Well, still no word from my beta, I think Jedi might have gotten to him... or something like that anyway... So, proceeding with my origional chapters. enjoy, but more improtantly review or feel my wrath!
Chapter Seven
A Very 'Jedi' Christmas
As much as Hogwarts was interesting and the concepts of magic enticing to Veneficus, he was grateful for the small reprieve for the winter holidays. He fully intended to return to Blackmoore Manor and see what his master had been up to in his absence. Veneficus had smirked at Weasley's angry glare as the group returning home departed the castle. The boy's parents had left the country and he and his siblings had been unable to go home, and the boy was very jealous about it.
The return journey from the castle via the train was uneventful, Veneficus, Anguis and several other Slytherin first years maintaining a compartment to themselves. The other children had occupied themselves with games and other frivolous distractions, while Veneficus had meditated. Zychre had attempted to start a conversation, mentioning something about making a new friend, but Veneficus had ignored her, still seeking to hide his abilities from the students at large. Finally, when the scarlet train reached the station, Veneficus left, nodding as Anguis said his farewells for the time being.
Exiting the magically hidden barrier, Veneficus sensed another Force user near the entrance to the station. It was not his master, but still had the trace of the Dark Side. He figured, from his few correspondences from Lord Millennial that it may be one of the new Sith Neophytes sent to retrieve him, but that didn't make the apprentice drop his guard.
It took the woman several moments after Veneficus approached her from behind to realize that he was there, and a few moments more to discern who he was. "Welcome my Lord." She whispered, "Neophyte Srilis at your service."
Veneficus nodded, and the pair of them departed, the woman hailing a vehicle for them to take back to Great Hangleton and Blackmoore Manor. The driver was slightly confused about driving to a supposed empty lot, but a small edge of the Force sent him away without questions, and empty handed.
After depositing his school things in his chambers, Veneficus decided to explore the new underground compound he learned about from previous letters from Lord Millennial. The hidden turbolift in the now emptied library, leading to the large hanger, which contained now two ships. One, Veneficus recognized as his Master's Sith Infiltrator, but the other was new to him, spherical, and shaped like an eye with large webbed wings. The new ship also had a very strong aura of the Dark Side, which both confused and intrigued the young Sith.
Other rooms, Veneficus discovered, were set aside for physical and Force based training, droid construction and maintenance, dormitories for Sith underlings, storage and many others. There was even a locked vault that even Veneficus had no access to, which he could only assume now housed the Dark Side texts and Holocrons that the Sith Lords had collected since the time of Darth Bane. All in all, it was very impressive, and to have been nearly finished in this amount of time was excellent.
The Sith apprentice decided to take up a short training session, until his master and the remaining neophytes returned from wherever they were. Pulling out his lightsaber, Veneficus paused a moment in thought, before returning his saber to his belt and taking his second wand from his secret sleeve holster. This particular wand, Blackthorn with a Basilisk skin core, was not the one that Veneficus had used in school, as he doubted that the teachers would like the illegal removal of the Ministries trace charm on the wand.
Giving the wand an experimental flick, the Sith Lord felt the pure magical power rush over him. This wand was a much better connection than the one he was forced upon in Diagon Alley, with Snape looming over him. While resistant to its master, and despite Veneficus dislike of the holly and phoenix wand, it had served well, performing everything he had demanded of it, but this… this wand was the one he was born to use, the wand worthy of a Sith Lord.
From the library Veneficus summoned a book on dark spells that his master had taken from Borgin and Burkes, setting it levitation in front of him in the training room. Pressing a nearby button to bring in a droid, the Sith apprentice set about trying to learn a dark severing curse. Taking aim at the hapless droid's neck area, Veneficus intoned, "amputo…"
Nothing happened. Veneficus smirked at the slight challenge the new situation posed. Consulting the book, Veneficus learned that, just as with the Dark side of the Force, emotion was required to power the Dark Arts. Attempting again, the Sith Lord was able to create a small blade of blackness, but it fizzled and faded before striking its target. But Veneficus felt something else. His wand was starting to warm in his hand, and the young Sith remember that most of his classes in Hogwarts had the students casting in the first class.
There must be some connection. Thinking hard, Veneficus started to pace, studying his wand. 'What if,' he mused, 'new wands must be attuned to their owners before powerful magic can be cast easily through them.' It made sense. Just as the Force required time and effort to effective flow through a user, like what his servant Anguis was learning, the magic of the wizards needed to carve paths to pass through not only the witch or wizard, but whatever tool or implement they wielded to channel their powers.
Lifting the wand again, Veneficus ran through all the spells he had learned in Hogwarts several times in quick succession, feeling the channels of magic course through the wood of his wand. Feeling bold and experimental, the Sith Lord sent a few wave of Dark Side energy through the wand at the same time, magnifying the pure power that he felt radiating off the wand.
Wheeling to face the droid once more, Veneficus said, "amputo!" Darkness flied from the wand tip, cutting a black line through the air, and severing the droid's head clean, sending both head and body to the floor with a metallic clang. The rush of dark magic was intense, and Veneficus practiced on the fallen droid, dismembering it completely before feeling sated from the use of magic.
"Interesting choice of demolishing your opponent, my apprentice," came the voice of Darth Millennial from the entranceway. Veneficus turned, keenly aware that he had not sensed his master or the other neophytes' approach. "But I feel that your delve into the darker aspects of these wizards might eventually come at a sacrifice of your other skills…" the three eyed Sith Master continued, stopping before his apprentice.
Veneficus kneeled, "I will not allow my skills to diminish, my Master." He responded.
Rising once more, Veneficus glanced at the other humans, a male and female he did not recognize on sight. "These are neophyte Jenah and Kelrek," Millennial introduced to him, "they, as well as neophyte Srilis whom you met before, are here to help facilitate our affairs on this world, for as long as those Hogwarts business is profitable."
"Of course, my Master," Veneficus replied, seeing the subtle instruction, to make sure that his venture into the world of the wizards was always for the profit of the Sith, and not for any other reasons. "I will not make life too difficult for them…"
Millennial smirked, "See that you do, now, we have things to discuss concerning a small gathering of wizards that we have been invited to attend…"
Veneficus smirked as he followed his master back to the manor as the neophytes admired the dismantled droid.
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Hermione tried to have some fun with her parents over the winter holidays, but inevitably her thoughts always seemed to return to Harry Potter and his radical ideas about life. No matter how she looked at the way the boy acted, she just couldn't fathom how he could end up thinking that way. No eleven-year-old could, let alone should, be so concerned with surviving as much as the young Slytherin was.
It was almost as if the black haired boy assumed he would be attacked wherever he went, and few exceptions aside, Hermione saw no reason for him to believe that. Sure the troll and the rogue bludger were rather disturbing in her logic, but who would honestly want to purposely injure children? It was just too much for her to constantly think about, but for some reason, something there was nagging at her, some deep urge to understand that burned within her.
If just speaking with the Slytherin wasn't so difficult, with his strange was of cryptically wording everything or snaring his phrasing with barbs and traps, Hermione would have enjoyed just speaking with him about it, and satisfying her need to know that way, but she didn't view it as possible.
Could it be possible that something in Harry's home life was affecting his way of thinking? Hermione was horrified to think that the boy might have been being abused, and therefore striving immensely to just continue living, and she honestly did not want to believe it, but it was the only reasonable conclusion that she could think of. Thinking harder of what she should do with this hypothesis, Hermione thought that maybe consulting a teacher, maybe even Headmaster Dumbledore, would prove of some use to her and her dilemma.
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Anguis stood in the main entrance hall of Malfoy Manor, all the trappings of a prim and proper pureblood and a set face of stoic coldness on his face. Underneath however, Anguis was restless. Both his master and his master's master would be coming, and if Lord Veneficus' power was any indication, than this elder Dark Lord was not one to displease, even on accident. His father, however, didn't seem to realize the potential hazards of his arriving guests, and was far more concerned with his former fellows of the Death Eaters.
In reality, after his eventful first term at Hogwarts, and learning this new power of the Force, Anguis had had a difficult time adjusting back to being at home, however short he would be. It was just, not what it had once been. His eyes had been opened to a larger world, a darker world, and one could not unsee these sorts of things easily. Needless to say that the things the boy, Draco Malfoy, had enjoyed in the past did not have the same caliber of entertainment to Lord Anguis of the Sith. He had rather spent much of his time practicing the arts his master had taught him, growing powerful in the Dark Side of the Force.
He had successfully managed to levitate his entire four poster bed and a pair of large bookshelves during his meditations, keeping them suspended for over an hour before he was interrupted by a family elf to prepare for dinner. His anger at the elf came so swiftly, that before he had realized what he was doing, Anguis had been strangling the elf, holding the creature off its feet. After releasing the frightened elf, Anguis had gone to prepare himself, realizing with a slight twinge of satisfaction that his eyes had temporarily changed to a yellow orange colour during his moment of rage.
Ever since, Anguis had felt a substantial increase in his connection to the Dark Side, and he hoped that his masters would as well. The two Sith Lords materialized in a whirling of blue as their private portkey transported them to the entrance hall. Lucius offered a short bow as they landed and approached them, "Welcome, Lord Ravenclaw and Lord Potter…" Anguis heard the slight drawing out of his master's name from his father, and knew that he did not regard the other eleven year old as worthy of note.
If Veneficus knew, he did not show his displeasure at Lucius, but returned an equally slight bow to Lord Malfoy and Anguis' mother, Narcissa. As Lord Blackmoore-Ravenclaw turned to him, Anguis felt the pulsating wave of pure Dark Side emanating from the Dark Lord of the Sith, and he bowed, lower than his father had, both as a sign of respect for the Sith Master, and as was expected by the son of a host. "I am Draco Malfoy, at your service, my Lord."
Lord Blackmoore regarded Anguis with a steely, calculating gaze, before patting the boy on the shoulder, "I am grateful for your service, young Draco. We will look forward to your career with great interest…" and together the three Force users walked to the main ballroom. Anguis felt pride surge inside himself. If his words were any indication, the Sith Master was pleased with his progress. A nod from Veneficus confirmed it, and the Sith acolyte set about to bringing of every comfort to his most important guests.
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Darth Millennial regarded the gathered group of wizards with his three keen eyes. Wielding the Force with great care, he had wrapped himself with a shroud of the Dark Side, preventing any from truly seeing him for what he was, and falling easily into the long practiced persona of Alexandre Blackmoore-Ravenclaw. Many of the dignitaries and other members of high society were coming to him, unknowingly drawn to his nexus of darkness, and engaging him in cryptic conversations, seeking to feel out this new person among their 'esteemed' body.
For the Sith Master, it was an easy ploy to turn the tables and draw as much information from these fools as he desired. For all their magically powers, they knew nothing about the subtle intricacies of the Force, and warping their minds and controlling their emotions was so simple it was pathetic. If the potential for great allies wasn't so high, Millennial felt it would not be too difficult to eliminate them all in one bloody swath if needed.
Amid the endless babble an useless flowery words, the Sith Lord discerned that many of these wizards were the leftover followers of the 'Dark Lord' Voldemort, and reaching out with the Force, Millennial found that each of these had a portion of magic in their bodies that was completely identical, linking each of them to each other and their fallen master. Oddly enough, it was a very familiar magical aura. Millennial felt that this required some intense investigation.
Heightening his senses, Millennial overheard several of these Death Eaters speaking in hushed whispers as his apprentice and the Malfoy boy passed by, "Irritating brat destorys our master and if left with nothing but a scar, and now we have to tolerate him here… filthy little half-blood…"
Something clicked. Millennial stretched out further, probing with the Force the scar upon his apprentice's brow. Veneficus looked toward him with a confused and concerned expression, but Millennial subtle shook his head, relaying to his apprentice to not react, and continued his examination of the magical wound.
And there it was. The very same magical signature was present in his apprentice, and more. There was in actuality a fairly large portion of power that was not in any way par to his apprentice, simply latched there like some mynock parasite. And what was worse, Millennial recalled the very same on the strange cup they had removed from the LeStrange Vault, placing it in their repository of Dark Side artifacts for further study.
There was some connection between these things, and Millennial didn't like what it implicated. He was going to get to the bottom of this mystery, and make sure it didn't threaten the Order of the Sith Lords.
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Veneficus allowed his acolyte to lead him around the room, pointing out this or that person of seeming importance, but the young Sith could sense that his apprentice had overarching sense of restlessness about him, probably due to the close scrutiny of so many people nearby. Walking close by the blond boy, Veneficus subtle passed two small bundles into his apprentice's hand, stepping away as they finally reached the largest group of children their age.
Most of them Veneficus knew of, at least in passing, and the majority of them were in Hogwarts with them now. The current first years at Hogwarts came over to him and Anguis, greeting the pair and chatting about mundane holiday subjects. Veneficus watched on as they chatted, preferring to sweep the crowd with the Force to seek out any potential threats or possible allies. Surprisingly, his senses directed him to two of the children directly in front of him. Turning to peer at the pair, Veneficus recognized Theodore Nott, his fellow Slytherin, and Terence Boot, a Ravenclaw pureblood that he had partnered with in Charms a few times.
The same two boys were eyeing him with equal looks of suspicion and confusion, which was odd, but the Sith could not feel the Force in either boy. Perhaps some sort of magical talent both boys possessed was allowing them to feel his power, but Veneficus wasn't quite sure what yet.
Touching Anguis' arm, he motioned at the two boys in question and requested, "Find us somewhere we can be alone, there are some things we need to discuss…"
"Yes my Lord," the blond boy whispered back, before making some excuse for Nott and Boot to follow him, mentioning loudly that he wanted to show them some new book that was in his room.
Veneficus waited only mere moments after they left to follow. Casually leaving the room, the Sith Lord mounted the stairs three at a time. Finally approaching the Malfoy heir's room, Veneficus started to hear the voice of the one of the boys, Boot he guessed. "Where is this book them, Malfoy?"
"Oh, it should be here about now…" Anguis answered, turning as Veneficus walked in and closed the door behind him.
"Now now children," Veneficus said condescendingly. He then paused at their confused and unnerved faces, "What?" he said in mock ignorance, "expecting someone else?"
"What do you want Potter?" Nott said, struggling to hide the nerves that were creeping up his face.
"I think you both know what I want…" Veneficus replied slowly, causing both boys to shiver.
Suddenly, Boot whipped out his wand, but the Sith Lord knocked it away with a casual wave of a hand. "I don't think so, Mr. Boot." He taunted. Both wizards were wide eyed with fear. Veneficus actually raised an eyebrow when he saw Nott's legs visibly shaking. "Gentlemen," Veneficus said again slowly, taking a seat in one of the chairs in his apprentice's bedroom. "I believe we can do this one of two ways… the easy way, or the hard way!" standing, Veneficus let the power of the Dark Side wash over him, and his wand slip from his hidden holster into his hand. Magic swirled angrily off the wand tip, a sickly green hue flaring across the room.
Both boys took a startled step back, and Nott said, "Dark wizard…" in a frightened tone.
The Dark Lord of the Sith regarded both terrified boys with an amused glance, "and if I am? What would that cause between us." He sat down again, "For you see, I have no intention of harming either of you. Quite the opposite in fact, I want to take you both on as extensions of my will. You're both intelligent young men, and it would be a shame to waste such potential…" he left the unspoken threat hang in the air.
"What sort of things would you want from us…?" Boot said hesitantly, still quite suspicious.
Veneficus smiled, "I need researchers, delving into areas of magic that I either do not have to or cannot due to my wonderful public image… but before I go into any details, I want your vows." He offered a hand, smiling genially at both boys. They were still hesitant, but slowly, Nott took the offered hand. Anguis immediately whipped out his wand and murmured the beginnings of the Unbreakable Vow.
"Do you, Theodore Nott, swear to keep all that I tell and command you to do secret to all who I do not give you express permission to tell?" Veneficus stated flatly.
"I will…" the boy shaking replied.
"And do you, Theodore Nott, swear to keep the identities of your fellows in my service a secret from any who I do not give you permission to tell?"
Again, the boy agreed.
"And do you, Theodore Nott, swear to obey every command I give you to the best of your abilities for as long as you live?"
The boy's eyes widened in horror, but Veneficus' grasp was firm, and the boy could not pull away. "I….I…." he stammered, looking from Boot to Veneficus and back in sheer terror. Finally, he lowered his eyes, seeing no escape, "I do…" the bands of magic grew golden, flaring in power and binding the two wizards together in their pact forever.
Veneficus released him, and turned to Boot, who shuddered as the hand was extended to him as well. The boy had no other choice as well, and agreed to the terms that his new master set for him. "Well, now," Veneficus said after they were finished, "That wasn't so bad was it?"
Neither answered, clearly still fearful for their lives. "Oh, come now you two." Veneficus said, urging them both to relax, "I wouldn't go through all this trouble just to kill you. That would just be wasteful… Now why don't you both sit down."
The Force compelling them, the boy's obeyed immediately. Smiling cruelly, Veneficus pulled out two pairs of projectors and comlinks, "These," he said, indicating the four electronic devices, "are means of communication over long distances that don't use magic…" both boys look mildly interested even through their fear. "I want the pair of you, in whatever spare time you can muster, to reproduce these same devices except with the added advantage of incorporating magic as a power source."
"That's all?" Nott said cautiously, and Veneficus smiled before nodding. "I will see about your progress sometime before the end of this year at Hogwarts. Now, leave us…"
The two boys left the room, neither walking nor running, but something in between, as Veneficus smiled wickedly at his apprentice.
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Zhar's first impression of the Sith temple of Dromund Kaas had been, rather poor. The concept of being sent back for more training didn't sit well with the Dark Jedi, it being too close to what Zhar had already gone through as a Jedi youngling and later as a Padawan. Still, Lord Millennial hadn't really given him an option in the matter, and if he became more powerful in the Dark Side, perhaps he would be given more freedom to do as he pleased.
Landing the stolen freighter in the main Hangar Bay, Zhar had been directed to the location of the Supreme Prophet by a nearby acolyte, and had set off deeper into the massive structure. It appeared, Zhar noticed as he descended into the depth of the temple, that the people here had gone through some sort of disaster, if the mounds of rubble that were being cleared away or the battalions droids working to build new supports the corridors were any indication.
Down another turbolift, and Zhar was suddenly inside a massive training room. At least two or three dozen beings of varied races across the Galaxy were represented, each either clashing with crimson lightsabers, or learning advanced combat uses for the Force. In the very center of the room, supervising a pair of sparring combatants was Supreme Prophet Dass'in. Zhar recognized him as the only Dorian in the room, and the one that exuded the most powerful aura of the Dark Side.
Approaching quickly, Zhar nodded at the Kel Dor before speaking, "Supreme Prophet."
"Jedi Quelmok, we've been expecting you," the masked orange being replied, studying Zhar intently with both eyes and the Force.
"I am no Jedi…" Zhar said angrily in retort.
"So you say," Dass'in replied, "but as you have had no other training but theirs, you are still, in fact, a Jedi… but we shall correct that in time."
Waving Zhar to come stand beside him, the Supreme Prophet addressed the gathered crowd of students, "Attention Neophytes, we have a special demonstration for you today." Indicating Zhar, Dass'in continued, "Our agent, Zhar Quelmok, has recently left the Jedi Order, and as such, is still very much in tuned with their battle prowess and their knowledge of the Force. Listen to him, and obey him as you would any of our Acolytes, your superiors."
"Yes, Supreme Prophet," they chanted as one, before returning to their exercises.
Zhar waited as Dass'in studied him a moment longer. "I have a task for you, Acolyte," he started.
"What is it then?" Zhar responded, hoping it involved a nice civilized planet with things to distract him.
"I want you to go to Dathomir," Dass'in said, crushing Zhar's hopes. Dathomir was a jungle planet rife with various carnivorous predators. "There I want you to find and explore the Sith training center that was hidden there by the Brotherhood of Darkness. Retrieve anything that may be of use to us here."
Half bowing, but still resistant to showing submission, Zhar responded, "As you wish…"
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Jedi Padawan Septin Aranis strode through the halls of the Coruscant Jedi Temple, waiting for his Master, Ta-Ras-Min, to return from speaking with the high Council about their new assignment. As a newly chosen Padawan, Septin had little idea what to expect with his new mentor, but from what he heard it wasn't going to be easy. From the other younglings, he had heard that Master Min had lost her last Padawan to the Dark Side, and that the much older Jedi was still on the run.
A door ahead of Septin opened, revealing Master Min, walking out with Battle Master Oprec, talking quietly and consulting a datapad. Walking swiftly up to the pair, Septin nodded as he was greeted and included in the conversation. "We are tasked with tracking down my, former, Padawan." Master Min said, slight tones of regret in her voice.
Septin nodded, understanding the dangerousness of the mission. Former Jedi Zhar had been rather talented, and for one as strong as him to fall to the Dark Side was a heavy blow to the Order at large.
"The last system where Quelmok was sighted was the Sith capitol, Ziost." Master Oprec said, showing them a Hologram of the frozen planet, complete with the coordinates. "May the Force be with you both."
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Sorin watched the stars return from his latest hyperspace jump, after a long chain from Ziost. According to his navigation unit, Arfour-Deten, he was somewhere deep in the Unknown Regions, but where exactly, the droid had no idea. All that Sorin knew is that the ship he was followed had landed on the third planet. Activating his stealth modulator, and closing himself in with the Force, Sorin flew in completely undetectable.
Following the trail of Dark Side energy, Sorin had no problems setting down in the forest near a large clearing that was absolutely infested with the power of the Dark Side. Setting out on foot instead of contacting the council again, Sorin departed from his ship, leaving it in the hands of his astromech, subtle darting from tree to tree as he made his way toward the dark nexus.
The planet was nothing that Sorin had ever seen before, yet had so many different similarities to other planets that it was confusing to the young Jedi Knight. It was almost like some race of beings had randomly decided to mash together aspects of several other planets into one, sending the new creation flying out into space. The combination wasn't at all unappealing either, Sorin noted.
He was removed from his thoughts, however, when he reached the clearing that housed the lingering Dark Side. The clearing was completely empty, void of anything that could give off such a strong Dark Side aura. It made no sense, there had to be something there, yet there wasn't.
Lowering the protections surrounding him in the Force to probe the open area, Sorin was further confused by being able to clearly sense life forms inside the open area, but yet he still couldn't see a thing.
Then, suddenly, a figure appeared out of thin air. It was a small boy, but Sorin recoiled instead of lowered his guard. The boy stank of the Dark Side.
"Prepare yourself for the Force… Jedi!" the boy demanded, activating a crimson lightsaber and charging Sorin. The Jedi Knight had little time to to activate his own weapon before the boy was on top of him.
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Veneficus had been studying quietly in his chambers when he had felt it. A sudden disturbance in the Force emanated directly from outside the Manor. Seizing his wand and Lightsaber, the Sith apprentice charged to his Master's chamber, meeting Darth Millennial and the three Neophytes along the way.
"My Lord, scanners show a figure outside the manor, from out visual it appears to be a Jedi," Kelrek reported.
"The Jedi is of no consequence;" Millennial said calmly, "Lord Veneficus will slay him and recover his vessel."
"As you command my Master…" Veneficus replied, bowing before storming for the front door. His adrenalin was rushing and he felt his anger on the verge of consuming him in an animalistic rage. 'Finally, a true test of my power,' he thought as he flung open the front doors. He could see the Jedi clearly, standing just at the edge of the trees.
"Prepare yourself for the Force… Jedi!" Veneficus yelled, activating his saber and flat out charging the surprised Jedi. So fast was his approach and his focus so intense that the foolish human had barely raised his defenses when Veneficus struck, raining blows down from all angles on the Jedi, his blue blade moving faster that the eye to be able to block and parry all of the Sith apprentices attacks. His lightning jabs and acrobatics gave Veneficus the edge to continue pressing the attack, while the Jedi kept trying to fins steady footing to counter from.
Anticipating the Jedi's style, a powerful strength oriented Djem-So form of combat, Veneficus did not let up his offence, keep the Jedi off balance and driving him back into the forest, away from the manor and his Master.
That was, until the Jedi backed into a tree, having lost where he was going in his attempts to keep Veneficus' blade from scoring a hit. The Sith Lord came in for the kill, stabbing toward the Jedi's torso, but the human used the Force to propel himself upward, allowing the crimson blade to impale the tree trunk behind him.
Veneficus looked up with an angry snarl, but had to flip backward to dodge the Jedi's counter attack, a powerful downward slash while returning to the ground.
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Sorin had never expected so powerful an opponent from one so young. The boy could not have been more than twelve or thirteen years old and yet fought like a powerful Battle Master. It took everything that Sorin had to keep the boys strange and sometimes misleading attacks away from him. His speed was clearly his strength, but now that Sorin was on the offensive, it would be his only defense.
Bringing his blade down with a mighty swing, and following up with a powerful uppercut, Sorin swatted the boy's blade aside harmlessly, crushing through his defenses and only missing because of the boy's quick dodges. Switching tactics, the boy attempted to throw dead tree limbs and braches at Sorin, who hacked through them like they were nothing, before pressing the attack.
The boy tried to flip over the Jedi Knight, but Sorin reacting quickly, grabbing the boy's ankle and pulling it hard, slamming the boy to the ground. Sorin stabbed, but the boy twisted and rolled away from the blue beam, finally flipping from the ground to a standing position, and they set to circling each other, waiting for their opponent to make a move.
"Your good child," Sorin huffed, drawing heavily on the Force to keep his muscles from giving out, "Very good. But why? Why the Sith?"
The boy snarled, huffing for air as well, but only responded with a blast of lightning. The rays of electricity were feeble though, and Sorin caught them on his saber with great ease. "What do you know about anything, Jedi!" the boy yelled, firing short blasts of lightning again and again, but Sorin kept blocking and catching each bolt on his blade, "Your Order does nothing but weaken itself, while My Master and I gain power with every victory, every challenge."
"If you will not surrender, then I will have no choice but to destroy you," Sorin said, settling into a ready position, saber held high and prepared for an attack or a block.
"You will try," the orange eyed Sith child said, before leaping back into the offensive. Blocking attack after attack, Sorin started to see patterns in the style the child was using. The fluidity, mixed with the rough stabs and slashes, beautifully combining the fourth and seventh forms of saber combat. A true work of art, but sadly used to the means of evil.
But, understanding the style allowed Sorin to defeat it, anticipating the next attack and kicking the young Sith in the face. The child went flying, his saber knocked from his hands. With one slash, the evil weapon was cut in two, rendering it useless for his opponent.
Sorin bore down on the fallen Sith, clearing his mind to do what must be done to all enemies of the Republic.
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Veneficus knew his weapons was gone, and as the Jedi advanced toward him, he responded with the only things that came to mind, firing more lightning from his fingers, but he was still not used to commanding the Dark Side in such a fashion, allowing the Jedi to deflect and absorb the deadly bolts with his saber.
Finally, the Jedi pushed Veneficus, and concentrating on channeling the lightning, the Sith had no defense from being thrown hard into a nearby tree. Stars burst behind his eyes, and Veneficus knew he might be finished. The glowing blue blade was over him, raised high in an execution position.
That's when Veneficus remembered his one remaining weapon. Snatching his wand from his pocket, he slashed wildly and yelled "amputo!"
The jedi stopped. His Lightsaber fell with a clatter from his limp grasp, and fell, his body cut cleanly across the chest. Veneficus stood shakily, still slightly dazed from the impact on the tree, and summoned what remained of his old weapon. Darth Cognus' lightsaber was destroyed; the focusing emitter and crystal cut clean by the Jedi's saber. Shaking his head in frustration, Veneficus realized that he had to construct his own saber at last.
Spying the Jedi's fallen weapon, he took it as well. It would serve him until his own weapon was completed. Moving quickly, Veneficus awkwardly transfigured the Jedi's corpse into a mound of soil, leaving it behind as he went to secure the fallen warriors ship. After the Jedi, the astromech was no challenge, and Veneficus simply overloaded its circuits with lightning before activating the fighter's power, slowly flying it back to Blackmoore Manor, entering the secret hanger and letting the droids take care of the newest addition.
Reviewing the battle with the Jedi, Veneficus decided that his style was effective, but lacked in key areas, namely defense. When the Jedi had knocked him out of the aggressor's position, he had been just as helpless at fending off attacks as the Jedi had been. Perhaps implementing elements from the Soresu defensive form would allow the final pieces of compatibility to fall into place with his Saber combat style.
Passing the bench where he would build his saber in future, Veneficus also pondered if he should branch to a different type of weapon set. A single saber had worked well for him, but he wondered how well his style would work with a Saberstaff… or two full length sabers, or even a single full length saber and a Shorto saber… the possibilities were definitely something for him to meditate on in the near future.