the trees, peering at Luke with small black eyes. They climbed a low mound of rubble, all that remained of one wing of the temple, and were gone.
They feel safe here,
Luke thought.
They know the hunters don’t come inside the perimeter
.
“Luke…”
Luke turned in surprise, looking for the source of the voice he’d heard.
“This place is strong with the Force,” Ben Kenobi said in Luke’s head. “It was the will of the Force that guided you to this place. Here you will learn to open yourself
to the Force, guiding its possibilities and obeying its commands. And passingits tests. May the Force be with you, Luke.”
“Ben!” Luke called, but the voice of his old teacher was silent.
Luke sat down on the rim of the fountain, in one of the long shadows the statues cast across the glen. He could feel the power around him—power and a sense of peace. This was the place the
Force had shown him, and where it had brought him.
“Master Luke?”
That voice hadn’tbeen in his head. Luke looked up and saw Threepio and Artoo standing in one of the archways to the great hall.
“Over here, Threepio.”
“There you are! Master Luke, we’ve found something.”
“What have you found?”
Artoo let out a torrent of accusatory beeps.
“Oh, very well,
you
found it,” Threepio said. “Artoo found a damaged frieze—apparently without
my
help—and we thought itmight be of
interest.”
“Let’s see what you’ve got,” Luke said, following the droids back into the ruined hall, to a section in deep shadow.
Artoo activated a spotlight on his dome and traced it along the wall. Luke leaned forward, hands on his knees. The sculpted figures on the wall were as damaged as the statues, the scenes
interrupted by craters left by blaster fire. But Luke couldmake out children in Jedi robes, lightsabers raised in front of them as an instructor demonstrated the proper defensive stance.
Farther down the wall, Luke saw fragments of scenes in which Jedi fought warriors wearing spiked armor and masks. Even frozen in stone, the Jedi looked like deadly dancers, captured in the act
of leaping and tumbling, their lightsabers like extensions of their bodies.
I’ll never be able to do that—I can barely fend off an attack from a training remote. I wouldn’t even know how to
learn
to do that. So much knowledge has been lost.
No, not lost—stolen from the galaxy. Stolen by Vader and the Emperor
.
The frieze ended in shattered stone, and Artoo shut off his light.
“I’m glad I got to see that,” Luke said. “But everything here took place a long timeago. This place is important because of the present, not the past. The Force told me
so.”
He returned to the glade, which was filled with birdsong, and looked around the courtyard again. His gaze lingered on a stone pillar whose surface was broken by a lever extending from the stone
two-thirds of the way to the top, meters above his head.
“Unless the Jedi who lived here were very tall,that was designed to be opened with the Force,” he said.
Luke unbuckled his belt and holster and set it down on a tumbled slab of rock next to the droids. Holding his deactivated lightsaber in one hand, he walked over and stood beneath the pillar, its
surface turned orange by the setting sun. He breathed deeply, tuning out the squabbling droids and pushing away the distracting thoughts crowdinghis head.
Keep your concentration here and now
.
He reached out with his hand, imagining it gripping the lever and pulling.
Nothing happened.
Luke shook his head and tried again, ordering the lever to move, then conjuring a picture of the Force taking on the form of something that could pull it. He closed his eyes and tried to imagine
it was only him and the lever he was tryingto move. When he looked again, the lever would have shifted and the pedestal would be open.
Luke opened his eyes. Nothing had changed.
He wiped his brow on his sleeve, took a deep breath, and tried again.
And then
They feel safe here,
Luke thought.
They know the hunters don’t come inside the perimeter
.
“Luke…”
Luke turned in surprise, looking for the source of the voice he’d heard.
“This place is strong with the Force,” Ben Kenobi said in Luke’s head. “It was the will of the Force that guided you to this place. Here you will learn to open yourself
to the Force, guiding its possibilities and obeying its commands. And passingits tests. May the Force be with you, Luke.”
“Ben!” Luke called, but the voice of his old teacher was silent.
Luke sat down on the rim of the fountain, in one of the long shadows the statues cast across the glen. He could feel the power around him—power and a sense of peace. This was the place the
Force had shown him, and where it had brought him.
“Master Luke?”
That voice hadn’tbeen in his head. Luke looked up and saw Threepio and Artoo standing in one of the archways to the great hall.
“Over here, Threepio.”
“There you are! Master Luke, we’ve found something.”
“What have you found?”
Artoo let out a torrent of accusatory beeps.
“Oh, very well,
you
found it,” Threepio said. “Artoo found a damaged frieze—apparently without
my
help—and we thought itmight be of
interest.”
“Let’s see what you’ve got,” Luke said, following the droids back into the ruined hall, to a section in deep shadow.
Artoo activated a spotlight on his dome and traced it along the wall. Luke leaned forward, hands on his knees. The sculpted figures on the wall were as damaged as the statues, the scenes
interrupted by craters left by blaster fire. But Luke couldmake out children in Jedi robes, lightsabers raised in front of them as an instructor demonstrated the proper defensive stance.
Farther down the wall, Luke saw fragments of scenes in which Jedi fought warriors wearing spiked armor and masks. Even frozen in stone, the Jedi looked like deadly dancers, captured in the act
of leaping and tumbling, their lightsabers like extensions of their bodies.
I’ll never be able to do that—I can barely fend off an attack from a training remote. I wouldn’t even know how to
learn
to do that. So much knowledge has been lost.
No, not lost—stolen from the galaxy. Stolen by Vader and the Emperor
.
The frieze ended in shattered stone, and Artoo shut off his light.
“I’m glad I got to see that,” Luke said. “But everything here took place a long timeago. This place is important because of the present, not the past. The Force told me
so.”
He returned to the glade, which was filled with birdsong, and looked around the courtyard again. His gaze lingered on a stone pillar whose surface was broken by a lever extending from the stone
two-thirds of the way to the top, meters above his head.
“Unless the Jedi who lived here were very tall,that was designed to be opened with the Force,” he said.
Luke unbuckled his belt and holster and set it down on a tumbled slab of rock next to the droids. Holding his deactivated lightsaber in one hand, he walked over and stood beneath the pillar, its
surface turned orange by the setting sun. He breathed deeply, tuning out the squabbling droids and pushing away the distracting thoughts crowdinghis head.
Keep your concentration here and now
.
He reached out with his hand, imagining it gripping the lever and pulling.
Nothing happened.
Luke shook his head and tried again, ordering the lever to move, then conjuring a picture of the Force taking on the form of something that could pull it. He closed his eyes and tried to imagine
it was only him and the lever he was tryingto move. When he looked again, the lever would have shifted and the pedestal would be open.
Luke opened his eyes. Nothing had changed.
He wiped his brow on his sleeve, took a deep breath, and tried again.
And then
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