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forgetting her own fears and last-minute trepidations.
Here was the temple of Pomojema, the temple she'd been trying to reach for
years. Hin and Kee flanked her as they moved toward the entranceway. Threepio
and Artoo remained behind to guard the crawler.
Despite Luke's assurance that they were alone here, everyone kept a worried
eye on the drifting fog.
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Anything imaginable and many things unimaginable could spring out of that
cloaking haze at any minute.
Luke was waiting impatiently, standing on the topmost block of the rubble in
the entrance. "It's light inside," he told them, after peering inside. His
gaze went higher and he squinted. "Part of the roof's caved in, too, but it
looks solid enough."
"Go ahead, boy," Halla urged him, "but quietly, quiet."
"That's all right," he said. Now that they had actually gained the temple, he
wasn't about to steal the old woman's dream. This was her right as much as
his. So he waited until the others had joined him. In a few moments all were
standing silently inside the ancient structure.
There were two places above where the soaring, domed roof had fallen in. They
admitted sufficient light to illuminate the temple's interior. Piles of broken
stone lay splattered beneath each ragged hole.
Jungle growth had penetrated inside. Lianas and other parasitic plants lay
everywhere, extending their tenacious embrace into all corners of the
building. They spiraled skyward on the cylindrical bodies of towering obsidian
pillars. These unyielding supports boasted intricate carved patterns and
designs, whose meaning none now alive could properly appreciate.
Each swimming in his or her own thoughts, the five walked across the spacious
floor toward the far side of the temple. A colossal statue was seated there
against the dark wall. It represented a vaguely
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Splinter Of The Mind's Eye by Alan Dean Foster humanoid being seated on a
carved throne. Leathery wings which might have been vestigial swept out in two
awesome arcs to either side of the figure. Enormous claws thrust from feet and
arms, the latter clinging to the ends of armrests on the throne. It had no
face below slanted, accusing eyes only a mass of Medusian, carved tentacles.
"Pomojema, god of the Kaiburr," Halla whispered, without knowing why she was
bothering to whisper. "It almost seems familiar, somehow." She chuckled
nervously. "That's crazy, of course."
Then she was pointing excitedly, voice and hand trembling alike with the
wonder of it. "It's there... I
knew it, I knew it!"
In the center of the gray stone chest of the statue lay a dimly pulsing light
the hue of vanadinite. "The crystal," breathed the Princess softly. Halla did
not hear her. Mind and gaze remained focused on an obsession become
attainable.
Luke stopped, his eyes on the movement to the left of the leering stone
figure. It was dark back there, and there was no telling how far the darkness
stretched.
Then they all began backing away slowly. Halla's pistol was the first to be
aimed.
The creature moving out from behind the statue had a wide, wide mouth fringed
with short sharp teeth now open in a batrachian grin. Small yellow eyes
blinked dumbly at them. It moved on ponderous, warty legs like thick tree
stumps.
Halla fired. The beam of energy had no visible effect on the creature, which
continued lumbering toward them. Luke had his own pistol out, as did Leia. All
three of them fired. If the joint barrage had any effect, it was to irritate
the sluggish beast. It blinked blood, continued its bowlegged walk toward them
at a faster pace.
They continued retreating toward the entrance. "Hin, Kee," Luke called to the
Yuzzem. "Go back to the crawler... get the rifles!"
Hin chittered a reply, then both Yuzzem were racing for the exit. Luke
considered the crystal, receding behind the protective bulk of the monster.
Taking his lightsaber from his belt, he activated the powerful blue beam and
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started cautiously forward.
"Luke, have you lost your mind?" the Princess shouted.
He reflected briefly that it wasn't impossible, and then dismissed the
thought. If he paused to do much thinking, the steadily advancing carnivore
would have him for a snack.
It hesitated within snapping distance, slightly hypnotized by the weaving beam
of the saber. Luke lunged forward. The saber contacted the creature's chin.
Intense energy punctured a small hole in the wide lower jaw.
That produced a dimly outraged moan from the thing. Jaws parted to reveal a
gullet high and wide enough to dance in. Luke saw something moving inside
. Whether prodded by instinct or a good guess, he threw himself sharply to his
left and rolled rapidly.
The long pink tongue exploded outward, to pulverize a black boulder which had
been just behind him.
As he rolled to his feet and continued backing away, the creature spat out
chunks of rock.
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Splinter Of The Mind's Eye by Alan Dean Foster
Before Luke could move out of range the thick tongue shot out again. Unable to
dodge, he held his saber tightly in front of him. It seemed pitifully
inadequate against that pink pseudopod. But the sizzling sound was loud.
Apparently he'd contacted sensitive tissue, because the creature let out a
throaty yelp. With single-minded determination, it resumed stalking Luke.
Death glinted in narrowed yellow eyes.
Leia and Halla kept up a steady fire on the massive body, to no effect.
"Useless," the Princess said tightly. She looked toward the entrance. There
was no sign of movement there. "Hin!" she shouted.
"Kee!" No response.
"They'll get here," Halla advised her. "They'd better."
Unexpectedly, the monster hopped forward. Horizontal door-jaws snapped shut
with a ringing thud as
Luke ducked beneath the bite. His saber cut a black line across the underside
of the jaw as he stumbled clear, to bang into one of the thick pillars
supporting the roof. One of the gaps in that soaring ceiling shone directly
above.
He shot an anxious glance toward the entrance. Where were the Yuzzem? He
couldn't avoid this angry behemoth much longer.
No time to worry about anything other than himself now. It was crawling for
him once more. A quick glance at the ceiling, a quicker decision, and then he
was swinging the light-saber at the pillar's base.
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