Private To What End

[Lina Djo]

"Its a trap."

Lina reached to the holoprojector and deactivated it, shutting down the violence unfolding before her. Leilah, on the other side of the desk, was breathing heavily. "Its my father, Lina." she reach across to slam the controls back to life, the screams of employees filled her office, a plea from Rethral shouting over it. "You must come, Miss Djo. He will kill all of us if you don't.". a muscle in Lina's jaw twitched and she hit the controls again.

"It. Is. A. Trap. Leilah. We play right into his hands if we go and the last twenty years keeping out of his sight will mean nothing." The case was closed, she shut off the projector again. So she looses an establishment and a handful of good employees. People could be replaced. Leilah would recover from the grief of losing a father. "Find a way to make peace with it." she said finally, settling back in her chair and moving for another datapad. A guttural scream burst from Leilah's mouth and she dashed the contents of Lina's desk across the floor. "You selfish, queen! I have given you everything. My heart, my soul my life and you can't even lift a finger to save my father."

Lina was on her feet and rounded the desk, stepping in close to the twi'lek. "I cannot save him, Leilah. He will be dead before we arrive."

"No-"

"Yes." Lina reached to brush a tear from her face. "Kaine Zambrano is as cruel as he is cunning. He will be dead. I cannot save him."

"But you can avenge him." Lina closed her eyes. "Please Lina, I'm begging you. Do something. Anything. Do not ask me to stand by and watch you do nothing. I can't." She dissolved into heart racking sobs, and Lina held her close. Leilah's painful cries tearing at her own heart. Her anger burned bright. Perhaps it was time to stop running.

---

Lina had not been able to convince Leilah to stay behind, but she had at least agreed to stay on the ship, safely docked in the spaceport, two guards at her side and a whole host of locals to be used as meat shields should they need to be..

The street outside the club was quiet, too quiet. Lina opened herself to the force, allowing the gently nursed ball of rage she held in her stomach to rise up and engulf her. She'd need every edge in this fight, and she didn't have many.

A twitch of her hand, and her mothers lightsaber slapped into her palm. Igniting at both ends at her command.

"My mother liked to play games like these." she called out to the quiet. "I'm bored of it, Zambrano. Let Rethral go, and let us finally put this game of cat and mouse to an end."

Darth Carnifex

 

[Darth Carnifex]

"Your mother and I perfected these games."

The Dark Lord stood with His back to Lina, a sign of His confidence. Beside Him was Leilah's father, Rethral, suspended upside down in an Embrace of Pain. The organic restraint had temporarily fused with the Twi'lek's body, gradually leeching life like a parasite. Occasionally, the man would groan as more of his body was subjected to this particular Embrace's organic functions; chiefly the gradual bleaching of skin as nutrients and cells were siphoned away.

"Though, she did not live to see the innovations I've made. Instead, she squandered her life." There was some resentment still lingering beneath the surface, an anger that Anaya Fen would choose such a short life rather than join Him. Their last fight was fresh in His mind, the feelings of anger, betrayal, and even sorrow still as potent as on that day. He turned slightly to regard her with one eye, watching her carefully. "And so did you, running around and living a life in constant fear. How amusing that it was mere chance that brought you back to me."

Now He pivoted to face her fully, wreathed in dark majesty. His weapon was not visibly, though the faint glimmer of a lightsaber hanging from His belt could be seen past the dark Sith robes. "But then again, some would say that there are no coincidences in the Force."

Lina Djo ​

 

[Lina Djo]

Lina's eyes were on Rethral, studying the contraption he was in, trying to work out how to get him out.

"Oh yes, such a great life you led. Breeding like a rabbit. How many times have you failed as Emperor now? Twice? Nothing concrete behind you now is there? Even from the outside I can smell the discord between you and yours. The cycle will begin again, the sith will fall again and you will be left with nothing...again. I have everything I want. Except him." She gestured to Rethral.

"FATHER?!"

Shavvit.

Leilah had ignored her, coming up from behind at a run, the guards on her heels. Lina deactivated her lightsaber catching Leilah about the waist as she tried to launch herself at her father. "Leilah. Don't." she hissed.

Now there was fear in her face as she wrestled the twi'lek back, before throwing her at the guards. "Get. Her. Out. Of. Here. NOW!"

She turned back to Darth Carnifex breathing heavily, trying her best to ignore the scuffle behind her as they sought to drag Leilah away. Now she had no choice. The saber in her hand split at her command, dual sabers igniting, her mother preferred fighting form, the same one she taught Lina.

The same one she threw herself at Kaine with, in the hopes of occupying him enough to get Leilah away.

 

[Darth Carnifex]

"So much like your mother, the bigger picture always eluded her."

Lina threw herself at Him, to buy her friend more time to withdraw. The emotions were running high, the latter could not be kept away from her father, and the former would do anything in her power to keep them both safe. Not that it would help any of them, for the moment they stepped into this trap they were ensnared. There would be no escaping for any of them.

He reached out as both blades came for His throat, the air undulating as both weapons were stopped in their tracks mere inches from His fingertips. The Dark Lord's power was immense, and His control over it was effortless. It was as second-nature to Him as breathing was, as simple as moving a limb; autonomous and without thought. Their eyes met and she could see the smoldering flame burning within; that terrible inferno that had only briefly been released.

The moment lasted for half a second, barely any longer. If she kept aware of her surroundings, she would come to find that the Dark Lord's shadow had grown longer; stretching out under her and towards the Twi'lek and her guards. What was most peculiar, however, was the fact that His shadow was moving towards the direction of the light, rather than away from it. A great smile grew across the shadow's face, faint feminine laughter echoing off the walls as the shadow reached out with both arms.

And enclosed around the necks of the guard's shadows, squeezing tightly. In the span of a breath, the heads of both guards would tumble from their shoulders; black smoke billowing up from where they had been severed. The shadow giggles and wrapped it's arms around Leilah, her body tightening as though tightly embraced by an actual person; but there was nothing there.

Only the grinning shadow.

Lina Djo ​

 

[Lina Djo]

Lina knew it was over, the moment he'd stopped her blades. The inferno in his eyes was met with fear, not for herself, not of him, but fear of what he was going to do. Panic rose in her chest as the shadows stretched form him, feminine laughter ringing in the air. She backed away from him, eyes following the shadow and its target.

"No." the words came out as a whisper. How the feth was she supposed to fight a shadow?!

Stupid girl.

Her mothers whisper, haunting the the back of her mind, drawn out in her worst moments.

Look how easily you've failed. Such a waste. Your father would be so ashamed...

Lina's world spun, fear and anger engulfed her in a tidal wave. Energy crackled at her fingers as the body guards head dropped and Leilah let out a scream. "NO!" she screamed, the two sabers snapped together the and she tossed the dual phase behind her at Carnifex, not caring if it found her mark. Lightening erupted from her fingers, in short controlled bursts targeting the shadows tail, striking where it held Leilah...

Only for Leilah to scream in pain. Lina though her heart might stop. A sob chocked her. She should never have come, she should have settled for Leilah's hatred of her for abandoning her father, it would have passed in time. But this?

You were always weak.

She rounded on Darth Carnifex "WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME?!" her scream was desperate, pleading.

Pathetic.

 

[Darth Carnifex]

The blade sang through the air, it's mark true.

Only to fly right into the Dark Lord's hand, the blade extinguishing like a snuffed candle. He again looked at the blade, memories threatening to surface, but His gaze turned away and those distant thoughts were again suffocated. She should have known that this would not have ended in her favor, but perhaps she still thought she was dealing with the old Carnifex; that man who was so much lesser than He was now. The new Carnifex was steeped in the power of the Wellspring, invigorated with power never before dreamed. Though powerful blood ran through Lina's veins, such heritage could not match perfected skill.

"I want you..." Began the Dark Lord, still holding Lina's weapon in His hand. He walked forward, each step a rumble in the metal beneath their feet. "To stop running, to stop talking, and to think." They were only feet away now, well within both of their striking distances. But the Dark Lord did not seem concerned, nor did He seem particularly angry, nor triumphant or gloating. Rather, His brow was knit in thought as He looked down at Lina and her bound companion.

"You knew this could go no other way, child. You were trapped between two impossible choices. Yet, you ran into trap regardless. You caved to the pressure of love, a weakness you share with your mother. But, unlike your mother, you did not seek to destroy that which you loved; but to save it." He held up the lightsaber, and then let it fall from His hand and hit the floor. It rolled for a second and then stopped at an equal distance between them. "So now you are faced with another choice."

The Dark Lord looked from Lina to Leilah, "To choke on your pride and let those you care about perish, powerless to stop it. Or, you can throw aside your pride, and pledge yourself to me. You can either die here today, or live to one day take your vengeance. Choose."

Lina Djo ​

 

[Lina Djo]

See, child, we were never so different.

"Shut up." she breathed closing her eyes.

"Lina! Lina, look at me. You don't have to do this."

"Shut up!"

She needed to think. she needed to breath. She needed quiet, calm. She took several deep, shuddering breaths. She'd spent so long running, so long hiding away from him, from herself and in doing so, locked away her own growth. She was a sith Lord in her own right, but her powers and her scale were nothing. If she was ever going to win, she needed more and there was only one place that she could get that.

Lina opened her eyes, the torrent of emotion beneath them controlled. "You let Leilah and her father go, let them leave without anymore damage, and give me your word you will never lay a hand on them again. Do this..." she licked her lips, a slight shake of her head, hating every moment of it. "Do this, and I will serve you."

Darth Carnifex

 

[Darth Carnifex]

The Dark Lord raised His left hand, and flexed the fingers in one smooth motion. The Embrace of Pain ensnaring Rethral began to withdraw it's grasp, letting the Twi'lek fall to the floor with a loud thud. Large swaths of his body had been bleached white, shriveled like desiccated fruit. He still lived, though his breathing was quite laborious.

"The father shall be freed, and allowed to live his life as he deems it. The daughter, however, must stay." The shadow's grasp did loosen, but only enough to not be painful. Rather, it now focused it's grasp around the girl's arms and legs to keep her immobile. "If you are to truly serve, then certain assurances must be met. She will ensure that you keep to your word, my dear. If you stray from the path, she will suffer. If you flee from my sight then she will be killed. Otherwise, she will live comfortably and without want."

Carnifex lowered His arm, letting it fall back to His side. "Those are the conditions, that is the price."

Lina Djo ​

 

[Lina Djo]

Behind her, Leilah let out a sob at the sight of her father slumping to the ground. Her pain rattled Lina like it was her own, like Leilah herself had reached in and plucked her heart from her chest. She turned her back on Darth Carnifex and approached her, ignoring the shadow that held her bound she took the twi'lek face in her hands, brushing away her tears. "Hush now, he'll be okay, you'll be okay."

"But you won't be!" She chocked back "I'm so sorry, you were right, I'm so sorry." Leilah struggled against the shadows grip causing it to tighten.

Lina pressed her forehead against hers. "I love you, and I will burn worlds to keep you safe." She kissed her, before pulling away sharply towards Carnifex, hand extending. Hatred burning in her eyes as her mothers lightsaber slapped back into her palm, she stared at it for a long moment before closing the gap between them and lowering onto one knee.

"I pledge myself to you, Lord Carnifex. To serve as you see fit." her voice was barely above a whisper.

 

[Darth Carnifex]

Carnifex watched apathetically as the two made their parting statements, for the Dark Lord held no sympathy. This was a fate of their own making, they would have to live with the consequences. He would follow His word to the letter so long as Lina fulfilled her end of the bargain, regardless whether she believes He would or not; the Dark Lord would not break His own word. The only time He had done so had been decades ago, when He betrayed the Mandalorians and brought their whole civilization to ruin. But that was fine, you see.

The Mandalorians were animals, and you could not break an oath to an animal.

"A pledge made, an oath sworn. Through the power of the unending dark, you shall be reborn." Pain would lance up through Lina's right arm, as black marks began to materialize right on her skin. It would be the Mark of Kaine, the method through which she would be leashed to the Dark Lord. It would allow Him to keep a close watch on her, so as to not repeat the mistakes of the past. Upon this, the shadow holding Leilah would relinquish it's grasp and set her free. His shadow would return back to where it belonged as well.

"Now you both shall come with me, and all will be made ready."

Lina Djo ​

 

[Lina Djo]

To her credit, Lina did not react to the pain aside from a tension in her shoulders as she remained where she was, head bent watching the mark crawl up her arm. Her mother had been marked like this by a Dark Lord and it had driven her mad. Lina would not allow the same to happen.

Behind her she heard Leilah crumpling to the ground as the shadow released her. Slowly, with her arms and legs feeling like lead Lina got to her feet. Everything felt heavy with the weight of her oath.

Stepping back to Leliah she extended her hand to help the twi'lek to her feet. Her tears were silent now, as she coiled her arms about Lina's fixing the limp but breathing body of her father with a longing stare.

Lina opened her mouth to comfort her, but realised she had nothing to take away her pain and closed it again. She fixed her new Master with a cold hateful stare.

"As you wish."

Darth Carnifex

 

[Darth Carnifex]

"Good, very good."

The light from outside slowly began to slip away, replaced by an encroaching darkness. Outside, the sun was being eclipsed by a great shadow, though this was no mere celestial phenomenon or trick of the Force. Rather, it was the appearance of a massive artificial object moving into perfect position between the planet and it's star.

Malsheem, the gargantuan mega-fortress of the Dark Lord, had arrived.

With it came panic and terror. No one knew what it was, or what it entailed. Their fear, though delectable, was misplaced. They would live to see it come and go, their lives only briefly interrupted. But Lina's life would now be forever changed, as the Dark Lord led her and Leilah out and onto a shuttle that would take them to it. The ship they had come here on would be towed behind them, drawn by a half-squad of automated tugs slave-rigged to the shuttle's controls.

The cavernous maw of the Malsheem yawned before them, ringed with thousands of starships in various stages of construction. The war-fleet of the Dark Lord, endlessly forming and reforming. Beyond was a vast cityscape, like those of Coruscant and Nar Shaddaa, but roofed by a mirroring cityscape where great spires stretched downwards; each side fitting together like the teeth of a great beast. Other ships flew through the insulated airspace, an entire civilization concealed within the great Malsheem's iron-skin. It all came to terminate at the feet of a massive spire, one which connected both upper and lower hemispheres of the great city.

The Imperius Spire, the abode of the Dark Lord and epicenter of His vast interstellar shadow empire. Their shuttle slipped into a hangar near the spire's upper levels, coming to rest upon a glittering deck of white and silver metal. A cadre of sleek crimson warriors awaited them, plumes of black equine hair billowing from their conical helmets. They did not move, standing still as statues, until bade by their Lord and Master. They would shadow their movements, an air of mistrust centered around those the Dark Lord had brought with them; an inherent defensiveness to any who might pose a threat to His lordship.

They were bade into a grand atrium, ringed by towering columns of chiseled basalt and filled with volcanic sand. Above them, an endless cacophony of reflecting energies danced and undulated. Beyond the pillars were many closed doors, all of them sporting different symbols. Were Lina well-versed in the numerology of the ancient Sith, she would recognize them for what they were; simple numbers. However, only a smattering of the doors were marked by such number, the others were eerily blank. But as the Dark Lord neared, one of the doors suddenly blazed with green flames that formed the shape of a new number.

Thirteen.

Lina Djo ​

 

[Lina Djo]

It dawned on Lina, as the slipped through the great maw of the Malsheem that Kaine's empire had never failed. He'd simply condensed it, containing those most loyal or bound to him and had it move with him. Leilah pressed impossibly close to her as if reeling back from something terrifying, where as Lina moved closer to the shuttle's viewport a soft sigh escaping her breath as she cast her eyes over the great fleet.

This was a world that moved wherever Darth Carnifex wanted, not a ship. It was everything her mother had ever dreamed of and more. She swallowed hard against that thought and drew back. She'd never been able to pinpoint his movements and now she knew why. There'd been rumours of the Malsheem but nothing she or her people could get close to. And now she was inside it.

There were no failures, there were only opportunities.

Tearing her eyes away as they loomed closer to the central spire, she looked instead at Leilah, at her bright green eyes, still wet with tears and wide with terror. She took in every details of her face, from the small scar above her lip she'd gotten as a child, to the way her unspent tears clung desperately to her eye lashes. After a moment, Leilah stopped staring at the terror that awaited them and looked at Lina, something strengthened within her and Lina watched as she wiped away the tears, and the fear while still present eased, replaced with determination. A want to be strong.

Leilah stopped hanging off Lina's arm but still held her hand tightly as they descended the landing ramp and followed Kaine, his guard closing about them as they did. Everything inside was as grand as the Zambrano had always been. No expense spared. Her eyes trailed the numbers, committing those that showed and their location to memory. Was it a collection? Were those doors without numbers simply unoccupied?

When they stopped, Lina's eyes lingered on the number thirteen, before falling to Carnifex, recognising the unspoken command to enter. She took half a step forward hesitating waiting for Leilah to be taken, but when she wasn't she pressed forward opening the door. For a moment there was nothing, just a simple room with all the bare necessities needed. A simple desk, a simple cot, a wardrobe a dresser.

Then Leilah's feet stepped over the threshold behind her and the whole room shifted. The desk disappeared, replaced by an open space, its floor set with a dozen holoprojectors, a comfortable seating area, with deep red velvet chairs and a well supplied drinks cabinet. A wroshyr wood four posted bed with matching red drapes, a bookcase, lined with old tomes. "How?" Leilah breathed behind her, stepping deeper into the room to inspect it and letting go of her hand.

"Its reading your mind." Lina answered looking back at Carnifex. "This is what he means by you'll want for nothing."

"But...when you..." Lina shook her head, glancing back briefly at Leilah as she trailed her fingers over the backs of the plush couches.

"You can't read my mind. I spent a long time learning to my father out of my head, whatever construct this is won't get past barriers designed to keep out Jared Ovmar whether I'm awake or not." Her eyes were boring into Carnifex's, waiting, almost daring him to take the moment away from Leilah. the defiance would never leave her gaze, not now, and not after a 100 years of service, if she was unfortunate enough that he lived that much longer.

 

[Darth Carnifex]

"No, I would expect nothing less."

In that, they were alike. The Dark Lord likewise could not have His mind read, but nor could He read the minds of others; let alone persuade or control their minds. But, as a resourceful man, He'd found other ways to do so. Chiefly through intermediaries, like His Dzun Kissai. These red-robed priests could determine the intent of others, and had trained solely in their ability to read minds. They were quite spindly creatures, gaunt and near-skeletal, but their minds were as sharp as any Sith-wrought blade.

But, He did not need to peer into Lina's mind. Her actions were quite readable enough, especially for one as trained to read people as He was. "The girl shall remain, you are to cohabitate. Lina shall depart with me for training, and Leilah shall be taken to the servant's wing to serve. By the end of a day's training and a day's work, you both shall return here. This is my gift to you, a drop that you shall cherish."

One by one, the other doors around the atrium opened. From each one emerged a single being, dressed in dark garments and sporting many scars and healed mutilations. Some even possessed cybernetic limbs or eyes, the machinery incorporated into wounds clearly made by the blade of a lightsaber. Many were of standard humanoid silhouette, although there were a few which broke that mold. One was a towering Cragmaloid, his leathery gray skin a patchwork of scars and poorly matched synth-skin.

"Your training begins now, my child."

Lina Djo ​

 

[Lina Djo]

Lina was taken aback, she'd not expected them to stay together, she'd expected Carnifex to whisk Leilah away, dangle her safety and well being in front of Leilah like a dog with a bone. Use it to keep her in line. This made no sense. There had to be another play at hand here. She looked back at Leilah, who was just as bewildered as she. She could be, and was, so much more than just a serving girl, part of her wanted to protest this, to highlight her talents to him. Leilah could be a helping in hand in this for Lina is she climbed the right ranks...

No, the risk was too great.

As the other atrium doors opened, Lina stepped outside, Leilah moving to follow her, but stopped with a small shake of Lina's head. Hesitantly, the twi'lek stayed hovering in the doorway as Lina steep further into the atrium, studying each new occupant. It was as she though, a collection. They were varying in skill and power each of them thrummed in the darkside.

"So that's it?" she said, eyes lingering on the cragmaloid before swinging to the man her mother had once loved. "I'm just to be another one for the collection. Insignificant among the masses." She unclipped her mothers lightsaber from her belt bracing herself for what was to come. Behind Carnifex, Leilah watched on, her face twisted with fear.

"What game are we playing, Zambrano?"

Darth Carnifex

 

[Darth Carnifex]

"Insignificant? No, nothing so crass."

The Dark Lord took a step towards her, and some of the others seemed to instinctively tense up or even flinch. Only a few of them didn't budge a centimeter, their eyes intently locked on the Dark Lord and the newest among their number. His shadow fell upon her, His form towering above like some unfathomable monolith. Beyond the physical, His power radiated in the Force, like a swirling maelstrom with a black hole at it's center; all about Him an event horizon of darkness.

"I collect those who I believe possess a certain potential, one that can be unlocked. The others have been training to unlock theirs for some time, but I do not doubt that you will have no issue in matching their pace." He reached out, as though to physically touch her, but His hand fell away before it could and He turned His back to her. "Of course, they know this as well. They see in you both threat and opportunity. If they can kill you in the course of their training, then they can rise above their pitiable existence. But, more than that..."

Carnifex turned and looked to Leilah now, "They see that you've been given a special privilege, the companionship of another. Something that I have denied them. They believe that if you are dead, then I might be so gracious as to bestow upon them your companion as a gift. Perhaps I will, for what good is she to me if you lie rotting in the earth?" His smile broadened as He looked back at Lina. "A concept that you find abominable, something you will do all in your power to avert."

Lina Djo ​

 

[Lina Djo]

Lina didn't flinch as he moved closer, he already had the most important thing to her, whatever he did to her now was minimal in comparison. Power radiated from him and although she straightened under its shadow she was nothing in comparison. But she could be.

The threats towards Leilah drew a fresh wave of rage, the saber split at her command, the silver cylinders a welcome comfort in her palms as she turned away from Carnifex to face her rivals, before glancing back over her shoulder. "Go inside, Leilah." the words were barely above a whisper, but Leilah heard her all the same, the door clicking shut as she disappeared behind it.

The board was set, Lina had to defend herself to defend her prize. And he was right in everything he said, she would do everything in her power to win. "The perfect game." Lina said a moment or two after the door had clicked shut. "Shall we begin?"

Darth Carnifex

 

[Darth Carnifex]

The Dark Lord's smile never wavered, and His eyes twinkled with cruel glee. Oh, how much she was like her mother, though she would rather tear out her own throat than admit to such similarities. Nevertheless, in her expression and in her words He could see that fiery Twi'lek as she had been when they were but Knights of the Sith. The way the light illuminated her bright red skin, the shine of hell in her eyes, and the mischievous grin she often sported.

Rare did His thoughts about Anaya Fen not become tinged with anger, it was a strange sensation. Perhaps if they had been more mature, their split might not have happened. Though He was several years her senior, He was still but a youth in the eyes of His people; cocky and headstrong. Young Sith tended to be emotionally stunted, protective measures against an environment that preyed upon anything perceived as weakness. Love and joy were reviled and rejected, only hate and cruelty could be prized.

Ah, but what Sith such tribulation forged.

These woeful chosen were a far cry from the apprentices he'd elevated, but there was still potential among them. If Lina could thin the herd then all the better, for if not her than another would perform the duty. This would be a wonderful crucible. And it would seem that she would have some challengers to contend with, as a handful of the other apprentices stepped forward and drew their lightsabers in unison. Crimson blades lit up the atrium, casting wicked shadows upon the black sand.

Carnifex watched without interruption or intervention. He observed not only those fighting, but those waiting in the wings. Some were more wise and chose not to fight, to hold their strength in reserve. Others were more cunning, and would attempt to breach the door at Lina's back while she fought the more openly aggressive apprentices.

He chuckled deep in His throat.

Perhaps this would be more amusing that He thought.

Lina Djo ​

 

[Lina Djo]

Lina stepped wholly into the force, giving herself over to the dark side as lightsabers clashed, her movements fluid and graceful, the battle was a deadly dance as she pushed the offensive. She would need to reduce the numbers before they had a chance to assess her skill and test her defences. Everything that mattered to her was on the other side of that door and she would not, could not, allow it to fall into their hands.

There were no shouts, no exchanged words or taunts, just the sound of sabers humming and crackling as they came together against and again. The first to did so silently, disarmed and decapitated in the blink of an eye following a a failed feint. Lina lifted his body with the force and flicked it into her other assailants, backing up a few paces to give her space and a moment to reassess, a thin sheen of sweat coating her already. She'd need more than sabers to fight a group of this size.

It had been so long since she'd needed to dip into her sorcery, so long on the edges of space she'd stagnated. Shadows seemed to pull towards her, collecting at her feet a dark pool of ichor, but they were upon her again before she could do anything with it. Too slow. Anger rippled through her, a snarl escaping her lips as they pushed her back, the ichor pool move with her. Sabers flashing, she rolled under a strike, coming up behind them, he saber scoring a line up their spine. The first scream split the tense air, as the injury rendered them incapacitated.

The door which Leilah was hiding behind was in her sights, as well as one heading towards it.

The sight was enough to spur her rage, and the ichor pool came to life, dark tendrils snapping out in all directions, pushing her assailants back as a dark shear formed at her head and launch at the one who thought they could bypass the fight. Its cleaved through their shoulder, pinning them to the wall before they reached the door.

Darth Carnifex