Ask Blood In The Water

[Sybella Demici]

Barison - Outer Rim Territories​

Landing far afield, Sybella spent a good portion of time hiking the coastal neck of the waters. The trek alone allowed her time to ponder on what lay ahead. She had encountered these cultists several times now and was making some progress, especially when compared to their very first meeting. It had been fraught with nothing but hostility; they had outright attacked her, forcing her hand (and saber). Naturally, when all was said and done, Sybella had shown them mercy and was quick to offer peace. They were, after all, just a loose collective of untrained Force users and, despite their rather dangerous predilections, they seemed at least willing to consider some of the Jedi's words.

It became somewhat of a ritual, now and then dropping in to visit them; Sybella even brought supplies with her in hopes of gaining further favour. If she couldn't persuade these cultists to turn towards the light, then perhaps at least she could save them from the darkness instead.

A familiar, green stone monolith soon came into view. Its origins were unknown, even to the cultists but still, they had worshipped it as if it were almost sentient. Sybella had actually wanted to study the rock further, believing it to be some mineral similar to that of a kyber crystal. With any luck, the cultists might even let her take a sample this time. Strangely enough, no one had come to 'greet' her. Though wary of strangers, the commune usually had a sentry or two posted along the mouth of the caves. Were they praying perhaps?

Descending further into the makeshift shelters, the salt in the air grew more pronounced. The crashing of waves also grew louder. Still, no one was in sight - very unusual. Had they left? Unluckily, given their attachment to the giant, floating rock. With each step, Sybella grew more tense. How did that old saying go, always be aware of the absence of the normal, as opposed to the presence of the abnormal?

Stopping within the heart of the coastal cliffs, a gruesome scene lay before her. The cultists, the strangers turned into somewhat friends...they were dead. Slaughtered within their own natural sanctum. Their wounds, she noticed, were oddly familiar. Elongated cuts, cauterised by a source of intense heat. A lightsaber. Whoever had killed them had a lightsaber, and with that thought in mind, Sybella reached for her own.

Spoiler

Dice roll:
Perception check - 7/20

@Pendleton
@Vyktas Cabaal

 

[Vyktas Cabaal]

The cool sea breeze caught at Vyktas' cloak, the taste of salt mixing with the acrid scent of flesh scorched and rendered by his sabre and producing a near unbearable odour; one that he was well used to by now, and had grown to find comforting. He stood among the carnage that his latest mission had descended into and took a deep breath, overlooking the waves crash into the shore and fill the cavern with a rhythmic sound.

His prey had been little more than savages. As he always did when informed of a new cult, he had come to check their worth. Discrete at first, though as the realization of their lack of conviction had sunk in, there was only one outcome. There was but one true way within the Force; anything that distracted from that was to be put to the sabre, to be crushed under heel. Anything that could work as a haven for their enemies or, worse still, attract potentials away from their true destiny, would be his prey.

His near trance-like state the aftermath of battle always brought him to was stirred, the skin on his neck bristling under the hooded mask. He breathed deep and turned to observe the carnage of the camp once again - something was amiss. Movement caught his eye as he caught a flutter of colour whip against the stark cliff behind, among the hovels these Unworthy called home, a woman coming into view. He watched for a breath as she took in his handiwork, before reaching for something under her robes The cylinder was at once recognizable to him, his hand reaching for the still warm curved hilt of his own sabre nestled at his waist, his arm lifting the cape aside to flutter in the wind.

"Glorious, is it not?" His voice called out, clarion clear and enhanced by the vocab unit in his mask. Beneath his face was set to stone, eyes locked to the figure. He may have been all business, yet even he couldn't resist toying with his prey as he circled from his discrete spot on the coast and into full view.

Spoiler

Perception - 10.

@HoneyMagpie @Sybella Demici

 

[Sybella Demici]

A cold and sinister shiver ran down Sybella's spine. There was no mistaking it now... The dark side and its ominous taint. Truth be told, the knight chided herself for not sensing it sooner. Had she truly become so complacent or were there other factors at play? Glancing briefly at the monolith, the Jedi debated whether or not to abandon her position and beat a hasty retreat.

Almost immediately, she decided against it. Instead, she schooled her features into looking otherwise unimpressed. "I see no glory here. Only senseless slaughter."

Admittedly, her mask of indifference was rather impressive; she had spent years in fact perfecting its visage. Though the death of the commune truly dismayed her, she would not give the Sith the satisfaction of seeing it. Instead, she was a statue; steadfast and resolute.

"Why?" She asked, though a part of her could already guess as to the nefarious motives. "They posed no threat to you. Why kill so many?"

When the stranger began to circle, the Jedi would find herself mirroring the same movements, as if it were a pervasive dance. Her lightsaber, still sheathed was held out in full view. A warning. Perhaps even a challenge. Sybella was no stranger to combat, nor was she one to shy away from battle. If the Sith sought a conflict with her, he would soon find himself more than hard-pressed.

"Shouldn't you be hiding under a rock, with the rest of your kind?"

 

[Vyktas Cabaal]

Vyktas continued to circle slowly, the pair looking as though in the midst of some ancient dance as he stepped over the black scarred corpse of one who had tried to make it to the ocean. While he advanced slowly, he was no brash fool nor youth filled with the need to prove himself. He would savour every moment of the encounter; he was in no rush to let it end.

"Why?" He barked a laugh, the reverberation through the vocal unit distorting it to bounce from the stark cliff faces and encompass them both. "They were weak, unworthy of the powers bestowed upon them, nought but inevitable carrion, savages that worshipped at the foot of something they did not understand."

He kept his sabre extended, the grip tilted ever so slightly downwards as he adopted the poise close to that of a fencer, one of precision than brute strength. A tilt of the head to her question brought him to a standstill. "Hiding? I stand here, as present as the corpses of these savages. We do not hide, we strike unknown." He parted his feet a fraction, his cape once more fluttering in the breeze as he took a deep breath. Though the mask hid his every emotion, it was clear when he spoke he was smiling.

"You ... Cared for these savages, didn't you? You hide it well, yet not as well as you want." He took another deep breath before levelling his gaze at her once more, the lifeless eyes of the mask locked to her own. "It is intoxicating. Their butchery was little more than a moment to my day, a passing breath, yet it strikes you so." He stood proud once more, wetting his lips. While the Jedi guarded her emotions, his flowed from him in waves. The hunger, the desire to bring the same fate to her as he brought to the savages, yet it wasn't unguided rage but an eerie calm. "Release yourself to it, to your disgust, to your hatred for my actions. Let us travel this road together, Jedi."

 

[Sybella Demici]

The words this man spoke were utterly vile; it was as if he were spitting literal venom. Such tactics were to be expected of Sith and their ilk. Anything to gain the upper hand. Even the dead were spared such hateful barbs. How callous could one man be, referring to those slaughtered as nothing more than savages? They were but innocents, easily lead astray. They didn't deserve such an awful fate. No one did...except him. The beast that stood before her and dare to comport himself as though he were a man.

"Who are you to judge them?" With that hiss, Sybella drew activated the blue of her saber.

Without hesitation, Sybella charged, slashing her saber left and right; targetting the upper torso first, she would then pivot and aim at the lower legs. Honestly, she doubted very much whether the strikes would actually hit; they were cursory strikes, at best, meant to test the dark sider's skill. Bringing her guard up once more, the knight would then grimace at the Sith's foul and blatant attempt at manipulation. Sybella was no stranger to such bile; it would take more than bitter words to upheaval her.

Clashing her saber against that of the Sith's, she expressed as much, "I'd rather not. I know the path of which you speak. It offers nothing. Only misery." She then struck, "Pain," again, "and death."

The final blow had much power behind it; surprising, given Sybella's rather lithe figure. In the past, it had caught her opponents off guard more than once. If this Sith faltered, even once, she would pounce.

 

[Vyktas Cabaal]

The flash of blue was followed swiftly by a flash of deep red, his sabre activating as his arm pushed the fluttering cloak from his side and behind him, dropping to a combat stance as he leapt forward to meet her charge. His blade clashed with hers at the cursory strikes, deflecting the first as he leapt back a few paces to avoid the second before lurching forwards once more as he brought his blade down towards her in a swift arc, maintaining his guard as the Jedi punctuated her speech with strike after strike. The final blow caught him with the brute force of the strike, his leading leg bowing as he was forced back towards the water's edge a step, followed by another. He was intentionally conceding ground, though gone was the bravado of earlier. He had a true test on his hands.

Bringing his sabre up in swift measure he lanced it forwards towards her stomach, intending to create himself some room to manoeuvre as he regained his footing. A crunch of dirt as he pushed and pressed after the thrust, pulling the blade back only to slash diagonally from right to left, aimed across her chest. "Pain?" He mocked, a left-to-right horizontal arc aimed at her waist once more intending to push her back. "You know nothing of pain."

He pushed another step forwards, pushing the pair towards the ominous crystal as he brought up his weapon in a vertical guard. "They did though." With a crackle, his helmet's vocab unit began to replay the sounds of his slaughter of the savages, filling the cavern with phantom screams and the crackling hiss of a sabre cutting through flesh, every now and then a voice pleading to be saved. He timed his moment well, exploding forwards in a burst of speed and lowering his guard long enough to slice upwards from the direction of her hip, the brutal arc intending to cross her body and depart at her left shoulder.

 

[Sybella Demici]

Quick on her feet, Sybella jumped back, narrowing avoiding the stab at her stomach. Though the Sith may have ceded ground in the beginning, he was quicking retaking much of it through the onslaught of attacks. The barrage that followed was quite intense and only through the use of the Force was the Jedi able to manage the premeditated blows. Instinctively, her saber rose up to guard her chest before then swiftly arching downwards to shield her waist.

He was directing them, moving them inwards towards more space. The flat, briny beach wasn't an easy terrain to move across, given the heavy, sucking sand that shifted with the step of each foot. Jungles, like that of Yavin IV, were more benign than this.

Assessing the situation, Sybella considered her (very limited) options.

The sounds of the dying certainly didn't help her focus; if anything, they sickened her, to the point in which a shriek arose from her core. She had hoped the Force would amplify it, as it had done for other warriors but there was no such luck. It was as if she had lost her balance; not in the literal way, but rather on a more intangible level. Composure was needed in order to garner back more control.

At that moment, Sybella would have liked nothing more than to launch a volley of rocks right at the cackling fiend; unfortunately, the setting of their battle was rather barren, yielding very little in terms of debris. There were no boulders, just small stones and pebbles. If thrown, even at speed, they'd hardly make a dent in the masked maniac's armour. Still, it didn't stop the Jedi from trying - it might not hurt the Sith, but it could distract him long enough to allow her defensive counter.

When the flash of deepest crimson came towards her (at speed) Sybella drew her second saber, doubling them down as guard against the Sith's last, most vicious strike. The clash of colours was near enough blinding, with hues of blue and green now bleeding into red.

Staring into the lifeless mask of the Sith, the knight's eyes glistened much like the silver that ordained her shawl and crown. "I will avenge them." She promised, "Each and every one."

Whilst holding his weapon at bay with one of her own, the Jedi lashed out with the secondary blade, intent on near enough blinding the Sith if given even the most fraction of a chance. She saw sparks, confirming contact and a part of her revelled in the minor triumph.

Spoiler

Dice:
Force yell = 4/20
Force throw = 7/20

 

[Vyktas Cabaal]

Vyktas was engrossed in the melee, his focus on the assault and hammering strikes leaving him to overextend a fraction too far; it would seem that with this opponent a fraction was all that she needed. The second blade sparking down the length of his own to counter his attack caught him off guard, and he could not be caught lacking again. His free hand reach from his cloak and his fingers curled into a fist. A swelling in the force brought the crack of rock and screech of crystalline material emanating from the Shard, the structure twisting and groaning. He managed to yank his hand back in the same breath that the Jedi's resumed her attack and the second sabre stuck.

As the blade sliced into his mask it ripped through the elaborate metal and tore the left side free. The tip of her sabre sizzled as it sliced beside his eye, scoring the flesh as he yelled in pain, left eye briefly blinded by the energy of the blade. The pain only amplified his fury, the Shard that was once the source of the tribe's adoration now hurtled towards the Jedi at worrying speed, the Inquisitor using his anger to leap back.

"You avenge no one!" His calm facade slipped a moment. As the crystal slammed down he hurled himself over it, blood-red blade arcing through the air as he aimed to land on the Jedi and strike should she escape the falling Shard.

Spoiler

Force pull - 19

 

[Sybella Demici]

The sight of the Sith's now damaged mask brought Sybella a disturbing amount of satisfaction; before she could even stop herself, an unfamiliar cackle escaped her parted lips. Surprised by her own spitefulness, she quickly silenced the horrid sound.

'Behind you...'

Forwarned, the Jedi abruptly disengaged. Instead, she volted back high into the air, only just narrowly avoiding the shard as it was hurtled forward. She moved in tandem with the monolith, so close her reflection simply skimmed across its crudely cut surface. When the crystal hit sodden ground again, it buried itself nose first at a rather tilted angle; with the momentum now lost, gravity began to pull at its awkward lean. Before allow it to topple over completely, Sybella reached out with the Force; she wanted to cushion the crystal before the final fall. Last thing she wanted was for the thing to shatter completely.

Malicious brute. It wasn't enough for him to take the lives of the commune, he wanted to destroy their idol too?

'Move. Now."

Ducking right towards the right, Sybella tumbled and skidded to a less than graceful stop, just as the Sith impacted hard upon the ground. Thinking fast, her hands shout out, sending forth a forceful wave of energy to sweep him back. She needed distance, time to breathe. She needed to-

'...stop holding back...'

"No..." She gritted, "Not now..."

 

[Vyktas Cabaal]

The ground cracked under the fury the strike had brought from within him, sabre slicing through where the Jedi was but a breath before, his quarry within his grasp. He paused a moment too long; something wasn't right. There was something about the encounter that was different, unusual. He glanced to the side as the force battered into his side, causing him to skid directly away from the reeling Jedi as he dug his heels in and trailed his free hand through the dirt to slow himself.

Coming to a stop a few paces from her his head snapped up, the bright red graze of her sabre wound across his temple watching her. There. Something was aiding her, something was with her, and it was nothing he had seen before. Hard breaths rattled through his vocab unit as he maintained his defensive stance, three points of contact with the floor and he spied a flutter of energy from her. The moment it disappeared, she spoke.

"You are no Jedi." He mocked as he rose, blade still held ready and on the defensive, but began to pace backwards a step or two. He had felt a shift within her, something beyond his sight had changed in the heat of the moment. Where but moments ago she had barely managed to spray him with scattered rocks, she now escaped the crushing weight with but a second to spare. "What are you?" He spat the words, the thrill of battle still thrumming in his ears as his heart pounded. He wanted nothing more than to strike furious until she was on the floor, yet his experience tempered his hatred.

"What is it you see?" It took him a moment, the hint of something amiss settled in his mind. He would get to the bottom of it.

 

[Sybella Demici]

Filled with newfound resolve, Sybella exhaled a shallow breath. Rising to stand on equal footing once more, she pinned the Sith with her argent gaze. "I am a Jedi, like my ancestors before me."

Reaching out her hands once more, the knight called upon the Force to draw deeply on its power. When she breathed in, the winds would flourish, growing ever-intemperate with each passing moment. Be one with the Force...Soon enough, a cyclone had formed right there on the beach, seeming intent on swallowing up the both of them. Should the Sith attempt to barge clear a path, he would soon find himself tossed and twisted about within the vortex. That was the true extent of its power.

A thick mist of grainy sand began to form, obscuring much from view. Granules of sediment would assault the exposed portion of @Vyktas Cabaal face. Was Sybella using the whirlwind as a cover? Perhaps, but there would be no great escape. Instead, she used it to mask her next attack. There was a reason the Jedi had deactivated her sabers. The glow of the blades would give away her position; she wanted to strike whilst she still had the element of surprise. So she waited. Waited until the very last moment to ignite her blade. The Sith would see it, the blue-hued weapon swirling towards him in a blind and senseless strike. But that was all he could see, just the saber, compelled to move by an unseen Force.

Yet another distraction.

Not a moment later, Sybella would appear from behind the Sith, activating her secondary saber in a last-ditch attempt to strike at her foe. It had been her ploy all along. She had thrown her saber whilst under the whirlwind's cover. Guiding it with the Force, she ensured it circled back in time to engage her enemy. The blue blade might not have landed struck true, but Sybella's green saber had slashed at the Sith's upper torso. Force willing, she would finally put an end to all this.

'Yes...KILL HIM!'

Instead, she faltered, at the very last second.

Spoiler

Dice:
Force Whirlwind - 18/20

 

[Vyktas Cabaal]

Vyktas watched with morbid curiosity as the whirling sands began to whip up around them, his hand raised to shield his exposed eye from the storm. He made no attempt to intervene or flee, pacing back a few more steps as the size and intensity grew to encompass him. Blinded by countless shards of sharp sand he winced, but reached out with the Force instead. He sought the Jedi, this is true, but he probed for this other being. This guidance that had saved her from her death a moment before. He took a breath, the pain of a thousand needles at his skin sharpening his senses.

There. He felt something again, ethereal, otherworldly, something that was not on the field with them but at the same time, was. It was but a brief taste he got before the flash of light caught his eye. He had given her a chance to talk, now his anger rose once more. It all happened in an instant, his red blade batting away the bright blue strike as he span to reach out his hand. He caught the sabre, his brow knitting with concentration as he used the Force to keep the blow from landing. He could not hold it for more than a split second, deflecting it away from his back and towards the ground as he roared in defiance.

No words this time, he whipped his sabre in a brutal arc that had begun when he span to catch her, aiming to slice through her right ribs. The blows continued now, each one punctuated with a step forward as he hammered down. One towards her left shoulder, a second swiping from right to left in an attempt at her neck.

 

[Sybella Demici]

As if it were possible, Sybella seemed to have enraged the Sith even further. She would have cursed, if not for his mesmerising display of power. Had he really just stopped a lightsaber in mid-strike, with nothing but the Force? The Jedi had read about such feats, but she'd never seen it actually done in real combat; the odds of it being successful were simply too great. Still, the enemy had risked it and, in return, had got the upper hand.

'Should have listened...You never listen.'

Snapping back into focus, the Jedi winced at the Sith and his near-primal state. Foolishly thinking she could deflect the first blow, Sybella found the power behind it was too strong to withstand. She parried the one aimed at her ribs but failed to shield herself from a strike that came soon after. A scorching pain erupted from her shoulder; the wound, though shall, was grave enough to pull from her a rather agonising shriek. Throwing herself back, Sybella had only just narrowly avoided a final swipe, likely meant to decapitate her.

'Always, you defy me. Now look what has become of you...'

"Shut up..." She hissed. "Just, shut up."

Needing to gain some ground, the Jedi used her momentum to tumble and crouch. From there, she had managed to flip backwards, not once but twice, before the pain in her shoulder became too cumbersome. Sybella hadn't felt the burn of a blade for quite some time now; she had almost forgotten just how excruciating even the smallest of wounds could be. Despite cauterising the flesh itself, nerves within the area still flared and writhed. Clasping desperately at the injury, the knight considered trying to heal it; the only problem with that plan was the fact healing with the Force wasn't a skill which she had spent much time developing... Perhaps she could numb it instead? At least until she was once more out of danger.

'Always, so defiant...You need me.'

A new sensation came about; instead of the familiar, searing heat, Sybella now felt....cold. Dismayed, she could only guess what now stood behind her. Lujayn Demici, or rather, what remained of her. Garbed in red, flowing rags, the figure's visage fluctuated between both the opaque and the translucent. Her hand, resting on top of Sybella's, was also pale and thin. The spectre, however, wasn't looking at the Jedi - no, instead its molton gaze was firmly fixed on @Vyktas Cabaal.

'You dare...You dare strike at what is mine?'

 

[Vyktas Cabaal]

The Inquisitor watched as his swipe sang through the air, their battle filling the small cove with whipped-up sand and the acrid smell of sabers clashing. He advanced another step before she suddenly began tumbling away and creating more space between the pair. He knew he had her beat on strength, especially while the thrill of battle flooded his veins. He exposed himself to the pain of the wound at his temple, allowing that to course through him.

He looked set to advance and close the distance once more, saber raised and humming in the air before he spied a flicker on the field once more, the same flicker that he had spotted a few times through. In this instance though, the flicker grew into something more, something ethereal. A twisted spectre of some kind began to emerge from his prey, swirling and dancing in the wind until it took on the form of a human, clad in red. Even as the being formed into a shape the wind still whipped and howled through the cliffside, ghostly smoke emanating as it seemed to flicker between realms.

"Now, this is interesting." He raised his hand at the crouched Jedi, fist curling as he sent a powerful blast through the Force, aiming to slam her into the sand of the beach and hold her there as he approached. "Who are you to decree what I do?" He retorted as he closed another step. He kept his saber at the ready, poised to defend should she rise to strike. He reinforced the blast a second time, a bead of sweat prickling his brow as his breathing became ragged, free hand shaking with the exertion; the battle was beginning to take its toll on his stamina.

"What secrets do you hide?" He asked, though directed at neither particularly. Both had something to hide, it seems.

 

[Sybella Demici]

Sybella was stunned. The spectre hadn't appeared in corporeal form for quite some time now, yet there she stood in all her horrific glory. She should have known better though, allowing herself to become distracted like that. There was simply no time to act. Despite her feeble struggles, the Sith ultimately had her pinned, but to the apparent annoyance of the red woman; the ghost regarded Sybella a scowl that was more than familiar to her. It was as though she were looking at as if she were a disappointment to her. Nothing more than an unruly child, not yet brought to heel.

"Tell him. Nothing! Agh-!" Sybella would have said more, had the Sith's second blast not silenced her further.

Looking between the two living beings, the rather gaunt and hallowed expression of the phantom was otherwise largely apathetic. Dead were her eyes, but even in expiry, there was a cunningness to them; a dangerous glint that threatened much. Taking stock of the situation, it seemed to determine something rather advantageous: Sybella's, quite literal, weakness. If she didn't have the strength anymore to fight against the Sith, then perhaps she wouldn't be able to resist what came next. With a grin most malicious, the phantom dispersed into a cloud of red, sinister mist. Instead of evaporating though (as it did before) it assailed Sybella, entering her via her mouth and eyes. Shocked by the very experience, the sudden betrayal of it all, the Jedi could do little else but rage at the apparent invasion of her very being. Struggling, if not writhing in the sand, the pressure of the Sith's hold was simply torn to shreds, as if by some primordial beast.

Then, Sybella's body simply fell limp.

A moment passed. And then another. There was no response for quite some time; it was like both souls had simply vanished. But then came movement, jagged and uncertain as it was. Appearing rather laboured, Sybella sat up, head lulling to one side before righting itself to the other. Silver eyes now flared with fire, especially when their sights became set on the Sith. It was clear now that the knight was no longer in control of her body; the spectre had instead taken command.

And she relished it, breathing in the air so deep. She was hungry for more.

"Secrets?" She sneered, "Oh, so many. More than you could hope to fathom."

In a less than elegant motion, the body of the Jedi rose to stand on rather unsteady feet. No longer concerned with the presence of the Sith, the spectre seemed rather keen on toying with him, just as she had done with her unwilling vessel. Taking notice of a crystal shard at her feet, the ghoulish woman seized it for further inspection.

"I'm almost tempted to tell you. Almost. If only to see my descendent suffer." The very idea seemed to inspire within her a morbid joy. But soon the smiles ceased, almost as if she were suddenly reminded of a more pressing task. "But I think not. I think our little game ends here. So much to do, so little time..."

With a flick of the hand, a large crack erupted across the surface of the cliffs. With another, violent gesture, they all but shattered, triggering a rockslide that only grew in momentum. Sybella's fortitude might have been drained, but the ghost itself seemed entirely independent; the once weak and feeble Jedi was now launching boulders, apparently revelling at the thrall she now possessed. Launching more rocks, whilst floating more overhead, a cackle emerged from the vessel's twisted lips.

Until one hand abruptly rebelled, snatching onto her own jaw as if compelled by another.

'My body. Give it back!'

With a hiss, the visage of the red woman started faltering. "No!" Grasping at the opposing limb with her other hand, the single form seem to push and pull, like she was her own enemy. The once mirthful voice sounded desperate once more. "Can't you see what we could become? The power I could give you?!"

"I don't want it!"

The screams of two could be heard, revolting in union until (finally) only one remained. The rightful one. Slumping onto the ground once more, Sybella heaved and gasped. Never had she experienced something so suffocating, something so unnatural. What a horrific thing to feel, the violation of your own bodily sanctum. Shakingly, she glanced up, seeing the Sith was grudgingly still alive. She also saw the large rocks now plummeting down upon them. With an expression of dejection, Sybella made a mad dash; she decided to take her chances and retreat further into the coastal caves, even as it began to crumble in on itself. She knew the tunnels well, their various ins and out; she could run and escape all of this madness.

And so she did, disappearing from view as the cliffs continued to collapse.

 

[Vyktas Cabaal]

Vyktas watched with yet morbid curiosity as the Jedi screamed out moments before he reinforced the hold he had on her, head tilting as he watched the hungry gaze of the spectre dance between the pair it sank within the body of the Jedi. His hold vanished in an instant, sure that it was not due to his depleting stamina but the machinations of the ghost. He snapped his saber to the side before raising it in guard, wary of any trickery before her head reached up, lolling from one side to another before a voice emanated from her. It was not one or the other, yet both layered over each other in a melodic yet haunting in a twisted mixture that was near intoxicated for its implications.

"Speak them, and I shall see you free." He spat as the figure rose like a wicked marionette controlled by unseen hands. He took a step back, and another, as the body of what was once the Jedi moved towards the crystal that he had thrown earlier. The hum of the saber in his hand cut through the crashing of the waves as he narrowed the exposed eye. He felt a swelling of power within the Force that surrounded them, the compounded sudden cracks of crystal and rock announcing what he already knew; he was too drained for this.

"I will find you again!" He promised, the sudden wrenching sound of rock sliding and breaking from one another causing him to raise his guard higher still. The first few were but small, remnants of their earlier fight that he sliced through with ease before a large one sailed towards him. He used what little he had left to guide it passed him, but the exhaustion showed as the boulder slammed into his shoulder and stumbled him a few steps. The pounding of battle had long since faded; he now ran on survival instinct. He watched as her lithe form threw boulders with ease well beyond his own, leaping to the side he began to cut his way through towards the edge of the water. He watched as another sailed a hairs width behind him, the fragments scattering and carrying him forwards as they peppered his back. He tapped at his wrist, The Decree was not too far yet he feared far enough to not make it in time.

As he dashed he spied an opening, the promise of sun beyond providing an escape into something not as deadly as the possessed Jedi. A spared glance at the cavern above saw the spider web of cracks snaking along the surface before a final glance at the Jedi was all he could muster. He ground his teeth in frustration; not only would he prey escape, yet he was bested by something well beyond his knowledge. He would not let it happen again. Watching as a boulder the size of a speeder began to break free and sail towards him, he knew his time was up. He dove through the thin cave entrance by the water's edge, the crack of rock and sudden death behind him sounding seconds later. Jammed within he willed himself through, clawing at the walls before he made it through the other side, water rushing to lap at his boots as he waded deeper still. An opening, no matter how small, saw him through the crevice and through to a rocky outcropping. Out of danger for the moment, he clawed his way around towards a beach in the near distance.