"Sith!" came the bellow up the stairs. "Sith, do you yet live?" I supposed that he'd heard my screams earlier, but perhaps he wasn't able to hear my conversation with my long-dead sith ancestor. Certainly I hadn't thrown myself to my death like the other sith had.
"I'm fine, Khem, keep watch," I shouted back dismissively. Kallig practically jumped, which was an odd gesture of surprise from a ghost.
"Khem Val?" he asked sharply. I nodded proudly.
"I found him locked in a stasis chamber," I explained. "I was seeking an ancient starmap that Tulak Hord left behind on Korriban. It leads me to this artefact, actually."
"Sith, have you disturbed the tomb of Lord Kallig?"
"I got the artefact, Khem, I'll be down in a minute!" I hollered down the stairs, feeling slightly childish in front of my ancestor.
"Is the Dashade sworn to you?"
"Temporarily," I admitted. I was going to explain further, but I heard the scrape of metal on stone and hurried out to the landing to see what it was, for the temple had been utterly silent up to this point. I couldn't see what was going on, but I turned up my light and shone it down into the space below me. In that dim light, I saw Khem Val climbing the stairwell, his massive sword drawn and held in one fist. He peered up at me and snarled.
"Go back down, Khem," I ordered. "I'll be finished soon."
"I will not," he growled back. "How DARE you wear the mask of Kallig! You dishonor the heir of Tulak Hord. You disturb his sacred rest."
"Obey me, monster," I snapped, panic rising in my chest.
"If the spirit of Lord Kallig will not destroy you, then I will," he said. My heart dropped to my feet. "My vow to Tulak Hord is greater than my own honor. I will live with the shame, or I will die in my shame. But first I will feast on you for your disrespect. How I have waited for this day!"
"But what about your promise?" I asked frantically. "A year and a day?" Khem was halfway up the stairs now. I began to desperately look for a path to escape, but although the landing was partially open to the great hall below, there was no way down.
"My oath to Tulak Hord and his heirs is greater than anything else I have sworn." Khem was resolute.
"You must stop him!" Kallig said urgently.
"But I'm his heir!" I burst out. "Kallig's heir, I mean! He's here, and he told me that I was his descendent! He gave me the mask!"
"LIES!" snarled Khem. It was difficult to make out his words now, furious as he was.
"No, really!" I said, my body starting to shake with terror. My mind flashed and I knew that cornered as I was, I had no chance of escape. Even if I'd had an avenue to flee, he'd have overtaken me quickly. My only hope was to convince him to back down. I couldn't match him in a fight, ancient and strong and treacherous as he was. The death waiting for me was not going to be an easy one. Did I have the strength to fling myself off the edge if it spared me the horror of being eaten alive?
"Kallig was a Cathar, like me!" I shouted down, although Khem was less than 100 steps away now.
"I used to spar with Khem Val!" offered the ghost.
"He used to spar with you!" I repeated, looking frantically at him.
"You will die and the shame on Lord Kallig will be avenged!" said Khem firmly.
"Once, I allowed Khem Val to eat one of my apprentices!" said Kallig.
"He let you eat one of his apprentices!" I shouted. Khem was 30 steps away now. He didn't falter in his movements.
"You will not deceive me," growled Khem. He licked his fangs in an unnecessarily long gesture and hissed.
"I'm not lying!" I pleaded. But the Dashade wasn't going to be convinced.
"Help me!" I begged my ancestor. I steeled myself to jump. At least I would be dead when he ate me.
Cold, slimy foreignness poured into my mind again, and this time I didn't try to fight it, hoping that it would make my death easier. I tried to immerse myself in the force and think of nothing. Which was why I was surprised when I found my lightsaber ignited in my hand. I spoke, but it wasn't my will that moved my mouth and it wasn't my words that issued forth.
"Back, Beast!" Kallig ordered, flicking his lightsaber up in an aggressive guard position that I recognized but had never used. "You serve the child of Kallig now, and you will obey her." Khem Val was too far gone to stop. With a roar, he held his sword out wide and swung at me. Kallig was not used to my body, but that didn't prevent him from catching the blow and deflecting it wide, slashing in with devastating speed and scoring the Dashade on the thigh. I felt my ancestor's disgust at the physical weakness of my body, and I resolved to train hard to fix that if I survived this encounter.
Khem gave a cry of surprise and stepped back to reassess the fight. I had never hit him in combat; never even come close, so to be so effortlessly caught off guard had shaken him, but he was already regrouping. Kallig spun my lightsaber in front of me in a flashy defensive maneuver that I assumed would be pretty good at deflecting blaster fire. I was trying to keep my mind quiet and blank and empty, so that my terror would not be a distraction for my ancestor. His possession was an odd feeling, rather detached, and I suddenly remembered the first line of the Sith Code-Peace is a Lie. This calmness was definitely a lie. I didn't like it, but anything was preferable to death.
"Do you recognize me now, slave of Tulak?" asked Kallig, my lips twisting in a smirk that felt oddly familiar to my face. "Do you recognize the way I fought at the battle of Yn and Chabosh? I, Aloysius Kallig?" The saber flicked forward again, faster than I could see; Khem blocked it instinctively, but it didn't seem like Kallig was actually trying to kill the Dashade. "This is how I slew General Agimar and took my rightful place as Tulak's heir!" Kallig swung-I swung-at Khem's legs, and he backed away from us instead of defending this time.
Kallig-I-said something in an ancient language I didn't understand. His presence in my body was weakening, and I felt my fear growing. He was not going to be able to help me much longer. Khem was gaping at me, and Kallig moved my hand in an unfamiliar gesture. It was enough.
Khem Val dropped to his knees in front of the stairs, allowing his weapon to clatter to the ground, not even sheathing it, as he prostrated himself before us. "Forgive me, great Lord!" he begged. "Heir to my Lord Tulak! Forgive my dishonor." I didn't understand the language he used, but Kallig did, and I caught the meaning from him. It was a strange exchange of information.
"This child is my heir," said Kallig, sheathing the lightsaber and attaching it to my belt. "Your oath to Tulak Hord and to me now binds you to her. She is all that is left of his legacy, of my legacy, and you are to obey her every desire. Is that clear, Beast?" I was mostly in charge of my body again, the apparition's influence waning with every second.
"Yes, Master, Yes, Lord Kallig," said Khem. He shuffled forward to place his head on first my left foot, and then my right. Once again he spoke in Catharese. "I swear myself to you. How blind I have been not to realize, not to recognize Lord Kallig's greatness in you, Sith!" He crawled back, repeatedly pressing his forehead to the dirty stones. "You, who bested me in the tombs! You, who rescued me from my imprisonment! You, who are but an apprentice yet show forth such mastery of the force! Forgive me, Lady Kallig." I smiled, and it was all me.
"He serves the child of Kallig now," exulted Kallig in my mind. "Tulak murdered me, but now we have stolen his greatest slave! What a fitting end to the legacy of Tulak Hord!"
"I didn't know myself until today," I said, deciding to be gracious. "I am honored to accept your oath, Khem, and we will work together to restore the honor to the names of Kallig and Tulak Hord."
"Lady Kallig!" he murmured reverently, pressing his head again and again into the floor in worshipful bows.
"I hunger for the day that our power will be restored. We will meet again," Kallig's voice echoed in my head, and I felt his presence drain away completely. I staggered a bit, and Khem jumped to his feet to steady me.
"Let's get out of here, Khem," I said, looking up at the Dashade, whose face was as concerned as a vicious, bloodthirsty assassin monster could be. Slowly, we made our way back down the steps, swinging the big heavy door shut behind us.