**Chapter 587**
**Jungle World Hidden Healer – Part 2**
**Dagon POV**
**Hidden Cave – Felucia Depths**
The cave tunnel stretched downward like the throat of some ancient beast. The walls pulsed with bioluminescent fungi, casting shifting patterns of blue and violet light that danced across the rocky surfaces. Every step I took echoed softly, the sound swallowed by the thick, humid air. The Force here was not calm — it churned like a storm at sea, layers of ancient life energy clashing with something darker, older, and rotting from within.
I kept my blue lightsaber ignited, the clean azure blade humming steadily. No bleeding crystal today. Whatever waited in these depths, I would face it with the light side. The Wrath Shield rested on my left arm, its dragon emblem glowing faintly, the Demon Dragon Emperor's presence a low, watchful rumble in the back of my mind.
*Deeper,* the hidden female voice whispered again — soft, ancient, and filled with quiet urgency. It had guided me since I entered the cave, a gentle thread in the Force that felt neither fully light nor dark, but tied to the planet itself. *The wound festers. The old ones guard it. You must pass them.*
"Who are you?" I asked aloud, my voice echoing down the tunnel. "Why guide me?"
*One who remembers when this world was young,* the voice replied, a faint echo of sorrow in it. *One who watched the first Felucians sing to the spores. One who saw the Gossam come… and the poison begin. You carry the Dragon. Only you can reach the heart.*
I continued downward, the tunnel narrowing before opening into a vast underground chamber. The air grew heavier, thick with the scent of decay and ozone. Massive fungal structures rose like pillars, their caps glowing with inner light. In the center of the chamber, a dark pool of water shimmered unnaturally — the source of the planet's wound. The water was tainted, black veins spreading through it like corruption in veins.
Four figures waited for me.
They stood in a semicircle around the pool, clad in tattered robes that had once been ornate Sith garments. Their bodies were withered, preserved by dark side sorcery and the planet's own life force. Former Sith, left to die here thousands of years ago — perhaps exiles from some forgotten war, trapped and forgotten when their power failed them. Their eyes glowed with sickly yellow light, and the Force around them reeked of rage, betrayal, and endless hunger.
"You… are not one of us," the central Sith rasped, his voice like dry leaves scraping stone. "Yet you carry the dark. Why do you come, intruder?"
I raised my lightsaber, the blue blade casting clean light across the chamber. "The planet called me. Your poison ends today."
The hidden female voice spoke again, soft but firm in my mind. *They were cast down here by their own kind. They fed on the world's life to survive. They are the wound's first guardians. Show them mercy… or end their suffering.*
The four Sith laughed — a hollow, echoing sound. "Mercy?" one hissed. "There is no mercy in the dark. Only power."
They attacked as one.
The lead Sith lunged with a red lightsaber, his movements surprisingly fast despite his withered form. I met his blade with mine, blue clashing against red in a shower of sparks. The other three circled, unleashing Force lightning and dark side tendrils. I spun, the Wrath Shield flaring to life as it absorbed a bolt of lightning and redirected it back at the attacker. The Sith screamed as his own power burned him.
*Use the dragon's fire,* the female voice urged. *Not to destroy… but to cleanse.*
I channeled the Shield's power, the dragon emblem roaring silently. Red-black flames erupted along the edges of the shield, but I willed them to burn with purifying intent rather than pure destruction. I slammed the shield into the ground, sending a wave of controlled dark side fire mixed with light side energy across the chamber. The flames washed over the Sith without consuming them entirely — instead, they burned away the corruption that had kept them alive for millennia.
Two of the Sith howled as their bodies finally crumbled to dust, freed from their torment. The remaining two attacked with renewed fury, sensing their end.
"You cannot save this world!" one screamed, unleashing a storm of Force lightning. "It belongs to the dark!"
I charged through the lightning, the Wrath Shield absorbing most of it. My blue lightsaber flashed in a wide arc, severing the Sith's weapon arm. He staggered, and I drove the blade through his chest. The last Sith tried to flee toward the pool, but I caught him with a Force push, slamming him against the wall.
"End it," he hissed, yellow eyes filled with hatred. "Or join us in eternal hunger."
I raised the Wrath Shield, focusing the dragon's power. A single, controlled burst of purifying flame engulfed him. His body dissolved into ash, his scream fading into silence.
The chamber grew still. The dark pool in the center began to bubble and churn.
*You have passed the first guardians,* the female voice whispered, sounding relieved. *But the heart of the wound is deeper still. Come. I will show you.*
The rock wall at the far end of the chamber shifted, revealing a narrower tunnel leading further down. I deactivated my lightsaber and stepped forward, the Wrath Shield glowing steadily on my arm.
The planet's wound awaited.