Chapter XII
The room was, relatively unguarded. Adi swung the door open easily with the Force and saw three guards and Eritha. The girl, to her credit, showed no fear on her face. "Qui-Gon Jinn." She smiled. "I give you more credit than you deserve."
Qui-Gon leveled a gaze at her. "Your time has come," he said grimly. Raising one hand, he motioned and his lightsaber came flying to his hand. "Never, ever, put a Jedi's lightsaber where he can see it and summon it," he said, not a trace of humor in his voice.
Eritha stumbled backwards. "Get him!" she ordered the guards.
Qui-Gon deflected their blaster fire with ease and pushed forward. Reaching the first guard, he slashed – through empty air. The Force surged once more and the remaining guards went flying into the wall, unconscious, but alive. The work of Adi, naturally.
Qui-Gon ignored everything and concentrated on Eritha. He almost smiled as Eritha drew Adi's lightsaber. The orange glow lit up with a sharp hiss. "Come and get me," Eritha hissed through bared teeth, "You won't get me without a fight."
"I prefer it that way, actually," Qui-Gon said lightly. He advanced steadily, holding his lightsaber outwards from his body, the blade slowly crackling through the air from left to right. With one final pass through the air, Qui-Gon leapt forward.
His blow was light and easy. Eritha deflected it with her stolen lightsaber. Qui-Gon pushed again, reversing direction to come at her left, than right. His speed accelerated as the sweat began to mount on Eritha's face. Orange and green blades of light met, crossed, and whirled away. With a smile, Qui-Gon swung faster, reversing and twisting aside Eritha's blows to lightly strike her arm.
Eritha's face turned white as she screamed in pain. "I hate you!" she shouted, "I fight with New Apsolon behind me! You can't win!"
Qui-Gon easily blocked her movements, pressing her backwards. "You were a fool to take this path," he said, "Eventually, you will be brought to justice. Just as today. You end today. I will be the blade that destroys you." The words had come naturally to Qui-Gon's mind; he was barely aware that he had said them.
Eritha was struggling to avoid Qui-Gon with one handed swings. Qui-Gon eased back on his movements. He wanted her good and tired before he finished her off. Death in itself, was not punishing enough for her. "Your time is coming," Qui-Gon repeated, sensing Eritha's exhaustion and pleas. "I will see you dead." He braced his lightsaber back for the killing blow.
"No," Adi said softly. "I'm sorry, Qui-Gon."
A moment later, an invisible but powerful force slammed into Qui-Gon's chest, propelling him away from Eritha and pinning him against the wall. Adi plucked Qui-Gon's lightsaber out of the air and pointed it at Eritha. "Surrender."
Eritha stared at Qui-Gon and back at Adi. Tears of desperation were shining in her eyes. "Don't let him kill me," she whispered.
"I won't let him kill you," Adi said flatly. "But I will kill you if you don't lead me to my padawan."
"Done deal," Eritha whispered before sinking to the ground in exhaustion, one hand clenching her injured arm in pain. The sudden flash of anger from Qui-Gon was felt by every Force-sensitive within a mile range.
Sorry, I know that was really short, but there's only 3 more chapters to go until the end! I'll try to get them up soon, but here's a preview of the next chapter:
Obi-Wan stood over Bant's limp body, his hands trembling. He quickly tucked them into the fabric of his cloak to hide it from his guards. One of them stepped forward eagerly. "We should kill her, Lord, and rid all the galaxy."
"No," Obi-Wan finally managed out. "She once, was an ally of mine."
"If you will not kill her, I will," the older commander snapped, drawing his blaster.
Two quick swipes of the humming blue blade and the commander wouldn't be drawing his blaster anymore. Obi-Wan deactivated his lightsaber once more and met the startled looks of Mikel and the other young soldier. "We should go back," Obi-Wan finally said.