The snow crackled as Sabena took several steps toward the glowing crystal. She approached the chasm that separated herself from her goal. Her eyes examined the ice - noting any possible ways she could just climb around.
The cavern remained almost perfectly silent. Yet, Sabena heard a growing rumbling from within the crevice. She took a couple tepid steps toward the edge. The sound reminded her of something stabbing into ice.
In the back of her mind, Sabena felt a sense of unease. Her body tensed up as the sound grew increasingly louder - as if something approached step by step with each passing second.
After the sound from within the chasm reached a peak, silence greeted Sabena once again. The lightsaber at Sabena’s hip remained undrawn. She remained in a ready-stance - prepared to burst into action at the first notice.
Then, a dark mass flew out from the crevice -revealing it to Sabena’s sight. The creature landed in front of Sabena. One look at its brown head with beady eyes and sharp teeth allowed for Sabena to recognize the beast as a Gorgodon - something that [member="Aaralyn Gyndar"] warned the people entering of the caves. The beast before Sabena had climbed the crevice with no effort.
The Gorgodon’s weight was enough to shake the ground immediately next to it. This caught Sabena off guard. She looked to the ground to regain balance. Yet before she could do anything, the Gorgodon took a swing with its massive right arm.
The back of its hand struck Sabena near the left side of her torso. There was an audible crack that Sabena could hear as her body flew back and into the air. She slammed against an icy rock and slid to the ground.
Slowly, the Gorgodon approached Sabena as she painfully sat herself up. The beast snarled during its approach. Sabena’s hand instinctively reached for the lightsaber hilt strapped to her belt. She stopped herself just before touching it.
“
It isn’t mine to use," she said to herself.
With futility, Sabena attempted to get back onto her feet before the Gorgodon reached her. She was able to prop herself up by using the rock behind her. As soon as she got on her feet though, the Gorgodon was right on top of her.
Once again, the Gorgodon swung at Sabena with its right arm. This time, it swung outward and struck Sabena’s right side. She was sent spiraling in the air. Instead of a rock, she landed in the snow only to roll a few more meters until she reached a giant column of ice.
While on the ground, Sabena wheezed and coughed as she tried to get back up. The two strikes by the massive creature left her relatively petite body quickly exhausted. Broken bones were almost an assurance.
“
If only…” she began with a heavy breath before a strong shiver interrupted her.
A strange sensation alarmed the young woman - something not created by the cave itself. It felt as if hands crawling up toward her head and face - digging and gnawing as her heart began to race. Adrenaline raced through Sabena’s veins. Her breathing quickened. Her arms shook. Then, a haunting voice greeted her.
T͘҉ơ̴̴͢͡o̧͘̕͢ ̨̡̀҉͟w̸̢͘e̷͡a̕͢k̢͟͏,̸̷̨̧͢ ̴̕͘͢S̷̡̨͜h͏ą́͟͟i̷̡̛͠͠.̷̷̛͜͝
Sabena’s pupils momentarily dilated. She clutched her hands into a fist - with her knuckles pressed into the snow. She gritted her teeth and began to pick herself back up. The Gorgodon picked up the pace - slowly rolling into a full-on charge at Sabena.
“
Kir̕a,” said Sabena under her breath, “
Kisk̵l̵á…”
The Gorgodon was quick in its charge -eventually slamming its body into the ice column that was beside Sabena. The column cracked both at the base and near the top. It quickly succumbed to gravity and fell toward the crevice between Sabena and the crystal. The column managed to form a fragile ice bridge once it fell.
The beast roared in pain. Its severed right arm laid on the snowy ground a few meters behind it. The limb had a charred end where it had been separated from the Gorgodon’s body - sizzling and smoking as it came into contact with the cold air.
A few meters more behind the Gorgodon - toward where it had come from - stood Sabena. She managed to get herself up and quickly move to dodge the Gorgodon’s charge. Yet while she did attempt to stand tall, her stance was slouched and indicative of the damage she sustained from the two earlier hits.
A red hue washed over the cool-white cavern. In Sabena’s right hand was the lightsaber she had been carrying with her - humming brightly with a crimson blade. She had procured it during the Battle of Manaan. She used this lightsaber to severe the beast’s right arm in an instant.
Turning toward the Gorgodon, Sabena maintained a stern gaze on the life-threatening creature. The Force flowed freely through her with great intensity. The passionate life-or-death moment only further fueled her strength in the Force - which allowed her to stand against the Gorgodon.
Even with its wound, the beast was not deterred from its prey. It turned around to face Sabena and rushed toward the young woman once again.
Sabena reacted with a quick shuffle of her feet to turn her body around. She pointed the crimson blade at the Gorgodon. Then as the creature drew close, she gestured her left hand up. A rush of snow flew toward the Sabena’s lightsaber blade - instantly vaporizing it into steam.
The steam rushed into the beast’s face - still hotter than boiling water. Immediately, the Gorgodon stopped in its tracked and clutched its face with its left hand. It screamed in agony.
Before Sabena was an exposed target - the bare chest of the Gorgodon. Taking the opportunity, Sabena lunged forth and plunged the red lightsaber into the sternum of the Gorgodon. It took no time before it pierced the beast’s heart.
Immediately, the beast wrapped its left arm around Sabena and began to squeeze tightly. The pain was almost unbearable for Sabena as the Gorgodon attempted to crush her to death. Its strength quickly left, though. Death soon took the Gorgodon. As it passed, it released Sabena and fell away from Sabena and onto its back.
Still standing, Sabena looked at the Gorgodon that had caused her much grief. She had quick, heavy breaths. Exhausted nearly to the brink, it took her a tremendous amount of will as well as some use of the Force to remain standing. She deactivated the foreign lightsaber that she used and returned it to its place on her belt.
Sabena noticed the column that had fell and formed a bridge across the chasm. She quickly made her way to it and carefully crossed it - eventually reaching the other side without issue.
Once she made it across, Sabena lifted her head to gaze upon the crystal for the first time since the Gorgodon appeared. There was no longer any glow. She slowly approached where the source of the glow had been. Sabena’s eyebrows furrowed. She looked at what seemed to be an icy altar that was about knee high.
Resting on the altar was a dull, lifeless, greenish crystal. Sabena fell to her knees - her mouth ajar.
It did not feel to Sabena as if it was her crystal.
Tried and drained with her eyes a bit wet, Sabena remained in the cavern and stared at the crystal with thoughts racing in her mind.
_______________________________
Time passed, and eventually Sabena exited the caves to where Aaralyn and the rest of the students that completed their trails went to. In her hand was the dull crystal she found.
