Jaden fell through the crevice, landing on her feet.

"If my info's correct, this small passage should lead right outside…" Jaden stopped, seeing the giant boulder blocking the cave's entrance.

"Seriously?" She wondered how long it'd been since the Chandrilans had actually checked this area. She sighed. Time to get to work. Jaden took a stance, feet planted firmly, legs spread, knees slightly bent and concentrated. She pictured that the boulder in front of her weighed nothing more than a small pebble from the training grounds, her hands came up and in one swift motion pushed them forward as if she were shoving someone down. The rock propelled forward with more force and momentum than she'd meant. A sudden cry echoed as the boulder flew over the platform outside the cave, colliding with someone standing in front of it. Jaden realized that Tavion had put sentries further out than expected.

"Whoops," Jaden mumbled, shrugged, then tentatively stepped out onto the stone shelf jutting out from the cliff. Maybe Tavion does intend to come herself.

She looked around her for the first time in wonder of the vast, deep canyons that surrounded her. Known as the Crystal Canyons, a great gallery of natural formations cut into the planet's surface with a trench going miles deep served as the ancient burial site of Jedi Knights for millenia. Just earlier that day, Luke had received word from officials in the area that some cultists had been spotted breaking into one of the tombs believed to belong to someone known as the Barsen'thor, a Warden of the Jedi Order from over three thousand years ago. The perfect spot for Tavion to get an extra boost of Force energy.

"If they are indeed attempting to steal Force power from that tomb, Tavion might be there." Luke had told her. "Be careful and call for assistance if you find her."

"No problem Master, I'm not exactly looking forward to our next encounter," she'd replied.

Besides, she wasn't sure whether or not she'd strike that witch down in anger or not for everything she did to her and Rosh. She needed more time to get her emotions in check for that to happen, especially if she ever saw Rosh again.

There was no clear path through the Crystal Canyons. Bridges, ledges and balconies jutted out from the stone walls of the trench, making it very hard to find a straight way through it all. And to make matters worse, many of the bridges were cracked, broken or crumbling, as Jaden experienced firsthand in a harrowing moment of panic, but made it to safety at the last second. Large double doors cut into the sides of the canyon led into either more mazes of passageways or tombs, which added to Jaden's growing confusion. And many of these doors seemed either locked, stuck shut from all the years of unuse or sealed by some powerful force.

She made her way by leaping from ledge to ledge, bridge to bridge, occasionally running into an armed sentry, usually mercenaries. This further backed her theory that Tavion was coming or was here already and had extra security placed around the canyons. Either way, it helped her to know she was going in the right direction because after finding the boulder in the passage, she wasn't entirely sure she could trust the Chandrilans directions. She also saw why they were called the Crystal Canyons. Throughout them, built into the architecture of the place as either light fixtures on either sides of doors or balconies, or set into stone along the bridges were large, pale purple, blue and white crystals. They cast a pale, cold light on her path as she traversed the strange landscape.

She jumped to the top of another ledge and perched there like a bird of prey, listening as two mercs below her talked and made their rounds on the bridge they'd been placed on.

"I can hardly see in this thing! It's like being a stormtrooper all over again!" One said about the helmet he was wearing. The other seemed perfectly fine in his.

"You were a stormtrooper?"

"Yeah, but I couldn't stand taking orders, so I jumped ship first chance I got."

"Smart move. By the way, the boss gave us orders to patrol the North Hall."

"Okay. Let's go."

They began walking away with their backs to Jaden. Ahead, she saw that off in the shadows, there was a narrow path along a ledge off to the side leading to a much larger set of doors which were open. She could just see the grandness of the hall beyond them, with glowing crystals casting their pale light on high pillars and ancient stones. She jumped to the ground, landing several feet behind the mercs.

"Is someone there?" The one who complained about his vision asked, turning. It was the last thing either of them said.

She entered the grand hall and immediately sensed that something was wrong.

Two cultists came from behind the many pillars but only one was armed. Jaden knew how this worked by now. She was stronger in the Force and managed to keep the unarmed one off his feet and unable to concentrate long enough to use the Force against her. His downfall came when he Force pushed Jaden to the ground, and instead of pushing him back, she pulled him closer. The cultist's scream of agony was cut off before it had really begun as Jaden impaled him on her golden yellow blade.

As for the saber wielding cultist, he was no issue once his companion was dealt with. Only lightly trained and his reflexes not honed to be fast enough, he fell to one of Jaden's blades as he missed a parried strike.

Returning inside the hall, she stood before the only door, but it didn't budge no matter what she did, even her lightsabers refused to go through it.

"Okay, okay, let's take a step back, focus," Jaden said quietly, she stepped back and closed her eyes. Then, something that hadn't happened since her very first time on the training grounds. A strange symbol started to appear on the floor in front of her. It glowed like an ember catching fire as it spread across the floor, shooting up the door to its center and creating a matching symbol. Jaden instinctively held her hand towards the floor and the other at the large door and focused on what she wanted it to do.

Open.

It did, in one smooth motion. Ahead was a passage that turned to the right, and at its corner, stood one of the Reborn.

This place is practically infested! Jaden had hoped to make her way through the canyons as stealthily as possible.

This one carried two lightsabers. Good, we're evenly matched. I hope.

The fight went on longer than Jaden had hoped it would. Her opponent, it turned out, was a very big, tough man.

"I am stronger than you!" He hissed when their sabers locked, his eyes blazing red and orange. They dueled out of the passage and towards a broken platform. They practically danced around cracks and holes, trying to avoid calamity, trying to gain the upper hand.

Jaden shot lightning at him, he caught it with his lightsabers and she tried another trick: She pushed forward as hard as she could with her hands and before he could counter the maneuver, the Reborn was sent flying over the edge and fell who knew how far to the bottom, his screams echoing until they were swallowed up by the dark blue void of the chasm.

Jaden looked over the edge and had to step back, sit down to get her bearings. Her head spun just from looking down all those limitless feet, yards, miles, it seemed. She couldn't see the bottom, maybe there was none and it just swallowed you up?

Jaden was shaky, not wanting to experience the same fate the Sith had, but knowing that she needed to continue. She also had a new way of dealing with her enemies.

Her journey continued rather quietly, she kept on from ledge to ledge and bridge to bridge, traveling through passages and doors that were open, She came to a passage that went up and another that went down. She checked out the upward passage first. It was blocked with rubble after she turned a corner.

"Can't go that way." She sighed and went back down to the other passage which led to a bridge that was fully broken, the gap between sides too big for her to jump even with all her combined Force strength.

How am I supposed to get over there?

Looking to her left, she found it, a narrow trail leading down to another crossing, a bit precarious, but it would have to do. It turned out that crossing the bridge wouldn't have made a difference, it wasn't the door on the other side she had to get to anyhow, it was another trail.

After jumping from a gap in the ledge to another large platform, she encountered a cultist, her first one in a while, but at least she knew she was going in the right direction. He proved easy to dispatch. Forcing him close to the edge, she Force pushed him off like the one from earlier, closing her eyes and ears to the sight of him falling and the sound of his screams. It was gruesome, but effective.

She opened her eyes and looked all around her, gasping at what she beheld as if really seeing it for the first time since her arrival. The architecture, the pillars and carvings, large pale blue crystals that were stuck in the canyon's walls, emitting their cold, but somehow comforting, beautiful light; to the statues of mysterious robed figures holding more crystals that she was starting to notice more of. It was all so dazzling and dangerous.

"This place is amazing!" She whispered in awe. "Seems like it goes on forever." And she truly wondered if she would ever make it to the tomb she was looking for. She almost didn't care if she didn't. It was a strange place she didn't mind getting lost in, even though it still frightened her. It's the atmosphere, she thought, there's a type of peace and sacredness I've never felt before, but… it feels like the time when I built my first lightsaber… Like… like a dream.

That realization was almost dangerous, dreams were good, but not being stuck in one was also good. She had to focus on the reality of the situation and keep moving forward, her mind concentrating on her mission.

She pressed on, making it to a balcony of sorts and seeing her only path, a long platform far below her, an armed mercenary standing guard, that's how she knew it was the right way to go.

Great! How am I going to get down there without breaking my neck?

She un-holstered her blaster first, looking to be sure that the lone merc was the only one, and killed him in one shot. She then set to work looking for a way down to the platform he was on.

Getting down safely involved a lot of courage and precise leaping down onto a small bridge. Then to a ledge and finally onto a part of the platform that was broken, but the gap was not very large, so Jaden jumped for it. She found her way up the other side to another high bridge, this one having a sense of great importance and, according to the Chandrilans descriptions, was the tomb of the Barsen'thor.

All was quiet outside of the tomb, Jaden took it all in, the sights, the lack of hardly any sound, just the strange peace that hung over the place, that is, besides the presence of the dark side that she sensed was nearby. She couldn't be sure it was Tavion, but she was determined to be careful at all costs. She was sure she had a good plan to keep Tavion from sucking the Force energy from this blissful place.

I should reseal the tomb so no one else can disturb it.

She cautiously approached the tomb and slipped inside the entrance. She realized she wasn't even in the main burial part of it, just a large entrance hallway with giant pillars and long, shallow steps leading gradually up to what looked in the distance like a smaller chamber. That's where he's buried.

She took several cautious, quiet steps up the stairs, when suddenly her whole body began to shake as painful jolts shot through it. Her brain felt like it was being jump started as the pop and cracks of red lightning edged her vision. She fought for control of her violently shaking body, barely staying conscious, falling to the ground like she and Kyle had on Vjun. And then they were on her, two, three large Reborn and several cultists surrounded her, lightsabers drawn, ready to end her life right there and make this tomb her own.

"Halt!" Yelled someone from beyond the group of Sith. Another male Reborn, dressed like the twins and the master on Ord Mantell. A Reborn Master. "Bring that Jedi brat here!"

She was dragged by the arms by two cultists into the smaller chamber where the master waited. She did not see Tavion. That allowed some relief to flow through her.

Jaden willed her anger to slow down as she watched the Reborn Master confiscate her lightsabers and place them on his belt. The hands of the two cultists gripped her arms like a vice, forcing her to her knees.

"Excellent," the Master said. "I'd love killing you myself, but it just so happens that Mistress Tavion will be here soon and… I wouldn't want to spoil the lovely surprise of giving her the opportunity of vanquishing you herself."

"Terrific," Jaden muttered. "Just lovely." The Reborn smacked her across the face, stunning her.

"You'll do well to keep your mouth shut, or I may just gut you myself." Jaden didn't reply, she knew better than to get into an altercation at this stage. She remembered what Kyle taught her, "Know when you haven't got the upperhand Jaden. That's when you've gotta know to keep your mouth shut and your eyes open. Look, and wait for the opportunity to gain the upperhand back. That's the difference between a live Jedi and a dead one."

Jaden let out a shaky breath, and closed her eyes. The Reborn chuckled and turned away. She willed her breathing to even out and focused on the Force, it wasn't the best time for meditation, but she had no other option, not when she was surrounded by Tavion's followers. Right now, using whatever precious time she had until their master arrived to find an answer through the Force was her only option.

"What are you doing here Child?" Jaden's eyes shot open and glanced around, but no one was looking at her, and none of the cultists and Reborn seemed to have heard what she had. Jaden closed her eyes again, sending out a question with her mind.

Who are you?

"The one whose resting place has been disturbed."

Jaden cracked her eyes open to glance at the stone casket not ten feet from her.

You're really the dead Jedi? Jaden had heard tales of dead Jedi appearing to people, especially fellow Jedi, but to have one actually talking to her? Of course there'd been the mysterious voice when she'd nearly had a mental breakdown in the Hutt Lord's betting parlor but… It all just seemed too good to be true.

"Yes." Was the only answer. It was strange how the voice sounded as though it was spoken out loud, but she was the only one to hear it.

"You must help me. That is why you are here, isn't it?" The voice was gentle, melancholy.

Yes, but I'm pinned down as you can see. Or can you? Anyway, they also took my lightsabers.

"You won't need them for this. Now listen, remember your training, if you are going to seal my tomb to keep these Sith from defiling it, you must look, not at what your eyes are drawn to, but at the unassuming things."

Jaden resisted the urge to reply out loud, instead she carefully popped her eyes open one at a time, making sure she wasn't noticed. She glanced at the coffin, at the pale blue and purple crystals that cast a faint light around them, then at the ornately carved pillars and statues surrounding the Jedi's resting place. No, look for the unassuming. She turned her attention to a part of the walls on either side of the casket that she hadn't noticed before. Two sections that looked like they used to be alcoves were bricked up by plain, solid gray stone; they didn't fit with the rest of the room at all.

"That's it," the Spirit of the Jedi Master said. "You've got it. Behind those false walls are switches that will trigger the tombs' collapse, sealing it for good. It is a safeguard in most of these tombs in case…"

Something like this happens?

"Yes. You must reach out with your mind and pull them, it is the only way."

Alright. Jaden shut her eyes tighter.

"Wait, I must tell you, after you flip both of those switches, you will have only seconds to start running before the tomb will start to collapse, and less than a minute before the bridge outside, the only means of entering this tomb from any direction, starts to crumble. You must hurry, do you understand?"

I do.

"Good. And don't worry about these Sith. I have some power and influence left on this natural plane. I will do what I can to help you escape. Don't do anything but run."

Got it. Jaden exhaled slowly, then focused with all her will on the two bricked up alcoves, then beyond them, to where the hidden levers were, just like that first day of training, right after Rosh had sicced a training droid on her…

"Focus," the Master said. "It's just you and me, Jaden. It's you and me. That's it, focus on that, not on the past."

Sorry. Jaden pulled her thoughts back to the present. She found the first switch. There was an audible click.

"What was that?" A cultist asked, his voice laced with fear.

The Reborn turned around to look at Jaden. "Probably a Jedi trick… Using the Force to distract us." He started to walk over, Jaden had no time, she flipped the second switch, and all hell broke loose. She acted faster than she'd ever done before, with a huge concentrated effort, she Force pushed the cultists who held her arms to the side, slamming them into stone pillars, cracking both bones and marble. In the next second, she leapt up, shot out her hand and pulled her lightsabers to herself before the Reborn Master could even register what had just happened. In front of her, a long, hollow stone tube lowered from the ceiling, encasing the stone coffin and pushing it further into the earth. Jaden landed on her feet just as the ground began to shake and pieces of the ceiling started to fall.

"Time to go!" The Master's voice urged. "Come on, Jaden!"

Jaden needed no further prompting, she turned on her heels and ran. She was surprised by her own speed, wondering if the Master's influence had something to do with it. She gained more speed as she raced through the cavern, cultists and Reborn alike who stood guard, looked stunned and afraid, then they saw her. She resisted the urge to slow down, even when some who were further ahead started to run toward her to bar her escape.

"Keep going, do not slow down!" The closest Reborn who was running right at her up ahead, saber at the ready, turning the crystals around him crimson, was suddenly thrown back and shoved up into the high ceiling, disappearing from sight. Jaden gulped, I'm glad you're on my side!

She picked up her pace, staring straight ahead and not watching as other members of Tavion's cult were grabbed by unseen hands and thrown either into the walls or the ceiling, out of her direct path.

Jaden cleared the tomb entrance even as one of the giant pillars fell behind her, causing a tremor under her feet, shaking the earth; but she still had to clear the bridge which was already starting to crumble.

"Go! Jump!"

Jaden sucked in a breath and took a flying leap over the vast chasm, nearly coming short, but landed safely on the other side. She landed hard, though none the worse for wear as she rolled to a stop, then looked across the expanse to the tomb's entrance. Colossal boulders piled up in front of the opening, sealing it off for good. Nothing remained of the bridge on that side, a minuscule stump barely jutted out from the small ledge that Jaden had landed on. The robed statues holding crystals were either gone or deformed beyond recognition, their pretty light disappearing into the expanse below her. She slowly stood, staring at the tomb. A translucent figure seemed to stand there, hovering over the empty air, casting a pale light of its own on the large stones behind it. It was hard to make out the details at this distance but she could see it was male, with long hair that lay across his shoulders and down his back, some pieces pulled back into a long tail behind the head. He wore the traditional robes of a Warden of the Jedi Order that she'd read about in the Jedi Texts. For a time he seemed to be studying her with interest. Jaden wasn't sure if she should say something or not, but he made the decision for them.

"Thank you, Young Jedi. You've put my Spirit to rest at last, and for that I leave you with this: Do not worry about your friend." Jaden's stomach flipped. "Just remember, do not let your anger or fear of betrayal overtake you. It will be your undoing if you let it. Farewell." He raised his hand and became harder to see as he faded into the stones covering his final resting place.

Jaden swallowed the lump in her throat. "Rest peacefully," she said hoarsely, then made her way back through the winding canyon to her ship.

Tavion walked to the edge of the cliff that overlooked the tomb of the powerful Jedi Master she'd been told about, feeling somewhat invincible. She gripped the handle of the scepter in her right hand, its power tingling in her fingers. She came to a stop when she saw the tomb's entrance, or rather the lack thereof.

She tightened her hold on the scepter and turned. "You there!" A nearby cultist shuffled forward, clearly not happy to be under Tavion's angry glare.

"Yes, Master?" He said, averting eye contact.

"Is this the right location of the Jedi's tomb or not?"

"It-it is! This is where our scouts last checked in, this is where they said the tomb was."

"Well," Tavion spat, grabbing the cultist by the scruff of his neck and dragging him to the edge, using the scepter to make her point. "Then why, pray tell, is our way in blocked?"

"I-I don't know!" He stuttered.

Tavion threw him to the side, he quickly crawled away as she screamed in rage.

"Master," Alora approached, "I've just received word from Talion, he and his team swept the Canyons on the far end, and… found the rest of the scouts we sent."

"And?" Tavion's eyes bored into her.

"They're all dead," Alora answered unflinchingly. "Someone must have come and taken Camyron's team in the Jedi's tomb by surprise, then somehow sealed the tomb to keep us from entering."

Tavion turned back to the closed tomb, mind racing. "Did the team search for the interloper?"

"Yes, but they've determined that whoever it was is long gone now."

Tavion nodded grimly, closing her eyes. "Oh I believe I know who it was."

"Katarn's other brat?" Alora guessed.

Waves of memories crashed unbidden through Tavion's mind.

"D-d-don't! M-m-mercy!"

"The kind of mercy you showed Jan?"

She could still feel the vice around her throat, pressing, squeezing the life out of her, threatening to crush her larynx. She remembered how hard it was to form the words that pleaded her case to the man blinded by rage for the death of his beloved.

"She lives! I can tell you where she is!"

"Why should I believe you?"

"Because I'm not brave enough to die!"

Tavion squeezed her eyes shut against the visceral memory but its image still smoldered at the back of her mind. She felt the tension in her body again, the way it was brought back to the solid ground behind Katarn when he'd suddenly decided to release her.

"Get out of my sight."

"What?"

"You heard me. Go, and pray that I find your Master before he finds you."

That was the worst part. She'd left and never showed her face to Desann. She abandoned him and Katarn did find him first. It didn't matter that Desann would have killed her anyway, what mattered was that she'd failed him, failed what he'd trained her for and gone against the Sith teaching. Sith don't fear death… How I made a fool of myself that day, how Katarn made a fool of me. He shall not get away with it.

Katarn. The growl in his voice, the fire in his eyes, the force to be reckoned with that he'd proved to be… it was all seared into her brain and replayed at the most unwelcomed times, always unbidden. When she laid down to sleep, when she gave orders to her followers, whenever she laid eyes on Rosh…

"Master?" Alora said cautiously. Tavion opened her eyes. She was still here, and she was still alive.

"Yes, I think I know precisely what we need to do in order to ensure her and Katarn's folly."

"Oh I can't wait for this." Alora smiled.

No, I've been waiting too long. Katarn will rue the day he stepped in and upended my life. He will rue the shame he brought upon me and he will suffer a hundred fold. I will take him, I will twist his heart black, and I will break him.

"So you didn't run into Tavion. That's good... and bad," Kyle told Jaden after she'd reported in. "At least you stopped the cultists. But we can't keep this up forever. We've got to stop Tavion once and for all."

"And how are we going to do that?" Jaden asked. "It seems like everywhere she's one step ahead of us."

"Luke's coming up with a plan, but he's going to announce it to the whole Academy when he's ready. Should be any day now." He put a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Go get some rest huh? You look like the dead."

Jaden looked at him with no amusement in her eyes, Kyle grinned amiably. "Not literally, I was only joking, but you at least look like you've seen a ghost."

"I did."

"Oh." Kyle didn't know what else to say to that. "Wanna talk about it?"

"Maybe later, I… need some time alone." Jaden felt so far off she might as well be in space, or back in that tomb with that wise Jedi Warden.

"Okay," Kyle said, trying to decide if he needed to say anything more. "I'm here anytime you need someone to listen, you know that right?"

Jaden smiled tiredly. "I always have." But even as she left she wondered if that wasn't more than a half truth.

Rosh jolted awake as the door to his room, or jail cell as it had started to feel like, opened and Tavion entered.

"Ta-Tavion! What-"

"Quiet dear Rosh, talking never really was your strong suit." She closed the distance between them as he quickly rose to his feet. With a violent motion she gripped the front of his shirt, forcing him to look her in the eyes. "It is time you decided whose side you're really on, to prove your allegiance to me, to Ragnos."

"What do you mean?" Rosh blurted out. "I've served you faithfully the entire time I've been here."

"Served me yes, but how do I know that I have your complete loyalty? Your heart, your will? No, those things must be proven further. You've already caused me to doubt my faith in you after that embarrassing display with your little friend at Vader's Castle. What was her name? Jacen…?"

"Jaden."

"Nevertheless, what I need to know is if I were to bring her to you and commanded you to strike her down where she stood, would you?"

"What do you mean?" Rosh asked, his voice rising in pitch. "Where is she?!"

"Oh, so I guess that's a no." Tavion let him go and turned to leave. "I suppose I'll let Alora have all the fun of dispatching her."

"Wait!" Rosh held out a hand.

"Yes?" Tavion turned to face him, triumphant. "Will you do as I ask? Will you sever the ties with your old life and follow Ragnos, follow me?"

Rosh stood up straight, resolved, eyes burning with a new fire. "No." It was the first time in his life he'd truly stood up for himself, grown a backbone and he was proud of it.

"No?"

"You heard me. As long as I live I won't hurt Jaden, not again, not ever. And I'll make sure you never do either."

"Oh isn't that sweet, as if you could do anything to stop me. But you should know by now, she's not here, never has been." Rosh sighed with relief. "She's safe back at that repulsive little Academy Skywalker blindly hopes will rebuild the Jedi Order. But now that I know where your loyalties lie, I no longer have use for you." Tavion snapped her fingers as two large Reborn entered the room.

"No, please!" Rosh said frantically, knowing it was no use to beg a Sith for mercy but he was afraid anyway. He struggled as the Reborn grasped his arms and drug him outside.

"Do be gentle with him," Tavion called, "We don't want to damage our bait before it's been eaten!"

Realization dawned over Rosh's face. "No, you can't! It won't work, Jaden wants nothing to do with me and so does Kyle!"

"You know, it's cute when you lie." Tavion smiled wickedly. "But I think we'll let them decide if they're done with you or not." She addressed one of the Reborn, "Talion, take him to the facility."

As they dragged Rosh away, screaming, pleading, Alora came into the room. "You sent for me, Master?"

"Yes, I need you to go with them to the facility to keep an eye on Rosh, and to send an important message for me."

"Master, why waste your time on that rabble?" Alora crossed her arms, trying to hide her obvious annoyance. Doing Tavion's grunt work was really starting to grate on her.

"I'm not." Tavion raised an eyebrow. "I'm simply drawing in a new, potentially more powerful ally… Come! It's high time we went forward with the final stage of our plans."