Darkness Manifest

Posted on Tue Feb 19th, 2013 @ 6:11am by Morgo Le'Shaad & Thane & Bomoor Thort & Berry & Sev Rezer

3,442 words; about a 17 minute read

Chapter: Chapter III: Relics
Location: Ancient Temple, Tython
Timeline: Day Eleven, After "Communal Sanity"

OLD

"Even through all the haze," Thane explained to them, "I can still sense Bería is well enough, but I can't tell about the duchess. We should get moving. As Sev said: we can't get separated any more, and whilst they're alone, they are exposed." He stepped to the front of the four, so that they could see his movements in the hopes of not causing any more concerns. It was a leap of faith to trust the Mandalorian not to get trigger-happy if any more voices started encouraging him, but it had to be done.

He watched as the light being emanated by the last sphere dwindled further down the corridor, gesturing to the others. "Let's do this right, and let's do this quickly."

NEW

The crew of the Red Raptor had all set foot on Tython at the same time. They had wandered into the darkness of the ancient Jed'aii temple as one but had somehow lost their way as a dark force set about to pollute their minds and draw them apart. Now the two women were lost in the dark while the men hurried to reunite with their allies, all the time, under the watchful eye of K'Errekh.

The Mandalorian strode ahead of the group, the device on his wrist pinged intermittently as the mapping probes continued to scout the area ahead. The two Jedi strode together slightly behind, both were still shaken by their recent conflict against each other but a strong bond kept them together and trusting that the other would not turn once again. The Flamewalker kept up with a greater pace than usual, as though something new was stirring him onwards to face the darkness.

The darkness that had engulfed each person's mind had not attempted to breach their consciousness again, but the threat was still there. Not only a disturbance in the Force, but something that could be felt in the very air. Sev directed them down a passage and out into a moderately sized hall, where broken humanoid statues clung to walls and pillars surrounding the room.

"What is this room?" Bomoor asked their guide, "Did the probes detect Bería or Morgo in here?"

Before Sev could answer, the small display they could see on the bounty hunter's armour suddenly blinked, and the probes disappeared from the small map that was displayed, having mapped only a very short distance ahead of them. Thane let out a low but quiet groan in his throat, blue eyes narrowing.

"Who'd have expected that(?)" The former Jedi queried sarcastically, his typical grimace growing on his face as he looked about the room, larger than most of the others they had been in. Deciding it was worth a try, he closed his eyes and tried to relax his mind as best he could, even though he still had terribly powerful feelings still tugging at his conscience from his duel with Bomoor, as well as a general embarrassment.

As the Human tried to settle his mind into the ripples and waves of the Force about him, he was grateful for how Bomoor had treated him following the incident; the Ithorian would have had every right to no longer trust him, or to perhaps blame his actions on the Sith holocron nestled on board the Raptor. Indeed, even Sev had plenty of reason to be wary, or even homicidal, towards Thane.

Even so, given everything he and Bomoor had been through; of the adventures and crises they had faced together; how they had effectively grown up and learned together; of how they had become the closest of friends; of how their philosophies were so similar - even if they disagreed on the means - they had managed to stay solid. If anything, now that Thane's body was recovering with the aid of the Force and the Ithorian's presence, he was trying to take the experience as a learning curve.

The dark presence that had caused him to devolve into nothing more than a primal beast - a beast that deserved to be put down - only gave him more focus and resolve, to hunt down and destroy this malpractitioner of the dark side, who abused it and gave way to chaos... to disorder... of what the Sith were not about.

But as he finally, for the first time since really arriving on Tython, thought he was giving himself in to the flow of this deranged place, his senses starting to become in-tune with what was about him - feeding from the dark presence - Thane's senses made his eyes shoot open, and they quickly and instinctively focused upon one corner of the room.

"The shadow moved!" He exclaimed, his lightsaber already ignited and in his hand, its violet sheen bright. Shadows were everywhere in this place, with very limited lighting at all, but the shadow in that corner had shifted, even if ever so slightly.

Bomoor followed suit, bringing his shining viridian blade up beside Thane's. It was almost instinctive now that he should react with his old friend, just as it had been to aid him. However difficult it had been to hurt Thane and see him fall into the depths of the Dark Side, that deep-rooted trust could not be broken so simply.

The Ithorian reached out with the Force, probing the darkness for a sign of life. In his mind, a sharper image cut through the haze and brought the room into sharper focus. Each statue was faceless and naked but all carried an exotic blade, either held at their side or sheathed on their back. Were these the weapons of the Je'daii? thought Bomoor.

The room was full of these figures but otherwise devoid of life, save for the small party that had just entered. Nevertheless, he did feel strange. The irrational feeling of being watched sprung to the foreground of Bomoor's mind. He hoped it was an irrational fear, "There is nobody but us in here, Thane. What did you see? Could it have been a trick again?"

"Without a doubt," Thane replied, feeling a lot of tension easing as he and his friend slipped into what had become their natural state, "or maybe my Force perceptions picking up the start of a trick. I'm starting to think it isn't this place that is haunted, but rather someone is doing this to us." He brought his blade around in a two-handed Niman stance, the easily-adaptable situation leaving him ready to handle whatever was thrown their way next.

Each of the exotic blades seemed to gleam faintly in the reflection of the two lit lightsabers, their colours varying across the entire spectrum, no doubt imbued with the power of the Force. If Morgo were here, Thane was certain she would be near enough caressing them. With gloves on, of course.

Even with the amused thought in his mind, a pang of concern hit him as his mind drifted to Bería again. He tried to shuffle a thought along to her through their Force bond, but it was not something he had ever used or perfected before, and could feel its failure. He would focus on that when they found her. Because they would. She had too much potential to be lost, and Morgo was too useful to abandon.

"Sev," he looked to the Mandalorian, his voice quiet, "you got a glow stick?" Thane also glanced over to Kip. "What do you feel?" Already - like Bomoor - he had been pleased with the Devaronian's sudden vigour. Even so, he was still curious as to the Flamewalker's powers - it was clear he had something, even if he registered oddly to him through the Force.

Sev looked around, measuring the level of menace they were facing. "I have several glow sticks, Thane. But that's nothing compared to a stick grenade that will brighten this room", he added, throwing the grenade towards the ceiling. He cursed himself for not thinking about that before. Maybe my mind was being affected somehow.

As the piece flew upwards, Thane muttered, "Have you also got a Death Star in there somewhere?" The Force knew how helpful that could be at times, he mused, the grenade then making a strange clicking sound. Several small glow sticks with sharp, pointed ends shot out from the grenade, the mechanism apparently designed to not target living organisms.

Thane winced slightly as the darts lodged themselves into the stone of the walls, ceiling and floor, as well as a few into the ornate statues. Seeing the damage - minimal though it may be - done to the area, he found himself sympathising with the errant Duchess from Dromache.

An odd green-yellow glow then lit up the room, and in that short second of activation, the statues had turned. Silently, and in the blink of a rapid eye, all were now facing the party of four. Thane gripped his lightsaber tighter, his brow furrowing. "I preferred the shadows."

Sev looked around getting annoyed. He raised his rifle to the neareast statue. "If you don't mind, I'll blow my way out of this place. I don't care what or why someone is playing with us, but I'll find it and kill it."

The urge to echo the Jedi sentiment about 'finding other solutions besides killing' sprung into Bomoor's mind but it was quickly shot down by the sudden fear that had gripped him once again. He was rather keen to see a swift end to whatever trickster was creating this mad house, "These must be more tricks," he announced, although lacking confidence in his words, "Spectres of the mind cannot harm us so I suggest we push forward, lest we fall prey to these illusions again."

Bomoor turned around, waving his lightsaber towards the exit, only to find two of the statues now barring the way they came in. Their strange blades now extended towards the group. In the dull light of the glow sticks, the blades seemed to glow with their own light. Bomoor drew his blade up, "This is concerning," he murmured, "I rather hope these are just illusions."

There was an incredibly loud banging noise suddenly above them, making them all jump to attention and look up for just a moment, but it subsided as quickly as it had happened, but they kept their attention locked on it, Sev with his weapon raised high, and the Jedi with their blades poised upwards.

It was as they were staring that Thane suddenly felt a breath on the back of his neck. All of his hairs stood up on their ends, his eyes widening and his grip growing tighter, making his knuckles go whiter than bone. Setting his face into an even stonier grimace, he kept his composure, and slowly brought his eyes down.

Just to see the statues now encircling them tightly, their blades all raised up high as if ready to strike. Where their faces had once been almost formless, mouths made of stone now existed, features twisted in an animalistic snarl, and the golden-green glow of the sticks had somehow turned a deep red, and shadows began to stretch about the walls around them, like thick black tentacles that were growing ever closer and more menacing.

It took only a few moments for Thane to realise that they were, in fact, not moving up the walls, but in front of them.

"This is Sith magic," Thane growled, just as the tendrils launched forward... and the violence began.

---

Morgo walked, the blazing white spear head of her cortosis staff illuminating the way before them. As she walked she was reminded of the time when she’d asked her father why the Le’Shaad cortosis stave had a white spearhead, rather than one of color like the Jedi so famously did. White was the primary color of house Le’Shaad, yes, but the spearheads of all other Scholars were colored white as well, so the common denominator had to be something else.

Her father had set down his pipette and turned away from the petri dish holding two drops of her blood, and looked at her. He’d proudly explained that the Scholars, the only ones who were authorized to wield lightspears and cortosis staves, were not only scientists and philosophers, but historians. And as all three, Scholars were bound to being impartial to one side or another, objective and neutral in the proceedings of the galaxy. For knowledge takes no sides. And that was why the color white, the color of neutrality, containing all the wavelengths of the spectrum of visible light without absorption of any one color over another, was chosen for all the spearheads of the Scholars of Dromache. A symbol of their legacy.

“I wonder if he’s bored.” Morgo said quietly into the darkness, her cortosis stave humming softer, at a different frequency than Berry's own ignited lightsaber did.

Berry waved the stick around in a somewhat whimsical manner, although her expression was still alert. Especially for any pinging . "Yeah, probably." Then she paused. "Wait...who?"

“The one doing this to us.” Morgo said, matter of factly, “The things happening to us can’t be the work of anything but a dark power. And I’ve read enough about the signs to know that someone has attacked us with the Dark Side of the Force. But who and why, are the questions. Did we encroach on his territory when we entered the Temple? Is he alone?” Morgo mused aloud, her mind running out of things to do. Surviving was so terribly boring. It was a shame she couldn’t just stop and do her research as initially planned.

Berry seemed a bit bored, too, as she swung her saber around. "But if he here he has to survive on something, right?" Her eyes widened. "Like food." All this stress and worry was really tiring her out, and she prodded at a pile of stuff at the wall, hoping to find something.

Morgo looked down at the girl disapprovingly, “Berry, cease the unnecessary poking and prodding or I will take the lightsaber from you.” She warned seriously, studying the girl for a moment. Strangely enough the girl was looking rather ragged, evident even in the dim light, her eyes blinking rapidly, as if they were a little dry. Morgo scanned Berry, cataloguing other details before she sighed,

“Wait. Stop here for a second.”

Sliding her leather pack off her shoulder, Morgo undid the metal clasp and opened the flap, revealing a multitude of medical supplies, worn and weathered archaeological tools that, for shame, probably wouldn’t see use any time soon, and a small bag labeled in Morgo’s calligraphy, ‘USE IN CASE OF BERRY EMERGENCY’. Setting her leather pack on the ground as Morgo knelt, she fished the bag out and held it out for Berry between two long fingers, expression expectant.

Berry's eyes widened in surprise and slight eagerness. Whether it was at the words or the content, no one could tell, but the part-Aquar was definitely interested. She leaned forward and sniffed the bag, the only well-functioning part of her brain firing up. "What's in it?" She took the bag and started to open it.

“You’re very clearly hungry and are showing some early signs of dehydration. Eat and drink up.” Morgo said flatly, arching an eyebrow, “Because if you pass out I’m just going to leave you here.”

A second had not even passed yet when Berry's motions immediately quickened and tore into the bag, mouth open wide in a big smile as she poured the contents into it and quickly chewed. A bottle of water smacked her in the face and fell to the ground, but she just kept on chewing. Little explosions of sweet indicated a dried fruit, and crunchy nuts and even crunchier "Dried fish!!" Berry yelped in excitement as she grinned at Morgo. "How'd you know I like fish??? Ooooh so spicy..." She held the bag as her mouth chewed and she reached for the water, grinning still. "Hey do you want some??"

Morgo shook her head lightly, “I prefer not to eat unless I have to. Digesting slows my mind.” She said as she reached into her leather pack again, her fingers closing around the first aid kit she’d taken along for an occasion just like this.

As Berry munched happily on Dromachean berries, nuts and fish, Morgo cleaned and debrided the wound on her head with disinfecting wipes, making sure that the unsightly dried blood that had matted her hair was completely removed before she untied a small leather bag and rolled out a ball of waxy, Dromachean ambergris onto her palm . Breaking off a pea-sized piece of the pale green stuff, she raised it to her lips and breathed gently on the healing substance, feeling it soften with the heat of her breath and smelling the scent of old perfume as she spread a light coat over the gash on her head—feeling the familiar sting of the ambergris’ disinfecting agents working before it melted away into a soothing, fragrant warmth.

An elegant alternative to bacta.

Berry's nose went into action again as she actually paused mid-chew and sniffed. "Heeey, that stuff smells gooood. Can you eat it?"

"Chew and swallow, Berry. Focus." Morgo said as she stood, packing away the ambergris and her supplies before sliding her leather pack back on. "We still need to find the others." And looking down at the green girl, Morgo tilted her head as a thought occurred to her.

"You can feel Thane through your bond. Can you also feel how far he is from you? His general location?"

Berry heaved a mighty sigh, pouting slightly at the doctor lady. "First ya tell me to filter, now I have to use it?" She grinned and shook her head, clearly teasing as she closed her eyes and felt around. Definitely some strong ripples in the water channel...no, really BIG ripples. Her eyes flew open and she quickly looked over at Morgo. "He's alive--and in trouble, again! C'mon!" She bolted down the hall, somehow stuffing the rest of the food in her mouth as she ran.

Morgo cursed as she ran after Berry. The girl was extraordinarily fast and Morgo, heaven forbid , had to actually work at keeping up. They ran, one foot flying after another, for a while before coming upon a dark hallway. Yet unlike other hallways, at the end of the stone chamber laid an open doorway, dimly lit with what seemed like artificial lights.

“That must be them.” Morgo breathed heavily as she and Berry paused, the girl barely winded as opposed to Morgo. The woman was in the middle of thinking it was quite pathetic really, when suddenly, distant shouts came from the end of the hall, the sound of open blaster fire and lightsabers slashing through air shattering the silence as more rapid fire shouts echoed into the hall.

Morgo had no time to catch her breath, or catch Berry for that matter as the girl’s eyes widened at the sound of their peril, and she bolted down the hall to aid her friends.

“You guys better not be dead!!!” Berry shouted as she streaked down the hall.

“No, Berry wait!” Morgo called out, in vain hope that the girl wouldn’t go running straight into a battle ground where she had no idea what she faced or even if she had a chance of surviving the fight. Grinding her teeth, Morgo ran after Berry, sprinting down the hall—too late as she saw Berry’s brightly clothed figure disappear through the doorway and into the fray.

Rushing close behind but unwilling to go in, Morgo braced herself on the door’s frame, leaning all her weight against it as she caught her breath and looked into the trembling chamber, her gray eyes widening at the sight of the battle raging before her— chaos itself.

Thane, Bomoor, Kip and Sev, all warriors, fought fiercely against a dark and mighty power that violently thrashed and strangled, the very air seemingly thick with its black malevolence. And amongst it all, shadowed statues licked and danced like flame itself, never in one place in the same instant as they flitted about, their steps like flashes of death.

And the Lady dared not blink.

TBC

 

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