Shadie entered a dim lit room, taking a few steps before stopping.  She ignited her lightsaber, the snap-hiss resonating in the cavernous chamber, and she held it as one blade in her right hand, with her arm extended to the side.  She could feel the dark side ever so strongly in this room, more so than in the rest of the entire Crypt.  The low gravity had destabilised her briefly, but not as much as the wave of dark side energy emanating from the Crypt.  The sphere had reassured her that if the Lady could embrace it, she could transform it.
Shadie stilled her thoughts as a figure approached.  She could see their silhouette a good distance away.  She knew it was Kromus even before he stepped into the light.
‘Darth Shadie!’ said Kromus; he seemed somewhat surprised, though trying to hide it.  Perhaps he thought Lahnius would be returning in her stead?
Shadie nodded slowly.
‘Yes.  It is me… Now, it’s time for you to die!’
Shadie walked to Kromus in a steady pace and hacked her lightsaber above him.  Kromus swiped it away with ease.  She came at him again, striking low and left; he blocked.  She was trying to feel where he was at with his abilities.  Long had it been since she’d fought him or trained with him and she did not know how much he’d grown in the Force.  Although, to her own advantage, neither did he know how much she had grown in the Force.
They duelled briefly, studying each other’s moves, evaluating how quick they were to parry, how quickly they attacked.  Kromus used Force Speed to strike blows up, down, left, right and left again, and Shadie managed to block each one with astonishing speed.
Simultaneously, they took a few steps away from each other, backing away and began a slow walk around the room, circling, facing each other.
‘Do you really believe your powers are stronger than mine?’ asked Kromus.
‘You forget that I am a servant of the light now.  Combined with the powers you taught me…  Well, let’s just say, I can be quite deadly.’
Shadie came at Kromus again, this time mixing speed and lightning which he caught on his blade, she switched her sabre to a two-sided staff and flurried, adding a quick strike at the neck.  Kromus hacked her staff away using the Force to send her bouncing back a bit.
‘I can still sense the dark side within you, Shadie.  It has merely been dormant.  You are a Jedi, yet you are a Sith.’
He attacked high and hard, Shadie alternately blocked and attacked side to side with her staff; left, right, left right, advancing with each hit, Kromus backing away with each hit.  He lifted one hand and a piece from an unfinished wall of the Crypt’s cave beyond the room came rushing Shadie’s way.  She sent a quick burst of lightning and it shattered into tiny pieces.  Half her lip curled into a smile.  And she stood back, looking at Kromus who was staring back at her.

Continue reading the Epilogue.

Start reading from the beginning of Story 1.