Chapter Eighteen

When Maul and Kycina were approaching the Hall of the Sisters of Judgment, they sensed no presence. In fact, they wondered if Talzin had destroyed the Sisters before they arrived and had their suspicions confirmed by two massive piles of sand that were slowly blowing away. "She probably had Savage and Ventress distract them while she fatally wounded them from the flanks," Maul said. "How can you tell just from a pile of sand?" Kycina asked.

"The Sisters were created from the sand of KaiSu Lak'Ton which is a shade of pale brown that exists nowhere else in the universe. I have seen this shade nowhere else in the galaxy and I have been to many alternate versions of this galaxy and I have never seen it in all my travels," Maul explained, pointing out the very pale brown color. "Good point, now can we move on before your grandmother brings hell to this version of the galaxy?" Kycina asked, her questions answered with those comments. Maul nodded in reply and took the lead in entering the door that the Sisters of Judgment once guarded from intruders such as themselves.

By the time they came to another door, they already saw that one of the axes the Sister wielded had already been used to open it. Both knew it wouldn't be long before the other one was used as well and both began to run as fast as they could despite Kycina having the disadvantage of limited, biological legs against Maul's mechanical, stronger ones. "Wait for me son, you have the advantage and I'm not in my prime like I used to be when I met your father!" she shouted at one point while racing toward the top. Maul ran back, threw her over his shoulder and resumed running toward their final destiny at the tower's highest peak.

"Is this really necessary?" Kycina asked. "Only way to get you to keep up the pace without wasting any of your magic before the final fight," Maul answered. "I suppose you're right but I'm not some doting princess. Teleportation means little as far as my reservoirs of magic go," she told him.

Maul shrugged, put her back down, and continued running while she teleported to keep up with him since running wouldn't work. Plus there was no way she wanted to go back over Maul's shoulder as though she had been wounded in action. In fact, she made a deal with him explicitly forbidding any carrying except when she was wounded or exhausted from the use of magic. It was a deal Maul agreed to with a smile on his face and a chuckle emanating from his throat.

Savage plunged the second ax taken from the Sisters of Judgment into the slot he had seen with the first one and twisted it toward him like before. After that, he watched as the final gate to the top of the tower opened for use by him, Talzin, and Ventress as they ascended to where they would reawaken KaiSu Lak'Ton. Savage could sense the life ebbing from the top of the tower and was pleased to know that victory was close at hand. Ventress felt it as well though she was initially reluctant to proceed unlike Savage or Talzin.

"Why do you fear the eternity offered by the Goddess? Do you prefer the bitter taste of death that would await the end of a mortal life?" Talzin asked her. "Sometimes, death is better," Ventress answered. "I think she's trying to break free from your control of her," Savage stated.

Talzin scoffed at that remark and merely grabbed Ventress' head, electrocuted her with more green lightning, then released and watched as Ventress dropped to the cold stone floor beneath their feet. "That will crush any further resistance to the will of the Goddess for now," she said before Ventress rose back up. "Or is it to your will, grandmother?" Savage asked her. Talzin merely sneered at him and marched on, this time not expecting either one of her pawns to follow her after this.

But they did all the same, Savage because he had nowhere else to go now that he had betrayed his brother and mother but Ventress because she had no choice. So long as she remained under the influence of Mother Talzin, she would always be broken into submission and made a puppet of the daughter of the Goddess. Not even Count Dooku promised such a one-ended deal with as massive a lack of freedom as what Talzin was forcing her to accept. And watching her be broken so easily stirred pity in Savage as he remembered when she was strong enough to control him during his days as the executioner of her will during her feud with Dooku.

"How much longer before we reach the peak of the tower, grandmother?" he asked. "Now it is only a short walk up a spiraling passage and a small flight of stairs before we reach a flat pavilion with the necessary machinations for my magic in the very center of it," Talzin answered. "Savage and I will protect you while you activate it," Ventress stated, her loyalty ensured by Talzin's regular bursts of energy that weakened her mind's ability to resist. "Good, it is precisely all I need you two for before we all share with the power of the Goddess and rule over this universe as fellow Lords of Chaos and Oblivion!" Talzin exclaimed, proud to be the daughter of the Goddess as always.

And Savage was relieved to see that she had not lied about the spiraling passage or the brief staircase before the flat platform that was the roof of the tower. "Do you see that red circle in the middle?" Talzin asked Savage. He nodded and asked why she inquired that of him. "It is where I begin conducting my spells to channel the power of the Brotherhood of Darkness to both revive KaiSu Lak'Ton and bring this city back to its former glory as a place where your darkest fears and hatreds take shape and form against you," she explained.

Savage didn't like the sound of that and hoped that he didn't have to be put against those dark powers. But he knew he had what it took to overcome it all if he ever did have to. There were very few things that he actually feared now that he had rid himself of his family and found a new goal for himself at Talzin's side. "Now to begin the spell and finally exact revenge upon the rest of the galactic filth," Talzin said before working her magic.

"How much longer before we reach the top of the tower?" Maul asked. "From the feel of it, we're not that far off from where Talzin, Savage, and Ventress stood just moments ago. Can't you feel the searing heat of the Dark Side burning at your flesh?" Kycina replied. Maul nodded and knew she was right about being close to the tower's summit.

"Be on your guard, your grandmother is the reason Savage betrayed us and tried to kill us both," she warned. Then they slowly continued up the spiraling shaft that led to the final summit. Maul reached for the hilt of his lightsaber at his waist and unclipped it, holding onto it as they ascended. He knew full well that he would have to fight Savage again and this time, he would not relent until he punished the traitor fully for his treachery.

At last, Maul would reveal his true power to his brother which was something he never did before. At last, Maul was about to begin Savage's true training in the ways of the Sith. Something Savage never understood is that when the apprentice betrays the Master, he must have the ability to actually do it instead of fail at it Maul thought to himself. It was the least he could do to remind him of his greatest failure: his own brother, Savage.

Savoring the moment, Maul and Kycina walked slowly up the staircase that led to their final destiny in battle against Ventress, Savage, and Talzin. "Hello mother, remember me?" Kycina asked when their trio of enemies was in sight. "Ventress, Savage, dispose of these annoyances while I finish this last little incantation," Talzin ordered quickly. Savage charged first as usual and headed for Kycina but Maul intercepted almost immediately.

And just as Maul did that, Kycina moved in for the kill by running toward Talzin with her staff extended in front of her. But Ventress, under Talzin's spell, ran to intercept her long before she could reach her target. Kycina quickly transformed her staff into a long-handled lightsaber and briefly exchanged blows with the younger warrior though she was clearly the superior of them. She drove Ventress near the edge of the tower then made for Talzin yet again, stating she didn't want to fight Ventress nor did she have any quarrel with the woman.

But Ventress returned and it was then that Kycina recognized the glow of possession within Ventress' eyes. She knew exactly what to do from there, having worked on curing mental dominance of all kinds. "I release you from Mother Talzin's influence on your mind!" she shouted just before throwing an explosive charm at Ventress' face. The impact threw the former Dark Jedi over the edge of the tower, never again to oppose Kycina in her lust for revenge against her evil mother.

"If it's all the same to you, I finished the spell I was conducting and can now face you while the revival of this city and KaiSu Lak'Ton commences. Your vengeance makes little if any difference now," Talzin stated with a smile. "I am more powerful than I have ever been before and the last time we truly fought each other, you barely managed to hold your own," Kycina replied. "Funny, that's not how I would remember it," Talzin hissed.

Then she hurled a flurry of green lightning at her daughter, who used the gem of her staff to absorb it effortlessly. "Allow me to refresh your memory, dear mother," Kycina said before reflecting the lightning back at Talzin. Talzin conjured a telekinetic barrier to deflect it as she had no way of absorbing it back then launched another barrage of lightning only to be met with the same result. "If only you hadn't banished me, I entertained myself by learning the Sith's alchemy and sorcery as well as the healing arts before I began to go insane," Kycina mocked while watching her mother start to seethe with rage and hate.

Savage attacked with the full might of his Djem So useage and Maul countered with his knowledge of Juyo in their fierce duel against one another. "You know something Savage? When you're going to betray your Sith master, you need to actually kill him instead of just set a trap and hope it destroys him for you!" Maul shouted. "Funny, it would have worked if Kycina had no knowledge of teleportation or wasn't powerful enough to bring you down here," Savage replied.

"How pathetic that you have to resort to that in order to assassinate me! I wonder if you ever would if Talzin hadn't prompted you to do it," Maul hissed. "Even if she hadn't I wouldn't remain your dog forever, in time, I would gain the strength to betray and murder you anyhow," Savage stated. "And I'm not the only one you betrayed: you also betrayed our mother!" Maul added.

"She betrayed me when she chose you, brother. You were always the more special of the two of us anyway. I recall days where she would just stare at a window after Feral and my father had fallen asleep and I would ask her why she did that. She always said that it was because she was looking for a lost member of the family," Savage told him.

Maul didn't need him to say anymore in order to deduce that he was the one she was always looking for amongst the stars. "She even once said, 'I always wonder where your brother is, if he's safe and warm and happy'. Rarely did she ever ask me if I was happy, warm, and safe!" Savage added randomly. "So you want to prove you're better than me?

"Well it's not going to happen, not like this!" Maul replied before continuing the duel. Savage continued to use Djem So until he felt Maul's superior use of Juyo was going to mean the end of him. Then he surprised his brother with a switch to the use of both sides of his lightsaber. After that, it became more of a stalemate as Maul quickly recovered from the surprise and returned to his punishing use of Juyo against his own brother. It was a duel neither of them wanted to lose with the stakes being too high. The Goddess was going to be either revived or destroyed and that would be determined by this fight.