Star Wars_ Darth Bane 01_ Path of Destruction - Drew Karpyshyn [99]
Githany had betrayed him. The conversation in his room had been a test—one that he’d failed. He knew her well enough to expect something like this. He should have been wary of a trap. Instead he’d been a blind and obedient fool.
He knew he’d brought this on himself. Now he had to discern a way out.
“Is this what you want, Githany?” he asked, trying to stall for time.
“She wants what all Sith want,” Sirak answered for her. “Power. Victory. She knows to side with the strong.”
“I’m stronger than he is,” Bane told Githany. “I proved that in the dueling ring.”
“There’s more to strength than physical prowess,” Sirak replied, igniting his lightsaber. It was the double-bladed variety. Bane’s eyes were focused squarely on the bright red blades, but he heard the hiss as the other two Zabrak followed suit. Githany, however, still hadn’t fired up her whip.
“Strength means more than just the ability to use the Force,” Sirak continued, starting to advance. “It means intelligence. Cunning. Ruthlessness.”
“You know how easily I defeated you in the ring,” Bane said, finally speaking directly to Sirak, though his words were still meant for Githany. “Are you so certain you can defeat me now?”
“Four against one, Bane. And you left your lightsaber back in your chambers. I like those odds.”
Bane laughed and turned his back on Sirak. The Zabrak was close enough to lunge in and kill him with one blow, but Bane was gambling he would hold back, wary of being lured into a trap. It was a dangerous gamble, but he wanted to be looking directly into Githany’s eyes when he spoke what might be his last words.
“This fool actually believes you brought me here for his sake,” he said to her. Behind him he could sense Sirak’s confusion and uncertainty. No attack came yet.
Githany met his stare with a cold, unflinching gaze and didn’t answer. But her teeth worried her lower lip.
“We both know why you brought me here, Githany,” he said, speaking quickly. Sirak wouldn’t wait for long. “You don’t want to side with Sirak. You’ve been plotting ways to get me to kill him ever since you first arrived.”
“Enough!” Sirak shouted. Bane threw himself forward, rolling out of the way at the last second as the double-bladed lightsaber sliced a deep furrow into the spot where he had been standing. As he rolled to his feet, he saw Githany move; when she tossed his lightsaber to him, he was already extending his hand and using the Force to guide the hilt into his grasp.
The weapon flared to life and he turned just in time to block Sirak’s charge. Yevra and Llokay were a few meters behind, rushing forward to join the fray.
Bane counterattacked, slashing down at Sirak’s legs. The Zabrak parried the blow, and their blades collided with a burning hum. On the edge of his awareness Bane heard the sound of Githany’s whip igniting.
A quick flurry caused Sirak to retreat. Bane feinted as if he was going to press forward, then took a step back, opening a full meter of space between them. It gave him just enough time to cast out his arm in the direction of the unsuspecting Yevra. Catching her up with the Force, he hurled her against one of the nearby shelves hard enough to splinter the wood.
She crumpled to the floor, dazed. Before she had a chance to rise, Githany lashed out with her whip and ended the Zabrak female’s life.
Bane barely had time to register her death before Llokay was on him. The red-skinned Zabrak was overmatched, but his grief and rage empowered him, and he drove his much larger opponent back with a brutal series of desperate slashes and strikes.
Staggering back, Bane was almost too distracted to see Sirak unleashing a bolt of crackling blue lightning at him. At the last second he twisted and caught the potentially lethal blast with the blade of his lightsaber, absorbing its energy. The move had been one of instinct and last resort, and it had left him vulnerable to a single quick thrust from Llokay. But Githany’s whip was snapping