Silverlight Rising Part I: ForceFall

Chapter Nine: Whispers of Rhelg

Rhelg is not a majestic sight to see, most of it landscape is scarred from centuries upon centuries of ancient wars. As a whole this once thriving planet is for the most part dead. The Sith Empire only cares for its existence as a means of history and tradition. Many High Inquisitors and Zealots would travel here as part of their joining rituals, praising the ancient Sith race and following the foots steps of the first Dark Jedi who sired the beginnings of the Sith as we know them today.

I never used to believe this was a holy place for the dark side, I had always seen this pile of rock as nothing more than another ruin to add to the rest of the remnants that make up the Sith’s long and violent history, but now that I walk on its surface I can feel the darkness oozing from the nooks and crannies surrounding the ruins of Ludo Kressh’s once insurmountable stronghold.

“What is that feeling?” Tome asks, clutching his stomach.

“That, my uninformed friend, is what happens with the dark side touches a place so profoundly that it leaves scars in its wake.” I respond in a low tone.

“Stay alert!” Master Seto commands. “We don’t know what to expect here.”

Seto confidently nods towards Mara and Tome who are visibly shaken by the state of the Force here. It’s completely understandable for them to be uncomfortable. I have only felt the Force like this twice before, and one of those times was in the temple of the Force conduit. I walk ahead a little when I feel Master Seto’s presence behind me.

“This place…something’s not right here.” I say without looking.

It’s quiet for a moment or two. “Yes, I can’t seem to hone my senses. What do you know of this ruin?”

“Ludo Kressh,” My words trail off struggling to remember the teachings of the academy. “He was a Great…Sith Lord, cautious and dedicated to the Empire. He gave his life on Korriban defending it from his rival Naga Sadow.”

“That was over ten-thousand years ago, during the Hyperspace War.” Seto says.

I nod my head and turn towards him. Seto was cradling his stump. “You should really stay with the Phoenix.”

“Oh this is nothing,” He forces out with a wince. “Besides, someone needs to keep an eye on you and Halish.” Seto’s thin black lips twist into a grin.

I let out a huff. “Alright old man, but if you get stuck I’m leaving you for the bats.”

Seto’s eyes narrow in such a way that they said ‘you wouldn’t dare’ but I’ll leave him guessing for the time being.

Our marry little group begins traversing the jagged rocks toward Kressh’s temple. I’m not sure if this is where we’re supposed to go but we need to start somewhere. The uncomfortable dark energy intensifies as we approach the ruins, which can be a good or bad thing. I look back at the rest of the group; Tome and Halish were keeping up fine while Mara was helping Master Seto over the rocks with genuine tenderness. She really is the epitome of kindness something I still didn’t think I’d care to notice…then again I keep finding myself caring without realizing it. Mara looks up at me and flashes me a timid smile; I feel a flutter in my lower stomach and quickly turn away. Damn-it man, get a hold of yourself!

I drop down from a rough cliff face, landing in front of a gaping cave mouth. I take a step towards the darkness but hesitate, a numbing sensation course through the base of my skull like a paralyzing shot of lightening. Xyon-Kray’s face flashes across my mind and my knees buckle and collapse under me. What it this? Why can’t I move?

I hear a voice call to me from the cave, it’s the same voice that whispered to me on the Cardinal Pheonix but this time the words were inarticulate, however the notion wasn’t, the voice was beckoning and urging me to enter the cave.

“Step away from him Halish!” Seto’s booming voice echoes through the small valley. “Tome, help him to his feet.”

I feel a pair of hands grab me by the shirt collar and force me to my feet. I attempt to clear my senses, “Did anyone else hear that?”

Everyone looks at each other then back at me. “Nobody heard anything.” Mara says softly. “You just collapsed.”

I shake my head, what is happening to me? I look at the cave mouth. “Something wants us to go down there.”

Seto takes several steps towards the cave, lifting his hand in its direction. “The cave is the source of this darkness, are you sure?”

“Yes.” I respond confidently.

Halish scoffs, “This is almost guaranteed to be a Sith trap.” He says arrogantly.

Seto glares at Halish “Then you can go back to the ship.” Before Halish could respond Seto was already walking toward the cave.

Mara rushes forward to help him with Tome close behind her. I glance at Halish, shrug and jog ahead to catch up. A few minutes later the four of us enter a massive chamber. “I think this is directly under the fortress.” I say assuredly. The dark energy now saturates every particle of matter in the cave. We hear something move behind us and quickly turn only to see Halish stumble down a rock face, he lands with a loud echoing thud.

Oh joy, the Calvary has arrived. He glares at me while dusting off his brown robe. “Glad you could join us Master Qin.” Seto says with an impish grin.

“Yeah well, I want to be the one to say ‘I told you so’ when he betrays you.” Halish retorts and gestures in my direction.

I feel a grin form out of my lips before formulating a witty retort when the same overpowering sensation over takes me. This time the whispers came a little clearer, echoing and combining into one word. “Come.” I collapse again and brace myself with my hands. The whispers return this time with even more intensity. “To.” I could feel the ground vibrating beneath me, but I couldn’t tell if I was the only one feeling this. My body goes rigid as the Whispers of Rhelg return once again but this time is was more of a scream that pierced my mind and made me ache. “Me.” My head jerked upward towards one of the many paths leading deeper into the cave. I can sense that what we are searching for is down this path. But now I can’t shake this feeling, this notion that whatever it is that resides in the depths of this cavern has been searching for us rather than us searching for it.

I regain my bearing and slowly rise to my feet again. I look around the chamber catching the mixed reactions of everyone around me. Mara’s mouth was half opened with surprise and concern. Whereas Halish had nothing but contempt painted on his face. “Sorry.” I says in a low voice. “I think it’s this way.”

Seto looks down the narrowing pathway then back at me. “Are you sure?”

“Undeniably.” I respond with an involuntary tic.

“Alright then.” Master Seto says while taking a step towards the opening.

Seto, Halish and Mara were no more the a couple steps past the opening of the tunnel when I noticed I hadn’t moved yet. Almost as if I was being willed to remain still.

Tome noticed my reluctance. “What are you doing?” He didn’t bother trying to hide his disdain.

“I, I can move.” I muster out with an anxious voice.

Tome takes several steps towards me. “What do you mean you can’t move?” He grabs his light saber hilt from his waist band.

I couldn’t explain it any better than how I already explained it. My legs refused to move like I was a statue. “Help me Tome!” I demand.

Tome hesitates before looking towards the others. I wasn’t sure if he was going to leave me or call for them to come back. In any case it didn’t matter because a moment later ground started to shake violently. Before I realized it my legs were working again and I was rushing towards the corridor right as the ceiling gave out and collapsed in on itself affectively cutting Tome and I off from Master Seto, Halish and Mara.

Tome lets out a frustrated shout and punches the stone several times before looking back at me. “You knew this would happen!” he hisses.

“Don’t flatter me with such ridicules accusations.” I respond placing my hand on a large bolder. “I can sense them on the other side. They’re fine, Tome.”

“Then let’s move this debris out of the way.” He begins lifting a large rock with the force but it causes even more rubble to fall in its wake.

“You’re just making it worse, Tome. Knock it off!” I shout, but he doesn’t listen.

I can sense his panic is clouding his thinking, if he causes another cave-in it might kill us or the others. His frustration mounts and he begins yanking stones from the pile in a half hazard attempt to break through. Damned foolish boy.

“I think I’m almost through!” Tome yells.

He begins moving a large boulder causing massive cracks to splinter along the ceiling and collapse again. I quickly yank him free of the debris with a swift force pull that sends him tumbling into the far wall just as the new collapse fills even more of the chamber.

“What is wrong with you!” I scream at him. “You’re going to get yourself killed, or worse, you’re going to get me killed!”

Tome jumps to his feet and glares at me, fresh scratches along his arm and face from my force pull. “Why do you care what happens to me?!”

“Damn-it Tome, I’m not your enemy here!” I feel the anger run through me. “If you were my apprentice I’d…” I stop in mid-sentence and regain my composure.

Tome’s face changes from one of hatred to more of a shocked surprise. “What?”

“Nothing…” I respond. “We just have to find another way around, it’ll work best if we stick together.”

Tome and I stare at each other for a few minutes. What was I thinking just now? I felt like how my brother must have felt right after we escaped to conclave. Lost and yet he had to act like he knew what to do for my sake.

Tome begins dusting himself off. “Fine.” He finally says. “Lead the way, Sith.”

I look around the chamber, there are only three paths and one of them is the way we just came. Of the two that remain only one looks like it goes deeper into the network of caves. I lift my hand to both openings half hoping for a simple sign that this is the correct choice, but nothing comes.

“I think we should head this way.” I say flatly.

Tome looks at the dark pathway and shrugs. “Well we can’t stay here, so...”

I think that’s as close to a ‘yes’ that I’m going to get. I turn and begin walking down the corridor, Tome follows me cautiously, far enough away to feel safe but close enough to stay within sight. It wasn’t long before there was barely enough light to see my hand in front of my face.

“Tome, don’t freak out I’m going to activate my lightsaber so I can see. You can use yours if that makes you feel more comfortable.” Before he responds I grab my saber and active the vermillion blade.

The red-orange light bounces off the cave walls illuminating no more than five meters ahead. A moment later I hear Tome activate his lightsaber. The blue hue mingles with the light of my saber and together they increase our visibility greatly. The dark corridor narrows a little ahead. I look back at Tome who is visible shaken by the situation. I don’t blame him really.

We continue along the path and into another chamber big enough for us to sit for a minute or two. The air was getting thick and the dark energy was getting heavier with ever step. I could hear Tome’s breathing steadily getting louder.

“Why did you save me back there?” Tome finally asks. I look at him the blue of his lightsaber underlined his face just enough so I could see the confusion on his face. “I mean, you could have just let me die...You could have gone back to the ship and killed them and just left us.”

I look down at my vermillion blade. “I don’t know why…that’s the simplest answer.” I look at him but I can tell he didn’t like my answer. “I’ve done horrible things. Things that, at the time, I thought was right. I only ever cared about myself and my brother and I was willing to do anything to ensure our survival.” The images of my brother, Kavin, as that silver wrath flashes through my mind. “I used to think survival is all that mattered. Now I don’t know what to think.”

“You’re lost.” Tomes says in a sobering tone. “Between the light and the dark…”

“Maybe, or maybe I’m finally seeing the truth. Maybe there is no such thing as the light and dark, maybe there’s just what people are willing to do and sacrifice for what they think is right. Whatever means they can use to justify their actions with.” I respond in the same sobering tone.

Tome nods his head a little. “Before when you said if I’d been your apprentice…what would you have done if I was?”

“I misspoke, you don’t need to look into it any further than that.”

“What were you going to say?” Tome Insists.

“I would have punished you…” I respond after a minute. “Just like the Sith used to punish me.” Tome looks away. “But then I remembered that I’m not going to be like them anymore. You should be free to follow whatever path you see fit.”

“You were right though, I was acting impulsively. I forgot my Jedi training, I forgot what my master taught me.” Tome wraps his arms around his legs. “I want things to go back to the way they were. I feel so angry all the time.”

“Well that’s the Zabrak in you, for sure.” I say with a huff. “Your species is known for their tempers, I can tell you about some Zabraks I was in the academy with…man they were…” I pause and look down the path ahead of us.

“What is it?” Tome asks. “Is it the others…?”

I shush him, something was in the corridor watching us. I move my saber in its direction hoping to light the pathway but nothing visibly stands out. The sound of rustling echoes behind us causing Tome to jump to his feet. “Did you hear that!?”

I couldn’t completely sense what the darkness was hiding in front of us but I could tell it was dangerous and it didn’t like our presence in the cave. I hear some more rustling this time in front of me. It looks like a boulder separates from the cave wall and slumps down in the path and begins to extend upward. I feel Tome bump into me, I can sense his fear and doubt. The dark creature now encompasses the entire walkway.

I elbow Tome to get his attention. “Get ready to defend yourself.”

The dark creature lets out a low growl and opens its eyes which glow eerily yellow against the darkness. As I stare into its hollow eyes, I can sense the nothingness behind them as if it’s a body without a soul. I squeeze my saber’s hilt…this is not the place where I die.