Sins of the Father/Part 20

Narasi felt Zaella at her back, and she kept her lightsaber hilt in hand as she walked into the stadium under the hazy light of Circumtore's early morning sun. The primary was bright when it appeared, but mostly obscured by chunks of cloud; Narasi wasn't sure whether they were leftovers of the last rainstorm or the advance guard of a coming one, but either way, she thought she wouldn't have to worry about the light in her eyes. The sand crunched under her boots; she ground her heels into it once or twice to get a sense for her footing. There was some hard surface not far down; it was more like walking over sand-covered pavement than along a beach. She would be in for a hard fall if she lost her footing, but she could count on a solid surface to push off if she needed to jump or dart to one side.

Walking around a smear of blood and a few lingering entrails near the center of the arena, Narasi paused halfway between the far barrier and the gate and spun around. Zaella, only a few meters back, jerked to a halt, then wove around the guts the other way, stopping five meters away. She had her lightsaber in hand too, and she bounced on the balls of her feet, opening and closing her off hand.

"You can still walk away," Narasi offered.

Zaella gave a laugh that was half-snarl. "Never. You think I'm going back to the Dark Lord in failure?  Better to die here."

"You could quit. Leave the Sith."

Zaella stared for a moment before baring her teeth. "You could leave the Jedi."

Narasi shook her head.

"Well, there we are, then."

"I'm not afraid of the Jedi, though."

Zaella swallowed, but Narasi felt her anger growing. "Too bad. Fear leads to anger, anger leads to power, and power leads to victory."

Runganna was saying something, but Narasi ignored her; she felt compelled to make a final attempt. "Please don't do this. I don't want to hurt you."

"Well, I do want to hurt you," Zaella said. "Deal with it."

Narasi bared her fangs; even when she got her temper back under control, she glowered at the Twi'lek. "Fine. It's on your head, then."

On the far side of the arena, what Narasi had taken for a durasteel wall groaned and rose, revealing a portcullis with a tunnel beyond. She had seen the gladiators and jousters emerge from both ends of the arena the previous day, but this was something new. A glance told her Zaella had no more expected this than she had, and so, wishing that she had listened to Runganna after all, she turned to watch.

What emerged from the tunnel…the creature walked like a humanoid, but Narasi got only the vaguest sense of its presence; it felt like staring through fog. The brute carried the biggest maul Narasi had ever seen, and unlike the Coynite gladiators, he was armored head to toe save for the claws of his hands and feet and a patch of his face. The uncovered space in his helmet exposed a nearly-circular mouth filled with sharp teeth, and wide enough to bite off her forearm. Narasi wasn't sure she could've even lifted his armor, let alone his enormous war hammer, but he walked with unexpected grace for his size.

He stopped a few meters away, making a triangle of the three of them, and set his hammer down; the ground shook under Narasi's feet. When he drew off his helmet, Narasi saw the cleft palate that gave his lamprey mouth extra room to expand, but that couldn't hold her attention any longer than it took to notice his eyes, which looked like bloody blobs implanted in his charcoal skin. He drew a wet, rattling breath through his mouth.

"What are you?" Zaella asked.

"I am Ghrond Farshyk," he replied in Huttese; he had the deepest voice Narasi had ever heard. "I am Dashade, descendant of the ancient warrior lords of Urkupp. I have destroyed Jedi and Sith, feasted upon their blood, made a meal of their flesh and marrow.  The Hutt has hired me to defeat you.  I consecrate your deaths to the gods."

He stopped, clasped the haft of his hammer with both hands, and nodded. When Narasi continued to stare, Ghrond snarled, "Have you nothing to say? Are you so little that you forget your own names?"

Was this a normal part of duels? Narasi thought not. While she was searching for words, Zaella said, "I…"

She rasped, cleared her throat, and tried again. "I'm Zaella Sabir. I'm…a Twi'lek.  Sith.  Sith apprentice to Lady Hadan…the true Dark Lord of the Sith.  And when I kill you, you can meet your gods yourself."

That was pretty good, Narasi had time to think, before Ghrond turned his red eyes on her. She took a deep breath, centering herself.

"I'm Narasi Rican. Zygerrian, born of Zygerria but grown above and beyond it." The Force seemed to inspire her; she heard the confidence in her own voice, and the words rolled right off her tongue. "I'm a Padawan of the Jedi Order, the apprentice of Tirien Kal-Di. I've fought the Sith Empire's hordes at Taanab and Milagro, killed an Anzat servant of Darth Vandak, and crossed blades with Darth Alecto herself.  And I don't want to hurt either of you, but I won't let Runganna's weapon hurt anybody, so if you make me, I'll kill you both."

Zaella raised her eyebrows, and Narasi felt pleased with herself for a fleeting moment; the wind rustled her tunic and swished her Padawan braid around her neck, and she imagined the dramatic image it presented. But Ghrond just nodded, put his helmet back on, and hefted his maul with no sign of effort. Up close, Narasi could see that a single blow would cave her body in from neck to groin.

A snap-hiss startled her; Zaella had ignited her blade. Hurrying to copy her, Narasi raised her blue blade before her body in both hands, shifting to keep both Zaella and Ghrond in her field of vision. Ghrond whirled his hammer one-handed in infinity arcs before his body, waiting for some signal. Narasi focused on her breathing, and even as her heart raced, she told herself, ''There is no emotion, there is peace. There is no ignorance, there is knowledge. There is—''

Darqyren's voice called, "Begin!"

At once Ghrond hefted his hammer and sprang at Narasi; she had a half-second to marvel at the fact that he could jump with all that weight before she flung herself sideways, hitting the ground the same second Ghrond's hammer pulverized the spot where she had been standing. He whirled and swung at her head; she skipped back out of range and hit him with a Force push.

Or rather, she pushed at him with the Force; she felt it answer her call, but nothing happened. Her eyes widened as Ghrond sprang in and swung the hammer back the other way; only instinct threw her to the ground under the blow, and she barely got back to her feet in time to pull her head away from Ghrond's kick. She swung at his face, but he turned his head and her lightsaber just bounced off his helmet. She ducked and rolled under his next swing, running around his back to come at him from behind, but when she got there Zaella was ready to meet her.

The red-skinned Twi'lek was fast and aggressive, slashing and stabbing with no apparent rhyme or reason; her style seemed familiar. Narasi fell back on defense, relying on her native strength to meet each attack, focusing more on enough speed to respond in time. Zaella stabbed and almost nicked her cheek, but before either of them could retaliate, Ghrond came up behind Zaella and swung, and they both had to duck under the blow. As they stood, Narasi shin-kicked Zaella in the thigh, then darted away; Zaella cursed, dropped again, and had to fling herself forward in an ungainly, one-legged long jump to dodge the spiked end of the war hammer.

They had put Ghrond equally between them, and he whirled his hammer from one hand to the next, considering them. Narasi seized the chance to hit him with the Force, throwing all her power behind her telekinesis, but again it failed her. Somehow, in some way she couldn't imagine, Ghrond was immune to the Force. Coupled with his lightsaber-proof armor, which had to be some kind of cortosis, she wasn't sure how it was even possible to take him down.

Ghrond picked Zaella, charging at her as if to swing only to jab with the end of his hammer instead. She leapt over him, the Force carrying her high enough to kick off his pauldron, flip in midair, and land at his back. Her two-handed slash should have cut him in half, but she might have been hitting him with a stick for all the purchase her scarlet blade found against his armor. He whirled and backhanded Zaella off her feet; she hit the ground, bounced once, and rolled to a stop near Narasi.

Narasi hesitated; her instincts shied away from striking a defenseless, wounded person. She paid for her pity when Zaella groaned, pushed up to her feet, and immediately came at her with a series of short, quick stabs; most were too fast and shallow to make contact, but they came in such a dizzying stream that Narasi brought her elbows to her ribs for a tight guard, blocking with her wrists. In a flash Zaella cut down at Narasi's knee; Narasi blocked in time, but the blow knocked her off balance.

Ghrond saved her; he swung at the back of her head, and when Narasi ducked and backrolled, Zaella had to backbend almost parallel with the ground. Narasi saw she had underestimated the Dashade's strength before; if one of those sweeping blows made contact, her head or even her body would just disintegrate into red mist. There wouldn't be enough of her left to burn.

Ghrond swung the handle end of his war hammer back and swept out Zaella's feet before she could straighten. She landed on her back and he brought the hammer's end down; she rolled to one side and flinched when the ground shrieked and shook beside her. She rolled again, and this time when Ghrond brought his hammer down Zaella loosed a bloodcurdling scream; as the Dashade raised his weapon, Narasi saw he had pulped the very tip of one of her lekku.

Her lekku have a lot of sensitive nerves, Tirien had said. If you singe one, she may be in enough pain that you can finish her.

Clearly he had been right, but Narasi felt nauseated, seeing and feeling Zaella's agony and thinking of taking advantage of it. Before she knew what she was doing, she charged and slashed at the back of the Dashade's leg, aiming for a joint in his armor. Ghrond spun and swung his maul one-handed; he caught Narasi's lightsaber blade with the haft of his weapon just below the hammer head, and his raw strength tore her lightsaber right out of her grip. Her eyes widened, and in her second of surprise Ghrond jabbed with the hammer's end.

The Force saved her, but only just; she was mid-hop when the blunt metal caught her in midair, flattened her breasts into her rib cage, bent her ribs inward, rattled her sternum, and tore a scream past her lips. She landed on her heels, fell, and lay in the sand for a moment, whimpering in pain and trying to breathe; every time she got a breath, she cursed in Basic or Zygerrian.

Get up get up get up GET UP!!!

The Force got her moving, though she wasn't actually up by the time Ghrond reached her. She rolled up into a crouch away from his downswing, using the rattling impact of the hammer's fall to pop up to her feet. He kicked, and Narasi slapped his leg away with both hands; she had just enough strength to guide him past her hip, but when he took a hand off his hammer to backhand her and she tried to block that too, it knocked her flying. She considered herself lucky he hadn't broken her forearms.

Groaning in pain, clutching her chest with one hand, Narasi thrust out her other hand; her lightsaber bounced several times before it flipped up into her grip. Trying to dampen her pain with the Force, she got up to a run across the arena, leaping to hide behind the corpse of the reek for a brief respite.

She had not seen Zaella on the way; only when she landed did she realize why.

Activating her lightsaber just in time to catch the Twi'lek's first cut at her face—and so close it almost forced her own blade into the tip of her nose—Narasi said, "Whoa, whoa! Truce!"

Zaella's wide eyes showed the white sclera all around her amber irises, and her Force signature trembled with panic. Blood dripped from the tip of her left lek. "What?!"

Narasi wasn't sure where she had been going with it, but she realized why the Force had led her here. "We can't take him alone—neither of us. He'll just kill us one at a time.  We have to team up."

"What?!"

"Look, we've been trying!" Narasi hissed. "We can't beat him! My Force pushes aren't working—"

"—my chokes either—"

"Can you use Force lightning?"

Zaella narrowed her eyes, though it only made her look deranged instead of panicked. "Force lightning?! Bitch, do you think I'd still be an apprentice if I could use Force lightning?!"

"Well, we've gotta—"

"NARASI, LOOK OUT!"

Tirien's voice, amplified by the Force, caught Narasi's attention, and she and Zaella peeked over the reek's hide in time to see Ghrond running for a windup swing. They both retreated, but Ghrond got such a ferocious blow into the reek's corpse that he snapped its spine, knocked it right off the ground, and sent it flying at Narasi and Zaella. Ghrond had overestimated his own strength—the dead reek knocked the women to the ground and kept on going until it collided with the barrier wall in a shower of sparks—but the impact made Narasi groan anyway.

Zaella hissed, eyes squeezed shut, and threw back one side of her head; Narasi saw her bloodied lek had dragged through the sand and grit. As they pushed up to their feet, the Sith snapped, "Fine, together."

"Keep him between us!"

They spread out, circling Ghrond, who stopped in the middle, whirling his hammer again; he glared down on them while his many teeth gnashed, and he did not even seem to be out of breath. While the Dashade weighed his targets, Narasi studied him, looking for joints, vulnerabilities in his armor. With the element of surprise she could stab him right in the face, but only at the risk of a frontal assault. Perhaps she could cut the exposed claws off his hands, or off one of his toes to unbalance him.

He picked Zaella, charging her and swinging his hammer; she dodged whenever she could and parried when she had to. She seemed to have had Narasi's intuition, because she kept darting in to jab at Ghrond's mouth and chin, but he turned his helmet or raised his bracers to take the blows. Once he nearly caught her maimed lek.

Narasi ran at him from behind, stabbing at the back of his knee. He spun around, swinging the haft end of his hammer, but Narasi rooted herself in place, putting all her Force power behind all her Zygerrian strength as she thought, No.

The Force apparently thought, Actually, yes, because the blow rattled her backwards, but she stayed steady enough to slash at Ghrond's knee again. He turned his knee plate to take the blow, but before he could crash one of her shoulders through the other with the business end of his hammer, he grunted and pitched forward, and Narasi almost got her cut on his mouth after all; he twisted at the last second and she missed, but she saw Zaella had tried to slide her blade under the helmet and stab the back of the Dashade's head. The Twi'lek screamed, slashed low, and finally scored a hit on the back of Ghrond's thigh.

Narasi's ears flattened to her skull when Ghrond bellowed, but she saw that whatever material he wore below his armor, while not lightsaber-proof, was at least resistant; Zaella's blade had melted the weave and singed the dark flesh below, but the leg was still attached and working. Ghrond spun and grabbed Zaella's wrist before she could get away; as she struggled and tried to cut him with her lightsaber from point-blank range, he hefted his hammer in his other hand.

To distract him, Narasi tried Zaella's trick and gouged for the base of his helmet. It didn't work any better for her, and as her stab glanced off she flung a Force push at it instinctively. To her shock, the helmet slid up, exposing the back of Ghrond's neck. He swung at Zaella, but the helmet had slid over his eyes, and she managed to duck under the hammer. He threw her ten meters away and whirled for Narasi, who leapt back out of range. Only after he had swung another complete circle did the Dashade stop and fix his helmet, exposing the ferocious expression on his face.

He charged Narasi, who sprinted right at him, looking over his head, her feet all but flying in Circumtore's lighter gravity. With two meters to spare she brought both her feet together for the jump; with one, she flung herself into a diving roll as Ghrond fell for the feint and raised his hammer high. Rolling up to her feet and backslashing blind, Narasi was stunned to hear Ghrond roar as she caught his thigh too. She continued into a sprint that brought her to Zaella's side.

"His armor," she panted.

"Yeah, I noticed!" Zaella snarled.

"No, the armor….we use…Force pushes…"

"They don't work!"

"Not on him, on the armor!" Narasi straightened and gulped a deep breath. "Like the Force crush thing you Sith do! We hit him from both sides and squeeze him between us."

Zaella's eyes widened, but then she nodded. "Got it. Go!"

They split, running to Ghrond's sides, and when he weighed his options this time, Narasi thrust out a hand. Her powers rolled over the Dashade, but she focused until she found purchase on his breastplate. She could feel Zaella's powers opposing hers, like holding matching magnet poles against each other. Gritting her teeth, she grunted and pushed harder.

Ghrond took a step toward her this time…but it took him some effort, and Narasi saw a hint of doubt in those deep-set eyes. Once he turned away from her, Zaella put her lightsaber on her belt and thrust both palms toward Ghrond's back. Narasi felt the Force coming to her aid at the same time it raged against her, and her extended arm trembled. Ghrond took another step, missed the landing, and came down on one knee. He growled as he struggled to his feet.

He had trudged another two steps forward, braced as if against a gale, when Narasi finally heard a deep, horrible groan of tortured metal. One of Ghrond's hands left his hammer haft and flew to his back, and a snarl of pain escaped his mouth. Narasi dropped her lightsaber in the sand and thrust out her other hand, sweat pouring down her face, and Ghrond's breastplate bent inward where it curved over his shoulder. He fell to his knees again, roaring.

Zaella was advancing on him now, rage all over her face, and Narasi felt the dark side bearing down on the Dashade. She tried to focus on the light all the more, working to banish her fear, and after a moment she felt its calm energy come to her aid. The second it did, the clash of light and dark redoubled their opposing powers; the sternum of Ghrond's armor caved in at the same time he arched his back and howled.

Ghrond dropped his hammer, slapping at his shoulders and ribs until he ripped apart the fastenings of his armor and shrugged off the heavy torso plate, panting for breath. As he reached for his hammer, Zaella tapped her head, then raised a hand, and Narasi nodded. Together they ripped Ghrond's helmet off so hard it cut his cheek and shot up like a rocket; Zaella swiped a hand, and the helmet went flying over the arena's boundary wall.

Ghrond seized his hammer again, and before Narasi could even consider trying to get a Force grip on the armor left on his arms and legs, he whirled and nearly knocked Zaella's head off. She ducked, darted in for his chest, and had to retreat as he punched at her face; his armored blow caught the edge of her forehead and drew a rush of blood. The Force brought Narasi's lightsaber hilt to her grip, but though she waited until the last second of her charge to ignite her blade, Ghrond apparently heard her coming; she scored a weave-melting hit on the back of his shoulder, but had to bring her blade in close to block his elbow to her face.

When he swung his hammer, though, she didn't retreat; Zaella was still reeling, blood pouring through the fingers she had over her wound. Instead Narasi stood her ground, blocking with the forte of her blade; she could smell the stink of the Dashade's breath and feel his snorts rustle her hair, but at point-blank range, even his strength was worth only so much. She kept jabbing her blade's forte into the haft of his weapon between his clawed hands, and he snarled in frustration as he tried and failed to bring the brutalizing end of the hammer to bear. Behind the rage and bloodlust in his narrowed eyes, Narasi thought she saw just a bit of confusion; fighting such a hulking monster of a man so close was so suicidal she was sure no one had ever tried it.

Ghrond shoved with his hammer haft and forced a saber block; as she felt her knees buckling and her elbows bending, Narasi gave up resisting and flicking the tip of her blade at his face. He recoiled out of range, and she jabbed with the forte of the blade, slicing off one of his claws.

Even though his finger was still armored and attached, Ghrond roared so loudly Narasi thought her eardrums would rupture. He jabbed with his hammer haft before she was ready, and this time the force of the blow knocked her onto her back. As she groaned, he raised the hammer high overhead for a downward smash, but Narasi heard a shrieking cry of defiance and rage, and Ghrond turned as Zaella came into view past his shoulder. He twisted aside from her decapitating strike, but her blade curved in and took off half his chin and a good portion of his face.

Ghrond bellowed, lurching away from them, one hand pressed to the wound. Narasi rolled up as Zaella touched down; they took only enough time to exchange nods, then charged together. Ghrond fell back on defense, trying to parry them both with the hammer, but the missing claw on his hand affected his precision and the pain of the missing piece of his face sapped his concentration. Zaella penetrated deeper with a stab than any of their slashes had, melting Ghrond's tunic over his left pectoral and cutting four centimeters down. When he swung to retaliate, Narasi stepped under his arm and pressed the terzo of her lightsaber into his ribs; sustained contact did what glancing slashes hadn't, melting through and burning ribs to ash.

The Dashade lurched back, elbows tucked tight to protect himself, sacrificing any pretense of offense. Sensing Zaella's plan, Narasi stabbed at Ghrond's chest; when he blocked, Zaella ducked under the end of his hammer, dropped to one knee behind him, and reverse-stabbed through his knee. Ghrond collapsed to his other knee, and as he roared Narasi stabbed her lightsaber through his mouth and out the back of his head.

As he died, collapsing sideways onto the ground, Narasi exhaled in a rush, panting for breath, and Zaella got to her feet. Blood had dripped down Zaella's face, past her eye, and over her cheek; it was so close to the color of her skin that Narasi could only really see it by how it glistened in the clouded morning light. She pulled her left lek over her shoulder with one hand, her face crumpling as she saw the mangled tip.

"Can they fix it?" Narasi asked.

Zaella shrugged. "I dunno."

"One challenger has been defeated," came Darqyren Valt's voice over the speakers. "Only the Sith and the Jedi remain."

"That kriffing guy," Narasi growled. "You'd think after that he'd—"

Zaella sucked in a breath, then leapt into a slash at Narasi's neck.