Four-year-old Princess Leia stood frozen, her tiny boots sinking into the crystalline powder of the forbidden place. The forest was a cathedral of obsidian trees and suffocating silence. Her father, Anakin, had warned her with a voice like rolling thunder: “You must never go there.”

But Leia’s curiosity was a living thing, a spark that had led her past the safety of the garden and into this frozen labyrinth. Now, the trail was gone, swallowed by shifting snow. To quell the rising panic in her chest, she squeezed her Lise-doll tight and whispered a shaky lullaby.

“Sleep, little Lise-doll, sleep and be grown…”

A branch snapped. The sound was like a gunshot in the still air.

Leia spun around, eyes wide. Standing amidst the twisted roots was a nightmare made flesh. He was a Wolf-man—a towering, uncanny hybrid with a human torso draped in coarse, mottled fur. Large, tufted ears twitched atop his head, and a long, predatory tail lashed behind him. His fingers didn’t end in nails, but in yellowed, curved claws.

“Who are you?” Leia asked, her voice trembling but her grip on the Lise-doll firm.

The creature’s lips curled into a wide, sharp-toothed expression that he seemed to think was a smile. It was a wicked grin that didn’t reach his yellow eyes.

“I’m Titi-Suru,” he said, his voice a low, gravelly rasp. He offered a dramatic, mocking bow. “The friendliest wolf you’ll ever meet, little princess.”

Leia stood her ground, her instincts sharper than the freezing wind. “I don’t think so,” she replied, shaking her head. “I think you are a trickster. I think you want to lead me further into the dark.”

Titi-Suru’s laughter sounded like dry leaves skittering over ice. “What a vivid imagination! I would never dream of such a thing.”

Leia took several steps back, her eyes never leaving his claws. “Oh, I know your kind. You’re a wolf, and it’s your nature to hunt.”

She didn’t wait for him to move. She spun around and bolted, her small boots crunching through the deep snow as she raced toward the distant light of the forest edge. Behind her, Titi-Suru’s voice drifted through the trees, cold and haunting:

“Then you should know better than to run from a wolf!”

In another realm, the air hummed with the scent of ozone and ancient stone.

Amanda’s hands shook as she clutched the heavy, leather-bound Tome. Before her sat the Altar of Thresholds, a jagged slab of rock positioned between two obsidian pillars that vibrated with a low, violent energy.

“Place the book on the altar!” Zilla’s scream echoed through the vaulted chamber.

Behind Zilla, a shadow loomed—Maul. He was a whirlwind of fury, his eyes glowing like embers. He was no longer a mentor; he was an executioner. “You will prove you are worthy, or you will fall!” he roared, the Force rippling around him in visible waves of heat.

“Amanda!” Zilla yelled, sprinting toward the platform.

Amanda hesitated, the weight of the book biting into her palms. “I don’t want to go back to that world,” she whispered, staring at the shimmering rift beginning to form.

“You don’t have to!” Zilla skidded across the stone floor. “Just open the portal so I can escape!”

“What… what do you expect me to do?” Amanda cried, her heart hammering against her ribs.

“Just hold him off!”

“I can’t!”

“You have to try!”

With a guttural cry, Amanda slammed the book onto the stone surface. The impact triggered a surge of brilliant blue light. A portal tore open, a swirling vortex of stars and shadow.

Zilla dived through the shimmering veil just as Maul reached the dais. As he lunged to follow, Amanda grabbed her axe. With a desperate heave, she swung. The blade whistled through the air, burying itself into Maul’s shoulder.

The Sith snarled, the impact halting his momentum for a heartbeat. He looked down at the wound, his face a mask of pure fury. He ripped the axe from his flesh and tossed it aside.

“That won’t stop me!”

He raised a hand, and a wave of invisible energy slammed into Amanda, throwing her backward. Before she could regain her footing, Maul vanished into the swirling portal, disappearing into the unknown in pursuit of his prey.