Chapter 19: satisfaction

Castor and I were less than a dozen feet apart, the stone altar the only thing standing between us. A short enough distance that either of us could easily cross it in a second. Less with the Force. On either side of the altar, two braziers flicked with blue flames.

Likely the focus he used for his initial attack. Around us, the fresh corpses stood motionless, waiting for direction. In the distance, the howls of the dead clashed with the screeches of monsters.

We examined each other for a moment, trying to gauge how the other would react. He didn't know about me, and I knew little about him. He held no weapons, but there was a slight bulge under his robes on his left hip. I had him at blaster-point, with a sword at my side. However, he had Sith Sorcery in his arsenal.

Castor appeared to have a leaner build than I did, but most of his actual body shape was hard to determine due to his loose-fitting robes.

His eyes flicked to the side once. I immediately fired two shots at his chest. As soon as I pulled the trigger, he was already moving backwards, zigzagging between the bolts with inhuman speed. Before I could fire at him again, the corpses around us charged forward with wailing cries at some unheard command from their master, jaws stretched wide.

With a growl of my own, I thrust my hands to either side, using the Force to shove them off the dais and into the teeming horde below.

As I tried to return my focus to their creator, the woman on the altar rose with a scream that seemed to ring out over the cacophony below. Ripping the ritual knife out of her own chest, she leaped at me, teeth snapping. Out of reflex, I fired, though my shots splashed uselessly against her torso. The zombie's weight slammed into me, forcing both of us to the ground.

My blaster clattered out of my grip from the impact, skittering across the floor until it teetered precariously on the edge of the dais.

Bloodied teeth tried to go for my neck, but I jammed my left vambrace in between them. When that failed, her knife stabbed down. Dropping my sword, I grabbed her wrist and tried to push it away. Despite her smaller stature, the knife still descended, though slower.

Of course, that was the moment that my brain decided to remind me that Korriban Zombies were imbued with greater physical strength than what they had while alive. There wasn't too much I could do. With my hands at least.

I closed my eyes in disgust as the woman's head exploded, showering my face with blood, bones, and gray matter. Her body slumped against mine and her arms went limp, inanimate once more. Floating in the air three feet away, my blaster waited, barrel smoking. Shoving the corpse off me, I retrieved my weapons and stood up, only to find Castor chanting again. With each word, the flames of the braziers flared.

"Ah crap," I remarked, knowing what was coming.

I did the only thing I could and bunkered down. The wispy barrier of telekinetic force, weaker than my first, appeared just before another pillar of blue flame slammed into it. Despite appearing insubstantial, the flames had weight behind them. While the fire was held back by my shield, the raw kinetic power behind it sent me flying off the platform.

Using the Force to spin myself around, I took a quick look at my landing zone. By now, the k'lor'slugs had managed to force their way into the chamber, though it was slow. A few massive brutes, likely brood guards, had managed to get close to the dais. Standing at fifteen feet tall, they were tearing into the dead, mincing them with their blender-like mouths.

One lay dead, its belly ripped open from the inside by a zombie that hadn't been quite dead. Another was being hacked apart by corpses climbing up its body.

Unfortunately, I was on a direct course for the mouth of the largest monster. Even worse, it noticed.

As hundreds of teeth lunged for me, I used the Force to shove myself just a bit further, enough to clear the upper edge of its mouth. Digging my sword into its thick skin, I arrested my flight and perched myself on its head, though I nearly pulled my arm out of its socket in the attempt.

Blocking out its screams of rage, I quickly shot the zombies crawling up its back before diving into the Force, planting a spike of control into its brain.

Well, control was an overstatement. K'lor'slugs thought in terms of "find food," "breed," and "find more food." I simply pointed it at Castor and said "food." I then labeled myself as "not food."

Its screams turned to excitement, or whatever its analogue was. The creature's six spike-tipped legs tore trenches into the stone as it scrambled towards the dais, spearing or crushing the dead in its way. Using my sword to stay in my position atop its head, I leveled my blaster and started firing at Castor.

The rogue acolyte ducked and weaved out of the way of the barrage, his robe a black blur. As the k'lor'slug clambered up onto the dais, it homed in on Castor and lunged, this time directing its teeth at the correct target. A hasty Force Push from the man knocked the beast's fangs off course, though the monster's bulk still managed to hit him and send him tumbling.

While he was distracted, I used the Force to crush the braziers. If they were the foci for that fire spell, I wanted them gone as soon as possible. For all I knew, he could call on them from anywhere in the cavern. The metal screeched and crunched until they finished crumpling in on themselves, snuffing the blue flames out entirely.

With that done, the game of cat and mouse began, though who was who I couldn't quite say. After being knocked off the platform and deprived of his braziers, Castor had darted into the crowd of undead.

Though the larger k'lor'slugs had managed to push further into the chamber, the smaller ones had more success in putting the zombies down, though their progress was slow. Nevertheless, the tidal wave of k'lor'slugs was visible even in the cavern's gloom as they swarmed endlessly from their lair.

My mount crashed through the ranks of the undead, gobbling them up into its meatgrinder mouth as it raced towards where it thought Castor was. As a precaution, I did use the Force to make sure that it shredded its food thoroughly before swallowing. I didn't want it abruptly dying like some of the others had.

Most of the zombies were equipped with ancient blades, though there were a few with blasters. The dark cavern was occasionally lit up by bolts of red as they tried to fire at the only source of light, that being me. From my perch on top of the k'lor'slug's head, I had a good bit of cover and most simply flew by, though several struck my mount.

While they scorched its hide, the creature's skin was too thick for them to do anything more than superficial damage.

There was a reason Imperial extermination squads had to use heavy weapons against k'lor'slug nests.

I wasn't going to find Castor by sight alone, not if I wanted to get to him before he managed to prepare another surprise. Ducking down, I closed my eyes and shifted to a different kind of sight.

You know how the Jedi say we're all "luminous beings?" Under Force Sight, it wasn't hyperbole. With each breath, a living creature glows a little bit brighter. To my closed eyes, the dead around me were muted lights, powered by the glow of another.

Thu-thump. Thu-thump.

Even with that, Castor remained hidden, concealed by the combined glow of the dead. Trying to pick out a humanoid form from that crowd normally would take a droid's perception. I simply narrowed down the search parameters.

Thu-thump. Thu-thump.

I just looked for the one with a beating heart, following the trail of life-giving air into his lungs. Under those conditions, I found him in seconds.

In the time I had been searching for him, he had circled around back to the dais, likely attempting to regain the high ground. If Obi-Wan Kenobi was anything to go by, I didn't want him to get it back and resume bombardment. Still, even if he did, he had to be running on empty by now. I hoped.

With some prodding, I managed to turn my mount away from its current meal. The corpse currently half-hanging out of its maw did not appreciate that and tried to claw at the monster's mouth, though its skeletal hands did little.

We reached the dais just as Castor leaped onto it. Once again, my monster scrambled up the side. But this time, my opponent was better prepared. Holding out a hand, he barked a phrase in Ancient Sith. Just as my mount lunged at him, the shadows around us moved.

My senses screamed at me, prompting me to jump just before it hit, and my eyes saw it happen in slow motion.

Dark tentacles lashed out from every possible angle, wrapping around my mount. Wherever they touched, flesh disintegrated into nothingness. The k'lor'slug screamed, in both agony and confusion. It couldn't comprehend what was happening, only that it hurt. The echo only lasted for a moment as the shadowy limbs tore the monster into pieces.

I let go of my pistol, knowing it would be useless at this point. As it bounced off the dais into the darkness, I used my now-free hand to launch a Force Blast at Castor.

Though it did little more than ruffle his robes and make him stumble, it did disrupt his concentration on the spell.

With the shadow tentacles fading away, I grasped my sword in a two-handed grip as I descended. Castor hastily drew his own blade, holding it up in a crescent guard to block my downward strike. My weight, strength, and momentum forced him to one knee.

There was a reason battles between Jedi and Sith almost always devolved into a physical contest. Every Force User has passive and active defenses against Force attacks. If you're strong or skilled enough, you can casually shrug off most attacks from weaker opponents or easily throttle them with the Force.

Unless you could consistently break through an opponent's passive defenses, you would have to slug it out at some point. To do anything else would just be wasting time.

Problem was, Castor was likely a much more skilled duelist, even with his apparent focus on Sith Sorcery, having three years more experience on me. I also didn't know which style he favored, though with his skill set I could guess either Form III or Form VI. Thankfully, I brought some equalizers.

As we struggled against each other, blades locked, I closed my eyes and used the Force to press the detonator on one of the flash-bang grenades hanging on my bandoleer. Through my senses, I felt his flicker of surprise just as it detonated.

I smiled in satisfaction.

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