Chapter 14
"Now is your opportunity, Lord Rend! Lord Lethe! Strike down our enemy and prove to me your strength!"
Rend glanced to Lethe as their master retreated to the ritual chamber; her dark skin glistened with just a slight sheen of sweat. She nodded to him briefly and they both turned to face their enemy: Darth Orthas. In person, the pureblood appeared larger and more imposing. Rend could feel the power emanating off him in waves; he wondered if Lethe felt it too.
Most disturbing was the man's cruel smile, the corners of his lips curled upwards in both anticipation and condescension. The deep red of the man's skin stood in stark contrast to the pristine white of his teeth; Rend could tell that Orthas didn't view them as a threat.
"I should have expected this from a pretender masquerading a title she has no right to bear. Sending children to face a master … I'm afraid you both will be sacrificing your lives for nothing."
"Too much talking," Lethe hissed, causing Rend to glance at her sharply in surprise. She grabbed at the air through the Force, toppling a massive statue of Tulak Hord downwards in an attempt to crush Orthas beneath it.
The pureblood was ready; he sidestepped the tumbling sculpture easily, then lunged past the statues of the Dark Lords, simultaneously pulling both Rend and Lethe towards him through the Force.
Rend screamed as he snapped himself out of Orthas' manipulation, flipping backwards through the air to land just a few meters away from both Lethe and the pureblood. The exertion drained so much of his energy. The raw power Orthas commanded; it was greater than anything he had ever experienced, likely greater than even what Siphon could muster. Lethe couldn't break free; Orthas' grip on her seemed only to strengthen after Rend's escape. With one hand, he slammed her body over and over into the walls, the floor, the ceiling.
Rend had to act before it was too late. Sparks burst from his hand and swirled into a torrent of violet lightning intent on incinerating the pureblood. Orthas reacted, releasing Lethe from his hold as he summoned a barrier from the Force. Rend watched as his lightning bolts slammed uselessly against the invisible shield, energy dissipating without effect.
"So, there is some skill after all. Not enough to match a true Sith, but sufficient to provide a few moments of entertainment."
"Lethe!" shouted Rend. "Get up!"
Lord Lethe rose to her feet, battered and bruised, but Rend saw in her an expression he had never seen before: unadulterated fury. "I owe you pain."
Her hand stretched and closed into a bitter fist; Rend screamed in pain, clutching at his face as the world seemed to explode in tremors all around him, the magnitude of Lethe's attack reverberating throughout the great hall.
The pureblood only smiled. " … pathetic."
"Rend, help me silence this arrogant bastard!" shouted Lethe.
In that moment, despite the pain still coursing through his mind, Rend wanted nothing else but to put an end to Orthas once and for all. He bore down the agony, launched himself into a whirling spin, flung his still-unactivated lightsaber in an arc, and then fired two jolts of electricity at Orthas.
Orthas moved to slice Rend's saber in half as it approached, but the two shots of lightning forced him to refocus attention; he sheathed himself in a barrier of static electricity, absorbing all of Rend's attacks and then releasing a wild barrage of his own lightning to counter. Disarmed, Rend had to empower his steps with the Force in order to escape being electrocuted.
Where was their master's battle meditation? Why hadn't she begun the ritual?
Before Orthas could capitalize on his advantage on Rend, Lethe toppled a second enormous sculpture -this one of Darth Malak - from its foundation and then hurled it sideways towards the pureblood. Orthas leaped into the air to avoid its trajectory, then used the Force to pull himself back downward with incredible speed. In a flash, the pureblood caught up to Lethe on Siphon's throne, a single hand outstretched to crush the woman's windpipe.
As Lethe gasped for air, Rend mustered all his remaining strength. Scattered debris, broken pieces of stone, and jagged shards of metal and glass lifted themselves into the air through the Force, and then launched forward with terrifying speed. Orthas turned, releasing an unconscious Lethe from his grip, and then laughed.
"This is all you have left?" Orthas smiled with contemptuous amusement.
The pureblood didn't even bother to cloak himself in the Force. The debris slammed into his body like pebbles on a beach of sand; ineffectual. Orthas didn't even wince - Rend didn't expect him to, not until he revealed the last card he had to play. The last piece of broken statue hurtling towards Orthas hid Rend's deactivated lightsaber.
Rend smiled back. "Eat this."
Through the Force, Rend activated his lightsaber remotely, and watched as the crimson blade jetted forward through the stone, aimed straight at Orthas' face. The pureblood sensed it only at the last second, saw the impending flood of brilliant scarlet light overwhelm everything else. Too late, too slow to block the surprise attack, Orthas could only dodge.
Rend sent a surge of power into the blade, blasted it forward with even greater speed, intent on ending Orthas once and for all. He watched as Orthas struggled to get away, throwing his head to the side as fast as he could - too fast.
No. It can't be.
The blade grazed the side of Orthas' jaw, severing the pureblood tendrils on the right side of his face, but doing no fatal damage.
The pureblood screamed with unabashed rage. In a flash, he leaped to Rend's position before Rend could act, could react, could respond. The pureblood shoved him downward onto the floor, and then slammed an open palm onto Rend's chest. Instantly, Rend felt the Force surge into him … but this was no electricity, no lightning. This was raw power, raw Force, gripping at his heart. Tightening. Constricting. Crushing.
It wasn't supposed to be like this. Where had Siphon gone? Why hadn't he begun the Battle Meditation? This was supposed to be their victory; after everything Rend had given up, had sacrificed for his master … why wasn't it enough?
Rend tried to throw Orthas off, tried to summon lightning to defend himself, but his strength failed him. Sparks swirled around his hand and then dissipated.
So this was a master of the dark side. A true Lord of the Sith.
Darth Orthas spat on his face. "Do you understand now? This is true power: the strength to overpower your enemies and the finesse to crush them with just the right amount of pressure. This is what comes with purity of blood. This is what you charlatans can never hope to achieve."
Where was Lethe? Where was Siphon? Why didn't they come?
Why was he alone?
Through the Force, Orthas stopped his heart.
Everything turned to black.
Orthas stood, rage only temporarily abated, the unmoving body before him drained of life. He turned back; the dark-skinned human apprentice was nowhere to be seen. No doubt she had fled in the wake of watching her companion slain so easily slain. No matter. She could be dealt with later.
His face stung with pain where his tendrils had been severed; the male apprentice's blade had caught him by surprise. It was typical of the Pretender's style, to employ tricks and deception over true power. Orthas cursed himself that he had not seen through the ruse from the very beginning; taking consolation from the fact that he would soon be ending Siphon's line of training permanently, the pureblood Sith dusted himself off, tucked away his lightsaber, and followed the path he had watched Siphon take deeper into the Keep.
As he approached the doorway of what appeared to be a second hall, the sounds of fighting emanated forth from within. Orthas' head suddenly throbbed with a dull ache; he ignored it, chalking it up to adrenaline and the exhilaration of battle, and indeed, it soon passed.
Orthas stepped into the doorway to a large, circular chamber. Enormous Imperial banners hung from high up in the ceiling to the floor in a smaller circle, surrounding a raised platform in the center. Sith artifacts and gushing fountains decorated the walls and open spaces.
Clashing in between the decor were Siphon and … the bounty hunter. What was he doing here? Shouts echoed back and forth between the two combatants as they flashed across the chamber in an intense lightsaber duel. He watched with curiosity; Orthas hadn't known the bounty hunter had training in the saber forms. Pike almost moved with the skill and agility of a trained master. Almost.
"So it's been you nipping at my heels all this time," mused Siphon. "And I wondered why Rend and Andora had so much trouble with you."
"This is the end for you, Siphon," said Vandal Pike. "I will bring Orthas your head!"
Siphon's tone remained indifferent. "Are you sure about that, Vestral? I suspect your new master won't appreciate an upstart stealing his glory."
Orthas had no idea who this Vestral was; neither did he care.
"I have no master," Pike retorted. "I have only the blade. You took everything else away from me."
"That's right," said Siphon. "You're but a shadow of your former self. And what's more, you're blood is 'impure.' How far you've sunk, former apprentice. Orthas won't accept you into his ranks as a Sith, so you've resorted to bounty hunting." Lightning surged from her fingertips with terrifying precision; Pike brought up his lightsaber in defense only at the last moment. It was then that Pike saw Orthas had arrived.
"Orthas! Quickly, while I have Siphon occupied, strike her down!"
Orthas glanced between the two, one masked and one helmeted. They were the only ones present. Pike, Vestral - whatever his name was - it was clear he was the lesser of the combatants. Siphon countered the bounty hunter's every move, every strike and slash as though she knew what Pike would do before even the bounty hunter did. On his own, Pike stood no chance against Siphon. Why the fool would take it upon himself to infiltrate the Keep and challenge Siphon to single combat … Orthas had no idea.
Neither did he care.
Siphon's masked face turned to Orthas, waiting expectantly.
"What are you waiting for?!" screamed Pike. "Siphon can't be trusted, she proved that when she abandoned the arena. This is your opportunity to eliminate her once and for all!"
"You're right," said Orthas.
He summoned a surge of crimson lightning, so powerful it crackled in his hand even as he coalesced the raw energy into physical form. Without a second glance at Siphon, Orthas arced the lightning straight into the bounty hunter's helmet. Pike screamed in shock and agony as the surprise attack caused him to lose focus and drop his lightsaber; Siphon's Force Lightning found its mark and wracked the bounty hunter, rippling waves of electrical energy into his body from head to toe. The sheer force behind the attack launched Pike into the air, slammed him ten meters up the opposite wall and held him in place for ten seconds before the bounty hunter's body finally collapsed to the ground.
Still in shock, Pike could only mutter, "... w-why?"
Rage filled Orthas' as the bounty hunter revealed the depths of his utter lack of understanding. "… I don't need you to kill Siphon. I never did. You dared to try and steal this battle from me? You dared to speak to me as though we are the same?! You are no Sith, you are not even a pretender! You are a mongrel, a dog meant to obey the orders of superior beings. If you cannot even do that … I have no use for you."
Pike moved no more. Orthas turned to face his true enemy.
"I tried to tell him." Siphon laughed. How Orthas abhorred that laugh.
"So like the fool that you are, Siphon. Laughing in the face of imminent oblivion."
"I think not, Darth Orthas. In fact, I'm afraid I must inform you that you just electrocuted the best hope you had to defeat me."
"Cavalier until the end," Orthas spat. "So be it."
From within his robes, Orthas withdrew two lightsabers, one in each hand. Without activating them, he released the sabers from his grip, holding them in the air through the Force alone. As he withdrew his third and final lightsaber, he angled the floating blades into position around him, each taking a menacing stance.
Simultaneously, Orthas activated all the lightsabers; the chamber flooded with brilliant crimson light.
"So ends the reign of Darth Siphon."