Ronin stared in horror at the umbra of darkness standing over his fallen master. The figure held the stub of its right arm as it leaked a ghastly black gas. The Sith shadow was weakened, Ronin knew. Ronin stood up, ignited his lightsaber, and assumed the starting position of Soresu, with his left hand facing outward and his right holding the saber horizontally with his head. Ronin said nothing but charged for the frame of the black form. The shadow took notice of this and sprinted away and into the temple. Ronin darted across the rocky field to catch up with the retreating warrior. Ronin burst into the temple with only the scarlet light of the Sith's saber to follow. The two ran deeper into the temple, under vast arches of stone, past statues of once great Sith lords, and over even more fallen Sith and Jedi. The volume of lost force wielders in one place was more than Ronin had ever seen. Ronin kept his pace as he darted after the shadow.
As he continued his pursuit, Ronin noticed a giant statue near the end of the corridor and focused on it. Ronin skidded to a stop for a moment to center his strength on the stonework. As he honed in on the statue, the base crumbled, sending the giant robed bust crashing down into the path of the shadow. The sith came to a halt momentarily, gauging the height of the side of the fallen stone pillar. However, he promptly reacted and flipped over it with a significant force jump. Ronin bounded over to where the Sith had leaped over the fallen statue. Ronin jumped but missed the edge of the statue, desperately trying to grab onto a hold. Ronin found a grip on one of the folds in the statue's robes and heaved himself over the statue, only to see the figure even farther off than before. Ronin sprang off the statue and somersaulted across the floor, rapidly launching up and back into his stride after the shadow. From the corner of his eye, Ronin watched The dark figure veer into an open passage at the end of the hall. Ronin dashed to the entrance and was met with a significant overhang. Ronin nearly fell off the cliff but stopped himself before he could go bounding off into the darkness.
Ronin's eyes darted left and right, scanning for where the Sith warrior could have gone, but Ronin could see no sign of him. Ronin looked over the chasm and saw a ledge about forty meters from where he stood. Ronin doubted the mysterious Sith could have managed a leap such as what stood before him. After glancing at his surroundings, Ronin noticed a charred black line that started at the top of the ledge and trailed down into the darkness. Not wanting to waste a second more, Ronin activated his saber and bounded off the cliff face, stabbing his blade forcefully into the wall as he cascaded down into the fog. When Ronin was close enough, he pushed off the wall and landed on the ground with another roll. Ronin looked from side to side and saw only one way out. A large cave about ten meters directly ahead. Ronin charged into the cave, not knowing what lay in wait for him. After what felt like an hour of chasing the figure, Ronin had finally caught up to it. Ronin now stood in a large chamber encrusted with golden markings across vast arches of the blackest stone. Right at the center of the expanse was the Sith, eyes closed with his legs crossed against each other, meditating. The shadow was emblazoned with a violet light shining from a stand in the middle of the expanse. In front of the figure floated a Sith holocron that appeared to be being opened.
"You are too late, boy." The figure said calmly.
"I will avenge my master." Ronin spat.
"I think not."
The Holocron opened and floated down into the Sith's waiting hand, gently coming to a rest. The moment the holocron was destroyed. A thousand voices cried out as if in pain, releasing a horrible screeching sound that echoed through the corridors of the ancient temple and rang Ronin's ears, forcing Ronin to slam his hands against them to find some relief. As Ronin crouched down, desperately trying to cancel out the screams, Several sith spirits came into the room from behind Ronin, surrounding him. As the screeching halted, Ronin found himself surrounded by the souls of the fallen warriors. Now, they stood and floated around him grievously. Ronin noticed that these fallen Sith appeared much less tangible than the Sith shadow warrior that had slayed his master. They looked almost transparent, and their husks of bodies were barely discernible at certain angles. At the front of the room, the dark warrior's eyes suddenly opened, and he ignited his crimson saber and walked down the chamber steps toward Ronin.
"You have lost Jedi. Lay down your saber."
"Never," Ronin said as he held his saber outward.
"So be it." The sith said as he let out a screech, ordering the fallen warriors.
In unison, the warriors ignited their sabers and held them at the ready. Ronin held his saber tightly, sweat dripping from his hands and onto the floor. The warriors raised their blades, prepared to strike at the young Padawan. Ronin clutched his saber, ready for what would come, when a brilliant light shone into the room from the exit. The light was blindly bright, making the light from the sabers practically dull. The shadows and the Sith screeched at the light and held their arms in front of their faces to shield themselves from the overwhelming amount of light radiating into the chamber. Ronin did the same, as he could no longer see from the light. All the shadows around Ronin were forcibly thrown against the chamber's walls. A large assembly of fallen Jedi spirits stood before them, their pure white sabers drawn. One of the Jedi turned to Ronin and spoke to him.
"Jedi, you must destroy the soul holocron to end Ravak and free the souls of all the fallen here. Only a living being can do it. By destroying the holocron, you will free all the trapped spirits here. Then we can be one with the cosmic force. Follow us, and we will hold off the Sith for you."
Ronin was speechless. Ronin did as the spirits said and followed the Jedi spirits. The Jedi spirits charged into the Sith with their lightsabers clashing intensely against one another. The fallen Jedi held the Sith warriors at bay, creating a direct path between Ronin and the Sith warrior. The shadow locked eyes with Ronin, then grabbed the holocron and flipped back onto a platform behind the holocron stand. The shadow held its hand to what must've been a control panel as the venue started ascending, resulting in the shadow escaping from sight behind a wall. Ronin bolted towards the platform and jumped just high enough to grab a bar under it. Ronin clung to the platform while looking around for a way to the top. However, the walls were too close to the terrace for him to pull himself up. As there was nothing else he could do, Ronin waited until the elevator stopped or the walls ended. After about a minute or so, one of the walls ended. Ronin could finally see outside the temple once more. What he saw left him all but speechless. Hundreds of Sith and Jedi spirits clashed against each other in an all-out battle. Ronin composed himself as he remembered what he was doing. Ronin swung himself back and forth, and when he gained enough momentum, he flung himself up, activated his saber, and flipped back onto the platform. Ronin locked eyes with the shadow.
"Nowhere left to run," Ronin said with a devious smirk.
"How unfortunate. I had hoped I wouldn't have to kill you." The shadow hissed.
"Wouldn't? And why is that?" Ronin asked.
"Then I would have a new host. Now I will kill you and take your ship."
"Host? What do you mean?" Ronin said, holding his lightsaber steadfastly before him."
"The Temple has given me the ability to live forever. All I need is a host. And it is time I got a new one."
"Maybe, but why not use your army before?"
"The Temple's power only reaches its boundaries. The dead cannot go past there, not without a host. And when the temple is activated, it awakens all of the dead within its borders, further complicating things..." The shadow shrilled.
"And why are you telling me this?"
"Because you won't be around for it to matter." The shadow said with a smile.
"I think you overestimate yourself," Ronin said powerfully.
"I killed your master; surely I can deal with a simple padawan." The shadow hissed, widening his vicious smile.
The shadow reached for his saber and rushed at the Padawan with his remaining blade. The shadow lashed out violently with his lightsaber, sending strikes out like a viper, sending blows with astonishing speed. Ronin assessed that the shadow used an aggressive form of Juyo, which was all in Ronin's favor as his choice of lightsaber form, Soresu, was the ideal counter form for the shadow's aggressive rendition of form seven. Ronin blocked the Sith's strikes with precise strokes and parries. The Sith kept slashing against Ronin's saber, but Ronin continued to shield himself from the Sith's relentless flurry of strikes. With the Sith's continued barrage of attacks, Ronin noticed a weakness in the Sith's form. Unbeknownst to Ronin, the flaw was intentional.
Ronin followed through with Anakin's disarm maneuver, but the Sith saw it coming. The Sith suddenly backed out when Ronin went for the saber spin, leaving Ronin unbalanced. Ronin took notice of this and began to throw himself backward, but not before the Sith struck out, making direct contact with Ronin's skin and leaving a sizable, shallow gash across his chest. While the wound wasn't profound, the resulting flare of pain caused Ronin to drop his saber, which clattered down the temple and was out of reach. Ronin panicked and aggressively pushed himself off the platform and into the darkness of the outer temple. Ronin softened his landing with the force, but the impact sent him sprawling against the temple roof. Despite the immense pain in his chest, Ronin kept running as he knew the Sith was not far behind. As he ran, Ronin caught sight of his beskar hilt lying on the grounds below the temple near the body of Yothalt. Hearing the Sith land behind him. Ronin sprung off the temple's roof and forced his and Yothalt's hilts to his hands. Ronin landed, whipped around, and activated the blue and yellow sabers to parry a strike from the incoming shadow's crimson blade. Ronin pushed the warrior off and ran towards him in a rage, breaking into an assault of slashes and strikes.
The Sith blocked his reckless strikes, albeit not quickly, as he only had one saber. Nonetheless, the Sith shadow continued to parry Ronin's strikes. The Sith recognized that Ronin was not used to being on the offensive and was unbalanced. The Sith waited for the opportune moment and precisely drove his saber directly into Ronin's, sending the blue saber flying, leaving Ronin with just the saber of his master. Ronin backed away, pointing the amber blade at the shadow, ready for an incoming strike. The shadow darted toward Ronin once more, forcing Ronin to go on the defensive. Being more comfortable with defensive forms, Ronin could parry and block the incoming lightsaber strokes being sent at him. The shadow grew more frustrated as he struggled to break Ronin's defenses with his one saber. He would have easily pushed through Ronin's guard if he still had both blades. However, Yothalt had made it so the Sith was forced to improvise now that he only had one hand and a saber. The shadow screeched angrily, causing several surrounding Sith spirits to look toward the dueling pair. One of the Sith started to walk over to assist the living shadow but was quickly intercepted by a Jedi spirit. Knowing he would have to deal with this Jedi himself, the shadow bolted towards Ronin again in a shower of ferocious strokes. Finally, the Sith broke through Ronin's defense and violently kicked him to the ground. Before the young Jedi could get back on his feet, the shadow leaped over, sending his lightsaber in an arc aimed at the Jedi's head, forcing Ronin to parry it with his master's saber while still on his back. The shadow pushed his crimson blade closer to Ronin's head, with him struggling to go back against it. At this moment, Ronin took notice of the holocron hanging from the shadow's belt. Ronin gathered his strength and honed in on the holocron, reaching out through the force. Ronin made a crushing motion with his hand, and the holocron caved in on itself. The shadow reduced the pressure of his saber on Ronin's as he looked down at his belt and realized what the Jedi was doing far too late.
"Wait, what are you doing?! NOOOOOOO!" The shadow said as he let out a blood-curdling scream that echoed through the cavern.
As the shadow screamed in agony, his grip weakened on his saber as his soul slowly began to separate itself from his body. While the shadow was preoccupied, Ronin reached out towards his saber hilt lying on the floor behind the shadow. The saber flew through the battlefield, and Ronin caught it and ignited the sapphire blade under the shadow, sending it directly through his body, ending his prolonged scream, and causing the Sith to drop his saber hilt and go limp. Ronin shoved the shadow of him and stood up. As Ronin gazed across the cave, he witnessed in utter fascination as the husks of bodies the Jedi and Sith spirits had used all fell to the floor in piles of dust, and the spirits vanished. Ronin looked down at what had been the body of the murderer of his master. All that remained of the shadow was a frail battered husk of a body. A body that had once belonged to Silas Dymo. The Sith had been mighty, but his old body had severely limited his mobility. Losing his hand and being forced to use one saber had significantly impeded the once-great warrior. Form seven is best with two blades, Ronin knew. He would have defeated Ronin if the Sith had been in his prime and had both sabers. But today, luck had been on Ronin's side. Mostly, Ronin thought as he held his hand on the stinging cut on his chest. Ronin collapsed onto the stone floor in complete exhaustion. Then he heard a voice. Then another. After a few moments, Ronin could listen to a chorus of many voices. Then, they all stopped at once, and one of them spoke.
"You have done a great service to us, young Jedi. Today, you have freed hundreds of Jedi and Sith alike souls. For that, we thank you. May the force be with you."
Then it was gone. Silence. Ronin sat there in bewilderment as he heard one more voice call out.
"Ronin. I will be with you. Always. Trust in the force." The voice of Master Yothalt echoed throughout the cavern.
"Master? Master?" Ronin called out. But there was yet to be a response.