elbow as she spoke.
'I didn't betray anyone,' Zannah protested, stalling for time as she tried to gauge Hetton's power.
During the war between the Brotherhood of Darkness and the Army of Light, both sides had actively sought to recruit those with power into their ranks. But it would have been a simple enough matter for a family as obviously rich and powerful as Hetton's to shield one of their own from both the Jedi and the Sith.
'You knew every detail of our plan,' Cyndra insisted. 'Who else could it have been?'
'You and Paak seem to have survived somehow,' Zannah remarked, letting the unspoken accusation hang in the air as she continued her subtle probing of Hetton.
His power didn't have the raw, untamed feel of one who had never been trained. Was it possible he'd once had a tutor or mentor? Had someone knowledgeable in the Force taught him the ways of the dark side, then abandoned him to follow Kaan? Or was there some other explanation?
'I am not a traitor!' the Chiss shouted angrily.
'Calm down, Cyndra,' Hetton said, sardonically amused at her outrage. 'Chancellor Valorum had a Jedi Knight with him. Your mission was doomed to failure from the start.
'And even if you had succeeded,' he added, his voice dropping to a low and dangerous whisper, 'you still would have brought the wrath of the Great Houses crashing down on us.
'What were you thinking?' he demanded with a sudden shout that made both Paak and Cyndra jump. Zannah could feel the air crackle as the small man called upon the Force, gathering the energies of the dark side. His power was undeniable, yet as she felt it building she was confident his abilities would be no match for hers. 'Hetton, wait!' Paak shouted, sensing the peril they were in. 'We've got something for you.'
He held up Zannah's lightsaber, waving it above his head so Hetton would be sure to see it. The effect was immediate and instantaneous; the building power of the dark side vanished as Hetton froze, his eyes riveted on the hilt. After a moment he seemed to regain his composure and sat back down, signaling for one of his guards to bring the treasure to him.
When it was placed in his hand he studied it carefully for a full minute before setting it reverently in his lap.
'Where did you find this?' he asked softly, though there was a dangerous undercurrent in his voice.
'On her' Paak said. 'She wouldn't tell us how she got it'
'Is that a fact?' Hetton muttered, suddenly staring at Zannah with renewed interest, running the fingers of one hand idly over the lightsaber's handle. 'I would be most interested to learn how she acquired this particular specimen.'
'Give me five minutes alone with her' Cyndra said. 'I'll get her to talk.'
Zannah decided that the game had gone on long enough. It would have been a simple matter to snatch the lightsaber back to her shackled hands using the Force, but she had other weapons at her disposal…
'The Force manifests itself in many different ways,' Darth Bane told her. 'Every individual has strengths and weaknesses-talents they excel at and others that are more difficult.'
The twelve-year-old Zannah nodded. Several months before, Bane had unlocked a new data bank of information in Freedon Nadd's
Holocron. Though he wouldn't tell her what he had uncovered, he had added a new element to her training shortly after his discovery. Every two or three days he would put her through a series of rigorous tests and challenges designed to evaluate her command of different aspects of the Force.
Until today he had refused to discuss the results of his experiments with her, and Zannah was beginning to fear she had somehow failed him.
'Some possess raw elemental power; they can unleash storms of lightning from their fingertips, or move mountains with their mere thoughts. Others are more gifted in the subtle intricacies of the Force, blessed with the ability to affect the minds of friend and foe alike through the arts of persuasion or battle meditation.'
He paused and fixed her with a long stare, as if considering whether to say more.
'A rare few have a natural affinity for the dark side itself. They can delve into the depths of the Force and summon arcane energies to twist and warp the world around them. They can invoke the ancient rituals of the Sith; they can conjure power and unleash terrible spells and dark magics.'
'Is that my gift?' Zannah asked, barely able to contain her excitement. 'Am I a Sith sorcerer?'
'You have the potential,' Bane told her. From inside his robes he produced a thin leather-bound manuscript. 'Hidden deep inside the Holocron, I discovered a list of powerful spells. I transcribed them into this tome. They will help you focus and channel your power for maximum effect… but only if you study them carefully.'
'I will, Master' Zannah promised, her eyes gleaming as she reached out to take the book from his hands.
'My ability to guide and teach you in the ways of sorcery are limited,' Bane warned her. 'My talents lie in another direction. To unleash your full potential you will have to do much of the study and research on your own. It will be… perilous.'
The thought of exploring the dark and dangerous secrets of Sith sorcery alone filled her with dread, but the chance to achieve a power beyond the abilities of her Master to comprehend was a temptation she could not resist.
'I will not disappoint you, Master' she vowed, clutching the tome tightly against her chest.
'And if you ever try to use one of your spells against me' Bane added as a final caution, 'I will destroy you.'
Zannah shook her elbow free of Cyndra's grasp and raised her shackled hands before her face. Weaving her ringers in a complex pattern in the air, she reached out with the Force and plunged deep inside the Chiss woman's mind to find her secret, most primal fears. Buried in her subconscious were nameless horrors: abominations and creatures of nightmare never meant to see the light of day. Drawing on the power of Sith sorcery, Zannah plucked them out and brought them to life one by one.
The entire process took less than a second. In that time Cyndra had drawn her weapon, but instead of pointing it at Zannah she suddenly screamed and aimed it high in the air above her, firing wildly at demons conjured from her own mind that only she could see.
The illusions grew more real and more terrifying the longer the spell continued, but Zannah had no intention of ending it yet. The Chiss shrieked and threw her weapon to the ground. She flung her head wildly from side to side, covering it with her arms and screaming 'No!' over and over before collapsing on the floor. Weeping and sobbing, she curled up into a tight little ball, still muttering 'No, no, no…'
Everyone else in the room was staring at her in horror and bewilderment. Some of the guards took a step back, afraid they might somehow become infected by her madness.
Zannah could have ended it then, dispelling the illusion and allowing Cyndra to fall into unconsciousness. She would wake hours later with only the most basic recollection of what had happened, her mind instinctively recoiling from the memories of what it had witnessed. Or Zannah could push the illusion even farther, driving her victim to the edge of insanity and beyond. An image of the Chiss romantically entangled with Kel sprang unbidden to her mind-and Zannah pushed.
Cyndra's cries of terror became animal howls as her sanity was ripped apart by the ghastly visions. Her hands scratched and clawed at her own eyes, tearing them out. Blood poured down her cheeks, but even blindness couldn't save her from the nightmares crawling through what was left of her mind.
Her howls stopped as her body went into seizure; her mouth foamed as her limbs convulsed wildly on the floor. Then, with a final bloodcurdling shriek, she fell suddenly limp and lay still. Her conscious mind completely and irrevocably obliterated, her catatonic body was now nothing more than an empty shell.
The body shivered once, and Zannah knew that somewhere in the deepest core of Cyndra's subconscious a small part of her still existed, silently screaming, trapped forever with the horrors inside her own mind.
Though everyone had borne witness to the Chiss's gruesome and terrifying end, Zannah was the only one who knew what had really happened. Yet even she was never quite certain just what her victims saw. Based on their reactions she figured it was probably better not to know. She coolly regarded Cyndra's body on the floor, still trembling occasionally, then glanced up to see Hetton staring at her intently.
She turned away when she heard Paak shouting at her from across the room.
'You did this!' He pointed an accusing finger at her. 'Stop her or she'll kill us all!' he cried.
Several of the guards took a step toward her, only to pull up at a slight shake of the head from Hetton.
'She's not dead' Zannah announced. 'Though whatever's left of her mind surely begs for death.'
