Silverlight Rising Part I: ForceFall

Chapter Eleven: Remnants of the Lesser

“Atlas, Atlas wake up.” I attempt to open my eyes but the light was blinding and it forced me to squint. There was a silhouette of someone, they felt familiar. “Atlas, I have you. You’re safe now.”

“Ka…Kavin” the words escape my mouth involuntarily. “Kavin is that you.”

“I promised I’d come for you, little brother.” Kavin’s voice was so comforting after all that has happened.

My vision sharpens and I muster the strength to sit up. “We’re on Korriban?”

Kavin looks concerned. “Yes brother, Are you ok?”

This isn’t reality I know it, but everything seems way too real to simply be a vision or a dream. This is a memory of the day Kavin found me and brought me back from my exile. Why am I seeing this? Is this what they mean when they say you recount the past when you’re on the verge of death? Now that I think of it this was one of my most cherished memories.

“I’m better now.” I say. “How did you find me?”

Kavin looks at me and grins. “I’ll always find you, Atlas. No matter what happens, we are brothers…to the end.”

I could feel tears beginning to form but I resist the urge to break down and cry. Weakness has no place in the Sith. “What are we going to do now, brother?” I ask Kavin.

He looks at me and smiles. “Now, my dare brother, we rule.”

I open my mouth to speak but the words escape me, in the far distance just on the horizon a dark cloud begins to roll in sucking the barren Korriban landscape into its epicenter. Kavin continues to smile at me, oblivious to the mayhem that’s happening behind him. I attempt to warn him and run but I remain still waiting for the storm to consume everything. Arcs of purple and blue lightening lash out and destroy entire mountains. The end will come just as fast as it is deadly. I close my eye refusing to see the end when I feel someone’s hand on my cheek.

“Master Seto, he’s coming to.” The sound of Mara’s sweet voice jumpstarts my body.

I jerk upwards and cough. “Where are we?” I ask looking around the massive chamber.

“You’re in the temple of the Lesser.” The voice was unfamiliar to me I glanced around the ornate room looking for the source.

“Who is that?” I ask. “Are you the voice I’ve been hearing?”

“It is so good to see you again, father.” The voice returns. “How interesting it is that we should meet under these conditions.”

Father? “I don’t understand.” I say “Show yourself.”

The torches around the dim chamber flash on with plumes of blue flame illuminating a large cylindrical crystalline structure in the center. “Do you see what has become of us, father?”

A vague silhouette of a being was suspended inside of the crystal. “What is this? I’m not your father.”

The crystal lets out a low hum. “I understand, you haven’t fully realized everything…yet. That is disappointing I had expected this going differently.” The Lesser says in a sad tone. “What is it that you wish to ask me, Exile?”

“Can…” I start.

“Help us fight Xyon-Kray!” Halish interrupts.

The crystal hums loudly and rotates to face Halish Qin. “You do not speak here!” the Lesser shouts causing the temple the rattle. “Only the Exile may ask!”

Halish takes several steps back and glances at me. I flash him a snide smile. “Can you help us fight this new threat?” I ask.

The crystal rotate and faces me again. “I cannot, all I can offer a knowledge. This, Xyon-Kray, is beyond my understanding there is no hope of fighting him as you are now.”

“Great.” Tome mutters under his breath behind me.

“Then what was the point of calling us here?” I say with a wince. My shoulder was now aching incessantly and I could feel my stomach writhe in pain.

“I did not call for your companions…I called for you, Exile.” The Lesser responds. “This is a sacred place reserved for only my blood. Why do you think I sent the remaining Massini to kill them?”

The Lesser was referred to the creatures we fought as the Massini, a beyond ancient and thought extinct race of beings that were originally from Korriban, but the ancient Sith lords subjugated them and twisted them into dark husks for their biding. Then it occurs to me. “You’re…Elcho Kressh aren’t you?”

The Lesser is quiet for a moment or two. “I have not hear that name for many millennia, there was a time long ago that I was referred to as Elcho, Son of Ludo Kressh, Kressh the younger. But as time moved on and as our once great empire crumbled I became known as Kressh the Lesser.”

“How was this possible?” I ask while clenching my shoulder.

“In the time of my father’s reign he was at odds with his rival Naga Sadow. He feared for my life and obsessed over the search for ancient force relics from times long forgotten.” The Lesser explains. “His search brought him here to this shrine and he worked tirelessly to master its secrets.”

“So the crystal sustains your life?”

“No, my life force is linked to a gauntlet that my father crafted with the secrets he stole. The crystal only acts as a means of binding my form. In my youthful carelessness I injured myself and had to be placed within this crystal prison. Forgotten by time and history.” The Lesser finishes. “But you know all about the likes of this crystal don’t you, Exile?”

“What do you…” the searing pain in my shoulder finally takes its toll. I collapse to the ground and tremble uncontrollably.

Mara rushes to my side. “Please you have to help him!” she shouts at the crystal obelisk.”

“The poison of the Massini has no cure, young one.” The Lesser responds. “He could be saved if he bonds with the crystal like I have.”

“But wouldn’t he’d be doomed to the same fate as you?” Master Seto asks.

There’s a pause. “Yes, he will be bound as I am for all eternity.” The Lesser responds coldly.

“There has to be another way!” Mara’s voice sounds frantic. Why is she so concerned about my fate?

“Let him die.” Halish says matter-of-factly, but everybody seems to ignore him.

Mara stands and approached the crystal and places her hand on its surface. “I’ve heard of you and your father, I read about the great and terrible things Ludo Kressh did. But I also learned of your father’s love for you. I can sense thousands of years has shown you prospective beyond most mortal beings. You are not the Sith lord you once were. So I implore you, please save him. We need him for the new war to come, a war that I know you can sense will bring an end to everything.” Mara’s voice cracks a bit. “Please, give your existence meaning again.”

The chamber falls silent. Tome slowly approaches Mara and places his hand on her shoulder. “Very well, young one.” The Lesser says. “You have convinced me to save the Exile, but be warned he will not be the same.”

“Just do it. We’ll deal with what comes after.” Master Seto says confidently. Halish scoffs and walks to the doorway of the chamber.

“Have him touch the crystal.” The Lesser says.

Tome and Mara grab and gently place me by the crystal. “What’s going to happen to me?” I force out between breaths.

“I’m not sure, but it will hurt. The choice is yours and yours alone.” The Lesser says.

I hesitate, not out of fear, but out of whether or not I should. I look at Mara who was doing everything in her power to keep from pushing my hand onto the crystal for me. Her lavender skin is flush with uncontrolled emotion, she can’t truly be falling for me. She’s too innocent, too naive to love a monster like me. If I let myself die now I would spare her of the hurt I’d cause her, but if I died what will come of the future. Will she be doomed to the same fate as Kavin and Reeva Alix or worst…killed in some failed rebellion? I cannot allow that, because as much as I want to deny it I do care for her.

I let out a painful sigh and place my hand on the crystal obelisk. I feel a sudden jolt of energy grip me. Within seconds I’m back on Korriban kneeling before a massive crystal. “What…what is this?”

“I’m showing you the truth.” The voice of the Lesser echoes in my head.

The flash back jumps ahead and I’ve been living and praising this crystal for months. “Why don’t I remember this?”

“Your memories have been shrouded from you. If I am to join my life force with yours then you will begin seeing the truth. Your knowledge and power will grow the more you realize. But the mind is fickle and will take time to process all that it has.” The Lesser says.

Another jolt of energy courses through me. The flash back jumps ahead again and now I’m touching the massive crystal in various different places. A similar energy is passing through me and arcing to the nearby cave walls. It seemed like the crystal was sustaining my strength for the course of my long exile.

“Is what I’m seeing the same thing you’re doing to me now?” I ask.

“The simplest answer is yes. I’m not only giving you my life force to keep you alive but also all my knowledge. You will experience waking visions until you grow strong enough to control them. I’m sorry, if we had more time I could help you master this new gift but I realize that I’m not the one destined to teach you the path.” The Lesser’s voice begins trailing off.

“Thank you.” I say.

“Soon you won’t be thanking me, I’m unloading a cursed existence. I should be the one thanking you. Just make sure I’m not forgotten.” The Lesser’s voice weakens to a faint whisper and the chamber comes back into view.

Mara and Tome approach me. “He’s breathing, but unresponsive.” She says to Master Seto.

I attempt to move but I’m paralyzed, it’s as if I’m completely aware but unconscienced at the same time. Tome reaches down and wraps my arm around his neck. “Atlas, I have you. You’re safe now.” His words brought the image of Kavin to mind.

Halish was still in the doorway with a bewildered look on his face. Bim Seto walks up to him. “Take point Master Qin get us out of here.” Before Halish could respond Bim was on the comm. “Quomas, this is Master Seto we’re ready for pick up. Meet us at the base of the ruined fortress.” He hesitates. “And get a medical bed ready.”