Dathomir

[Alora]

"Mind your heads, it's rare that crystals will fall from the sky."

Alora watched as Draken brought the crystals down upon the undead, effectively taking them out of the equation. Between that and the lightning he cleared a path. She briefly made eye contact with both he and Raynuk before sending her saber through another zombie. She gave Draken a nod of thanks when he shredded another group of zombies that had been closing on her.

 

She caught sight of Raynuk advancing up the canyon and moved to follow as well, fighting all the way. There seemed a never ending supply of zombies continuously attacking them. By the time the scream came, signally the undead to retreat she was breathing heavily. She moved to stand beside Draken as Raynuk pointed out a particular body.

 

“Clearly, someone tampered with a spell… This one was not actually dead when she attacked me.” He pointed out. “And that last scream… I think that was something, or someone different. I don’t know about you, but I’m not leaving this canyon until we know for sure what is going on, no matter how many zombies I have to cut my way through.”

There was definitely something at play here. The reprieve was welcome while it lasted though she knew that they would be fighting again soon. As Raynuk started off again, she followed suit.

[Delta73]

Blaster fire ripped overhead in a red-gold stream. Delta pulled the Jedi Knight down beside him into the cover provided by a fallen tree. His black glove hovered a second too long on her shoulder and she snapped a grin at him, showing her perfect white teeth. “Come now Ca’Aran we mustn’t linger too long while under fire.” Delta laughed in return and pulled himself back up to where he had mounted the gun between two fallen branches. Seeing a mass of droids in a brisk charge towards their forward bunker he depressed the trigger until the barrel glowed white hot. Droids sparked and fell as light blue blasts overcame them, but there were always more of them. Delta could feel the heat of the barrel radiating through him arms and he dropped it before the rifle could explode. He sighed audibly and withdrew his dual pistols to continue the defensive barrage. From the artillery shells exploding all around them Delta knew their reinforcements were quickly approaching. He could feel her hand slip to the back of his neck and Kailen kissed the side of his helmet before vaulting over the side of the entrenchment blazing lightsaber in hand.

 

The heat, the heat didn’t leave his arms though. Despite the fact that he had long since dropped the gun…

 

“Come with me if you want to live”.

 

Delta could admit that he had kinda drifted off when it seemed that they would really get consumed by fire. But not enough he thought, to miss Qaela coming back. Delta laughed distantly at the last part of the thought. He sprang from the flaming stake and smiled fiercely. He glanced about to make sure Raia was alright before he swiped up one of the fallen guard’s swords. “Pardon me love, I have one thing left to finish.”

 

As Roe'gall and Vex'aedr went on the defensive, it was now Delta’s turn. He spun the sword with his one hand and carved his way through sinew, meat, and human flesh. His eyes fell on the healer that had helped him so much. She was stoic in her fear, Leiantra was her name Delta knew from passing. The mother of that poor girl she had left to die. Leiantra Stood looking on with horror as the dogs tore through her community.

“Bitch”

 

Delta spat out. The woman turned in almost a fright as she saw him. He retrieved his blade from a discarded child, spraying blood across a tent’s leather siding. He brought the crude and misbalanced blade up to eye level. She turned to flee, but with an expert toss the blade cut through her hamspring. She collapsed in a howling mess and Delta sprang onto her, grabbing her hair with his one hand. He grinned, his face and hair singes and covered with blood.

“You know, I never had a mother.”

 

He slammed her head onto the rocky ground and she shrieked in pain.

 

“It was one of my dreams to have one.”

 

Slam. Scream.

“To have something other than a test tube as a mummy.”

 

Slam. Scream.

 

“But you know”

 

Slam. Scream.

“On looking at you bitch”

 

Slam. Scream.

 

“I think I was better off without one.”

Slam. Gurgle.

 

“You had a treasured little girl.”

 

Slam. Gurgle.

 

“And you threw her away like it was nothing.”

 

Slam.

“Because you and your people are savage, racist, unforgiving shits.”

 

Squish.

“And you deserve neither my thanks or pity.”

 

He pulled at the hair and the skull and brain matter slipped away onto the red soaked earth. He didn’t notice.

“Look at her, she loved you, you sack of-”

 

Delta laughed.

“Well carry on being dead I guess.”

 

He dropped the mess onto the ground and turned to the two remaining Dathomiri women. Qaela and Raia. He wiped his hand on his tunic and shrugged. “What now fam?”

[Raia Montar]

Raia could feel the flow of the Force quicken around her causing the flames to leap higher, the wind to whip fiercer, and the earth to shake beneath their feet. Pausing for a brief moment, she took in the scene as Roe'gall and Vex'aedr tore their way through the mixed ranks of Witches and Nightsisters. She felt merely numbness in her heart for those around her. The sharp sound of a snap brought her back to the present moment before she merely gave herself over to the Force to let its will channel through her once more.

 

Turning toward the sound, she saw Delta shaking off the bonds from his stake and Qaela standing next to him. The young Force-Witch didn't bother to hide her disgust at seeing the elder Dathomiri again, but she didn't have any further business here as the storm of destruction continued to rage around her. It was then she realized and felt Qaela's own anger resonating from the Force.

Of course, she idly thought, this is fueled by her. I'm still conscious after all. A low growl emanated from her throat and she turned away to face the tuk'atas.

 

Delta's voice, almost gentle yet iron-strong at the same time, met her ears as he, too, declared his repayment of the clan's hospitality.

 

Chaos reigned around Raia as she ignored the battle around her and stepped steadily towards the treeline, the eye of the storm seeming to follow her, clearing a path. A familiar cry made her turn towards the sound as Raia looked up just in time to see Delta repeatedly slamming her mother's face into one of the rocks that encircled the central fire. In that moment, after so much had happened, Raia couldn't find it in her to even care as she watched her mother die.

 

She abandoned me...simply because Furion marked me... Her hatred for Delta lessened in that instant. She offered him a blank look, but a small wave goodbye as she crossed the treeline, flanked by her two guardian beasts.

 

----------

 

Raia wasn't even sure how long she'd been wandering the jungle, numbly responding to the pull to head northward to the canyons. So much death to the clans...and it had all been her fault. Her mother dead...and it had been her fault. All because she'd been too stubborn and too scared to remain gone.

 

Finally the last of whatever strength she'd mustered from the depths of her being gave way and she fell to her hands and knees, sobs shaking her body as her tears joined the dampness of the jungle's underlayer.

 

It's my fault...I've never been anything but trouble...I have nowhere to go now... The thoughts tumbled over one another in an endless loop as she managed to pick herself up. Long gone was the scarf at her neck and as she crawled into the roots of one of the larger trees, her eyes fell upon the offending, unwanted, and unasked for adornment. Reaching up, she pulled down one of her shoulders, not surprised in the least to see that the tattoo was now past her shoulders and down the arm. Roughly she shoved back her sleeve to find that the single interwoven line ended at her forearm.

 

She slumped against the tree. That tattoo had cost her everything. Her home, her family, her happiness, her whole world.

 

Nudges from Vex and Roe caused her to pause long enough to remember that she wasn't alone. Emily had sent Roe'gall to protect her and now Raynuk had sent Vex to do the same (because she knew the tuk'atas obedience to their masters was absolute.) Thinking of her harsh words to Raynuk caused her to fall into another bout of tears. What she'd said was unforgivable and totally unfair to him. She knew that he was somewhere on this world pursuing whatever link to the cult he might find here.

He'll never accept me back, the dark thoughts returned, stronger this time. I'm useless. I'm dangerous. I've brought about the destruction of my entire clan...gotten my mother killed. No one wants me. I don't belong anywhere. I'm just a waste of time and a waste of space...

 

She wasn't sure when she'd reached into her bag around Roe's neck and retrieved the lightsaber that Raynuk had given her, but somehow the weight of it in her hand seemed right. It was double-bladed so no matter which way she held it...all it would take is a light press of the activation switch and it would be done...

 

--------

 

Mitral had just managed to escape the death that ripped through the usually quiet village and hadn't missed the troublesome girl leaving. Not about to let the impudent child get away with wrecking everything the elder woman had so carefully put in place to control the clan, she took up pursuit. The girl wasn't careful about hiding her tracks, in fact, Raia seemed determined to put as much distance between her and the now-ruined village as possible.

 

Calling the ancient magicks of the clan that had served her so well over the years. Mitral began to press on and enhance the traumatic thoughts and visions already within the young girl's head, pressing her slowly and carefully towards the edge of the precipice.

 

The girl was still resisting her slightly, but now the light weapon was in her and and Mitral called forth the magicks once again in an effort to press the girl beyond the edge and finally be rid of the whelp once and for all.

 

<>

[Raynuk Montar]

Vex'aedr stood rigid, snarling and holding his ground as Delta was freed and proceeded to smash the witch's head against the rock. It was only when Raia herself turned and began walking for the treeline that the beast relented his position, turning with a small gallop to catch up to the girl. While the tuk'ata didnt have as strong of a connection with her as he did with Raynuk, both he and Roe'gall had been bred and trained to have a better grasp and understanding of the Force. Add that to the fact that he had been present for a few of Raia's more. uncontrolled Force moments, and the beast couldnt help but be aware of the mental state of the girl.

 

Together with Roe'gall, he walked beside Raia until the girl stopped, falling to her hands and knees, apparently unable to continue on. Vex was concerned for sure; as near as he could tell, she had not been injured physically, but the sheer waves of emotion that continued to roll off of her was serving to unsettle him. Vex gave the girl a gentle nudge and low whimper, pushing her slightly towards a tree. Tree provide shelter, cover. Good hiding. it thought. Thankfully, Raia took his suggestion and crawled into the roots of the tree and slumping against it. Vex stood before her, looking around as Raia took a moment of rest at the tree. He began sniffing around on the ground, as if choosing a spot to lay down himself, but suddenly turned to look back towards the direction of the village, which was still burning based on the smell of the air. But there was something else... Vex'aedr practically froze, his nostrils, eyes and ears the only tiny movements as his genetics as a hunter kicked in.

 

The nose took in the smells of the air: the jungle, slightly damp; the constant baseline for everything on this planet. The odor of burning wood and smoke, carried on the faint wind from the village. The faint smell of dirt mixed with the scent of Roe'gall, still standing by the tree with Raia. A touch of sweat and smoke again from the girl. But there was a second set of sweat and smoke, only this sweat was more acidic in smell, and carried with it the smell of the cloth that Vex knew from his hunt moments ago to be a Witch.

 

The eyes took in the fading light, and the movement before him: the orange glow that illuminating the sky also attempted to claw through the trees towards him, setting shadows dancing everywhere against a background of fire. Small critters, fleeing in different directions; away from the fire and sounds? Larger shapes up in the trees that seemingly felt no need to move. But there, among the dancing shadows and backlit by fire, a shadow that moved almost deliberately, with purpose and decidedly unrandom. And bigger than the small creatures and birds that were fleeing. Taller than it was wide, and growing larger inch by inch.

 

The ears took in the sounds of the jungle: There was the pervasive sounds of the Dathomir jungles; countless animals and insects chirping and vocalizing in the distance and all around him. The sound of breathing, from himself, Roe'gall and Raia. The winding down of sobs and small sniffles that the girl tried to hide. The distant sound of fire burning through wood and cloth, and occasional yells and screams that were indiscernible coming from the direction of the village and fire. The sound of Roe'gall softly shifting his weight as he lifted one foot and then another before placing them down. But there was another sound, one that wad distant and soft; the sound of footfalls on the jungle floor. Marked by occasional cracks of twigs, the sounds of branches and brush being pushed aside as something larger passed by them, and the occasional squish of mud. Even the sound of cloth being dragged over and past trees gently.

 

All three senses confirmed what each one independently suspected; Someone else was following them. Without warning or looking back to Raia, Vex'aedr took off into the jungle, slightly away from the direction of their pursuer. Instead, the beast took a wide arc that brought him to the side of the pursuer until he was roughly twenty meters from her, at which point Vex paused. He saw the woman, one that had yelled things back in the village and seemed just as angry now, making little effort to hide herself. Her eyes were fixed on the direction that Raia and Roe'gall were. She was speaking -- to herself? -- and making small movements with her hands. Slowly, and with much more care than this woman was doing, Vex crept closer through the jungle, his own eyes never leaving his target.

 

Closer... he hunkered down behind a tree; no change in his target.

 

Closer... slow deliberate steps around a bush; no change.

 

Closer... a quick dash to another tree as distant thunder rumbled across the sky; no change.

 

Closer... more careful steps, quicker this time but eerily silent as he was now more behind her than beside her; no change.

Closer... Closer... Closer... Barely three meters behind her now, as a streak of primal joy shot through Vex'aedr's mind.

 

He growled low and hunkered down, his muscles tensing slightly.

 

The with paused, and the moment he saw movement after that, Vex'aedr shot forward and pounced with a roar at the witch, jaws wide open and seeking flesh as it's full body weight and speed aimed to slam the woman into the tree nearby.

<>

[Emily]

Roe'gall could sense her. Tuk'ata were always able to sniff out Force-sensitives, and Roe'gall had been trained long and hard to use his Force-sensitivity to his advantage. So it was that it wasn't just her physical clues that gave her away, but the sense of predatory stalking the tuk'ata felt rolling off her in waves. So while his brother fell back, Roe'gall turned to Raia. She reached into the bag that was slung around his neck and removed the weapon stored there. His nose picked up the smell of salt on her face from the wetness coming from her eyes.

 

Giving a low rumble, he suddenly understood that more violence was going to happen, and that it was going to negatively affect Raia. His training and his mistress' last commands rang through his mind, and he acted. He pushed his head against her firmly, knocking Raia over and with a lunge, pinned the hand holding her lightsaber away from her body. He licked her face roughly, his glowing eyes boring into hers, and then glanced into the jungle towards where Vex was stalking the attacker.

 

((killshot defense assist))

[darth shadowlord]

Draken turned his head as the mass of zombies began to ease due to the amount destroyed, there was another force storm nearby and another type of magic in play. He recognized the taste of this magic, he had been on the receiving end of it the last time he had been here and the aftermath had not gone well. If it was being practised then it was to the detriment of the clan that had been under his protection. He glanced back towards Raynuk and Alora, they had everything well in hand for the time being and could manage things without him for a little while.

 

“Quietus, I have another trail of magic to follow while you trace this one. I will return soon.”

 

He reached out and touched Alora’s mind letting her know what he was doing then left the canyon. He found his horse waiting for him and jumped into the saddle, touching the horse’s mind and letting the sense of urgency fill its mind. The horse sprang to a gallop in mere seconds, its head down as it flew over the path. Over hill and valley they flew, the staccato beat of the horse’s hooves reminding him of the sound of drums, more and more like the call of war.

 

He began to draw power in, pulling it in towards him in ever increasing waves till it was rolling out from him in near transparent waves as he began to focus it to the desired form that he wished. A single bolt of lightning smashed into a rock to his left as darkness began gather around him. He looked at the trail of magic that he was following, he was very close to where it was. The orb at the top of his staff began to arc internally with emerald and crimson lightning as above him a shimmering sound could be heard faintly through the crash of thunder signaled the forming of crystals laced with the power of the darkside, small at first but growing to a cubit in length and a thickness of a sapling.

 

The crystals began spark as the harnessed lightning attempted unleash some of the pent up energy as they swirled through the gathered storm. As they reached a turn in the forest that was shrouded by trees, Draken reined in the horse and dismounted. He lifted the hood of his cloak over his head and walked into the clearing where he saw a witch who had once tried to use a spell to overwhelm his mind on him in order to take him as a mate pinned to the tree by one of the tukata’s and Raia kneeling with her lightsabre pressed to her stomach.

 

Without thought he unleashed the gathered storm, the emerald lightning lighting his face as it struck all around the witch followed seconds later by the crystal shards pinning her to the tree through her robes missing the tukata. His deadly anger filled voice ringing out low but laced with power filled the clearing.

 

“You dare attack one under my protection Mitral? Not anymore or ever again!”

 

He stepped forward grasping her skull with his left hand and unleashed a concentrated burst of power at her mind, riding it into her mindscape shrouding in mental armor as his anger propelled him to the very fortress of her mind.

 

“Come Mitral, face me or I will crush your mind from where I stand and leave your motionless body for the carrion of the planet.”

 

A scream was his only answer as she leapt from the fortress, her ethereal body taking the form of a large vulture which swooped down at him with talons extended. Draken waited till she was nearly atop him then veered his projected form into a falcon and launched himself into the air with his powerful wings propelling him into the air. He easily put some distance and height between them before turning and diving in on her as her wings were struggling to lift her heavy ungainly body higher. He let out a falcon’s screech as he dove, extending his talons and then closing them into a fist as he struck her, the force of the collusion driving her down on to the sharp stones below. He circled above, climbing once more before diving down to strike her again. She let out an avian screech of frustration as he climbed back into the air then veered her form into an Acklay that reared up and caught him with a glancing blow. He plummeted from the sky, changing his form at the last moment into a Ssurian, an angry roar erupting from him before he struck. His massive jaws closing around one of the acklay’s six limbs and ripping it from her body with an audible crunch.

 

A tortured pain filled screech burst came from the acklay that was Mitral and she backpedalled away from the ssurian that was Draken before she veered her projected form into a massive rancor with a severed forearm. She held it for a moment before she reverted back to her haggish form, the strain of the energy expended visible in her face as she collapsed to the ground with her ethereal form missing its right arm. Draken veered back to his projected form, bearing the majority of his weight on one foot from the glancing blow. He looked around him at the collapsing mindscape and smiled wearlily before letting his projected form dissipate and return his consciousness back to his own body.

 

He opened his eyes and let go over her skull then stepped back with his staff ready to strike without a second thought.

 

((Killshot defense assist post))

[Emily]

An audio-only message comes in for Raynuk Montar, to listen to at his convenience, marked as coming from one Emily Zsahra-Skywalker.

 

 

“Hi. I don’t know if you’ll open this message, but I hope you do. And I hope that it helps more than it hurts.

 

“I…I want to apologize for my words to you when we last spoke. I overreacted a lot. I was upset that I couldn’t do anything to help you with Raia and Tirzah, and then when you came out holding Jaina’s hand…jealousy got the better of me. And I’m sorry I took it out on you." Her tone was sincere.

 

“But that’s only part of what I wanted to say. I’ve been thinking a lot about what you said, at the end, and I feel like I need to set the record straight. For your sake and mine.

 

“You said that all you’ve brought me is pain.” She gave a quick haunted chuckle. “We both know that’s not true. You…you brought me more happiness than I knew what to do with. You showed me this whole other side of living. Instead of always thinking about myself, I found myself thinking about you, about how to make you happy. And the more I did, the more I wanted to.

 

“And sure, there’s been pain in the past, but most of it was not your fault. So I don’t want you thinking that my life with you was worse than life on my own. You said I was better off without you…and that has never, ever been true. We were better together…and I think we both know that. Remember what you said right after Korriban? You said you felt redemption on the horizon, a chance to make up for the pain you have caused me and others. I...I don't know what caused you to stop fighting for that. I would have fought for that until the stars turned cold. But instead, our story continues in the same never ending cycle."

 

She sighed and was silent for a long moment before continuing. “The other day you also said that if you were out of my life, then I could be the person my parents wanted me to be. I don’t know where you got that idea. I already was. I already am. And you know it. Being that person had very little do to with you. But I think you never really trusted me in that. I think you always thought that being around you made me still the apprentice, having to act like a Sith because I was around you.” Her tone grew firm, if pained. “Nothing could be farther from the truth. Please don’t let that thought take hold.

 

"You told Raia that I wanted you to be chained to me and me alone. That’s both true and an absolute falsehood. I love that you care for Raia, for Jaina. It means the world to me. It’s so human, and so beautiful. It's the man I always knew was inside you, the man I fell in love with. But in another sense, yes, I want your whole heart. I want all of you, Raynuk. Nothing less with satisfy. I want to be the first in your life. I need to be the only one whom you love with romantic love. And not as a second choice, or an afterthought, a backup plan, or a habit. If that were true, I would never stop fighting for us to be together." She hesitated. "But...I don't think it is. Maybe someday you'll learn to love like that.

 

“In light of that, I also wanted to say that you shouldn’t feel that…that you’re not worth loving. That you have too many flaws, that being a Sith means you don’t deserve happiness. You said you wanted me to be free to move on with my life…and…I want that for you too. Know that I loved you despite your flaws—that I actually loved you more because of them. Maybe one day you’ll believe that of someone again.”

 

There was a long pause, long enough that he might have thought the transmission was over. But then she spoke again, her voice quieter and her tone deeper. “I don’t want you to think I expect anything from you after this message. I just wish—" she broke off quickly. “Nevermind. Just…I miss you. Kriff, I told myself I wouldn’t say that.” She sighed. “But I guess since I already did…know that I still love you, and…I think I probably always will. You’ll always be a part of me. I...I'm beginning to think that maybe this was for the best. But I don't regret a minute I spent at your side, and I never will."

 

There was another pause. “You won’t hear from me again, I don’t think,” she finished. “I…goodbye, Raynuk.”

 

 

End transmission.

[Ary the Grey]

Okay, so...this is definitely not what killshots were made for. Technically, Raia should get a defense post as well, but since it's an NPC controlled by her...it's weird. Because of this, since the killshot is the person against themselves, I am highly tempted to simply allow it, because it seems like that's what the person wanted anyways, and didn't need a killshot to do it.

 

I mean...this is an NPC. I get this is a story arc, but it didn't really need a killshot or a Mod ruling when it's all practically predetermined anyways. Just write it how you want it next time, and leave killshots and capture shots to use against things you don't control.

 

Because the writing assisting Raia is solid, this is pretty clear cut...

 

Killshot Failed

 

Since Raia has control of Mitral, I'd say the next post is hers, but this is goofy, because Raia was the one targeted by the killshot... Carry on however you guys want. No actual PCs (or potential controllable assets) oppose you here, so I'm not concerned with post order or the like.

[Raia Montar]

((Thanks for being a good sport, Charles...It was literally a "roll a dice" moment and the first time I've ever had an NPC drive, so I just kind of went with it.))

 

Raia hit the ground, suddenly shocked to be under Roe'gall's weight, now more likely to drown in his smelly saliva than harm herself with the lightsaber. As the air was knocked from her lungs, she was vaguely aware of the emerald lightning erupting somewhere nearby that lit up Roe'gall's face eerily with every flash. She heard a loud whump noise as something or someone struck a nearby tree. Another loud crash of lightning split the air, leaving it smelling acridly of ozone and the energy making Raia's hair stand on end as a familiar, but wholly unexpected voice resonated through the clearing as whatever dark cloud that had settled over her mind disappated.

 

“You dare attack one under my protection Mitral? Not any more or ever again!” he growled from somewhere behind and to the right of her.

She turned her head just in time to see Vex'aedr a short distance in the trees and a hooded figure with a staff bearing a focusing crystal at its end. Master Draken? she thought, her head suddenly swimming as she relaxed her grip on the lightsaber, allowing it to roll from her grip to the ground.

 

Roe'gall's tail whipped past her head, knocking it further out of reach with an emphatic whumpf from his nostrils that made Raia wrinkle her nose again as she pushed him back, trying to make sense of what was happening. Draken's presence still confused her as she managed to sit up enough to see him grab Mitral's head, causing the Witch to scream out in rage and pain.

 

On some level, Raia could feel the mental battle as much as she could read the interplay from Mitral's withered face until Draken ultimately released her and stood ready for any retaliation she might give him. The teenage girl could tell that both were as exhausted as she felt. "Why?" she asked, rising unsteadily to her feet, Roe'gall catching her and Vex'aedr returning to her side as well. "I was leaving...you deserve whatever fate you brought on yourself and the clan."

 

Tears were falling down her cheeks again and she was beyond caring as she came to stand beside Draken. "You lied to them...and used that lie to keep power over us...and you," she paused looking at Draken to confirm as she spoke. "You're the one that put those thoughts in my head just now..." Draken nodded, not taking his eyes or his staff from the ready position.

 

The anger came on again with more tears as she began to shake in utter contempt for the woman. Closing her eyes, clenching her jaw and fists, she seethed silently as she pictured a thousand ways to vent her anger on the manipulative elder.

 

Mitral began to cackle weakly at Raia's reaction. "You stupid girl..." was all she managed to get out before her expression changed as she noticed the tree's roots shifting and folding over one another, entrapping her within them. She stared in disbelief as the girl's hand reached out, open palmed. Her head was still bowed as she closed the hand into a fist and the tree closed around her, leaving nothing but her face visible as the rest of the root systems wriggled their way into her body to feed off of her flesh.

"I was smart enough to see you as the manipulative hag you are. You aren't fit to walk the trees anymore if you ever were. It's time to be what you were destined for - food for the worms and forest. Let them cleanse your influence from this world. You are nothing," her words were strong, but her voice was a whisper as she fell to the ground once again from the exertion. She had no more tears to shed.

[darth shadowlord]

Draken watched silently as Raia used the tree to engulf and kill the witch with a great deal of satisfaction on his part. She had taken the first true step in a long path towards power and if he wasn't mistaken it seemed like she may follow the path of the Sorcerer in the future. He nodded slowly and called her sabre to his hand then handed it back to her.

 

"Well done Raia, you learned a valuable lesson today, two in fact. Never let your enemy control you, and never leave a wounded enemy at your back.'"

 

He whistled for his horse and helped her into the saddle then swung himself up onto the horse behind her. He reached into one of the saddle bags and removed a bottle of water then handed it to her along with some cold rations. When she was done, he turned the horse towards the path and they began to head back to the others. Along the way, he posed a question to her.

 

"Tell me, why did you kill her?"

[Raia Montar]

She didn't even look at him as he handed back her lightsaber, the first gift she'd ever received and from Master Raynuk. I guess this means I'm going back to him. she thought as an unpleasant feeling she couldn't readily identify gnawed at her gut. The prospect of facing him again so soon after her angry words unnerved her already frayed emotions.

 

Draken's praise did make it to her ears, but she didn't really want to listen or process it in that moment. Everything hurt far too much. The loss of her family, the brutal severing of her clan connections, killing another being, even one as repugnant as Mitral - it was all so much at once following what had happened between Emily and Raynuk.

 

She felt battered and broken, though no real physical harm had been brought to her thanks to Draken and the tuk'ata's intervention. She felt shattered into a million pieces that Draken somehow managed to get onto the horse. At first, she refused the offered drink and food as she felt too nauseous to eat, but he insisted. Thinking about how many Nightsisters he must have killed over the years, she figured he knew best.

 

When he asked why she killed Mitral she didn't answer for a long while. "She tried to kill me," on the surface it seemed so simple, yet it wasn't. Not really. Not to Raia. "She didn't have the guts to do it by her own hand. She lied about you to our Clan. She said you attacked us with the Nightsisters...but...I remember. You helped us."

 

Somehow talking seemed to help. It was almost as if his single question had opened a floodgate and Raia could do nothing to keep the words from continuing to spill out. "I thought I could go back and be safe. That my mother would at least speak for me, but...she didn't..." her voice broke slightly. "She saw it...and...disowned me. I don't have anywhere I can be safe. Not from the Imperials. That stupid Jedi woman with Emily said there was a broadcast and all the Sith are supposed to turn themselves in or be hunted."

 

"I didn't do that storm...well...not all of it. It just kind of happened when they tried to burn me and Delta. Qaela showed up and spurred it on more. I should have had Roe and Vex eat her..."

[darth shadowlord]

"She tried to kill me, she didn't have the guts to do it by her own hand. She lied about you to our Clan. She said you attacked us with the Nightsisters...but...I remember. You helped us."

 

He nodded slowly as he guided the horse back down the trail towards the others. "I know, I saw it in her memories when I broke her mind. She was always weak, I knew her before and she attempted to control my mind and become her champion and mate. Although in retrospect I should have eliminated her then. Yes, It was a long time ago to some, though for me it hasn't been all that long ago, that was my second time here."

 

"She saw it...and...disowned me. I don't have anywhere I can be safe. Not from the Imperials. That stupid Jedi woman with Emily said there was a broadcast and all the Sith are supposed to turn themselves in or be hunted. I didn't do that storm...well...not all of it. It just kind of happened when they tried to burn me and Delta. Qaela showed up and spurred it on more. I should have had Roe and Vex eat her..."

 

He frowned when she mentioned about what she had been told about the Empire. It was something he would have to consider as he was known to the Empire as a Sith.

 

"While it would have been great to have the tukatas eat her, Qaela will be dealt with in time." He looked at her and the way she kept fussing with her shirt. "The Tattoo is growing, isnt it?"

[Raia Montar]

Raia shifted uncomfortably in the saddle but nodded slowly. "Why hasn't Emily's changed, but mine won't stop growing? I didn't start getting the visions until I got it."

 

They rode a little further and were almost to the canyon when she felt as though her stomach were getting the better of her. Reaching forward suddenly, she grabbed the reigns and brought the horse to a halt before sliding down from the saddle. Dashing behind a tree, she retched and understood Draken's wisdom in making sure she had something on her stomach.

[Raynuk Montar]

Several minutes passed in an unnerving silence as Raynuk walked forward into the depths of the darkened canyon. His steps were cautious, as was his general presence as his senses and his connection to the Force were arrayed outwards to give him some measure of warning, should anything happen. But his movement was met with nothing but the silence of the canyon. The layer of bones that had been present at the canyon's entrance had disappeared the further he went into the canyon, leaving only the dirt and dust behind. It only added to the eerie silence that was now surrounding him, and even the darkness seemed unnatural and deafening. His lightsaber was bathing everything in an orange tint, but even the light of his weapon seemed to be struggling to pierce the darkness as he continued.He was aware of Alora following him a few paces back, her senses as on edge as his own were; if nothing else it allowed him to not have to focus on looking and 'feeling' behind him, knowing his former apprentice was more than capable of watching his back.

 

Whispering laughter stopped Raynuk dead; laughter that appeared to be coming from all sides. The canyon is echoing it... he thought, cursing slightly as the laughter grew louder before melting into words that continued to echo.

"You really ssshould not have come here... I gave you a chanccce to go away, to leave ussss... But you're ssssoo pessssisssstant..."

 

Raynuk practically snarled as he took another step forward, his body language much more towards preparing for combat than exploration as it had been moments before. He was about to answer the voice within the darkness , physically looking around yet still feeling nothing in terms of life, when he caught a faint glow ahead of him; a purple glow. Raynuk paused again, and the glow steadily grew until the Sith could make out a humanoid shape moving towards him. Stepping just within the circle of orange light from his lightsaber, a human man appeared. Or at least, what had once been a human man. What stood before him was very much like the Nightsister he had paused to examine following the first attack, only instead of Nightsister clothing, it was wearing an extremely tattered set of robes that Raynuk recognized instantly. It was the same set that the cultists who had brought him back from death had been wearing. This, was an undead member of the Cult of Morthos. The robes were barely holding together as they hung from the withered form of the cultist, its body missing entire patches of skin on its arms and legs. But while all of the Nightsister corpses he had seen thus far moved and acted more like animals on instinct, this one walked with an almost dignity and purpose.

 

This one still had it's mind. And what was more concerning, it's eyes were aflame with the sickly purple glow that Raynuk had seen through the darkness.

 

A second later the cultist opened its mouth, and it was then that Raynuk confirmed that this was the being that had spoken, as the voice returned. "I ssssee now why the Masssssterssss wanted you... Perhapssss they will allow me to return if I bring them their precioussss weapon."

 

The man's head jerked sideways with a tilt with a snap that Raynuk swore the head was about to come loose from its shoulders before it slowly raised a hand, palm outstretched towards Raynuk. All it took was the split second of seeing purple light growing from it's boney, crooked fingers for Raynuk to react. Raynuk snapped his own arm up from his side, bringing with it the warhammer that he still clutched within his fist before releasing it. The move turned the warhammer into nothing less than a projectile that shot across the darkness and gap between the two, slamming into side of the cultist's skull with a sickening thud-crack of metal against bone. The entire side of the cultist's head caved in with the impact, which had enough power behind it to push the cultist stumbling sideways, breaking the concentration of whatever twisted spell it was about to throw.

 

But the cultist recovered, much to the surprise of the Sith. It stood steady once more, it's head still snapped to the side with the crater of bone that clearly pointed showed where the hammer struck. But it then reached up, and with a crack-pop-snap that Raynuk actually winced at, snapped its head back into a forward facing direction, its firey, purple glowing eyes focusing on Raynuk once more.

"Ssssssso be it... The Massssstersss dont need you alive..." The cultist hissed before its entire jaw seemed to unhinge, and the same roar-scream that stopped the earlier attack tore from its mouth.

 

And then for the second time that day, the poodoo hit the fan. All around the canyon, including from behind them now, the banshee screams of undead nightsisters answered as the corpses blasted from the darkness to assail them again. The first time, the undead had caught Raynuk, Alora and Draken unaware. But this time Raynuk was ready. This time, he was quite angry. A trio of corpses swarmed him from his left, and all three were met with a flurry of his lightsaber that reduced them to little more than parts. And then Raynuk took another step towards the cultist.

 

Another group swarmed around the cultist, who seemed to be unphased, yet took a shambling step backwards as if it knew something Raynuk did not. Raynuk physically ripped the first corpse that reached him apart, delivering a fist to its stomach that tore through most of its body, giving Raynuk a nice grip on its spine, which he then ripped back out the front, placing a foot on its thigh for leverage. Suddenly Raynuk had a very sadistic and gruesome floppy weapon made of bone. He regarded it for barely half a second with a grin before he whipped it into the temple of the next screaming undead that clawed its way to him; these ones at least had the decency to stay down when he crushed their skulls in. The undead cultist however, seemed to lack that level of respect for Raynuk, and continued to slowly move back deeper into the canyon. Raynuk didnt care, he simply followed, whipping the spine as a weapon into a few more corpses as he continued forward until he came to where his warhammer had landed; only then did he abandon the spine in favor of the warhammer.

 

Raynuk was not going to stop however. Twenty, thirty, forty more corpses and undead Nightsisters fell before him as he practically stalked the cultist deeper and further into the canyon. In his mind, he would cut his way across this entire planet to pursue the cultist. And it became apparent that the cultist knew this, and planned to use that singular desire and drive against Raynuk. There was no doubt that the constant barrage of dead was slowing Raynuk down, but the cultist seemed to almost want Raynuk to be able to constantly see him; to bait the SIth perhaps. Finally the cultist stopped, and raised both of his hands into the air, palms and fingers up to the sky as more purple death-magic grew in both hands. This time, Raynuk wasnt close enough or free enough to stop the spell, and could only watch as the cultist finished, and the death magic, looking almost like purple smoke, wove its way through the air, arcing around and over Raynuk before slamming into the ground a few meters behind him.

 

Raynuk spun to follow the line of smoke, cleanly slicing the heads off of four more Nightsisters as he spun. He watched the smoke disappear into the ground, and then saw what he had neglected to see when he walked across that spot; it wasnt just dirt. There were bones there under the dirt.

 

Really big bones.

 

Raynuk's realization of what it was came half to him based on what he saw, and half based on what happened next. From under what looked to be a simple thin layer of dirt was anything but as a large clawed hand rose from underneath, slamming into the ground to leverage the rest of his body from the dirt. Within a matter of seconds, Raynuk watched as an undead rancor ripped its way back to the surface and stood tall, its skin much like the corpses he had been fighting all alone; sickly looking and entirely missing in places.

 

"Dessssstroy" the voice of the cultist shouted, the empty eye sockets of the rancor's head suddenly filling with the same purple fire as it turned and appeared to look down at Raynuk, before emitting a chilling undead roar.

 

A long series of curses was all Raynuk could think as he stared back up at the undead Rancor.

[Alora]

As Draken left the Canyon, Alora left the impression of a kiss upon his cheek. She looked up at the Force Storm, feeling the electricity surging around them, the hair on her arms standing up with the static. The Sith Mistress wrapped her whip around her waist once more, having a gut feeling that she would need her hand free for the next attack. The eerie silence was a bit unnerving as she followed Raynuk deeper into the canyon. She stretched her senses out, knowing that they were being watched but not able to see by whom. She couldn’t detect anything living besides Raynuk and herself. When the whispering laughter stopped Raynuk, she stopped as well. Her eyes searched the shadows of the darkened canyon, scanning to see where the laughter was coming from. It was difficult to pinpoint with the echo and only the light from their sabers.

 

"You really ssshould not have come here... I gave you a chanccce to go away, to leave ussss... But you're ssssoo pessssisssstant..."

 

Alora glanced at Raynuk before returning to the sides of the canyon. She dialed the switch on her saber hilt, tuning the crystals so that a silver glow surrounded the crimson blade. It allowed a brighter light to see by. Catching sight of the purple glow, they both watched as the figure moved towards them. While still keeping a close eye behind them, Alora stepped slightly to the side so that she could get a closer look at the humanoid that approached to step within the glow of the sabers. As soon as she saw the tattered robes, her body tensed significantly, recognizing them from her captivity. A low animalistic growling sound escaped her throat, her violet eyes glinting with red sparks as her anger built. She had spent years in a kind of suspended animation, held in a stasis field by the Cult. To say she was still furious with them would be a major understatement. While she still had no idea what purpose the Cult had had in mind for her, she didn’t want to get trapped by them again.

 

"I ssssee now why the Masssssterssss wanted you... Perhapssss they will allow me to return if I bring them their precioussss weapon."

 

Out of the corner of her eye she saw Raynuk’s arm raise towards his warhammer and watched as he sent it flying into the cultists head. Normally a hit caving in the side of a head would be enough to stop an enemy but this was far from normal. These zombies were relentless and already dead. The glowing purple eyes were unnatural – not like her own which were. The cultist seemed focused on her former Master which made her look around them, suspecting that it would only be a matter of time before they were surrounded again.

 

"Ssssssso be it... The Massssstersss dont need you alive..."

 

The cultist’s next words sent a chill down her spine and she spared a second to look at Raynuk again, not sure if it was aimed at just him or both of them...“I don’t like the sound of that” she murmured, her words reaching his ears just before the cultist let out another scream. She gave herself a mental shake and let the Force flow through her, feeling it’s charged energy surround her. While Draken had been using Force lightning, the Sith Mistress had refrained, not wanting to charge the air too much with the electric energy but now that he wasn’t with them it was time. She could feel the ebb and flow of the darkside energies as she gathered them.

 

As they were swarmed by the undead, Alora made sure they didn’t get between she and Raynuk, watching his back as she sent the first chain of lightning into what remained of a Nightsister as she approached. Her blade slashed through another, cutting it in half. She was aware that Raynuk was charging after the cultist as it backed away taunting him. Her movements became automatic, a dance over the broken corpses left in Raynuk’s wake as she left some of her own. With his single-mindedness Alora worried that they were being led into a trap. In fact she was sure of it. She wouldn’t be able to reach him with her voice so she aimed a shaft of thought at him with her concerns, “He’s leading us to a trap! Think!” He kept going and she struggled to keep up as the undead kept coming. In the back of her mind she knew that she hadn’t gone unscathed though she refused to think about her injuries, using the pain to fuel her anger, to use that anger at the Cult of Morthos to destroy as many undead as she could, lightning flashing just as much as she flurried her blade. Suddenly the very air seemed more charged than before, Alora sparing herself a brief moment to look around. In that split second, her eyes took in the cultist with his raised hands, the purple smoke weaving it’s way past Raynuk to disappear into the ground between them. The Sith Mistress sliced the head off another Nightsister, searing another two with lighting before taking in what was rising up out of the ground.

 

"Dessssstroy" The sound of the cultist’s voice reached her as she briefly met Raynuk’s gaze.

 

“Oh kriff”

[Raynuk Montar]

He was angry; there was no mistake about that. Every step Raynuk had taken from his tomb on Korriban had only seemed to deepen the depths of his anger. Or perhaps it had been his tempering; his almost gravitational shift away from an angry monster of his past life in terms of actions, ignoring the anger that simply built up with no outlet. But now, here in this undead canyon on Dathomir, he allowed himself an outlet for the anger that had been building from so many things. The cult's arrogance in thinking he would willingly serve them, their imprisoning of his friend and former apprentice, their attack on Draken's holdings on Serenno, their obsession with Faust's insanity on Coruscant, having his connections to Emily and Jaina explode from jealousy, and now seeing their abomination of magic and power here on Dathomir. There would be no salvation, no redemption here in this forsaken canyonl that much he knew.

 

Alora had -- rightfully so -- attempted to warn Raynuk that this was all a trap, but so much anger and rage was coursing beneath his skin that Raynuk either didnt hear, or didnt care to listen. He just continued to slice and smash through the undead that swarmed him. If he had been given a moment to contemplate the situation, he would have been glad for his armor, which had taken the brunt of more than a few deep scratches, and even a few poorly thought out bites from the corpses. But there was no time for reflection as the undead rancor pounded the ground with its massive, partially decomposed fists and began charging at Raynuk. The Sith brought his warhammer cracking down onto the skull of the closest undead horror, utterly obliterating it, and channeled his anger, hardening it into resolve. In perhaps the most unexpected -- and potentially stupidest -- move he could do, Raynuk yelled back at the rancor and charged right at it.

 

The rancor was too dead -- or dumb -- to be phased by this small thing running at it yelling; it had probably seen any number of Nightsisters try the same tactic, and had squished or eaten them without much thought. But this time would be different, as Raynuk closed the gap and once again threw his warhammer. This time the distance was further, and allowed Raynuk the time to add a hefty amount of power and speed behind the hammer with the Force before it impacted the rancor's left shoulder with a surprising sound of crunching bone. But more importantly, the hammer hit hard enough to push the shoulder back, slowing the rancor down and momentarily throwing it off balance. It was the opening Raynuk needed as, with his now free hand, pulled Navemiba from it's sheath under his bracer and flung it as hard as he could as well. The chained blade rocketed up, embedding itself in the cheek of the rancor, which responded with a wail of frustration.

 

Raynuk pulled hard on the chain now that it was anchored; it had the dual effect of pulling the rancor's head down, and with a bit of aid from the Force, allowed Raynuk to jump and scale the beast moments before he would have been otherwise trampled of squished by a giant fist. His feet found purchase against skin a few times climbing the monster, and each time he was able, he slashed at the rancor with his lightsaber. By the time Raynuk's hand met with Navemiba again, the rancor had deep slashes and cuts at its ankle, behind the knee, upper thigh, three at it's stomach, one at it's chest and another at it's shoulder. The rancor was roaring in protest to such wounds, its giant hands too slow as it tried to swat at the Sith as he moved. Raynuk peered into the monsterous eye, bigger than his own head, and still glowing with the tainted purple magic, and saw nothing within. A second later, his lightsaber was plunged into the purple-depths and through the back of its eye socket.

 

But as Raynuk had been forced to remember as a giant clawed hand finally gripped him, this was not a normal rancor. Despite the gallons of blood, guts and bile that were oozing from all of its wounds, the rancor was still standing, puppeteered by the tainted Nightsister magic. The hand pulled Raynuk down, away from it's face, but Raynuk gritted his teeth as he tightened his own grip on his lightsaber. The result was Raynuk and his lightsaber being pulled down, tearing through bone and flesh, leaving a huge gaping wound that extended from the rancor's eye, down its cheek and neck, all the way to its collarbone. Only then did Raynuk's lightsaber get pulled clear of flesh as the rancor roared again. He had realized too late that they were not roars of pain, but of anger and frustration; it felt no pain. Instead it chose to grip Raynuk higher, around his abdomen and pinning his arms against his body within it's grip.

 

Behind him, Raynuk heard the laughter of the cultist, who had once again retreated into the shadows. It was laughter that only deepened the Sith's anger at everything. Slowly being crushed by the claw -- another moment he would later be glad he had his armor -- Raynuk looked for the cultist, but saw Alora instead, clearing herself of a mob of corpses as the lightning storm Draken began shifted to her control and bidding. He’s leading us to a trap! she had said through the Force, Think!

 

Think...

 

Raynuk's eyes darted from Alora to the ground around the rancor's feet, scrambling to locate his warhammer as an idea struck him. Precious seconds ticked by before he spotted a few feet behind him deeper into the canyon. He reached out with the Force, fighting against the litteral sense of crushing around him, and pulled the hammer towards him. But he did not catch it, instead letting it shoot by him, picking up speed and then used the Force again to push it and guide it. The hammer rocketed towards the Rancor's head, smashing into and lodging itself in the large wound in its face, eliciting another roar as the Rancor tried unsuccessfully to paw at the relatively small hammer.

 

"Alora.." Raynuk tried to yell, but barely managed a normal voice as he Rancor squeezed him harder; he couldnt speak.

 

Alora! Lightning... HAMMER! Now! he roared through the Force, knowing that this next part was going to hurt. A lot.

 

The moment Alora turned the lightning storm on the rancor, Raynuk ignited his lightsaber once more. His arm had been pinned across his body, and unfortunately the business end of his lightsaber was pressed into his body roughly where his kidney was. In a split second, his orange blade tore through his body, but also tore through one of the rancor's clawed fingers, Raynuk snarled in pain as the rancor yelled and lost its grip on the SIth, who fell rather unceremoniously to the ground, barely catching himself into a roll to mitigate the impact, coming up on one knee, right hand plastered to his side as he coughed up a bit of blood. His eyes were orbs of fire as he stared into the darkness where the purple magic that licked at the cultist's eyes was still visible. He heard, but paid no attention to the sound of Alora's lightning storm utterly decimate the rancor behind him. He tried standing once, but feeling the sharp pain again returned to a knee with another cough.

 

"Fine... We'll do it... the hard way" He said through gritted, slightly bloody teeth.

 

His left hand shot forward amidst a wince of pain, twisting the Force to his bidding,wrapping it around the cultist's neck. From the darkness, the cultist began laughing in return. The cultist was undead; meaning a Force choke was utterly useless.

 

"Sssstupid Sssssith... I am beyond the need for air." the cultist mused in return, sensing a looming victory over Raynuk.

 

The cultist was brash and cocky enough, even in undeath, that it instead began walking forward towards the injured and lowered Raynuk, who remained silent, breathing heavy until the cultist was close enough to see. The undead cultist laughed again, and began to speak again. And that is when Raynuk struck; despite the cultist not needing air, Raynuk had never intended for it to be a Force choke, and had kept the grip as firm as he could as the cultist closed. But now, with the strength he had left, Raynuk tore his left hand backwards, pulling with it the invisible coil of Force around the cultist's neck.

 

The result was a disturbing pop as the cultist's entire head was physically ripped from it's body, snapping the spine in the process. The head arced towards Raynuk as the now headless body slumped, and bounced twice before coming to rest a few inches from him, face down in the dust. But like the Nightsister before, the head was still 'alive', and Raynuk could hear the face trying to yell past the dirt, having it reduced to incoherent muffled mumbles. But the Sith was so done with this Force-forsaken canyon. Shifting himself to both knees, he straightened, gritting through the wave of pain from his side, and locking both fists together, began smashing his bare hands into the skull, over and over and over again.

 

He was relentless, smashing his fists continuously into it, reducing it to bone fragments that cut at his hands and bloody mush. And still he continued, ignorant to all around him until there was nothing left but bloody dust under his fists. Only then did Raynuk stop his rampage, and the pain caught up to him, causing the Sith to fall over as his mind scrambled to fight off unconsciousness.

[darth shadowlord]

Draken guided the horse into the canyon, following the path of the dismembered corpses along the way till he came around the corner and swung from the saddle. His legs buckled for a moment, then caught himself with his staff and regained his footing. He looked up at Raia and handed her a slugthrower from his cloak. "Here, there may still be corpses that walk here. Point the barrel at the chest of your target and gently squeeze the trigger." He looked at the tukatas for a moment, knowing that it was unlikely that she would need the gun then glanced around for a moment before spotting a group of nearly dead Nightsisters moving behind Raynuk and Alora while their attention was on the reanimated rancor. He leveled his staff towards them and took back some of the control of the force storm from Alora. Unleashing a gout of lightning, he incinerated the group. He strode forward, the Storm revitalizing him as he moved through it.

 

He reached Quietus and reached down and pulled him to his feet, then pulled the warhammer over and dropped it in front of him. As he did, a large panther like feline climbed atop a spar of rock, its black coat gleaming as the moonlight hit it. It crawled its way to the edge of the spar, crouching as it spied him and the nightsister behind him with dagger raised. With a roar that resounded the panther leapt from the rock, colliding with and crushing the Nightsister beneath it before savaging her with its massive fangs and claws. Draken looked behind him and nodded to the cat then turned back to Raynuk.

 

"Time to finish this Brother."

 

He turned and unleashed the remainder of the storm down the canyon. He watched as the lightning pulverized everything in front of them, zombies, nightsisters and rocks alike then the wind carrying the tiny frangments of rock and bone further down the canyon like so much shrapnel. As it did, he realized that a previous theory of his had just been proven correct. It seemed that the canyon acted like a chimney for the storm drawing it through the length of the canyon before slowly dissipating. Draken grounded the staff, the tip of it resting on a rock as the panther walked up to him and headbutted him with a quiet snarl. He looked down at it with a chuckle and shook his head before snarling back at it.

[Raia Montar]

Raia rinsed her mouth out from the canteen before Draken helped her back up and they continued toward the canyon. Whatever feelings of unease she'd been feeling before only amplified at seeing the contaminated area first-hand. Shivers ran down her spine as the came across the rotting corpses that littered the ground and she wondered if these had been the "Walking Dead" Mitral had mentioned during Raia's captivity.

 

She'd trained as a healer for most of her life and had spent a lot of time in the jungle immersed in the life-force of the planet itself. To see this sickness, this corruption, this disease tore at her heart more and made her skin crawl. As Master Draken confirmed as much, she felt the weight of a weapon pressed into her hand as she remained atop the mount. The girl merely nodded and instinctively kept her finger away from the triggering mechanism until and unless she was ready to fire the weapon.

 

She tried to urge the horse further into the canyon, following behind Draken, but the beast would have none of it, especially not as a familiar roar, though somehow twisted to something more perverse as though the sound was no longer natural to the beast. Memories of that strange dream she'd shared with the blind girl came flooding back as she took a deep breath and slipped from the steed's back and forced herself to follow Draken's path deeper into the unholy canyon.

 

Turning a corner that afforded her a view that ran the length of the feature, she froze for a second before Vex pressed her forward with a gentle butt of his head. A rancor, or at least something that looked like it had been one once, stood with Raynuk in its grip as Alora worked the storm into a further frenzy and delivered her own powerful assault against the creature. She couldn't move, couldn't process what was unfolding before her eyes as Raynuk bodily sacrificed to gain his freedom from the beast.

 

Raia stood transfixed as Raynuk decimated another cultist in a blind fury that left her hiding behind Roe'gall as Vex'aedr dashed off to aid his master. Please get up... she silently entreated whatever Forces were listening.Those can't have been my last words to him...they can't... Tears she didn't think she had left began streaming down her cheeks.

 

From somewhere along the breeze that fed the backflow of the storm a chorus of voices she couldn't identify reached her in reply. It is your decision to make Little One. Decide and we shall aid you in your course.

 

She closed her eyes and wiped them as she forced herself to a measure of control and hugged Roe'gall before whispering "Take me to him, please...I have to help." The great beast dipped his head so she could climb onto his back and was off as soon as she'd stowed the weapon Draken had given her and was settled comfortably.

 

The wind whistled past her ears as Roe'gall made short work of the distance tearing at her plaited hair and filling her with an odd energy she only half-remembered. Whatever her clan had decided, Raia knew in that instant that this world had claimed her as its own. In her childhood solitude, she'd found and made a powerful friend and ally and one that she knew she'd need to help Raynuk.

 

As she neared, he tried to rise again and she didn't fail to notice the blood trickling from his mouth. "Master...please let me help..." I don't want to lose you too... She looked exhausted, and there were still some singe and scorch marks from where the flames had sparked and marred her clothes, but there was a desperation in her dark brown eyes that belied her own fears.

 

Gently she helped him get to a position where she could get a closer look, something that was harder in the failing light of the Dathomiri night. She knew she'd have to open herself to the guidance of the magicks and the Force if she was to do more good than harm, a thought that scared her very much because she didn't want to get lost again. She felt lost enough.

 

Reaching out toward the rupture in the armor plates that easily marked the wound itself, Raia's fingers came away with a warm, sticky, dampness that smelt of burned flesh. Her own breaths came quicker as the smell reminded her of what she'd endured not mere hours before and she found herself fighting for control again. Another grunt of pain as she absently felt for the exit wound helped her to focus a bit better and she forced the images and feelings back. If she were going to be of any help whatsoever to Raynuk, then she had to focus.

"This might hurt a bit," she said shakily, fighting with her own fears of getting swept away by the Force once again as she tore the fabric a bit more to expose the wound. She'd never attempted anything like this before but didn't want Raynuk to know that small detail. She could feel the wind pick up around her and focused on the growing things she knew to be on the outside of the corrupted area as her hand closed over his wound and she gave herself over to the planet's growth energies.

[Delta73]

Picking up the broadcasts from the RCAA2 network that was connected to the mandalorian helmet that Qaela was wearing, the Marie spun into action. Firing their rear sublight engines, the Marie literally burned its way through the lower atmosphere towards the now devastated dathomiri village. Thousands of acres disappeared into billowing forest fires, burning sleeping villages, rancors, and innocent burrowing rodents alive. Most gunners aboard the Marie simply leaned on their control panels as they sped across the planet, firing off hundreds of rounds into the wild ranges of the planet. It was negligent. It was a catastrophe, it was of no tactical significance, save to scar the planet for generations. If there was anything the Black Sun was good at recently, it was to scar things for generations. As the ship passed over crop laden fields, the rear cargo hatches opened and several thousands tonnes of Quarian Rock salt spilled into the once fertile ground.

 

The captain smiled. It was like punching a baby in the face to steal his candy. It was so satisfying.

 

When the Marie finally landed at the ruined dathomiri village Delta ushered Qaela and himself quickly on board. He tossed a ragged piece of scalp to an orderly and demanded several clones be made before rushing to the bridge to answer an urgent message.

“Commander Krales, I am ready if you are to go where ever takes us off this god damned burning rock. Are we still down to conduct the Bothowi Operation? Because if so, we need to pull it off a little tactically. Or we might get null- I mean we might not succeed.”

Docking clearance was given to the leader of the Black Sun in the forward docking port as the ship made ready to head into hyperspace.

[Alora]

She didn’t have time to shift focus to the undead rancor, not when she was still having to battle with the undead Nightsisters. A quick glance told her that Raynuk was fighting the rancor though she couldn’t spare more than that, she couldn’t even go to his aid against it because the zombies just kept coming out of the shadows.

 

Alora! Lightning... HAMMER! Now!

 

Her eyes shot towards Raynuk, catching his meaning and his situation instantly and harnessing more of the lightning. The power she felt from the storm tingled through her body, her flame red hair danced around her as if it had a mind of it’s own. She saw the orange glow of his saber and swore when she realized what he had done. Seeing her former Master roll clear she sent the concentrated power of the lightning straight towards the rancor, the undead creature being destroyed utterly. Bits of rotted flesh and bone were sent in every direction as the beast exploded.

 

Hearing another lightning hit behind her, Alora spun around in time to see a group of Nightsisters being destroyed. Her eyes met with Draken’s and she heaved a sigh of relief. When the black panther appeared next to him she smiled briefly before turning her attention to defense once more although the tide had stemmed off somewhat, there were still undead creatures out there. She felt Draken take control of the storm and unleash it down the canyon and felt a wave of exhaustion roll through her. Looking down she could see where some of the zombie-fied creatures had gotten through her defenses. She had an assortment of scratches dents and deep gouges cut into her armour. She had been very glad that she had worn it. She watched as the storm dissipated, another silence falling over the canyon. Slowly she walked over to Draken, her eyes going to see that Raia was now with Raynuk and was looking over his injuries. She moved to the girls side, placing a hand gently on her shoulder. “I’ll help where I can. What do you need?”

[Raynuk Montar]

One minute he was enacting sweet revenge on an undead cultist, and the next Raynuk was staring upwards into the sky and stars above Dathomir. He realized then how few opportunities he had really taken to just look at the stars, especially from a planet. Quite frankly, they were beautiful he thought; millions and millions of little pin pricks of light scattered across countless lightyears. There was probably light reaching Dathomir that had started their journey across the blackness of space before Raynuk was even born. Wait...

 

And then just as quickly as the moment of reflective solitude came to him, the rest of his mind caught up. And he remembered why he found himself lying on his back, looking upwards. Draken's bearded visage came into view just then, reaching down and helped pull Raynuk to his feet.

 

"Time to finish this Brother." Draken said, depositing the warhammer at Raynuk's feet before turning his attention to the lingering storm.

 

Raynuk attempted to stand tall once more, and the blissful ignorance of his wound caught up to him; suddenly his entire side erupted into fiery pain as though someone had stabbed him with a flaming knife. Oh thats right, I did. he grudgenly remembered. The pain pushed Raynuk back down to a knee once more with its sudden occurrence, the pain and feel of fire suddenly shooting down the entirety of his right leg as if its entire length had been branded by a hot iron; an event that he chalked up to the nerves in his abdomen and brain playing tricks on him. He coughed hard, the taste of blood in his mouth before he harshly spit it to the dirt. The pain that was inflicted on him, both self caused and not, had caught him surprised when his consciousness solidified itself, threatening to push him back over the edge. Draken's appearance had fended that off momentarily, giving Raynuk enough time to fortify his mind and pull the Force to him.

 

Pain is a tool... Pain is strength...

 

The voice within carried upon the touch of the Force, and Raynuk began to grip at the ground, closing his fists around dirt as he tried to channel the pain into action and dull himself of its presence. But that moment too was short lived as another corpse charged at him, knocking him over and out of his focus. Raynuk snarled in fresh pain, both hands coming up in defense, holding flailing limbs as the jaw tried to snap at him.

 

tha-dump, tha-dump, tha-dump

 

Raynuk felt the vibrations first, then heard the sound of heavy paws a split second before a large white mass slammed into the side of the attacking corpse, ripping it out of Raynuk's hands and off him with enough speed and power that Raynuk was partially rolled onto his stomach with another growl of pain. He followed the movement long enough to see that Vex'aedr was back, and in full hunter-killer mode, not even giving the corpse a split second of recovery before teeth, limbs and claws shredded it to pieces before quickly snapping back into a run and leaping at another corpse. Raynuk simply rolled over, silently remembering that he at least had been comfortable in the sky-gazing moments before. Alora was still on her feet he knew, and Draken had returned, taking control of the storm once again, and Vex'aedr was back too which --

 

Vex'aedr was back.

 

The realization was enough to push unconsciousness back once more, just in time for another series of tha-dump sounds -- less intense but still fast -- to reach him. He managed to turn his head, seeing Roe'gall this time tearing towards him, a flash of brown hair, much like his had been in his youth, appearing from the tuk'ata's back.

 

What is he doing here too? Raynuk thought, attempting to push up from his prone position again as the pair neared, her voice calling out with enough worry and concern to overtake his own sense of pride and lay back down slightly. Besides, he had already decided that the dirt was oddly comforting to lie on. She appeared over him, kneeling beside him as he tried to flash a smile that probably only showed how much blood had ended up in and around his mouth. While she began to gingerly prod around the fresh hole he had given himself, he really looked at her, as he had done maybe twice before. There was exhaustion, sorrow, worry, and fear on her features and behind her eyes. But the sight and feeling of his blood on her fingers seemed to trouble the girl only further, and he knew she was barely keeping herself together in that moment.

 

"Dont..." he began to speak, pausing to grunt in pain before he pressed on through it, "Dont give up... on me now mazais. It'll take a lot more...than this to get rid of...me."

 

His hand found her forearm, which he felt trembling slightly before he tightened his grip to steady her mentally and physically.

 

"This might hurt a bit," she said shakily, to which he gave her a confident nod as Alora appeared behind the girl and rested a hand on her shoulder, offering her own help. Raynuk turned his attention to her for a moment and offered a silent thank you to his former apprentice before he looked back at Raia.

 

"Raia... you need... to not be afraid... of your... powers. You can control them... but your fears... of what may happen... and what has happened... in the past, means... the Force is... controlling you... instead of... the other way... around." his voice remained strong and oddly calm, pausing only to crest the waves of pain that came from talking.

 

His hand on her forearm, the hand that still bore the oddly wood-grain markings, squeezed her arm gently. His eyes remained on her face, waiting for the moment when she would meet his gaze and find the confidence that rested within; confidence of his words, and confidence in her abilities. He saw a tear streak down her face and nod finally, before looking up to Alora.

 

"Don't let me fall in again..." she said quietly, still showing a bit of fear before looking back down and placing her hand over the wound.

 

What followed from Raynuk's perspective was akin to having someone pour fuel into the open wound, light it on fire, and then stomp it out with the foot of an AT-AT repeatedly, It took everything he had, including a fair amount of grunting, growling and slamming his fist into the ground to fight through the massive influx of pain and keep from passing out once more. But he had to stay conscious and aware of his surroundings for Raia's sake. He had seen what letting the power of the Force into her mind could do, and its penchant of rending the girl unconscious was at the forefront of his thought process; right behind the "OH HOLY KRIFF THE PAIN!" response of his body. But through it all, he had managed to connect with her mind like he had previously; before the incident with the tree. He didnt know how well he would be able to anchor her given his current state, but he also felt Alora reach her presence out to the girl as well. Perhaps together it would be enough to steady Raia's control and make the powers workable.

 

What seemed like an eternity of fighting against the onrush of pain had only lasted a few seconds, and when it finally stopped, Raynuk could tell immediately the effect it had. Were it not for Alora's hand on her shoulder, Raia would have likely slumped over herself; unconscious again, but seemingly having been able to control the power; or at least able to cut it off when it was time. But Alora had caught her and carefully lowered her to where she wouldnt fall over, and so Raynuk craned his neck, hand leaving Raia's arm as he felt the wound. Initially all he could feel was the sticky mess of blood and cloth around his wound. But then he realized, and then confirmed with his own eyes as he sat up slightly.

 

The wound was gone. Replaced by the bright pink of new skin . he could still feel the lingering effects on the muscles and tissues below the skin which he knew would be sore for quite a while. Carefully, and with considerably less pain, Raynuk returned to his feet, his hand still absent-mindedly going to cover where he had moments before been injured, and for the first time since he had stabbed himself, took account of the canyon around him; it was practically empty. Raynuk, Alora, Draken, Raia and the tuk'atas were the only ones around anymore. The tuk'atas were still tearing into some of the corpses that had fallen but still moving, and Draken was standing a good distance away, the storm still controlled within his hands and waiting for more things to strike. Raynuk scanned the area until he found what was left of the undead cultist that had been his final kill, and wordlessly moved to it before he began searching the body for anything that seemed important, finding only a datapad that had unfortunately been smashed, rendering the display unusable. Still... information could be recovered... he thought, tucking it away into his own belt, still moving gingerly. Next he recovered his warhammer and lightsaber from where both weapons had come to rest, before returning to Raia, with Alora still at her side, who seemed slightly concerned.

 

"She'll be okay... We'll make sure of that. Just... not here." He said, knowing that the connection between him and the girl was now more solid than it had ever been before.

 

He whistled to the tuk'atas, both of which looked at him and froze; they had both taken a corpse and decided to play tug of war against each other, with one end in each of the tuk'atas jaws. They glanced at each other quickly and both pulled back as hard as they could, resulting in the corpse ripping in half before both tuk'atas dropped their pieces and ran over to Raynuk. Vex was clearly happy to see Raynuk standing again, giving him a not-so-gentle nudge in the shoulder and a whuff. Roe'gall however was more... reserved. Despite the fact that it had been Raynuk's hands that created the black tuk'ata, he had given the beast to Emily many years ago. Roe'gall was irrevocably closer and more bonded with her than with him; and because of that Roe'gall had been subjected to whatever negative thoughts and feelings towards him that Emily had bathed in following their fight. Though Raynuk did still possess a connection to his first pet, no matter how much time and distance separated their own adventures.

 

He reached out to Roe'gall, a gesture that he knew the beast had not forgotten. Though Roe'gall did pause a few seconds before stepping forward and meeting Raynuk's hand with the side of his head, gently pressing against it.

 

"Well hello old friend... It's been some trip recently huh? But why are you here?" He asked Roe'gall, reaching out with the Force to the beast, waiting for an answer.

 

Master said stay with girl. Said keep safe and protect. Said no want girl alone. came the reply from within Roe'gall's mind.

 

Raynuk simply nodded and gave the black tuk'ata a pat on the side. "And so you did... She would be proud of you. But now we need to get her out of here."

 

He turned back to Raia, stooping down to gently pick her up, ignoring the tenderness still present in his side. He placed her atop Roe'gall's back, much as the girl had emerged into the canyon as, and then turned to walk towards Draken. He knew there would be more to find within the canyon.

[Zalis Krales]

Zalis kept her keen eyes open for any sight of Delta, along with an open ear on the comm to catch the words she wanted to hear. For some odd reason, she felt a bit more worried about the Vigo then she wanted. Had it been any other Black Sun operative, she may have left planet side by now. But Delta... she lingered around for. She quickly reasoned within her own mind that it was due to his well known status in the galaxy and connections he had. She almost jumped out of her pilot's chair when the comm finally did burst with life. Her mind slowed for only a second in relief to hear Delta's voice. She quickly responded back.

 

"Delta, it's not a good idea to leave a woman waiting. Luckily for you, I'm in the mood for a new fur coat. I'll be docked in less then a minute."

 

Zalis quickly turned the Supremacy towards the docking port that was being opened for her. As her ship docked, Zalis shut down the engines of her own ship and made sure she was ready for the trip. She was already dressed in her black pants with a white shirt with her holsters already for weapons and a black trench coat. She sent a quick comm to Delta to let him know she was on board and he could leave the system whenever it pleased him.

[Delta73]

Delta tapped onto the data terminal for a few moments, looking through lists of cargo before responding to the leader of the black sun. “Do you want Ewok or Wookiee Fur for your coat?” He clicked two buttons and looked back at the medical droid that was attaching a new arm to his grizzled stump. “What do you think doc?” The droid did not respond and Delta rolled his eyes. He lifted up his tunic and got changed into a bright crimson representation of a coresec officer’s uniform as the droid finished up. As the Marie dashed into hyperspace Delta made his way to his office and sat, typing out idle chit chat on his holopad to Jaina Jade. As Qaeala was in her room with her daughter, who had magically survived, he felt comfortable typing out a long and explicit message before the Leader of the Black Sun arrived.

[Jaina Jade Skywalker]

A comm comes in for Delta from an undisclosed location in the Unknown Regions.

 

 

Thanks for the presents, Ca'Aran, you really know how to turn on the charm. But don't you have a girlfriend or something? Anyways, I think this should be enough money to cover the cost of my dress. I'll have to be home before midnight, though. - Jaina

 

[Lusef Aryan]

A Delta Class shuttle touched down on a secluded section of swamp, not too far from where the Sith were battling it out. The shuttle lowered and three white robed figures took the lead, all dressed in the armor of Imperial stormtroopers. The trio moved with careful precision, scoping out the ground, wary of either witches or the Sith they were set to encounter, plus the other myriad dangers that the swamps of Dathomir had to offer for the unwary. They were far from unwary, and the figure rolling down the ramp, despite its feeble looking state was anything by unwary looking.

 

"All clear, my lord," one of them said a perfunctory, but respectful voice. He was trained when Vladimir Faust first joined the Empire and rose up to the ranks of general. Versed in ground tactics, the trooper, code name Luciferian-Alpha, along with the similarly named L-Beta and L-Gamma were part of an elite squad that survived the end of their lord's last encounter on Coruscant, having been stationed in the periphery of the galaxy, trying to create a diversion. As such, they missed the attempt to consume their very souls, and dismissed the tale as lies and propaganda. When the call came to escort a high ranking officer, these remnants of the Imperial remnant jumped at the call. They didn't descend to the ground on foot, instead descending in a formal of personal speeder not unlike the type Dooku used in his flight from Geonosis, though more compact and with heavier armaments.

 

The person they escorted was in a hoverchair, bound to it with tubes and wires that looked vaguely like medical devices and life support, though there was something too obvious about it, as if it tried to emphasize the weakness and vulnerability of the figure in the chair. A more studied look would show it was heavily armed and fit alongside the personal speeders its escorts used. The person within was covered in a white robe and cowl, the latter drooping over a very pale face and nearly bloodless lips. Under the robe, the faintest hint of a white coat and shirt could be seen. He moved the chair without a single motion of his fingers, hands gloved and steepled together. A very, very faint blue glow could be seen coming out from under the hood.

 

"Thank you, Alpha," he whispered softly. The voice was firm, measured, and infamously familiar to any who would hear it.

 

"My lord," responded one of the other troopers, a female voice. "Do you think the Sith will be receptive to your offer? Intelligence reports they are fighting the Cult of Morthos." She had received only a brief outline of what their mission was prior to receiving their escort. Beta didn't doubt the intelligence that lead them here, knowing her lord had at least one eye among the Witches here, one who was still loyal after the disaster at Ground Zero, Zero, Zero.

 

The wheelchair bound man turned his head, face still bent and drooped in the cowl. "It does not matter," he replied simply. "Either they will, or the ghosts of the Cult of Morthos they are chasing down will be drawn to us. Either way, the plan proceeds as I've foreseen." He glances at the three, a faint blue glow sweeping over them. A pity these three had no force talent, but almost all of his Acolytes were killed in the final Ritual. He'd scoured the Galaxy since his failure. He needed someone moderately skilled in the Dark Side to carry on his plans, and all of his most devout followers had perished or vanished, vehemently opposed to how he used them. "Either way," he adds, his voice a rasping whisper. "There is a reason I'm coming to them like this." He raises his gloved hand softly, stroking one of the tubes connecting him to his medichair. "There are so few of you left with your loyalty. Whatever happens, you are to preserve yourselves and this shuttle first. Am I understood?" His voice is even and calm, but the steel and harshness in it makes the trio shiver. "Gamma, have this ship in the waiting. We'll used the arranged extraction procedure once contact is made. The usual signal applies." He lowers his head, getting a read from his vessel in Coronet City. All going according to plan there.

 

"Understood, Lord Faust," Gamma says with a salute, returning to the craft, taking the controls. Escorted by Luciferian Alpha & Beta, their master hovers his way through the swamp, heading towards a canyon that they'd been able to scan before touching down...

[darth shadowlord]

Draken stood silently several yards away from the remainder of the group, glancing over at them once or twice to guage how Raia was doing once Alora went to assist her. She had a significant amount of power, of that much he was certain. The only problem was that she was uncertain how to control it and for now it seemed that it controlled her. He pondered for a moment, weighing the options that stood before her while she worked on Quietus. Following the path of the warrior seemed ill-advised given her personality, the path of the assassin held some potential given her abilities but she seemed to have already taken steps towards the path of the Krath without realizing it. He reached out for a moment, viewing her with the force while she worked and saw that her presence already had taken on certain subtle nuances of that were telltale signs of Krath weavings.

 

He nodded to himself, all that would be needed would be a subtle nudge or two on his part and she would likely take further steps down the path. At his side annoyed at not being noticed the panther headbutted his leg again with a yowl. Draken looked down at the large cat with a grin at its annoyance.

 

"Well my deadly companion, what do I do with you since you seem to have adopted me?" The panther snarled lightly then stalked away from him and over to a dying Nightsister. The cat looked down at the Nightsister for a moment then with a growl crushed her skull with its jaw and shake of its neck with an audible crunch of bone. It dropped the body and stalked back over to him and headbutted him again, Draken chuckled and reach down and scratched behind the panther's ears as he looked down at it. "You need a name that is suitable." He pondered a moment, mulling over names in ancient Sith before coming across one that would fit the great cat.

 

"Kraķis." The panther tilted its head for a moment then paced around him before sitting back on it haunches beside him with a contented growl.

[Alora]

"She'll be okay... We'll make sure of that. Just... not here."

 

Alora nodded to Raynuk, "Yes we will." Her eyes were on Raia as she recalled the power she'd felt coming from the girl as she healed Raynuk. It was extraordinary. No wonder she had trouble with falling into it, Alora had had to concentrate on keeping the teen grounded while all that power had flowed through her. She had felt Raynuk linking with Raia as well... and through that and her own long unused bond with her former Master, had felt his extreme pain. At one point she had rested her other hand on her own side, feeling the echo of that pain herself. "She will be a very powerful Sith," the Seductress murmured as Raynuk lifted Raia onto Roe'gall's back.

 

The Sith Mistress stepped towards Draken, moving to stand at his side and smiled as her gaze fell to the black panther sitting on the other side of him before she began to search the canyon again. She would be glad to leave it. Catching a brief glimpse of something on one of the walls as another bolt of lightning lit the sky, Alora's hand closed on her hilt again as she walked towards it. She ignited her saber, the silvery glow surrounding the crimson blade lit up the deep crack on the wall. What she had seen was a reflected glint from a metal buckle. She used the Force to feel out any traps before her hand reached up to pull the journal from the crack. There were a few symbols pressed into the leather cover. Keeping her saber lit, Alora moved back over to Draken to show him what she'd found. "I can't understand the symbol's... do you recognize any of them?"

[Raynuk Montar]

Raynuk continued moving past Draken as the other's new panther pet demanded attention. He was still feeling the tender pain at his side with every step, but it also had become more manageable; each step brought him only a grimace by now. The tuk'atas shadowed him every step forward deeper into the canyon, but both seemed to be less on edge now that the majority of the undead had been taken care of. They of course didnt let their guard down however, their heads continuing to swivel back and forth. Vex'aedr stuck closer to Raynuk, Roe'gall a few meters back, adopting a more protected position given that it had Raia still on it's back.

 

It wasnt long before Raynuk was surprised to find he had reached the end of the canyon, and that was enough to give him pause, and with him the tuk'atas. He reached out with his senses into the cave, but felt nothing once again. Why am I not surprised... he thought before pressing forward into the cave itself. A few steps in however, he paused and turned to Roe'gall.

"Stay. Keep your oath." The words were phrased like an instruction, but Raynuk knew it would be taken as little more than a suggestion to the beast.

 

He turned then to Vex'aedr and gave the white tuk'ata a nod before continuing into the cave. The fact that his lightsaber was still within his grasp had gone unnoticed up until this point, and Raynuk could not help but look at the hilt in his hand, now freshly stained by his own flesh and blood. But the moment passed as he turned back to the cave itself, igniting the blade to illuminate his way. The cave was small, almost cramped in contrast to the canyon outside. But there in the depths of the cave, Raynuk at last found some sense of answers. Almost against the back wall of the cave, Raynuk and Vex'aedr found a small pedestal that had been sundered and lay broken on the floor of the cave, and not far away a sphere of glass that lay cracked, faintly pulsing with the same sickly purple glow that he had seen among the shambling corpses. But perhaps most telling of all he found one more corpse within the cave; another Nightsister, older than any he had seen before.

 

Or at least what remained of one.

 

The woman showed no outward signs of having been affected by the tainted magic that all others he had come across thus far had, but instead lay broken and bent in ways that were simply unnatural. There were no bruises and no outward injuries, but it was clear that the majority of the woman's bones had been nothing less than pulverized, leaving what amounted to a sack of shattered bones. muscle and organs. There would be little answers to be found from the body, and he knew it, but the cracked orb was a different story. When he turned his attention to it and crossed to examine it, he swore he heard whispers emanating from within. Crouching down with a wince of pain, his hand shifting to his side, he stared at the orb, trying to discern and make sense of the whispers held within.

 

"Choono slalem denni tay'lori olee-ay... Lucheno vadem klavlane... Blenay vedi nalem koreem... Blenay vedi nalem koreem... Kravish ecknu tuchav keev pro furm-ah... Villos susko kono lamal Vlemon tagoo"

 

 

The words repeated, each time a bit fainter as the sickly purple glow continued to fade. But Raynuk had heard enough, and perhaps more troubling, he recognized a majority of the words; he had heard some of them in the moments before his resurrection. But with the recognition of the words came the instinct to ensure that the spell that had been woven never see the light of day again. Considering for a moment, he returned to the corpse of the ancient looking witch, and tore a good sized portion of cloth from her robes, and carefully picked up and wrapped the orb in the cloth, turning to Vex'aedr, who walked almost hesitantly closer. Raynuk moved to affix the swaddled orb around Vex's neck, but stopped as he watched the beast flinch in recoiling as the orb came closer.

 

"You can feel the evil of this too..." he murmured, then reached up to reassure the white tuk'ata. "Only until we get back to the ship, I promise."

 

Vex'aedr gave a short snort and bowed his head slightly, regretfully allowing Raynuk to drape the orb around his neck. Raynuk wanted to remove himself from this canyon just as much as his pet now did, and so he wasted no more time within the cave. He emerged to find Roe'gall laying down, Raia still safely on his back, but the black tuk'ata stood as Raynuk and Vex exited the cave. Raynuk said nothing as he passed, aiming towards where Draken and Alora had gathered and were examining a book of sorts. Draken was stroking his beard in thought, Alora holding the book and looking at her love with a sparkle of amusement and affection that Raynuk could not help but smile slightly in admiration for his fellow Sith.

"I think I know what happened here... and why the cult came here. But I think it's about time to get the hell out of this damn canyon; We could all use a rest. I'll tell you what I found as we ride back to the compound."

 

He barely waited for a response before continuing towards the entrance of the canyon, leading the two tuk'atas until they reached the horses. With only a bit of struggle (and a bit of an embarrassing nudge from Vex'aedr) Raynuk managed to climb back atop the horse, and once Alora, Draken and his new panther had joined and were ready, the group began making their way back through the forests and swamps of Dathomir towards the compound where their ships lay resting.

 

====================================================

 

As the group traveled, Raynuk told Draken and Alora about the broken datapad he found on the cultist, and recounted the words that the cultist had said before summoning the rancor. Draken in turn told of his trip to Raia's village, her rescue, and the brief fight with Mitral and her fate before returning to the canyon. Through it all, Raynuk could not help but look at Raia atop Roe'gall. The sheer amount that the girl had experienced and exerted herself over the course of the day brought a frown to the face of the Sith Master; for he knew she was already having a hard enough time without it, and she deserved none of it. But then he was brought back to the present as the question of if he had found anything in the cave came up.

 

All Raynuk could do was sigh before he went into it. "We suspected the cultists came here because of the witches magicks, specifically regarding the manipulation of life and death. The cult got a hold of those powers, and twisted it; hence why the corpses had that purple glow instead of the green that usually comes with the witches spells. But there was.. more to it than just that. I think the cult used the canyon as a test for a spell that wasnt just twisted, but built upon. I heard... whispers. Words that I have heard before."

 

He paused and looked at both of them. "Words I heard when they resurrected me on Korriban. This was a failed experiment along the road that lead to the ritual that brought me back."

 

As if to emphasis the moment as an important point in some rediculous story, before either of the others could respond, Raynuk's comm chirped twice, an indication that there was a message for him. He pulled it out, and a moment later, the voice of 2V reached his ears.

<

 

Raynuk's brow furrowed at the mention of a group approaching. Who else would come here? Did we somehow tip off the cult? But he never got the chance to answer his own question, as in rapid succession stabbing pain and fire errupted like mini-volcanoes across his body. First to erupt was one in his right leg that seemed to echo the earlier pain he had (mis)diagnosed as being connected to his self inflicted lightsaber wound. Next his left bicep errupted in burning pain as if he had been shot from under his armor. But the third was worst of all, feeling as though someone had somehow planted a thermal detonator inside his gut and then triggered it. Both his hands immediately shot to cover the ghost wound, almost clawing at his armor. The sudden movement and spikes of pain caused the world to dim for a moment given that he was already weakened by his own injuries.

 

Next thing Raynuk knew, he had fallen off the horse he was riding and landed hard in the dirt, coughing through groans of pain.

[darth shadowlord]

Draken looked over the journal for a moment, his fingers dancing over the rancor skin for symbols faded enough to be hidden to the naked eye. His fingers paused on an obscure glyph and he retraced it again. He tilted his head as he studied it for a moment then trailed his fingertips further across the rancor skin. Bending down, he traced out the glyphs that were nearly worn off of the book into the sand and studied them for a moment.

 

It was an ancient dialect of Dathomiri, one not actively spoken any more. Nor was it one that he was extremely fluent in. After a few minutes though he was about to make out what the symbols stood for. He stood up and looked at Alora with intrigue in his eyes.

 

“It belonged to a Matron called Daka, if the legend is true she was the last to successfully use the resurrection spell. As the legend goes, Dooku sent Grievious here at the head of a droid army to lay waste to Dathomir in vengeance for the Nightsister providing sanctuary to Ventress who was less of an apprentice to him as she was a trusted agent. But after Sidious ordered Dooku to dispose of her, she escaped and fled to Dathomir.

 

In the ensuing battle on Dathomir, Talzin who was Ventress’s clan matron went to Daka who could have been called the Arch-matron to persuade her to use the resurrection to summon the fallen of Dathomir to defend it once more. Eventually the angry analytical mind of Griveous found the trail of magic leading to Talzin and Daka, where according to legend Talzin fled as Grievious killed Daka which cut off the magic reanimating the corpses. This could give us a significant insight into the spell and the way it works.”

 

-- Some time later as they returned--

 

Draken turned his head as Raynuk hit the ground, he looked around quickly as lightning leapt to the tips of his fingers. Realizing that it hadn’t been an external threat, he let the lightning dissipate as he swung himself from the saddle. He grabbed a med kit out of the saddle bag and headed over to Raynuk, passing around the tuk’atas.

[Alora]

Alora listened quietly as Draken explained the history of the journal. What surprised her was that the cult hadn’t found it first. If they had of, it wouldn’t have still been in the canyon. But they must have found something because of all the undead Nightsisters and creatures that had attacked them. When Raynuk rejoined them the Sith Mistress looked back at him as he spoke, "I think I know what happened here... and why the cult came here. But I think it's about time to get the hell out of this damn canyon; We could all use a rest. I'll tell you what I found as we ride back to the compound."

 

She couldn’t agree more about wanting to leave the canyon though she checked on Raia, patting Roe’gall on his neck before going over to where the horses were. It didn’t take long for the group to mount up and be on their way. As they rode along, Alora listened to Raynuk as he told them about what he’d found. It would be interesting to see what information they could retrieve from the broken datapad.The further they got from the canyon the more Alora relaxed. It was good to see signs of life once more. When he told them about the words he had heard she shared a look with Draken who mentioned the contents of the journal that they had found.

 

Alora glanced back at Raynuk when his comm chirped, watching as he listened to his message. What happened next had both Draken and Alora looking around for a threat as Raynuk fell off his horse. Not finding any, they both dismounted. She saw Draken grab a medkit and move to Raynuk’s side while Alora went to check on Raia before she moved to Raynuk’s other side. He was obviously in pain though they were unsure of where it stemmed from."What is it Raynuk? Where are you hurt?”