“Whenever you feel alone … whenever darkness closes in … look up and know that the Force is with you … know that we are with you. This is our promise. This is our covenant. For light and life.”

For light and life.

The flames were everywhere now. All-consuming. Blocking everything out.

And yet he didn’t reach out. He couldn’t. What if he didn’t like what he saw?

“Bell?”

“Master?”

“We’ve got you, Bell.”

It was a woman’s voice, a voice he should know, but he couldn’t think, not anymore, not with the flames and the memories and the fear. Should he be afraid?

The Vector was moving. Bell coughed and moaned, but that was good, wasn’t it? That meant he was alive. Ember was barking, barking so loud, louder than the flames as they were guided through the debris, through the remnants of the Nihil fighter, to the Innovator, to safety.

Hands grabbed him. Three-fingered Cyclorrian hands. Human hands. The hands of Indeera. Yes, that was her name. And the hands of another. Gray skin. Long beard. Missing eye. Porter? Porter Engle. What was he doing here?

“Stand back.”

That was Engle, all right, light bursting from his lightsaber, slicing down through the harpoon, cutting Bell free.

And they were running, running … Bell laid out on a gurney, being rushed down one corridor and another, guided by Indeera, by Porter, by people he didn’t know, would never know.

“Ember?”

“She’s here, boy. She needs you. Stay with her.”

Yes. Good dog. Always by his side. Down the corridors. Into the infirmary. Tanks up ahead, full of … what did they call it? He couldn’t remember. It wasn’t important. The flames were calling. The Force was calling.

“That’s it. Get him up. Carefully … Carefully!”

So many voices now. Some shouting. Some calm. Some in pain. So much pain. He just wanted the pain to stop.

And he was falling, not into the fire but into a tank, the liquid cool against his skin, the flames retreating, the voices muffled …

Ember muffled, but still there, on the other side of the glass, waiting for him, tail wagging, tongue hanging from her mouth.

His anchor.

Bell needed an anchor, now more than ever. He couldn’t speak, a breather strapped tight across his face, drugs pumping into his veins. He couldn’t say a word, but that didn’t matter, because he had nothing to say.

He’d seen the flames. Seen the Force. And it had left him colder than ever before.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Lonisa City, Valo

“Elzar, there’s been an incident …”

Samera Ra-oon bustled into the operations room, her green eyes growing wide as she spotted Stellan Gios’s holoform projected on the far wall by a hovering cam droid. She raised a hand, mouthing a silent apology to the Jedi in dark leathers taking the call.