Star Wars_ Darth Bane 03_ Dynasty of Evil - Drew Karpyshyn [100]
Lucia was not so fortunate. Unable to call upon the Force to protect herself, she was sent careering down the corridor, flipping and twisting. Her skull smashed against the stone half a dozen times as her body ricocheted off the walls and ceiling, reducing it to a bloody, misshapen mess. Her corpse finally tumbled to a stop thirty meters away where the hall made an abrupt ninety-degree turn.
Bane was back on his feet in an instant, turning to face his foe.
“You couldn’t bring yourself to kill her,” Zannah said, her voice filled with contempt. “You’ve become weak. No wonder you tried to violate the Rule of Two.”
She was standing with her double-bladed lightsaber drawn, the hilt grasped firmly in her hand. Her arm was extended, holding the weapon out in front of her, the twin blades horizontal to the floor. It was a defensive posture, one meant to guard against a sudden attack from an armed opponent. He realized Zannah didn’t know that he hadn’t found his lightsaber yet.
“I have lived by the principles of the Rule of Two ever since I created it,” Bane replied. “Everything I have done has been in accordance with its teachings.”
Zannah shook her head.
“I know you went to Prakith. I know you went after Andeddu’s Holocron. I know you were searching for the secret of eternal life.”
“I did that out of necessity. I taught you everything I knew about the dark side. I waited years for you to challenge me. But you were content to toil in my shadow, to remain an apprentice until the ravages of age robbed me of my power.”
All thoughts of Lucia were gone, swept away along with the memories of his past life. The only thing he cared about was this confrontation, for he knew the fate of the Sith hinged on the outcome.
“You are unworthy of becoming the Master, Zannah. That was why I went to Prakith.”
“No,” Zannah said, her voice calm and cold. “You won’t turn this back on me. You said you were training me so that I would one day succeed you. You said it was my destiny to become the Master.
“Now you want to live forever. You want to cling to the mantle of Dark Lord of the Sith and deny me what is mine!”
“That mantle must be earned,” Bane countered. “You wanted to wait, to take it by default.”
“You taught me patience,” she reminded him. “You taught me to bide my time.”
“Not in this!” Bane shouted. “Only the strongest has the right to rule the Sith! The title of Dark Lord must be seized, wrenched from the all-powerful grasp of the Master!”
“That is why I am here,” Zannah said with a grim smile. “I have found an apprentice of my own. I am ready to embrace my destiny.”
“Do you really believe you can defeat me?”
Bane let his right hand drop to his hip, feinting as if he was preparing to draw his lightsaber. His only chance to survive was to somehow trick her into backing down.
Zannah’s eyes flickered, drawn by the subtle motion. He kept his hand open, his massive palm completely covering the place where she would normally be able to see the hilt of his lightsaber clipped to his belt. With his mind he tried to project an image of his hook-handled weapon resting just beneath his empty fingers.
His apprentice didn’t move. She stayed in her defensive stance, her brow furrowing as she weighed her chances. Then her gaze fell on Bane’s left hand, quivering ever so slightly with one of the uncontrollable tremors.
“You allowed yourself to be captured by mercenaries,” she said, slowly twirling her weapon and taking a confident step forward.
Bane held his ground, clenching the fingers of his left hand so that they dug into the palm, stilling the tremor.
“You couldn’t bring yourself to kill the woman who stood in your way.”
She took another step toward him, casually tossing her lightsaber from one hand to the other. Had Bane been armed, it would have been the perfect opening to launch a sudden attack.
When he failed to