There is a melancholy trill from a bird high in the trees that drifts across the fog-laden hill. The fog is thick and white in chill of dawn. I am stationary and turn my head from side to side; I cannot see two feet in front of me for the fog hides all. I know that near by is a grove of trees on the side of the hill and that below the hill is a great blue lake, but the heavy mist looms around me and even though I strain my eyes, I can see none of it.
Then I feel something new. It is she, I am sure of it. That beautiful, enchanting woman is drawing near. A sudden gust brings the scent of her hair to my nose and my arms long for her; my lips tingle for her touch. I cannot see but I feel her near, and so I go to her.
A figure dissolves out of the mist, it is clad in a cloak as black as the void. I cannot see her face in the deep shadows within the hood but I feel her loving gaze. I stand before her but she does not want me to touch her. I bend my knee and she reaches out with her shriveled, pasty hand.
“Give me life,” she croaks, “save me from this wretchedness and I will reward you beyond your dreams. All the powers of the universe will be yours to command if you give yourself to me.”
I kiss her bony hand and stand. “My life, my power, my soul is yours.” I sweep back her hood, barely taking in the gaunt pale face, red eyes, and thin, feeble white strands of hair. I kiss her thin, dry lips and I feel life blossoming in my arms.
As my life drains away, I feel weak and old. She pulls back and I stumble to my knees, feeling as if every bone in my body will crumble and turn into dust. I look up and there before me is a ravishing young woman with shiny black tresses like the night. Her cloak has been cast aside and she wears a flaming red gown as brilliant as the streams of light that have now burned away the fog.
“What have you done to me?” I look at my trembling withered hands.
She smiles, “Don’t worry, there is life and power enough for the both of us.” With that she flings herself upon me and kisses me tenderly, and I feel a little youth pass back into me.
Suddenly, I am cold and I start to shiver. The woman dissolves and I sit up in the space shuttle. I am shaking uncontrollable and Teppa is not here. She is always here, where did she go? I feel weak, my teeth are chattering, and my skin shivers as the air around me turns icy cold. I can see my breath the windows are frosting up. Where is Teppa when I really need her?
Then, she appears, her face is white but I feel that it is not because of the cold. She sits herself in my lap and holds me close. I can feel the warmth of her body flowing through me and she lays precious life-giving kisses on my lips until I have recovered. We just sit there in each other’s arms, feeling the darkness lying heavily around us, and we know that there will be many trials to overcome but we will face them together.
“I want to leave this planet,” I whisper still feeling chilled
“Yes,” Teppa climbs into the pilot’s seat. “Do you want to go to Corellia? It’s not far.”
I shake my head and lower myself into the seat next to her. “Somewhere far, far away from here.”
“Okay,” Teppa starts entering coordinates into the hyperdrive when the whole ship starts to shake.
We brace ourselves as best we can as the ground trembles ferociously as if it is trying to swallow us. Suddenly rocks start flying through the air and bombarding us, and blasting craters into the dead soil. It seems to last for hours until a particular large rock smashes through the rear of the ship, making a great gaping hole in the ship. The shaking ceases and Teppa and I try to regain our bearings.
“This planet is supposed to be void of seismic activity,” Teppa looks suspiciously at the ruins that have become even more destroyed.
“Or meteor activity,” I twist my head and stare up into the overcast sky through the new whole in our ship. “It’s as if this place doesn’t want us to leave. The moment that we were about to leave it had a tantrum and now we’re stuck here forever.”
Teppa opens the hatch and starts to examine the damage from the outside. “Eventually, the Jedi will come and find us when we don’t return.” She stares at a large crater a few feet from the ship. “We could say that Diola died in the meteor shower and then we could return…if you like.”
I look at the city and the only building standing is that dark one, the one with basement where she waits. Then I know that she did this, she wanted to keep us here. She has more power than I thought and I can’t help smiling at the thought. She knows that I will soon seek her out.
“I don’t really like the idea of being out of favor with the Jedi,” Teppa is saying, “it’s very inconvenient, but they will never understand why Diola had to be killed.”
“Don’t you say his name!” I suddenly scream. “You have no right. I am dangerous and he was doing it for the right reasons. I wish I was dead!” I sink to my knees. “Better to dead than to be her prisoner.” I moan in despair, my hands over my face. “She’ll never leave me alone, she’ll keep taunting me and torturing me until she gets what she wants.” I rest my head on the hard earth. “I wish I didn’t want it.”
Teppa kneels beside him and wraps her soft arms around me. She kisses the back of my neck and assures me that it will be all right and not to think such things. I feel as if my head if being sucked into the ground. I think that she wants me to become one with the decay, just like her. Her arms cling close to my body like she is trying to squeeze the life out of my with her iron embrace and force it into the ground.
My life cannot restore this land. This land is dark and evil. It will always remain thus. I must either become dark like it or escape, but my escape has been stopped and so I must become one with it if I am to survive. I cannot change it, that would kill me, and if I value my life, I will succumb to her. She knows it, she knows that I will come to her and be subdued by her charms and powers. She is more powerful than me; she is the reason that this planet is home to decay and death.
I cannot take it anymore and I stretch myself over the ground, waiting for it to swallow me. Teppa lies down beside me and takes my head. I turn my head from the black earth and look into her lovely eyes. The universe is lost in that gaze, I am lost in it, and I know that with her here nothing will ever happen to me. She will never take me, not without Teppa’s interference and Teppa is very good at interfering.
There is no need to speak, I squeeze her hand, and we help each other up. We climb back into the ship. I guess will be stuck here for a couple weeks.
I move silently through the darkness, I cannot see but I can feel evil in the ground, in the trees, and the air. From the shadows emerges the black doorway, I cannot see it but I can feel the deeper darkness just in front of me. Suddenly, I feel cool but my heart is racing and my palms are sweaty. Now I am on the threshold, one more step forward and I will fall into the abyss. I expect to hear her voice calling out to me, but there is nothing but the deep and silent black. This is my choice and mine alone, if I desire to see what is beyond this dark doorway then she cannot interfere. She has brought me this far and now she will lose or gain me forever.
I know what lies before me and what lies behind. Behind me is all that I know, I am a failure and I will never be a Jedi Knight, I will never be powerful and I will never have Teppa. However, before me is the tantalizing future of new discoveries and power that I could never learn from the Jedi. I will become more powerful than the Jedi and I’ll make them see what they couldn’t, I’ll prove to them that I am good enough to be a Jedi. I am not weak and they were wrong not to make me a knight!
There is a rush of anger and bitterness inside me, I clench my fists and I step into the deeper blackness. I feel relief wash over me. My troubles are gone and soon she will teach me to be greater than the Jedi and we can rule the galaxy with your strength and power.
Now, I can see my way. It is all blackness but I can now see the stone steps leading down beneath my feet. I follow the stairs down and down, it seems an eternity that I have been walking these stairs in the dark of night. Suddenly, I see a wavering light flickering across the stairs and I enter a vast underground chamber. There is a huge suspended blue ball of the light above my head and its light flickers and dances. I am enchanted by it, but then I feel a gentle spirit near me and a beautiful fragrance fills the chamber.
I look down into the eyes of my mistress and she smiles joyfully to see me. Her black locks are even more stunning in the enchanted blue light and her skin paler and her red dress looks like the soft petals of a rose. I sweep her into my arms and kiss her tenderly.
“It took me a while to get here,” I whisper into her hair as I hold her small body close to me. “I am here now and I will never leave you again.” I promise.
She caresses my cheek, “I never gave up on you.” She steps back and takes both my hands. “We have lots of work to do, but first of all you are in need of a new name.”
“Gladly,” I agree fervently.
“Who you were before is no longer of any consequence for from now on you shall be called Darth Dalkar.” She told me solemnly. “With the dark side as your ally and with me at your side, you will become the greatest Sith that the universe has ever seen. We will restore the galaxy to its rightful order with the Jedi at our feet and we, the great Sith masters, will be the rulers over all.”
“Yes,” my heart pounds with excitement, “that is how it was meant to be. We will cut down all those that stand in our way! Let us begin!”
“Remember, Dalkar,” she looks at me fiercely, “remember the Sith Creed.”
“We are the Sith, true masters of the Force and rulers of the universe. We are one with the dark side, one with the Force, and will never stop until the true order has been restored. Our passion gives us strength and makes us strong; our passion is the key to victory and freedom. Power is desirable, strength is necessary, and death is required All power to the Sith.” We chant, the words reverberate around the room, and an exiting chill runs down my spine.
I do not feel weak after the words fade away, in fact, I feel stronger. The Force is alive in me and runs through my veins like electricity. I cannot hold it in any longer. The ground trembles and lightening shoots from my finger tips and bends towards the blue ball above us, and it grows brighter and bigger until it swallows the whole room. I fear that I am going to give out, but it feels so good that I don’t care. As I go on and stones start falling off the walls, I do not feel weakened but more and more energized the longer that I allow the Force to run through me. I never felt such strength and endurance before and it feels wonderful. I laugh gleefully and once again pull the power back inside me and the ground stops shaking and the ball of light returns to its original size as it discharges sparks into the air.
She smiles, “Now for you first task, it may seem simple but it is important.” Suddenly, a pale, confused, bound and gagged Teppa appears a few paces away. “To show your devotion to me and to your new identity, you must kill all connections to the past.”
She squeezes my hand and I know what I have to do. I draw my lightsaber; the ruby red glow illuminates Teppa’s pale skin as I approach. I don’t love her, what can she offer me? I sweep the blade down over her head and cut her in body in two. The smell of seared flesh wafts into my nostrils and I feel a hand on my shoulder.
I turn to my mistress and she kisses me, “Now, your journey to the dark side is complete.” She takes my hand and leads me into a smaller chamber, bathed in a soft orange light, to lie with her.
