Chapter Three
For Xendor, waiting for Loki the Destroyer would come to an end sooner than he had thought. The darkness of night came and with it, the thundering storms that infamously plagued this planet and caused wide forest fires. In the distance, he could already see the makings of several fires that would likely connect and burn the fringes of the forest. However, the lightning bolts and the fires they created would be only the distraction that his enemy would need to ambush on him.
Before he knew it, Xendor heard a roar of territorial rage and barely dodged a massive hammer swinging at his head from the side. A battle ax followed and Xendor knew that his target had him played for a fool. After all, Xendor had been so focused on what was around him that he failed to sense Loki's stealthy approach until the bigger man was ready to strike him down. Xendor jumped from his perch and descended down towards the carcass with the gigantic fallen god following close behind.
As Xendor heard the monster running behind him, he came on a revelation: for all his speed and ferocity, Loki was not very maneuverable in tight corners due to his size. It gave the little man an idea: wait until the last possible moment and then dart out of the way to watch Loki tumble and fall. Heading straight for the face of the rancor carcass, he waited until he approached its mouth to execute his plan. When he reached it, he began running up along the teeth until he could literally jump over Loki and watch the magic happen.
As he anticipated, Loki the Destroyer crashed straight into the mouth of his most recent kill and fell down from the blunt impact of it. During this time, his sword was exposed to Xendor doing a wide variety of things and so he decided to destroy it immediately. Using one sword, Xendor launched himself through the air to reach his enemy and plunge his blade into the wide face of his enemy's blade. The result was the magic of the sword resisting the power in Xendor's blade initially.
Both magics met and clashed with each other, an explosion of power fastly accumulating. During that time, the Talisman created a shield of Bogan energy around Xendor and protected him from the explosion when it finally did come. Loki's immortality, as predicted, was sacrificed in exchange for the survival of the explosion and when he did recover, his anger was unparalleled. "You little bastard, you'll pay for that!" he shouted.
Swinging his ax and hammer in the direction that he sensed Xendor being in, he watched as the smaller man dodged him yet again and recreated a copy of his sword from its scabbard. "You couldn't beat me to the rancor carcass, how could you ever hope to beat me in fair combat?" Xendor asked. Loki's vain and likes to talk, encourage him if you want but be ready to counter what he does the Talisman interjected. "You're a punk, a rank-amateur, who was lucky and that's all you ever will be!" Loki answered before swinging both his remaining weapons overhead.
Xendor dodged both of the weapons though he did try to sever the head of the ax from its hilt. Loki countered this by quickly letting go of both weapons and lunging for Xendor, successfully grabbing him. Then he took the young man by the neck with one hand and landed a hard punch to the abdomen in the other. He returned to pick up his weapons as Xendor recovered from the blow thanks to the Talisman and its powers to heal.
He recovered to dodge yet another blow from both of Loki's weapons and he observed how it demolished the tree that it hit. The entire tree, from a few meters above the stump, collapsed on the side of the mountain and this gave Xendor an idea. It wasn't one that would kill Loki but it would work towards slowing him down enough for Xendor to incapacitate or kill him with his swords. "So you think you know this forest well?" he mocked.
"What the hell is that supposed to mean!? I've been here for at least eight-hundred thousand years after all!" Loki answered. "That so? Then why don't you pit that knowledge against me and my relatively new exposure to this environment," Xendor replied with a smile.
After that, Xendor began retreating into the forest in the hopes that Loki's pride in his knowledge of the planet would compel him to follow. Sure enough, despite not directly doing so, the gigantic man took the bait and Xendor waited until he was far away from his line of view. Then he made the Talisman tune out everything but the sound of Loki's steps to anticipate where he would attack next. He also made sure to keep his eyes on the direction in which he was going so as not to be lost in the maze of trees that stood before him.
It was at this point that Xendor's mind and soul gave themselves to the Talisman and it melted into his chest. What this did was fill his veins with its powers and call upon the aura of his family, which would give off a blood-red fire in his eyes and expose his veins for the same color to also be seen. Giving himself to the artifact like this allowed it to act like his eyes and ears as he kept on fighting the fallen god that he had come to defeat humiliatingly. Finally, after several hours of traversing the forests, the possessed Xendor sensed his target gaining and prepared for his arrival.
First, he stopped running and instead, position himself in a tree that was adjacent to Loki's direction of approach. Standing behind it, he decided to wait until the gigantic man came charging and dodging would be almost impossible. So fast was the bigger man despite his size normally handicapping him that this almost passed by Xendor but thanks to the Talisman, he timed it just right. A massive tree came falling down with the aid of Xendor's sword and the Talisman's magic and nearly crushed Loki.
However, the big man was able to catch it and push it though not before Xendor used the distraction to run up the tree and attack him from above. He managed a couple slashes to the chest and legs before Loki began swatting at him again like a fly with his hammer and ax. However, Xendor dodged this and hacked at Loki's lower thighs, trying to bring his head closer to the ground. But when he finally managed, Loki revealed a surprise: one side of his battle ax shot out at the flick of a switch.
Such was the velocity of this projectile ax head that Xendor couldn't dodge but send a projectile of his own, conjured from the magic of his sword. The two collided and the resulting explosion reduced the ax head to nothing but ashes at the cost of Xendor's own energy-based projectile. "Impossible, how can a little bastard like you be so gifted in the ways of Bogan!?" Loki demanded as he rose back up. "I am of the blood of Kashi Mer despite my comparative dwarfism," Xendor replied.
Loki's face paled in recognition of the name and in recognition of the possibility for a Kashi Mer descendant to be born with a height deficiency that made them look a little more normal for humans. "With or without the Talisman, you will feel my vengeance for this insult!" Loki vowed. "Insult? There's no bigger insult than you: the failed attempt by Arkanus to create a balance with his nemesis," Xendor said.
"How dare you!" Loki exclaimed, giving into his anger more deeply than ever before. You dare lecture me about my father and mother! You'll die little man and I'll send your body back to the Council in pieces Loki thought menacingly. But as Loki progressed with his hammer and ax, he found Xendor's gift of wielding two swords to be proving superior.
In all his years alive, Loki had only seen this technique twice before and both times had seen it being relatively primitive and flawed. However, here, it seemed perfect though that may have been because of the Talisman fueling Xendor with the power of Bogan. Loki retreated, deciding to smash down trees in the hopes of weakening Xendor to the point of an easier defeat than he would have now. Instead, it seemed as though Xendor only grew stronger and stronger due to delving deeper and deeper into the powers of the artifact that hung around his neck except to melt into his chest during battle.
There was even one point where Xendor put aside his swords long enough to grab one such tree with his bare hands and throw it at the fallen god. Loki caught it though not before being rammed into the side of a mountain along with half the tree being plunged into it with him. Pulling the tree out soon after, Xendor followed the tunnel it created to where Loki lied motionless. Smiling, Xendor thought the man to be dead after several millenniums of existence but he was soon proven wrong.
"Maybe I can't fight you anymore on this day, maybe you have defeated me. But I will never rest until I find you again, little man and while you may spare me now... I promise I won't return the formality when we meet again," Loki hissed despite coughing up blood in the process. Xendor stood for a moment, wondering whether or not to kill Loki despite the Talisman tempting him to do it.
But Xendor's greater willpower told him that he should not kill the man in cold blood, he had already used enough Bogan power for one day. "Loki, son of Arkanus, I wouldn't expect you to return the formality of sparing my life should we meet again. In fact, I'd be disappointed if you did," he replied. "You'll be eating those words as your last meal before I'm through with you when we meet again," Loki warned.
"Maybe but maybe not, I haven't encountered an enemy that I have twice. Perhaps my luck will extend to never fighting you again as well and besides, you're mortal now just like me. Even if you did find me, I'd be more capable of killing you in that match than I was now," Xendor replied. Then he walked away before Loki could say anything more to distract him, having completed his initiation trial.
But as he did so, he had to admit that he somewhat pitied Loki the Destroyer and as such had been very tempted to kill him. After all, what kind of an existence was it to have both of your parents hate your guts so much as to banish you from their world? True that Xendor's father had been somewhat abusive but it was never out of hate like it had been with Loki's father to him. Shaking his head to get the memory out of his mind, he called for the transport to come and pick him up at once.
Approaching the Je'daii Temple, Arden had to admit that for all its ruin it still looked magnificent. But she was not here to see the sights, she was here to obtain the Black Firestone from the bowels of the Temple itself. Approaching the entrance to the Temple, she sensed the spirits of the Children of Ashla trapped within statues of warriors posing for a fight with their spears. Gulping, she hoped not to be bothered by any of them but it seemed as though she wouldn't get that chance.
"I am Jake Fenn, Je'daii Temple Master of the Temple of Knowledge. What is your name, title, and mission?" the ancient spirit asked. "I am Arden Lyn, Initiate of the Jedi Order and I seek the Black Firestone that resides in this Temple," Arden answered with calm but firm certitude. "The stone has been sought by many, surely you know why," the spirit replied.
Arden nodded and stated that it was sought because it guided those who wielded it to the all-seeing Oracle. "With its powers of premonition, the one who can gaze into the future can either become an unbreakable servant of Ashla or a near-invincible tool of Bogan," she added. "Do you come seeking its power for your own purpose?" the spirit inquired. "No, obtaining it would mean the completion of my Initiation Trial and thus I enter the true ranks of the Order," she explained.
"And would you mind not having the rank?" the spirit continued. "Though I have dreamed of being a member and making my uncle proud, I will accept it if I am not fated to be a member. True that my uncle may disown me or be disgraced but it is what I make of my fate that defines me," she replied. "Then you may enter the Temple but be wary of the spirits of Bogan for they will tempt you with promises of power and premonition that only the Oracle can provide," the spirit told her.
Arden nodded, sighing in relief that she had passed the very first test of possibly several that the Temple would offer. But as she journeyed into the inside of the sanctuary of the ruins, she couldn't detect any traces of Bogan presence. Either my senses have abandoned me or it seems as though years of dormancy have caused those spirits to fade Arden thought to herself. Readying her sword and absorbing her scabbard so that it didn't interfere, she made sure to keep an extra vigilant eye open.
Despite the cool fresh breeze coming thanks to the missing top of the Temple in combination to the approach of night, Arden was unsettled. It was almost too quiet and she began to wonder why so many initiates failed to obtain the Black Firestone aside from being deemed unworthy by the spirit. Luckily, she had already deduced that her senses had not abandoned her because she was not in the Rift or the Chasm as both were known to do that to any who traversed within them. But all this mental processing of what could possibly be going on nearly made her fall down a void of darkness.
Detecting stairs after a few seconds to reorient her attention, she guessed that this was where she went as there was nowhere else to go except back. She couldn't go back without the stone so she decided to slowly descend the stairs and see where they led. Lighting a torch with a kit she kept handy on her belt, she sensed trouble ahead and threw the torch in front of her. The trouble turned out to be the stairs ending before a long chasm that plummeted straight down with no way around it.
Luckily, the chasm was not all that massive and Arden could actually climb down and return for the torch but she sensed something. She wondered if it was the Black Firestone or the ancient Bogan spirits that guarded it by lying in wait for any who would seek it. A battle of the Despot War was fought here, I wonder if the spirits of the ones who fell in that fight are here she asked herself. As she climbed down, she could swear she heard moans and screams of pain and agony respectively.
As Arden recalled the histories, Queen Hadiya of the Shikaakwa monarchy had attacked Tython with particular interest for the Black Firestone and appeared at the Temple of Knowledge. Murdered in fair combat by Daegen Lok, it was often said that Hadiya's soul never knew peace and remained. And when Arden heard the clash of swords as though the battle was being reenacted, she could say for certain that the spirits were cursed to continue the battle until the Black Firestone left. Before entering the chamber where she could hear the spirits fighting, she decided that she would try to avoid fighting them as much as possible.
She would also see about avoiding the bodies of the failed initiates, which she was beginning to see all around her, in case any Bogan spirits decided to possess them to fight her. The stone was within sight after a while, standing in a pedestal as though to be glorified by the Je'daii Order. She was close when trouble came her way: bodies of Initiates soon came to life with possessive Bogan spirits. "We will never allow you to leave this sacred temple with the stone!" they all said in simultaneity.
"Stop! This one is very strong with the Force, she's mine!" a more massive creature shouted. "Queen Hadiya, I sense or are my senses as fucked up as the sight around me?" Arden asked. "You guessed correctly, descendant of my murderer!
"Daegen Lok will pay with the blood of one of his own kin!" the zombie answered. Me, a descendant of Daegen Lok? How in the universe is that possible? Arden asked herself. But she shunned this in favor of readying her sword to fight the vengeful spirit of the long-dead Queen.
"I must warn you, descendant of Daegen or not, I am very skilled with the sword," she said aloud. "Of course, I'd be disappointed if you weren't," the Queen replied. "You misunderstand, your Majesty," Arden warned. Before the Queen could ask what she meant, Arden conjured a crescent-shaped projectile of energy with sharpness that surpassed any sword presently existing.
For all the withering and shriveled shape of the dead body she possessed, Queen Hadiya had surprising agility and Arden could quickly figure out why Daegen alone had managed to kill her. But Arden remembered an ancient legend of what to do for spirits like this, preferring diplomacy. "Hadiya, on behalf of my ancestor Daegen Lok, I am so sorry for the misery that has been wrought upon you. I absolve you of your sins and ask that you be allowed to be at peace," she said.
This caused a reaction in the body, as though someone was levitating it with telekinesis and bending it beyond even human proportions. Then the red fire of Bogan ebbed away from the body as it did with the bodies of the undead soldiers who were also at peace with what Arden had said. It seemed as though the Queen being at peace meant release for the soldiers who had perished in the Despot War. Smiling, she noticed the spirits of the Je'daii turning to her and saluting her with their swords and it was a salutation she knew to return back at them.
When all the spirits in the room had left and the only thing to break the ice that soon formed in the room was the smell of dead bodies, Arden turned back to claim her prize. Savoring the moment, Arden felt the coldness of the stone sting her hand as she wrapped her fingers around it. So many eons since anyone has had access to this stone and now it is mine she thought quietly. The power of the stone coursed in her veins and she had the feeling that the Council would allow her to use it.
After all, the Black Firestone led to the Oracle of Pelgrin and since she had earned the artifact then it would be best to let her use it. As she restored her scabbard before then transforming it into a duplicate of her sword, she used these tools to climb back up the chasm to the stairs. But she had a feeling that the last task was yet to be completed as the weight of the seemed to grow heavy. Heaving breaths after a while, Arden guessed that her only chance was to return to the entrance of the Temple.
By the time she reached the entrance, she was crawling to get there and nearly unable to make it before passing out. But the moment that her hand reached the light of the approaching sun, the weight dissipated in an instant and Arden began to rapidly recover. "Why... why did that happen?" Arden asked. "The weight of the stone is always the most difficult task for those who sought the stone, in fact, it was what killed them if the Queen didn't," the spirit of the Je'daii Temple Master interjected.
"The price of a power such as this is a heavy burden, isn't it?" she guessed. "Yes, unless you successfully bring so much as your hand into the sunlight. But I think you will find someday that there are more terrible prices to pay for the power in artifacts like this," he replied. Then he disappeared, having fulfilled his duty and been allowed access to the Ashla afterlife.
Walking back towards the Ash Plains with the stone in tow, she was surprised to see that Master Pina was still meditating on the boulder that he had been seen sitting on. "Well done, Arden Lyn. You have succeeded where no other Initiate has succeeded before," he said. "Let me guess, you never lost faith that I could do it," she stated.
"Of course I didn't, your power is one that will allow you to triumph in the completion of any goal you put your mind to. Never forget that, Arden Lyn," he replied. "Thanks, well, I gotta call my transport and get out of this rock," she said. "Don't bother, I already told the pilot to leave you and allow you to come in my transport if you survive," he snapped.
"What?" Arden asked. "You're going before the Council where I'll put in a motion for you to use the Black Firestone to find the Oracle. You've passed your Trial and should be allowed to enjoy more than the privileges of a promotion," Pina answered with a smile. "Thank you Master, no one's ever done that sort of thing for me before," Arden said.
"Kindness is one of my specialties, my dear. Ask Xendor about it sometime, he has quite the story to tell you," Pina retorted. Arden thought about that for a moment and wondered what it was about Xendor Kashi Mer that everyone disliked except for her and now Pina. "Maybe I will someday, will I see him again?" she asked.
"If he's survived the Trial, I think you will. Never fear, the Force shall guide him back to you if it was meant to be," Pina answered. Arden yielded and was content to accept it for the time being.