Knarf had tried to slice his way out of the room using the panel at the door. It was as though the panel was Knarf proof. There wasn’t anything he couldn’t slice, except for this kriffing door.  He sighed.  The room was dark and dank.
He took a few steps and looked around. He felt as though he’d walked into another trap. Well, actually he had been pushed in. That Sith with the tip of his blade so close to his face, the heat of it almost burning him, had caused an emotional flashback and he had not wanted to take the chance of losing part of his face. He could feel, truly and fully feel, Shadie, worried and afraid for him. The presence she’d felt. That meant the faint presence of Kromus was here in this room.
Brenum had given Knarf a few pointers on honing his sensitivities with Shadie. Knarf had no intention of becoming a Jedi; he only wished to develop his connection with his Lady, to strengthen their bond. They had something special, it would only become more special with time. He focused on that bond, hoping it would show him the way out.
‘Knarf.’ He paused. Had he just heard a whisper? ‘Knarf!’
No, it had shouted. It seemed… Was it Kromus’s voice?  He remembered the Sith Lord’s voice from the holorecording he’d watched before Shadie had killed him the first time.
‘Who’s there?’ called Knarf, alarmed and frightened. His heart pounded.
‘Knarf.’
Suddenly, he realised the voice was in his head. ‘I must be going mad,’ he thought.
‘You are not, Knarf. You are Force-sensitive. You’ve begun honing in on and perfecting your powers.  I can help you Master them. You can become more powerful than even Shadie.’
Knarf said nothing. He walked towards the source of the goading voice reverberating in his head. There, in the corner, at the far back of a narrow corridor within the room, to the far side of the room, there was a glow, a reddish purple glow. It stood on a stand; it was shaped like a pyramid.
Knarf felt his heart leap. He also felt fear that wasn’t his. He looked about. There must be monitors and security cams somewhere, he figured. Shadie must be seeing, she must know.  Therefore he knew: this was Kromus’s Holocron.
‘Take me, Knarf.  I am already activated.  I shall show you how to use the Force.’
‘You will turn me to the dark side, and you know, for Shadie, that would be worse than losing me to death.’
‘You resist because you fear. Let me show you the true potential of the Force.’
‘Aach!’
Knarf put his hands to his head. He could see images. He stood his ground. He was feeling things, seeing things, tasting the Force in its purest and most raw forms. Sensing the Force more intensely than the energies he felt with Shadie, more intensely than anything he had ever known in all his life. His expression hardened.
‘You know, you’re right, Holocron.’ He heard a satisfied breath issue from the voice behind the thought in the holocron.  ‘I am Force-sensitive. I can feel the Force. I can learn to use it. Therefore I can wield a lightsaber too. And…’
With a snap-hiss, he activated Brenum’s blade. The yellow hue glowed brightly in the dim-lit room, illuminating his face and contrasting with the colours illuminated by the holocron. The hum of the blade echoed loudly.
Knarf smiled maliciously.

Continue reading Chapter Eight.