Kalon - Han Solo [1]

Chapter 12 : Like I've Been Shot

The air was being cut off from her lungs, and Tasha gasped. The dark figure of Count Dooku lifted her off her feet, dangling her by her neck as she tried desperately to suck in a breath, or to fight him, anything, anything. A choking sound erupted from her throat as she tried to speak, to use the Force to push his hold away from her.

"And now, Ms Latasha, you will be a burden to me no more." His monotonous voice said, a sadistic grin on his face. She closed her eyes, concentrating her energy on his hand around her neck, imagining the breath returning to her lungs, her feet resting once more on the ground. Her face contorted, but not in pain, in concentration as she tried to save herself. She felt the force on her throat weakening as she reached out with her hand, gently, slowly, pushing his hold away from her. She opened her eyes, smirking at his startled expression.

She pushed harder, using a new found energy. He stumbled back, lowering his hand as Tasha fell to the floor. She braced herself, landing in a crouch. She drank in great gasps of air. Dooku had recovered himself, and was advancing towards her, lightsaber raised menacingly. But Tasha had no chance to be scared, to be apprehensive. This is what she had been training for. She raised the blue blade of the lightsaber she had been given, ready for him to make the first move.

He did, lunging at her, which she dodged, rolling past him before leaping up again. His grin disappeared briefly before being pulled back into place. He aimed his next blow low, and she parried it expertly, aiming a retaliating blow at his side, which he too blocked.

She aimed again, plunging her shot over his head. He blocked it, but she held her saber in place, pulling it down so it was centimetres from Dooku's face. She heard a groan over the cackle of the two locked laser swords and her eyes flicker briefly to Anakin, his crumpled form still trying to sit up. Dooku noticed this, another of his sick smiles spreading across his face.

"There is much fear in you, Senator," he said, twisting his saber so he had the upper hand, "not for yourself, but for your friend, your . . ." his face twisted again, "love." She gritted her teeth against his words.

"You know the Jedi don't allow that sort of thing. They seem ready to break the rules for you: a teenager when you started training, not committing yourself to the Jedi order, letting you continue your role as a royal, a senator." Tasha glowered at him, pushing him back again.

"That's it," he said, "use your anger. It's good. It gives you power. Can you feel it?" Tasha felt horrified, and pulled her emotions back in, using her saber to shove him away from her.

"You and I aren't that different Senator," he said, "neither of us belong in the order, it suppresses us. Join me, I can set you free" Tasha stalked back toward him, a fire in her eyes that no one had seen before.

"I am nothing like you, Dooku," she spat, "I will not betray everything I have worked so hard to protect." She slashed at him again, a well aimed blow as it caught his sleeve. It didn't cut him, but it gave him a wake up call. He lunged at Tasha, and she pushed him back, leaving her right arm open. He plunged his saber towards her, tearing slightly into the flesh.

She screamed, her arm burning as she dropped her saber. He hit her thigh with his red saber, and she gasped in pain, collapsing to the ground. Black spots clouded her vision as she watched Dooku lift his saber over his head, as she waited for the blow that would surely end her life, and there was nothing she could do to stop it.

The saber swung down and Tasha watched it, eyes frozen open in fear. As the saber got within an inch of her face, someone blocked it. She turned her head, and saw Anakin, a look of pure concentration on his face, protecting her.