The Abiding Force: A Knight of the Empire (Star Wars)

2: Gifts

Val held the small metal cylinder tightly, still unable to believe he was now its owner. Ben had been reduced to an utterly childlike state when their uncle had revealed their gifts. Val had not seen his brother since. He'd retreated down into the training room for the majority of the day, swinging away his enthusiasm against any droid or sparring partner he could find. Val was equally excited, but his mind had fixated on questions about the lightsaber's origin. Jae had been frustratingly vague when asked, telling Val that he'd collected it in his travels. This was not a lie, but it was deceptive, Val had sensed that. His uncle had not revealed anything further and so Val decided to try other means.

He held the lightsaber in front of him, his thumb hovered above the activation switch. With a deft motion and a hiss of energy, the blade sparked into being in front of him. Crimson light bathed over him, a dull heat radiating from the pulsing energy beam. It rippled viciously, though as he watched he noted that beneath that was a strong and stable current at the core. Val found this interesting, as Ben's own saber blade was pure and calm in comparison. He was a bit jealous of his brother's gift, as it was clear that the weapon was better constructed. When the excited young man had activated it seconds after grabbing it from his uncle's hand, the bright sky-blue beam had nearly decapitated Val.

I am the second son, Val thought, I'm lucky to have received this. He held the blade in front of him at an angle, then gave it a few swings. The red light danced across the leaves of the darkened garden, long shadows danced across the ground as he recited one of the basic swordsmanship forms Korta had taught him. The weight of the weapon surprised him, it was heavy in a strange way, most of the weight concentrated in the hilt. When he swung the blade it was as if swinging in water, as if the blade itself resisted him. Within a few minutes he had grown used to it and attempted a few of the more acrobatic maneuvers Korta had trained him in. A poorly executed spinning slash almost went awry, causing the boy to reconsider further attempts, he was not prepared for that yet.

He sat beneath the Venell pine at the center of the grove. He lay the weapon before him for a moment, catching his breath. The air smelled of pine needles and sweet alien flowers of a thousand Imperial worlds. His mind drifted to his mother, before settling back on the weapon before him. I wonder... he thought. His eyes closed of their own volition and before he had truly thought it through, he was reaching out through the force. The weapon rose and activated, the red light fell across his face, far too close. He stumbled back, slamming into something immovable behind him. A woman stood before him, hand grasping the blade tightly.

Val felt overwhelming fear in her presence. She radiated malice and hatred. A blue light rose to meet the crimson, from her shadow appeared a second figure. They were both shadows, all was shadow, as Val sooned realized. He was surrounded by it, inky darkness that cloyed and crawled around them. Bolts of energy raced around them as they were joined by figures, thousands of men and women, a city of shades, more silhouette than being. They were at war, he realized.

The woman struck first, lashing out in a beautiful spinning slash that drove the man back. The blades flashed together like lightning in a storm, painting them in flashes of white, blue and red as they contended. So fast... was all Val could comprehend, they were hardly visible in motion, his mind only registering them in the moments between furious clashes. Their voices washed over him, distant and unintelligible, but filled with rage and pain. There was something else there, something beneath the rage and fury.

The shadows danced together, the light of their blades flashing and sparking as those around them fought and died in vicious close combat. The sound was otherworldly, screams of a million dying beings, of pain and desperation. Then something changed, as if the wind had suddenly shifted. It was a feeling, fleeting but intense. No, not a feeling Val thought, his mind searching for its source. He realized then that he'd lost the pair among the maelstrom. They stood opposed, gasping for breath as the world came undone around them.