“That’s impossible,” said Master Mirabel. “We shared your memories of the Amaxine station. The darkness you sensed there—that raw power—it was very real.”

“And what about the warnings we received?” Orla interjected. “The visions?”

“I fear we may have misinterpreted the warnings.” Cohmac walked up to the jeweled insect idol. “Perhaps these were not used to contain the dark side. I think instead they were used to…to dampen it. To hold it in place. That’s why the containment exercises have been so difficult to execute. We were overlapping with their original purposes, ultimately undoing them.”

“Explain in really simple terms for those of us not fluent in Ancient Force Archaeology,” Orla said.

“These statues weren’t holding the dark side within themselves. They were holding the dark side on the Amaxine station—keeping it imprisoned there, attempting to warn us of it.” Cohmac put one hand to his chest as the import of his own words sunk in. “So when we removed the statues—”

“We didn’t remove the darkness,” Orla finished. “We set it free.”

25 Years Earlier- Part Four

To Orla’s deep gratitude, they had entered an area of the caves without any serpents. Master Laret led the way, glow rod in hand. Orla and Cohmac followed several steps after. At first Orla had believed her master insisted on keeping some distance between them in case any serpents attacked from behind.

Now that she had been able to better center herself, though, Orla knew as well as Master Laret did that no predators lurked nearby. Instead, the two apprentices were being given space so they could talk freely.

“I’m sorry about Master Simmix,” Orla said.

Cohmac nodded. His gaze remained unfocused. “We’re not supposed to mourn,” he said. “He’s one with the Force.”

She answered exactly as she was supposed to: “But we can regret his loss—” Cohmac cut her off with a gesture.

“It’s ridiculous.” He readjusted his robes, restless, ill at ease. “They command that master and apprentice spend years together, working as a partnership, as close as any family could possibly be, and then they expect us not to become attached. I never thought about it before—I never had to—but now I can’t escape how unfair it is. Worse than unfair. It’s wrong.”

His words struck an unfamiliar chord within Orla. Master Laret wasn’t necessarily completely orthodox in her methods, but never had she or anyone else come out and said that the Jedi might be completely wrong about something. About anything.

If only someone had spoken up before. Orla might not have felt so completely alone.