Chapter Fourteen

For what seemed like eons, Loki the Destroyer and Xendor Kashi Mer continued their duel against one another for the ultimate title of master warrior. However, without the Talisman that bore the family name, Xendor found that he was slowly weakening before his stronger enemy. As Loki continued to bludgeon his shield with his ax and hammer, the magic of the Guardian's shield fading rapidly. The fallen god sensed it through his connection with the Force and was getting increasingly bolder.

Then Xendor thought of an idea that he had hoped would save him: using the shield to cut into Loki's legs then dashing for his sword which had been tossed aside earlier in the duel. When Loki made ready to bear down on his shield with both the ax and the hammer, Xendor made his desperate move. It cut enough into Loki's shins to distract him even if it didn't cause any pain which Xendor had desired. The moment he could seize a chance, he dashed like a madman for where he had last seen his sword and dived close enough to use telekinesis to drag it into his hand.

He recovered his sword just in time to protect his face from colliding with the shield which Loki had used as a discus-like projectile to decapitate him. It hit with enough momentum that his sword cut through a few inches of it, causing it to cling on to his blade with enough strength to retire a huge tug. Unfortunately, by the time Xendor had freed his blade by placing a foot on the shield and pulling, Loki was almost closing on him again. The best Xendor could do against the unanticipated charge of the surprisingly-fast giant as dodge and hope for a weakness at his legs that could be exploited.

He had no such luck and was forced to create distance between himself and Loki in the hopes of wearing him down. But the demigod persisted onward and Xendor sensed his ax beginning to accumulate power in its blade. At once, Xendor knew exactly what Loki intended to do: he intended to use all the magic power of his weapon to vaporize Xendor if he could. Smiling, Xendor decided it was time to unveil his own countermeasures which was to apply defensive power to his sword.

"There's no use prolonging this duel any longer, Xendor. Best that you and I end this while there is still honor to be had in the death of one of us," Loki warned. Xendor only needed those few seconds to apply most of his actual Force potential into creating a defensive power for his sword. Sensing that it would equal the offensive power in Loki's ax, he set up his stance as he prepared to take the blow.

Loki made an overhead stroke in the hopes of slicing Xendor in two with the ax but Xendor intercepted it and the power of both weapons collided to form a brilliant light. Even the setting sun of Columus was dim in comparison to the vaporizing glow produced by this collision of weapons. However, unbeknownst to those who were vaporized, the collision created a bubble that kept Xendor and Loki unscathed even though their weapons would both be reduced to ash by the end of it. No one could guess how long this powerful flash that surged through the cave lasted nor did they want to know.

Arden continued to run down the tunnels of Columus, guided by the Talisman and its knowledge of this gloomy place. Her fear for Xendor was still very real but it was not enough to blind her to the Talisman's warning that she form a cocooning barrier of energy around herself when it did. As fate would have it, the Talisman had warned her in time for a brilliant light to pass over her. Fueled by the Talisman's power, Arden kept up this cocoon until the vaporizing light passed which seemed forever.

But when it did, she knew that only one thing was possible: that Loki and Xendor had accumulated enough Force power in one of their weapons that this resulted from their collision. Unveiling the cocoon, she continued her run to find her beloved husband in the hopes that she was not already too late to save him. If Xendor survived that blast, he'll be too weak to fight Loki any further but the demigod will have plenty of strength left to finish him, I fear. Why do you persist after seeing this blast occur? the voice of the Talisman demanded.

Because I choose to, Kashi Mer. I don't expect the spirit of a god trapped inside a glass prism to understand Arden replied. It went silent after hearing her saying that Arden was glad that was the case as she continued to run to save Xendor from Loki's wrath. After all, her duty as his wife and lover forbid her from abandoning him even if he did terrible things to her while bearing the Talisman.

Retreating while Loki dealt with Xendor, Danzigorro had not expected the duel to last so long as for him to nearly lose visibility of the illuminated battle. Nonetheless, he sensed the blast that came from a collision of Force powers undoubtedly a result of the clash before it happened. Just when the bright light was about to vaporize him as it must have done the rest, he rapidly threw up a barrier. However, he realized that defending from all the effects of the blast was going to be impossible from the moment he created the defense though he knew he'd shield off the worst of it.

For what seemed like hours-though it was only a few minutes-Danzigorro applied power to his barrier though it was costing him all of his Force potential in rapidity. Soon, the barrier began to weaken and some of the light began to scorch his hands and lower arms. Then the barrier exploded in his face and sent him flying several meters until he collided with a sheer rock wall hard enough to break bone. Somewhat recovering his senses after that, Danzigorro looked down to see that his lower arms had both become charred and scorched beyond all possible used for anything.

So mangled and damaged were they, in fact, that they shook uncontrollably and remained locked in a relatively flat position except for curves in the fingers. Then he tried to get up despite no used of them and discovered that he could barely move his legs. That and it seemed as though at least four spinal discs had jettisoned out of place and six ribs were fractured, one of them impaling a lung. It'd only be a matter of minutes before his heart gave out with all this trauma and so he chose to lie down.

Despite the discs in his vertebrate being out of place, he managed as best he could and simply awaited the shutdown of his heart. Smiling, he could honestly say that he was glad that he went out this way rather than the slow bleeding of his abdominal wound from his brief duel with Xendor. I hope to be joining you soon Master. Hopefully you, Blendri, and Cuthallox can forgive me for not joining you in your defection to the Legions in this life Danzigorro thought silently.

By the time reinforcements found him, the Jedi Warrior barely had enough life left in him but with his last breath, he told his remaining soldiers that nothing had survived the blast except him. It was a lie but one that would buy Loki time to finish Xendor off or for someone to rescue the Kashi Mer. Despite his servitude to the Order, Danzigorro hoped for the latter rather than the former and hoped that Xendor's rescuer would be his loyal wife, Arden Lyn. Then he exhaled for the last time and peacefully passed on as his soldiers carried his body back to the fortress for a proper Jedi funeral.

When Xendor regained his senses after the blast, he was appalled to see his sword reduced to no more than the hilt. Loki's ax was also reduced to no more than the hilt but there was still the hammer to consider and the gigantic man made to smash him in the chest with it. However, despite his attempts to dodge this blow, Xendor found himself too paralyzed by the blast to react in time. The impact was enough to send him flying into the side of the cave, brittle shale shattering in the wake of his collision.

Dazed but not entirely out of the picture, Xendor made out the faint glimmer of a Guardian gladius and crawled for it as best he could. Loki caught up with him soon enough though and grabbed him by the neck before bringing him to meet his eye-level. "I did originally want to beat you to death but I think I'll just my hands to pop your brains out like a zit instead," the giant stated proudly. Fortunately for Xendor, he was close enough to the gladius where he could use telekinesis to call it to his hand.

Just before Loki could grab his head and proceed with the means by which he intended to kill the Kashi Mer prince, Xendor hacked at his left eye. Though it did nothing to blind his sight in that area, it did enough to cut from his forehead and force Loki to throw Xendor aside before reeling in pain. "You will pay for that, you little bastard!" Loki exclaimed when he recovered from the burning of the blood. By this time, Xendor had hit another wall and the gladius sword went skittering out of his hand and disappeared into the dark gloom.

Damn, why do swords have a way being lost in my possession when I need one most? Xendor asked himself silently. Rising up to limp his way away from the battle, he spied a glimmer of hope in the form of a Jedi Warrior katana which lied with its point in the ground and its hilt up. If he could reach that blade, of all the ones he could find, he might stand a chance of beating Loki yet. Unfortunately, the bigger man was not about to allow him that chance as he demonstrated by leaping across the meters between them and bringing him down with a hammer blow to the back of the head.

"Mother! Father! Are you watching me? Do you see me destroying the last of the Kashi Mer line, have I not proven my worth to become a god again!?" Loki shouted to the heavens above.

Coughing before crawling, Xendor continued his way to the sword though Loki soon noticed thanks to the grinding of the sand beneath Xendor's body. "Not so fast, proud prince of the Kashi Mer Dynasty!" Loki exclaimed. Then he hit Xendor in the dead-center of his back with one end of his hammer, bringing Xendor down on his face and belly with its impact. "Watch Gods of the Force, watch as I prove my worth to become one of you again!" Loki continued loudly and pridefully.

Xendor continued for the sword, the weapon becoming a symbol of his only hope at defeating this insane fallen-god who clearly desired to return to his seat among his kin. Loki saw him continue his efforts and beat him down with the hammer in the same fashion as before. When Xendor immediately began to rise soon after, Loki pounded him with the hammer five more times in rapid succession. "There's no way you can take much more of this mortal, soon your own body will collapse on you and you will die," Loki warned.

Then he raised his hammer for a blow that was deflected by Xendor's right arm, which shattered like a twig on impact despite shielding his head and chest from another blow. Using his left hand after repositioning himself, Xendor dragged himself in a desperate attempt to reach the sword. Loki finally turned in the direction that he was crawling and started laughing as he finally grasped what Xendor was trying to do. "You think you need your weapon to destroy me, don't you?" he asked whilst continuing to laugh before kicking Xendor in the ribs and sending him rolling almost a meter from him.

Desperate to defend himself, Xendor reached out with the Force in the hopes that the weapon could be sent to him through the Force. Fortunately, the sword was not buried so deep that it couldn't respond to his telekinetic call but it was too far deep to reach him before Loki stomped on the blade. "Weapon or no weapon, Talisman or no Talisman, you will never be the one to destroy me!" Loki vowed. "Then why do you prevent me from having a sword, dishonorable coward?" Xendor asked as best he could despite the damage to his stomach and chest.

"Because I'm sparing you the pain of realizing that with your good arm broken, you won't be able to use any weapon against me without even greater difficulty than you already have standing up. Consider it a first and final kindness from the son of the Gods of Light and Darkness before he strikes you down," Loki answered. "Arkanus and Stygia... we call them Ashla and Bogan respectively, don't we?" Xendor inquired. "You mortals do but I know their true names since they are my parents," Loki admitted.

Then he marched over to Xendor in such a manner that even if Xendor tried to reach the sword, Loki would beat him to a pulp before he could even use it. At this point, Xendor gave up all hope of being armed and capable of defeating the Loki the Destroyer, a true god among men now. "Watch Mother, watch Father as I bash this mortal's brains in and end the line of Kashi Mer!" Loki shouted. Arkanus, forgive him his affront and forgive my sins for I have opposed the will of the servants of the Light Xendor said to himself quietly as he prepared to embrace his fate.

At this point he did a scan of his body through the Force and knew that even if Loki had decided to spare him in a brief glimmer of mercy, he wouldn't reach a Healer before he died. Smiling, he figured that perhaps it was for the better that Loki took him out as quickly as he intended to do. There would be no pain when Loki's hammer hit his head hard enough for the rock beneath him to impale him and end his life within seconds. Besides, Loki was already delivering on his promise that he wouldn't return Xendor's formality of sparing his life as the former Jedi had done as an Initiate as it was.

Arden found the light in the cave just in time to see Loki raise his hammer in preparation to bash Xendor's head in. "No!" she shouted just as she unsheathed her sword and shot a crescent blade of energy at Loki. Then, just before it reached his waist level, she cast another one that went vertical instead of horizontal with both crescents intended to slice Loki. After that, she slowly began sheathing her sword once more until she reached just few milimeters short of sheathing the entire blade.

Holding it in place for several seconds, she watched as the only reaction from Loki was dropping the hammer behind him. Then she jammed the last of her blade into the scabbard hard enough to hear the click of the sword connecting to its scabbard and watched as Loki split into four pieces. The two upper ones spun in opposite directions while the left lower one simply slid down the right. Through this spell, Arden had effectively cut Loki both in half and in two to save her husband from his wrath.

When the blood had finished exploding all over most of the cave, Arden ran to her husband's side and even called to him when she rolled him on his back. "Arden, is that you?" Xendor asked. "Yes, I'm here and I'll remain at your side at least until we get you to a Healer," Arden answered. "It's no use Arden, my body is broken beyond the skill of any Healer to repair.

"Besides, the Healers are just mortal people who use the power of the Force to heal mortal injuries. These are the injuries of a fallen god, who once transcended the mortal realm," he said. "Don't talk like that, of course the Healers can help you and of course they can revitalize you! Some fresh light should make you see the truth of that, you'll see!" she exclaimed.

"No, this is a fitting end for me: all of us were born from the darkness of our mother's wombs as infants. It's only fitting that upon our deaths, we return to a similar darkness only more eternal," he said, smiling. "Don't say such things Xendor, let me help you. Let the Talisman help you!" she begged.

"The Talisman can no longer help a host who has rejected its power, it can only help the current bearer. As you are the current bearer, it would allow you to heal from such injuries if you have it," he replied. "Then allow me to use it to heal you, surely it can obey my commands," she insisted. "No Arden, it wouldn't obey this command: the gods would destroy it and the host if they tried," he replied.

Arden realized now that there was no helping him this time around, much as she might like to. "Then let me stay beside you until you're gone and carry your body back to Lettow once you're gone," she suggested. "I'd like that," he said, keeping his smile and whispering due to his collapsed lung. She held onto his hand and watched as he shivered the cold tingles of death's hand as it slowly grabbed him.

"You know something, Arden? I wish Master Pina joined us during the initial formation of the Legions. Perhaps with his skills, we might have won this war when we attacked Ossus and Coruscant. Don't you think so?" he asked rhetorically.

"Perhaps we could have, but Master Pina is a man who will abide by his principles even if he doesn't agree with the actions of his superior. We could not expect any more of him than that," she answered though she knew she didn't need to. "I suppose you're right and perhaps that's why we like him, so much," he said, his grin never leaving. She smiled too though tears flowed like a river from her eyes as she knew that he didn't have much more time now.

"I love you, Arden," he said after several moments. "Stay with me, Xendor. Everything-" Arden started. "I love... I... I love," Xendor interrupted, pausing before he could finish.

Then he exhaled for the final time and slowly lied his back down before slowly closing his eyes. After that, Arden no longer felt life within Xendor and instinctively knew he was dead. Knowing what he had meant to say before he died made Arden's grief stronger as she sobbed quietly on his chest. She remained there for several minutes before then deciding it was time to take his body and leave Columus.

Arriving to the scene of what seemed more like a mass-brawl than a battle in a war, Tiberius looked at the scum gathered around with sincere pity. After all, the element of surprise was still on his side and if it remained that way then they would be wiped out to the last man before making a dent. Somewhere within that mob, however, is my prize: Theseus the last of the Kashi Mer Dynasty and failed leader of the Guardians of Breath he told himself silently. "Soldiers of Bunduki, you know your duty: fight well and wipe them out!" he said aloud before issuing the order to charge.

He watched as the troops led the assault and smiled at the sight of their spears flying ahead of them to kill pirate marauders, bandits, robbers, and other thugs before the soldiers were touched. Then he watched as the soldiers who threw their spears unsheathed their swords and went on the attack. The Jedi watched as it took three scummy lives to wound one soldier and three more to kill the same one. Entering the fray himself, he immediately spied Theseus helping the criminals of the Republic turn the tide a little more in their favor.

"Theseus, I call you out to fight me! Come fight Tiberius, leader of the Jedi Order as well as temporary commander of this army or else face great dishonor for all your days!" he shouted. "I have been looking for you Tiberius and I want nothing short of an honorable duel to the death," Theseus said. "Not to worry, I can grant that wish!" Tiberius said as he hacked down enemy warriors as he made his way to the last real Kashi Mer warrior.

As Arden struggled to carry Xendor out of the cave, she turned to the sound of clashing weapons and screaming men who were undoubtedly being killed. Though barely, she made out the stamp of the Bunduki government as one of the factions on the plains of Columus. She knew just from that even if they didn't accept any bribe themselves, the Followers of Palawa had sold her out. Sneering at the sight of the battle, she briefly saw Theseus make his way to challenge Tiberius to single combat.

Theseus, Tiberius will kill you and the Kashi Mer Dynasty will die with you! she mentally exclaimed. However, she knew that he would probably not hear her thought in time to stop himself from attacking Theseus nor did she think she'd want him to hear in the first place. Carrying Xendor as she continued to view the battle, she decided it was best to take Theseus' shuttle since he wouldn't need it. Not anymore, at least, and that was fine with her and her dead husband who seemed so peaceful and content in his state of non-existence.

But are you really satisfied, Xendor? Do you really feel as though you lived your life to the fullest you could? she asked silently. No response and she watched as Columus gave way to empty space and Lettow ahead, the last place left for her to go in this damned galaxy. Nonetheless, one thing was for sure: the Followers of Palawa would pay for betraying her if it killed her to take revenge.