Ask Icy Trials

[Kalique Baize]

Kalique really didn't like that this reminded her of their last mission...It seemed like Roman had once again acted before he thought. It was something the dark side almost commanded, but something they always had to fight against or else they'd loose control.

Wanting him to recover some more, it was good he didn't move back to his feet right away and focused on her question instead. She was hoping she understood this particular spirit better quickly as it would severely raise their chances of dealing with it properly. "That's what I thought..." she had seen something like this before, on sentients even.

It was bad and meant it was powerful, hence they'd have to stay vigilant. However, she had plenty of experience with it, so at least knowing that it seemed to work similarly was good. "It will keep prodding at your mind, especially now that it got a taste" she stated, briefly looking around before she met his gaze again. It was gone for now, but it would be back soon - she was certain of it.

Kalique then let out a little sigh as she watched him scramble back to his feet before she pondered on his words. Was it wise to let him carry on? Her emerald gaze carefully assessed him while she clearly sensed his presence, not finding anything out of the ordinary. He had been out quickly, that must have been his luck.

"Yes, let's go". She'd watch him closely, not wanting to see any of those impulsive traits anymore as this was him approaching his trials and constantly getting them into danger. "You'll focus on one thing: Keeping up those barriers or it will be the end of you". Not that she'd let that happen, but she made it perfectly clear that if he screw that up, there'd be severe consequences. She motioned for him to follow her as she started following the unruly calling from the inside. They had lost time and thus daylight and it was still incredibly cold, so time was running.

@Alhon

 

[Roman Kallo]

Roman had expected a scolding from the Knight-Captain, but it did not come. He briefly felt relief before he realised how self-absorbed he was being. They were in the middle of a highly dangerous situation; it was not all about him and Demici likely had neither the time or patience to spend on his shortcomings right now.

Still, she kept her own counsel as they moved on and he reminded himself he would likely be reprimanded for his arrogance when the mission was over. "I will keep it out" he assured her, picturing the flame in his mind as was his way, bolstering his mental defences as they wound through the passage.

Over Demici's shoulder, he saw the path ahead open into a wide cavern. The shadows of more Talids skulked around a great fissure in the ground, a rent in the rock that gleamed with a sickly red light. Even at this distance, Roman could sense a concentration of the Dark Side in that pit, radiating twisted warmth like the heat of the fire.

Whatever was at work on Ando Prime lived in this place. The Talids reared up, fire in their eyes, clearly under the spell of whatever power they served. Roman dare not reach out to work out what it was, but he could only guess a dark spirit or similar. It would have intrigued him, if he could not smell death on the air.

"It's in the pit isn't it" he breathed "how should we approach Knight-Captain". He was not going to make any foolish moves again and would wait for Demici to make the call.

@LadyRen

 

[Kalique Baize]

What she gathered from her monitoring through the Force was that even if he had fainted, he was now doing his best to stay focused. "Good" if he'd fail again, she'd know he wasn't ready for this all. She was dearly hoping they wouldn't run into any more problems anyway, but they still had this vile spirit to deal with, especially now that it was without a main vessel it seemec

They continued on and even if they soon ran into more Talids whose minds were undoubtedly touched by the spirit, they didn't pounce just yet. Kalique took a deep breath, kept her mind centered and her mental defenses up, but as she dove into the Force she was purposely attracting this abomination as she motioned for him to stop where he was.

"It is. We have to draw it out, so I'll have to poke it some more. It will most certainly test us, but I'll make sure it stays focused on me. We'll likely have to push back, find our way into it and destroy it from within...", just like on Prakith or Entralla...she was growing oddly used to handling such things even if it always came with a price.

"Focus on defense only. It will tempt you to lash out, but we'll have to approach this calmly, wait for it to make a mistake and create and opening and then strike. You'll sense it. I'm counting on you" she met his gaze again, solemnly. Even if he had committed mistakes, she wasn't giving up on him. It was still about time he proved he could control his impulses and thus keep the dark side at bay. "Are you ready?".

@Alhon

 

[Roman Kallo]

Roman watched closely as Demici seemed to centre herself, her attention moving off through the Force for a moment. If he concentrated himself, he could vaguely feel her senses extending outward across the cavern, toward the pit and the entity that lay within. He did not let his mind follow her all the way, pulling back and accepting it was beyond him.

"I understand" he nodded, listening to her every word. Roman was not going to screw this up again. He needed to be patient, cautious and calculated, striking when he sensed the opening just like she said. "I am ready, Knight-Captain".

It was almost certain the Talids could not understand them, but even so one chose that very moment to bound forward aggressively.

Roman did not leap to meet it this time, or reach for the Force. Instead he held his ground until it came close and thrust his saber past past Demici to strike it. The tip of his blade scorched the side of the creature's face and it screeched, scuttling back to join its brethren.

Then, whatever was in the pit began to screech too.

@LadyRen

 

[Kalique Baize]

This time, Roman was more collected, more thoughtful in his approaches and he didn't jump at the first possible moment, so that while he slayed the next Talid, Kalique had a grasp on what they were dealing with after she had thoroughly scanned it through the Force.

It was a dark spirit, an ethereal manifestation of the dark side, something she had seen and dealt with before, most certainly conjured by a Sith or a cultist, but the question that remained was why it was here on this freezing, mostly uninhabited planet.

There was no time to dwell on that question though as the moment the Talid fell, the presence intended to lash out again, using the Talid's pain to fuel it while it targeted Roman once again, apperently, because it had already been successful before and knew the Squire was easier to breech.

For a moment, Roman would be forced to live through some of his most traumatic memories though. He'd feel the faint hint of a whip against his back, the searing pain that lingered, and the mental trauma his time with the slavers had inflicted.

"Push through!" he'd hear the Knight-Captain's voice overshadowing the mirage, just before Kali's focus closed in on the presence that was now left vulnerable. Directing her mental powers into it, she pushed against it, hard, first finding a way into it before she pressed and pressed to shatter it.

Playing mindgames was a dangerous game, but the spirit was weakened and vulnerable and Kalique experienced, so finding a way in wasn't too hard, to finish it off though, she needed Roman to push it away and then back, determined instead of blind and enraged sp that he'd gather some experience as well. There was no way to physically harm it anymore, so as the ground began to tremble, they'd have to win this battle within the Force before the cave would possibly collapse onto them.

@Alhon

 

[Roman Kallo]

The thing erupted from the pit like black bile from the devil's own mouth. Roman was not sure it was even visible with the naked eye, but it tore the Force so violently that it flashed in his mind's eye. A huge rolling shadow, leaping towards them.

Another flash, this one was lightning. Roman's knuckles seared with pain, his every joint screamed in agony. Rain, rain lashed against his face. No, no! He was back there, back rowing the seas of Vaynai. A shackled slave on the deck of a trawler.

A whip cracked against his back and Roman cried out. Not there, here. He was here. It couldn't be real, it couldn't!

"Push through"

The distant voice of Kalique Demici was barely audible, but it cut through the gloom just long enough for him to hear. The boat rocked as if shoved to one side, the weight closing in around him lessening for a brief moment.

Roman saw the cavern again, then back to the ship. The two images flickered. He realised that the spirit was in his mind again. The Knight-Captain was fighting it and he had to do the same.

The squire closed his eyes, ignoring the perils of the ocean scene to picture that single flame again in his mind. Immediately it ignited and he saw the horror of the entity skulking the shadows all around. Roman pushed at it as Demici had said, driving the light and the flame at the heart of the blackness. It writhed and flailed, but he kept going.

Roman took a step forward and found himself in the underground cavern again. Where the oar had been in his hand, his saber blazed bright again, held in a fierce guard. He kept focusing on the presence he could still see and feel, concentrating on pushing it back against the far wall.

@LadyRen

 

[Kalique Baize]

The moment Roman pushed back, he shattered the sinister connections and thus offered and even bigger opening than before. The spirit was worn down and unstable, so as the Knight-Captain reached deep within, the first pieces began to shatter under her fiery e determination.

It was draining, but as Roman was in, too, the presence could no longer stay focused on desperately trying to hold its sinister forces together against her, and so through combined efforts, the spirit slowly began to perish under their suffocation. There was death in the air before the whole cave was suddenly engulfed in a deep, impenetrable darkness, the low rumble from above, below and all around threatening to make the whole cave implode.

With her left hand was directed into the pit, she channeled the Force with her right hand, too, and created a barrier around them that would keep the rubble off, but while he was already grimacing under the strain, the darkness soon faced and what remained was the omnipresent feeling of dread.

One last time, the abomination attempted lashing out against the Knights, but with its waning powers, there was not much left for it to do. It failed to focus on either of them and so with a last, desperate, earpiercing screech, it suddenly vanished, apparently back into its realm as its presence was suddenly gone.

Kalique tumbled backwards, her head spinning, but the ground suddenly stopped shaking, which was at least another relief. But was it truly gone? The air felt somewhat warmer, yet fresh, much lighter than before and less oppressing. "Don't let your guard down just yet" she cautioned him, expecting retaliation, but for the moment, everything was quiet and the Force was calmer than before.

@Alhon

 

[Roman Kallo]

Slowly, together, they drove the thing to destruction. Roman had never been in a fight like it, never moving from his spot but feeling every ounce of his strength and will engaged in the battle. He saw the entity so clearly now, a gluttonous black miasma, pinned against the wall and thrashing wildly.

But it could not compete against the two of them. Roman could feel the Knight-Captain beside him, her presence in the Force so much stronger than his own. He longed to equal that kind of power, to be able to match wills with a creature like this with his own pupil one day, or perhaps with no pupil at all.

Darkness suddenly assailed them, but the squire remembered Demici's advice and kept his cool, remaining focused on pushing the being back, even as she worked at tearing it apart. Sure enough, the shadows receded, nothing but a smokescreen thrown up by a desperate animal.

A screech seemed to signal the end. The spirit perished under their assault, dispersing in an instant and taking the pall over the place with it. The three remaining Talids howled as if bereaved, anxiously skittering around the edge of the pit before reluctantly scuttling off into the deeper tunnels.

"You can feel the difference already" Roman breathed, still keeping his guard up as instructed "like it has left this place for good. Do you think those creatures will revert back to how they were, without it in their heads?".

The first beginnings of relief began to flood him. They had done what they came to do.

@LadyRen

 

[Kalique Baize]

Kalique listened through the Force, but the total absence of this formerly oppressing, sinister presence was rather obvious. She rolled her shoulders slightly before she glanced down into the pit, allowing herself to exhale. Her head was still pounding, but it seemed like they were indeed done here and so she met Roman's gaze.

"Are you okay?" she asked reassuringly, looking the Squire up and down before she closely studied his presence within the Force. He didn't seem too disrupted, not too affected for now, but she knew that sometimes, those memories could surface.

"You've done well this time" she praised him softly as she nodded towards the incline, motioning for him to follow. It was still freezingly in here, and she assumed much more time had passed than they probably thought. They still had to find their way out, but as it still seemed, the cave had at least not collapsed.

"They will recover...I'm certain. They're free of their influences now", she finally replied, leading them back the way they had taken earlier. Fortunately, the three Talads they'd still run into wouldn't pay them any more attention than mere curiosity and their minds seemed just as clear as they should have been, however they'd soon realize that outside, there was pitch black darkness waiting for them, announcing that they had been in there for much longer then it had felt.

She was exhausted, and the way back to their ship was somewhat cumbersome, but as they finally made it, they could warm up, freshen up and eat something before she'd make him reflect on the day. It had surely been a wild up and down again and his impulsiveness was a problem still, but for now they had to figure out in how far that presence would affect him in the future..

@Alhon

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