Chapter Sixteen
With his link to Savage, Maul could sense where he was and knew exactly where to go in order to find him. "They're headed for the tower and are presently ascending the pyramid," he told Kycina. "I think I can get us there in a faster way but you'll have to hold on to something tightly. Very tightly because this thing is very fast," Kycina replied. Before Maul could ask her what she was talking about, she whistled towards the jungle in a tune Maul had never heard before.
It was then that a massive creature with one elongated horn on its nose came rushing out of the jungle, faster than any creature Maul had ever encountered before. "What is that thing?" Maul asked. "A childhood friend of mine, he won't harm you. He's more bark than bite around me and those who have my blood in them," Kycina said.
"What do I call it?" Maul inquired. "His name is Sparta like the ancient warriors of pre-Nightsister Dathomir," Kycina replied. "Hello Sparta, I'm Kycina's son Maul. Pleasure to meet you, I guess," Maul said, feeling a little awkward about meeting a childhood pet of his mother.
"See that city, my old friend? You're taking us to the pyramid at the center of its square," Kycina said to it. It barked a reply and submitted for Kycina and Maul to board its back. "Come, so long as I am on he can take you also," she said, extending a hand to her son. Maul took her hand, held on to her back, and prepared as the creature that was a plain blue reptile beside its size and single horn began running.
He had no idea that it could run so fast and yet it ran fast enough to nearly make his stomach roll over with speed sickness. In mere seconds, the beast reached the city and in another two seconds, it reached the pyramid. He recovered just in time to see Talzin, Savage, and Ventress about to enter the base of the tower at the top of the pyramid. "Talzin, do not enter that pyramid!" Kycina shouted.
At first, there was mere silence but Maul could pick up on Talzin laughing at them before making her reply. "You cannot stop what I must do to save our race," she told them. "Save our race from what?" Kycina shouted back. "From themselves and from our enemies outside Dathomir," Talzin replied before walking into the pyramid with Savage and Ventress following.
Maul and Kycina ran up the pyramid but the remnants of the pyramid's defenses started to attack them. It was then that Kycina snapped her fingers and the beast behind them started to attack them. As it sacrificed itself to divert the attention of the remnant, Maul and Kycina ascended the pyramid. The latter of them was reluctant to leave her friend behind but Maul reminded her that it was doing its part and they needed to do theirs.
"Besides, he's got that big horn of his. I'm pretty sure he can handle most of them himself or even all of them before he draws his last breath," he added. Then together, very slowly, they entered the tower and prepared for whatever hells lied before them. They had no idea what was waiting for them when they entered the door to the domain of the Goddess.
At first, Ventress and Savage were confused by the hieroglyphs and paintings along the walls of the tower. But a close look told them that these hieroglyphs were moving and the people within them were screaming in pain. "What's happening here?" Ventress asked. "Before the Goddess was created Dathomir and KaiSu Lak'Ton were worlds where the damned were banished and cursed to live out their punishments for all eternity," Talzin answered.
"And the Goddess made both worlds what they are now?" Savage asked. "Yes and if you look closely, you can see her slithering in her snake form to consume the evil of the hell and absorb it into her being," Talzin replied. Sure enough, Savage did see a gigantic snake wrapping its coil around the once-united world that would split into KaiSu Lak'Ton and Dathomir before consuming all of the evil energy through its fanged mouth. "Did absorbing the evil energy of the cosmos make her what she is now?" Ventress inquired.
Talzin nodded and said it was a small price to pay for the safety of two entire worlds. "But looking at these hieroglyphs reminds me of something I need to do before we continue. At the very least, it will slow our enemies down," she stated. She placed a finger along the painted walls, recited a few words in the ancient tongue, and watched as a green spot of her magic briefly stained the pictures but was gone almost as quickly as it had formed.
"Shall we continue on our way then?" she asked. Ventress and Savage both nodded, a reaction that pleased Talzin. "Good, now let us head for our destiny given by the Goddess long ago," she said. The stairway following the foul paintings was a long one but nothing would oppose them along the way.
Maul and Kycina were initially puzzled by the hieroglyphs at base of the tower but Kycina knew the history written in these and could immediately tell her son about the old ways. "Talzin means to bring back the days of her mother, the Snake Goddess Hecate who once ruled over both these planets with coils stronger than durasteel. If she succeeds, it could mean the end of your galaxy seeing that she has an army more immense than even any army the Republic and the CIS could accumulate in all their years of existence," she explained with fear mounting in her voice. "But if the Goddess was so powerful, how come she couldn't escape KaiSu Lak'Ton and continue her reign of terror in person instead of sending Talzin to do her dirty work?" Maul asked.
"Because once confined to a planet, a god only has the power to send their children in their stead unless they too are banished to the planet. And do not heed what Talzin says about being named after her mother, she likes to use that for bragging rights seeing as she was the oldest of Hecate's daughter and the only one sent," Kycina answered. Maul understood knowing how his former master had been similar in his desire for bragging rights in a manner of speaking. How it disgusted him to remember such times as the days when he served the tyrannical and oppressive Darth Sidious himself.
But soon his thoughts were taken off those horrid times in his life when the figures on the hieroglyph walked towards the wall and literally climbed out of them via a green wall that animated them when they stepped through. All of them were so thin that their entire skeleton could be seen, even their pelvic bones, and all of them had skin paler grey than campfire smoke. Some had scars along their bodies and others had dislocated or broken limbs while others still could barely crawl, let alone walk due to how bent their backs had become. Maul activated his lightsaber to fight them as they came to attack him but Kycina stopped him before he could harm them further than they already had been in damnation.
"Not all things can be solved by muscle and lightsaber alone," she said before demonstrating what she meant. Her staff glowed an orange light and Maul realized that according to ancient scrolls, orange was the light for healing in the days of these souls. Thus, he deactivated his lightsaber and watched what she had to say to them if anything. "I free you from whatever torments you experienced in your cruel afterlife, go and be at peace forevermore," she told them in the kind healing voice of a true mother.
At first, it seemed as though the souls would burn up from those words but all the grey skin melted away as did the damage done to their bodies. In the place of that rose white, transparent figures that thanked Kycina for what she had done before floating toward the vault of Dathomir's skies. After those souls left, Kycina went to the wall and saw what Talzin had done: she had used the walls to penetrate across space and time in order for the souls of the dead to come and haunt her and her son on their way to stop her and her possessed companions. Kycina tapped the orange glowing part of her staff against the wall and the green barrier shattered like glass, closing the portal through time and space once again.
"This way no more of the damned souls of that ancient day can again hinder us," she explained to Maul, who asked what she was doing. "Just out of curiosity, will I ever have to use my lightsabers while we ascend this tower?" Maul added with a smile Kycina knew was meant to tease. "So long as I know which spells work on which demons in this tower and you stay with me, not at all," she answered, pinching his cheek as she spoke. He smiled back and followed behind his mother as they ascended the tower, proud and bold in each other's presence.
When Dooku came upon the pyramid, he couldn't believe the mess he was seeing. Dead warriors lied everywhere and there was an ugly looking beast in the middle that looked like it had picked a fight with the warriors. Its body was mostly plain except for a great big horn stick out of the top of its wide nose. Walking past it, he saw the door at the top of the pyramid that led into the bottom of the tower and knowing there was no other way besides back he entered the tower.
Talzin and Ventress were not the only ones he wished to exact revenge against. Savage and Maul were also on his hit list due to their temporary alliance with Deathwatch and an attempt all three had made on his life at Serenno. While Savage had dueled with Grievous Maul and Governor Vizla united their skills to face Dooku in combat. Vizla was decapitated but Maul survived the fight, nearly succeeding in defeating Dooku before Kenobi and Skywalker intervened.
The battle had brought about the capture of Serenno by Republic hands and even with Grievous helping, Dooku had barely escaped the clone hordes with his life. Now, he lived in Raxus, home of the Separatist Parliament and Capital of the Confederacy of Independent Systems. Serenno, though less so than Raxus, was one of the most fortified systems in the CIS and Dooku knew that it was only a matter of time before the Republic liberated all the systems around Serenno and cornered the Separatists at their capital. Still, the idea of taking out his revenge on Talzin, Maul, Savage, and Ventress before the Republic destroyed his organization would make Dooku feel satisfied with life and content to let his existence end at the hands of the Jedi.
"I'm coming for you Talzin, you and your three pawns. And I won't stop until I have killed you all, slowly, painfully, and with great pleasure on my part," he thought aloud. With lightsaber in hand, he marched into the pyramid to follow the quad of enemies he sought to destroy forever. If only he had gone in there with an idea of the perils that the magic of the ancient peoples had to throw at them all.
"Masters, I report with success in the mission to destroy the fleet rumored to have been under Maul's authority," Kenobi said to Mace and Yoda. "This is a great day for the Republic, you should be proud of yourself," Windu said. "Yes I am but the Sith aren't the only thing we have to worry about," Obi-Wan replied. When Yoda and Windu said nothing, Obi-Wan explained grimly.
He told them about how Maul had been betrayed by Savage on orders from Mother Talzin. Additionally, he told them of the ancient city raised out of the ground and even showed the gates at which he stood. Finally, he told of how Dooku had gone in after the four natives of Dathomir but hoped Maul was victorious against Talzin and Savage. "If he fails then Dooku's success within the tower won't matter unless he can stop Talzin from unlocking whatever is on this KaiSu Lak'Ton place," he concluded. "May the Force be with Maul and Dooku as much as it is very hard to find them as the only hope for Dathomir and possibly the whole galaxy," Windu declared to Yoda's surprising approval of it.