Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling and Star Wars belongs to Disney.
"Normal speech"
"Thoughts"
"Other Language"
Chapter 29 – The Prophets and the Valley
Harry quickly began to regard Kadann as an excellent and entrapping conversationalist, even despite his minor difficulties in understanding certain idioms used by the prophet. The man was a philosopher at heart, yet despite this he possessed a great strength in the Force, which Harry had sensed.
"And the Jedi?" asked the Sith.
"The Jedi Order still exists, and as dogmatic as ever. Before joining the prophets, I was one of the Jedi Knights, but disagreements with their Code led me to leave the Order," revealed Kadann.
So, not only the Republic still existed, but the Jedi did so as well. It seemed that they were truly destined to clash again. Hopefully with a victory for the Sith this time.
"Theodore, I sense you are troubled," said Harry. "Speak."
Snapping out of his thoughts, Theodore looked at Kadann.
"Supreme Prophet, that city near the Temple, there are no records about it in the Sith's records," said the apprentice. "Who built it?"
"You speak of Kaas City. It was built by the Sith Empire to be its new capital," answered Kadann. "A surviving faction of the old empire, that is."
"The capital of the empire? Then, is it possible that there is anything of value there?" asked Theodore.
Kadann nodded. "Over the centuries, the Prophets have sometimes ventured into the ruins. It was a rare occasion when we recovered Sith artefacts. The old citadel must hold more secrets, but as far as I know, we haven't ventured into that section of the city."
Theodore turned to Harry. "Master, should we try to enter the citadel?"
"Perhaps one day. For now we have to explore the rest of our route," answered the Sith Lord.
"You will go to Korriban, then."
It was not a question, but an affirmation from Kadann.
"One of your prophecies?" asked Harry.
"You shall face a great darkness in the ancient valley," declared the Supreme Prophet. "Whether you surpass it, or not, the future of the galaxy and of the Sith, the true Sith, will be decided there."
So something would happen in Korriban. That much made Harry quite excited, and at the same time, worried. What exactly was this darkness that he would have to face? But Kadann was not finished.
"You will lose," he declared. "You are not ready, that much is certain."
Harry frowned. "Not ready? I've killed many rival Sith before, even other Sith Lords."
"In the Valley of the Dark Lords, the spirits of the ancient Sith sleep restless. The moment you step foot there, they will awaken and you will be the focus of their attentions. To face a Sith Lord is one thing, to face the spirits of ancient Dark Lords in a nexus of the dark side is another," said Kadann. "You have power, that is true. But you lack the disciple and direction to properly wield it. Your eyes reflect it."
Harry was unprepared for that. "My eyes?"
"The Sith are prone to be either destroyed by their rivals, or their own uncontrolled power and hubris," declared Kadann. "The fact that your eyes are yellow, corrupted, means you've fallen into the same pit as the other Sith have."
"But… a Sith is supposed to use the dark side."
Kadann laughed. "How naïve. The dark and the light are but illusions. There is only power and the will to use it – and the wisdom to use it appropriately. Wisdom which you seem to lack, as expected from a youth."
While Harry wasn't amused at Kadann's mockery, he knew there was truth in the man's words.
"Any suggestions then? One as wise as yourself would have something, no?"
Harry noticed the small smirk on Kadann's face, which disappeared as the man rose from his seat. "Indeed. Come with me, alone."
Curious about what the Supreme Prophet wanted, Harry followed the man as Theodore reluctantly returned to the ship. Kadann left the temple, Harry closely following the man, wondering why he was being led into the depths of the jungle.
"If you are to herald the return of the true Sith to the galaxy, then you must harness a force strong enough to combat the Republic and the Jedi Knights. We have foreseen that in a decade there will be war in the galaxy, born from the manipulations of another group of Sith."
"Other Sith?"
"Our founder was called Darth Millennial, one of these Sith. This Sith Order was founded by Darth Bane a thousand years ago, after the end of the New Sith Wars. These Sith follow a restriction which allows only a master and an apprentice to exist at the same time," revealed Kadann. "Millennial was the apprentice, but he grew unsatisfied with the restrictions of this rule and abandoned his master to found the Dark Force here on Dromund Kaas. we can only assume that his master took a new apprentice, since the lineage still exists."
If he survived whatever was to come, then these Sith would possibly prove to be a problem. But for now, he would not worry about them. He had other priorities.
"Why are we in the jungle?" asked Harry, wondering about the possibility of being attacked by the wildlife.
He would curse his thoughts moments later, as a Vine Cat emerged from the bushes, attacking the two dark-siders. Kadann had not moved to attack the beast, leaving Harry to do all the work. He quickly killed the creature, having bisected part of its head.
"You didn't attack it," accused Harry.
"Of course not. That creature was under my command. Attacking it would be counter-productive."
"Why?"
"A small test. I wanted to see first hand your abilities," admitted the Supreme Prophet. "You asked me why we came to the jungle. Simple, young one. This world is shrouded in the power of the dark side, and the jungle is the most appropriate place to see the effects of this corruption."
Harry glanced around, looking for any more of Kadann's traps. "What now?"
"We go further in. Your training in the ways of the Force must be augmented. You cannot restrict yourself to the teachings of the Sith if you wish to harness the true power of the Force. This is merely a small step of your new training."
Five months had passed since Harry stepped foot on Dromund Kaas, the Sith having been taken under the tutelage of the Supreme Prophet. Even in such a small span of time, he had learned much from Kadann and the Prophets of the Dark Side, and Harry had to admit that he found his tutor's philosophies on the Force to be fascinating. He also had the opportunity to see Kadann's own power, which he had not yet displayed, when the two were attacked by a hungry Terentatek. The creature was destroyed by Kadann in seconds, reduced to ashes by an immense blast of dark side energy.
Being a witness of the man's power, Harry wondered why Kadann preferred to remain isolated with the Prophets of the Dark Side, instead of taking a more active role in the galaxy. The response was short and simple.
"Better to serve the dark side from a distance than to be close to the explosions that will come."
But Kadann knew that such a passive role was not destined for his protégé. The young Sith was destined for something greater, and the possibilities he saw in his visions only confirmed it. It was of course his duty to ensure that the future he saw was the one to happen. To his luck, the teenager was a fast learner, and an avid listener. This boy would become a champion of the dark side, and eventually of the Force itself as well. A far better choice than the shadowed man he saw in one of his visions, who failed countless times in his bid for dominion over the galaxy and the Force, his plans ruined by a regretful apprentice, and later by a bodyguard-turned-rival who would die at the hands of a former peer. The galaxy was a damned place in its current state, with the decadent Republic and its complacent Jedi protectors as its hegemons. A galaxy destined to fall into chaos required the unbending will of a Dark Lord of the Sith to restore order and stability, and he was certain that the boy would be the one.
Yet Harry had not been the only one to be trained. The Sith Lord made sure that his apprentice's own training also progressed, and those five months were rather productive in Harry's eyes, both for him and Theodore.
But now the time had come at last.
"Your understanding of the Force has grown much, young one," declared Kadann. "Before you, I see a final test, deep in the tombs of Korriban. If you succeed there, your journey will not reach its end. Instead, you shall open a door into the greater mysteries of the Force, allowing you to one day achieve true mastery over it."
"So, my training is complete?" asked Harry.
"One's training is never truly ended, but your time amongst the Prophets is done, yes. One day, we shall meet again, when the time of returning has come."
"Oh? And what will you do then?"
"The dark side is immensely tied with the Dark Lord of the Sith, and our loyalties shall lie with them, whoever they may be."
"Your visions don't tell you who it will be?"
The Supreme Prophet laughed. "There are many possibilities, one as likely to happen as the other. Revealing them to you wouldn't be beneficial."
Harry reluctantly accepted Kadann's answer, part of him disliking the possibility of a certain future. But one thing was certain, and he knew of it. His destination was still Korriban, and he had postponed his journey there long enough.
It was time to return home.
It had been centuries since a true Sith had entered the Horuset system, and Harry could brag about being the one to do so. But one thing was to enter the system, and another was to land on the world. A solitary Sith freighter approached the graveyard world, entering its atmosphere and flying over the shadowed Valley of Golg in the lowlands of Korriban, before finally reaching the ancient Valley of the Dark Lords.
Inside the ship, Harry gazed at the ancient four tombs that filled the valley's upper section, together with the large pyramid that once served as a Sith Academy. Below this area were many other tombs of ancient Dark Lords, yet none surpassed that which was the Great Temple, where many honoured Dark Lords were entombed. Harry knew of this, as it had been what every Sith were taught during their lessons regarding the history of the old empire. The ship landed in a clear area right between the tombs of the Naga Sadow and Tulak Hord, and Harry was the first to reach the loading ramp. Theodore had no need to be given the order. He knew very well that Harry wanted to be the first to step foot on Korriban, and was not about to incur his master's fury by going against his unspoken wishes. He simply watched as the ramp descended, the Sith Lord walking towards the dusty and barren ground of Korriban.
Harry took a deep breath, breathing in the air of the valley, feeling the weak saturation of the dark side, the valley having lost the potency it supposedly once had. He knelt and grabbed a handful of dirt, wanting to feel it on his hands. He wasn't sure of what to expect, as, after all, it was just dirt. Perhaps it was the sensation of feeling the homeworld of his own people, needing a physical assurance that he was there.
"Master?" finally spoke Theodore.
Harry stood up. "Welcome to the Valley of the Dark Lords, my apprentice. This is the homeworld of the Sith, both the species and the order."
The apprentice came down from the ship as well, looking at the large, although heavily damaged structures around them. "These are the tombs then."
"Yes. To our right is one built for Naga Sadow, but I doubt he was buried here since he fled Korriban. To the left is that of my ancestor, Tulak Hord. Next to his is that of Ajunta Pall, the first Dark Lord, and next to that of Sadow is the one of Marka Ragnos, greatest of the Sith Lords."
"Are they supposed to look the same?"
"From what I know, these are the main entrances to the tombs. There are other sections of the valley with more elaborate entrances to them."
"And that pyramid?"
"Once the Sith Academy. Now, I don't know," said Harry. "Five thousand years have passed since then."
To say Theodore was overwhelmed was an understatement. Since being a child, he had heard stories of how powerful Voldemort had been, and of how people both considered him great and terrible. Now, he saw the man as a mere criminal… a terrorist to be exact, compared to these ancient Dark Lords, whose tombs could tower over Hogwarts itself, and whose power was still felt even if diminished, after five millennia. And the pyramid itself was even larger than these tombs.
"I can barely feel the potency of the dark side here," thought Harry. "It's like an empty well."
"So, what should we do now?" asked Theodore.
Harry concentrated on the Force, trying to see if could be guided towards his next destination. To his surprise, he felt something akin to a tug, the dark side calling to him from within the tomb of his ancestor.
"The tomb of Tulak Hord calls to us."
"It could be a trap," warned Theodore.
Harry pondered this. It was true that entering the tomb of a Dark Lord of the Sith was a risky endeavour. After all, they were supposed to be protected from desecrations by rival Sith and prospective tomb robbers. Then again, many years had passed since its construction, and he was sure that the tomb had been entered since then.
"Perhaps. But we're going in anyway."
Resigning himself to what was to come, Theodore followed Harry as the Sith Lord approached the entrance to the tomb. Using the Force, the two removed the debris which blocked the entry, and with their lightsabers ignited, the two Sith entered Tulak Hord's tomb.
Inside were more debris and also bones, likely from unfortunate explorers, and also from animals.
"I think these are from a Tuk'ata," said Harry to Theodore. "They were created to guard these tombs by the ancient Sith, and my grandmother says they could speak our language. I wonder if there are any alive there…"
The two progressed deep into the tomb, and Harry's answer quickly came in the form of a group of three Tuk'ata, seemingly guarding a corridor with a ruined console. The two Sith made the first move, with Harry and Theodore attacking them with Force lighting, before deciding to strike down the creatures with their lightsabers. The emaciated Sith hounds were no match for the two, allowing them to enter the depths of the tomb.
They had now reached a large circular room, in the centre what seemed to be a strange mixture of sarcophagus and obelisk. Through the Force, Harry opened the structure, revealing what was within.
"Is that… Tulak Hord?" spoke Theodore.
The now opened sarcophagus revealed an integrated throne, sitting on it the ancient body of Tulak Hord, still wearing the Dark Lord's own armour. Harry could not tell the state of the body as the armour itself was in pristine condition, at least visibly.
"Indeed it is, apprentice."
It had not been Harry who spoke, and the two turned around to see the spirit of Tulak Hord himself, right in front of the chamber's entrance. Little difference existed between the spirit and the body of Tulak Hord, noticed Theodore, since both shared the same armour.
"It was you what I felt," accused Harry.
"Correct Dramath, and I congratulate you for finally reaching my tomb," spoke Tulak Hord. "It has been a long journey, and you have grown much, far beyond what you were when your grandmother rescued you from the clutches of those magicians."
As he spoke Tulak moved around the two teenagers, and now stood in front of his sarcophagus.
"When you first summoned me through the holocrons, you were but a child, inexperienced in the ways of the Force, the ways of the Sith, frightened by my appearance, and by the intimidation of older apprentices who envied your place. But that has changed… you have changed. I have forged you into a creature worthy of being called a Sith Lord."
Neither Harry not Theodore missed the massive shift in the dark side of the Force, now concentrated on Tulak himself.
"It is now time to harvest the fruits of my labour."
A massive burst of the dark side came from Tulak's body, the ancient Dark Lord directing it at Harry. The young Sith Lord had no time to react, and as he was hit with the powerful burst of energy, he saw only darkness.
