Chapter 108: 108. Chapter

Hearing the dread filled voice of Nizzal, the other girls immediately took a more serious attitude. There was something uncomfortably sinister inside her voice that made them sober up and start to look around the shadowy corridors.

Most of them, except Lily, reached out with the force in an attempt to sense their surroundings. Unfortunately, it gave them little to no results. Only their ears could pick up the unmistakable echoes of incoming steps. This seemed to further baffle them.

- I can’t sense anyone, but someone is obviously walking this way… This doesn’t make sense!

Groaned Kalifa in a whispering tone.

Barriss silently agreed with Kalifa’s words, even though she didn’t say it. She was more focused on the form of Nizzal. Standing next to her, she saw her pupils randomly change to a murky gray and black whirlwind like color.

The abnormal phenomenon simply took her breath away while she was staring at it from the side. Her first thought was that she might have been part cyborg. Since she could make her eyes change color, but when she looked closer, the eyes seemed to be very much biological, and she would likely notice it before, if they weren’t.

Cybernetic technology was very advanced in the galaxy, still the eyes were not something you usually changed if you had a choice. The reason for that is pretty simple. Even the best existing cutting edge technology couldn’t seem to reproduce that certain mysterious glint in the eyes, of which made them so human. The eyes were mirrors of the soul, as they say. For that reason there were organ growing facilities to replace damaged eyes with biological ones, it was more pricy true, but it worked like a charm.

Most of the intelligent races wouldn’t want to change their eyes into soulless, mechanic eyes. It was a sort of open taboo. Even one of the most famous cyborgs, General Grievous, who had basically his entire body made from cybernetic parts, seemed to abide by this law.

Anyway, at this time Barriss was absolutely sure that the girl who recently invited herself into their company didn’t have cybernetic eye implantations. That left the unspoken question. How the hell did she change her eye color, and why? Is it doing something? Could twi’lek’s do that? She didn’t think so…

She had been staring at her for quite some time now, and she didn’t seem to react much to it. That was also strange.

Her thoughts were distracted as a shadowy figure covered in a black robe stepped out of the darkness, which suddenly seemed to surround their team a lot tighter than before.

Nizzal activated her lightsaber without further ado, and her action prodded Kalifa and Barriss to follow suit. While Lily only glanced longingly at the blade that brought them here, and now was dangling from Nizzal’s belt.

Now she felt left out, as she couldn’t activate her own recently acquired weapon.

She made an annoyed expression. Clearly not happy that this unfamiliar girl took it from her earlier and without saying anything, alas; the situation didn’t seem right for complaints.

Coming to this understanding, she also turned and looked at the suspicious form of this black clothed man.

The man’s figure was covered in dark robes, which were similar to the jedi’s, but maybe a bit more sinister in nature. Its most striking feature, aside from being wrapped in said dark clothes, was the burning gold and red eyes that were glaring at us from the shadow of the large hood covering his head.

Yes, he was a man. At least that much could be derived from the robust yet agile form. It didn’t take a genius to figure out that layers upon layers of muscles were hidden under the loose, dark clothes. Especially for those who were trained to see through disguises, those with the training of a jedi or similar one.

Seeing this much was more than enough for Barriss and Kalifa, their palms tightening around the hilt of the blades as their knuckles paled slightly under the growing pressure. The man's key features were still hidden in the shadows and we could not yet know which race he belonged to, aside from having a humanoid shape.

At last the man spoke up. His voice was deep, holding an assured strength matching his appearance. His tone was surprisingly calm, but the bone cutting coldness layering it was suggesting that there was a burning fury barely covered under the strained act of politeness.

-I see, my Master had been right. Of course, it have been right…

Spoke the voice in a shallow and sarcastic tone, which fell dull on the ears.

He took his time to carefully look over each of us, while we similarly scrutinized him. Then he continued.

-There is no need to be afraid. You have been brought here for a reason. Everything happened through my Master’s will. You will soon come to understand the implications behind my words.

He paused for a short time, letting our imagination fill the gap. Then continued.

-In other words, I have been waiting for you, Nizzal the Grey.

Nizzal felt a cold sensation run up her lower back. Her skin prickled under the possessive gaze that this bastard was giving her.

Before she could speak back. The man turned towards the rest of the group.

-Unfortunately, the invitation didn’t include the rest of you.

Kalifa was clearly not amused by this. True to her nature, she immediately protested.

-And who needs your invitation, in the first place, pray tell? We are jedi! So you better stop treating us like a bunch of snoopy kids, or you will regret it!

Barriss’s expression paled as she was a step too late to stop Kalifa’s stupid outburst… She cursed herself silently.

She was too distracted by this newly arrived person, who clearly wasn’t taken aback by the sight of their ignited lightsabers. Thanks to that, her imagination was running wild, seeing the infamous eyes burning in the darkness, but she didn’t want to commit the same mistake twice in a row. Having burning yellowish eyes doesn’t always mean that the person having them is a Sith.

The best example of this is Lily! Unfortunately, because of her internal struggle, she has reacted a bit too late to constrain her stupid friend's blabbering mouth. Now she could only hope that the consequences won’t cost them too much?

The mysterious man snorted coldly. Following this, the temperature seemed to take a harsh dive, dropping a few degrees right away. The curtain of shadows around them have tightened even further.

The change was impossible to miss, and it seemed to effectively shut any further comments from Kalifa. Now, even Lily, who seemed to be on the slow side, started to react, taking a distinctively defensive body position.

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The girl seemed to have an acute sensitivity towards immediate danger as she reacted even faster than Nizzal. Who was momentarily shocked by the raw aura of blood thirst which was unleashed by the mysterious man.

The next thing Barriss saw was a blinding purple lightning, striking forward just about to consume her. She closed her eyes in terror, holding out her lightsaber, her mind driven by pure instinct while bringing forth a few years of practice she had already accumulated.

She wasn’t hoping to catch the lightning; it was impossible to do, at least for the current her. She merely tried to absorb some of its power, hoping that it would be enough to survive. After all, it took a special kind of training to be able to absorb force lightning with a lightsaber or even reflect them back towards its sender, a training which she never had. But now she vowed that if she survived this, she would learn how to do it. But for now, it was all she could do.

After all, the cruel attack happened so fast that it was impossible to react in any other way. The sounds of bursting electricity thundered through the cave, the blinding lighting overwhelming her senses and coloring the cave walls in an ethereal purplish hue for short periods of time, drawing the stretched out shadows of their bodies across the blackened rocks.

The lightning has already unleashed its third burst when Barriss got to realize that she was in fact not dead, and didn’t feel any pain. Her attention was brought back to the present when the sounds of lightning strikes were replaced by the sounds of violently clashing saber blades. She reopened her eyes. Her skin was already covered in cold sweat and her vision felt blurry under the excruciating knowledge and pressure, which was the fact that she came so close to being slaughtered without the power to do anything against it.

She has had a few close calls with death in the past; she has experienced her own fair share of missions, after all, but she never felt so defenceless in her entire life.

Now, as she looked at the sight happening in front of her, she felt her knees tremble. A whirlwind of blood red light. It was a red lightsaber, no, a saber staff! And it was wielded by that man, the man who just tried to kill her!

She felt her knees buckle, finally giving in to the relief that she felt. The relief that she was saved, before she could collapse, she felt a pair of stiff hands grab her from the side. Holding her up just enough to not fall on the ground.

She looked at the person who was supporting her and saw the deathly pale face of Kalifa. She was shaking, she could feel through her arms supporting her body.

Barriss should have been angry at her, because of her stupid mouth, she was almost killed! But she couldn’t bring herself to complain after seeing that pale expression.

-I am sorry… Are… are you alright?

Whispered Kalifa, as she no doubt realized her own stupidity.

Barriss could only nod, to try to reassure her panicked friend, but she herself wasn’t sure about the question. Was she really alright? She felt dazed, that was for sure. A sense of disbelief was lingering around her, as if she couldn’t come to terms with the fact that she almost died, just like that.

It might have been childish, especially after the recent events, but she always thought that her death would happen heroically, that her sacrifice would mean something, that it would save the lives of others or at least give them a chance to save themselves.

A death like that didn’t feel bad for her, but being thrown aside like an unnecessary piece of trash was different. She couldn’t accept something like that, and almost coming to such an end was unbearable for her young mind.

This was what her shocked brain could understand at the time, then the next thing she realized with a burst of bone chilling dread was that this man… their enemy, he was a Sith, he must be!

At the time the conclusion was made, she finally saw who was currently fighting with her enemy. It was Nizzal, that twi’lek girl, she was the person who saved her life, and was currently exchanging blows with the Sith. Who now has finally unleashed its suffocating aura of darkness. The presence of the dreadful thing made her feel sick, and she almost threw up her breakfast right away.

Still, she forced herself to watch the battle. It might be the last thing she will witness in this life, and she wasn’t willing to miss the show. There was nothing for them to do, it was painfully obvious that they had no place in this battle. Which was leagues above their capabilities.

Nizzal moved with a shocking fluidity and grace, one she only saw from Jedi Masters who mastered the art of lightsaber dueling. The movements had no signs of hesitation; it was a complete and absolutely fluid series of intertwined movements.

Barriss already knew all the basic jedi fighting forms by heart. However, she could see more than a few unique movements and small additions to the basic forms that were clearly personal changes. The types which were not taught anywhere, they were signs of true mastery, showcasing the tremendous experience of the duellist, who were capable of making her own unique style, one that accentuated her racial abilities and integrated them into the combat seamlessly adding to the effectiveness of the original forms.

Witnessing something like this, in the movements of a child a lot younger than her, was simply shocking. She was absolutely sure that she would never believe it if the said girl hadn't just saved her life a few seconds ago, and weren’t continuing to do so in her presence.

Unfortunately, as she witnessed this, she also witnessed something, something that made her stomach churn.

She didn’t recognize the fighting style which the Sith was using… it was simply too chaotic to be comparable to anything she knew. Every attack every dodge, came from an unexpected angle, either from out of sight utilizing the length of the saber stuff, or the two bladed nature of it, which made it possible to deliver a deadly attack from a blind spot in a completely unexpected angle.

The man was throwing feints left and right, while igniting and deactivating his weapons’s blades one at a time, creating opportunities that allowed him to strike from otherwise impossible angles. He had even broken out of a short saber lock by deactivating the blade that was crossing Nizzal’s silver saber, successfully throwing her off balance and delivering a heavy kick against her left ribcage.

She managed to move backwards at the last second, moving in a way that absorbed or channeled away most of the energy behind the powerful kick. Still, her painful wince told more than enough of the force reinforced destructive power behind the attack.

A few more quick strikes were exchanged with deadly precision and swiftness. They were all dodged or blocked by both fighters.

Then just as suddenly as the deadly dance started it came to an end when Nizzal and the Sith both jumped backwards, stopping and staring at each other with suffocating tension.

The entire exchange ended in about twenty seconds, but in that short time so many things happened, so many blows were sent and blocked that witnessing the sheer intensity of the fight left both Barriss and Kalifa in a state of shock.

Lily was also watching the fight closely, but her expression remained neutral. Which was a bit of normalcy to hold onto for the two before mentioned girls.

Barriss shook herself out of the stupor that seemed to make her limbs feel like heavy lead bars. She stepped closer to Nizzal, who was currently breathing heavily and completely covered in sweat.

Her eyes were back to their normal pink color. Her expression was alarmed, disbelief showing from her paling cheeks.

Barriss looked at the opponent. He was also breathing quicker than before, but he was clearly a lot less tired than Nizzal was. As an adult, his endurance was much better than Nizzal’s. She needed to utilize more of the force to counter the differences between their raw power. That meant she was tiring herself out a lot quicker.

If everything goes on like this, the outcome was pretty obvious from a glance, and the results were far from ideal.

 

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