The chaos went through her ears and yet Cinder heard none of it. She followed Bestia into the pit, almost tripping over her own cloak as she slung it off behind her. She thought she heard Fell call after her, but his voice melded with the rest of them. Midair, she heard her saber flicker to life, the orange blade a torch in the dark to guide her way down.

Bestia had been bait, sure enough, but Cinder would not have her undone by a Hutt. Least of all by Durgulla the Fat. Her only hope up above lay in Fell. Let us hope he can improvise.

She landed stooped on her feet, swinging her lightsaber out away from the ground. Sand and dust flew up around her in thin whirls of sediment. It was all black here; her blade was the only source of light, and all it showed her was sand. Something echoed from within the gloom, a baleful howl that spoke only doom and death. She steeled herself and took up a defensive stance, guarding herself with her lightsaber.

"Mira!" Cinder called out. Bestia was nowhere to be seen.

"Lady Cinder!" Her voice came from the east, deeper in the black. A low snarl followed soon after from even deeper still.

Then a roar. Then the sound of clawed feet rushing towards her at breakneck speed.

She rolled in the nick of time, switching off her saber in the process and almost losing herself in the dark. She switched it back on as she stood. She shot a glance behind her and made out Bestia's silhouette. Good, she's safe. Let's keep her there. She thrust her saber forward to cut a flaming light through the void.

The shape turned on clumsy heels and lumbered towards her. Two giant horns jutted from the sides of its mouth, black all over and darker still at the tips. They shone in the dark where they should have been formless. Two beady yellow eyes flitted about in frustration as it studied her. It was kicking a two-clawed foot back and forth to ready another charge. The rest of it was nigh-invisible in the void, its purpled skin drinking up the dark. Above its brow was a series of spines. The central one was at least half a meter tall. When it charged again, they gleamed like steely knives.

Cinder dodged again, but just too late. The beast smashed her in the side, trampling over her left foot. Cinder rolled away. I have to get back to her, the voice in her head screamed. She had no time to quarrel with herself, but she felt a war inside her head all the same. Bestia is defenseless and weak; the only lesson that will serve is death, said the Shadow Hand she once was. No! She still has more to learn, screamed the woman she had always been.

Cinder staggered to her feet, clutching her side where the beast had grazed her. Her ribs felt smashed, like she'd been run over with a speeder bike, and her foot felt as if it were clubbed. The way it touched the dirt was soft and flimsy, and sent fiery lances of pain up through her leg. All broken.

The beast roared. There were chains that hung limp above on the ceiling, rattling in a morbid chime.

She knew that wail. Terentatek? Here? They've been... It was impossible, the dark had to be playing tricks on her. But what else could it be? She did not dwell on it; instead, she made her own charge at the beast, forgetting her brokenness. She tried to ram her saber through its back. All it did was glance off. The beast whipped a gangly arm around and almost cleaved off her head with a clawed hand. She ducked and rolled between the gap in its legs, slashing at its feet to no avail.

She was once again beside Bestia. Cinder could finally see her in the light cast by her blade. Her face was a mess of dark brown blood. She was crawling towards the wall to get away from the terenatek. Cinder wanted to tell her to run, but then she saw her legs, twisted and turned backwards on themselves in the fall. She had no time to orient herself, Cinder thought. The Hutt caught her too off-guard.

The terentatek threw forth an arm with a lazy slap at her head. Cinder brushed it aside with her saber, but the other came before she could redirect her blade. She was forced to step backwards. She slammed into the wall behind her, the duracrete smacking her hard in the back of the head. She winced from the pain, and by the time she opened her eyes, a massive fist was barreling towards her to pound her face to mist. She bobbed her head left. The beast's right hand pounded into the wall so hard the stone warped. It was already bringing its left towards her. She ducked and rolled underneath its arm as that one, too, smashed into the wall. It freed both its hands without any urgency. Its sharp claws squealed against the hard rock as they came loose.

I cannot do this dance forever. Cinder forced herself upright and leveled her blade in front of her. The beast turned to face her and its mouth twisted into an almost human smile. She could not tell how many scores of teeth there were as each was laid bare, but all of them were well-honed and sharp, made for rending flesh off bone. It roared once again, shrill enough she thought her eardrums close to bursting. She felt her left leg buckle beneath her. The terentatek charged again.

She felt her breath vanish as the beast smashed into her chest. She saw the two tusks still free on either side of her. The silver lining. She was still holding tight to her lightsaber, though she could hear its buzz no longer. All of her head was ringing. She brought the blade in towards the beast. It glanced its side and it shrieked and relented just for a moment, a moment that allowed her to break free. Her leg gave way and she crawled as the beast lost itself in its caterwaul.

Still shrieking, it turned back towards her and swung down both its arms, trying to splatter her into the sand. She rolled back and the attack did nothing but throw up dirt. She swung her blade forth and caught a thick-skinned, big-boned finger. Then another, and another, and another still. Its hide is weak at the joints. The beast screamed and reared back its right hand and loosed a punch, missing her by centimeters as she twisted herself around. It brought its left hand up to its sloped face, fingerless save the thumb. Stubborn and primal, it tried to punch her with that hand as well. She rolled over, getting on one knee, and cleaved through the thick limb at the elbow joint, where shiny black barbs threatened to impale her.

She laughed, almost madly, then caught herself and clenched her teeth. As one arm fell away, the terentatek turned to swing at her with the other. As the clawed fingers drew closer, she brought her saber up and hacked through the meat joining hand and forearm. The claws fell away, spattering her with black blood before the wound burnt itself shut.

The terentatek seemed confused by that, bringing its handless limb close for inspection. It charged again, roaring so loud blood welled up in her ears. This time it positioned its tusks accordingly. Not this time. The right one was angled towards her; she cut through it, then threw herself to the side to dodge the charge. She saw the tusk fall away and smack into the sand with a heavy thud. The beast itself could not stop its charge fast enough and barreled straight into the wall. The whole room rattled at the impact. It growled and turned around. The other tusk snapped and fell to the floor, now little more than a broken bone gleaming off-white in the dark. The terentatek paused, tracing over her with its beady eyes. Despite its wounds, it would not relent.

She looked through the black and tried to find Bestia. She hoped the girl was still slumped against the wall, recuperating from her wounds. A silhouette shifted in the distance on twisted legs. Fool girl. The beast noticed the movement too. It studied the two of them, kicking its stunted feet all the while, readying a sprint. Like all predators, it had to size up its prey.

Evidently, it chose Cinder. It came thundering towards her, dust flying up behind it. The wounds were taking their toll. Cinder felt tired. Time slowed to a crawl as she braced for impact, and every passing moment the pain grew worse as she grew less lucid. Her thoughts were numb, save for one. I have failed you all. She braced for impact, readying her lightsaber while knowing what little good it would do.

"You overgrown fekking dog! I will not let her die!"

Bestia's shouting snapped Cinder back to reality and her eyes lulled open. The terentatek was twitching, ensnared in a wreath of red. She heard it then: the crackling of lightning, mixed with primal howls of anguish. Then her nose opened and she smelled it all: the charring of thick, reptilian hide, so noxious it made her retch blood. She felt her lightsaber go out in her fingers and she lost herself in the black. This was the wrath of the Force she saw before her, and it was all the light she needed.

The terentatek's narrow face went up in flames. Great gouts of fire burst from where its eyes had been. Black smoke poured from its mouth. The flesh all over wilted and turned to billowing smoke, sloughing off in massive husks that crumbled to dust as soon as they fell to the dirt floor. The howls petered out and the thing fell backwards, still burning.

Cinder felt a weight on her chest that made it difficult to breathe. She was panting so hard that she thought she would retch up her own heart next. She fell backwards, her head against the sand. It still pained her where she'd met the wall, but the floor was cold and soft. As fine a pillow a deathbed could have.

Some time later, Bestia made it over to her, crawling on her shattered legs. Cinder reached for her hand, and the girl obliged. Bestia lay beside her in the dirt.

"We really must be going," Bestia whispered.

"We will be," Cinder said, clutching the girl's hand even tighter. She sighed and pain shot through each of her shattered ribs. She felt a sting in her eyes. "I have failed you."

"No." Bestia took her under the neck with her other hand and raised her head.

Don't, she wanted to say. But the word did not come. Lysara Synder accepted her first defeat as Mira's lips met hers.