10

A black string wound through the fabric of the Force. Charged and angry. Demanding blood.

It swarmed over her like that first time on Daro, suffocating her under a wave of darkness and death, fury and vengeance. He knew she was there.

He was coming for her.

Saedii forced herself to take in a breath. Then another. To still her shaking hands as she pulled her two lightsabers out from her belt.

The Inquisitor hadn't come to take prisoners.

He was there to kill her.

"Are you sure it's an Inquisitor?" Echo's voice was strained. The Force rippled around him, suddenly coming to life with his fear – so heavy and oily against her skin.

"I'm sure." Saedii closed her eyes, following that black thread into the darkness of the forest. Felt the hunger and rage and desperation. "I recognize the feel."

"Is it Krell?" Echo asked hesitantly.

Saedii frowned, edging further down the string. Just close enough that the cold fury could brush against her, charged with a young masculine energy. A familiar energy, but not the same that she'd felt on Kamino. "It's not Krell."

Echo relaxed, but only marginally. "If we hurry, we might be able to get out of here before they show up –"

"It's too late. He knows I'm here."

With an unconscious pause, Saedii forced her eyes closed. Forced herself to block out the crippling fear that had taken hold of her spine. A soft exhale worked from her throat as she buried her fear deep, inviting in calmness. Peace.

And steely determination.

Her left shoulder throbbed – a reminder of the last time she'd faced off with an Inquisitor.

She wouldn't be so easy to dispatch of this time around.

Blazing resolve swept through her like wildfire, as hot and wild as a sun. Opening her eyes, Saedii ordered, "Get Omega out of the pod. I'll buy you some time."

"Saedii, wait!" Echo caught her arm as she took a step towards the trees. His helmeted gaze swung towards her prosthetic arm, and the Force around her suddenly grew rife with worry.

"I have to go, Echo. If I'm worried about you and Omega, he may try to distract me. I'll need all of my focus if I'm going to face him and win," Saedii reasoned. Her attention stayed on the forest ahead, tracking the gathering darkness she felt there.

It was getting closer. Soon, he'd be too close.

Echo's grip tightened unconsciously on her arm. "I don't want you to get hurt again."

"I won't." Saedii's voice was sharp. Confident. This was a fight she was ready for. "This time, I'll be the one to make him bleed."

The grip on her arm hesitated. Then, very slowly, it released her. "Just be careful, alright?"

"Get Omega out and find Hunter. I'll join you guys when I can."

Silence enveloped her as she slipped under cover of the trees. Somehow, the darkness seemed even darker than before. More menacing. Around her, the night bugs and creatures had all fallen silent. Hiding from the predator they felt stalking through their forest.

Saedii's footsteps were near silent as she ran – not a direct path towards the Inquisitor, but east. Away from Echo and Omega, and Romar and Tech to the west. She knew he would follow.

Sure enough, she felt the shift. Felt that eagerness flood and flare, as bright as a nebula, and turn in her direction. Moving quickly, now that he sensed her so near.

This Force user felt different than Krell. Young and more zealous to prove. Near fanatical with excitement. His power was as sharp as a blade against the Force, stinging against her skin. It felt familiar.

She slowed as she felt him gaining. Slowed and stopped, engaging both her lightsabers. Waiting as she felt him closing in within the last hundred yards. Her gaze trained on the dark void that announced his presence – on the empty, swirling mist of chaos that was his frenzied state of being.

Her heart thundered in her chest as she felt him pause. Assessing her. A little glimmer of shock rippled into the Force. She'd surprised him. He had expected her to flee. Had wanted the chase.

In a confident voice, Saedii called, "I know you're there. I'm waiting."

A faint grumble of laughter. He was amused by her. By the show of confidence. "A mistake, little Jedi," his voice – deep and warbled from his mask, like broken glass – slithered out through the darkness.

Red flared to life – a lightsaber, gripped by a single black-gloved hand. A long, powerful hand. In the glow of the bleeding light, Saedii observed the Inquisitor.

He was tall – far taller than her. Closer to Crosshair's height, with a lean, lithe build. Black leather stretched across a powerful chest – one that had been honed to do damage. From the casual way that he held himself, the almost aloof gait as he took a step forward, he was confident in his strength. Well-trained.

A black helmet covered his face. On the front, gilded in silver so bright that it appeared to glow in the dark, was the snarling smile of a skeleton.

She could feel his gaze on her face. His head tilted to the side.

"Well, this is a surprise," he said. "Aren't you supposed to be buried under Tipoca City?"

"I'm harder to get rid of then that," Saedii replied, voice cool. Calm.

A short snort of laughter. "Mistakes were obviously made on Kamino. You won't be so lucky twice."

Saedii slid into a ready position. "You'll find no easy victory here."

The Force hummed with excitement. "I hope so, for your sake. You can't afford to lose anymore arms."

He was trying to bait her. Unsettle her. But she'd spent many days meditating these past few months, and welcomed in the inner peace that she knew lived within her. That steady confidence rushed in her veins, keeping away her anger. Her need for retribution.

"I hope your fighting is better than your mind tricks," Saedii said, off-hand. Trying to get under his skin just as he tried hers.

"Don't worry." He held up his lightsaber, letting the light play along the planes of his mask. Casting his eyes into shadow. "It is."

He struck first, as she had anticipated – going straight for the kill. One of Saedii's blades came up to meet his in a shower of sparks, while the other swept for his feet. As he jumped over it, Saedii pushed against his blade, knocking him off balance. Shoving out with the Force to push him several steps away.

The Inquisitor put out a hand for balance, coming to a stop. From the way he observed her, he hadn't anticipated her counter attack to be so solid.

That was where she had the advantage. Months of training with Obi-Wan, Ahsoka, and Anakin had taught her how to defend against all kinds of styles. And just as she had suspected, this Inquisitor fought similar to Krell – direct and arrogant.

But where Krell had years of experience, this new Inquisitor was younger. Less well-trained. Saedii could feel it in the way that he had struck out, the way that he moved. While he was powerful and talented, he was still young. Still had much to learn.

And his teacher was nowhere near as gifted as hers.

He leapt up, swinging his blade down towards her head. Saedii flipped off to the side, landing on her feet and dropping to her knees as she swung his blade up. Towards her neck.

The heat of his blade danced just above the crown of her head as she spun on her knees, just missing his lunge. With a sweeping kick, Saedii caught the back of his knee, knocking him off balance. Sending him stumbling as she surged to her feet and began to press her own attack.

The Inquisitor stumbled back against the ferocity of her attack. Perhaps he'd seen her small stature and assumed an easy victory, or had mistaken her youth for inexperience. But in the past nine months, Saedii had learned more than most Jedi learned in decades, at the hands of three of the greatest duelists the Order had ever seen.

Her blades were blurs of blue as they flashed forward, fast and sure. Meeting the desperate swing of his own blade as he swung it around furiously. He was on the defensive, desperately batting away her press.

A harsh grunt tore from him as one of Saedii's lightsabers tagged his thigh. Dark red blood burst forth in a frothy mess, dripping down his leather pants like tar. Enraged, he flung out a hand, pushing her away with the Force.

Saedii kept low, pulling on her own power. Slowing her body so that she went no further than a few yards. Not at all the distance he'd hoped for.

"Someone has found herself a master, it seems." The Inquisitor's voice was no longer cool. It was furious. Like he couldn't believe that she had landed the first hit.

"Or maybe you're not as good as you thought you were."

"The four Jedi I've killed would argue otherwise."

Anger swelled within her, and she quickly tamped it down. She wouldn't let him push her off-balance. She could defeat him, if only she kept her emotions in check.

He came again, his speed heightened by use of the Force. Saedii brought both blade up to meet his as he crashed into her, trying to use his strength to knock her down.

Gritting her teeth, Saedii held her ground, arms shaking from the effort of keeping his blade away from her throat. He was damn strong. Stronger than she'd expected.

She slanted her blades, letting his slide down until they were no longer deadlocked together. Then, in a single move, she swung for his unprotected stomach.

A harsh rush of air scraped from the Inquisitor's throat as he dropped down, only just missing her swing. On the ground, he kicked up with a booted foot, catching her unaware in the stomach.

Something cracked and the air suddenly stilled in her lungs. Saedii stumbled backwards a step, gasping.

He charged.

The trees lit up with dark purple light as their blades came together again. The sharp hum of crackling energy filled the air, along with the scent of ether.

They broke apart, coming back together to hack and block, both aiming for a death strike. For heads and hearts and lungs.

Saedii blocked a lunge for her back, batting away his blade to strike out with her other, only just missing him. While Saedii certainly had the better skill, the Inquisitor was not going to die easily. Charged with hatred and fury, he met her press swing for swing, slipping beneath her blade by mere inches.

On her comms, someone was calling her name. But she blocked them out as she kicked at the Inquisitor's gut, pushing him back and leaping after him, slashing both blade down towards his chest.

He met them with his own. "Are your friends close by, little Jedi? Maybe I'll go pay them a visit when I'm done with you."

"Over my dead body," Saedii snarled, shoving him away.

The Inquisitor feinted at her left, then swung around, catching the top of her right bicep in a quick, shallow slice. White hot pain exploded down her skin – a faint echo compared to the feel of it cutting through muscle and bone, but enough to make her hiss in pain.

Anger feathered in her chest, threatening to flood her senses. She pushed against it, rushing forward to flip up and over his blade, landing lithely on her feet. Then, as he turned to face her, she rolled beneath his blade, kicking out to connect with the side of his knee.

A howl of rage filled the forest. Beside her, the Inquisitor stumbled as his leg gave out, struggling to keep his feet.

Invigorated, Saedii flipped up to her feet, swinging for him. His blade whistled out instinctively, catching her first swing.

But not her second.

There was a terrible shout as her blade connected with his face. The Inquisitor turned, cowering onto the ground. Something heavy fell beside him in the grass. Dark and smooth, shiny like glass. His mask.

Seeping between his clenched fingers, thin lines of blood dripped down his wrists and into the grass below. Not enough to signal a killing blow, but enough that told her he was in a lot of pain.

Next to him, fizzling out, his lightsaber sat within easy reach. Saedii reached out a casual foot, kicking it into the darkness behind them. Out of his grasp.

The Inquisitor went still as Saedii's lightsabers came to rest beneath his chin, crossed. Ready to scissor together and take his head at the slightest move.

"So much for the fight you promised me," Saedii taunted, even as she struggled to control her breathing. For all her training with her teachers, it was very different in a real life or death duel. The stakes and adrenaline were higher. As much as she tried to pretend otherwise, this fight had been difficult.

"Arrogance, little Jedi?" A slow smile curled beneath the Inquisitor's hands, stained red with his blood. "What is the saying, about pride and vanity and coins?"

Every muscle locked in place.

No. It couldn't be.

"Ah, yes. Pride and vanity, like light and dark, are two sides of the same coin."

With exaggerated slowness, Kalth Apperion raised his head.