Black Hearts | Kylo Ren [1]

XV. "you need a teacher."

Three seeked a path through the snow, shadows, and dark forest.

"Come on." Finn finally slowed.

"Where are we running to?" Letha asked as bent slightly to catch her breath.

When Finn looked over at the two girls bending over to catch their breath, he knew it was good, anyway, to stop. They were far from Ren.

At least they were for a moment, until a singular figure came upon them and uttered a single word.

"Stop."

Kylo Ren stood some ten meters away. As Ren reached for his lightsaber, Rey pulled her blaster, stepped forward, and took aim.

"No." Letha said, but before Rey could fire, Ren raised a hand, halting her. She strained against him, her anger giving her strength. But she couldn't fire. Letha could see he was struggling also, against her, as well as the wound inflicted by Chewbacca's bowcaster. Gritting his teeth, he flung his arm sideways in a single, powerful gesture—and the blaster went flying out of her hand. Inhaling deeply, he gestured again, and this time it was Rey who went flying, to smash into a tree nearby and slide to the ground, dazed and hurt.

"Rey—Rey!" Letha ran and fell hard on her knees next to the unconscious girl.

Finn started toward them, but the sound of Ren's lightsaber igniting made him turn. With nothing else to fall back on and unable to reach Rey's blaster, Finn resorted to the only defense at his command: He pulled and activated the Skywalker lightsaber.

For some reason, the sight of it was enough to give Ren pause. He stared at it for a moment before reacting.

"That weapon—is mine."

"Come and get it."

Drawing himself up, a towering figure in the snow, Ren did not even bother to gesture. "I'm going to kill you for it."

He rushed forward.

Despite his fear, Finn raised the beam to defend himself. Ren lunged, struck—and Finn parried. Drawing back slightly, Ren considered his unexpectedly determined opponent, then resumed his assault with a vengeance.

Finn parried, swung, and unexpectedly stabbed, the tip of his lightsaber beam grazing Ren's arm. That made it more than a challenge. Taking a step back, Ren reconsidered his opponent. When he closed the distance between them anew, it was with a purpose that had been previously lacking. Expecting an execution, he had found a contest. Now he had been touched. It was time for play to end.

Advancing relentlessly, he was driven by something that Finn could not even sense, far less counter. Still he fought back, until Ren landed a blow that cut across Finn's chest and sent the lightsaber flying from his hand. It landed in the snow six meters distant.

Letha let out a horrified scream. It was over.

"It is you," Ren murmured, focusing on Letha. "You betrayed me!"

Letha stood up, flexing her cold fingers. "Do you want to talk about betrayal? Because you are an expert in that matter."

"I let you in."

"No." Letha said in strong voice. "Luke let you in and you betrayed him. And I--" She took her lightsaber from her belt. "I loved you."

"You still do."

His words unsettled her: Not for the first time, he seemed to know more about her than she did about herself. Holding the haft of her lightsaber in both hands, she ignited the beam—and charged.

Ren met her with his own weapon alight. Expecting weakness, he encountered only strength. Her skill with the device had never been as good as his, but it was backed by a fury that was as new to his experience as it was unexpected.

When the beams of their lightsabers crossed, the resulting burst of energy lit an entire section of forest.

Blow after blow landed as lightsaber struck against lightsaber. Though Ren was bigger and stronger than Letha, their struggle had nothing to do with physical size.

For a while she actually drove him backward, until he regained his self-assurance and in turn pressed her. The fight continued to shift back and forth; first he gained the advantage, then an enraged Letha took it back.

There was a loud rumbling, as of a continent sighing, and a gigantic chunk of forest behind.

Ren held his lightsaber, poised to strike. "I could kill you right now. But you know there is another way."

Breathing hard, Letha looked up at the man looming above her.

"You need a teacher." He was beseeching and insistent all at once. "I can show you the ways of the Force!"

Slowly she shook her head. "Fine."

Instead of moving to defend herself, Letha closed her eyes. Ren hesitated, confused by her actions. A long moment passed, in which Ren sensed a change in the air, a change in her. Then she opened her eyes and attacked, viciously, in a way she didn't know she was capable of, striking again and again as Ren was slowly driven back. The flaring energy from the interacting lightsabers was more pronounced than ever in the flurry of her attack. And—Ren went down.

He was up again in an instant, but not in time to fully deflect a following blow from Letha's weapon. He succeeded in blocking it, but he still took the full force of the strike against the haft of his own lightsaber. The weapon went flying into the snow. Unarmed, he raised a hand and utilized the Force to fend off one slashing blow after another, until finally her fury penetrated his remaining defenses. Taking a glancing blow to the head and chest, he went down, a prominent burn slashed across his face. Weakened, he reached out toward his lightsaber, trying to draw it to him.

"I'm sorry it has to be this way." Letha said and she recoiled from the dark thoughts that invaded her mind. One strike and she could've killed him.

The world shook beneath her as the ground began to split. Turning away from the injured figure, she ran back to where Finn lay badly wounded and found Rey huddled beside him. A deep gully formed, separating her from General Hux and the arriving troopers.