CHAPTER TWELVE
The Crimson Knights, Thrawn, and their squad finally came to a stop after hours of going through the Dathomirian forest. Not so far ahead was a Nightsister camp, and Thrawn could see the scarlet-clothed witches from afar, gathering in silence.
"They know we're here," Zale Ven said quietly. "Tread carefully."
The stormtroopers and Thrawn followed the two warriors into a camp. At first, the Nightsisters did not seem to acknowledge them. Suddenly, one of the witches lashed out and killed one of the stormtroopers, impaling him with a sword. The other troopers and Thrawn immediately raised their blasters but Zale quickly stooped them.
"We come in the name of the Crimson Emperor," he said to the Nightsisters, who were beginning to surround them. "May we speak with your leader?"
"Did someone summon me?" a raspy, old voice sounded. Moving through the group of Nightsisters was an elderly woman dressed in ancient, scarlet robes. Her silver eyes glowed with a mix of contempt and respect when she made eye-contact with Zale.
"Ah, you must be Zale Ven," the old witch said. "The Crimson Emperor has spoken kindly of you..."
"I'm sure he has," Zale muttered. "The Emperor has sent us to retrieve a certain relic from you."
"Oh?" the Nightsister replied. "And what would that be?"
The Crimson Knight glanced at the other witches before speaking. "I come for a Sith holocron."
The Nightsister leader narrowed her sagged eyes. "And just why would we have a Sith artifact?"
"From my understanding, about forty years ago, a Sith Lord known as Darth Sidious gave it to your predecessor, Mother Talzin."
The old witch studied Zale carefully. "My sister did indeed speak of an artifact given to her by Sidious. Why is it of your Emperor's interest?"
"He simply wishes to add it to his collection," Zale replied.
Hesitating for a brief moment, the elderly Nightsister reached into her cloak and brought out a pyramidal-shaped object, glowing with red energy. Zale reached out greedily to take it when he abruptly stopped.
"Is something wrong?" the old woman asked.
Zale's eyes narrowed as he looked up towards Dathomir's foggy sky. "Jedi..."
* * *
"I still don't think this is a good idea..." Kyle muttered as the Raven's Claw entered Dathomir's atmosphere. "I mean, I'm sensing a lot of...dark side-ish stuff."
Toah turned to his partner and smiled. "You don't want to give up now, do you?" he asked. "If so, you can just drop me off here and come back later."
Kyle shot a glare at him. "Very funny. I promised the Jedi Council that I would watch your back, and I will do just that. I was just...observing, that's all."
Toah laughed quietly. "If you say so..."
Suddenly, without warning, a rocket collided with the Raven's Claw's left wing, and the ship went plummeting towards the ground. Toah seized the controls from Kyle and steered the Raven's Claw into a soft landing. Relatively, of course.
Once the dust that had resulted from the landing had cleared, Toah could see a dozen stormtroopers, a Chiss Imperial, two armored warriors, and countless female warriors surrounding the ship.
Great, he thought. It's going to be one of those days.
* * *
For the longest time, Luke was at a complete lost on what to do against Animus' dragon form. Never in his life had he faced such an adversary. And not having his lightsaber certainly did not help at all.
Luke spent most of the conflict fleeing from Animus, trying to think up of a plan without being thrown back by the dragon. This seemed to disappoint the crowd, who were probably expecting mutilation and dismemberment, and were now jeering and booing at the Jedi Knight. Luke ignored them and continued running. He eventually reached a dead end as the dragon cornered him.
"I am disappointed," Animus growled. "When you defeated my previous forms, I was expecting a challenge from this. It appears that is not to be so..."
The dragon leaned towards Luke, to the point where the latter could smell the creature's breath. "But no matter," Animus said, laughing softly. "I shall kill you all the same."
With his life on a line, Luke decided to go with the most ridiculous plan he had ever thought of. He ducked and slid under the dragon's belly, catching onto the beast's side. With all of his strength, Luke flipped himself over and onto Animus' back, prompting the dragon to roar in rage.
Luke then seized the beast's horns and allowed the Force to flow into them, affecting Animus' bewildered and distracted mind. Now partially in control of Animus, Luke willed the dragon to spread its wings and climb up the pit. The crowd in Gorga's chamber scattered as Animus and Luke emerged from the floor and into the palace.
Jedi and beast made their way through the place, demolishing everything in their path. Luke soon saw the exit up ahead and braced himself as Animus crashed through the metal door and shot up into the sky. Luke opened his eyes to see that they were now airborne, and let out a small sigh of relief.
He then used the Force to will Animus to fly back towards the Lars Homestead. From afar, he could see Dengar and a Cerean bounty hunter, unaware of the dragon. When they finally realized they were not alone, it was too late.
The dragon crashed into the ground, sending a quake that knocked both of the bounty hunters out cold, and caused Luke to fall off the beast's back. As he quickly got back to his feet, he saw Animus revert back to his human form, weakened and exhausted.
Glaring at Luke with baleful eyes, Animus muttered, "Well, Skywalker, it seems that you have beaten me. I concede."
"Good, because I'm never doing anything like that again," Luke said, part jokingly. Animus showed no sign of amusement.
"So," Luke said after a minute of awkward silence, "now what? What have I accomplished after beating you?"
"You have proven that you are ready to face the challenges that await you," Animus said. "However, you will not be able to face them alone. You will need your fellow Jedi...and even then, I am not certain that you will prevail."
Luke said nothing as Animus began to slowly fade away. "Farewell, Luke Skywalker," he said. "And may the Force be with you."
And then he was gone, leaving Luke alone with two, unconscious bounty hunters. After staring off into space for a moment, he climbed into the mercenaries' landspeeder and drove off to Mos Eisley Spaceport, where hopefully he would find a ship of some sort and return to Coruscant.
Leave one home, return to another...
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