"Kayla…"
"Kayla…"
"KAYLA!"
Kayla's eyes snapped open as she let out a surprised gasp. She looked up and saw Daralec was kneeling beside her.
"…Daralec?" she asked weakly as she sat up, "ugh… What hap-"
Kayla let out a heavy cough… Then another… Then she coughed up a bit of blood and groaned.
"Looks like you got a bit banged up," said Daralec.
"…But… I thought it wasn't real," said Kayla.
"The Force has a way of… Manifesting one's inner demons and giving it flesh," said Daralec.
Kayla looked at Daralec, then she looked at her own blood and wiped her mouth.
"…So, you're saying if I died…" she started to say.
Daralec pat her shoulder.
"Come on, let's get out of here," he said.
And so, Kayla and Daralec left the shrine and headed back to the citadel. When they walked into the temple, Kayla found herself stumbling a bit.
"Hey, hey, you alright?" he asked, helping her up.
"Ehe… Kind of took a stab through the back," said Kayla.
Daralec had a concerned look on his face, he held onto Kayla and brought her to her quarters.
"Here we are," he said as he brought her to bed.
"Thanks… I think I can…," said Kayla.
But exhaustion over took the young woman and she started to fall on her bed.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, Kayla!" he exclaimed.
But Kayla fell on the bed and brough Daralec down with her.
"…Whatever she encountered in there must've put a lot of strain on her mind and body," thought Daralec.
Slowly, and gingerly, Daralec slithered out of Kayla's grasp and used the Force to gently pull her on the bed.
"…Good night, Kayla," he murmured.
Daralec left.
/\/\/\/\/\
"We will meet again."
"̷I̸t̷'̵s̴ ̵t̷i̸m̵e̸ ̷I̴ ̷s̷t̸o̴p̸p̸e̴d̸ ̸b̵e̵i̸n̴g̸ ̵a̴f̶r̴a̴i̵d̵.̵"̴
"̸̨͛̚D̵͇͗̓͝ã̷̞̫̬͐u̸̼͗̈̑g̶̼̎͗ḣ̴̳̑̇t̴̠͈͚͒͝e̵̟͇̐̾͘r̶̟̬͖̾ ̸̖̘̌̄͝o̵̩͗f̴̪͖͉̍ ̷̰̦̈́̏͠Ḽ̷̈ǒ̷̤͇̌̈́ṛ̷̢̨̛͆̐ḋ̵̪̙̄̇ͅ ̵̙̀̈́̚͜V̵̡̾͒̆a̶̠͌̀̏d̸͔̓̀̅e̴̦͌͜ͅr̶̠̦͊͐.̶̳͓͘͜"̸̗̭̿
"̴̙̂͘͠Y̴̻̊o̵̧͈̿ṵ̴̍̽̓'̵̨̀̍ṟ̸͓̔̿̂e̶̦͆́ ̵̝̃ą̴͙̅̅f̴̜͖͌r̵̼̓̐͌å̷̗̥i̴̪̕d̷͕̃͜ ̷͚̞̊ṭ̵̑̔̋o̶̖͈̊ ̷̞̙̲̇k̷͚̣͔͐̈́i̷͉̩͑l̴̟̼̳̈́̿̿l̷̢̛͓̼͆͑ ̷̹̀͘͝ḁ̴͐g̵̝͓̿͝à̴̹̎͊i̴̡̦͂̑͂n̸̤̊̊̈́.̴̰͍̀̒̂"̶̥̇̿
"̶̖͆I̸̻͛'̶̲̓ḿ̷̥ ̶͓̏ĉ̵̜o̴͉͝m̷̛̼i̴̗͆n̷͔̿g̷̱̿ ̴̅͜f̶̖̀o̷͆͜r̵͎̓ ̴̙͠ÿ̴̦́o̷̟͌ṵ̶͝.̵̩̊"̷̟͊
Kayla's eyes snapped open when she let out a gasp. She slowly sat up in her bed and rubbed her eyes. She felt like Hell. She placed her hand over the spot where she was stabbed, the haunting moment echoed in her mind, along with Daralec's words.
"If the Force is capable of pulling off these kinds of feats…" she murmured as she climbed off her bed, "…what else is it capable of?"
Kayla started to get up when she looked down and noticed something was off: She was still in her Apprentice Robes.
"…Guess that battle took a lot more out of me than I thought," she murmured.
After a good stretch, Kayla went and got a quick shower, then she put her robes back on and left to go get breakfast. While she was in the mess hall eating, Ersanan approached her.
"M-Master?" she asked in shock.
"…Meet me at my land speeder when you're finished," he said.
U-Uh… Okay," said Kayla.
Ersanan left. Kayla blinked a few times, but otherwise, she went back to eating.
"Hey," Daralec said as he came over to sit down in front of Kayla.
"Morning Daralec," Kayla said with a smile.
"How are you feeling?" he asked.
"Um… Like death," she said, "I just feel like death… But other than that, I think I'll live."
"Well, that's good," he said.
"…Daralec?" asked Kayla.
"Hmm?" he asked.
"…Thank you," said Kayla.
Daralec raised an eyebrow.
"For what?" he asked.
"For taking me to the shrine again," she said.
Daralec smirked.
"You can thank me properly when you complete your final trial," he said before he went back to eating.
Kayla got finished eating and went to meet Ersanan at his land speeder.
"Get in," he said.
Kayla got in and the two of them took off. Kayla looked over at her master and was about to ask where they were going, but she remained silent. A few hours passed, and Kayla found herself right back to a familiar place.
"This is…" Kayla said as she climbed out.
Ersanan nodded. Kayla looked up at the mountain.
"Go on… I will wait here," he said.
Kayla gave a nod and let out a short breath, then she began her trek up the mountain. Just like before, Kayla stumbled upon the remains of fallen Revanite apprentices who failed in their final trial. Kayla stared at the tattered robes and gnawed bones, but she didn't falter, she just closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and exhaled as she kept going.
"Don't let it control you," she thought.
Kayla kept walking, walking past more and more remains, even a few remains of apprentices underneath the bones of rather large… Beast-like creatures. Kayla stopped for a second and approached the beastly bones and placed her hand on its spine.
"…So… This is what I'll be fighting," she thought.
Kayla looked up at the mountain, detecting a powerful Force Nexus up ahead. It was intense. She also picked up the sound of reptilian roars and snarls. Kayla kept going.
"You must steady your breathing and keep a calm mind. Wait until one of them chooses to face you in battle."
Ersanan's words echoed through Kayla's mind as she walked past more bones.
"It seems more apprentices were killed than dragons," she thought, seeing the ratio.
As Kayla drew closer and closer to the top, she was able to make out the formation of crystals. Clusters of crystals to her left and right. Kayla approached one of the larger crystals and put her hand on it.
"…This crystal…" she thought, "…it's not like the crystal that's in my lightsabers… It's… It's like…"
A roar from up top made Kayla look and keep going. Kayla reached the top and stopped seeing the sight before her. The Force Beasts, these Erusian Dragons looked about the same size as a Nexu, maybe even a bit bigger. The Erusian Dragons appeared to have distinct colored scales, some were dark blue, some had light purple, some had dark purple, and she even saw a few that had maroon-colored scales. Each dragon had glowing opal-colored eyes and had crystals running along their spines right down to their tails, their mouths showed rows of razor-sharp teeth and their paws had a set of razor-sharp claws, that looked like they could rend both flesh and armor with minimal effort.
"You must steady your breathing and keep a calm mind. Wait until one of them chooses to face you in battle."
Kayla took a deep breath and took a step forward, catching the attention of one of the dragons. Kayla looked at it and saw the Force Beast let out a roar. Kayla swallowed and exhaled as she began walking right into the middle of… What she could only guess was, the 'Trial Zone'. Kayla looked around at the dragons, each one of them hissed and roared at her as she moved towards the 'Trial Zone', keeping her breathing in check, keeping her hands away from her weapons so they wouldn't get riled up.
"I can sense their power… They're strong… Very strong," she thought.
One of the dragons crawled over and hissed, flashing its teeth at Kayla in an effort to get her to run, but still she kept going. Kayla looked down at the ground and saw more bones and tattered robes of failed apprentices.
"There's no way I'm ending up like them," she thought.
Kayla stopped right in the middle and looked around, the dragons continued to roar, hiss, and snarl at her, some of them even went so far as to run their claws along the ground and gnash their teeth, one dragon even swiped at the air; still, Kayla did not give them the satisfaction of showing fear, nor the satisfaction of making the first move.
Finally, one of the dragons, a maroon one, marched over to her and roared. Kayla took a stop back, but otherwise, she didn't run. The dragon hissed and circled around her; Kayla didn't take her eyes off it. The dragon hissed and stopped, it ran its claws along the ground and licked its chops.
"You think you scare me?" asked Kayla.
The dragon snarled and hissed, flashing its fangs at her. Kayla stood stoically in front of the Force Beast.
"I'm not afraid of you," she said coolly.
The dragon roared twice and slapped the ground with its tail. It was getting annoyed. Kayla stood her ground. The dragon roared one final time and stamped its front legs in front of Kayla and gave one final hiss.
"He's getting angry," she thought.
The dragons let out a low growl and assumed a pounce stance. Kayla slowly reached for her lightsabers, causing the dragon to step back and growl before stepping forward. Kayla slowly unclipped her lightsabers from her belt and assumed a ready stance.
"…Let's go," she said, igniting her lightsabers.
The dragon pounced, Kayla rolled forward and jumped to her feet as she whirled around to face the Force Beast. The dragon roared and came at her again, swiping at her with its claws. Kayla stepped back, ducked, and jumped, avoiding the beast's strikes before jumping back and jumping forward, slicing at its leg. The dragon let out a yelp and stepped back before roaring at her. Kayla's eyes went wide when she saw something that made her heart stop… The limb wasn't severed.
"Oh crap," she thought.
The dragon hissed. Kayla quickly deactivated and clipped her offhand lightsaber to her belt, then she jumped to the right as the dragon pounced and took a swipe at her.
"Well, this changes things," she thought.
The dragon roared and came at her again, Kayla moved to the left, right and swung upward as the dragon brought its right leg up and brought it down on her, slicing its palm and forcing the beast to back up and swipe at her again. Kayla ducked and went flying back after the best headbutt her.
"I hope this thing isn't impervious to a good stabbing, otherwise, I'm in trouble," she thought.
The dragon snarled as small arcs of electricity started to appear around its mouth. Kayla turned pale.
"Oooooooh MAN!" she thought fearfully.
The dragon reared its head back and let loose a terrible torrent… Of Force Lightning. Kayla took off and jumped onto a nearby rock, then right up onto a tree branch as the lightning followed her, creating a scorched trail as the Force Beast attempted to… Practically vaporize her. Kayla leapt from the tree branch and quickly picked up a cluster of bones before hurling them at the dragon, causing it to stop.
"I stand corrected… I'm in trouble," she thought.
The dragon shook off the impact of the bones that were thrown at its face and charge. Kayla jumped to the right, narrowly dodging a swipe from the Force Beast. Kayla brought her lightsaber up and down onto the dragon's tail, hoping it would be much more vulnerable than its leg; but the dragon let out a hiss and struck the poor apprentice in the gut, sending her flying right into a rock.
"D-Damn," she groaned as she struggled to get up.
The dragon was on her again. Kayla quickly jumped onto a rock, just narrowly missing another swipe, and jumped off as the dragon snapped at her with its teeth. Unfortunately, Kayla made the mistake of turning her back to the dragon…
SLASH!
Kayla screamed and stumbled forward before falling to the ground after taking a swipe to the back, tearing off a good chunk of the upper half of her robes. Kayla struggled to get to her feet, but the searing pain kept her down. The dragon slowly crawled over to her hissed, licking its lips as it looked at her with its hungry eyes. Kayla looked around fast and spotted a pile of dragon bones, thinking quickly, she reached out with the Force and tore off one of the ribs, then she hurled it at the dragon's head and knocked it into a daze.
"Ow…" she thought, having used her slashed left arm.
Kayla slowly got to her feet and spotted the bones of a Revanite Apprentice, who appeared to have been sliced in half.
"Guess I should consider myself lucky," she thought.
Kayla slowly turned to face the dragon, which appeared to have shaken off the daze and was now beyond furious.
"This just got a lot tougher," she thought.
The dragon roared and came at her again. Kayla stood her ground and met the swipes head on, swinging with all her might and deflecting the oncoming claws from the left and right and jumped onto the beast's back when it tried to snap her up. Kayla took her lightsaber and drove it into the dragon, causing it to roar and throw her off. Kayla tumbled across the ground and came to a stop.
"Okay… So, I guess I do have to stab-IT!" she screamed, rolling out of the way of a stomp.
Kayla thrust upward and stabbed the dragon in the belly, the dragon roared and backed up, then it roared at Kayla again and hissed.
"Come on… Come on!" she barked.
The dragon prepared another torrent again.
"Uh-oh," said Kayla.
She drew and ignited her offhand lightsaber again, quickly raising her weapons in a cross block to protect herself; but when the torrent hit, Kayla found herself straining under the full power of the blast. Thinking fast, she jumped to the right and let go of her offhand lightsaber, letting it be reduced to a pile of slag.
"Sorry dad," thought Kayla.
The dragon came at Kayla again, pouncing at swiping at her. Kayla jumped back and hurled the skeleton of a fallen apprentice at the dragon's head; but it only resulted in pissing it off and swiping at her again, Kayla parried the next swipe to the right and lunged forward, stabbing the Force Beast in the shoulder, and stabbing it again in its thigh. The dragon roared and sent her flying back with another headbutt.
"I can't take anymore hits… If I do, I'm not walking out of this in one piece," she thought painfully.
The dragon snarled and got in a ready stance. It was going to pounce again.
"Think Kayla… There's got to be something I can do to… Stun it or… Do some real damage," she thought.
Just then, a thought came into Kayla's head.
"…I know I shouldn't," she thought.
Kayla deactivated her lightsaber and got in a ready stance. The dragon roared and pounced, Kayla took a deep breath and let out a battle cry as she let loose a powerful Force Wave, sending the dragon flying and slamming into a rock wall. Kayla dropped to her knees, panting from the amount of power she poured into the wave.
"Well… That works…" she thought.
The dragon got up and shook off the impact off the slam, the dragon shot a nasty look at Kayla as she started to get to her feet and charged at her once again. Kayla gasped and took off, with the Force Beast pursuit. Kayla raced over to a nearby tree and jumped onto a branch, but the dragon pounced and swiped, taking out a large chunk of the trunk and causing it to go over, with Kayla still on it. The tree collapsed and Kayla tumbled across the ground until she came to a stop.
"Why do they have to go and do that!?" she thought bitterly as she picked herself up.
But Kayla's thoughts were interrupted, and she found herself dropping low as the dragon snapped at her with its teeth, she jumped up onto the toppled tree when the dragon snapped at her again, and again, forcing her to back up until she jumped onto a rock wall, jumped off and tried to impale the dragon in the skull, but the dragon moved back and knocked her over with swing from its tail.
"Ugh… Damn," she thought as she struggled to get up.
The dragon walked over to Kayla and towered over her, growling, and flashing its teeth at her before going down to try and snap her head off, however, Kayla thrust her lightsaber upward and stabbed the dragon right in the neck, forcing it to let out a roar and stumble back, then it roared at Kayla in a rage as she got to her feet.
She looked roughed up; her hair was ruffled, she was left in a sports bra, gloves, her apprentice greaves, and boots, her back and left arm still burned with pain from the swipe she took from the dragon, and she was covered from head to toe in dust and dirt thanks to how much she was sweating.
Though she was tapping into the power of the Force Nexus to slow down the bleeding and to numb the pain from the blows she took, the longer the fight dragged on, the more it became harder for her to concentrate.
"I'll be damned if you think you're going to take me down, monster," she said.
The dragon growled and took a step forward. Kayla assumed a Form IV ready stance. The dragon let out a purr and came at her fast.
"WHOA, WHOA, WHOA, WHOA, WHOA!" she thought.
Kayla backed up fast and tripped up on a boney arm, falling over. Kayla started to get up, but she quickly grabbed the arm when the dragon pounced and tried to snap her head; thinking fast, Kayla shoved the arm into the dragon's arm vertically. The dragon let out a raspy breath and stumbled back, letting Kayla get to her feet and race over to a rock wall, while the dragon crunched down on the arm; the dragon roared and got in a ready stance, letting out another snarl.
"Come on, you bastard, come on…," said Kayla.
The dragon hissed, then it charged and let loose another torrent of Force Lightning from its maw. Kayla gasped and turned, running up the wall and jumping off it as the dragon came to a sliding halt. The dragon turned around, expecting Kayla to land right behind it, but she landed right on its head.
"You're done!" she roared.
Kayla drove her lightsaber into the dragon's skull, bringing it down and forcing it to try and throw her off again; however, Kayla held on tight as she kept her lightsaber imbedded in the dragon's skull, piercing its brain. Kayla gritted her teeth and moved her lightsaber around a bit, carving into the Force Beast's skull until the dragon stopped struggling and went limp. Kayla deactivated her lightsaber and fell back, panting heavily.
"By the Force… That was awful," she muttered.
Back with Ersanan, who was in the middle of meditating, opened his eyes when he sensed Kayla return. He looked up and got to his feet, seeing the dragon head being dragged behind her and his apprentice looking worse for wear.
"You look like hell," Ersanan said with a light chuckle.
"Funny," Kayla retorted.