Chapter Twenty-Four
Maul and Kycina could not believe what they saw when they came to the other side of the space bridge. At nearly every angle, sharp rocks poked their way from the ground in all directions, shapes and sizes far as the eye could see. In addition, they could see legion upon legion of Zabrak soldiers headed straight their way likely seeking the space bridge. Cruisers were also flying towards the space bridge, probably carrying more troops than were already on the ground.
"So this is what grandmother has been fighting to bring back to our dimension for the last thirty millennia or so. It is a very impressive armada considering the goal is shortsighted," Maul said. "Shortsighted how? The Goddess can most likely open gateways to the dimensions you've seen," Kycina asked.
He shook his head and said that entities of the Force were forbidden from going beyond their own domain in what they conquer. The additional note that a deity lost their power when sent away from their domain explained why Talzin was left behind to break the seal. "She needed you, me, and Savage to do that because she knew that unlike Ventress, we would know how to find the power necessary to undo the seal. It was never just about our blood relation to her and therefore the Goddess that made us so valuable to her cause," Kycina agreed.
"Yes then there's the fact that I am the Arras Käsi according to Dathomir legend, such a power could be used for Talzin's benefit as well," Maul admitted. "That only leaves the question of where the opposite of the Arras Käsi is at. Where is the Arras Räsi, chosen to oppose the Arras Käsi or else unite his powers with him?" she inquired. Then from somewhere above them, "Perhaps I can help answer that question for you two lost souls."
They turned to see Talzin in grayish-blue battle armor levitating above them. In her hands was a battle ax of the type Maul recalled Savage describing in his possession before they met. "Like me, this sort of weapon was Savage's specialty and only the Arras Räsi could wield this weapon with my proficiency," she added with a smile. Maul's fists burst into the magic flame he had seen earlier but this time, the flames were blue rather than green and he felt he was about to know why.
"Maul… you have your mother's eyes, just thought you should know that before you both die," Talzin said, her voice shifting to a grandmother tone briefly. Kycina turned to look at her son just in time for him to face her and ask if it was true. To her surprise, the orange-yellow of the Sith in his eyes had long vanished and was replaced with her own grey-blue eyes. The reminder of how Savage's eyes had been before he was ripped away from her all those years ago hurt her at first but she moved on rather quickly.
"Yes Kycina, the reminder of what Savage was before you betrayed him for Maul hurts does it not?" Talzin mocked. Kycina conjured her staff from nowhere and whispered to Maul about a sword she had observed earlier when they entered. "If there's anything that can undo Talzin's newfound power, it's whatever power that sword has within it," she said. Though it was hard to tell at first, Maul recognized it from descriptions in ancient Dathomiri scrolls as the ancient Sword of Truth.
If it was here than it meant that the Snake Goddess would not be too far behind once he set after it. "Mother, I think our best chance is to fight Talzin for the moment and find out if we need it. If it's the Sword of Truth like I think it is, the Snake Goddess won't be long coming once she knows we're here and know of it," he told her in a hushed voice. "You wouldn't be a match for her even if you did go after it anyway," Talzin interjected rudely.
"Why not?" Kycina inquired. "Because even though the Arras Käsi is the only one who can pull it from its place of rest, only the mother of that chosen one can wield it against the Goddess. Neither of you will reach it so long as I stand and can fight against you!" Talzin said before attacking. Maul dodged but Kycina was swept aside by the blast wave of the attack and temporarily blacked out by soon back on her feet.
She returned just in time to see Kycina had overwhelmed Maul despite his power as the Arras Käsi. Seeing that her mother was about to destroy her son, all reservations about killing Talzin snapped within her. Summoning as much power as she could in mere seconds, she screamed, tapped the staff against the ground and watched as a underground tsunami formed and headed straight for Talzin. In simultaneity with sending out this spell, she shouted at the top of her lungs, "You shall not take my son from me!"
Talzin barely managed to get out of the way before the wave ended just under her feet. The attempt allowed Maul enough time to recover both his footing and his lightsaber before heading out for the Sword of Truth. "It's no use, no matter how strong you become you will never reach the Sword! You cannot defeat the Goddess or me without it even if your mother tries to stop me!" Talzin declared before resuming her attack.
However, something with two red spinning lights flew past her, left a few burn marks across her back as it went forward then looped back to its source. Sure enough, the red lights had been the blades of a double-sided lightsaber and the source was Savage Opress himself. "What's this? How did you get here alive when the horrors of the temple should have claimed your miserable existence for itself?" Talzin shrieked in surprise.
"I found a power within me while in there that in exchange for a change in my eye color, gave me more strength than I have ever imagined. Allow me to introduce you to the power of the Arras Räsi, my grandmother," Savage replied. Red fire similar to Maul's blue fire emitted from Savage's fist and it was at this time that Maul noticed Savage's left arm had been restored.
Maul thought about how that could've happened and remembered a warm feeling in his pelvis and legs after entering a brightly lit pool of rather still water on KaiSu Lak'Ton. Though he thought it inappropriate to do so, he decided to briefly open up his pants and see what it did for his mechanical lower apparatus. To his surprise, he saw a genitalia and flesh on his legs rather than the flat plate and gears that had been his lower half for a while. So that water has healing properties unless it only did so to make us whole in order to use our powers as the Arras Käsi and the Arras Räsi he thought silently.
He tucked his pants back under his belt and ran for the Sword of Truth, knowing that Savage was powerful enough to distract Talzin while he obtained the blade. Plus Kycina could use her magic to ward off the Goddess to give him further coverage if it proved absolutely necessary. As he feared, it did turn out to be necessary and when he approached the sword he could see writing on its orange-red side. At first, he had trouble translating it but then he used his photographic memory to remember what he had read about this weapon while under his master's tutelage.
Then he remembered what the translation of the runes were: Suffer no guilt ye who hath lost his way but found it again as the Arras Käsi but only thy mother can wield me once thou hast pulled me from the ground. Maul took off his gloves knowing that the sword would react better to his presence if he put the flesh of his hands on it rather than gloves on it. Slowly, due to still being scared of what would happen, he grabbed the sword and closed his eyes in case something happened. But nothing did and he decided it was safe to try and pull it out from the ground beneath his restored feet.
It was then that the sword reacted and tried to burn him with a lighter orange fire. The blue fire of the Arras Käsi rose to counter it and blocked much of it from touching his body but there was still enough to hurt. He gnawed his teeth hard, willing himself not to think of the pain as he continued to pull the sword from the ground. Kycina knew about the Sword of Truth and knew that if Maul could pull it out, they stood a chance against the Goddess.
Which was why Maul had her cover his back from Hecate while he went about doing the deed. So far, it was working in accordance with his plan and he was more than halfway through when he felt a coil of the Goddess briefly pass by him since she had slithered by this area earlier and the rest of her body was still catching up with the head. Shit, mother isn't going to be able to hold her off forever so I need to hurry up with this Maul thought before tugging on the sword with all his might. Just when he was reaching the tip of the weapon was when it started to hurt the worst and he even let out a harsh cry that revealed his pain as he made the final tug.
Then the sword was free and Maul called out to his mother to make her catch the blade. Kycina absorbed her staff after temporarily throwing the Goddess off her and running to the sword as it flew through the air. At first, Maul thought she was never going to make it but was surprised to see her jump after it and spinning opposite of the way it was headed. She caught it in her hand just as it passed by her and she landed back on her feet before turning toward the head of the Goddess and making a final charge. After that, Maul turned to see that Savage was approaching the end of his strength much as Maul had earlier in the battle with their grandmother and great-grandmother.
"Need a little hand brother?" Maul asked shortly after entering the fray and punching Talzin with the fire of the Arras Käsi. Then they both ignited their fists into the flames of their respective powers and started attacking their grandmother almost directly. It was through some of Savage's ingenuity that they learned how to add the flames to their feet for even more deadliness. But Maul's ingenuity that really saved them when he noticed a green glowing platform only a few meters from where they were presently fighting.
"Savage, help me lure her into the green chamber then we'll blast her to oblivion with our powers!" he shouted. His brother did just that when he lunged for Talzin and the impact of his hit made them roll in the dirt until they had almost reached it. Then she threw him across the entire length of the dozen meter wide chamber until he was on the other side. Maul replied to this by then kicking Talzin into the chamber and using his power to push her toward the center of it.
"Ready brother?" Maul asked. Savage nodded and braced himself after making sure he faced his brother as directly as possible. "What are you going to do? You wouldn't kill your own grandmother, would you now?" Talzin asked them.
Maul smiled, signaled his brother, and together the two of them unleashed the full power of the Arras Käsi and Arras Räsi upon her. His blue flames and Savage's red slammed into her like two fists and kept raining on her, rapidly draining her of her own power. In the distance, Maul saw that his mother had decapitated the Goddess and used the Sword of Truth's power to destroy the rest of the body and that immediately explained how it was possible to defeat his grandmother. Talzin shrieked in pain as the flames burned away all of her power and even scorched her hands before realizing that not only were her grandsons robbing her of her new power, they were also taking her immortality and her connection to the Force.
Upon losing both things, she knew that for the first time in her near-eternal existence she was vulnerable to the embrace of Death itself. "No, stop this I beg you!" she said but it was already too late. The brothers used the last of their powers' essence and watched as the green chamber also electrocuted their grandmother and she began to sink right through it and out of KaiSu Lak'Ton. At last, the brothers had banished Talzin from her homeworld after all the years she had spent searching for it only to find it once more.
Maul watched as the green glow disappeared and he realized it had fulfilled its purpose in teleporting someone away from KaiSu Lak'Ton that no longer had power to be there. Rushing to find his mother, he found her leaning on her staff and asked why she was so weak. "The Sword of Truth demands years of life in exchange for use and now I have grown old though I don't look it," she explained. Surprised but not unfazed, he put his mother's arm over his shoulders and pulled her up so he could help her out of this cursed world before it was destroyed.