DISCLAIMER: Star Wars and all publicly recognisable characters, names and references, etc are the sole property of George Lucas, Lucasfilm Ltd, Lucasarts Inc and 20th Century Fox. This fan fiction was created solely for entertainment and no money was made from it. Also, no copyright or trademark infringement was intended. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author. Any other characters, the storyline and the actual story are the property of the author.
The three creatures closed around Obi-Wan, ignoring the still-kneeling Auriga. They formed a circle around the Apprentice, like Belarian wolves gathering before a kill. For a moment Obi-Wan knew how the wolves' prey felt, knew the hopelessness of one who was trapped -- and then he was swinging his lightsabre before him in an unspoken challenge. He would not make it easy for them...
Abruptly, the aliens moved as one, multiple tendrils lashing out at the Jedi, no longer strands of dark mist now, but solid, knife-edged whips, lashing out at him. "Good," thought Obi-Wan, dodging the first of them. "If they're solid, I can fight them." He countered one of the tendrils with his lightsabre and the shock of it went through his entire body, his wrist immediately going numb. "All right...not so good." Then there was no more time for thinking. He spun out of the way of one black flail, ducking another, then bit back a cry as a third struck him across the chest, adding a bloody weal to the burn marks already there. Obi-Wan found himself flying backward, sliding across the floor, his chest an inferno of pain. Darkness crowded at the edges of his vision, but he pushed it resolutely aside and climbed back to his feet.
He wasn't going to last long, he realized, blinking away the sweat running into his eyes. The adrenaline he had been relying on to keep him on his feet was fading quickly. And he couldn't dodge them forever. The aliens were lightning fast, the tendrils blurring in the shadows as they moved. And there were three of them.
"Think, Obi-Wan," he told himself desperately, lunging to the side to avoid another hit, hoping his damaged left knee would take his weight. It did, but just barely. And then he was rolling and thrusting with his blade again. This time the lightsabre went straight through the tendril, which instantly reformed and struck back at him. It missed, hitting the stone floor instead, leaving a deep gouge. Obi-Wan launched himself into a mid-air somersault -- much more difficult without the power of the Force behind him -- and spun as he landed, cutting through two more strands. Or rather, he should have cut through two more strands. Once again, the creature turned to mist, allowing the blade to pass right through it.
It was like trying to fight a phantom. He could not touch them yet they were tearing him apart, one piece at a time. Obi-Wan staggered as another blow took him across the upper arm. The smell of blood filled his nostrils and he staggered, falling to his knees. The movement saved him, as three strands of darkness whistled through the air, just above his head. Gasping with exhaustion, he heaved himself once more to his feet. Another blow, this time on his left thigh, tearing his skin open and lacerating muscles... Reeling, the Jedi struggled to lift his lightsabre with both hands, even though the weapon was next to useless.
They were playing with him. They could have destroyed him right from the first, Obi-Wan realized dimly, but they wanted him to die slowly...to suffer. A flash of awareness went through him. They hated him.
//Fear leads to hate// Obi-Wan had been told that so many times during his training, it had almost become a part of him. //Fear leads to hate// But...did these creatures fear him? He was fighting with only part of his mind now, the rest trying to work through the puzzle.
They didn't fear him specifically, he thought, dodging another strand with almost the last of his strength. They feared the Jedi. And what they could do. The Jedi were a threat to these creatures. But how?
The Force. It was the one thing that made a Jedi different from every other lifeform in the galaxy. The ability to harness and use the Force... Despair shot through him. He couldn't use the Force, hadn't been able to since he had been shot with the alien weapon...
The weapon. Obi-Wan suddenly remembered - he had taken it from Auriga in the corridor... Hastily he reached behind him with his left hand, wincing as the torn muscles on his upper arm shrieked. It was still there. Drawing it from his waistband in one smooth motion, he thumbed the controls and fired it at the nearest creature.
It screamed, the sound echoing through Obi-Wan's mind and driving him back down to his knees. Vainly he tried to erect his mental shields against it, but they were long since gone. He no longer had the strength or the focus to shield himself against the creatures. "Fine," he thought grimly, turning the weapon on the other two aliens, "scream all you like. I don't care. Just die."
The three aliens writhed in the beam from the weapon, their cries rising in the Apprentice's mind until he could hear nothing else...but they did not die. And then the weapon overheated and Obi-Wan dropped it from scorched fingers. He looked up, shaking his head slightly to clear his vision...
The creatures were more insubstantial now, more like the shadows they resembled than corporeal things. They had retreated a little, toward the other side of the hanger. Even as he watched though, they slowly began to reform, the dark tendrils once more becoming barbed whips that would cut and burn through him. He had bought himself a little time, that was all. Perhaps seconds only...
"Think!," he told himself again, his chest heaving. The answer was close...he could almost taste it. If he only had a little more time... A movement in the corner caught his attention and he glanced over quickly. Auriga was braced against the far wall, trying to stay out of the way of both him and the creatures.
Auriga. There was something important. Something he should remember... Obi-Wan let the memories come, even as he returned his gaze to the three creatures, almost completely solid now.
Auriga. And her Aide Altos, always by her side. Altos, dead on the floor...Altos freeing him from the cell...Altos lying helpless beneath him as the Jedi's hands tightened around his throat...
...and Obi-Wan remembered. Remembered the dark power flowing through him as he gave in to the dark side of the Force. Remembered the way it had erased all his pain and given him strength...stamina...boundless energy. The dark side...
He was wrong. He had been able to touch the Force at least once since he had been brought to this place. In the room where they had tortured him and he had yielded to all that was twisted and evil within himself -- he had stretched out and grasped the dark side, bending it to his will. There at least, the Force had not been beyond his reach.
The despair within him grew. Was that his only hope of escape then? To give in to the darkness and use it against these creatures? Obi-Wan shook his head. Then it was no hope at all. He would not surrender to the dark side, even to save his life...
...And yet...perhaps that was the answer after all. Obi- Wan's breath caught in his throat. The aliens had completely reformed, their tendrils whipping around them like serpents. They were on the move, coming toward him quickly and silently, like black wraiths, as if sensing that the end was near. Perhaps it was...
The Jedi took a long, deep breath...and deactivated his lightsabre. It would not save him now. Nothing would. Except...
Obi-Wan closed his eyes, ordering his mind to ignore the terrible pain and fear going through him...to be calm. To be one with the Force. It was difficult. Parts of him were screaming, urging him to run, to fight, to fall his knees and wait for the end... //Be still// he told himself...and his mind obeyed. One by one, the emotions fell away until he was alone. Completely and utterly alone. A soothing blanket descended over him, gently blotting out everything - memory, awareness, fear, desire...they all vanished. And, for the first time since he had come to Regaid, he was at peace.
He would be safe here, Obi-Wan realized. The creatures would kill him, but he would not feel it. There would be no more pain, no more terror. Nothing but peace. For a moment he was tempted. It would be so easy to just surrender, to float away into the night...but then duty and honour called to him, and he remembered. Remembered who he was, what he had to do. He would not give in. He could not.
Obi-Wan gathered the remaining shreds of his mental powers around him and reached. Somewhere, beyond the blackness, there was light. Somewhere, there was the Force - not the tainted power he had used earlier, but the warm, familiar energy that was as much a part of him as breathing.
There was a barrier - something standing between him and the light. The Apprentice recognized it for what it was now - Evil. Pure, cold, and unbearably ancient. It knew what he was trying to do, and was fighting to stop him. And it was strong. Too strong...?
No. No matter how powerful this thing was, it could not take his abilities from him - the Force was his, and he belonged to it. He was a Jedi... With a silent roar of defiance, he flung his mind, his body...his very soul...into the battle.
Obi-Wan had thought he knew what pain was, had thought he had experienced the very worst that could happen to a person. Now though...now he knew that nothing would ever outweigh this. He was being destroyed from the inside. Small pieces of himself were being burned away in the conflagration that burned his soul, as flames licked through his mind and body. The darkness rose up to swallow him and he was helpless before it. It was too powerful, too old...what chance did a single Padawan learner have against this? This was a fight he could not win. Could never win...
He could sense something. A presence. Something fragile and very far away. Hardly there at all. And yet...it was proof that something existed besides the darkness. Something else. It gave him hope. With the very last of his psychic energies, Obi-Wan stretched out for the Force...
...And something else reached back for him.
Obi-Wan was too drained, too far gone to feel surprise. He merely grasped whatever it was with mental fingers, holding onto it tightly...and the darkness vanished. Suddenly he was awash with light. It was all around him. Its warmth went through him like sunlight, easing the hurts, and Obi- Wan took a deep breath of relief. Smiling grimly, he turned back to the darkness that still pursued him...and lashed out at it.
The power of the Force surged through him like a torrent. He closed his eyes, feeling the energy course through him. He could not control or direct it...did not even try. He was the conduit, nothing more. He knew though, when the light hit the darkness, when the dark cried out in both fury and agony...and when the battle was won. At that moment Obi-Wan opened his eyes...
...and was back in the hangar, watching the three aliens slowly dissipate, helpless against the power he wielded. The sound of their screams echoed through the chamber. As he watched, the last one struck out blindly at him, shrieking its hatred. Its tendrils had already evaporated though, turning first to mist and then to nothing...and the creature was gone, only the memory of evil lingering behind it.
It was over.
Slowly, as if he had forgotten how, Obi-Wan lowered the arm he did not remember raising and released the last of the energies still flowing within him. As he did, the pain surged up to take their place. Darkness swept over him and he did not feel his body hitting the ground. He had time for only a fleeting thought before oblivion claimed him. "My Master would be proud..."
Perhaps he only imagined the voice that answered him. "I am, my young Padawan..."