First Reply Lightsabers Clash

[Hwo]

He had spurred a reaction. Hwo barely had time to readjust to a standard grip before the Sith retaliated, a furious flurry of strikes nearly overtaking him. He managed to parry one, block a second, but he was losing ground quickly. He took a two-handed grip on his hilt to better absorb the impact, but that limited his mobility. A powerful blow forced him down to a knee, nearly taking him all the way to the ground. The Sith’s lightsaber weighed heavily on his own from above, forcing his green blade down onto his own left shoulder. The all-too-familiar searing pain of glowing hot plasma making contact with his flesh momentarily invaded his senses. In a desperate maneuver, he let go with his left hand and dropped his left shoulder to escape the immediate threat, then attempted a Force push against the ground to send him up and out to the right, hoping the Sith would follow through into the space his body once occupied.

Darth Reign

 

[Darth Reign]

Inflicting a wound on the Jedi Master had eased Reign's bloodlust. He was gaining control of himself again. As the Jedi dropped his shoulder, The Dark Lord's blade left a large gouge in the earth. Had the Jedi been there, it would have spelled doom.
Correcting his position, Darth Reign looked to the Jedi Master. Injured absolutely, but still a daunting presence.

Breathing heavily, Reign took a defensive stance, let the Jedi overextend himself, the Sith Lord thought, as he started circling to his left.

Hwo

 

[Hwo]

His shoulder burned, but the wound would heal. If he survived.

The Sith had replaced his anger and frustration with a new found patience. Turning from a desperate wolf to a stalking cat. Seeing such control from the Dark Lord was surprising.

Hwo had risen to his feet by now and steadied himself. But rather than circle in rhythm with his opponent, Hwo darted right, directly into the Sith’s path. He approached as if to stab, but at the last second, brought his lightsaber down and around in a long arc ending in a powerful overhead strike.

Darth Reign

 

[Darth Reign]

Darth Reign had seen the stab coming, but the last minute switch caught him by surprise. He was barely able to bring his saber up to slow the strike down. Forget turning it away, it was all the dark lord could do to keep from losing his head down the middle.

Barely getting out of the way, Reign felt the saber bite into the skin of his chest, white hot pain adding a new scar to his body.

Disengaging he leapt backwards, dropping briefly to a knee, he assessed the damage. Not too deep but it would scar. More rage, but he fought to keep it in control. This Master was his equal in every way, he wouldn’t get away with a furious outburst again.

Regaining his feet, the Sith came forward again, coming up from a low slash with his saber in his left hand, but at the last second spinning and attempting to drive a gloved back fist into his opponent’s face.

Hwo

 

[Hwo]

Tit for tat. The duel was wearing on both men.

Hwo parried the strike, or so he prepared to, finding the Sith changed course in the last moment. With his focus on avoiding the glowing red blade, a backhand bypassed his defenses and caught him in the jaw. His teeth stayed in place, but the unmistakeable taste of copper soon resonated on his tongue, and blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.

Already turning to parry the strike and accepting the force of the backhand, Hwo continued his spin, bringing a long leg into the air for a roundhouse kick. Not the most acrobatic fighter, his form would be lacking and his foot not to achieve a height above the Sith’s chest, but hopefully his move would be unexpected.

Darth Reign

 

[Darth Reign]

The kick was not expected, neither was the force it brought. Feeling a sharp pain and a crack in his ribs, Darth Reign knew there would be time spent in bacta if he survived this. Rolling with the hit, he latched on to the foot, attempting to bring the other man down with him. As they fell, Reign attempted to drive his fist into the Jedi Master's sternum.

His lightsaber shut off for the moment, this was to be a time of brutality and fists.

Hwo

 

[Hwo]

The kick landed, but so did Hwo. He fell with the Sith, both men wisely deactivating their lightsabers in the tussle. Hwo positioned himself to come down on top, but the punch to his chest launched him off to the Dark Lord’s side, nearly taking his breath away. His lightsaber also fell from his hand, rolling a couple of feet away. He sucked in air and quickly tried to claw back onto his opponent. Even if he could not take the mount himself, he could hopefully fight his way to a contested grapple rather than be pummeled from above.


Darth Reign

 

[Darth Reign]

The Jedi was strong, the mount that the Dark Lord had sought had been denied him. Grappling into a kneeling clinch now, Darth Reign tried to pummel the Jedi Master with elbows from the right.

Trying to work his way back to his feet within the grapple, Reign was wary of losing his footing to the bigger man. Aware that if he stayed on the ground he would be a distinct disadvantage.

Hwo

 

[Hwo]

Hwo staved off the elbows, but he lost his grip in the process. That was less of a problem, though, given the Sith used this break to rise back to his feet rather than roll him back down. Hwo mimicked, regaining his footing and standing in tandem. He was now at a distinct disadvantage, having lost his lightsaber in the fray. Hoping to avoid facing the Dark Lord‘s blade while unarmed, he brought both hands forward, attempting a Force push to create distance and buy time to retrieve his weapon.

Darth Reign

 

[Darth Reign]

The Force push caught him by surprise, launching him into the air. Barely catching himself on time, he was able to land into a roll as opposed to flat on his back.

Seeing the Jedi retrieve his weapon, the Dark Lord reignited his crimson blade. Assuming his ready stance once again.

The Sith was starting to be concerned, though it would never show. He was hurt, badly.

Hwo

 

[Hwo]

He called his lightsaber to his hand and ignited it with a flourish. As he moved into position, he spat a thick red mixture of blood and dirt from his mouth accumulated during their scramble. He was tiring, and while he had mostly forgotten the small singe to his midsection, the burn to his shoulder was much less forgiving, and his cheek had begun to swell. Surely the Sith felt the same, but his expression remained focused and fierce. This duel could not continue much longer.

A streak of lightening lit their small battlefield, followed closely by a loud crack! The first large droplets of rain began to fall, and the downpour would not be far behind. Hwo moved in slowly, lacking the energy to launch in as he had done numerous times before. With a two-handed grip, he struck down diagonally, from right to left, on his approach.

Darth Reign

 

[Darth Reign]

Reign was slowing down. It looked like the Jedi was too. The Dark Lord brought his blade up to block the Jedi’s strike, his movement sluggish.

Another lighting bolt split the sky, illuminating the combatants. Darth Reign brought his blade down in an overhead strike.

Hwo

 

[Hwo]

Hwo met the strike with a high horizontal block, pushing in and angling his hands downward, locking their swords in a fifty/fifty position. He studied his adversary through the glowing lightsabers as sparks danced off their blades. Seemingly equally matched, perhaps a tie that could be broken only by fate.

The rain now came, already beginning to soak their clothes, only slowing them further. More lightening, this time close enough to raise the hair on the back of Hwo’s neck. Maybe the will of the Force had something else in mind.

Darth Reign

 

[Darth Reign]

While the blades were locked, the Dark Lord gauged his opponent, he had never fought someone on such equal footing to himself.
The rain soaking him to the bone and his injuries burning, Darth Reign thought this would continue until one, or both, of them were dead. There was no surrender in the eyes of the Jedi.

The lightning made Reign's nerves stand on end, closer than he'd like. Breaking the saber clash, he put distance between the combatants. The world around them dark other than the glow of their lightsabers and the flash of lightning.

Taking in deep breaths and using the force to dull the pain, Darth Reign stood ready. Until the lightning struck close enough that the Dark Lord could smell ozone.

Hwo

 

[Hwo]

The strikes became more frequent, and the rain now came in sheets so thick it nearly clouded Hwo’s vision. There may be honor in dying in battle, but there was no utility in dying here, today. Hwo disengaged and slowly backed up several steps, feeling the physical toll this fight had taken on him to this point. He turned off his weapon and closed his eyes, sensing what was coming but knowing he could not escape.

CRACK!

The lightning struck so close that it momentarily knocked Hwo from his feet. Rattled to his core. But over a dozen meters now separated the two combatants, and the Jedi was nearly invisible through the downpour without the green glow of his blade lighting his position. Recognizing this duel was finished — for now — Hwo mustered what energy he had left and retreated into the storm.

Until we meet again, Dark Lord.

Darth Reign