Cinder stood at the edge of the cliff. The horizon loomed endless before her, a mottled mass of purple stained with splotches of black. The clouds above were a black shroud. They were much closer than she had thought. If they come down any farther, I might run my fingers through them.

She dared look down only once. The cliff face was two hundred meters high at the least, and rendered all at its base insignificant specks. She made out the faint shapes of buildings, little more than tiny black dots from this vantage. A set of broken jaws separated the courtyard from the endless expanse of snow. In a time long gone, those jaws had been a functioning gatehouse. Standing sentinel off to the side was a slab tower, its shape little more than a tiny square. An even smaller square beyond that was the shell of a temple. A massive wall ran along the mountain face behind it, horned by a solitary tower in its middle. Cinder could make out the shape of a balcony in its center.

Surely he would be in there, she thought, reaching out for his presence in the Force. But inside the fortress, she sensed nothing besides the meandering patrols of footsoldiers.

They moved like gnats below, walking single file through the courtyard, pouring out of the wall as they moved towards the shattered gatehouse. Some were carrying things, though Cinder could not even begin to make out what they could have been. When the snowfall let up, the slender shape of a landed vessel caught her eye: Solipsis, Ruin's flagship. All the soldiers were moving towards it, full or empty-handed alike. But how did he land here? It shouldn't have been able to breach the atmosphere...

Rhen Var was proving to be a strange world, and Cinder did not care for it one bit. Though it kept her on her toes, tension and unease were fickle travel companions at best. They cared little for hospitality, and could be downright lethal if provoked. She clung to her robes as the wind howled louder. It tried its damnedest to cut her to the bone. She would not allow it. Not yet.

Beneath the wretched howling, she could hear Fell's faint snores echoing off the cave walls behind her. The cave had been more expansive than it looked from the narrow causeway, and the single stalagmite that marked the midpoint was broad enough around to ward against some of the cold. She glanced behind her to see Fell still slumped against it, fast asleep.

She had spent the better part of dusk ruminating on what they were about to do. No. What I am about to do. The only thing that stood between her and Ruin was the path down from this cliff. When they found him, wherever he deemed fit to hole himself up, she could run him through and put the whole affair to rest.

But Cinder knew it would not be that simple. Her thoughts sparred with one another. He will fight back. No matter, he is old and decrepit, he will die with a glancing blow. She had seen Ruin fight before, though, and knew that could not be farther from the truth. She did not doubt the years had taken a toll on his prowess, but just how much she could not say. In the end, it would still be two against one, so she hoped.

He will try to sway the boy. That was her worst fear. Six years of effort poured into Fell's training would all be for naught if Ruin dug his claws into him. Cinder had spent the better part of those years grooming him to oppose the Dark Lord. She hoped it would pay off. That penultimate lesson on Ossus seemed to embed that message well enough, by playing to Fell's contempt for Jedi. But we know if our lord is anything at all, he is persuasive. Why else would she have followed him all those years ago? All the others as well, two score Jedi in total. All snuffed out like moths in a furnace by their former comrades. She recalled the ones she trained herself. Seeing them slaughtered during Korriban's fall wounded her more than she cared to admit. That she could not show her pain only drove the knife deeper.

She shivered when she felt a prick on her shoulder.

"You will haunt me 'til the end of my days, it seems," Cinder said, her words forming puffs on the wind. Flashing streaks of white started to cut through the purple tapestry of dusk. Dawn was coming, and Phobos basked in its wake beside her. She took a seat at the cliff's edge and kicked her legs as they dangled free.

The witch smiled. "He is here."

"I only have one quarry in mind. Lead me to him or begone." A sharp chill ran down Cinder's spine. She took a seat beside Phobos, who set a hand on her thigh. Cinder's brow furrowed when it did not phase through her. "You're touching me."

"The wall of the void is thin here," Phobos said. She dug the nail deeper through cloth into flesh. "You saw the temple below, yes? With the terrace?"

Cinder nodded. "What of it?"

"That is where he killed me." Phobos giggled. "I'm sorry, Dark Lady. That was a lie. Allow me to rephrase: that is where mine own cultists slaughtered me."

"You said he killed you because he wasn't ready."

"He was afraid, Lady Cinder." Phobos brought her legs back above the cliff and got to her feet. Cinder followed her up. "His fear was how he led me here, and his fear was so intense I lost all control. I thought I had my cultists firmly under my thumb, puppets with which to do as I pleased. He superseded me."

Curious. "How did the Lady of Fear get outsmarted by a dead thing?"

"I was unprepared." She turned sharply to face Cinder. "I can taste your fear now, Dark Lady." She took a deep whiff of the predawn air. Dawn's rays continued cracking through the sky. Each beam of white cut a line straight through Phobos as if she were made of glass. "The one you fear is not the one you should. Why Ruin? He is a weak, sniveling ingrate."

It is not him I fear. It's what I will do. Cinder's head pounded and she did not doubt Phobos' leering was worsening the pain. And for the boy. And the others, what if they desert? What if they perish? What if I am trapped here? What if the wretched thing trapped on this rock kills me too? What if-

The witch read her thoughts and stuck out her tongue to lick the sky. "All these doubts, and you come to claim the mantle." Phobos chuckled. "We are doomed. Don't you agree?"

"No. Ruin is doomed. I am not him, and I will clean up the mess he has left in his wake."

"When the Force itself screams in pain, you would be wise to listen." Phobos crept around to the other side of her. "Heed my words for once, stubborn girl."

Cinder sighed. "Tell me what you wish."

"He will come to you. Do not let him persuade you, and certainly do not let him get inside your head. Kill him quickly and be done with it."

"I'm growing tired of this cryptic game." Cinder rubbed at the sleep in her eyes with the back of her hand. "I still don't even know who or what he is."

"Ruin has cavorted with him for years," Phobos said. "He will elucidate you, I'm sure."

"You've said that before."

"It's the truth, as it is scried in the Void." Phobos grinned and the silver rays glanced off her teeth. "Many have tried to fight the will of the Force itself. Not a one has ever succeeded."

Darth Traya certainly tried, Cinder thought glibly. But Ruin makes even her seem sane. "Ruin teeters on the narrow precipice of sanity. What makes you think the will of the Force holds any sway over him?"

"Sane, wounded, dead, dying, it matters not. It holds sway over us all." Phobos' eyes narrowed as much as they could. "It's called Kreia's Folly for a reason, girl. If you've fallen for it, then perhaps you have ample reason to be afraid." She licked her lips. "More for me."

"Of course I don't." The Force's will was inescapable; even Traya had learned that in her dying breaths. Wounds were just that: wounds. They could be healed or they could fester, but the Force itself could never be broken or bent. "My birds tell me he has no desire to be beholden to anything but himself."

"And what birds are those?"

"Pry it from me if you wish, but I am entitled to my own secrets, witch." Cinder clutched at her robe again as the wind picked back up. "I have known this man almost all my life. He cares only for himself above all else. All powerful the Force may be, but even it will step aside for Darth Ruin." So he thinks.

"So he thinks," Phobos repeated back. She smiled a wide smile, baring all her teeth. "Let him find out what defiance tastes like." She let out a sound almost like a moan, low and sultry. "Kill him for me, Dark Lady. When he gets to the void, I should love to feast on his anguish."

He has ought to go around. "It is justice I dole out, not murder for your hedonistic rites."

"Is that what you think?" Phobos cackled. "When will you start acting like a Sith?"

"When the old ways no longer lead to the self-destruction of our order, I will return to them." Never, ideally. "I aim to create a new order, as Ruin tried to do. One built to last."

Phobos let out a hmm and snickered. "I have already read your omen, Dark Lady. Perhaps you will defy it."

Your empire will only be that of ashes in your mouth. The words rang out at her from all directions, accompanied by the screams and wails and rattling chains of the void. "We shall see. I prefer reality to prophecy, anyhow."

"Be careful you do not create it."

I won't. "Point me the way or begone. My apprentice will rouse soon."

Phobos looked over at Fell, still slumped back against the stalagmite deep asleep. She grinned. "You were too scared to face Ruin alone, weren't you?"

"No," Cinder said flatly. "It's time the boy finally meets his liege lord."

"What better chance will he get to stab you in the back?"

"Begone." Cinder waved her hand.

"Have him search the cave," Phobos said. "The path should still be here, if things are still the way they once were."

Cinder flashed a smile. "Is that actual advice?"

"I've come to like you, Lady Cinder," Phobos said with a mocking curtsy. "You have claws that you are not afraid to bloody, and nerves that never seem to fray." She put her hands on her hips. "Do not let him push me away whence you meet."

Freedom from your hauntings would be a blessing, she thought. Cinder stayed silent a moment. "I have thought on what you said before. About the girl." She swallowed hard.

"Oh?" Phobos perked up at that. "The little trauma wound you've made your left hand?"

"I'm standing by my decision to keep her far away from you." Cinder bit her lip and awaited Phobos' next words.

Phobos raised a finger to her chin. "So be it. I prefer you, in any case."

What? "You have no qualms with this arrangement?" Cinder had expected Phobos to fight back. Stupid girl, she thought, with Phobos' voice echoing her words. She already knew your intentions.

"Give her the holocron as a token of my esteem," Phobos said with an impish smile. "I think you'll find it matters little now."

A chill numbed Cinder head to toe. "Get away from me." She turned away from Phobos, back to facing the cliff.

Phobos bowed. "As you say, Dark Lady." With that, she vanished.

Dawn had broken through the sky completely now, the purple shroud of dusk cloven by daybreak's silver blade. The sunbeams hit Fell directly in the face and he woke with a blink.

"Good," Cinder said as she walked past him. She leaned against the stalagmite and looked over the wall. Here, in the cave, echoed Phobos' voice. "You're awake. The path down is somewhere in here. Help me find it."

Fell groaned. "Sure, sure." He dusted himself off as he pushed up to his feet. "Though I don't know where it could be. It's all just stone, and it all looks the same." He took a look out towards the cliff. "Unless the path down is, well, down."

"Don't be silly," Cinder said. She walked over to the wall and placed a hand against it. It was ice cold to the touch, as if the stone had turned to ice. If there's anything there, it's petrified by now. She heard Fell's shuffling feet off at the other corner of the cave. She glanced over to see him doing the same thing.

"When this whole thing is done," Fell said, sliding his hand around the wall in a circular motion, "what next?" He walked down the length of the wall, tracing his hand beside him all the while. "We go after the missing cult you mentioned before? Or do we reassemble the pieces left behind here?"

"What pieces?" If the scant few soldiers below were any indication, there were little more but dregs and gnats left on Rhen Var. And even they are in retreat. "This place is dead and empty. We'll have to find a way to get the surviving soldiers off this rock."

Fell was tracing a finger down the wall when he twitched. "Nope, not here." He sucked on his finger. "Just a burl."

Cinder rolled her eyes. "This isn't working. Let's switch." I'd rather be on the side closer to the ship, anyhow.

About an hour passed of searching before Cinder paused. She leaned back against the cave wall and slid to the ground. The snow below was a fluffy cushion of cold. She closed her eyes. Perhaps patience will point the way. She fought her body's desire to fall asleep.

Her eyes opened at the hiss of a lightsaber. She had tried teaching Fell patience, but it was one of many lessons the boy had never taken to head. Fell plunged his silver blade deep into the cave wall. An orange ring formed around the width of the blade, bubbling and twisting.

"What are you doing?" Cinder stayed seated. If the cave crumbled above Fell, so be it. It would be a lesson learned.

Fell kept silent as he forced the saber in deeper. Slowly, deep fissures ran through the wall from the corona in the center. Each was awash in orange glow. Water began to drip from above where the ice was melting. A loud crack rang out as a sheet of ice crumbled and fell, missing the boy's head by some fluke.

Another crack sent the wall splitting apart. Stones heaved and crumbled, smacking into the ground and scattering swathes of snow all around. Fell switched his saber off and returned the hilt to his belt as he rested the back of his hand on the wall in front of him. It was a new wall, not one with the cave. This one was exquisite stonework, laid brick by brick ages ago. It was pristine, save the crumbling hole in the center where Fell's lightsaber had dug through. She watched him give it a light tap with the heel of his hand, and all the bricks tumbled backwards.

Cinder rose. What foul magic is this? "This should lead nowhere." The cave was the only thing on the cliff, and it did not stretch out any further than these two walls. She walked towards Fell as he peeked inside.

"You're right," he said with a snort. "The room itself makes no sense. But take a look yourself: it goes down." He waved a hand and stepped out of her way. Sure enough, the room was bare except for a pit. A spiral staircase wrapped its way down.

"You first, apprentice," she said. Fell shrugged before approaching the steps. He stuck a single foot on the topmost stair, deemed it sturdy, then set down on his way.

Cinder sighed and followed behind him.