Chapter Two

Alone in her room, Eiram Esor sat upon her simple cot, her legs crossed under her. Her breathing was even-paced, her heart rate steady. Consciously, she forced herself to assume enough concentration to do a simple relaxation technique that Master Skywalker had taught the Jedi. Her mind felt too jumbled and chaotic. She couldn't keep her train of thought on the task she needed to do. With an annoyed sigh, she uncrossed her legs. Her failure during her mock lightsaber duel bothered her.

She had been just blindly attacking. There had been no Force sense whatsoever when she had been training with him, only the surging power of the lightsaber as it came to life. She wasn't sure what she hated more: the fact that she was weak in the Force, or the fact that DarKloud was right.

If only she could just concentrate!

Esor stood, stretching her legs for a long while before she resumed her sitting stance. She took a deep breath and readied herself. With a renewed determination, she swept back into her meditation. She had to get it right this time.

Her focus during this meditation was on sensing the Force in everything. It flowed through her, calming and soothing. Esor tightened her eyes in an attempt to keep that feeling strong.

Through the Force, she could sense other students moving about throughout the temple, droids rolling along the stone corridors, even the numerous birds that fluttered through the nearby trees. The force allowed her to see many things in and around the temple. Her thoughts were honed in on what the Force could show her.

In her mind, the temple and tress became a blur, as if someone on a ship had just jumped to lightspeed. The light surrounding her darkened, swirling as it rushed past her, through her. She fought to keep her concentration.

Without warning, the Force stopped her.

The room was dark, reminding her of the cargo bay of a ship she had once boarded illegally. There were few lights and even less room to move. A human male stood directly in front of her, black robes flowing and billowing for some unknown air source. His features were blurred.

There was a familiar hum beside her and she didn't even have to turn a fraction of an inch to see what it was. A red lightsaber, it's glow illuminating the dark chambers. Before her, the dark male's lightsaber also activated. The red lit up his face, but she still could not see the features of it.

It happened so fast. The figure beside her rushed forward in a blur of motion, running headlong toward the foe. She let out a distressed yell as the lightsabers clashed with a horrible hiss.

Suddenly, Esor was jerked out of her meditation, her breathing coming out in hard pants. Her heart was racing, and a cold sweat had broken out over her body. She placed a hand on her forehead, as if trying to still the images in her mind.

What in the worlds had just happened?

The remotes, with their electrical whine, hovered several feet above the jungle ground. There were four of them darting about, the programs within them processing. A twenty minute time was set for each of them, in which a relentless volley of laser blasts would fire.

All too easy for Aidan DarKloud.

Closing his eyes, the young Jedi felt with the Force, sensing when and where the first would fire. In quick succession, two of the remotes fired, and each beam was parried. One remote blasted, and the green bolt whizzed away. Three more shot out, all knocked away quickly and effortlessly with Aidan's lightsaber.

Concentrating, the Force flowed through Aidan. Each defended laser was fastly becoming more and more difficult to catch, but Aidan wouldn't stop. He knew he could do it.

He pushed himself harder to keep up with the now quicker pace of the laser shots. The movements of his arms, his steps…all of it was becoming one with the Force and his lightsaber. A thin later of sweat now shone on his forehead, and Aidan's breathing came a bit faster.

The force allowed him to see the past. Those horrible days at the Shadow Academy. Blindfolded in a room, alone, struggling to feel with the Force as remotes were thrown at him. He had managed to hit most of them. The rocks were the next in this stage of training, and all of those were parried. Not easily though, but Aidan had done it.

Then came the knives.

The last and most deadly exercise, Aidan really had to focus with the Force to not get hurt. Somehow, luckily, he managed to get them all.

The test should've ended there…but one lone knife flew at him as he lowered his guard. The knife grazed his right cheek, leaving a deep gash there. He had felt anger and humiliation rise up within him, and he was taken immediately away from the training room before he could lash out.

That night in his "room", he thought hard on that single event. He had learned more than one lesson that day. Never…ever…let your guard down.

And he hadn't, not since that day.

Without even the benefit of a bacta patch to heal his wound, the scar was left there as a reminder to always strive to be the best. Even know, the scar was a predominate feature on his face, but no one ever asked how Aidan had received it, and he didn't volunteer the information.

In a sudden flash of angry thought, Aidan brought his lightsaber down on the nearest remote. It blew up into a thousand tiny particles. A laser bolt shot from another, and in one deft movement, Aidan deflected it with his blade, and sent it right back at the remote. It joined its partner on the jungle floor. Quickly, he finished off the other two remotes with one swift move.

The broken bits of machinery littered the ground at his feet, but Aidan didn't notice them. His mind was elsewhere as he still stood poised, holding the lightsaber aloft. He panted hard, staring into the brightness of the white blade.

He would never go back.