The Chosen Apprentice/Chapter 39

“I can’t let you take him,” Shinai said, walking up to his wife, his hand clenched as he closed her windpipe.

“No…Shinai…stop!” Her face turned blue and her eyes widened as his grip tightened. “Please… don’t!”

“He told you to do this, didn’t he?” Shinai thundered. “That Jedi, who was he?”

“No…he didn’t!” She protested, fighting for air.

“Tell me his name!” he demanded.

“Ana…Skywalk…” Her head slumped to one side, her hands dropped and hung limply either side of her.

Shinai released her, his hands shaking as he laid her on the floor, examining her body. “No…I couldn’t have,” he stammered, frantically trying to find some sign of life in her prone form. “It’s impossible, I couldn’t…”

“NOOOO!” Arrin screamed, frozen to the spot and shaking with fear.

For a moment father and son eyed each other. Shinai walked slowly towards him, Arrin’s large dark eyes—so like his mother’s—stared up at him.

Shinai staggered towards his son, his words tumbling over each other as they emerged from his mouth. “Arrin…you know that…I wouldn’t….”

“You killed her!” he spat, still not moving.

Shinai recoiled as if he had been shot, but before he could say another word the door burst open. Two figures came in but Shinai only noticed one.

“You!” Shinai rounded on Anakin, his hand crossing to his lightsaber. “This is all your fault! You turned her against me!”

“You have done that yourself,” Anakin replied in a calm voice. He held out his hand. “Hand over your lightsaber; you wouldn’t want to make this another death in front of him.” He nodded to Arrin who was still frozen to the spot, his hair sticking to his face with cold sweat.

Shinai backed away towards the window. “Don’t think I’m going to give in now,” he said, igniting his lightsaber and bringing it before him.

“We’ll take him together,” Obi-Wan whispered, “we can make this as quick as it needs to be.”

They removed their cloaks and then ignited their lightsabers. For a moment Arrin gaped at the sight of the three blue lightsabers before him, then his father gave a gesture and he fled.

“You still can end this now, Shinai,” Anakin said, his voice still calm. “There’s no need to make a stand, it’ll just make things worse.”

There was a fevered, almost maniacal look in Shinai’s face. Obi-Wan recognised it, he had seen that look far too many times during the war: it was the face of a Jedi who had turned to the dark side of the Force. Could it be too late for Shinai? Obi-Wan wondered.

But Obi-Wan did not have time to think. Shinai stepped forward to attack, the blue blade swinging menacingly towards the two Jedi. Anakin and Obi-Wan were quick to intercept the blow and then circle around Shinai for a devastating double attack.

Yet Shinai was not so easily overwhelmed, he gave the two Jedi such an attack that they were both left reeling. And in the moment of hesitation he pressed his advantage, fighting one, then the other and then finally both at the same time, the lightsaber a blur in his hands, the blows powerful.

Form V, Anakin realised with a start, he had fought too briefly with Shinai on Avingnon to have any measure of him as a fighter but even if he had that wouldn’t have mattered. The five years absence from the Jedi Order made all the difference.

But Anakin knew that there was a way around this, he caught Obi-Wan’s eye and gave a nod. Obi-Wan returned it and they span back into attack-ready positions. And then, slowly at first but picking up speed as they moved, they attacked together, blade moving exactly at the same time targeting either side of Shinai’s body.

It was a technique they had worked on ever since Anakin had been Obi-Wan’s apprentice and during the Clone Wars they had perfected it in such a way that the two Jedi were virtually unstoppable. They were like two opposite parts of an equation, Obi-Wan the defence, Anakin the attack, Obi-Wan with the reserve and finesse, Anakin with the speed and power.

The only one who had not survived this double assault had been Count Dooku—and even there they had momentarily adapted it on board the Invisible Hand to include Padmé—but Dooku had been in a class of his own as a duellist whereas Shinai was not.

And the worst part was Shinai knew he was beaten, at least while the two of them attacked him together. He had to fight either one or the other and he knew there was only one way to do this.

Moving so fast that he could almost not be seen, Shinai brought his lightsaber up over his head and cut part of the window away. At the same time he reached into the Force, ripping through the glass so it exploded all around him and showered the Jedi with a deadly rain.

Then he walked up to the open frame, smiling at the Jedi as the cold night wind rushed past him moving his dark clothing and hair. Then he jumped.

Anakin and Obi-Wan ran to the edge, looking down as the former Jedi fell. Anakin moved to follow him but Obi-Wan tried to prevent it.

“I have to go after him,” Anakin argued.

“Anakin, you can’t just go and—”

Anakin glared at him. “Yes, I can and I am.”

Obi-Wan shook his head. “Then I’m coming—”

“No.” Anakin's tone was soft but firm. “This is something that I have to do myself, and someone has to make sure Arrin’s all right.”

“Arrin?” Obi-Wan asked. “Oh, the boy. But together we can—”

“I know,” Anakin said, his eyes as clear as his resolve. “Which is why I have to do this by myself, you understand?”

Obi-Wan wanted to say that he didn’t understand, that Anakin was letting his pride get in the way again and the best thing they could do was to track him together. But then he remembered…this was Anakin’s mission, not his own and while Anakin had asked him to help out now and again, whether it failed or succeeded would entirely rest upon Anakin’s shoulders.

And as much Obi-Wan wanted to share that burden, as they had shared almost everything since that day on Tatooine when they had first met, Obi-Wan knew that this time he couldn’t. This time he had to let Anakin go and there was nothing he could do about it.

Yoda’s words came back to him, when would he stop training Anakin? At the time Obi-Wan had taken the words lightly, yet now…

“Go on,” Obi-Wan urged, seeing that Shinai was almost out of sight. “Let me know how it goes.”

And without saying anything more, Anakin jumped.