Valley Of The Dark Lords (Month 7, 32BBY)

A little while later Kaia lay with Zavian in their bed. His arms were around her and her head was on his chest. She was quiet for a while before breaking the silence.

“I feel like I’m standing on the edge of something. What it is I don’t know. Between the vision of that young man and now the Nightmother I feel as if there is more to my past than I know.”

‘There is a lot that you do not yet know’ Zavian thought. He wanted to tell Kaia everything but there was a danger in that. Sometimes the force reacted to a certain families DNA. Hers had a strong link to the dark side and he did not want to lose her to that. He had seen her become angry during a mission more than once. And her angry gave her strength and speed. The Jedi’s way was to maintain calm and listen to the force. Trust in its will and strength. Zavian was not a great duelist but he could turn a lightsaber just with the force alone.

“We just need to get past this mission Kaia. I need your attention on the moment,” he said though he was fairly certain her focus was in the moment when she was on top of him just a few moments ago. He shifted them so he was above her. He touched her chin and looked into her large, beautiful, Green eyes. “Do you love me Kaia?” He asked. When she told him so he smiled. “Do you trust me?” He asked. When she told him so he smiled again. “And I love and trust in you as well,” he said then leaned down and kissed her very passionately. The kiss lingered and bloomed and then he drew back to look once more into her eyes. She was once wholly with him then and then she turned so he could pull her up into him as they got a bit of sleep.

The next morning they were both once again in the cockpit. The alert that they were close to their destination beeped and R2 brought them out of hyperspace. The red and orange deserts of a ruined planet, Korriban was before them.

R2 clicked and whirred and they both knew what it said. ‘I’m detecting a ship down there, shall I guide the ship toward it?’ It said. “Yes R2, can you tell what kind of ship?” Zavian asked as the ship descended down toward the planet. ‘It’s signature does not comply with any republic configuration’ it said. Kaia pointed as the landscape came into view. “I see it, I’ll land just beyond it in that outcropping of rock,” Zavian said as he brought the ship around and landed.

———————-

Amara had to take refuge in the abandoned ruins in the valley. A sandstorm has whipped up and the sand was so course it could scour a persons flesh if they stayed in it very long. She had given Kevan a painkiller and antibiotic. She attached a bandage to his stump but she knew he was still in a lot of pain. Sharing the pain was not a Sith power, it was a thing of a Jedi but Amara knew it. She had been a Jedi Knight.

Kaia's dreams were filled with images of the wounded young man, the Nightmother, Zavian, and the Jedi Council. She loved Zavian deeply and wanted to be with him and to live in peace, but deep down in her gut she had a feeling that she was not going to get the life she desired. She and Zavian awoke the next morning and shared a few moments of quiet intimacy together before getting up and dressing. R2 had monitored their flight path through the night and within a few hours they were alerted that they were close to their destination. R2 brought them out of hyperspace and before them they saw the desert plant Korriban.

R2 detected a ship down on the planet and guided them down towards it. As they got closer she and Zavian spotted it. The ship landed and Kaia and Zavian stepped out. As they stepped towards it an odd feeling came over Kaia. "I...I feel as if I know who owns this ship...but I don't know how."

-------------------------------------

Amara had hoped to get Kevan to the ship, but a sandstorm had come up suddenly, forcing them to take refuge in the abandoned ruins. Despite Kevan's insistence against it, Amara had given him a pain killer and antibiotic. She had bandaged his arm but she knew he was still in pain. She knew there was one thing she could do to take away some of his pain, but it would reveal to him that she had once been a Jedi. She needed to do it though. She placed her hand upon his arm and closed her eyes and concentrated. As she did Kevan would notice the pain in his arm start to dissipate as Amara felt pain in her right arm increase.

“I’ll put a tracker on the hull,” Zavian said as he tossed it high so it couldn’t be seen easily. It gripped the hull and expanded and began to transmit. He tested it with his wrist comm and nodded. As they examined the ship Zavian felt more and more uneasy about it. He touched the hull with his hand and focused on it and used the force.

As he did Kaia felt...something. A shift in the force. As her senses latched onto it her feelings about it were confirmed when she felt the use of the light side of the force. She couldn’t pinpoint where it was being used but she knew in what direction it came from.

R2 began to chatter and he rocked back and forth. ‘I’ve detected 2 life forms, possibly human. There is a sandstorm down in the valley’ it said.

Zavian felt the hate and aggression from the ship. And who piloted it. He didn’t know who specifically but knew it was a Sith.

“We need to go down into the valley. There are 2 Sith down there,” he said in a grave voice. “More and more I feel as if Yoda knows more than he wanted to tell us,” he said and he also felt it had a lot to do with Kaia.

——————-

As Amara used the light side of the force she felt the familiar tremor of other force users nearby. She felt the two Jedi and the force was strong with one of them but they had to wait out the storm. She stopped what she was doing and engaged the dark side once again. She veiled their position.

Kaia could sense that there were two Force users nearby. The feeling in her gut that she knew them somehow only began to grow. She glanced at Zavian when he told her they were Sith. She unclipped her lightsaber, but did not switch it on. She walked with Zavian further into the valley but suddenly she could no longer sense where the two Sith were.

“I think they’ve veiled their position,”’she told Zavian. “I feel that I know them but I don’t understand why I would know Sith.”

“We’ll have to wait for the storm to pass,” Zavian said. They waited for hours but eventually the storm passed and the two Jedi hurried down into the valley. The sense of the dark side of the force was everywhere here. And indeed the spirits of the ancient Sith were furious over this intrusion. They summoned dangerous creatures and sent them after them.

Amara and Zavian Were set upon by a whole pack of Tu’kata. Large vicious creatures that walked on two large back legs and tore at their prey with large jaws.

—————-

Amara heard the fighting and she guided Kevan down a deserted street and around the two Jedi that fought for their lives against several large creatures intent on killing them. She directed Kevan to go ahead and get to the ship as she hid and observed the two that faught.

Zavian lifted up one of the creatures and smashed it into two others that tried to flank them. Kaia slashes off a leg of a Tu’kata and leaped inhumanly far to the side and slashed the neck of another that tried to not Zavian from behind. The two Jedi had worked many years together and they backed one another up expertly. Zavian held another one back just long enough for Kaia to kill another one and get into position. He let it go and it lurched forward to bite him just as Kaia slashed at its legs from the side. It fell and died at Zavian’s feet. The dust had been kicked up in the fight but Zavian felt a tremor in the force. He felt the presence of a Sith nearby.

“Kaia...We’re being watched...hurry, down the path,” he said and the two ran right toward where Amara was hidden. She stood and began to run down the path. All three of the force users ran with inhuman speed but Zavian actually ran faster. She knew he would catch her and she stopped and used the force to bring down the side of the valley atop them. As she pulled at the rocks a huge boulder began to fall toward them. Zavian stopped and raised his hand.

Suddenly the massive boulder stopped in mid air. It had to weigh tons. “Go! Stop her!” Zavian said.

Kaia glanced back at Zavian, who used the force to hold up the boulder, but she could see he was alright. She needed to get to the female Sith and stop her. She could sense Sith all around her, but she knew they were only the spirits of the dead. There was an evil feeling here all around her, but Kaia remained focused on the woman she was chasing.

Amara suddenly stopped and in the blink of an eye her lightsaber was out. She turned and struck at Kaia, but she had sensed her attack was coming and had blocked it. Amara only used one side of her lightsaber and struck fast and hard. Kaia fought back but could sense something about this woman. Something...familiar. Kaia was an exceptional duelist, but she struggled against this woman. Kaia could see that she had been recently injured. She had a wound on the right side of her face.

The two women fought. Blue lightsaber against Red flickered in the afternoon light. Zavian had dropped the large rock and then hopped on top of it. He looked down the path to the two women who fought for their lives in a duel. Jedi against Sith. Amara was fueled by her passion and anger. Kaia was bolstered by her calm and her training. Each stroke of her saber precise. Zavian jumped down and ran toward them as they fought. There were few duels that could match the one he witnessed just now. Kaia was one with her lightsaber and Amara used her long experience and aggression against her. As their blades met in a crackle of energy however Amara held out her hand and ‘pushed’ at Kaia’s chest. She was flung down and as she brought her saber back to defend her vitals Amara knocked it aside and drew back to thrust into the young woman.

“Amara...NO! That’s Kaia!” Zavian shouted as he ran toward them.

Kaia has been training for years with her lightsaber. She had always felt a connection to it, but today she felt as if it were one with it. It had become an extension of her body. She moved with a deadly grace and never faltered in any move she made. Blue blade met red with a crackling of energy as the two women stared each other down.

Suddenly, Kaia felt the woman use the Force to shove her back. Kaia hit the ground on her back and moved to defend herself, but the Sith knocked it out of her hand. Kaia looked up at the red lightsaber that was about to be thrust into her chest. She prepared herself to die. A wave of sadness came over her as she realized she would never be able to marry Zavian.

Then, she heard Zavian yell out. What he said shocked her. He knew this woman? Why would this woman know who she was? Then, at the same time both women looked at each other and realized who they were looking at. Amara was looking at her daughter and Kaia was looking at her mother.

Amara was shocked. She switched off her lightsaber and took a few steps back as she kept her eyes on her. Then, she turned and ran as Zavian drew close.