Well, been a while, been a bit busy updating another story. Enjoy!
Ch26
I run another hand over my scalp. Firefek! That boy really is a piece of work! He is shuddering uncontrollably and I cannot blame him. Bringing him here was a mistake. Here where there is so much darkness. My own cloak serves as a makeshift bed as I force him to lie down in the vast expanse of the cavern. The darkness that surrounded him is waning and he is left but an empty husk of his former self. I try to steady him placing a hand on his forehead a trance would do him much good but he bats my hand away and is adamant in his refusal.
At length I leave him to rest as I study the glyphed cavern. Here and there are depictions of battles which appear to be carved out by hand. Most of the details are worn off but the sith tongue is evident. Some of the words still have their gilded covering and glow eerily in the darkness. It seems we have taken refuge in what was once a ritual chamber of sorts. There is not much to do as I wait for the boy to gather his strength so I attempt to meditate.
Hands over a lotus position I clear my mind of all. The force is a maelstrom here if I open myself any wider I shall choke on it. How he is still able to resist is beyond me but he is up and throwing on his cloak claiming that he is indeed well enough to keep on moving. I frown evidently but he does not seem to notice . His eyes are afire with a grim determination. He has courage and resilience I shall give him that and earlier he had repelled the darkness I could sense it trying to take possession of his body but he resisted. A feat even the most accomplished Jedi master's would balk at. When we return to Coruscant I shall have a word with Master Yoda and then with the council. Too much has happened for me to be sure what Kenobi truly is and what exactly it is that has occurred. One thing is certain however we must push on into the heart of darkness to destroy what we may of the evil that resides in these walls. He interrupts my musings and I follow him through a narrow doorway leading into the palace itself.
We cross an overlarge hall of sorts here and there cobwebs and the like have made their residence. I can sense others here. Their presence eludes as if something is cloaking them. Masking them in the force my padawan is at the ready his previous episode seeming to have passed as water lapping against rocks. I do not know where comes this strength only that a lesser Jedi would have long suffocating under the darkness. The question I ask is to why no one had taken him. Were his abilities not evident? We pass statues and pedestals depicting carnage, mutilation and more darkness and emerge in what one would call a library. It is filled to the brim with pollution, dark pyramids pulse as if this planet has a will of its own upon shelves lining the walls and pedestals holding the darkest of the crop.
Nwûl tashhhhhh, through passion, you shall gain strength seeker. The accursed voices intermingle. Two blades are alive in response. Kenobi's face is twisted in a snarl of rage, I can feel his hate. "Padawan!"
His eyes are back on mine, he is subdued but I can sense the tendrils of his seething. He is at his limit it would seem . His eyes shift suddenly to mine a feral cry elicited from his mouth. I tense at the attack that never comes. He is off running. I do not think he can hear me as I yell at him. "Kenobi!" But those words sound as hollow to my own ears as they are to his. I chase after him choking on the darkness. It invades my being and I am drawn to it as I never was. I am choking on it!
The air is thinning I follow his trail rounding stairs and scaling walls on rock ledges I in my state would not have noticed. He climbs like a jungle prowler and I follow his footsteps trying to match his pace. The black wall suddenly gives way and I am lost scrambling for an expanse of rock in the dim torchlight, vaguely I wonder why the whole planet was blasted of the face of this universe so imbued is it with its evil but such thought are unbecoming. "Kenobi!" My voice echoes of the walls as I hold on attempting to gauge the jump. It is hard to see but he is my responsibility. And force forgive me if I do not bring him back in one piece. There is no try, taking a page from Qui Gon's book I jump not caring for the consequences.
The cycled air is a change from the polluted atmosphere of Coruscant. And the silence is a respite from the casino blare and never dormant skyline of the Republic core. Kenobi has done it this time. Undercover as a Jedi? Don't make me laugh! His master was growing more brazen testing the Jedi when he should not. To underestimate your opponent was a fault Maul worked ceaselessly to mend. And creating a rift between the two Sith Lords was foolish. Especially when the Jedi outnumbered them at least one hundred to one.
Kicking off his boots Maul reclined on his bed staring at nothing in particular. Freedom, that was something he could never have. He had known that all his life. But, which master would give him more freedom? Which of his master's would emerge the victor? That was the side he needed to be on. The thought however was a near impossibility if the sith in question was Darth Plagueis. For one he had no idea where the alien was, for another Darth Plagueis had his own acolytes. They were far weaker that was true, however there was far more of them than of those his own master had.
Kenobi, why had he so blatantly allowed himself to be placed in the heart of their enemy? Did he not realize he would be sniffed out? Or did he not hate the Jedi as much as he claimed? He shifted trying to get a comfortable angle, relaxing into the softness of the bed. As if on cue the hollo terminal rang. Jedispit one moment of peace could he not have even that?
He licked his lips nervously as the form of his master appeared. "Master."
The flickering image of Darth Sideous smiled thinly. "Apprentice, I have a task for you."
"I await your order's master."
"Good, good," the pleasant tone of his mastered grew colder. "You shall travel to Tatooine. I have long since felt a strong dark presence in the force from that planet. It is now gone. I suspect my Master hid something or a great many things on that planet. Find those relics whatever they may be and bring them to me."
Demoted from an assassin to a treasure hunter? Maul suppressed a scowl and bowed his head. "It shall be done master." The image flickered out and he was left with direction and purpose.
