Drakahn leaned heavily against the balcony of his quarters, staring into the night sky. His plans were unravelling faster than he could draw up contingencies, and his time was running short. His lust for Rehn had blinded him to her still defiant heart, and he knew he had been lucky Vader had not killed them both for wasting his time. The Messenger ran a hand down his chestnut face and stopped at his chin as he pondered his options, which were indeed limited – He could wipe her mind, or he could destroy her. Drakahn refused to believe his efforts over the last weeks had been in vain, so it was time to implement Plan B. With a mind wipe, Rehn would be a blank slate, vulnerable to his every suggestion and whim, and while he preferred her fiery nature, having her live only to please him and cater to his every urge really did not seem so bad. He took a deep breath of cool night air, and closed his eyes, drawing the dark side to him. Drakahn straightened his tunic and turned, his black cloak swirling around him as he turned from the balcony. Tonight, Rehn would meet her destiny.
Rehn sat huddled in a corner of her lavishly decorated room. She had once seen it as Drakahn's attempt to show her a little kindness, but she now saw it for what it really was - a gilded prison cell. Tears of shame and frustration welled up in her mismatched eyes, and she buried her face in her arms. Her head still throbbed, and whatever Vader had done to her had literally burst a damn of terrible memories, which only grew worse if she tried to use the Force to try to drive them away. Her sire and dam had both died to protect her from this monster and she had played right into his hands. She felt like a naïve fool, actually believing he had cared for her and knowing she had loved him and had willingly offered herself to him made her sick. Her eyes squeezed shut as the hate, anger and humiliation she suppressed churned like a raging river inside her. She let out a deep breath and struggled to find her center, touching the Force gently as her father had taught her, and felt Drakahn draw near. Their bond through the Force was still sickeningly strong, and Rehn did not dare tamper with it, lest Drakahn figure out she was no longer his eager little student.
Rehn got to her feet and wiped her red-rimmed eyes, standing tall for the first time in weeks. She would not bend to his will any longer, she would not be an agent of the Empire, and she would probably not live through the night. Gade pulled her mother's lightsaber from her belt, wrapping both her black-furred hands around the weapon and bent her head, resting her forehead against the cool metal of the silver hilt. She felt tainted, both by Drakahn's touch, her own thoughts and the Dark Side. The filly's dark lips pulled into a grimly determined line, and she wondered if Drakahn would see the irony of his situation when she attacked him with the power he'd help to hone. She knew it went against her father's teachings, but her control on the light side was less than tenuous. She would avenge her parents, and use the very lessons the Messenger had taught her to strike him down, or she would die trying. She put the sabre back on her belt and waited.
Drakahn knocked once and opened the doors to Rehn's suite, closing them behind him. She stood, her back to him, and in silence. The big stallion's brow furrowed at her attire – a black tunic and loose trousers, and the fact she did not immediately turn and greet him cause him to hesitate. He touched her with the dark side, and felt her humiliation, anger and hate. There was something else there, just out of reach.
"What's wrong, my love?" he asked, approaching no closer. He watches the almost imperceptible shake of her shoulders as she lowered her head and covered her face with her hands as she sobbed.
"I've failed you, my Lord." she whispered miserable between sobs, trying to draw him in. "Lord Vader was right. I will never be a jedi." Drakahn approached closer, a smile on his face. With her mind in disarray, and clouded in self-doubt, it would be easy to wipe her mind of ever memory she'd ever hand.
"Perhaps your destiny lies long a different path, little one." Drakahn tried to sound caring and sincere as he drew the dark side to him, preparing to strike. Her hate was delicious, and he savoured it like fine wine, but as the Force began to hum around him, the hate he felt was not only for Vader. He got to within arm's length when the realization hit him – the seething hatred she felt, was for him. His eyes widened and he jumped back with surprising agility for a being his size as the telltale snap-hiss of a sabre broke the silence between them. In a blur Rehn spun, making a sweeping backwards stab that would have gutted him had he not been so quick.
"You deceitful, ungrateful little bitch!" his snarled words came through bared teeth as his weapon pulled from his belt and ignited as the hilt hit his hand. "After all I've done for you, you dare to turn on me again!" Rehn came at him in a fury, her eyes burning bright in hate, and Drakahn lunged forward, the tip of his sabre sweeping down and then thrusting upwards in a move that would have cleaver her in two from the groin up. Rehn sensed the strike and danced back out of the blade's bath, circling her opponent, her head low and lips pulled back from her teeth in a display of pure, naked hate.
"All you've done for me?" her angry, frustrated scream was made hoarse by the bruising in her throat from Vader's Force grip. "Should I thank you for the weeks of beatings, molestations and humiliation?" her eyes were fixed on him and narrowed, holding a deadly calm that was not in her voice. "I'll thank you…" the sarcasm dripped from her voice as she leaped forward, her blade over her head and pointing behind her and then hacking downward as she closed on him, attempting to chop him in two from the head down. Drakahn stepped into the heavy strike and blocked it high, though he needed both hands to do it. Her power was surprising, and the air around the two warriors thrummed with the heavy intensity of the dark side.
"Yes…" The huge stallion hissed, looking down at his much smaller opponent. "That's it. Give into your hatred, Rehn. Let it consume you." He shoved her away and slashed at her belly, and the smell of singed hair and cloth stung his nostrils. Gade hissed in pain and backed off out of reach, her hand covering the shallow slash at her belly. "Whether you die or simply fall to the dark side, the outcome will be the same – the Thalcein will have no choice but to concede to the Empire. They will either join us or be destroyed by us." He moved towards her, his sabre at knee level and sweeping upwards. Gade tried to block, but the power of his move deflected her weapon upward. Rehn's back hit the wall, and she found herself with his emerald sabre point at her throat. "You will be my mate, or you will die. Do not throw your life away because of stubborn pride."
"You will never touch me again!" her snarl was almost feral and she shied left and slapped upwards with her blade. The tip and side of his sabre branded the side of her long, graceful neck with an ugly burned line as it deflected, slid along her flesh and embedded itself in the wall. Gade slashed at him with her spur in a vicious spin-kick as she kept moving, scoring a long, deep cut though his armoured side. Drakahn gave a pained grunt, but snatched her ankle on the follow-through and tossed her across the room. Rehn hit the wall with a solid thump and hit the floor, and fell in a heap.
***********
Barryk's gave the last stormtrooper a haircut that began just below his ears and the man twitched as he fell. He stepped over the bodies-all ten of them- and continued on. He was homing in on Drakahn; he could feel the darksider, following his presence in the Force like a predator follows a blood trail. He stopped for a moment to catch his breath, get his baring and check his wound. His robes were scorched by a lucky blaster shot, but other than a burn down his side, he was otherwise undamaged. He had mown down what felt like a division of men as he stalked the corridors of Drakahn's fortress, and it was growing apparent he had waded into a trap. He only hoped Kren was ok. Barryk staggered suddenly as he felt a flash through the Force, like a strike of lighting and felt the pain as though it were his own. Rehn... She was frightened and in agony, but he could feel her determination and her intense hate, anger and guilt – everything he had tried to shelter her from. Don't give in Rehn… I'm coming, hold on!
*********
Rehn scrambled to her feet as Drakahn closed in with frightening speed. Blood from his wound trailed from his side and down his leg to leave a trail across the polished stones of the floor. The wound was obviously not as deep as she had wanted, and was not going to be immediately leathal, but she did take satisfaction out of the fact he was in pain. Raising his green sabre, he struck downwards, and as Rehn raised her violet blade to block, the power of the blow knocked the weapon from her hand. The blade deactivated and the hilt skittered across the floor as Drakahn's blade stabbed forward, catching her just above the right breast, exiting through her back and into the polished marble of the wall. Rehn screamed in agony, but had the presence of mind to lock her knees to keep from falling and making the wound worse. The young warrior's teeth clenched in pain and she stifled another pain filled cry, not wanting to give the bastard the satisfaction of hearing her scream again.
"You time grows short, young one." Drakahn's voice was cold and menacing. "Your choices are simple. You can choose to live as consort, bear my heirs and influence the future of our people, or you can choose to throw your life, as well as the future of our race away." His face twisted into an evil smirk. "Choose."
"I" her voice barely came to her, and she was short of breath but she stared him unflinchingly in the eye "will not be ruled by you or the Empire. You will never have my body, or my soul." Rehn suddenly felt a familiar, desperate presence in the Force, and recognized it instantly as her brother. Completely surprised, she reached out for him and felt him reach back. Her heart soared and a tear fell down her cheek. Barryk had not forsaken her. He had come for her but she knew it was to late. I'm sorry I wasn't stronger… Despite her agony, she stared up at Drakahn fearlessly and waited for the death strike.
Vader was wrong.. The realization did not really surprise Drakahn, considering the fight she had just given him. She was more powerful than Vader had thought. She was a threat, one that had to be eliminated for the good of the Empire. "Very well then." Drakahn felt the elder Gade's presence. He had been so intent and focused on Rehn he had ignored everything else, and realized his mistake as he felt the younger stallion closing in. No matter - first he would dispatch the Cefoltek, then her brother, bringing the Gade line to an end – this just saved him the trouble of hunting Barryk down later. He placed both hands on the weapon's hilt to draw it downward diagonally to cleave her heart when Barryk hit the doors at a dead run. The heavy wooden structure came apart as though made of glass and Gade pitched forward, almost falling, but used the momentum to do a shoulder roll and come up in a crouch. Drakahn pulled his blade from Rehn's chest, turning from his terribly wounded foe to face Barryk. Rehn covered the hole in her chest with her hand and sank weakly to the floor. He looked Barryk up and down with a sneer. "This is turning into quite a family reunion."
Barryk's ear flattened and he showed his impressive teeth as Gade issued his challenge in their native language. His cloak was gone, lost 3 floors down and probably still smouldering from the blaster shots it had taken. His scorched clothes were flecked with blood, but Drakahn could smell that none of it was his.
"I knew you'd show your face eventually." Drakahn snorted in complete disdain "You're too late Barryk. She is tainted by the dark side now and beyond redemption. Ironic that had it not been for your mental tampering, I could have never brought her along this far." Drakahn flicked an ear back at Rehn as she struggled to breath and stay lucid. Barryk made no reply, coming at him as Drakahn brought his sabre down, and the weapons locked with a screaming hiss. Drakahn grinned maliciously at the younger stallion, his cruel green eyes flashing and his voice going low "She's dying Barryk, can you feel it? Perhaps I will have her cloned and enjoy her charms all over again."
Barryk still said nothing as he struggled to maintain his center. He wanted desperately to go to her, to hold her and tell her he was sorry, but he had to dispose of Drakahn first, which was going to be no easy task. Gade's toes gouged at the stone floor his hard, hooved toes leaving furrows in the polished surface. The dark jedi gave a mighty shove with both his sabre and the Force, propelling Barryk backwards and into the wall opposite Rehn. Drakahn came at him hard, swinging his blade in a wide, one-handed swath that would have taken Barryk's head off had he not ducked and rolled away. Gade sprang to his feet in time to intercept Drakahn's next attack, which he blocked high. Using the opening, Barryk lashed out with his foot, ramming it into Drakahn's armoured belly. The Messenger gave a grunt of pain and stumbled back, his hand going to the wound Rehn had inflicted in his side. His hand came away slick with dark blood, but he ignored it as Barryk came at him, and their sabres clashed again.
Rehn opened her eyes slowly, her thoughts muzzy. She looked down at the hole seared hole in her chest, but from the taste of blood in her mouth, the tightness in her chest and the pain in her belly, she had a suspicion the sabre wound was the least of her problems. When Drakahn had thrown her, she had hit the wall hard enough to know she was seriously hurt and probably bleeding internally. She felt weak and sleepy and she watched her brother fight with what felt like surreal detachment, as though she was watching a holo drama. The two stallions lunged at each other with their weapons, feinted, struck and parried, and while it was obvious Drakahn was tired from blood loss, it was also apparent that Barryk, while fighting hard and with conviction, was not as attuned to the Force as he had once been. The smell of burned flesh and fur made the room stink as Barryk barely avoided a chop that would have taken off his sword arm. Let him die a dark, hate filled voice in her head snapped After what he did to me, he deserves it. Rehn's angry, pain-filled mind was inclined to agree with the strong, angry voice. Considering what Barryk had done, did he not deserve to be punished? Did he not deserve the death Drakahn was surely going to give him? Pain bloomed in the Force again and Barryk stifled a cry as Drakahn's spur bit into the outside of his thigh. His pain jolted her, clearing her mind. She could feel her brother's desperate concern for her, and knew it was distracting him. Looking off to her left, she saw the hilt of her sabre a dozen feet away and she reached out for it, but it would not come to her hand. Rehn tried to rise, and failing, began to crawl towards her weapon.
Barryk drew his knee to his chest and posted his foot into Drakahn as their sabres locked again. He shoved hard and the massive dark jedi was thrown back and off balance. Gade charged and Drakahn kicked out high, his spur scoring Barryk's cheek as he pulled his face away. It penetrated a few centimetres into the flesh, leaving an eight-inch cut that pulsed and bled profusely. Gade could feel the blood begin to flow down his neck in a hot torrent. The blow staggered him and Drakahn pressed his attack. Swinging his weapon two-handed like a bat the Messenger tried to cut his younger opponent down. Barryk danced away from the blow and kicked low, wiping Drakahn's feet from under him. Gade's opponent fell on his back with a grunt, but flipped backward and up to his feet as Barryk plunged his blade into the spot Drakahn's head had occupied not a second earlier.
"You have learned much since last we met Barryk, but it is quite obvious you have not practiced." Drakahn chuckled darkly, his voice low and his breathing hard.
"Shut up and fight." Barryk replied through clenched as he spun and danced away from the Messenger's sweeping blade. Drakahn laughed as he lunged and feinted left. Barryk growled as their sabres clashed and could feel his opponent draw heavily from the dark side making it felt as though the world had suddenly grown cold around them. Drakahn's next blow fell and Gade and blocked, but the crushing blow drove him to his knees, his sabre flying the from his hand. Exhausted, nostrils flaring in both pain and need for oxygen, Barryk found himself staring into the business end of Drakahn's sabre. The dark jedi laughed cruelly.
"I would have waited an eternity for this, Gade." Drakahn said with a triumphant smile, his fierce, bloodied teeth showing. "I will savour this moment for a long time, Barryk." A weak moan somewhere behind him made him sneer. "So, she's still alive. Perhaps I will enjoy her one last time before she dies. Let that thought torment you as take your last breath." Drakahn raised his sabre swiftly over his head to administer the deathblow when Barryk caught a movement from behind the hulking stallion, but felt nothing through the Force. A savage scream erupted from behind Drakahn and the stallion whirled as Rehn's sabre leaped to life in her hands and stabbed at his chest. His green eyes widened in surprised. Drakahn had not even felt her approach and he could not bring his sabre down to block. A cry of pain and shock clawed from his throat as the blade slid into his chest, and Barryk saw the violet tip of Rehn's sabre poke out of the dark jedi's back. Barryk scrambled backwards, afraid Drakahn would fall on him.
Rehn stood glaring at her foe as she pulled the blade from his chest. Her legs trembled with the effort of keeping her upright, and as Barryk got to his feet he felt his heart grow cold as he looked into her mismatched eyes. They burned bright in pure hate and he could feel it roll off her emotionally like a frigid wave. Drakahn gaped as he fell forward, clutching at the hole in his chest and his sabre fell from his hand to roll across the polished stone of the floor. Barryk stood in shock as Rehn raised her blade again. Drakahn is beaten, what are you doing…?
"Rehn! No!!"
Even mortally wounded, Drakahn still looked surprised as Rehn let out a hoarse scream and plunged the blade into his head. The Messenger's eyes went immediately blank, as did his presence in the Force. She pulled the blade from his body and staggered back, her strength leaving her. The blade deactivated and Barryk ran to her, catching her as the weapon fell from her hand. Rehn collapsed in his arms. Her pain filled eyes looked up at him, and a tear slid down her golden cheek. Blood seeped from her nostrils and her breathing was laboured as she covered the hole in her chest with a trembling hand. She looked up at him, her expression relieved, angry and hurt all at once, and Barryk grit his teeth in emotional pain as he picked her up, cradling her body to him, calling her weapon to hand.
"Hold on Rehn…. Please..."
-Rogue Trooper-