Fall From Light (Page 24)

~~~(POV: Adren Saydra)~~~

~~~(Location: Underworld Base, Sector 72, Denon)~~~

~~~(Current Age: 17 Years)~~~

~~~(Date: 568 BBY)~~~

The young and naive padawan's emotions aren't hidden from me. Standing across from me now, the control he's had over himself is beginning to slip. The Jedi will always struggle with the Darkside. Always be tempted.

It's calling to him.

His eyes give it away. There is a fury and edge in them. He hasn't fallen yet, but the grip the Darkside has over him is growing.

One of my first lessons from Traya regarding the Darkside is a simple one. One that I'll never forget. All the power I've gained and achieved has been thanks to Traya's training. But a simple truth about the Darkside exists.

For everything it grants you, it takes away in exchange. For if your arrogance is great, so will the price of power be.

The Darkside has no light.

Only power.

"Foolish little child."

He grits his teeth as a small growl reaches me from him. The tone of my voice is mocking and pitiful. His blue lightsaber shakes ever so slightly as his grip is tight on the hilt.

Instead of bringing control over himself. He takes his anger and hate without consequence on his mind and charges at me. He moves slowly to me. The level of power between us is too great. A child can't compare to me.

His lightsaber comes down in my direction from a hasty overhead strike. I could end his life in this instant.

"RAAAGGH!!"

He roars in aggression as the blade makes its final approach. I simply shift into a Makashi stance and guide him around me. Parrying his attack into the ground as I do. His back is turned to me at the masterful move.

My leg lifts off the ground, and The Force flows through my entire body. Powering my next attack up. I throw my foot against his back in a stiff kick and channel a Force Push through my foot at the same time.

"GAAH!!"

The attack is powerful and connects perfectly. He flies across the room at an incredible speed. Impacting the stone wall with a massive crack.

Dust and dirt fall to the ground around from the unclean areas above. The smoke billows outward from the covered area. Indicating that he's fallen from the wall. The glow of his lightsaber hasn't returned yet.

It's obvious he's trying to think of a plan. Some way to either defeat me or escape to fight another day.

Since he's not coming out to fight me until he's made up his mind, it's time to test just how great his willpower is.

How long it will take until the Darkside consumes him.

"Your former Master was nothing more than an old, weak fool."

The surge of emotions from inside the smoke and dusty cloud tells me he hears me. My voice is belittling and haughty.

"Choosing you to be his apprentice is proof enough."

Starting off small in my probes seems to be effective. Given the state of fluctuation I feel he's in. After a few seconds of silence, the smoke cloud pops, and the young padawan is rushing to me.

His blade at his side.

He reaches me after a second, and he swipes his blade at my neck. Tilting my head back proves effective enough to dodge the rushed attempt.

That's when he takes me a little by surprise. He turns off his saber and twists his hand. Giving a new attacking Angle. He reignites his blade, and I'm forced to lift my own and shift into Soresu.

Attack after attack comes my way. He's utilizing Ataru and Djem-So.

"GRAAA!!"

His frustration only continues growing as my defense never falters. Nearing the end of this attacking cycle, I lock my blade with his for a moment. Then, twirl our blades.

He gives me an opening in his attempts to keep his hilt from flying out of his hand. His knee is in a perfect place to land a devastating kick, and that's precisely what I do. The entire movement happens in the span of half a second.

I lift my leg and bring my foot down on the side of his knee joint.

CRAACKK!!

"GAAAAAAHHHH!!!"

He folds forward, and I step to the side. Finishing the twirling of our blade, and forcing his hilt around 25 feet away from us. He looks to the ground, not lifting his head as I slowly circle him. The Darkside is feeding him.

His fear is soaking the entire room.

"What do you think you can achieve with such meager power."

My tone is solid and uncompromising. It's not in a questioning voice but in an observational one. He's lost his former Master.

To me.

"Stuck with teachers you never wanted. Ones who never wanted you."

I watch his hands fold into fists as he's on his hands and knees. My slow circling around him continues. I rest my saber at my side, and the tip of the blade cuts through the ground. Purple light and molten metal light up the area around him.

The power within him is in great turmoil. The Light and Dark are doing battle. His fall is approaching, and there isn't much left he can do to stop it.

On the slim chance, he does escape here. He has come to close, and now the pulling of the Dark will only get stronger.

"All your life, you've been contained."

His struggles are great. But I can feel it.

He's losing.

~~~(POV: Jedi Padawan Ezark Olidare)~~~

~~~(Location: Underworld Base, Sector 72, Denon)~~~

~~~(Current Age: 17 Years)~~~

~~~(Date: 568 BBY)~~~

All I can do is seethe and fester as he circles around me. Taunting me with my fears and doubts.

With my regrets.

He's been inside my mind before, and he's likely easily seeing everything in there now. I hate him so much. I want to kill him. To make him suffer. Bring him pain and misery a thousand times worse than what's been done to me.

"But you're too weak."

I lift my head for the first time, and he's standing before me. A cooling molten circle around me. His purple blade gives a unique hum that regular kyber crystals don't produce.

No matter how much I want to retort. How badly I want to say and prove he's wrong. The truth is, I can't. I'm too weak to defeat him. I didn't prepare for this. I see now that he was holding back in his fight with Master Hendi.

Tezor never stood a chance.

And neither did I.

"The Jedi are weak. They made you weak. Don't you want to be more than this pitiful thing kneeling before me."

What he's doing isn't lost on me. I'm not blind to his attempts to make me fall from the Light. My whole life, I've served the Jedi Order. Done everything the Jedi way. Tried to be the best I could be their way.

But it wasn't enough.

"Yes, and it'll never be enough with the Jedi. It'll never be enough with the Light."

Am I so weak that he sees everything inside my head... Am I so weak I can't stop him from twisting and tormenting me with my failures... Is this what it means to be a Jedi... To be a part of the Order.

The Darkside is something I've been taught to resist...

To avoid...

To forsake...

My eyes meet his crimson ones as he stares at me with a neutral face. There was no effort in defeating him. It was trivial to him.

I was trivial to him...

Is this...

The power of the Darkside.

"All the power to defeat me is waiting for you. All you need do is take it."

...

...

He's right...

...

...

I can feel it...

I need this power.

I need the Darkside!!

TO KILL HIM!!!

My hand lifts from my side, and I give out my strongest Force Push possible. He's so close to me that it should hit. But instead, he just lifts his free hand and negates it with his own power.

"RAAAAA!!!"

I stand up with a limp and throw out my hands. This time, blue-whiteish Force Lightning launches from my hands, and he lifts his blades.

Intercepting it and redirecting the burst of power back at me. Sending me across the room and hitting another wall.

~~~(POV: Adren Saydra)~~~

~~~(Location: Underworld Base, Sector 72, Denon)~~~

~~~(Current Age: 17 Years)~~~

~~~(Date: 568 BBY)~~~

His body harshly impacts a new wall, but this time, there isn't a crack. I slowly approach the young Olidare. Feeling the new power radiating off of him. The Lightside him is now completely done.

I stand in front of the now exhausted and defeated padawan. His eyes weakly look back at mine.

Yellow meeting red.

Knowing that I've succeeded. My saber turns off, and I place it on my hilt. He's resigned. All his fight is gone. No longer is he a young member of the Jedi Order.

No.

That's something he'll never be again.

"Welcome."

His head lifts a little at the sound of my voice. Acknowledging that I'm speaking to him. Our eyes never break their lock.

"My new apprentice."

My encounter with the Jedi has provided more than just the star charts to Rakata Prime. It's given me something that'll prove far more useful than D4.

A tool that'll serve me until its uses run out.

~~~(POV: Jedi Master Dysare Izok)~~~

~~~(Location: Meditation Gardens, Jedi Temple, Coruscant)~~~

~~~(Current Age: 66 Years)~~~

~~~(Date: 568 BBY)~~~

Tayda sits across from me as we enjoy the serene calm of the Meditation Gardens. My former padawan wasn't always that great when it came to meditation, but as a Knight, he's grown into her own.

She's more mature than I was at her age. I can only hope that padawan Olidare will be like her one day. We've spent a great deal of time training the young boy.

Only for him to run off recklessly to Denon. The Masters have been informed of their retrieval of Master Lymdor. But it's come at the cost of star charts unknown to the public domain. In the end, I think it's a successful mission.

We got back a captured Jedi, after all.

"What do you think he's doing right now?"

The questioning and calm voice of Tayda grabs my attention. She's spent as much time with Ezark as I have. Doing her best to guide him on the right path.

"I don't know, but he'll have a lot of ex-!!"

Out of nowhere, I'm hit with a sensation I've never felt before. And I'm not the only one that feels it. Tayda has to grab her head for a second and close her eyes. I have to channel The Force into my body to help balance me.

I don't know what that was, but I'm sure it wasn't good. As I open my eyes again, I can see the worried expression on my former padawans' face.

Our eyes meet, and I instantly know she knows more about what's happening than I do.

"What is it, Tayda... What do you sense..."

My voice is slow and careful. Know that a shift in The Force like that isn't something that happens regularly. As I look around briefly, I notice we're the only ones that seem affected.

Meaning that something happened to Ezark...

"Master... It's Ezark... He's fallen..."

I have to do a double-take as the words hit me. This wasn't something I considered when I took padawan Olidare. I thought we were getting a handle on things. He was getting better at dealing with his emotions.

How could this happen!!?

"Are you sure, Tayda?"

The words come out slightly more aggressive than I'd like them to. But she nods in response, and all I can do is reach over and place a hand on her shoulder.

The three of us have grown close since the death of Master Hendi.

Now...

Ezark has fallen to the Dark.

What has happened on Denon...

~~~(POV: Jedi Knight Taylor Azure)~~~

~~~(Location: Medical Bay, Sector 70 Spaceport, Denon)~~~

~~~(Current Age: 17 Years)~~~

~~~(Date: 568 BBY)~~~

Mom sits in the chair next to my bed as the medical droid does the last of its inspections. All I can do is stare at the ceiling. Lost in thought about what I learned. Being free from the bacta tank has increased my mood, but the weight of everything is heavy on me.

Darth Rendra is my twin brother.

The only way he could've known what he knew was if he was my brother. Whoever saved him on Endurance had to have raised him.

Being trapped inside a metal tube full of healing liquid has given me much time to think about things. Try to piece together all the information I've learned and extrapolate possible answers to my questions.

The Force tells me he's my brother. I can feel it. The bond we share. It all makes sense now.

"What's on your mind?"

The soft and caring voice of Mom takes my thoughts off Darth Rendra. There are a lot of things I still haven't decided. Telling Mom what I've learned is one of them.

The love she has for me is something I can't put into words. Just like the love I have for her. Finding out my brother is alive would have consequences I can't comprehend. I honestly don't know what she'd do.

Leaving the Order in search of him is all I know. Her love for my brother has never left her. She carries the pain of his death around with her.

"What gave it away..."

My voice is slightly dry, and she picks up the cup of water on the table next to me. Handing it to me.

"You're my daughter. I know you."

A small smile appears on my lips as I finish sipping the water. I look her in the eyes, and I can see how badly she wants me to talk. To open up. I can feel how much she wants to help me. But she holds back.

Waiting for me to be ready.

She's done so much for me... All my life... Would it be alright...

To take away the pain she carries for my brother by telling her he's alive...

All I can do is take a breath and prepare. Whatever Mom does after I tell her is her decision.

"Mom, there is something I nee-!!"

A surge of The Force flows through me, and a heavy cloudiness takes over my mind. I have to close my eyes and balance myself. As I do, I sense Ezark.

I feel him.

His Light...

It's gone...

"Taylor... What's happened..."

I open my eyes, and I see Mom waiting for me. It's not uncommon for me to feel disturbances in The Force. My connection to it has made them more frequent.

My head looks away from hers for a second, gathering my thoughts. Trying to wrap my head around what's just happened.

Then I look back at her.

"Ezark... He's fallen..."

Mom's mouth slightly opens but quickly closes. She stands up from her chair and sits on the side of the bed. Wrapping her arms around me in the process.

Telling her about my brother has to wait.