Chapter 16: Rage
The world had turned to blood.
Avaryss spun as her lightsaber danced before her, blocking and parrying blows that weren't there. She moved with a speed that would be blinding to most, but…still…to the Sith Master…it wasn't enough…
…it had NEVER been enough!
An angry snarl escaped her lips as she went from drill to drill, sequence to sequence. She had practiced these movements for years, since the tender age of fifteen, they had become almost second nature to her at this point, which…. was why she had failed.
Her eyes narrowed dangerously.
I failed.
It was not an easy thing to accept, as a Sith, she understood the price of failure, what happened to those that failed. It was not something she liked to see in herself. She had prided herself on her skill, her cunning…
…and…her arrogance.
She didn't want to think about it, but it was true.
She HAD been arrogant, and…now…now…
Someone she had sworn to protect had paid the price.
What does it matter, the darkness within whispered as she moved faster and faster through her drills.
What does the life one mundane matter? They are nothing, barely worth noticing, a credit for a dozen.
It matters, she thought, because I told her that I would keep her safe.
She moved faster, letting the dark side carry her, her hate and rage at her failing filling her with power. She had not realized how far she had fallen; how much she had let her skills falter. She had gone through these drills so often, they had become almost second nature, her emotions had become almost devoid from those drills, she had been too sure of herself, too confident…overconfident.
This is where that path led.
It doesn't matter, the darkness tried to reassure her.
"No," she murmured under her breath.
It DID matter.
The ship had only just returned from their last mission, from the doomed colony out on the fringes. They had gotten what they had been sent for, the key was here now, locked away by Master Jas.
That should have annoyed Avaryss, but the key had barely been on her mind since she stepped off the ship. She had stayed close to Zay, her servant…
The girl had not come through the mission unscathed.
She could not even be angry at Shyra or Tara Valenthyne, they had done nothing. Zay had trusted her master to keep her safe, and Avaryss had not done it.
Since leaving the colony behind, she had not left the girl's side, what had happened…it…it…
Avaryss had no words.
She could still hear Shyra shouting at her, telling her stop, but she hadn't listened.
Not until, she heard them, those three little words…
"You're killing her!"
That did it, despite the savage joy of destruction, the glory of annihilation!
"You're killing her."
In that moment all joy faded, the success she had been riding crumbled away, the sweet taste of victory turned to ash in her mouth.
She remembered standing over the girl, her small body shaking, frost covering her eye lashes, not really hot, or cold, but something terribly in between.
It had stopped the dark lord in her tracks.
She had made a promise…the girl.
She had swallowed hard, shocked by how she felt in that moment.
Fear…and guilt.
She…she…
She had no words.
What have I done?!
What have I done?!
"You did what needed to be done," Darth Feer's voice said from the ether, "You accomplished your goal."
True, yes, but…the girl, she had promised.
Avaryss had swallowed hard then.
What…have I done?!
A gentle wind blew across the plains of the world that the Survivors called home, the long grass moved like waves, reminding her of Keera's home world. The grass, the wind, the red glow of her blade, it took her back, back to before she was Avaryss, back to the life of a fifteen-year-old girl, the night she lost everything…and, at the same time, was put on the path to have…everything.
That pain, that…hate was always there, even if Keera Lylos no longer was, the girl was gone, crushed beneath the heel of Darth Avaryss when she had finally risen back on Oridanna, back when she destroyed the spirit of Mya Lylos, and took the emperor's power within that spirit for her own.
In the crimson light, she saw the faces of the colonists, the fools that had tried to keep the key from her. Those gaunt haggard faces with their radiation burns, they had not understood what they had found, what they had held in their hands.
She had showed them, and taken that power for herself, but at what cost…?
The Dark Lord snarled in fury.
…At what cost?
IOI
The colonists had made their home beneath a large structure, likely a bomb shelter built during the earliest days of the first Sith invasion.
Avaryss had paid close attention as they had made their way down, it was a guess, but given what she had seen, she suspected that the place had been a museum once, or would have been had it been finished, had this colony thrived.
Interesting.
As they emerged into the main chamber, the one that the people here called home, she felt a familiar thrumming in the Force, a sense of malice, and a rage long denied.
The dark lord drank in everything around her, what she saw…surprised her.
Weapons cases, supply crates, even a makeshift medical bay, common enough in a shelter, but that is not what caught her eye. The thirty or forty people who lived here watched with cold angry eyes, but their gaze quickly left the new comers, and fell on the large statue that took up most of the back wall.
Avaryss regarded it thoughtfully, she had never seen anything like it, but recognized the design, she had seen it enough times in the Valley of the Dark Lords back on Korriban, and, more importantly, she could sense the aura of the dark side emanating around it.
The statue was that of a human male, his robes and armor were of a different time, his long hair pulled back into a long pony tail. He knelt on a stone dais, a Sith war sword in hand, his head bowed, not in reference to any man, but to the power of the dark side, the power that he was both master and slave to…
Avaryss knew the feeling, and considering what had been said outside, she could guess who the man was, who the statue represented.
Exar Kun.
"In his name, we welcome you, Sith," the one who had greeted them said bowing respectfully to the stone icon before them.
"In the name of the Dark Lord reborn, we offer you his protection, and…the choice, to serve him, or be cast down."
The man raised his fist, and looked out over his fellow colonists.
"FOR THE DARKNESS," he called out, "FOR THE DARK LORD KUN!"
"FOR THE DARKNESS!" the others exclaimed their fervor echoing of the walls of their home.
"FOR KUN!"
Avaryss only just kept the sneer from her face.
All this for a failed Dark Lord, she thought with contempt.
All this…for a dead man.
Avaryss knew of Exar Kun, of course, she had first heard his name during her school days back on Oridanna. The Republic had never realized just how much the empire had infiltrated their world, their history was known to the Empire, especially when it came to the Sith who came after the so-called Great Hyperspace war, and the fall of the old Sith Empire.
Yes, Avaryss knew about Kun.
A fallen Jedi, it was said, one who had travelled to Korriban and been both seduced and trained by the ghosts of the Dark Lords of old. At least, that was the story that the spies had brought back to the Empire.
Exar Kun had believed the Empire dead, he had not known of Darth Vitiate, and the survivors who had sought shelter on Dromund Kaas. He had sought to resurrect the golden age of the Sith by himself, to rule over the galaxy as a true Dark Lord of the Sith.
He failed.
Yet, his actions had not been in vain, he had weakened the Republic, made it possible for Darth Revan and Darth Malak to strike at the Jedi three decades later. It was through them that the true Empire had tried to finish the work that Kun had started. Had Revan not chosen to betray Vitiate, things might have been far different now, the Sith might have finally ended the Republic, and their Jedi dogs.
Yes, Exar Kun had served his purpose, but now…these people sought to bring him back, claimed that he was already back, somewhere among the stars, waiting to return to his throne.
Avaryss frowned.
That would not happen, Exar had had his shot. It was her turn now, the throne, and the galaxy would be hers.
She…would suffer no rivals.
Her eyes took in the shelter, its defenses, again, she was not impressed. A Sith assault team would make short work of this place, killed all these heretics, and brought the key to her. She found herself missing her Warmaster in that moment. Bleez would not have failed her, she would have led Avaryss' forces and conquered these fools.
Sadly, Bleez was not here, she had scattered with the rest of Avaryss' house, those who had not fled were now under the command of Beric, and he under the control of Acina, and what remained of the Dark Council.
No matter, she thought, scattered was not destroyed, when the time come, she would gather all her followers to her, and her enemies would fall.
She looked up at the statue of Exar Kun, and sneered.
Are you back? Are you just the fantasy of these radiation burned fools, or did you find someway to cheat death…as I did?
Could these fools have resurrected Kun?
The dark side offered so many mysteries, so many possibilities. It was possible that Kun had found a way back, his body was never found, or so legends said. A Sith spirit could sustain itself for centuries, if the sacrifices had been enough…
No.
Avaryss did not care.
If Kun was back, it didn't matter. If he had been reborn, and was some boy hiding out in the galaxy. She would find him, she would peel the very flesh from his bones, he would die before he could ever threaten her power.
I will suffer no rival. I've sacrificed too much to stop now.
This galaxy…this universe is mine.
No one else will have it.
"Do you hear that?"
Avaryss glanced at Shyra, the beast girl was sniffing the air, her lips pulled back into a snarl.
"Do you hear the music?"
Avaryss nodded.
Yes, she had been hearing it since they set foot on this world.
Her eyes fell on the statue again, at the offerings left at its base, she was surprised to see so many Sith Artifacts here. Most looked pre-return; from the days of Revan and Kun.
She had heard the Jedi didn't allow such things to remain untouched in the galaxy. The order had gathered everything of Kun and Revan's reigns, and locked it away, or destroyed it outright. They considered such objects dangerous…
…and to some…dangerous meant valuable.
She had heard that many of the rich and powerful had coveted Sith artifacts before the Empire's return, to own the forbidden was seen as a status symbol. Some of those wealthy beings had, in fact, been Sith sleeper agents, readying the galaxy for the Empire's return, waiting for the activation order to come down.
Was that how this Cult of Kun gotten started? Has the sleeper died after converting these people to his side?
Did it even matter now?
Avaryss reached out with the Force, as she did, the song grew louder in her ears, she shuddered in pure pleasure.
There it was, she could see it among the dusty bones of what had come before. A three-sided pyramid, as big as a human fist…
…The first of Hecaetus' keys.
The one who had escorted them down here noticed the look on her face. He smiled cruelly.
"You admire the gifts we have offered our lord, Sith?"
She took a deep breath, centering herself, she wanted to lash out, kill all these fools, and simply take the key, but no…
…there were too many, and…
…there were alternatives to fighting.
A blade was not a Sith's only weapon.
Again, the Sith Lord looked over at Shyra Viel, the mongrel was staying close to Zay, shielding her, as Avaryss had asked her to do on their way here.
Unlike the Zakuul, Avaryss was no fool.
The knights had landed at the spaceport and simply tried to march on this place, letting the Force guide them, they had arrogantly assumed that the fallen colony was no threat, and that they could simply swagger in here and claim the prize.
They had paid for that arrogance with their lives.
It was not a mistake the Sith would make.
Cunning and betrayal could be as lethal as brute force, if wielded by a skilled hand, and a Darth of the Sith Empire…was more than skilled.
Far more.
She…
She gasped.
The key had acknowledged her touch, she could sense it through the Force!
It was awake now.
The information she had acquired from Zay's late master, as well as other sources, had suggested that this was possible. Hecaetus had been a brilliant alchemist, an impressive achievement for one first trained as a battle-rager.
The key whispered in her head, offering her advice, it yearned to return to the hands of a skilled dark lord, to be used as it was designed.
The plan it offered was exciting, Avaryss accepted without a moment's hesitation.
"Shield the girl," she murmured to Shyra, low enough that only the mongrel could hear.
"Stay back and don't interfere, whatever happens next."
The Jedi's eyes narrowed.
"What are you going to do?"
"Don't interfere," Avaryss repeated as she stepped forward. She spun around, her eyes glowing golden with the dark side energies in this place.
The key offered aid, and she accepted without question.
She spoke the words.
"Servants of the dark side," she called out, "Hear me, and rejoice in this moment of joy!"
She reached out with the Force, and the key rose from the dais.
Blasters went up, all pointed at her.
"STAND DOWN SITH!" their escort growled, "All that is before you belong to our lord!"
"As do I," Avaryss lied, she gave them a cruel smile.
They hesitated; some lowered their blasters.
Good.
They were giving her the rope she needed to hang them with.
She continued on.
"The Dark Lord of the Sith has chosen well, I…I hear his voice even now. He applauds your courage. You are brave to wait in such a place, and wise to hide here from the light, but an even greater destiny awaits."
She let the key float into the hands of her escort, the man looked up, he seemed confused.
"What destiny?" he asked, "What has the lord shown you?"
"The path to greater power," she continued, "the secret now sits in your hands. You stand at the threshold of something far greater, a chance to step into the realm of those touched by gods.
Avaryss turned to the man, her smile as sweet as a rare wine.
"You serve he who is master of the Force, and he has seen fit to reward you. You, shall be granted a great boon."
She purred what she said next, her voice becoming more seductive and sweeter.
"You shall all wield the Force in his name! That is the gift that he offers, and it begins with what you hold in your hand, the key to salvation!"
She knew she had them, even before her eyes fell upon the colonists, she could feel their hunger, their greed.
They wanted what was being offered. Greed was something she understood very well.
She was the lady of greed after all.
"The holocron," the man who brought her here said, "How could it…?"
"It is no mere holocron," she said stopping his question, "It is the key to power, the doorway to the darkest of miracles."
She slowly turned, letting all in attendance hear her words, and look into her eyes.
"In the old days, The legendary Marka Ragnos could grant the Force to those that served him well. The item that your man holds, has a similar power, it can grant this mighty gift. All you have to do, all you must do to receive this beautiful gift, is to open up your spirits and minds. Give your hate and rage to the key, let it drink deep, and you will find glory. You will feel the Force rush through you, as only a Sith can understand."
Avaryss looked at Shyra, she could see the confusion and distrust on the Jedi's face. Zay looked excited; she had never heard her master speak like this. She was curious.
Avaryss caught the Jedi's eye, what she wanted passed between them in the Force.
Shield the girl, well, mongrel.
That is all that I require.
Avaryss turned back to the leader of the colonists.
"Do you accept this gift? Are you ready to not simply serve the Sith, but to become Sith yourselves?"
She smiled wickedly.
"All you have to do…is open the door."
She stepped forward, her eyes never leaving the small glowing pyramid.
"Turn…the key."
That was all it had taken.
She felt it, as much as she heard, and seen it, the nods and whispers of acceptance. These people had worshipped the dark side, had been abandoned by the Republic and Jedi.
Of course, they would accept.
Even the one who had brought them here, the one who had looked upon her with suspicion was lost in the moment, lost to his desire to be more than a mere servant, to become a master.
"I accept," he said, his eyes wide and hungry, "In the master's name, I accept."
Avaryss' smile widened.
Good.
"And in the name of the true master, you shall have what you desire, you shall all feel the Force flowing through you, as it flows through me.
She reached out again to the key, whispering the incantations under her breath, the ones she had learned from the holocron that Zay had acquired for her, the one that Avaryss had killed the girl's master for, when he dared try to jack up the price.
The key heard her words, and it responded, it rose from the fanatic's hand and began to rotate, glowing brighter and brighter.
"Look into the key," she shouted to all that could hear, "to have Force opened to you, you must look, give it your rage and hate, in all its glory. The power is yours, seize it, and do not look back!"
Again, she felt the key call out to her as it touched the minds of the colonists, the ones that worshipped Kun and wished to be his acolytes.
Avaryss felt it the shift in the Force, the rising heat and freezing cold of the hate of the colonists, the key drank it up, drank it up and returned it a hundred-fold. The Force opened to the colonists, they felt it as Sith would.
Avaryss laughed maniacally.
Fools!
Did they realize that power was not simply given, and besides, did they actually believe their mundane bodies were strong enough to contain such power?
All the keys were needed for maximum effect. A single key could open a door, but it could not control the flood.
The colonists received their reward.
The Force flowed unchecked through their mundane bodies!
The result was instantaneous!
Some burst into flames, turned to blackened bones in seconds! Others froze solid where they stood, their cold rage converted into raw frigid power. A young woman paused in mid gasp of ecstasy; icicles grew from her upraised palms. Children weened on the tales of the Sith fell asleep consumed by the cold, they froze to death in seconds, and in it all, the heart of the chaos, the dark side swirled, the key took the spirits of the colonists, they didn't enter the Force, they flowed into the key as it gave power to the people that touched it.
Those spirits flowed into the one that woke the key.
They flowed into Avaryss, she felt their deaths, deaths in the moment of extreme torment and pure euphoria!
The dark lord threw her head back and cried out in pure pleasure.
The one who had brought them to this place, he lasted the longest, his rage was more controlled, neither burning hot, nor frigid cold. His skin bubbled his hair caught fire.
"LORD SAVE US!" he cried out to the statue, "WHAT HAVE WE DONE?!"
Avaryss had heard enough.
She pulled him to her, her hand found his throat, his blood was scalding hot, but her fingers didn't burn.
She smiled.
"The Force has found you wanting, mundane," she spat, "You are not worthy to stand before the true Sith Master!"
She laughed her gold eyes flaring like stars, the souls of his friends and neighbors filling her with power.
"I am the darkness," she hissed, "I am the Empress, and the Mother of Horrors!"
The man sobbed, realizing that he had been betrayed, his eyes popped like soap bubbles.
His death cries annoyed her. He was nothing, and deserved to be cast aside.
"I AM AVARYSS, FILTH!" she declared as his body finally burst into flames and collapsed.
The dark lord rose into the air and laughed. She floated above the carnage.
"I…AM…AVARYSS!"
"STOP!"
Shyra's shout was the sound of an annoying gnat.
Jedi fool, she thought, I should let the key consume you too. I should…"
"STOP!" Shyra shouted again.
"You're killing her!"
Avaryss blinked, something in the back of her mind got through the euphoria.
She looked down and…
No.
The dark lord blinked.
NO!
Zay was still at Shyra's side, still shielded, but it had not been enough.
The girl floated above the mongrel's head, she was moaning, her skin bathed in sweat, while her hair, eyebrows, and eyelashes were covered in frost.
Avaryss lost her connection to the key, the carnage she unleashed ending with a loud pop, the heat and cold vanishing, gone like it was never there, leaving only ash and frozen bodies in its wake.
Avaryss drifted to the ground as Zay collapsed into Shyra's arms.
No, Avaryss gasped.
No.
What have I done?
"WHAT HAVE I DONE!"
IOI
"Avaryss?"
She whirled, lost in the memory and her hate and rage. She heard a distant voice, felt the Force reaching out.
She almost ignored it, lost in the desire to spill blood, and self-hatred.
"Avaryss! Enough!"
It was a man's voice, one she knew, and…it got through the haze of hate.
Fenn.
She stopped in mid swing, she was panting, bathed in sweat, all around her, the grass had blackened, the dark side had fed off her power draining the life from the very land around her.
Just as it had done years ago…on Oridanna, a death field conjured without trying.
She crouched in the middle of the dead ground, even the worms tunneling beneath her feet were dead.
Fenn stood before her, his weapon on his belt, his concern radiating out through the Force.
She was tempted to strike at him, the rage was almost all-consuming, she would not destroy herself, she had come too far.
It would be better to lose control, and kill everything else.
It would be…satisfying.
Fenn didn't retreat, he stood outside the effect of her power.
She looked upon him, her rage barely held in check.
She wanted blood, violence, death.
The key had woken the animal in her, and it didn't want to be caged, not after Zay, perhaps…not ever again.
"Calm down," Fenn said approaching her, his every step careful, not wishing to spook the dangerous predator before him.
Kill him, the dark side whispered in Darth Feer's voice.
Free yourself from the last of your chains!
She was tempted, the beast was hungry.
Malgus had done it, he had killed his wife, his one true love.
Could she do the same?
Fenn continued to approach, perhaps not realizing the danger he was in.
"The girl will be alright," he said, "Dr. Tagge has checked her out, she is sleeping now, in shock, but alive. She will recover…in time."
Avaryss growled, she heard, but the rage was too great.
It didn't want to be contained!
He stood before her, the calm in the eye of the storm, he reached out with their bond, pushing the rage back.
"Stop, please," he murmured, "Keera…please."
Her golden eyes widened.
Keera?
KEERA!
That had done it!
She lunged, but he was too close, he caught her arm, blocked her blade. He held her tight, in a grip like iron. She snarled in his face, spitting like an angry loth cat.
He pulled her to him. She didn't fight; she was in shock, the storm whirled around them, whipping the long grass like a gale force wind.
Fenn reached out with the Force, he held her, both with the Force, and his arms. She didn't resist, more shocked than anything else.
Her brain had shut down, like a prey animal in a speeder's headlights.
How dare he! She was the dark lord! She was…!
He stopped her; he did the only thing he could do.
He kissed her.
Fury gave way to shock, shock…then…
Her eyes widened as he wrapped her in the Force, in his own want and desire.
Icy rage melted, the fires of hate went out, doused by that melting.
The fury was gone, but in its place…
…it turned to heat!
HOT!
Brighter than rage! Yet, far more intimate. She…he…they…
She clawed at his arm, no longer fighting, but gripping, wanting to pull him closer.
The lightsaber tumbled from her hand, its crimson blade vanishing with a wicked hiss.
She grabbed Fenn, pulled him tighter, pulled him down, and they tumbled to the dead ground.
They rolled around, kissing hungrily, lost in passion's embrace.
There was no darkness, no light, only the comfortable grey that existed for them and them alone.
Avaryss gasped, emerging from the key's fury, she…she…
She moaned as he rolled her onto her back, as he started to move against her.
He…they…
AHHHH!
He moved his hands over her body, his fingers finding the ribbon around her neck.
He would have torn it off, the first step in their road to deeper desire.
That woke her up.
NO!
She rolled over and pushed him back gently, though firmly.
They lay on the ground, both panting, their hearts pounding.
Her hand rose, checking the choker, making sure the glamour still held.
Not yet, she realized, he could not see her new face.
She took a shuddering breath.
Not yet, but…soon…
…soon.
They lay looking at each other, Fenn's Jedi calm was finally coming back, he had been lost in her emotions as well, pulled into the storm by their connection.
His solution had been…unique.
"I'm sorry," he gasped, "I almost lost…"
He gave her a sheepish look.
"I'm sorry."
She sat up, finally back in control. The howling psychopath, the Mother of Horrors was contained again.
She gave him a wicked smile.
"I'm not," she said in a husky voice.
She reached out with the Force, letting him know that what she had stopped was not a no, but simply…something for later."
He nodded, he accepted. They didn't need words.
She didn't need words. He knew how she felt.
She took a deep breath, the memory of what had happened finally clear in her mind, her cunning reasserted itself.
She had the first key.
Another phase of her plan was complete.
It was time to move onto the next one, the more difficult one.
It was time to lay her cards on the table, it was time…for the truth.
"I need to speak with, Master Jas," she said.
"He does have some questions," Fenn informed her, "Shyra told him about…"
Avaryss nodded.
"I've not lied to you Fenn. I've never lied to you, but I've not been entirely honest, either."
She shrugged.
"Will you come with me?"
She feared that he would say no, that he would back away.
He didn't.
"I will come," he promised, "I'll always be there."
She nodded.
Good, she thought.
Very good.
Rage was good, passion was better.
Fenn would help her; he would always help her.
That is why she wanted him.
That is why…he would be hers…
…always.