A Star Wars Fairy Tale: New Hope, Part 10

Luke had forgotten one thing Ben told him. It was just a flicker at first. Han's black velvet jacket slowly transformed into an old leather vest; the flowing white blouse became a tattered yellowish shirt. Luke's silver armor was tarnished and rusted.

“What's happening?” Cecil called from inside the carriage. “The seats are losing their padding, the walls are splintering, and Arthur's back in his blacksmith's apron!” There was a pause before Cecil turned his head back to the carriage, sounding a little annoyed. “No, Arthur, we can't go back and look for your uniform. That was Sir Kenobi's doing, remember?”

Indeed, the entire carriage was changing, even as they charged down the Black Crystal Mountain. The Falcon's paint cracked and peeled. The tires became smaller, more bent. One door came off its hinge. Han managed to roll into a grove of thick, gnarled trees at the base of the mountain as the blue light became brighter and brighter. “Everyone out!” Han yelled as he jumped off the driver's seat.

All six managed to tumble into the grove before the last blast of blue light overwhelmed the carriage. When the light faded, the Falcon looked as dilapidated as it had three days before. Six white and gray mice scurried off into the trees. A shaggy brown horse trotted up to Han, nudging his cheek.

“Hi, Chewie.” Han stroked his friend's nose. “Guess it was too good to last, huh?”

Leia gave them all a very frosty look. “Would one of you mind telling me just who you are and what you're doing? You're not a knight and a prince, I know that much.”

Luke frowned. “My name really is Luke Skywalker.” He nodded at Han. “That's Han Solowolf. His horse is Chewbacca.” Han smirked and wiggled his fingers at the princess. Chewie snorted. “You probably know Arthur and Cecil from Aldran Castle.” Both men bowed deeply before her. “Your Highness, I am a knight..or at least, Sir Kenobi was training me as one.” Luke bit his lip, trying not to cry in front of the princess. “I don't know what I'm going to do without him.”

Leia put an arm around him. “There wasn't anything you could have done.”

Han winced as the sounds of wild animals were heard in the distance. “Come on, kids. We're not out of the woods yet. The Imperials will probably be around any minute.”

Luke and Han hitched the two horses to the Falcon. Leia and the servants kept an eye out for the Empire. The Princess rushed over as Han climbed into the driver's seat. “Here they come!”

Indeed, even as Leia spoke, a volley of arrows flew over Han and Chewbacca's heads. “Can you drive a carriage, Your Worship?” Han asked. “If you can drive, I'll deal with the Imperials.” He turned to Luke. “You handle with the ones with swords, kid.”

Leia climbed into the driver's seat as Han got down. “I learned to drive a carriage as soon as I could pick up the reins.”

“Good.” Han got in next to her, his longbow and quiver slung over his shoulder. “All right, Your Worship, I think we're...” he ducked another arrow “...ready.”

Han shot every arrow in his quiver at the four Imperials on horseback who were following them. Luke fought with two more with his sword. He cheered when he managed to get the man stuck in a thick tangle of brier bushes. “I got one, Han!” he exclaimed to his friend.

“Don't get cocky, kid,” Han countered. He couldn't help his own grin and cheer as he ably shot two more Imperials and knocked the driver of their carriage off his vehicle. The last carriage finally rolled into a ditch that had somehow opened in the middle of the forest floor.

“Where did that come from?” Han looked over at Luke. “Did you create that ditch?”

Luke shook his head. “I didn't even see it until a second ago.”

Leia shrugged. “Well, whomever made it did us a favor. I don't see any more soldiers.” She slowed Chewbacca and Tauntaun to a trot. “Papa always did say this place was called the Enchanted Woods for a reason. There's all kinds of magic here, dark and light. In Aldran, they say that if the magic in the Woods favors you, it'll protect you from all who would try to harm you.”

“It's done me no good!” Cecil wailed in the carriage. “I think I'm melting in this armor! This is all your fault, Arthur. You're a terrible footman. You can't even take off armor properly.” There was a pause, no doubt while Arthur's flying fingers gave his friend a scathing reply. “Easy for you to say! You're not the one wearing enough metal to cover a whole fleet of battle carriages!”

Han shook his head. “Not a bad rescue, huh Your Highness? Sometimes, I amaze even myself.”

Leia frowned. “Something's wrong here, Han. I sense it. I think we're being followed.”

The gypsy smirked. “Not this cart, little girl.”

The princess let out a sigh. “At least Arthur still has that message.”

“Why is that message so important, we were almost killed over it?”

“It's a warning,” Leia explained. “The Sith Dragons are going to attack the Enchanted Woods in three days. I only hope that when that message is analyzed, we can find a weakness in the dragons' make up that will allow us to defeat them. It's not over yet.”

“It is for me, little girl.” Han glared at her. “Look, I have no desire to be involved with your Rebels, no matter where they're hiding. I don't steal money for anyone but me. I'm in it for the reward.”

“You needn't worry about your reward,” Leia snapped. “If money is all that you love, then that's what you'll receive.”

Han frowned and leaned back, trying to ignore Leia. If he let himself admit it, he was beginning to like the girl. She had real spunk. Luke had become a good friend, too. He was a nice kid, too nice to be mixed up in all this rebel business. Han wasn't used to humans treating him kindly. He'd long decided that the only creature he could depend on besides himself was Chewbacca.

Luke replaced Leia in the driver's seat as she went in the back to rest. “What do you think of her, Han?”

“I'm tryin' not to, kid.” He watched the last of her shapely legs in the torn white gown make it into the cart. “I dunno, though. She's got a lot of spirit. Hey, do you think a princess and a guy like me...”

“No!” Luke said quickly. Han couldn't help his grin. It was obvious the kid had his own feelings for Her Royal Highness. Despite his amusement, maybe it was just as well he wasn't sticking around. He didn't really want to compete with Luke for the girl. They were both peasants. It was more than likely she'd end up marrying some prince from a distant land, anyway. That's what royalty did.

It was nightfall before the Han realized the ground was becoming stickier and more dense. The air was hideously humid, and thick enough to cut with a knife. It smelled rotten, heavy with ancient vegetation and mold.

Luke wrinkled his nose. “Where are we?”

Leia poked her head out, a piece of tulle over her mouth and nostrils. “I think we're in the Dagobah Swamps. They're on the edge of the Kingdom of the Empire and the Kingdom of Yavin.”

Han threw one hand over his face. “Yeah, and on the edge of killing my nose. What died?”

Cecil poked his head out, pushing a rag over his nose. “Many things die here, Captain Solowolf. The Dagobah Swamp is notorious for its strange and flesh-eating creatures and stagnant pools that will suck a man to their death.”

“Great,” Han muttered.

The two horses stopped suddenly before a great, wide pool of water. It was murky and black, with sludge and greenish algae blooms around the edges. Luke swore he heard rumbles beneath the surface. Tauntaun and Chewbacca reared back, neither budging another inch.

“Well, this is just wonderful.” Han took Chewie's reins. “Come on, old boy. Don't be stubborn on me.”

Leia stepped out of the carriage. “Nice to see your pet takes after you.”

Han rolled his eyes. “Thanks, Your Worship. And Chewie isn't a pet. He's more like my co-driver.”

“Tauntaun won't move, either.” Luke stepped into the brackish water, his sword drawn. “There's something alive in here. I feel it.”

Leia followed him. “Luke, I feel it, too...and it's hungry. We're going to have to find another way around.”

That was when they heard the growl and saw the tentacle slither out of the water. “Did you see that?” Luke exclaimed, slashing his sword at it.

That didn't prove wise. The moment Luke's sword touched the water, a tentacle reached out and grabbed the boy's metal-covered torso, dragging him into the water!

“Luke!” Leia screamed. She tried to stab at it with a fallen branch from one of the trees, but all she could see was an occasional tentacle.

“Damn it! Kid!” Han waded in after them with his bow and arrows. “Glad I found my emergency arrow supply in the Falcon! I used up most of them on the Imperial guards.” He shot at the creature, but the arrows did little besides sink into the mire.

Cecil turned to Arthur in horror. “Arthur, there must be something we can do! We can't just leave them there!”

Arthur nodded and rushed back over to the Falcon. He leaned into one of the trunks in the back of the cart, tossing things this way and that, before emerging with a long, thick coil of rope. He tossed one end at Cecil and threw the other in the water.

Han nodded, taking one part of the rope. “Kid, grab hold of this!”

Luke briefly emerged, tentacles coiled around his slender body. His hand was trying to cut the tentacle, but he couldn't reach it. “Han, shoot at it! I can't reach my sword!”

“Where?” Han yelled, trying to find a part of the creature that wasn't hanging onto his friend. The armor may have been magical, but it was also old. Han had his doubts about its ability to repel arrows, no matter what the old man claimed.

Leia tried to poke at it, her own slipper-shod feet skidding on the mucky ground. The boy and the creature finally disappeared under the muck, without so much as a splash indicating they'd ever been there.

Han gulped. “I have a bad feeling about this.”

The only sound for a few minutes was of animals chirping in the underbrush. Suddenly, there was another splash, and a wet, slime-crusted Luke emerged from the murk, coughing and hacking up sludge.

Leia and Han both got there first. “Kid,” Han exclaimed, “how did you do it?”

“I don't know.” Luke spit out more water. “He just let go of me and disappeared.”

“That's great,” Han complained. “Sludge monsters of unusual sizes. Guess it beats rodents.”

“Don't give the swamp ideas.” Leia frowned. “I think we're going to have to leave the cart here. We might get the horses around that monster, but the cart will get stuck. We'll have to come back for it.”

Han glared at her as he grabbed the rope, tossing the ends to her and Luke. “Look, Your Worship, it's my cart. I've worked hard on her. There's no way I'm going to leave her to the Imperial Army.”

Luke took the very end. “We'll come back for it later, Han, after we've found the Imperials.” He put a hand on his scabbard, only to realize it was empty. “My sword's gone!” He groaned. “I must have lost it when I tried to cut the tentacle. If Ben wasn't already dead, he'd kill me. He said that thing was my life!”

It took Cecil, Arthur, and both horses to tug the trio out of the thick sludge. “Luke,” Leia began when they were all sprawled on the shoreline, “we might be able to round up enough magic to cloak the horses from the monster, at least long enough to get across the lake.”

Luke nodded. “It's the only way.” He turned to his friend. “Han, bring anything you can't live without from the Falcon. We'll go back for it later.”

“We'd better,” Han muttered. “I need that cart for business.”

Cecil wiped his hands on the rag he'd used over his nose. “May I suggest we leave this wretched place far behind?” Arthur's fingers flew behind him. “Arthur agrees. While we were able to escape the creature in the water, there may be other servant-eating monstrosities we'd best avoid.”

Luke nodded, climbing on Tauntaun. Han slung saddlebags from the Falcon over both horses. “I'll take Leia. Han, you take Cecil and Arthur. Chewie's bigger. He can handle more weight.”

Arthur grinned and signed in Cecil's face. “He wasn't talking about me, you undersized ninny! He was talking about you. You may be smaller than I am, but you are much more plump. I've said you need to stop sneaking slices of rubyberry pie from under Cook's nose when she's not looking.”

“All right, enough with the comedy routine.” Han swung easily on the brown stallion. Arthur had to shove Cecil on. He pushed so hard, he nearly pushed him off again. Han held the thinner former butler on as Arthur shimmied onto the horse's rear. “Hold on, boys. We're going for a ride.”

Cecil's owlish eyes nearly tripled in size. “What do you mean, Captain Solo...whooaaa!”

Luke just shook his head as Han galloped off into the swamp, Cecil screaming behind him. “I think we'd better catch up with them,” he said with a chuckle, “before they all get lost and we need to rescue them again.”

“And I've seen how good you boys are with rescue missions.” Leia gave Luke a kiss on his cheek. “Good luck!”

Luke felt himself turn rose-red all over. The warm blush stayed with him throughout the entire ride through the swamps.