Playlist:

❶ "Sequoia"—The Sounds of Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks

❷ "Wind Sounds 1 Hour / Wind Blowing Through Autumn Forest"—Relaxing Sounds Of Nature

❸ "In the Jungle"—Raiders of the Lost Ark OST

❹ "Hymn to the Fallen"—Saving Private Ryan OS

❶ The next morning after breakfast, they hiked into the higher elevations, where large kedari trees intermixed with deciduous thundu trees. The kedari trees stood in stately groves, while the thundu trees branched out. They cast shadows upon large expanses of kavak, small feather­wing plants harbored underneath the threes.

A skittish mammal weighing about three-hundred kilograms with antlers called a fianna bounded across the trail as they climbed the pass. The tupai—small ground mammals with spots all over their long-­haired body—skittered away as the large party invaded their territories.

Plenty of avians, from the nocturnal ugla to the gigantic atsahs, soared across the clear, blue sky, catching the updrafts from the sun-heated boulders below. From a distance, the group spied a gigantic black shashini standing on his two rear legs and using his claws to peel the bark off a tree.

A pair of laser shots echoed through the surroundings. Ten minutes later, Luke spotted Wei'ahtt and Zeke hauling back a sizable fianna buck. As the sun set, their campfire came to life among the mauve sky and chittering forest critters. The grilled meat tapped a primal urge to eat and the group enjoyed a quiet meal and gentle camaraderie in front of the crackling fire. Legends and songs from the many cultures that represented the Jedi Order peppered the night.

❷ Overnight the temperature dropped, causing the atmospheric pressure to rise. In the morning, the wind had picked up so much that the fire kept dying. Luke conferred with Naluma in hushed tones as the Padawan ate breakfast around the sputtering flames. "I think it's time to break camp and get down to the lower elevations before we find ourselves snowed in."

Naluma brushed the gathering snowflakes off her arm. "It's only month nine. Are we really getting snow this early?"

"We're above 2300 meters. Winter comes early here, and I really don't want to relive my days on Hoth," Luke said with a smirk. "The dark clouds over that ridge look like trouble. Big trouble."

"All right. Maybe next year we can come a little earlier."

Luke moved toward the center of camp. "Everyone, pack up. We need to outrun the approaching storm. Hurry."

While the wind howled across the campsite, the Padawan scurried to repack their bags and strike their tents. As they were about to leave, Jedi Knight Tandolleau said to Luke, "Master Skywalker, I don't know where Dashka is."

Luke looked at him concerned. "What do you mean you don't know where he is? No one was supposed to wander off alone, Tandolleau, especially him. You had orders to stay on his six."

"I know. He said he wanted to relieve himself, and I was in the middle of striking the tent—I didn't think it would hurt to let him just walk a few paces into the woods. He said he'd be back soon," Tandolleau said with discernable worry.

"He must have wandered off. That kid has no common sense." Luke rested his hands on his hips as snow flurries whipped around them.

Naluma came up to Luke and asked, "What's wrong?"

"Dashka's wandered off."

"Not good. If we don't get down this mountain pretty soon, Luke, we might freeze to death."

"I know." He turned his face out of the wind as he thought. Then he yelled, "Kalder."

"Yes, Master Skywalker," Kalder said as he approached the Jedi Master. Snow flurries were whirring around them already. Visibility had reduced to a few feet, and the wind had accelerated, driving the snow into the clearing.

"Think you can get the Padawan back to the academy on your own before they get caught in snow drifts?" Luke asked with a nod to the snow. "It's not going to take long for this stuff to start piling up."

"Of course," Kalder said with a perfunctory nod. "Where are you going?"

"Dashka's wandered off. Naluma and I are going to search for him," the Jedi Master said with anxiety. "Get them together and hurry down the mountain. And, no one—and I mean no one—is to go off alone, even if it is just to relieve themselves. Is that understood?"

"Perfectly, Master Skywalker."

"When we've found Dashka, I'll activate the emergency beacon if it's safe to fly. If not, we'll hunker down and ride out the storm until conditions improve."

"Yes, master," Kalder said as he bent to shovel snow onto the dying campfire.

Luke raised his voice and addressed all the Padawan. "Padawan Dashka has wandered off. Jedi Fau and I will search for him while Jedi Kalder takes you back to the academy. You are to obey his every command without hesitation, and absolutely no person is to wander off by themselves for any reason whatsoever. Is that understood?"

The Padawan replied in unison, "Yes, Master Skywalker."

Kalder picked up his pack, rolling his shoulders until it settled into a comfortable position. "Let's move out. This snow is getting thicker by the minute."

❸ As the group trudged away, Luke and Naluma ranged out with the Force.

"Nothing." Naluma rubbed her freezing hands together. "I think the cold is interfering."

"We've got to cover this quickly. How about we separate, staying only as far apart as we can reach each other?"

"What's our max?" Naluma did not like the idea of separating in this storm, but she realized that Dashka's life may depend on it.

Luke pointed to her left. "Head that way until you can no longer hear me in your head."

As they followed two divergent paths, Luke was surprised that they were able to maximize the distance to two hundred meters. Their Force-bond had magnified threefold in the last year since they had used it this way.

Where did Tandolleau see him last? Naluma sent to him.

Heading into the woods in this general direction.

After searching for over an hour, the snow had blanketed the trail in soft powder. Still, they found no sign of Dashka.

After another hour, the drifts covered their ankles. Their packs kept snagging on the kavak and wasaka berry bushes that encroached the path.

Then they both felt Dashka within their range—scared. He was unable to communicate by thought yet. They could barely hear his vocal screams before his Force-signature extinguished.

They ran through the snow toward him, trudging through the drifts. They stopped at the sight of a large female melika, a feline about half the size of Luke with large ears and a wispy tail. Two melika younglings consumed Dashka's remains in the middle of the trail.

As Luke's anger flared through Naluma, he ignited his lightsaber.

As tears froze to her cheeks in grief for Dashka and fear for Luke, Naluma said, "Striking down these creatures will not bring Dashka back, Luke. Don't take revenge on them. They were only doing what comes naturally to them."

Luke took a deep breath and lowered his weapon, reigning in his anger and returning to peace. After a few breaths, he said, "They have tasted human flesh, Naluma. Once they have acquired that taste, we must destroy them."

Grateful that he had released his anger, Naluma drew her lightsaber.

The mother cat then saw Luke and sprung at him. He sliced her in half in mid­spring.

Naluma approached the two younglings, killing one while the melika still ate. The other attacked with vicious snarls.

Luke grabbed him with the Force and flung him against a tree.

Naluma threw her lightsaber at him, vivisecting him. The melika writhed in the last moments of death as his innards spilled out. She reclaimed her lightsaber and turned to Luke, who kneeled beside Dashka's carcass.

As he picked him up, she placed her hand on Luke's arm and murmured, "Luke, there's nothing more you can do."

"I know, but he deserves a proper Jedi funeral," he sobbed. "Could you build a pyre while I prepare the body?"

"Luke, we need to find shelter before we get buried in this blizzard and freeze to death."

"I don't care."

Naluma felt their grief resonating off each other through their Force-bond. Usually, their bond strengthened each other, but this grief tore both of them apart. With her tears blinding her sight, she trudged off into the woods to find downed branches.

After gathering a few, she collapsed in the snow and sobbed. The pain hurt like Dashka had been her own son. The Master-Padawan bond had barely formed, but the loss debilitated her as if he had been one of her own children. When added to Luke's pain that spilled over their Force-bond, Naluma lost the ability to function. His guilt and the darkness overwhelmed both of them.

She reached out to the Force and built up her shields, shutting Luke out. Once completed, she pulled on her military experience to shove her own grief aside into a small corner in her heart. Pushing forward with her task, Naluma hacked some green branches from the nearest trees and hurried back to Luke.

He had laid Dashka in a snowdrift, the boy's red blood standing out in stark contrast to the glistening snow. Together he and Naluma built the Jedi funeral pyre. Darkness again consumed them as the snow continued to fall.

❹ Luke placed the body in the cradle of the branches and used the Force to light the pyre.

Naluma wrapped her arm around Luke's shoulders as he looked up to the clouds. This time the embers could not mix with the stars, as the snow quenched their fire early, much like the melika had quenched the embers of Dashka.

Again, the smoke from the fire wafted into their faces, but this time neither pushed it away. The fumes permeated them as did their grief.

Tears streamed down Luke's face, freezing into crusty tracks. With tears plastered to her face, Naluma turned to Luke and held him. 

"It was all my fault. I knew he wasn't ready for this trip, Naluma. I knew."

They both sobbed, letting the grief wash over them and through them, pulling them into darkness.

Did you know ...

● There's nothing like losing your own child. For a teacher, there's nothing like losing a student who was your responsibility. Both apply to Luke and Naluma, as they are surrogate parents to all of the Padawan.

Tell me what you think ...

● How will the loss of Dashka affect the academy from this point forward?

● What is Luke thinking about at the end of this chapter?

● How do Luke and Naluma handle their grief differently? Why?