As the effects of the Battle Meditation unraveled, threads and bonds fraying and pulling themselves apart as the focus and drive that was fueling them was redirected, Lykos permitted himself to feel a surge of satisfaction and victory for but a mere moment before he refocused his mind on the matter at hand. For, while he might have succeeded in ending the Battle Meditation quickly and with relatively little effort, a result of that victory was that the Jedi's own focus and mental fortitude, which had previously been split, had been brought around to aim at him. Maybe far in his past, Lykos would have allowed arrogance to rule him, to scoff and dismiss this young woman as nary a threat, but he had witnessed the rot that set in when arrogance was left to run wild and would not permit himself to fall prey to such a folly, not now.
As her spiritual manifestation was brought ever closer to his own - an unusual sensation considering the fact that, locked as they were within a mental field of battle, distance held no true meaning - and away from her allies, the projection of their forms would begin to break apart, tearing at the seams and evolving into something greater and will crashed upon will. White flame would spill from her eyes and body, filling the barriers that shielded her entirely, rendering her projection as a sphere of hissing flame. His form would seemingly begin to collapse into smoke and ash, the dark mixture being carried across the cold waters and ice of his will as if on an unseen wind as he continued to circle around her.
Within the mindscape that was bearing witness to their clash, time was linear and yet not for Lykos, imagination ruling over physics and logic, making the impossible possible and even twisting time around so that words would seemingly lap over one another while remaining entirely separate and entirely audible. The only linear thing of the experience were the moments that the Force would ripple around them in response to their minds clashing against one another. As such, as she released the burning spear of Light towards him, his encircling of her mind making it impossible to miss, the entirety of her response to his words rang out within a single moment while his reply echoed in response.
"No Light without Dark and no Dark without Light. Truly, a foolish statement that so many seem to believe. Dark is the absence of Light and so it shall seek to consume it, balance does not exist when one aspect hunger so. With Light there is Shadow, where I prowl, skirting the Light so as to strike at moment more opportune, but, as soon as the Dark consumes the Light, the balance of Light and Shadow will cease, and the Shadows will be welcomed back to the Dark. The balance that you speak of is impossible, foolish child." The hissing chuckle that followed quickly shifted into words that twisted in upon themselves to fit themselves within the space of time remaining before the mental spear of Light struck. "You ask of the right to advance evolution? Are you blind to the true nature of reality and existence? I would not be surprised if so, Mali'kep," translated exactly from Ul'Zabrak, the word mali'kep meant 'Foolish Child', "no, not at all. Our time within the galaxy may be just a flare, a simple of spark, yet it is the right of all to advance ever constantly, for to falter is to stagnate, to stagnate is to rot and to rot is to weaken. Strength drives all things, evolution should be ever present. But, then. You of the Light do not understand such Truths, do you, preaching of 'serenity' and 'peace', a life without conflict or a reason for being to march forwards."
Lykos had no other chance to speak, for in that instance the speak of Light struck. Surging forwards, the cold waters sought to mitigate damage and envelope the fire within their depths, succeeding in doing so as they pulled the strike away from his form of ash and smoke. However, the extent of his assault upon the Jedi's mind had left him overextended, his shields weakened and, as such, even as the spear was smothered beneath the cold Dark, the Light clipped his form, sending smoke billowing as it coiled in upon itself, faint streaks of white catching light upon stray burst of ash.
The Light seared its way through his mind, following the path left behind by the last person of the Light to assault his mind, giving the sensation of a spike of fire being driven through his temple as his awareness writhed in anger, a representation of an amber eye flaring with flames of anger as Lykos sought to tear apart the intrusion, to rip it to shreds with his hatred. Eventually he succeeded in doing so, but not before the remnants of the spear had seared along the scar tissue left behind by the last Jedi, piecing deep enough to whisper to the inner core of his self, of his protective instincts. The Lightest thing within his personality.
As the intrusion was destroyed, the ocean of cold water and ice would withdraw into a singular point, taking shape around the hissing cloud of ash. Two spheres, one of Light and one of Dark, hovered within the mental battlefield, coiling around each other. And, as Lykos reorientation himself in a span of time that lasted not even a moment of real time, the Jedi would see through eyes young and prideful as they stared up at a heavily tattooed Zabrak female, scalp bald and covered with a multitude of small orat horns, dressed in fine white robes that hung loose and barely protected a sense of modesty. She would hear guttural growls woven perfectly around harsh syllables and know what was being spoken ("You are born again beneath the blessing of Amina, the Matriarch and all Matriarchs before me. You are born into the Clan Uigin, Xavka of Duquo.").
As Lykos gathered himself, unaware of what the Jedi had witness, the Dark that surrounded him would ripple with his anger and snakes would lash out, fangs dripping with visions of burning cities, bloodied bodies, decaying flesh, a burning sun and the sensations as acid burning through veins. Accompanying this strike was a whisper that would repeat itself over and over within the Jedi's mental representation of her ears in a cacophonous roar. "I am the Lykos. You will fall before me."
[member="Jairdain"]
