Chapter 9

The blade was a half-centimeter away when another blade suddenly intercepted it and shoved Seront away from Drengin. "Get away from him!" Anakin shouted as Seront regained his balance and tried to get past Anakin.

"Get out of my way, Anakin. This does not concern you," Seront said softly but firmly.

His lightsaber at the ready, Anakin blocked every move Seront made toward Drengin. "I heartily disagree, Darth Seront. Now leave!"

Seront's eyes darkened and narrowed as he was once again outmaneuvered. "So be it."

Anakin blocked a swing aimed for his shoulder and shoved against Seront's blade hard, making the other back away from Drengin.

The lightsabers sizzled and crackled as they connected again and again, their owners engaged in a deadly dance. The Force swirled around the combatants, giving strength and agility.

As the duel progressed, Drengin managed to get back to his feet. He bit his lip to keep from crying out as pain lanced through his left arm. He called his lightsaber to his right hand and observed how the duel was progressing. His first reaction was to go help Anakin, but with an injured arm he realized he would only get in the way.

Anakin saw Drengin stand up and the older apprentice let a relieved sigh escape his lips. Drengin was all right. "Drengin!" he yelled over the clash of the sabers. "Get the ship ready for take off!"

Seront growled as he saw his quarry escaping into the ship. "This has gone on for long enough." Locking the blades together, he managed to turn himself toward the ship. With a quick shove, the Sith pivoted quickly on his heel and ran for the ship.

Anakin ran after Seront, cursing in Huttese as Seront reached the ramp.

Seront made it to the doorway of the ship only to be stunned by the ship's security lasers.

Anakin smiled and pushed Seront off the ramp before closing it. Smart kid. He entered the cockpit to see Drengin warming up the engines. "Nice job. For a moment there, I wasn't sure if I'd get to him in time."

Drengin managed a weak grin as he moved over to the copilot's seat. "No problem."

Anakin took over the controls and led the ship off the ground and out of the hanger. About five minutes later, the friends were safely in hyperspace.

Anakin unbuckled his restraints and looked over at Drengin, who was in a light sleep, and for the first time he noticed the boy's lightsaber burn. "Wake up, Drengin," he said, nudging his friend. "We need to get that arm fixed up."

Drengin opened his eyes and looked up at Anakin. "It's not that bad."

"I'll be the judge of that. Now, come on," Anakin ordered, heading out of the cockpit.

Drengin sighed and unbuckled himself. "I'm coming."

In the small med-bay of the ship, Drengin sat on the cot and let Anakin examine his arm.

Anakin cleaned the wound and applied a bacta dressing before wrapping a bandage around the wound. "There. Now, that wasn't so bad, was it?"

Drengin rolled his eyes and hopped off the cot. "So, where are we headed?"

Anakin put the first aid kit away and looked at Drengin. "Actually, I don't know yet. For now, we'll put as much distance between us and Coruscant as we can."

"I suppose the ship is stocked up then," Drengin commented with a raised eyebrow.

"As a matter of fact, it is," Anakin answered with a grin. He chuckled at the look on Drengin's face. "Well, I never knew when I might want to take a holiday, so I kept the ship well prepared."

Drengin responded with a smile. "Did your Master know?"

"No," Anakin replied as they headed out of the med-bay. "It's a good thing, too, or else we probably would have had to steal a ship."

They made their way to the cabins and Anakin let Drengin pick the one he wanted. Afterward, they headed to the cargo hold where they gathered items for the 'fresher and the small cabins. Also, to Drengin's delight, he found a box filled with clothes his size.

Drengin spent the rest of the day setting his room up and exploring the ship while Anakin set up his cabin and did routine diagnostics on the ship.

Khunth reached the hanger just as a ship lifted off and out of the hanger, taking his apprentice with it. He stopped where he was and watched as the ship sped away. /Drengin/ He called through their bond, but there was no response.

He heard a groan and turned to see Seront picking himself up off the hanger floor. Khunth quickly strode over to his comrade and glared at Seront, his hand resting on the hilt of his lightsaber. "Never, ever go near my apprentice again!"

"Your apprentice is trouble. He's probably plotting some sort of scheme to get rid of Anakin by now," Seront responded.

Fury erupted within Khunth's mind at Seront's accusations. "He would never do a thing like that! He's just a child."

"A Sith child – there's a difference," Seront retorted.

Anger swirled in Khunth's icy blue-gray eyes as he bit back a response. "There is no difference. He is still a child, and being trained to be a Sith does not change that."

"You're blinded by your attachment to the boy. Open your eyes, Khunth; Drengin's a Sith child and will remain so," Seront told him stiffly.

"Oh, I've opened my eyes, Seront, and what I see is that you have changed," Khunth answered. The truth hurt, but Khunth now realized that Seront was no longer the initiate with whom he had grown up.

Seront gave a savage growl, pulled his lightsaber to his hand with the Force and attacked.

Khunth was ready and blocked the strike gracefully. "What happened to you?"

Seront's only response was to double the viciousness of his attack.

The duel went on for a half hour, neither one gaining the advantage. Then the fatal moment came. Pain exploded in Seront's head, causing him to lose his focus long enough to receive a killing strike.

Khunth gasped in stunned disbelief as his lightsaber struck the killing blow and Seront collapsed into a heap. Disengaging his lightsaber, Khunth checked Seront's pulse and found none. Seront was dead; Khunth had killed him. The realization sent him to his knees in anguish. His hands shook as his mind replayed the fatal blow over and over again in his mind.

How could everything go so wrong? I never imagined this would happen but it did. He paused, choking down a sob. I killed you, landed the fatal blow. You were one of my best friends even though we almost never got along.

Hot tears streamed down his cheeks, and onto the floor. You helped me through the tough years of this mission when I wanted to give up, yet how did it end? You were murdered by my own blade. How can I ever forgive myself? How can anyone else forgive me?

He closed his eyes, unable to look upon Seront's face. Regardless of what you became, you were still my friend. I should have realized that something was wrong, should have found a way to help you. Instead it came to this… What will Redav think?

Khunth opened his eyes and looked at Seront's face, still twisted in pain, frozen in death. Fingers trembling, Khunth closed Seront's eyes and said the traditional words before standing again.

"Why?" He retrieved Seront's lightsaber and, without pause, used his own 'saber to slash the other blade into pieces.

He left the hanger and took the shortest way back to his quarters. Guilt, anger and sadness were all intermingled as one within him. He had killed Seront, Redav's best friend. There was no avoiding it: he would have to tell Redav the truth. Khunth took a deep, shuddering breath and slowly let it out.

Anakin was in bed reading when Drengin knocked on the door. "Come in."

Drengin entered the cabin and looked at Anakin, with dark circles under his eyes. "I couldn't sleep."

Anakin set his datapad down on a side table as Drengin climbed up onto the bed and sat beside him. "Are you thinking about the attack? It was a close call."

Drengin shivered as he remembered how close he had been to dying. "It was – but I wasn't thinking about that part exactly." He bit his lip before continuing. "I was thinking about my Master," Drengin replied softly. He looked up at Anakin and continued. "Do you think he sent Darth Seront to kill me? I mean, he said he's a Jedi, but that might not mean he wouldn't try to."

Anakin looked at Drengin in surprise and confusion, and then it slowly dawned on him. "The conversation we had on the rooftop---"

Drengin nodded. "I had just found out and that was why I had come up there."

"Did our conversation help at all?" Anakin asked curiously.

"I thought it did," Drengin answered softly, looking down at his hands. "It seemed simple. Now I know it's not."

"Trust can't be mended easily, especially when you're not sure of the truth." Anakin furrowed his brow as he carefully spoke his next words. "Is your Master Darth Khunth?"

"Yes," Drengin answered looking back up at Anakin. "How did you guess?"

Anakin pressed his lips together tightly, wondering if he should answer Drengin's question. "A suspicion."

"What do you mean?" Drengin asked, noting the look on Anakin's face.

Anakin took a deep, soothing breath and looked into Drengin's eyes. So young and innocent – like he himself had been at that age. "Ten years ago, I accompanied Darth Sidious and Darth Maul to Naboo. I was to wait in the palace until they completed their mission. Later on, Sidious came back for me, alone. It turned out that there had been Jedi on Naboo and Darth Maul had been slain by one of them. We did not go back to Coruscant alone. With us were Darth Redav, Darth Seront and Darth Khunth."

Drengin's eyes widened at this revelation. "They were Jedi?"

"Apprentices," Anakin corrected, rubbing his chin. "They were apprentices." It's beginning to make more sense now, but that still leaves the why? He looked over to the table where the stone lay for a few minutes before he continued. "I had two visions from the past." Using the Force, he lifted the stone and brought it to his hand. "One showed Darth Redav's Master giving him this stone as a birthday gift, and the other was of when he turned against his Master."

Drengin took the stone that Anakin handed to him and turned it over and over in his hands. It felt warm to the touch and a wave of calm swept over him. "But if Khunth turned against his own Master like Darth Redav did, then why would he say he is a Jedi?"

"Because maybe he still is: at the end of my second vision, Darth Redav said he was sorry," Anakin said in a low voice.

"I'm confused," Drengin admitted, pulling his knees up to his chest.

"So am I. That is why we're going to search for some answers," Anakin told him, certainty in his voice.

Drengin looked up at Anakin, tears glimmering in his eyes. "He tried to kill me. Jedi kill users of the Dark Side."

Anakin frowned as a thought occurred to him. "Then why would they stay in Sith territory for ten years?"

"Maybe to brainwash children?" Drengin suggested.

Anakin shook his head at the idea. "I doubt it. No, there's something more to this – much more than what meets the eye."

"I was almost killed," Drengin began again.

"But you weren't," Anakin said, trying his best to soothe his friend.

Drengin wiped his tear-stained face with his hands as Anakin put an arm around him. "I'm scared."

Anakin pulled Drengin close to him so that Drengin was now cuddled up to his side. "Shh," he soothed gently. "I'm here; I won't let anything bad happen to you."

"Promise?" Drengin's muffled voice asked.

"I promise," Anakin told him truthfully.

Anakin ran his fingers through Drengin's hair as a memory stirred from the depths of his mind and he let it unfold.

Five-year-old Anakin raced to his mom's room, his heart beating rapidly. "Momma, momma!" he called.

Shmi turned on the lights as the door opened and thudded against the wall. "What is it, Ani?"

Anakin climbed onto the bed and hugged his mom tightly. "I had a bad dream," he hiccupped, tears running down his face.

Shmi hugged him in return and wiped the tears from his cheeks. "Do you want to tell me about it?"

Anakin nodded and looked up into his mother's shining eyes. "I dreamed that I woke up and I found you dead," he wailed as more tears fell.

"It's all right, Ani," she comforted him. "It was just a dream."

Anakin's sobs died away as Shmi hummed a little song to him while stroking his hair lovingly. "I love you, Mom."

"I love you too, son," she replied, kissing his forehead.

The memory brought tears to Anakin's eyes. He looked down to see Drengin snoring peacefully and smiled sadly. Careful so as not to disturb Drengin, Anakin moved over and laid Drengin the rest of the way down on the bed. He fixed the top sheet and tucked Drengin in on one side. Reaching over to the left, he turned off the light at the nightstand and settled down on the bed. A few minutes later, he too was asleep.