Aiden slept restlessly, twisted beneath the thin blanket of his quarters, the dim blue glow of the Naboo moon filtering through the shutters and washing soft light over the quiet room. His breathing was slow at first, steady, deep, but then it hit him.
The shift.
That subtle, sickening pull in the Force that always came before a nightmare took shape. His brow tightened. His fingers curled. The blankets trembled faintly with the tremor that passed through him. And then the dream swallowed him whole.
Cold stone rose around him, towering pillars, jagged and unnatural, their surfaces etched with spiraling runes that pulsed a deep, malignant red. The air was thick like smoke, laced with metallic bitterness. The Dark Council's ritual chamber.
He knew this place. He had never been here, and yet he knew it. Aiden's boots pounded against the spiral staircase as he ran, sprinting through shadows that clung like webs. The Force felt strained, stretched thin, as though the entire structure fed on suffering. His heart hammered. Lira, he could feel her, terrified, flickering like a candle battered by cold wind.
He burst through the final archway.
And then he saw her.
Lira was suspended in the center of the chamber, her small form bound by tendrils of crimson energy, held aloft as shadows crawled beneath her skin. Her eyes, usually bright with soft, cautious hope, were wide with silent agony. Her lips parted in a soundless scream.
Around her stood the Dark Council, their cloaks swaying with the unnatural current of the ritual, faces hidden beneath hoods, hands raised. The runes glowed brighter. The air roared.
"No!" Aiden shouted, sprinting forward.
A wall of force slammed him back, hurling him to the ground so hard his arms rattled. He pushed himself up, strained forward again, another impact crushed him down, stealing the air from his lungs. He felt helplessness bloom like a wound. "Stop!" he screamed, voice cracking. They didn't, the ritual climaxed in a violent snap, like a star imploding. Lira's body arched. Light exploded from her chest, soft white becoming brilliant gold, then twisting, siphoned, funneled in streams toward the Council's outstretched hands. Her tiny fingers trembled.
"Aiden…" Her whisper barely carried, fragile and breaking. He reached out with everything he had. He couldn't reach her. And then her light tore free. Her body fell limp, eyes vacant, her spirit and soul extinguished.
"No—" His breath strangled. His knees buckled as he slid across the floor toward her, hands shaking as he gathered her fragile, cooling frame into his arms.
He felt the absence of her. That terrible silence. The kind that annihilated hope.
He pressed his forehead to hers. "Lira…I'm so...." The words faded away as the tears ran free from him. A cold shadow fell across him. One of the Dark Council stepped forward, crimson blade igniting with a hiss that filled the chamber like a predator's growl. Aiden didn't rise. Couldn't, and much more so. He didn't want. He just looked up only in time to see the swing.
A flash, A rupture of pain, and then darkness.
Aiden lurched upright in bed with a violent gasp. His breath heaved, chest rising and falling in frantic, uneven bursts. Sweat drenched his brow and temples. The room swam in muted blues and silvers, but everything still felt wrong, shadows too long, corners too deep.
For several seconds he couldn't breathe. He couldn't think and he couldn't shake the image of Lira's lifeless body in his arm. He dragged a trembling hand down his face, trying to ground himself. The Force trembled around him, agitated, rippling with the terror that clung to him like frost. He reached out instinctively, until he felt, searching, desperate, until he felt the faint, warm spark of her presence sleeping safely, right next to him. Breathing softly in dreams he hoped were gentler than his.
Aiden exhaled shakily and folded forward, elbows on his knees, hands clutching the edge of the blanket as though anchoring himself to reality.
Aiden pushed himself off the bed slowly, as though gravity fought him harder than usual. His legs felt unsteady beneath him, a ghost of the nightmare still clutching at his balance. The homestead was darker and more quiet than usual, broken only by the faint peaceful hum Lira's distant, gentle presence pulsing through the Force like a firefly.
He took another breath to steady himself just as he began to cross the room quietly, bare feet brushing against the cool flooring, shoulders still tense with phantom dread. The refresher door slid open with a soft hiss, and Aiden stepped inside, bracing a hand against the sink as if preparing to face something heavier than simple exhaustion.
Cool water filled his palms. He splashed it over his face, once, twice, again, feeling the shock of it travel down his spine, washing away sweat and the last fog of sleep. Droplets clung to his jaw, gathering at his chin before sliding down to the basin.
He lifted his head. The mirror stared back with the tired eyes of a man who had carried far too much for far too long. His reflection was pale under the dim lights, jaw tense, chest still lifting in uneven breaths. He studied his face, the dark circles beneath his eyes, the worry etched into lines that hadn't been there a year ago, the deep protective ache carved so clearly into his expression it almost startled him.
She's safe, he told himself again. You got to her in time. You always will.
He reached for the towel, dragging it across his face before tossing it aside. His reflection followed the motion, but Aiden didn't see the slight hesitation, an infinitesimal delay, barely a flicker. He turned away from the mirror toward the doorway, intent on checking on Lira, on making sure, irrational or not, that she was truly there. Behind him, the reflection didn't turn immediately.
It lingered.
Its head tilted ever so slightly, as though studying him with alien interest. The features were his, the posture identical, but something in the eyes shifted. A glint. A shadow. A knowing curl at the edge of the mouth, a smirk.
Small. Sharp. Wrong.
Then, just as Aiden reached the threshold, the reflection snapped back into perfect synchronicity, mirroring him flawlessly once more. Unaware, Aiden stepped back into the hallway.
Outside the mirror, only emptiness remained. As darkness crept around, something unseen, watched.
And waited.
