"So where are we going?" Ezra asked, staring out the window into the blue light of hyperspace.
"I noticed that you no longer have your lightsaber, apprentice." Maul was sitting in the pilot's position, flipping switches on the dashboard. "We are going to get you a new crystal to make a new lightsaber." He pressed a button on the dashboard and the ship dropped out of hyperspace with a reverberating thrum. "This is Ilum."
Ezra gazed out at the white planet in awe. It reminded him of the moon of Geonosis where Zeb had been stranded.
"It looks cold," he said.
"Yes. The planet is completely covered in ice. But below the surface there are crystal caves known for the abundance of Kyber crystals that have been found within." Maul flew the tie fighter through the atmosphere toward the planet's surface. "My master brought me here when I was young. I did not find my crystal here, however. I used a synthetic crystal as all the sith do."
"Really?" Ezra asked as the ship landed on the ice. Maul powered down the engine and stood, looking down at the boy.
"Yes. We, however, have very limited resources. It is here that you shall find your new crystal. I cannot continue your training if you do not have a lightsaber." He opened the top hatch and heaved himself out of the cockpit. Ezra felt the frigid air rush into ship. This was just like the moon of Geonosis.
Ezra pulled himself out of the ship and followed Maul. Before them were white cliffs of ice and snow towering high above their heads. The air above them was full of clouds, making it almost impossible to distinguish the cliff faces from the sky. Ezra folded his arms, trying to keep his body as warm as possible. The air was definitely colder here than on Geonosis' moon. After a few minutes of walking, a wind began to pick up. Snow began to beat against Ezra's face and he held his arms tighter. He looked up at Maul to see that his countenance had not changed. He stood tall as if he did not feel the freezing air beat against him. Ezra gaped in awe at the sight.
Soon the two of them reached the cliff face and Maul placed a hand on the ice. After a moment, he looked down and smiled. He brushed snow from off of a large metal circle that had been placed in the ice.
"This is it," he said. "Do you remember what I taught you last time we met?"
"Yes," Ezra replied.
"This is where you must use that knowledge. There is another Sith temple on this planet deep within the ice. We must lift the ice to gain entrance." He stood next to Ezra and lifted his arm to the cliff. "We must do it together."
Ezra closed his eyes and lifted his arm. He began to think of his parents and the empire. They were gone because the empire had killed them. He had been left on the streets for eight years because of the empire. He allowed his hatred to well up inside him as he used the force. He then began to think of Kanan and Ahsoka. He allowed the grief and anger at himself to overwhelm his thoughts.
"Good, good," Maul said. "We can now enter the temple." Ezra opened his eyes to see that they had lifted the blocks of ice and a tunnel had appeared in the cliff face. The two of them entered the tunnel and walked down the passageway. It felt good to be out of the freezing wind, but the cold was still ever present. The tunnel opened to a large cavern. Statues of robed beings had been carved into the ice. A single opening in the ceiling allowed light to enter, shining on an open tunnel entrance.
"This is where you shall complete your task," Maul said, stopping in the center of the cavern. "That tunnel shall lead you to where you need to be to find your new crystal. You see the ice above the entrance?" he asked, pointing to the wall. Ezra looked and saw where he pointed. "That ice will completely block the entrance to the tunnel by nightfall. You have until then to find your crystal."
"What happens if I don't find it by then?" he asked.
"You will have failed, apprentice. And the punishment for failure is death. I will leave you here to die."
Ezra's heart stopped. He would leave him here to die? "Wait, what?" he asked. "But-"
"You are wasting precious seconds, apprentice. You have very little time before nightfall."
"But-"
"GO!" Maul whipped out his lightsaber and ignited it. The flash of red startled Ezra and he jumped. With fear in his heart, he entered the tunnel.
The tunnel was cold; colder than he had expected. It was like the cold he felt from Vader's presence had been transferred to this tunnel. Ezra followed the tunnel until he came to an intersection of three passageways. Just like the temple on Lothal, he thought. He closed his eyes and lifted his arm. He reached out with the force, trying to feel which way he should go. After a moment he opened his eyes and went through the middle path.
"He soon came upon a large lake. He followed the bank of the water around to another passageway. If I fell in that water I would definitely freeze to death, he thought. The next passageway was colder than the one before. He didn't think that could be possible. His teeth started chattering uncontrollably as he shivered. His pace slowed and soon it was all he could do to keep standing. "What am I doing?" He asked. "I'm never going to find my kyber crystal like this." He fell to his knees and closed his eyes.
Ezra heard a crack. He opened his eyes as the ice beneath him gave way. He fell into another passage below, hitting the ground hard. Ezra groaned, rolling onto his stomach. He was too cold to move. Nothing was responding the way it should. With all the strength he could muster, he pushed himself onto his knees and began to meditate. All of the cold seemed to slowly dissipate from his body and he sighed in relief.
"Why hello there," a voice said. Ezra looked up and saw a man in grey robes standing before him. He had dark hair, the front pulled back into a pony, and a small beard. They were both in the starry space Where Ezra had seen Master Yoda and had gotten his first kyber crystal.
"Who are you?" Ezra asked the figure.
"My name is unimportant for I have been known by many." The man knelt down before Ezra.
"Are you a Jedi?" Ezra asked.
"I was neither Sith nor Jedi. I once followed the guidance of the force and learned to use it in a way most do not."
"Once? Are you…"
"I am now one with the force, just as your parents are." The man smiled at Ezra. It was a warm, comforting smile like the ones Kanan gave him. It was nothing like Maul's smile.
"Why are you here?" he asked.
"Why are you here?" the figure countered.
"I came to find a kyber crystal."
"Why?"
"I need a new lightsaber so I can continue my training," Ezra replied, looking down.
"With whom are you training?"
"His name is Maul. He is going to teach me to use the dark side of the force."
The man shook his head. "The dark side is evil. It is the way of the Sith."
"Maul isn't a Sith anymore," Ezra said, raising his voice. "He told me the only way to reach my full potential was to learn to use the dark side."
"To use your emotions and tap into the power of your anger and sorrow?" the figure asked calmly.
"Yes. When I first met him I used my anger and was able to lift a stone that I couldn't before." He paused, thinking of that moment. "I had so much power." He remembered the surge of energy he felt as he lifted the stone at the Sith temple on Malachor. It was exhilarating.
"How would you use that power if you were to obtain it again?" the man asked.
Ezra looked up into his eyes. "I would protect everyone! I would stop the Empire from ruining anyone else's life." He closed his eyes and breathed deeply. The man was silent. Ezra thought of Kanan. He had lost everything because of the Empire. All of his family had lost everything because of the Empire. He would do anything to stop that from happening to anyone else.
"What is the most powerful emotion?" the man asked suddenly.
"What?" Ezra asked. "Well… I guess it would have to be anger."
"That is where you are wrong, young one." The man stood and began to walk around Ezra. "Think of your mother and father. What do you feel?"
"I feel sorrow. I was never able to see them again."
"Yes. We all feel sorrow at the death of someone we care for. But think harder. Think of the days when you still knew them. What do you feel?"
Ezra thought back to his most treasured memory. His parents had taken him to the market and he was running ahead of them. They were all happy, smiling to each other. He remembered tripping and skinning his knee. He had started crying. His mom knelt down and gave him a big kiss on the forehead, saying it would be all right. She scooped him up in her arms and hugged him tight. All of the pain in his knee went away.
"Love," he said at last. He felt the love his mother had for him as she held him fast.
"Yes, young one. That is it. Love, not hatred or anger, is the most powerful emotion. You need not learn the ways of the Dark side. You need only to learn how to use your emotions to strengthen your abilities. When one uses their anger, the power becomes uncontrollable and uncertain like a wild gundark. That is the way of the Sith. The Jedi feared this power, so in trying to control it, they began to lose what power their emotions gave them. We must find the balance between the two.
"If one acts out of love, their power cannot be contested." The man stopped, standing in front of Ezra.
"I think I understand," Ezra said.
"Good. Take my teachings to heart, young one. You shall find what you seek." The man disappeared and Ezra found himself back in the ice tunnel. The cold returned to his arms as he looked around. He saw a light down the tunnel that he did not remember seeing before. He stood and realized how numb his legs were. He had been kneeling on the ice for a long time. He stumbled forward toward the light. The light seemed to be emanating from a small crystal. As he approached, the light began to brighten. He took the crystal in his hands, pulling it from the ice.
"My kyber crystal," he said aloud. Ezra smiled and put the crystal in his side pouch. He looked back to where he had fallen through the ice. If he could just get back up to the next level, he could get back to the doorway. He went to the hole and looked through. It didn't seem too high. He had seen Kanan jump higher than that. He crouched down, readying himself to jump. He leapt as high as he could, trusting the force to get him to where he needed to be.
He landed on the edge of the ice firmly. He smiled. I did it, he thought. He ran as fast as he could back through the passageway. The lake he had passed was almost completely covered in ice. It had gotten colder. His pace began to slow as the cold started taking its hold. As he ran through the first passage he began to worry if he had found his crystal soon enough. He rounded a bend and saw the entrance. The opening was almost completely gone. I took too long, he thought. He summoned his strength and ran harder toward the entrance. As soon as he was close enough, he fell to the ground and slid through the opening.
He made it back in time. He lay on the ice, gasping for breath. The air was much warmer in this cavern than in the tunnel. After a moment he sat up and saw Maul kneeling in the center of the cavern, smiling.
"Well done, apprentice." Maul said. "I take it you have the crystal?"
"Yes," Ezra said. He reached into his pouch and pulled out the crystal. He could see now that it had a slight violet color, unlike his previous crystal.
"Good. You shall construct your new lightsaber when we reach Ord Mantell." Maul stood and turned toward the entrance of the temple.
"Ord Mantell?" Ezra put his crystal back into the pouch on his belt and followed close behind.
"The Black Sun has a facility on that world. That is our next destination."
"What would we do on Ord Mantell?"
"Form an army. We are recreating the Shadow Collective."