Calm. Stay calm. Six to go. First finger, forward three. Third finger, back two. Stay calm. Second finger, forward one then back four. You did not go through all of this, all of them, all of him, to fail now. Two to go. One. That's it. Vette took a quick breath, grabbed the four cylinders, and pulled. She heard the loud, clear click and yanked her hand out.

She did it. She stared at her shaking hand. They can't take it away from her.

Suddenly, the air wrapped around her like a leather blanket and pulled her two meters across the floor. A moment later, a vibrosword struck the pedestal where her head had been.

That son of a bitch! I knew it! No, that's a human.

The failed acolyte turned and attacked Vette, but Mau'te blocked his sword. No, he did more than block it. He knocked it back hard, nearly tearing it from the acolyte's hands. The acolyte tried to recover, but Mau'te never gave him the chance. He struck around or through the acolyte's defenses like fighting a practice dummy. After a few solid hits, Mau'te stabbed the acolyte's chest. The vibrosword overloaded his heart, and switched him off like a light.

Two more acolytes, probably allies of the first, responded to noise. One of them reached Mau'te just as the first acolyte fell and attacked him from behind. Vette tried to call out but didn't have the time. But, it didn't matter. Mau'te swung his sword over his shoulder and blocked the attack blind. Without turning, he kicked his heel straight up into the second acolyte's jaw, knocking him to the ground. The third acolyte swung at Mau'te. He slid out of way, but the second acolyte had time to get to his feet. From there, the fight turned into bad choreography. Mau'te blocked where they were about to attack, struck where an opening was about to appear. He fought as if two opponents didn't count as a challenge, and killed them as if they were less than nothing.

Mau'te returned to Vette and held out his hand. "Are you all right?" he asked.

She nodded and let him help her up. The weight of events got to her, and she hugged him, shaking, then gasped and stepped back. She looked away from him and tried to pretend she hadn't just done that.

"Did I hurt you?" he asked.

"What?" she said.

"When I pushed you."

"Oh," she said. "A little. Better than getting my head caved in."

"I'm sorry anyway," he said. "How long have we got?"

She checked her chronometer. "Eleven minutes." Based on her time at the other locks, he killed them in under two minutes. She wasn't sure if she should be frightened or impressed.

"Plenty of time," he said. He started towards the last chamber.

"What about them?" Vette asked.

"The tradition is to leave them as a warning to others."

Right. No more Mister nice Sith. Just do it. Get it over with.

"Let's go, Vette," he said.

She nodded and followed him.

Half way there, he stopped and pulled her close.

"Calm down," he told her. "You're screaming your emotions. The acolytes can sense it."

She nodded.

"I didn't just save your life to kill you later."

Oh, yeah. That's a good point.

"Sorry," she said and forced herself to relax.

They dodged one more group before the final chamber, and entered the area cautiously.

"This is it," Vette said. "The secret entrance is here. Just let me get my bearings."

"Move fast," Mau'te whispered. "Someone is here."

Vette reached the wall and began searching for the switch but kept one eye on Mau'te. He had moved to the center of chamber and was searching the walls for enemies. He looked at Vette for a moment, and that's when Vemrin attacked.

Vemrin leapt from the shadows, swinging at Mau'te's head. Mau'te dodged out of the way and kicked Vemrin in the chest, knocking him back. Vemrin rolled back and recovered fast, and the two Sith started circling each other.

"You need better allies," Mau'te said. "I sensed your companion on the way in."

Vemrin's eyes narrowed, but he covered it with a smile. "I'll chastise him after I'm done with you."

He has no idea, Vette thought. I guess Mau'te has more than one enemy.

"Keep working, slave," Vemrin said. "I want the entrance uncovered by the time I finish killing your new master."

Fuck you, she thought.

They looked at her sharply then returned to each other.

Oh, right. Mind reading. Forgot about that one.

"Becoming Baras's apprentice is my destiny," Vemrin said.

"Your destiny is to be forgotten a month from now," Mau'te replied.

"My passions run deeper than yours," Vemrin snarled. "I am the true essence of what it is to be Sith."

"I doubt the true essence of Sith is to be long winded and predictable," Mau'te said.

"My legacy has suffered long enough," Vemrin began. "After today-"

Mau'te attacked before Vemrin could finish.

Vemrin was no failed acolyte. Even Vette could see that. The fight didn't have the bad choreography look. Strike and counterstrike were more balanced and much faster. Vemrin nearly hit Mau'te twice and blocked most of his attacks. But not all. Vemrin started arrogant, but turned angry then cautious when his attacks failed. He might have reached fear if Mau'te had given him the chance, but he weakened Vemrin, forced an opening, and struck, faster than Vette could follow. Vemrin died before she knew he'd been hit.

"Wow, nice work," Vette said.

"Find the entrance!"

"I already have!" She pressed the final switch, and the wall rumbled open.

"Why didn't you do this earlier?" Mau'te asked as the sections of wall slid out of sight.

"It only stays open for a minute."

"Oh," he said. "Of course."

"And I don't know how to open it from that side." The map had been very vague about that.

"You won't need to," Mau'te said. "I'll have the lightsaber."

They entered the passageway and watched as the walls closed behind them.

"What if you can't get the lightsaber?" she asked.

"We die of dehydration."

Now he tells me.

He put a hand on her shoulder. "You won't die here, Vette. And, I won't let Baras kill you. You did very well today. I told you, I don't punish success."

She didn't believe it. There was only one reason he'd want her alive after the door was opened.

"No, Vette," he said. "I won't touch you like that without permission."

"Hey!" she said. "That's rude."

"Sorry, but your thoughts are very loud sometimes."

She gave him a sour look and shrugged his hand away.

"By the way," he said. "One of my instructors has a cybernetic hand. When he heard where I was going, he told me to come back in one piece. I thought I should wait to tell you that."

"Is every conversation with you like this?"

"Like what?"

"Never mind."

"Let's go," he said. "And stay behind me. The tomb will have guardians, but, if you don't attack them, they might not attack you."

"Okay," she said. It might work. He was really good with a sword.

"Thank you."

"Stop that!"

He laughed and shook his head.

"If we make it out of here," he said, "I promise I'll teach you how to hide your thoughts."

"Thanks. What kind of guardians, by the way?"

"Droids, of course," he said. "And something else. You might have made it past the droids. You never would have made it past the something else."

"How do you know?"

He said, "The archive has a record of acolytes that made it into the tomb but never made it out."

"You know all kinds of fun information, don't you?"

"Try thinking about the dinner I'm buying you later."

"You were serious about that? Wow. Okay. So, what can I-"

Mau'te shoved her backwards, knocking her down. Two statues had come to life, and Mau'te had reacted before Vette noticed anything. He blocked the attacks and tore apart the droids as easily as he had the failed acolytes.

"Did I hurt you?" he asked while helping her to her feet.

"Not really." She looked at the droids. "And thanks. Again."

Eight droids later, including four at once, they entered the final chamber. Statues like guardians lined the path to the sarcophagus. Flickering shadows on the wall seemed to move on their own. Vette shuddered and shrank back.

"Wow," she said. "When you Sith do creepy, you really do creepy."

Mau'te said, "We've had a lot of practice. Wait here, and hope I win against the guardian."

"What do I do if you lose?"

"Run until it catches you," he replied.

"I love these little chats of ours."

Mau'te ascended the platform and forced open the sarcophagus. He pulled out the ancient lightsaber, brushed the cobwebs from it, and examined the power supply. He looked at Vette and nodded. With his eyes on the chamber, he ignited the blade. The saber's emitter sparked, and a fractured blade slowly formed as if struggling to stand.

Three statues broke open. Corpses, armed with vibroswords, rose from the debris and attacked Mau'te. He cut down two of them, but the third fought back with surprising skill. More statues broke open, releasing more corpses. They were slow, but fought with skill and numbers. Mau'te had skill, speed and a lightsaber, but that might not be enough. He blocked as much as he could, and severed limbs when he found an opening. A battle of attrition, the guardians tried to wear down Mau'te while he dismembered them into uselessness. A half hour later, Mau'te cut apart the last corpse. He deactivated the lightsaber and dropped to his knees, his body covered with scorch marks.

Vette approached carefully, tiptoeing around the bodies.

"Do you need any help?" she asked.

"Just some rest," he said and leaned against a large piece of statue. "Any water left?"

She sat next to him and handed him the canteen.

"What were these things?"

After a long drink, he said, "Remember the acolytes that didn't make it out?"

"Ew! And I thought this place couldn't get any worse."

He gave her the lightsaber. "You wanted to see it."

She turned it over in her hands. It looked top-heavy and clumsy. Dark stains covered the metal, and the leather wrap was cracked and peeling.

"I thought it'd be cooler looking." She gave it back.

"He was a powerful Sith Lord," Mau'te said. "Not a powerful concept artist."

"Does it have enough power to get us out?"

"It should," he said. "If not, I can use the power cell from my vibrosword." He closed his eyes and tried to relax. "Congratulations on surviving the day."

"Thanks," she said. "This would almost be relaxing, if we weren't surrounded by dismembered body parts."

"All right," he said with a groan. "We can go."

"We still need to sneak out," she said.

He shook his head. "The acolytes won't attack anyone with a lightsaber."

After they were out of the chamber, she asked, "Do I really get dinner?"

"Yes," he said.

"And you won't touch me without permission?"

"No."

"And I don't get a cut?"

He stopped and stared at her.

"What?" she said. "I was just asking."

He sighed and shook his head.

"Sorry," she said.

They continued walking.

"How much is it worth, anyway?"

He groaned and kept walking.

"What?" she said.