Into the Void: Star Wars (Dawn of the Jedi) Read Online Free

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     them soon.”
    Xiang nodded, smiled.
    As Lanoree left the room, she almost felt her little brother’s hand in her own.
    On her way back to her Peacemaker, a riot of emotions played across Lanoree’s mind.
     Beneath them all was a realization that was little surprise to her—she was glad that
     Dal was still alive. And this, she knew, was why she had been chosen for this mission.
     There were her past achievements, true, and though only in her midtwenties, she had
     already served the Je’daii well. Her affinity with the Force, and the Je’daii’s purpose
     and outlook, was pure. But her personal involvement might be her greatest asset.
    Because she had failed to save her brother’s life once, she would not let him go again.
     She would do everything she could to save Dal—from danger and from damnation—and that
     determination would serve her mission well.
    But she knew that it might also compromise her assignment.
    She breathed deeply and calmed herself, knowing that she would have to keep her emotions
     in check.
    Two young Je’daii apprentices passed her by. A boy and a girl, they might well have
     been brother and sister, and for a fleeting moment they reminded her of Dal and herself.
     They bowed respectfully and she nodded back, seeing the esteem in their eyes, and
     perhaps a touch of awe. Lanoree wore loose trousers and wrapped shirt, shimmersilk
     jacket, leather boots and equipment belt. Her flowing red scarves werefrom one of the finest clothing stores on Kalimahr. The silver bangles on her left
     wrist bore precious stones from the deep mines of Ska Gora, a gift from the Wookiee
     family she’d grown close to during her time there. Her sword was carried in a leather
     sheath fashioned from the bright green skin of a screech lizard from one of Obri’s
     three moons. Add these exotic adornments to her six-foot frame, startling gray eyes,
     and long, flowing auburn hair clasped in a dozen metal clips, and she knew she cut
     an imposing figure.
    “Ranger,” the young girl said. Lanoree paused and turned, and saw that the two children
     had also stopped. They were staring at her, but with a little more than fascination.
     They had purpose.
    “Children,” Lanoree said, raising an eyebrow.
    The girl came forward, one hand in the pocket of her woven trousers. Lanoree sensed
     the Force flowing strongly in them both, and there was an assuredness to their movements
     that made her sad. With her and Dal it had been so different. He had never understood
     the Force, and as they’d grown older together that confusion had turned into rejection,
     a growing hatred … and then something far worse.
    “Master Dam-Powl asked that I give you this,” the girl said. She held out a small
     message pod the size of her thumb. “She said it’s for your eyes only.”
    A private message from Master Dam-Powl, beyond the ears and eyes of the rest of the
     Je’daii. This was intriguing.
    Lanoree took the pod and pocketed it. “Thank you,” she said. “What’s your name?”
    But the girl and boy hurried away toward Lha-Mi’s Peacemaker, a gentle breeze ruffling
     their hair. The ship’s engines were already starting to cycle up.
    Ironholgs stood at the base of her ship’s ramp. It clicked and rattled as she approached.
    “All good?” she asked absently. The droid confirmed that, yes, all was good.
    Lanoree paused on the ramp and looked around. The Masters’ Peacemaker and several
     smaller escort ships were already lifting away, and further afield there were only
     the hillsides and the ancient standing stones, placed countless millennia ago to honor
     long-forgotten gods.
    The feeling of being watched came from elsewhere. The Je’daii Masters. They were waiting
     for her departure.
    “Okay, then,” Lanoree said, and she walked up the ramp into the comforting, familiar
     confines of her own ship.
    But she was distracted. This short time on Tython, and hearing of Dal’s mysterious
     survival, was