Chapter 11.

When the truth comes to light

It was dark, and the air felt warm and dry. Sitting on the speeder, Maul motioned for her to get on it. Kyra felt a little awkward to be this close to him. The kiss they shared earlier was a mistake. She shouldn't have allowed him to kiss her like that, but she also blamed herself for enjoying it. It was all said and done, she thought bitterly. She just has to be on guard around Maul in the future, so this type of situation will not happen again. When this task was done, I would probably never see him again, she thought with a frown.

After positioning herself in front of Maul, they took off toward the town.

They stopped at the abandoned outer edge of the town. Only a few patrons were hanging around the rundown bar talking in a weird language, which Kyra couldn't understand. They did not pay too much attention to them as Kyra and Maul walked past. Walking in front of Kyra, looking left and right, Maul assessed the surroundings. Then he motioned for her to stop. There was an old, crumbling round building on their left with no windows and only a dark brown wooden door. Anxiously, Kyra looked around. She didn't like this place. They might not survive tonight and this frightened her.

Maul turned to face her and said in a low voice. "This is the place where the Jedi hiding. Are you ready?" He asked. Reluctantly, she nodded and said to him. "Yes, I'm." But before Maul could reach for the door, Kyra instinctively touched his arm and as she gazed into his eyes, she wanted to say something good, something witty like someone would say to another person before they say goodbye forever, but instead she said.

"Please try not to lose another horn tonight."

Feeling amused, Maul looked at her and said. "Oh, I can promise you it will not happen."

Then he turned toward the door and opened it. Inside was a dark and narrow staircase going down. They slowly started to descend. At the bottom they found themselves in a huge, long brightly lit room. It reminded Kyra of an old underground chapel of sorts. Large white candles were burning on either side of the room. Their wax slowly dripped down to the earthy floor. There was nothing special about this place, nothing unusual except that it was occupied with people. They were waiting for them in the middle of the room with weapons drawn. Somehow, they knew Maul and Kyra were coming to pay them a visit tonight.

They stopped in the doorway locking eyes with the Jedi. Maul swiftly assessed the situation. About twenty-five Jedi were in the room, their weapons are drawn, ready to fight. Maul cursed under his nose. He wanted to surprise them, not the other way around. Dropping his cloak on the floor behind him, he ignited his double-bladed lightsaber. Then Kyra followed, turning hers on.

Through the Force, she felt Maul's anticipation. Whatever happens here tonight, at least she'll die fighting. It was considered an honor to die in battle, and now she was ready for it.

Her thoughts troubled Maul. He didn't want her to think this way.

Dismissing her thoughts for a moment, he was about to make the first strike when all of a sudden, the Jedi lowered their weapons. From the back of the room, a single man slowly approached Maul and Kyra. The Jedi parted to let him pass. He walked up front and stopped just a couple of yards from the entryway. Maul recognized him right away. This was the man he came here to kill tonight. The Jedi had a calm appearance, he didn't look frightened or upset. Instead, he looked passive and untroubled which further infuriated Maul. Then the man started to speak addressing Maul.

"I know why are you here tonight." He said with a solemn voice. "I was expecting you." He continued while looking at Maul. "I just hope I can reason with you, Sith."

Maul's mouth made a firm hard-line staring at the man. He didn't come here to reason with these traitorous Jedi. He came here for only one cause, to kill them all!

Then the man's attention turned to Kyra. His expression softened and a small smile appeared on his face as he said to her.

"I'm honored to meet you again." He said with enlightenment in his voice.

Kyra stared at him awestruck. She didn't understand what was going on. How does this man know her name? And what did he mean by meeting her again?!

It's got to be some kind of Jedi trick, she thought with anger.

Noticing her disbelief and shock, the man took a couple of steps toward her and said.

"I know you do not remember me, Kyra. But I recognized you right away my dear. You've grown since the last time I saw you, and how beautiful and powerful you have become."

Then he added with sadness in his voice. "You look so much like your mother, and just as powerful as your father was."

Kyra couldn't comprehend his words. She heard the man talking, but those words were strange and alien for her liking. THIS man in front of her was speaking about her parents? The parents she never knew. The parents she never had. How dare is he tricking her like that? This was truly a vile Jedi scheme! She thought with anger.

Maul had a bad feeling about what could happen next. He sensed Kyra's anger rising and he knew that this anger and frustration would bring chaos and distraction soon in this room, including to Maul as well. He should have struck the man down as soon as he opened his mouth, but it was too late, he angrily thought. But it's not too late to make the first move while he is distracted with Kyra. Maul was about to strike him down when suddenly his whole body froze. Unable to move a muscle, a sudden realization hit him like a ton of bricks, when he saw that every single person in the room was also in a frozen state. To his left, Kyra with her right arm stretched out in front of her slowly lifted up the man off the floor. Pure shock and horror were shown on the man's face.

Using her powers, Kyra searched the man's mind. To her surprise, he didn't resist. He let down his mental barriers for her to see something, which he wanted to show her, something that she should have known a long time ago.

Suddenly, vivid, sharp images floated in front of Kyra's eyes. What she saw in there would change everything that Kyra had ever believed and trusted.

She saw a man with dark brown hair and smiling blue eyes looking at her. He had so much love and care in his eyes, he had to be someone who loved her dearly. He suddenly grabbed her and lifted her small body up and spun her around in a circle, while laughing with delight. And that's when Kyra noticed her small hands grasping onto the man's face. This vision of sorts was happening from her point of view when she was just a little child, and this man, she knew somehow, this man was her father. Then suddenly the image changed and she saw a beautiful woman with long, raven hair and pretty green eyes looking down on her. She slowly lowered herself in front of Kyra and hugged her small form with so much warmth and gentleness it caused tiny goosebumps on her skin. It was a wonderful feeling. It felt like true unconditional love, Kyra thought. She wanted to hold onto this image with all her strength, but as sudden it came, as sudden it went away. Then another image appeared and this one was very painful and hard to watch. Kyra saw a door flew open and men with dark uniforms entered the space where she was standing with her mother.

The men draw lightsabers and quickly, they attacked her mother. She pushed Kyra behind her and drawn her own weapon, a blue lightsaber. It looked so bright and mesmerizing Kyra couldn't take her eyes off of it. Then everything happened in a blur. Her mother was fighting with all her strength. Kyra felt her through the Force. She was brave and she was strong. But her emotions were in great turmoil over saving her child and this somehow weakened her state. One of the black-uniformed men slashed at her mother and then stabbed her through the chest. Kyra saw her mother's body falling in slow-motion toward the floor. Her eyes were full of sadness and fear. It was unbearable to watch.

Then another vision came and she saw her father fighting bravely with unimaginable anger and fury with the full power of the Dark side. With his red lightsaber, he cut down all the black-uniformed men with ease, one by one. Then he turned to face her, his face looked flushed and tired and he was about to grab Kyra and hold her when suddenly a loud blaster sound cut through the stillness of the room and her father's head exploded in front of her. This image was horrendous! Then she felt something warm and sticky on her dress. To her horror, she realized it was smudges of fresh blood and brain pieces. Her father's blood! She opened her mouth to scream but no sound would come out of it. Then she turned and ran out onto the street as fast as her little feet could take her. While she ran, she turned around and saw men with brown uniforms running toward her. She pushed her little body as hard as she could toward the mountains.

Kyra saw enough! Her anger was rising rapidly within. This wretched man, she thought with tremendous hatred, THIS vile, loathsome man betrayed her family! THIS man caused her unbearable pain and suffering from his despicable actions. But behind this senseless massacre, with horror she realized was no other culprit than the man she knew all her life, the man who took her in and raised her and taught her, her Master!

But why? She asked herself over and over again while the troublesome images were slowly fading away.