56

Blood was roaring in Saedii's ears.

Everything else faded away to a mere whisper – the blaster fire, the canons, the crumbling and exploding monastery. Even the wounded screams of the Clones as they died in desperate struggle around them. All of it suddenly grew silent except for the soft footsteps on the grass before them.

Krell was in all black, as he had been last time Saedii had seen him. In fact, he looked nearly identical to the figure that had been haunting her dreams each night.

Except for his eyes.

The scarred one stared blindly, but the left – the uninjured one – burned with yellow fire. Rimmed in dark red.

The Dark Side shivered off of him in waves.

Sometime in the past two weeks, Krell had embraced that darkness within him. Last she'd seen him, he had used it to his disposal, but not like this. Not to where it curled off of him in shadowy echoes, casting ripples into the Force. Now, he was nearly shuddering with power.

In her chest, Saedii's heart felt like it had gone into hyperdrive. It beat so fast that everything suddenly seemed unsteady around her. Something cold skated down her skin.

Fear.

She recognized it. So much more powerful than anything she'd ever felt before.

Saedii had always feared Krell, but now that she knew what he was capable of, that cautious fear had turned into something more. Sheer terror. Just the sight of him made her nearly dizzy.

He'd come to take her – back to Nur, back to the stone table.

Back to the nightmares.

"You look surprised to see me," Krell commented idly. Amused eyes flicked between Saedii and Kalth, taking in the horror-struck expressions.

For his part, Kalth had not moved a muscle. He'd even seemed to stop blinking. That same fear that Saedii felt saturated the Force around him, too.

"You shouldn't be," Krell continued conversationally. Those cruel eyes of his fell on Saedii. "You're the one who told me where to find you."

No.

The ground felt like it was shimmering. Saedii took an unsteady step backwards, trying to keep on her feet.

She'd told him? About Teth?

Krell observed her reaction with obvious delight. "Don't you remember? When you begged me to free you from your nightmares, you bargained with information. You told me the Rebellion I sought was growing on Teth."

No, Saedii mouthed, but no sound came out. She couldn't have. She wouldn't.

"I thank you for your help, Sister. We never would have found it without you."

Saedii's eyes stung again. Something tightened around her chest, making it impossible to breathe. Or maybe it was her own crippling anxiety, clawing at her chest like a rabid beast. Gouging after her heart.

She'd betrayed the Rebellion. The Jedi.

This was all her fault.

Krell took another step forward. At that movement, both Saedii and Kalth echoed his step backwards. At his side, Kalth's hand trembled on the hilt of his new lightsaber.

"Come Brother. Sister." Krell held out a hand to them both. "It's time to come home."

"No." Saedii's voice was louder now. A whisper.

Krell laughed at the feeble sound. "You don't have any choice in the matter."

"I won't join you. Not again."

It was pitiful defiance – no more than a soft whisper in the roar of battle. About as feeble as a loth kitten. As dangerous as a gentle breeze.

"You will – once I've finished with you, of course."

A violent shudder worked down Saedii's back. Voice weak, she said, "You'll have to kill me."

"I'm afraid, dear Sister," Krell said slowly. Relishing the fear in their eyes. "That death is too kind a fate for you."

He lunged then – too fast. Saedii and Kalth both jumped out of the way, barely missing his blades which sailed over the tops of their heads.

Kneeling, Saedii and Kalth both engaged their own lightsabers. Not with any real determination, but with a sheer, frightened sense of desperation. They both knew that Krell had the upper hand.

They attacked in tandem. But as Saedii moved, her body felt like it trudged through mud. Like every muscle was weighed down. Where on Wayland she had fought for her life, today she fought with fear. Because she knew what fate waited her if she lost this battle. Knew just how Krell would torture her if she lost.

Krell easily dodged their attack, empowered with the Dark Side. In two quick slashes, he'd drawn a line of blood down Kalth's leg and across Saedii's cheek. Nothing more than shallow scrapes. A warning.

Saedii ducked beneath his next swing, but when she stood to land a blow of her own, he reared out and landed a kick to her chest.

Something cracked. All the air shriveled in her lungs.

Wheezing, Saedii stumbled down to one knee, gasping for breath. Pain lanced up her right side, making it hard to breathe.

Another blow came into her side again. White lights flashed behind her eyes as it sent her onto her back, blinking in surprise. A shadow loomed above her, wielding a blade of red light.

An angry yowl filled the air as Kalth's blade skimmed the back of Krell's calf. Just enough that blood burst forth, painting the grass.

Faster than Saedii's eyes could track, Krell turned, slamming a hit against Kalth's blade. Kalth stumbled back, struggling against Krell's strength.

A horrible scream filled the air as Krell channeled the Dark Side. As he funneled it into a startling display of black lightning that erupted from his hand, slamming into Kalth's chest.

"Kalth!"

He writhed, body racked with spasms. The air crackled around him in flashes of black light. Eyes wide and shimmering with shadows and pain.

The Dark Side ebbed around her. Hissing promises.

Stumbling to her feet, Saedii swung for Krell's back.

He dodged her easily, dropping Kalth from his grasp, who collapsed onto the ground. Out cold.

Saedii forced herself forward, swinging for him even as she knew she couldn't beat him. As she knew he was too strong, too powerful – that she was too damaged and broken and weak.

Moving with confidence, Krell blocked all of Saedii's strikes. Ducking. Catching her blade against his. He made it look easy as he lazily batted against her press, not even flinching as one blade came within mere inches of his face.

"Sloppy, Sister," he taunted, side-stepping. Putting distance between them. "I thought I taught you better than this."

A desperate sound clawed from Saedii's throat. She lunged.

Then yelped as the pommel of his blade smashed against the side of her face.

It was a hard hit. Hard enough that her teeth rattled. That those bright lights burst again behind her eyes and lingered, pulsing. Her feet gave out beneath her and she stumbled onto her hands and knees.

Something hard collided with her face. A knee perhaps. It was hard to tell with how fast it moved, but the pain that split down her skull was like white lightning. A terrible crushing and burning. There was a muted crunch.

Wet grass pressed against her face. She hadn't even realized that she'd fallen over. Hadn't felt the tip of her body. One hand reached out desperately for a lightsaber, curling around the pommel.

A massive foot slammed on her hand, stilling her lightsaber. Pinning it.

Phantom fingers curled around her throat. Lights and colors swirled as she was yanked off the ground. Hoisted into the air by her neck with the invisible tendrils of the Force – so cold that it felt like ice burning against the bare expanse of her skin. Through the tangle of colors, she thought she heard Obi-Wan's voice call for her across the yard, though all she saw was Krell's face as it leered before her.

"You didn't really think that you could be free, did you?" Krell taunted her, voice low and light. Meant only for her.

Tears spilled down her cheeks. Her heart pounded, so loud that she was sure he could hear it. Her hands gripped uselessly at the power curled around her neck. Fighting against fingers that weren't there.

"I'm never letting you go, Saedii," he continued. "You are mine to torment. Mine to destroy. And I won't stop until every ounce of light had been drowned in shadow or crushed beneath my foot."

A whimper pulled from her mouth as his fingers flexed before her. As the Force tightened its grip. As the lights around her began to flicker and warp.

His smiled widened. "When I'm done with you, there will be nothing left."

Blaster fire barked nearby. In a single deft move, Krell spun and batted away shots that came for his head, slicing through them before they could do any damage. His glittering eyes looked across the lawn as a group of figures moved in, blasters leveled on him.

It was the Batch.

They'd fanned out, surrounding Krell, blasters raised. Their armor was different – a grey so dark that it was nearly black, with small accents of white. A stark difference to what it had been last time Saedii had seen it.

Omega was there, too. Plasma-bow trained on Krell. Her expression was calmly determined – a far cry from the panic that Saedii felt as she watched Krell's attention run over her tiny figure.

Saedii shook her head at them, trying to tell them to run. But no breath – no sound – was able to escape her throat.

"Did you really think I'd let you catch me unawares again, Clone?" Krell's voice was vicious. That scarred eye of his locked onto Crosshair, who's rifle was steadily trained on it. "I don't make the same mistake twice."

"Let her go." Hunter's voice was a quiet command. Uncompromising.

Krell's lips curled. So did his fingers.

That pressure on Saedii's throat increased. There was a muted crunch as she felt something crack, and startling pain flooded her body. She jerked, trying to scream but unable to draw any air. Black spots danced across her vision, threatening to consume her.

"Another step and I crush her larynx. Then we all get to watch as she chokes to death on her own blood."

The pain in her throat was so sharp that it was beginning to sap her strength. Her hands stopped fighting, feet stopped kicking. A terrifying numbness was beginning to creep into her limbs. The promise of unconsciousness.

Hunter said something else, but Saedii didn't hear it. She was focused on keeping her eyes open. On fighting against that deadening feeling trying to consume her.

Through the small circle of her vision, her other lightsaber sat, just out of Krell's reach. Her head lolled as she looked at it. One hand shook as she raised it.

"I already took one eye," Crosshair's voice cut loudly through the ringing in Saedii's ears. The rush of blood. "If you don't let her go, then I'll take the other."

Fury rippled across Krell's face. His other hand went out, and Crosshair choked as the Force wrapped around his neck, too. "I'll snap your neck for that."

In the half second that Krell was distracted, Saedii's sluggish mind called to her lightsaber, slipping into the frenzied current of the Force. It gave a little jerk on the ground. Then, with another burst of sheer grit, it rocketed into her hand just as Hunter and the rest began to fire.

Heat and light flared in Saedii's face. Her hand moved on instinct, slicing at the dark fist that rose before her. Something hot and wet bathed her face. Blaster fire exploded in the air before her, bright and warm.

And then she was free.

Air flooded back down her sore throat as the Force released her, and she collapsed onto the ground. Thousands of tiny spots swarmed her vision, but she struggled against them, forcing herself to stay awake.

There was a piercing howl. A roar of anger and pain, echoing only feet from her. Dark splashes of blood painted the grass beneath her hands. And something else sat on the grass, limp and still.

She blinked against the swirling colors. Bringing everything into focus.

Krell's hand sat on the ground before her.

He stumbled beneath the barrage of attack that the Batch leveled on him, swinging with his one good hand to bat the shots away. Blood leaked from the stump of his wrist, dripping down into the grass like spilled wine. A snarl filled his face.

Coughing, Saedii crawled. Towards Echo, who was closest.

When she was close enough, he stepped in front of her and she collapsed.

Her head was spinning. Throat pulsing with excruciating pain. Every breath stung – not just in her throat, but in her side, where it felt like a knife had been plunged straight through her ribs. Each breath was a wheeze.

Echo and Omega knelt by her side at once. Echo's good arm slid beneath her shoulder. "Let's get you out of here."

"Kalth," she rasped. Voice hoarse and broken.

"Wrecker's got him."

There was another shout of pain – this time, a familiar one.

Saedii and Echo both looked up as Tech crumbled, one hand at his chest. A long lightsaber burn sliced down his chest plate, leaking blood.

Krell was on the offensive now. Over the shock of losing his hand. He charged forward, plowing a knee straight into Tech's chest with a wet crunch.

Hunter ducked beneath the swing of his lightsaber, but missed as Krell's bloody arm swung around to slam into the side of his helmet. He stumbled, then grunted as one of Krell's glowing blades caught him on the back of the knee, sending him to all fours.

Crosshair fired in earnest, not backing down even as Krell turned his attention to him next. With quick flicks of his blade, Krell deflected the shots back at him, and in a shower of blood, one found its mark in his right shoulder. He stumbled.

With a bellow, Wrecker ran forward, wrapping Krell from behind. His impressive muscles constricted around the Jedi's thick form, and Saedii was sure she heard something snap. Krell hissed.

Then slammed his head back into Wrecker's.

Wrecker's helmet bounced off, landing a few feet away. Blood poured down from his broken nose. He stumbled back a step. Krell's foot connected with the side of his leg, and a sickening snap filled the air as Wrecker's leg broke. Wrecker howled, dropping to the ground.

Echo rushed forward, shooting. Ducking as Krell turned to him next. His face was hidden behind his mask, but even Saedii could feel the icy determination in him as he charged towards the Jedi. As he avoided the shots that were deflected back towards him.

There was a flash of red as Krell batted the shots away. A glitter of cold calculation as he lunged.

"Echo!" Omega screamed as Echo held up his hand.

Krell's lightsaber sliced straight through Echo's scomp, slicing into the front of his helmet. He stumbled back, only just missing the swing that went for his head. Landing flat on his back just as blood began to drip down from under his helmet.

Scrambling, Omega fired a desperate shot at Krell's unprotected back.

He dodged it easily. Then, with eerie slowness, turned back towards Omega and Saedii.

Omega stared him down as he walked towards them. Even as the red light from his blade washed over her and Krell's enormous form cast a shadow over her face. Defiance swam in her dark brown eyes as he looked down on her with murderous contempt.

"I've run out of patience for you Clones," Krell said coldly.

The vision of Krell standing before her was tilting. Twisting. Saedii reached for the faint outline of Omega and tried to pull her back. To protect her.

It was no use.

Before them, Krell raised his lightsaber. Omega's plasma-bow tracked the movement, eyes narrowed as she found her target on his chest. Behind them, Hunter weakly called Omega's name.

Krell's body suddenly flew back, like he'd taken a blow to the chest. He snarled as he was tossed off his feet, soaring away to roll onto the cold ground. The lightsaber in his hand blinked out.

"I believe our meeting is vastly overdue," a cool voice said above them.

With steady precision, Cere Junda stepped before Saedii and Omega. Before the groaning figures of the Batch, who struggled to sit up, and Kalth, who was alarmingly still.

Green light bathed Cere's face as she held Qui-Gon's lightsaber before her. As she stood defiantly before the injured forms of Saedii and the rest. And in a calm, even tone, she said, "I'm here for the fight you promised me."