Tales of the Jedi(10)

Dray shifted his focus back to the man. “You took something that was not yours. I suggest you give it back.”

The man cackled in obvious amusement. “I am Thannor Keth, Sorcerer of the Sith. I answer to no one, and especially not to some Jedi whelp.”

“You mean the same Jedi whelp who just deprived you of your adepts?”

Keth’s smile faded. “So it would seem. A shame, really. Xash was mechanically inclined and my ship is in need of minor repairs.” Keth held up a hand. “Perhaps if you fix the damage, I will overlook your transgressions and allow you to live.”

Dray gestured at the ship’s open engine systems with two fingers extended. “You mean that little part over there?” As he pointed, the systems erupted into a shower of blinding sparks.

Keth screeched in fury and started toward the burning compartment.

Seizing the moment, Dray ran to Nova, lighting his saber in mid-sprint. With one massive swing, he cleaved the energy bars in half and freed Nova. He jerked the girl to her feet and over his shoulder, slipping away the lightsaber so as not to give away their position.

As Keth battled the flames, Dray and Nova sprinted off into the night.



Nova clung to Dray’s neck, her eyes practically lit from within.

“Are you going to take me home now?”

Dray grunted as he ran, too winded at the moment to answer.

“I’ll do my best.”

“Okay,” she said biting down on her lower lip. “But you have to promise not to do the bad thing anymore.”

Dray stared at her for a second. “The dark side…”

Nova nodded emphatically.

“I’ll do my best,” he repeated.

“Promise?”

“Promise.”

Satisfied, Nova tightened her hold. Dray glanced over his shoulder, hoping his distraction would buy them enough time to make it to his ship.

An arcing bolt of violet lightning lanced through the woods, slamming into Dray’s back. He lost his hold on Nova and both went tumbling to the ground. Smoke drifted up from the wound and he lay there stunned.

“Fool!” More purplish energy crackled from Keth’s hands, dancing between his fingers with the intricate beauty of a spider’s web. “You don’t know the power of the dark side!”

With a pronounced groan Dray slowly got back to his feet, eyes suddenly cold as he met Keth’s gaze. “I am familiar with it…”

That caught the sorcerer for a moment. “Then you must know the futility of your actions.” The electricity calmed for a moment as Keth stretched out a hand. “All you have to do is give me the girl and I will leave you in peace. Then it would be for you as it was before all this.”

Dray glanced at Nova’s bright face and smiled bitterly. “If only that were true,” he said softly.

Keth sneered. “There is nothing so pathetic as a disgraced Jedi desperately clinging to that last fraying strand of his morality…” The Sith sorcerer made a grating, unpleasant sound that might have been a laugh. “This will be even easier than I anticipated.”

Keth’s eyes pulsed with crackling lightning that writhed down his torso, finally pooling at his fingertips. “You will now learn the error of your ways.”

An echoing snap-hiss brought Dray’s lightsaber to life. The gleaming gold blade pulsed with a molten energy as he held the graceful weapon in a two-handed grip before him. Dray nearly smiled as he said, “Maybe I already have.”

Keth hissed and launched a phalanx of lightning from his hand.

Dray swung his saber up to meet Keth’s electrical strands. As the arcing bolts began to shimmer down the blade, Dray swung the saber around and slashed at a nearby arcosia tree. The large trunk was thicker than Dray was tall but the lightsaber, charged with the Force lightning, cleaved the thick bark in two. The excess energy discharged harmlessly into the air.

Dray grinned a challenge. “If that’s the best you can do, I suggest you leave now before you embarrass yourself.”

Keth answered with a guttural snarl. His right hand curled into a claw and something began to form within the palm. An iridescent sphere of energy swirled into existence, shining as if Keth had plucked a star from the sky above. Without a word, the Sith sorcerer hurled the shimmering bolt at Dray with uncanny accuracy.

Dray swung his saber to meet the orb, but to his shock the tip of his blade passed right through the globe of light. Dray was suddenly wracked with pain as the sphere made contact with his flesh. A thousand voices suddenly screamed with fury in his head, threatening to split it open.

Dray forgot where he was as pure unthinking hatred washed over him and he began to drown in a sea of anger that was not his own. He gasped for air, falling to his knees. He did not relinquish his grip on the lightsaber, but continued swinging it wildly as if to ward off some unseen foe.