Chapter 16

Pan had watched the initial bout between Denz and Cordell intently. Denz clearly had the upper hand despite the fact that he had just witnessed a close friend perish at his adversary's hand.

"He has learned to completely block any and all emotional distractions. A formidable ability, one that Cordell seemed to have in the first place. One that he tried to use against Denz to throw him off balance."

It was becoming clear to Pan what the outcome would be. While both combatants were seemingly evenly matched with the same abilities and strengths, the confrontation had so far been pretty much one-sided.

"The X-factor must have something to do with it." Pan thought out loud. He knew it was not over yet. Cordell was merely biding his time. Pan knew that, and he knew that Denz knew it as well. Instead of striking him down now while he is vulnerable, the light one would rather wait for the dark one to make the first move, so that all his actions will be purely in self-defense. Pan knew Cordell would not hesitate, but he had to wonder if Denz had it in him to eliminate Cordell if it seemed that there was no other way to stop him.

"Now the dark one's brother has joined the party. What interesting new developments might this create?" Pan wondered to himself.

Jyo scanned the horizon and saw two figures on the opposite side of the crater. He zoomed in with his glasses and saw what he figured was the back of Denz's head, as well as Cordell laying face down on the ground. "Let's go!" He said to Salah as he started to make his way around the crater.

Salah fell in behind him. She had a bad feeling about what was to come.

As they approached Denz, he suddenly said. "STOP!"

Jyo swallowed. "Is he…?" He started to ask.

Denz, still kneeling, slowly shook his head and said. "It is not over."

Cordell suddenly sprang to life, his ignited lightsaber raised over his head. He brought the blade down on Denz, who instinctively blocked the attack with his own lightsaber.

Jyo blinked behind his glasses, Denz had blocked so quickly that Jyo could not even tell from where he had pulled his lightsaber.

Denz pushed up as he stood, and Cordell leapt backwards.

Jyo, Salah, and Denz all felt it at the same time, and looking at Cordell through the Force revealed him to be surrounded by a strange, dark aura.

Denz's eyes analyzed the aura before he made an evaluation. "His physical body was pretty much defeated by my previous attack. All that remains is the dark energies that he had utilized for his own purposes." He glanced at Jyo and Salah. "This is about to get extremely dangerous. As a last defense, Cordell's abilities are now in their most raw form." Denz turned to face Cordell once again and said. "I don't want to see another friend die today."

There was a moment of silence, and then Denz's statement was answered by the snap-hiss of two lightsabers igniting behind him. "We won't let you do this alone." Jyo said.

Without turning around Denz stated simply. "Don't worry. I've got it covered." With that he motioned with his empty hand and another lightsaber shot from the sleeve of his robe into his open palm. He ignited the second lightsaber and held both down at his sides. The two blades simultaneously shortened to about two-thirds of their original length. Denz raised both and took up a defensive position.

Jyo could not help but notice the way Denz told him and Salah about the dual blades. "I call them lightdaggers. When both are active, a special mechanism is triggered, automatically shortening them a fraction of their original length. It makes them faster and a lot easier to control than two full-length lightsabers."

The sound of simple satisfaction with something he had created was always evident in his voice when Denz was telling people about it. Jyo, having heard it so many times before at the Installation, picked up on this immediately. He smiled slowly and deactivated his lightsaber, and he motioned to Salah who followed suit. Initially Jyo had been worried that this Denz, who seemed so different from the one he had traveled to Jedron with, would lay waste to Cordell without a second thought. But now Jyo knew that even though he appeared a lot rougher, the Denz he knew so well was still in there somewhere; and he knew that Denz would never kill Cordell.

"You'll need our help to restrain him." Jyo stated.

Denz nodded, still with his back to them. "I'll let you know when."

Cordell did not comprehend anything the others said. In his semi-aware state the only thing that he understood was that Denz now had two lightsabers and the others had deactivated theirs. Then the rage took over … and he charged.

Cordell swung horizontally as he dashed at Denz, who sidestepped and raised one blade to deflect the blow. Cordell turned sharply out of his dead run and leapt into the air his lightsaber raised above his head in both hands. He brought it down hard on Denz who crossed his blades above his head, stopping the attack.

Denz grunted from the force of the blow while Cordell stood expressionless as they deadlocked. The three lightsabers snapped and crackled with energy as Denz and Cordell pushed against each other.

Just before Denz tried to break away, Cordell brought his right leg around in a lightning fast roundhouse that struck Denz in the side. Cordell also pulled his lightsaber back as he kicked Denz causing him to lose his balance. As Denz stumbled Cordell pushed with the Force and sent him sprawling.

As soon as he hit the ground Denz rolled to the side as Cordell jammed his lightsaber into the ground right where Denz had been. Cordell pulled his weapon back out, and before Denz could regain his feet Cordell punted him in the side again.

Denz rolled and tumbled across the ground but sprang out of it after a dozen feet or so. Denz took a deep breath to focus himself. He knew that last kick had broken a rib, even though he had tried to soften the blow. He could still fight; he had suffered worse when he had first started taking down vorts on this planet.

He glanced at Jyo and Salah for a brief moment. Just long enough to make sure it did not look like they were going to try anything. Denz was relieved when it seemed as though they still trusted in his abilities.

Jyo scanned the horizon. "I wonder what happened to everyone else?" He wondered aloud.

Salah shrugged. "Good question." She dug in a pocket and pulled out her comlink. "Let's find out." She tried several times to get through to either of the other groups. Finally Zeek answered, but he did not sound happy.

"What do you want?" He yelled into his comlink.

Salah had to hold it away from her ear because it his reply was so loud. She though she heard Tay calling him in the background. "What's going on with you guys?"

"What's it sound like? We're being attacked by a whole bunch of vorts!"

Just then Salah heard the scream of a dying creature. "I wonder why we weren't able to sense your distress?"

"You got me! YAAAH!"

Salah heard Zeek sigh and heard him taking deep breaths.

"It's over. The last few are retreating underground. Our speeder is pretty thrashed, unfortunately. I'll try to contact Master Skywalker to see if he's all right and if he can swing by and collect Tay and me." Zeek reported.

"Good luck. Salah out."

"I bet I know why we couldn't sense that they were in trouble."

"What?"

"Our close proximity to Cordell. He's almost the embodiment of the dark side, and you know how the dark side blurs a Jedi's perceptions."

Salah nodded. "A logical assumption. But one thing bothers me."

"And that is?"

"If Cordell is in the kind of state Denz said he was in, how is he still controlling the vorts?"

Jyo rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "It is possible that the vorts are now merely following their original programming."

"Which is to hunt down and kill all Jedi, right?"

"That's right…" Jyo suddenly saw her point, and his lightsaber was out instantly along with hers.

They felt it at the same time. Simultaneously pulling their attention away from the fight between Denz and Cordell, they looked across the crater to where they had left the swoop bike and Nayanll's body.

The ground seemed to open up right at that very spot and swallow the swoop bike whole. Jyo zoomed his glasses in on the spot, but it was unnecessary. As they watched, five gigantic vorts climbed out of the hole and looked in their direction. The fearsome beasts emitted a haunting howl that sent shivers down Jyo and Salah's spines.

"We can't let them reach Denz and Cordell." Jyo said determinedly.

Salah nodded grimly. "Agreed. But do we even stand a chance?"

Jyo thought for a moment. "We might give ourselves an advantage if we mind-meld."

"Of course! But, Jyo … we've never actually tried mind-melding. Do you think we can pull it off?"

Jyo looked across the crater at the vorts again. They seemed to be looking into the crater where the corpses of two other vorts could be seen. "Only one way to find out!"

The two joined hands, closed their eyes and began to focus. Never having done this before, Jyo and Salah could only rely on their instincts as they searched for that center; that point that would link the two of them. Just as they were beginning to think it was a lost cause, something clicked.

Jyo and Salah opened their eyes and realized that they were seeing two things at once. No words needed to be spoken. Mere thought was all that was necessary to communicate between the two of them.

We've done it, Salah!

Yes, we … AHHH!

Suddenly, something seemed to explode in both of their minds and their vision was painted over with a bright white light.