Chapter 21.

New meetings

Part 1.

A couple of days went by and Kyra was not happy. She felt like an outsider and the women were treating her like one too. Also, she really missed Maul. Thinking about him made her angry and other times made her weak and foolish. But not everyone was unfair to her. Mother Talzin paid special attention to her. A few times. Kyra tried to read her but to no avail. She was just too powerful. Then on her fourth day with the Nightsisters, Mother Talzin called for her. Kyra was glad to see the one who collected her was not the one with the bright yellow eyes. Somehow she just couldn't shake off this weird feeling about that Nightsister.

As Kyra approached Mother Talzin, she measured her up, and then she said.

"Come, my sweet girl. I want you to meet someone special and wise."

Then she walked toward a door that was carved into the cave. As she followed her, Kyra saw that the door was leading down to the belly of the mountain. The cold stone stairs were narrow and a little slippery too and Kyra had to watch her steps carefully, while Mother Talzin confidently walked in front of her. The deeper they went the colder it got. When they reached the bottom of the stairs, the room they entered was surprisingly big with a high stone ceiling. There was nothing unusual about this place, but one thing. In the middle of the room sat a small old woman meditating. Her back was to them, but when they walked in she slowly looked up and then turned.

She was at least a head shorter than Kyra and wore a big, wide headpiece adorned with bleach-white bones. Kyra hoped they were animal bones. Her outfit was a simple dark gray with some red and lighter gray embellishments on it. Her bony long fingers were clasped together in a praying manner. Then she looked at Kyra with her light gray ancient eyes.

Kyra felt like they were penetrating into her, reading her, studying her. Despite her size, the old woman looked powerful. Her enormous Force power was coming off her small form in huge waves. Kyra felt every one of them. They were caressing her, holding her in a warm embrace. It was a pleasant and familiar feeling.

"This is old Daka, my sweet girl." Mother Talzin said. " She is the oldest and wises Nightsister on Dathomir. She specifically sent for you to meet her today."

Kyra didn't know how their protocol was so she just bowed her head and said quickly. "It's an honor to meet you."

"The honor is mine." She said in a small but powerful voice. Then she approached Kyra with a thin smile on her aging tattooed face. When she was an arm's length away, she held her bony pale hands out palms up. Kyra slowly placed her hands into hers. They felt very warm, soft, and comforting. Then the old woman closed her eyes and they stood there for a while. Kyra didn't feel anything. She hoped when she touched her hands she could read her, but nothing happened. It appeared that since her arrival on this planet, her Force powers were somehow weakening. Something on Dathomir, she thought bitterly, slowly draining my force powers.

Suddenly the old woman opened her eyes and clasped Kyra's hands into hers. Her face looked calm and curious as she said.

"There is a new and unexpected power within you, that you recently acquired my child. Embrace it and learn from it."

Then she let go of Kyra's hands and went back to meditating on the floor. Kyra wanted to ask many questions, but Mother Talzin motioned her to follow. And they walked out of the room.

Later that day Kyra found herself in a training yard, where the Nightsisters trained together. She watched them with great interest. Four trained, two on two. Their skills and fighting technique were impressive and superb. Kyra suddenly felt the need to join them. She walked up to the women and picked up one of the training sticks. All of the women stopped and looked at her and then slowly, they started to backing away from her. For a second, Kyra thought they were afraid of her, which brought a small sly smile to her face.

Then she realized it was not she, who the women were afraid of.

Looking behind her, she saw the yellow-eyed one standing with feet apart just a couple of yards away from her. With an intense gaze, she looked at Kyra, and then an evil smile appeared on her face. She held a large training stick, but hers was different, Kyra noticed. On the end of the stick were strings of tiny beads. They shook slightly when she moved her hand.

Then she spoke up. "I am Zora! And I will teach you to respect our training traditions! No outsiders will ever train with the Nightsisters!" She paused then with a malicious voice she added. "Especially not your kind!"

As soon as she finished her little speech, in a split second, she was on top of Kyra. She flew through the air and brought her stick down with a powerful move with an intent to smash Kyra into the ground. Kyra's surprise state didn't last long when she quickly composed herself and fought back.

When Zora's stick slashed at her again, Kyra swiftly ducked down, and then she kicked her opponent's legs just below her kneecap. Zora fell back but got up really fast. It was like she didn't even notice the kick. When Kyra counterattacked one of Zora's advances, the impact from Zora's stick was so forceful, a strong vibration went up Kyra's arm like an earthquake. Then Kyra deftly spun around in the air and attacked her with all her strength. The training sticks made a loud banging sound on contact. Then Zora sent a powerful kick toward Kyra's abdomen, but Kyra caught her leg just on time quickly twisting it causing Zora to cry out in pain. Her eyes glowed with rage as she fell facedown to the ground. Quickly, she pushed herself off the ground and turned toward Kyra, slashing her training stick hitting Kyra on the left arm. The pain that followed was raw and agonizing. The end of her stick, where those little beads were located, deeply bit into Kyra's arm with great pain. They felt like thousands of bee stings at the same time. It caused excruciating pain.

Kyra cried out in agony, then she felt a powerful punch to her face. For a couple of seconds, she saw nothing but stars. When she opened her eyes, Zora's pleased and sarcastic face was looming over hers. With malice in her voice, she purred.

"Welcome to Dathomir." Then she walked away leaving Kyra lying on the ground.

Breathing heavily, Kyra watched the Nighsister walking away, and then her attention turned to her arm. Her left arm felt like it was broken again. She didn't understand what was going on with her. Is this wretched planet, she thought angrily. It was draining her powers and there was nothing she could do about it. Never in her life had she been defeated like this. The worst of it was that whom she was defeated by. That hurt her more than her arm or her face.

When no one came to help her up, slowly Kyra picked herself up, and then she started to walk in an unspecified direction. She wanted to get out of here, away from everybody. She just wanted to be alone and meditate. She hasn't been meditated since their arrival, therefore she picked up her pace and walked toward the swampy red terrain to find a perfect spot to do that.

She didn't even know where she was heading, just wanted to stay as far as she could from this place. After a while, she noticed a small swampy pond at the edge of a clearing surrounded by tall trees and lots of shrubs. She cautiously looked around the empty clearing. The water had a reddish and murky glow to it and it didn't look too inviting but to Kyra, it looked peaceful enough. She sat down facing the water and closed her eyes.

Everything felt nice and calm. She could hear the small birds and tiny reptiles scurrying under the foliage.

Maybe this is the place Maul was talking about, she thought with a smile.

Then she felt a small tremor and another. Then the small tremor became bigger and bigger until the ground started to shake. Then out of the tall trees walked a creature from her worst nightmare. When its dark eyes noticed Kyra he roared with a great and powerful voice.