Chapter 37: The heart of Korriban

The walk back to the surface was long but quiet, which I was very thankful for. My body was wracked by lingering aches from the bone-chilling cold I'd experienced on the way down, with each step reminding me that I'd been walking for hours or more without rest as pain.

Adrenaline had staved off the worst of it, but as it bled away pain shot up my legs every time my heels touched the floor. My left arm and shoulder ached from carrying the terentatek's severed hand.

Momentum was keeping me going at this point. If I stopped, I wouldn't be able to start again.

I knew there was one more fight on the surface with whatever decided to come out of the blood pool. Between the thing in the depths and the terentatek, I couldn't be entirely certain what was coming next.

No shyracks barred my path. No k'lor'slugs emerged from the walls. No tu'kata met me on the surface.

As I stepped out of the tunnels, I basked in the warmth of the sun overhead as it banished the last of the chills sapping at my will. I didn't know how long I had been down in the mines, but it had been too long.

The black, shriveled heart of Korriban beat once. I drew on the Force, directing it to strengthen my limbs and temporarily banish the pain. Aching muscles stopped shaking as feeling returned to my extremities, the numbness dying down to pins-and-needles. Soon, my heavy black robe and gloves became swealtering in the heat.

Sand shifted beneath me as I traversed the worn streets, stirred by my steps and the warm breeze that flowed around cracked stones. I could feel the life around me. The bloodthirst of the tu'kata wandering the ruins, the unending hunger of the k'lor'slugs burrowing beneath my feet.

Before I reached the center of the town, I removed my robe and bag, stashing them with the terentatek hand in the ruins of a half-collapsed house. Besides my weapons, the only thing I took with me was the skull.

Beneath my feet, the rusty-red sand and stone gave way to rock stained a red of a darker hue. Everything was that color. The buildings around me, the bones scattered in the rubble, the sand blown into the courtyard. Everything.

The red was even starting to creep up onto my boots.

The center of the ruined town housed the blood pool, constructed upon a raised dias. The liquid rippled as the wind played across its surface. I knelt at its edge, examining the ring of stone that contained it.

The stones that made it up were as worn as the rest of the town. I suspected that it had once been used for water, back when the place had been inhabited and before whatever happened…happened.

Then the Sith or whoever did something and now there was just blood. I mean, there was clearly something freaky going on here as the blood wasn't congealing.

I couldn't sense anything beneath the surface of the pool. Either that meant nothing was in there…or my senses were being blocked.

I looked down at the skull in my hands, its grim smile leering back up at me.

Now wasn't the time for hesitation.

I took a few steps back before heaving the skull into the center of the blood pool, where it landed with a plunk. The effect was almost instantaneous.

The calm winds picked up, sounding like a banshee's wail as they whipped through the ruins and scattered the sand. The pool before me exploded upwards, showering everything around it with thousands of drops of blood.

A scream rent the air as a titanic, blood-red k'lor'slug exploded out of the blood and roared towards the heavens. Its shadow eclipsed the sun overhead, its head reaching nearly twenty feet above me, dwarfing the queen k'lor'slug Gaarurra and I had slain months ago.

I should have been afraid. I should have been trembling in gibbering terror. Instead, a reassuring calm had settled over me. After the creature in the depths and the terentatek, this was nothing.

It would die, just like anything else.

A bladed leg scythed forward. I nimbly jumped onto the limb, using it as a springboard to jump higher. The serrated maw lashed forward, teeth nashing. I pushed myself up and over it with a well-time telekinetic shove.

As its head craned up to follow my path, four grenades on my harness detatched simultaneous, the blinking lights showing they were primed.

Two each of frag grenades and concussion grenades all dropped into the creature's mouth. With a few more pushes, I was safely out of the creature's reach for the moment and on the ground again, where I could enjoy the show.

One after another, muffled thumps sounded off from the k'lor'slug's innards as the grenades detonated, its belly disdending more with each explosion. Its scream of pain rattled stone.

Despite the damage, the monster wasn't stopping. Its claws tore gouges in the stone as it charged towards me.

Using both hands, I created a massive burst of telekinetic power, slamming it into the creature's side. The impact caused it to stumble, throwing it off its intended course. The wind of its passing whipped my hair as it shot by, tumbling into the house behind me.

The ancient building, long abused by the elements and time, collapsed on the k'lor'slug. It was hardly an obstacle for the massive creature, but it gave me a moment as it dug itself out.

Thump!!!

The heart of Korriban beat again.

I gathered power into myself, opening lock after lock in my mind as it passed through the canal. With a mental push, it all surged down my arms and into my fingertips, not daring to disobey as it had months ago.

Thunder cracked as a torrent of lightning burst forth from my hands. Where it struck the creature, red skin blackened and charred, flaking off to reveal the muscle and nerves beneath.

Its screams rose to a new pitch as it scrambled back to its feet, electricity dancing across its body and shattered stone and dying skin sloughed off its body in a grisly rain.

Thump!!!

The k'lor'slug's claws and teeth began to melt in the heat. It started crawling towards me on legs that were quickly becoming nubs.

Thump!!!

Its skin almost gone, its muscles began to disintegrate. Soon, its what was left of its legs gave out, leaving it to squirm like a worm.

Thump!!!

Finally, the heart stopped beating as I closed the locks. As the lightning began to die down, I thought I saw violet begin to creep in at the edges of blue. With the flow of power ceasing, the exhaustion hit me like a hammer and I was soon breathing hard.

Before me, the k'lor'slug was a pathetic sight. What was once an awe-inducing sight had been left as little more than shriveled, charred muscles and bone, yet the creature was still trying to crawl towards me, slowly pulling itself along on its belly.

A weak whine escaped the ruined mass before it finally collapsed for good.

I watched it for a moment to make sure it was actually dead. When it didn't move, I turned away to look for the skull.

Before I could search much, I quickly learned why everything around the pool was red. There wasn't any warning before it happened. It just did.

The corpse of the k'lor'slug exploded into a massive tidal wave of blood. I barely had the time to turn and look and take in a quick breath before it overtook me, the impact of the wave knocking me from my feet and carrying me with it.

My back slammed into a wall, leaving me to be pummeled by the current as it flowed around me and the building I hit. Thankfully, it left as quick as it came.

My head was not under for long and soon I could breathe again. The coppery tang of blood seeped into my mouth as I gasped for air, which I quickly spit out. With a few moments of effort, I was able to wipe the blood out of my eyes, despite my hands and the rest of me being covered in it.

My vision was still hazy, but I still managed to see something red soar through the air and heard it clatter on the ground. It wasn't until it spun to a stop at my feet that I made out what it was.

The skull, now stained red, grinned up at me mockingly as it gleamed in the sun.

I glared at it irritably.

My boots squelched uncomfortably as I stood and scooped it up.

...

Ragate had a pleased smile on her face as I trudged back to the meeting point. Thankfully, she didn't say anything about my current appearance, though she did give the terentatek hand a speculative glance and raised an eyebrow.

However, I could feel the guards shooting me strange looks.

"It seems your trial was more…rigorous than most," The Overseer observed.

No shit. I almost glared at her, but I was too tired to put in the effort, "You knew that was going to happen, didn't you?"

"Not precisely," She denied, "It is the Rite of Blood and Bone. Something always occurs. Although in your case…"

I waited for her to continue.

"You awoke the beast in the depths of the mountain, even if only for a moment," the old woman commented, a hint of awe in her voice.

"What was that thing?" I had never felt anything like it since coming to Korriban. Even the Dark Council members paled in comparison.

"Exactly what it is has been long lost to time and mostly myth and rumor remain," She explained, "However, what is known is that it was created by Lady Sorzus Syn personally. Likely one of her surviving creatures from the One Hundred Year Darkness.

After her death, it supposedly took one hundred Sith Lords to subdue it, though the effort killed most of them. As they could neither kill nor tame it, they buried it beneath the mountain under a spell of sleep. Eventually, it was forgotten, left to slumber for a thousand years until foolish settlers established a town here."

Sometimes I questioned Star Wars' tendency of losing things of that caliber. And then I remembered that people forgot how to make concrete after the western half of the Roman Empire fell.

So different scales aside, it was entirely possible, especially with the multiple civil wars and succession crises that dotted Sith history before the Great Hyperspace War. They also actually abandoned Korriban as their capital for a while, shifting it over to Ziost.

"It doesn't seem like that spell is working anymore," I noted dryly.

Ragate tutted, "The spell would have worn off long ago, especially on a creature such as that. Now, it merely chooses to sleep. It has awoken briefly on other occasions. You are not the first, nor will you be the last."

"Who was the last guy?"

"Who was the last to survive waking it, you mean," She corrected. I nodded in agreement, "According to legend, it was a young Marka Ragnos. Filled with the fire and arrogance of youth, he attempted to wake it deliberately and seize control of it. He barely escaped with his life, though the experience left him a wiser man."

Not by much, considering he decided modifying a terentatek and keeping it as a pet was a great idea.

"Perhaps it sensed something familiar in you," She pondered aloud before shaking her head, "Bah, you did not come to hear an old woman speculate. You have completed your trial, beyond expectations. Give me the skull, and I will look into your future."

I handed her the skull, though I had a little difficulty letting go of it since it was sticky from drying blood. Ragate grabbed it without issue or hesitation, closing her eyes as she delved into the Force. Her fingers traced the lines and cracks running across its surface.

At last, she spoke, her voice lower and raspier than normal, "Aaaah. I see that your web will stretch far. Neither ally nor enemy will be able to see all the threads.

But the first step on your path to power will also be among the most dangerous. When you come to the world where our war first began, look to the skies. You will find your answer there."

Great. I hate prophecies. They're always so cryptic.

"Thank you, Overseer," There was no cost for being polite, and Ragate had, at the very least, been helpful. If perhaps not in this matter. Nevertheless, I'd be keeping her words in mind.

Ragate then dismissed me with the words, "My former Master believes you follow Ajunta Pall's path. I believe you follow another's."

I bit back my response. I believe I follow my own.

I acquired a speeder soon after. After tossing in the hand, I plopped down in the back, not really caring that I was probably going to stain the seats with blood. As the speeder lifted off, I set a timer on my datapad to wake me in two hours.

Finally, I let myself drift off to sleep.

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