There it was. The beast, the monster, with Shia’s lekku in its maw... no sooner had she seen it she knew it was Hando. He put his finger to his lips and gestured she should get up. She stood, and they tiptoed out along a ledge. Once they reached a point where the ledge was too thin to walk, they climbed. They did this without word, and soon they were back on the path. Trisha glanced at Hando’s hip. An imperial blaster dangled from a hook in his trousers. The gun often hit against the duros’s legs as he walked, a steady click which kept keeping them awake. At last they reached the landing site. Hando walked up to where the ship had been. But he was in for a shock. The Distant Horizons was gone.