In the Dark of the Night

[Valgærd]

They were dead.

The rancor, together with its rider, slumped to the mountainside with a loud thud. I landed clumsily on the ground, feeling myself shrinking and writhing as whatever form I had taken retreated back into the ring. My entire body ached, throbbing as it struggled to comprehend what had just happened. I kneeled in the dirt, wrapping my arms around myself as a groan escaped my lips. The acrid stench of burning flesh and singed hair assaulted my nostrils.

I glanced up through the curtain of hair that had fallen over my face. The corpses in front of me didn’t move. Had… had I really done that? Had I killed them… both? I pulled myself to my feet, standing trembling on shaky legs. For a moment, I paused, letting myself get used to standing again. My entire body tingled, the ring burning on my finger. I took a few stumbling steps towards the bodies. Something seemed to catch my eye.

Stumbling over, I spied the glint of a necklace in the dirt near where they’d fallen. I scooped it up, staring at it for a moment before a grunt pulled my attention away.

“Ember!”

I raced over to him, collapsing to my knees beside him, the necklace still clutched in my hand. I hadn’t studied as a healer, but a knew a basic spell to help stabilise his wounds and ease the pain. I laid my free hand on his chest, gently pressing enough to make sure he stayed still. Beneath my hand I felt a warmth as I began to try and heal his wounds a little. It was… difficult, as if casting a healing spell was slightly further beyond my reach than normal. If he raised his hands to stop me, I would move instead to help with the supplies he was reaching for. Otherwise, I would let my magic take care of him for a few moments.

“You should have let me kill her.” I turned to him, smirking a little.

Could I have even killed her? I had never taken a life before, not intentionally, at least. I had no idea. Even so, it was nice being able to say I told you so once in a while.

"What... what even happened just now?"



[member="Ember Farseer"]

 

[Zef Halo]

Ember struggled with the backpack for a long time before Umai, in her own body, arrived to help. The Jedi felt the Force surging through her as she laid her hand on his chest. Warm sensation of the ethereal soothing his pain and closing his wound enveloped him. He wasn't sure whether he would've rejected her healing method, for it wasn't the Light side of the Force but neither was it the Dark Side. It was something completely different - Dathomiri magick. Ember let her help him as the laceration was deeper than he had initially believed.

“You should have let me kill her.”

He looked up at Umai locking eyes and half-smirking back at her own smirk.

"That's a new way of saying I told you so." Ember muttered through the pain and softly smiled. "But a Jedi does not judge on assumptions and had she been an innocent passerby and not a Nightsister?" He let the question trail off succumbing to the healing.

"Thank you, Umai." Ember blurted out examining her face. He saw so many questions...and a concern. For him? Maybe. The Jedi was far from able to discern thoughts with the Force, let alone without it. His social skills were rather disconnected with the norm.

As the spell worked its magic, Ember set himself more comfortably with his back leaning on the rock. He remained unsure on what to answer her.

"I am not completely sure but it was the work of the Force, you were quite literally burning with it." He conveniently noticed the ring on her hand that was not there before and sensed the Force signature encompassing it. Ember's hand softly took her's to inspect it, something not really natural for him to do but there was a temptation driving him before he quickly realized with widened eyes and the abrupt drop of her hand as to what he believed it was.

The temptation of the ring calling him.

The twisted, corrupt blazing of the Force that engulfed her in that gargoyle form.

"This is no ordinary ring." He said grimly as his attitude swiftly became more reserved typical for the Jedi he was. "It is corrupted with the dark side of the Force."

Silence.

What now?

[member="Umai"]

 

[Valgærd]

I could see the questions scrawled across the Jedi’s face he allowed me to heal him.

I shifted on my knees as I worked, smirking at his answer. Yes, fair enough I suppose. He had a point; there was enough guilt on my conscience with what had happened to my uncle. If I’d accidentally killed someone who didn’t deserve it, even someone I didn’t know… well, it’s a good thing the Jedi showed up, after all.

“You’re welcome.” I felt a tiny smile tug at the corners of my mouth as I spoke.

There was almost an innocence about him. This Jedi, this man that I had feared upon his approach several hours ago, had become something shy and almost delicate, reminding me of a young pup almost. It seemed that perhaps meddling and diplomacy—those most treasured of Jedi arts—had been mastered, but when it came to be Ember the man, instead of Ember the Jedi, there was a softness about him.

I leaned back as he shifted, moving my hands back to sit in my lap as I let the spell do its work. I remembered [member="Kalee Bladesworn"]’s own warning when she’d used the same magic on me; never heal too much. The risk of creating growths or tumors was too high. Especially considering I wasn’t as skilled as she.

He began to answer my question as best he could, taking my hand to inspect the ring. I watched him, my eyes on the artefact as well. I hadn’t had a chance to look at it properly until now. It was silver in colour, shaped to look like some kind of dragon-like creature wrapped around my finger, holding a gem of some kind. Its singular eye seemed to stare back at me, at us almost. I felt drawn to it, as if it were calling to me…

Suddenly the Jedi dropped my hand and recoiled, eyes widening. My heart raced in my chest,

“What is it?” I asked

His answer came a moment later. The dark side. Dathomiri magic wasn’t exactly like the force as the Jedi understood it, but there was still light and dark, and this ring pulsed with the dark. I hadn’t felt it before in my panic but now that he pointed it out, I could sense it too. I covered the ring with my other hand, retracting from him a little.

“Ember… what… what happened to me?” I asked timidly.


[member="Ember Farseer"]

 

[Zef Halo]

Ember stared at the ring thoughtful but unable to find an answer to her question, nay an answer to his own question of what to do. There was no denying it - the ring was a product of the dark side, whether specifically Sith magic or Dathomir mattered little. The gargoyle form Umai transformed into was a pure incarnation of the dark.

"We need to-" He adjusted himself better against the rock feeling her healing's effect curing the wound. Infections were purged and the wounds were closing quicker than normal. "We need to."

He stopped, the answer still not found in his mind. The Jedi assumed the ring belonged to her mother.

"Dispose of it." Ember finally finished his sentence grimly locking eyes with her. What explanation could he give her? "You became a creature of the dark side. A sweet sensation, a tempting sensation but if you let it take over you become lost - a thrall to a force of no good intentions."

What else could he do but look into her eyes and observe her reaction.

Had the Force guided him here for this?

[member="Umai"]

 

[Valgærd]

We need to dispose of it.

Those words stuck with me. Instantly I retracted my hands, wrapping my fingers protectively around the ring I wore and holding my closed fist to my chest. This artefact was something I had unknowingly carried for years, it had never brought me harm. This whole time it had been here, hidden in the spine of my mother's tome; a piece of her hidden within a piece of her that had comforted me on many cold, lonely nights as a girl. There was no way I was giving it up.

The Jedi still unnerved me, even wounded as he was, they didn't grant the ranks of knight or master to just anyone. Besides, I was well and truly spent, having rushed to use the last of my strength to keep him alive.

What was I to do? He had made a good point earlier, much as I was loathed to admit it. I didn't want blood on my hands. Did he? How far would he go to see this ring destroyed? I chewed on my bottom lip, feeling tossed about like a leaf in a storm as my thoughts surged in my mind. Of the two of us, he was still physically weaker because of his injury, I could just take off and run away with it. But... I wouldn't be any closer to the answers I wanted if I left now. What if I stayed? What if I helped him, showed him that this dark side corruption the Jedi feared so zealously was not as prevalent as they believed?

"We'll worry about that later." I murmured, slowly unlacing my fingers and reaching out to place my hand behind his head and help him shift as he leaned against the rock.

As he shifted, however, I noticed something behind him; a scratch mark in the rock. It was old, with moss growing out of the crack. But it was straight, with sharp corners. It had deliberately been carved there. My brow furrowed, my hand moving from the back of Ember's head to his shoulders. I pushed gently hoping not to hurt him too much as I indicated for him to lean forwards.

"What the hell...?"

I stared in disbelief at the carving on the rock:

[member="Ember Farseer"]

 

[Zef Halo]

"It will be too late then, Umai..." The Jedi sighed closing his eyes seeking the will of the Force. As a Jedi he had been taught to be the protector, the defender. Did that mean taking others' right of choice? No, but where was the line? The line between tyranny and apathy. Push too hard in purging and cleansing, and in preemptive actions, and you become a tyrant, nothing better than a Sith. Stand and watch afar as a spectator and you broke your oath to the duty of a Jedi.

Ember noticed her sudden surprise but it was not targeted him rather at the rock on which he had been lying on for a bit now. He turned cautiously to see what had taken the witch's attention completely - an engraved rock.

The gargoyle roost is on Ryloth.

He turned back to face her with a concern on his face.

"I know you will go." Ember stated, a sudden burst of vigor in his voice as he frowned. To stop her at any means necessary would be nothing different than Umai's initial decision to kill the nightsister - a preemptive action based only on assumption. "Do not....do not give in to the temptation of the dark side."

Or I will have to chase you down the edge of the galaxy to save you. The Jedi Knight did not voice that thought but that thought was his duty.

Should she fall to the dark side - it would be his responsibility.

His responsibility to the Jedi Code and duty to redeem her.

[member="Umai"]

 

[Valgærd]

It will be too late, then.

I glanced at Ember, studying his face. Immediately, my reaction was to get defensive, to pounce on his words angrily. However, I saw the conflict upon his face. Rather than blindly follow his people’s doctrine, he seemed to be considering all sides, my side, rather than just swooping in to impose his cult’s ideal.

I respected that.

When I’d noticed the carving in the rock, the Jedi had also turned to see it. My eyes met his as we exchanged a mutual gaze. My heart was pounding in my chest. I knew why I’d come here. I knew why I’d been led to this mountain. I had to go to Ryloth. My mother had carved that message into the stone… for me. Ember’s gaze on mine was one of concern. The veil had dropped now, we both knew that Eliariah—my mother—had dabbled in the dark side, at the very least.

Ember’s concern touched me. I had been used to being so defensive around him, wary of his order. But… beneath the label was a man, one who seemed to genuinely care for my wellbeing, rather than just wanting to impose his ideals on me like I was some blank slate.

“I… won’t give in.” I said with a determined nod.

Without knowing entirely what drove me, I reached out, seeking to grab his commlink, if he’d let me.

“This is my comm frequency. If you’re ever planet-side, and you want to check on me, make sure I haven’t succumbed… you can reach me on that.”

Despite the subtle tease in my words, my tone was solemn, sincere. Of all I thought about the Jedi… I found I trusted Ember, very much, in fact. It felt good knowing he could reach me if ever I needed him again. To my own surprise, I realised that I hoped he would.


[member="Ember Farseer"]