A: S
Fear. The kind that makes you think of nothing else.
Branded on his heart, it took the form of a question; how can I save someone from a destruction so deeply desired?
Always the same answer... give everything.
This was no cobble hovering in the sky. The gigantic mass of rock, nearly forty feet in height, half that in width, carefully descended onto the sharp tip of an equally impressive mass, jutting out of the red soil.
20,000 tons of rock.
Eleven of these perfectly balanced monoliths stood throughout the vast valley. On a high plateau's overlook, a man sat, withering, eyes closed, hands folded. Smooth lines of red, like branches, ran down his dark skin. Often mistaken as paint, they were a hallmark of his vanishing species. He wore robes that were golden in another life. That memory clung tightly, refusing the last bits of fabric to the advancing wash.
A pebble, no bigger than the tip of his finger, alighted from the ground to level with the man's temple. The man opened his eyes—eyes fighting for life.
A vision cut through his mind.
The blade, red as blood, clashed then dropped; blistered hands and a contorted face fell behind it. One of the great round slabs was ripped open by an invisible power. The rocks above toppled.
The man reached out to stop the collapse; his veins bulging across his visage. Another burst like a bag. Then another. The slain men and women split his mind like an axe to wood. Cracking. Shattering. Neither visions or towers responded to his commands.
He reached forward, arms taught, hands clenching air. He dropped and breathed dust.
Eleven lost lives. Eleven fallen towers. They plummeted vertically as if swallowed. The thunder echoed between the dozens of buttes standing watch, like the rumble of hunger from the belly of a planetary beast, and the valley choked on disturbed soil.
The man coughed and lifted his face from the dust. His flesh seemed pulled tight against his skull. He noticed the small pebble and reached out to it. It skipped about as if in pain, but it did not rise. The man sobbed then froze as a shadow passed over him.
He stared up at a figure whose back was turned. It was dressed in black robes and a single metallic plate encased its neck and scalp. "Traitaris," Magis whispered. It couldn't be. How could the enemy be here? Magis felt another presence and turned. It was walking on the air toward the cliff. Magis realized now a vision before his eyes. "Emeric?"
A few brown locks peeked underneath the black hood. Emeric's once strong features and regal stature were sunken and hunched. The cliff morphed into the bowels of a temple Magis once called home. Now it slept in malice and woke in vengeance.
"Master Sol," Emeric bowed.
"He will come today," Traitaris answered. His voice made you think of awaking in the night to disturbing sounds. "An indispensable moment for you, when you will be tempted to rejoin him." The figure turned revealing gruesome burn marks across his face. The pieces of flesh appeared to be glued together making him look half alive; strands of hair fell across his haggard expression. He circled Emeric. "The dark side demands everything. You know how, Darth Imperium." He stared into Emeric. "You must kill him. Only then will you master yourself. No more memories. No more sorrow."
"Emeric!" Magis shouted, but the vision faded.
Clouds were gathering in the far west. Soon they would thinly mask the day star and, for brief moments, the planet's southern hemisphere would look as faux gold so that greed might be stirred up in passing travelers. Here was exile with ubiquitous heat, decay, and forgotten pasts. The man looked toward the north, where the rains would fall in the woods. There was the temple.
The man stood and drank. Then, as the golden mirage took hold, a ship came down from the heavens. He watched it dive, seemingly like a silver falcon, but actually uncontrolled. The man lifted his hand to help it avoid the edge of a mesa. It skidded into the valley.
Down a dark corridor came the echo of footsteps. A stentorian voice descended. "My children, we have all trained for this moment. We have overthrown our enslavers, now we shall extinguish the Jedi from the stars. But only the worthy may come with us. Return to the heart of this temple and offer the blood of the weak. I belong to the dark side..." Emeric's face materialized from the shadows and finished the line;
"And the dark side belongs to me."
The ship, gashed and marred, still wore its gleaming silver well. It bore the crest of a noble family who ruled a faraway world and it's design resembled the great bulk of a whale, with wings on either side, pulled back as though racing with dazzling velocity. A tall tail, angled back like the wings stood atop the spine. A ramp dropped and a young pilot in a tunic of scarlet and grey hurried out. It ran past the pile of massive boulders and removed headband and goggles.
She was beautiful, despite the long cut running down her head through her ear and into her shoulder. She produced a metallic rod and pulled it apart displaying an energy screen, swiping and expanding. The program showed her route and destination confirmed. A sigh of relief, then a triumphant yelp.
A crate fell and she whipped around with a hidden blaster. She tip-toed back toward the ship through the mess of rocks and saw a jumble of supplies at the end of the ramp. She kept the blaster at eye level and encircled the ship. Near the opening, the withered man rummaged.
"STOP!" her voice was crystal and firm. She trained the firearm on him. He did not halt or even glance her way. "Did you hear me? This is my ship. All- all of this is- is mine. Mostly." She often regretted her habit of honesty. "Stop or I will shoot you where you stand."
"Do you have a medical kit?" the man asked with a jovial cadence. He continued to comb through cabinets. The ship's interior was a stack of decks designed for a royal entourage. Many of the contents had abandoned their hold and were spewn about.
"What for?"
"You."
The pain was suddenly noticeable. The woman touched the sting of her damp neck and her hand went ruby. "That's no excuse to steal."
"Hardly stealing when it's not yours and for you." The man shuffled down the ramp.
"Take one more step and-" the man flicked his wrist and the gun left her fingers and came to rest near twenty feet away. She glanced at it surprised.
"There's no sense in remaining injured."
"Let me do it."
The man tossed her the small bottle. She lined her finger and raised it to her head. The man raised his hand. "It will sting."
"I know what Raldomen does." The woman held her breath and rubbed the ointment in. She didn't make a sound but her body tensed. The man watched, rather impressed.
"I think you should eat," the man suggested. He scrounged through more supplies.
"The food went sour. I've been in space a long time with faulty systems." The man examined a piece of fruit. He took a quick bite and gagged.
"Well, you can eat with me," he offered. The woman slugged down a clear green liquid.
"I don't think so. I don't know you. And I have things to do."
"Those things have everything to do with me. My name is Magis." He started toward the plateau. The woman couldn't help liking the stranger's confidence; but the inclination to follow him was bothersome.
"Is this some sort of Jedi mind trick?" she called.
He didn't look back. "Maybe." She smirked but knew she shouldn't follow him; for more reasons than she could count. A shake of her head and she fetched her blaster. She strapped a leather pouch to her leg then made sure a stack of letters was in a satchel. She jogged to catch his spry gate.
"You don't know why I'm here," she stated.
"I've been expecting you," Magis countered. Well not you, but someone. You've come a long way."
"Yes. The wrecked ship wasn't the plan, but I made it. I wish I could see their faces." She wore a proud grin.
"You're thinking of your mother."
"You are a Jedi?" she asked with traces of excitement.
"Difficult to say these days."
"You can read my thoughts though?"
"Only if you make them available."
"Emeric wanted to be a Jed-" she paused. "Wait a minute. These are tricks... to make me talk. What then? You kill me?"
"No," he replied calmly. "You seek the temple and so do I. It will take trust; on that we agree. Perhaps it will help to say I know Emeric. He came here to be a Jedi. Isn't that right?"
The woman smiled ever so faintly. "On my world Jedi training is strange for anyone who is already noble. A few years after I helped him escape he sent me messages that he was with some runaways at a temple. We promised to meet again. That was years ago-" she trailed off. "I'm a fool for telling you all this."
"It feels good to be confided in," Magis smiled, but the woman was thinking of the secrecy of her plan; the blockade, sleepless weeks, scouts and even bounty hunters sent by her father. She was thinking of Emeric. Magis did not know how to tell her.
Emeric peered through the gloom of the temple. He was on the outskirts, as were eleven of his fellow sith apprentices; each navigating the dark halls; each with a bounty on his head.
In the shadows the faint edges of a tall black diamond droid neared menacingly. A panel slid open in the triangular front revealing blasters. The blasts never made it out as the droid imploded on Emeric's command. Suddenly a skilled Nautolan lunged at Emeric. He evaded and drew a red lightsaber. It clashed with an ornate staff of energy that the attacker wielded with two hands. They fought bitterly and Emeric drew blood first. The Nautolan disappeared.
Emeric slowed his breathing. He must not die. He must not fail. Too much was expected of him. He dashed into the dark.
Magis led the woman up into the plateau and around a curvature in its wall to an arch. The Jedi waved his hand and the rock wall lifted. The dwelling was a series of cozy levels joined by an open air chamber that rose to the sky. The tops of the plateau could be seen along the rim of the opening. The canyon walls were a deepening red that melded with the soft blue glow of the home. The sparse furnishings, plates, and utensils were made of dusty, amber clay.
He served her stew and they spoke of her world where the throngs of commoners were freer than the select families of nobility, in her eyes. It was an unsettled wilderness, save for the lake cities. The nobility were obsessed with isolation. Negotiations with the incipient Republic were sumptuous but never productive. The 'rags', as the commoners were called, lacked everything save decency. She spoke too of her interests in medicine, art, and space travel.
Magis listened. Her thoughts had revealed her name to him. She had secrets just like Emeric. The vision and this new arrival complicated plans but could not be an accident. The woman gazed up at the twilight.
"What was he like to you?" she asked.
Magis took his time. "The best among pupils… but anxious over his worth; eager to prove himself. He thought of his father often."
"He never liked him," the woman said. "And he never said why."
Magis nodded. "Come." They ascended a spiral staircase.
It was complete darkness. The woman rubbed her arms and shoulders as a chill embraced her. A low shudder accompanied a sliver of pale light that grew as a large hangar door rose. It revealed a ship resembling a small bird's long slender beak. It was brown and patched, much more a planetary skiff than an interstellar vessel.
She joined Magis at the edge where the night air cooled her. He raised his hand so that in the fading light a dark form lifted from the valley. Enthralled, the woman watched the Daybringer enter and fill most of the hangar triggering overhead lights.
They inspected the primary systems and then removed everything that didn't make her fly; even the seats. Two cute, white-plated droids with lengthy arms and an oddly human stoop assisted. The woman fired up the burners of the gutted vessel. With a loud boom they sparked with restored vitality. The woman beamed and the droids cheered.
Magis led her to a circular table emanating a soft glow. He manipulated a screen and a vast forest rose on the surface. He moved the lifelike image, following a river through the foliage to where a grand structure stood, cloaked in vines.
"Our plan is twofold. We will move upriver in the Owl—a paragon of stealth I assure you—to a secret underground tunnel."
"What's wrong with the front door?" she jested.
Magis passed over the question which distressed her. "Your ship will be rigged on a timed acceleration before detonation. The impact with the perimeter wall will be a fantastic diversion."
"Detonation!?" she asked.
"Let me finish." Magis continued, but suspicion had joined the table. She studied him and he noticed her hand near her blaster. "Surprise is everything..."
"Stop. I have not come to destroy the temple."
"We won't." Magis urged. "You must trust me."
"I believe I have. Now it's your turn," she firmly warned. Magis sighed. She was right.
"The temple is not the one from Emeric's letters." Her curiosity piqued. "It is a den of evil. Many moons ago, hundreds of students and teachers… friends… were mercilessly slaughtered. By morning, allegiance or death had claimed all but I. I fled." He quaked as he admitted his cowardice. "Forty joined the Sith, a dark order. I trust you know that word. Time and again I failed to win back what was lost with gifts and appeals. But I discovered that every few years there is a ritual, a winnowing of souls. They are preparing to leave. A great conquest to extinguish the Jedi. I tremble at the thought. But first the code requires an offering of the weak. Forty has become eleven. Now is the last cleansing. If I do nothing, half will die and the rest will leave where I cannot follow."
"You said Emeric was alive." She was frightened now, less enraged.
"He is."
She swiftly pulled her blaster and insisted, "The truth! Who are you?"
Emeric skulked through the halls, seeking his prey. A scream… somewhere. A memory overtook him with a rush of pain. He clawed at his head as if trying to pry it out. It passed. He lifted his saber and liquid rippled under his boot. His weapon turned the emerald blood a muddy brown. He dipped his hands in… Nautolan. A sound of labored breathing. It attacked ferociously. Emeric defended with expert maneuvering. He sliced the attacker's arms and ended its life. He lifted the body with a gesture and it floated behind him as he continued.
"He is a prisoner by his own choice," Magis revealed.
"The truth! Not your version of it!" the woman refused the conclusion.
"He will not know you-"
"STOP or I will shoot you now!"
"He will kill you if he can."
"LIAR!" she spat through tears.
"Only liars fear the truth," Magis replied sadly. "All light casts a shadow in this life."
The woman shook then steadied herself. "I don't care about phantoms and dark lords, such as those in my bedtime stories. When he sees me, when he hears my voice... it will be the same as it was. I have not abandoned my family and crossed the stars half starved so that an old man can condemn him to death!"
"I promise to save him," Magis pleaded.
The woman grasped at the few threads her mind could comprehend.
"No, I promise you," she countered and turned toward the open air, sitting at the edge of the deck.
Suddenly Magis clutched his chest as a great pain bent him over. "It's started," he breathed. A vision of Emeric killing flashed before him. "Too soon."
A hurried running up a ramp drew his gaze. The woman fired up the Daybringer engines. "Wait!" Magis shouted but the pain knocked him to the floor. He forced himself to stand, swallowing the disturbance in the force and turned toward the Owl.
The woman faced the darkening sky with determination. She produced her pull-apart screen and located the last message from Emeric. She still conjured an innocent boy's voice as she read.
"I know it's been a long time. I'm sorry. I've said it before, but here is such a far cry from home. I've come to know the master better. He says I have great potential. He knows things. Impossible things.
"Is it strange to wish you were here? There's something I've wanted to tell you for a long time. I yearn to be near you. I've never felt that before." A long pause. She loved that pause.
"My next message will be sooner. I promise. If you see my mother, tell her I love her. Even a Jedi can love. The master says so anyway. So I… Ok… bye."
The woman hugged the screen against her chest. "We're going to be happy," she whispered. "We're going to be happy."
Emeric ascended a flight of stairs with the body of the Nautolan floating behind him. A scuffle and Emeric drew his saber. An Iktotchi named Oko Sight appeared out of the shadows. "Oko."
"Emeric," Oko sneered. "A bit skittish."
"My name is Darth Imperium, Iktochi," Emeric rebuked. Oko chuckled.
"Apologies. I'd forgotten your pet name," Oko let the corpse of an Ithorian drop into the light. He stepped over it and the door at the top of the staircase opened. "Shall we?" Oko grabbed the body and dragged it through. Emeric followed.
The Daybringer silently flew over the empty waste past mighty pillars and foreboding chasms. Soon the sand-colored rock pulled up a deep green blanket with a gleaming band of silver trailing through it. The woman followed the river into the forest rim.
Magis followed at some distance in the Owl. He could not close the gap and was resigned to let it grow. The Owl was designed for stealth, not speed. The looming battle weighed heavily on him. Even for him, master of masters, it would require everything. His critical misjudgment of when the ritual might begin had now cost two lives. The Force wailed, as a victim of torture would; each death like a hammer to his chest. That and he had abused his precious chance to gain the woman's trust. He had abused her trust; the same mistakes, he thought. Why do I make the same mistakes?
The trees were specters in the night and clouds stretched over the forest like a shroud over a corpse. Magis searched for signs of the Daybringer. He knew the tunnel was useless now. The woman would knock on the door and be slain immediately. He struck the console of the ship in anger. "How many more must die on my account?"
A distant boom. The shockwave ripped through branches and grabbed the Owl like it was cardboard. Magis stabilized it with the force to prevent it snapping on the treeline. A huge plume of fire and smoke rose. Magis coaxed more power and hurtled deeper into the forest.
When he reached the small valley where the temple stood in the clearing, the facade was burning, the doors were demolished and at the heart of the blazing furnace was the warped gleaming hull of the Daybringer.
Magis positioned the Owl above and jumped down. He snuffed the fire with a wave of his palm but could not find the woman's body. She might be alive. The gaping maw of the temple's horrid recesses breathed an odorous fetor, repulsing him. He entered.
Double doors opened and Emeric entered a grand circular assembly hall under a marvelously ornate dome. Statues of Jedi stood marred or in heaps. Channels of water fell into canals along the floor, running from the four doors to the magnificent fountain in the center.
Three thrones sat before the fountain. Sol sat upon the middle. Emeric commanded the Nautolan corpse to come to rest at his master's feet. A Mirialan named Juvel Ori, with burnt green skin and beautiful tattoos that she had scratched into hideous scars, tossed the head of a female Twi'lek to join the two bodies. Oko smirked.
The figure grinned, "our guests have arrived."
"No sign of Gretrana or Dread?" Oko remarked with a hint of strange concern.
"We shall see them both soon," Sol replied. "Let him come to me. Go and find her," he gestured to Emeric who turned subserviently and exited the chamber.
The darkness was claustrophobic. With his plan wasted, Magis' mind taxed its reserves. He surfaced the woman's name, Clara, Clara... Hear me. He reached out but so thick was the malice between the walls that he found only fog.
He listened. A slithering, devilish voice began as a low whisper. "You failed. You failed." It grew louder. "You will fail again." Magis lifted the droid sentinel with a steady motion then sent it through a wall to shorten his path.
A horrifying scream echoed in the dark, endless halls. Clara went pale with terror. She put her back to the wall and shut her eyes, covering her mouth to muffle her breathing. A few moments passed before she forced her muscles to obey.
Magis climbed a flight of wide broken stairs into an expansive room with colossal pillars. Broken skeletons lay where their owners fell. Magis stifled his grief. The voice taunted, "Have you come for my death… or yours?" Magis leapt up through the opening onto a gangway where river water poured into canals.
Clara turned into another corridor then hid in a wall recession. Three children, between ten and twelve were standing a stone's throw away. One, a Zeltron girl with red skin, was slightly taller. She had azure hair that was mostly pinned up. The smaller of the two boys stood near the girl. He had blue skin. The third, a human, crept away from them. Another sound startled all four and the girl screamed. A black droid sentinel hovered toward the children. The human boy called on the force to no effect so opted for throwing rocks. The droid's blaster panel slid open.
The blue boy summoned his courage and thrust both hands forward, sending the droid back a few feet. The droid swiveled but Clara stepped out and fired direct hits. The droid fizzled and fell, sizzling as its lights dimmed.
"What happened?" the blue boy asked. The red girl gazed down the corridor. Though she couldn't see Clara... she perceived; a developed gift for her age. The human boy stood furiously, kicking dust and rocks away before stamping on nearby bones.
"I'm not waiting to die!" the human boy shouted. "And I'm done hiding like a rat until dawn! I want to bring an offering. I'm not a weakling!" The girl glanced at the blue boy. The human boy lifted a leg bone and stared at both of them. Clara watched horrified.
"Two against one," the girl threatened.
"Two offerings," the human boy salivated.
"What about three?" came the deep voice of Dread, a tall menacing Zabrak. He lit his twin crimson sabers.
"One for you and one for me, Dread," the human boy squeaked. Dread sniggered. The blue boy stood in front of the red girl.
"Typical," came a steely voice. Dread's smile vanished. A fierce Keshiri named Gretrana emerged from the shadows. She stared down Dread. "You were always a match for children." Dread darkened with rage. "Three is too many though. Maybe one, if asleep." Dread lunged as Gretrana activated her blade. The children fled.
Suddenly the human boy tackled the blue boy, landing a punch. He put his hands around the blue boy's neck until the girl kicked him off. The two ran and the human pursued. Clara broke from her hiding as lightsaber clashes and explosions of rock devoured the corridor. She took off after the younglings, forgetting her letters as they scattered in her wake.
Clara followed the echo of footsteps until she came to the start of the corridor. The human had caught the two and swung wildly with the leg bone. Clara started toward them until a hand caught her by the throat and lifted her high. She gazed down into the face.
"Emeric!" she gasped.
His demonic stare and suffering eyes terrified her. "It's me, Clara." Her name navigated a tortured landscape. Emeric regarded her warily. He hesitated in his obedience, considering this woman he might know. The sensation displeased him. "I came to find you. We can leave. Go where we want. Start over." She slowly worked her hand into her back pocket. The blue boy and red girl got hold of the bone and struck the human then fled.
Clara stared at Emeric. Why hadn't he killed her? "Emeric?" His grip tightened slightly. She pulled a pocket pistol; he deflected the blast but lost his hold on her. She bolted, firing in her wake, forcing him to deflect with his saber.
Another droid sentinel appeared and took aim but crumpled on Emeric's command. He stared at his hand as if it had acted on its own. Clara turned down another hall and through a door, convulsing to the ground in sorrow, weeping into the doorway.
Magis stepped through the double doors into the grand assembly. His eyes beheld Darth Sol and never wavered.
"Show me your face, Traitaris!" Magis boomed.
"Traitaris is dead." Sol answered. "It took you many years to find your courage. I hope we are not disappointed." Juvel's blood-red saber lit. She approached Magis, waving her blade threateningly in attack patterns.
Magis vollied, "Juvel, free yourself from this usurper. Why settle for slavery?"
"Save it," she spat and attacked. Magis barely made the slightest movement but it was enough. He disarmed Juvel and flung her into one of the canals.
"The teacher's prowess," Sol chuckled. Magis glared.
"Do not throw my pupils at me. Stand and fight, coward in the shadows." Magis played expertly on Sol's pride and fear; Sol soured.
"Your pathetic words are a meaningless scramble for affirmation," Sol dismissed. "Feel your doom as I savor it." His hands sparked as lightning leapt out but Magis caught the arcs. The bolts diverged chaotically throughout the assembly splitting stone; large sections crashed on the seats and floor. Water poured in through fresh holes. The force surged through Magis' fingertips as he sent Sol into the fountain. The apprentices did not hide their surprise.
Gretrana lept down to join the others. She dropped Dread's head in front of the throne and took in the scene of Sol rising from the fountain. Magis noted the body parts of apprentices for the first time. His expression went deathlike.
"Your feelings betray you," Sol delighted. "How many of your students did you think you could save?" He slammed Oko to the ground with a wave of lightning. "HOW MANY!?"
"NO!" Gretrana cried. Oko whimpered in agony as Gretrana attacked Sol. He batted her away then brought his saber low for the kill but Magis held it; water exploded from the fountain, submerging the false master. Gretrana rolled away and clashed with Juvel.
Sol emerged and Magis unclipped a lightsaber of pure white light. The two swashbuckled across the chamber as steam and dust amalgamated. Oko recovered and raced to Gretrana's aid against Juvel.
Emeric searched for Clara. Clara stood silently against the wall. Everything Magis had said was true; Emeric was lost. Yet she wouldn't give up. Perhaps Magis could help. He had promised to save him. Clara thought quickly. She sprinted to another fork in the path and took off toward the sounds of blaster fire, alerting Emeric. He lifted his hand to stop her but he wouldn't allow himself to act. Slowly, against invisible chains he followed.
Magis pressed the attack; Sol's formidable power was no match for the teacher of teachers. Magis struck him again. Sol flicked his fingers activating a switch on the throne. Dozens of droid sentinels appeared and fired upon all aggressors.
Clara rushed into the chaos and immediately took cover behind gigantic rubble. Emeric drew his blade as sentinels attacked. Quickly he destroyed three. Clara watched him through bitterness and ire.
Sol sent large stones barreling toward Magis. Magis lifted his hand and the combined strain on the rocks turned them to dust. Sol was upon him. Magis threw him down, but too late and powerless, he witnessed the power-hungry pair of Oko and Gretrana mercilessly slay Juvel. He pressed his temples, afraid his head might crack under the jaws of sorrow and failure; the pillars fell in the valley.
Sol threw him through a crumbling pillar into a slab. "Imperium!" Sol cried. "NOW!" Emeric beheld Magis staggering, weak from another death. He hurtled toward him. Magis sluggishly defended. He could not fight. He did not have the strength to fight a student, especially this favorite, even if twisted by the dark side. How could he fight and save him?
Gretrana swiftly moved on Sol like a juggernaut. Her arms bled, his eyes blackened, yet their ferocity whipped Sol like a hurricane's gale. Oko materialized from behind and they hammered on his saber until Sol pulled down stone onto Gretrana and plunged his saber into Oko's leg, kicking the weapon away. He allowed Oko the painful crawl to his weapon.
Emeric kicked Magis down, hovering over him, savoring his triumph. Clara spotted a stray lightsaber and timed a swift snatch between sentinel assaults. She slammed into Emeric; he crashed to the floor. "I crossed the galaxy!" she cried and swung despite the burden of the saber. Emeric evaded. "I came to find Emeric, not whoever you are!"
Gretrana lifted debris off her only to witness Sol drive his saber through Oko's back. She wailed with madness, abandoning sanity, obliterating all in her path in a desperate endeavor to end Sol's life. Even the sith lord was hard pressed against the wrath of a bitter enemy bereft of her only confidant. She sliced his leg and across his face. He recovered and severed her hands; she spat in his face before death took her.
Sol limped to where Magis sat paralyzed by debilitating grief, wishing for death. "How many?" Sol jeered. He straightened with pride and fired lightning into the master with all the hatred he could muster. "Tell me! How many have you saved? How many will you save?"
Clara evaded Emeric; between attacks her mind shoved her tortured heart aside to remind her that she was still alive, as surprisingly as that was, and that she must stay that way. She parried a powerful blow. "I will kill you before I lose you." She swung and grazed Emeric's face. He grabbed it in pain then lit his saber and attacked. Clara parried. Emeric raged and soon overwhelmed Clara, knocking her down and holding his saber to her throat, but still he could not kill her. Clara defiantly stared up at him. "You are not this, Emeric. You know you're not."
Emeric distanced the blade from her. He turned to where Sol tortured Magis.
"Not yet." He started toward the master and the liar. Then a tremor in the force. Emeric turned as the younglings burst into the assembly.
The human boy called to Sol, "Master!"
Sol turned to the boy and a horrible smile crept over his face. "Oh no," the red girl breathed. Lightning danced from Sol's hand and the boy slid across the floor. Emeric and Magis watched incredulously.
Clara grabbed Emeric and dared to shake him, "Is this what you wanted?" He was far afield now, his soul stravaging in circles, scrounging for willpower. He saw the blue boy lift Clara's blaster and carefully aim at Sol.
"Wait," Emeric desperately whispered and called the blaster to his hand. He called out to Sol, "wait!" but it was too late; Sol hurled the boy into stone with a careless gesture. The red girl screamed and rushed to the boy's side. Emeric stared at the boy then Sol.
"Sol!" Magis rose with great effort, his eyes stained with tears spent for his dying family. He appeared thin, half what he was only moments ago, but an aura was about him of finely tuned purpose. The bitterness was behind him; only the dawn would satisfy. Magis held up his saber and faced Sol. "Darth Sol…" he fumed, "as if you were the morning light. And not a bringer of death!" He furiously attacked and pressed his saber down upon Sol's. Sol escaped the pin and spun to strike but was beaten back.
The red girl called to Clara through sobs, "Please! Help us!" Clara hobbled to them. The blue boy's body was bruised sickly yellow. She lifted and laid the blue boy down in a secluded spot behind mammoth felled blocks. The red girl knelt beside the boy.
"He's still alive," she declared. "Pantoran?" The girl nodded. Clara unstrapped a wrap around her leg, revealing well-padded medical tools and small vials. She cut the boy's clothes and bandaged his side. She sat him up and opened his mouth, pouring in a green liquid, and ensuring a swallow. She turned to the girl, "He'll be OK. Keep out of sight," Clara instructed. The girl nodded and stroked the boy's hair as Clara dashed away.
Magis threw Sol down. "Imperium!" Sol thundered; broken but not defeated. Magis turned to Emeric. Emeric shook his head of thoughts, struggling for control of his emotions. His confusion had only intensified.
"Young one, out of the darkness, without even a name, what do you seek?" Magis spoke the temple's customary words of welcome that Emeric had heard so long ago.
"He will not hear you," Sol taunted.
Magis ignored him. "It's my fault. We had grown too important. Too proud. We forgot we are mortal. We forgot to love and to give. These are the qualities of a Jedi. But it is not too late, Emeric."
Emeric broke his idle thought. "I am Darth Imperium!"
He drove at Magis but the master of masters, his will set, quickly bested him and slashed his arm. Sol attacked. Magis blocked and forced Sol into retreat. Emeric took his place. "I will write your end," he declared.
"What were you promised?" Magis asked angrily as they fought. "Control, power, a way out of the pain? To forget? Or was it about your father?" Emeric's confidence faltered. "You never told me why your father died."
A memory seared through Emeric. He was a boy, coughing and frightened. His bleeding exhausted father tucked him into an escape pod as a large vessel burned in space. 'I love you,' his father shouted but he could not hear against the din of alarms. The pod doors shut tightly. He saw his father through the glass, manning controls. The pod separated then shuddered as it rocketed away before the larger ship exploded.
"You will not confuse me, control me," Emeric lunged.
"Why did he die?"
"He was stupid and weak. He couldn't save himself."
Sol eyed the two then turned his gaze to Clara, warring against sentinels.
"Why?"
"He deserved to die!"
"The truth, Emeric!" Magis repeated, defending.
"He's not here! He's dead! I don't need him. I don't need you!" Emeric swung wildly. Magis brought him down.
"WHY DID YOUR FATHER DIE?" Magis thundered.
"TO SAVE ME!" and Emeric sobbed soundlessly. Magis nodded and deactivated his saber.
"Yes. I knew. But I did not understand. I was distant. Unmoved. Not anymore." Magis dropped his saber in front of Emeric. "Do what you must." Emeric gazed at him and fury surged. He stood and with one stroke the teacher disappeared. Clara choked on tears, unexpectedly caring more than she realized. Sol cackled, breathing relief.
Emeric went blank. He felt nothing; no different. Rather, he felt sick and sad. It overwhelmed him and he sank to his knees again. He should be free, but he was not.
Sol limped closer. "Imperium, stand up!" he ordered without pause. Emeric forced himself to obey. Clara, so determined and unshakeable, felt the clutches of despair finally wrap around her. She gazed at Emeric, recognizing him as truly lost. "It is over," Sol boasted. "Soon we will join our Sith brethren found worthy. The Jedi will fall. The cries of worlds for order and stability will not be ignored." A more sinister pleasure grafted itself onto Sol's pallid face. "To us they will turn. And, through a bit of death and rebirth, we will acquiesce."
He turned. "Let nothing hold us back." He lifted his hand and Clara rose like a cat by its scruff. She clawed at her throat and floated toward Sol and Emeric. "You have killed the deceiver. Now end this last attachment." Sol dropped his arm and Clara fell at Emeric's feet.
Clara gazed up at Emeric, her one last spark of hope fighting to live. Emeric raised his saber… and shock washed over him. Sol saw too for Magis came out of the shadows… alive. No sith or Jedi had ever survived death before. It was impossible, and yet…
"No, no" Sol breathed and backed away. He shook his head repeatedly. Emeric had never seen such fear in him. He gazed at Magis.
"Emeric, you're free," Magis said. At that moment, Clara saw the veil torn open as Emeric turned and beheld Sol as he true liar. Then his eyes fell upon Clara… for the first time. As Sol retreated from the specter of Magis, Emeric summoned the white blade to his hand and destroyed his sith weapon with it.
Sol turned at the sound; his confusion morphing into terror. Emeric charged. Sol sidestepped attacks and reached the throne. He punched in a code before Emeric was upon him again. A rumble echoed.
"Clara, take the children," Magis ordered. "Follow the path to the right. Go!"
"What about Emeric?" she asked.
"Go!" She hustled toward them and lifted the boy.
Sol, spent and wounded, was still a match for Emeric. He deflected attacks and pressed Emeric back. Sol knocked Emeric down but could not strike as the temple quaked. Emeric countered.
"FRAUD! LIAR!" Sol's lightning was not swift enough as Emeric's saber intercepted. Emeric kicked him down. Sol countered and mustered one last defense before Emeric disarmed him. The temple collapsed around them.
"It is you who would control me!" Emeric shouted. "You would kill all I have."
"You belong to the dark side." Sol bellowed.
"I am a Jedi," Emeric replied and raised his lightsaber. Sol lifted his hand and ended his own life under a hail of rubble. Emeric backed away and only felt disgust.
"Emeric!" Magis directed. He seemed to always be ahead as Emeric leapt and climbed the heights of the chamber and out of the temple, a third of which was in ruins. He came to the entrance where Clara and the children were. The boy was awake and the girl helped him to drink. Clara and Emeric embraced.
Emeric turned to Magis. "I am sorry, master."
"No... I am," Magis answered. "Now for a new beginning. Remember, the force will be with you… always." He turned and faded away.