Now someone from the life he had worked so hard to forget was standing between him and his revenge. She was an obstacle in his way, one to be easily overcome. He knew he could cast her aside as easily as he had disposed of the guards outside his cell.
Instead, he asked, 'Why did you help me?'
'We served together in the Gloom Walkers,' she answered, as if that explained everything.
'I know who you are,' he told her.
She hesitated, as if she expected him to say more. When he didn't, she continued to speak.
'You saved my life on Phaseera. You saved all our lives. And not just then. You were there in every battle we fought, watching over us. Protecting us.'
'I was a fool back then.'
'No! You were a hero. I owe you my life a dozen times over. How could I not help you?'
At first he thought she was a sentimental idiot, blinded by irrational nobility and spouting foolish drivel. But then he realized what was really going on, and it all began to make sense. She had released him hoping to win his favor. She was after something. That was why she had betrayed Caleb's daughter-for her own personal gain.
'What do you want?' he demanded, the alarms a constant reminder that time was running short.
'I want:please:I'm begging you:let Serra live.'
Her request made no sense. Lucia's actions were the only reason Serra's life was in danger.
'Why? What use is her life to me?'
The woman didn't answer right away. She was searching for something to offer, but in the end she had nothing.
'Look into your heart, Des. Think back on the man you used to be. I know you turned to the dark side to survive. Becoming a Sith was the only way you could survive. Please, Des; I know part of what you used to be still lives inside you.'
'My name is not Des,' he said, his voice rising as he stood up to his full height so that he towered over Lucia. 'I am Darth Bane, Dark Lord of the Sith. I feel neither pity nor gratitude nor remorse. And Caleb's daughter must pay for what she did to me.'
'I won't let you do this,' she declared, spreading her stance wide and bracing herself before him.
'You can't stop me,' he warned her. 'You can't save her by sacrificing yourself. Are you willing to throw your life away for no purpose?'
Lucia didn't budge. 'I already said I owe you my life. If you want to take it now, that is your right.'
Bane's mind flashed back to his first encounter with Caleb on Ambria. The healer had stood before him as Lucia did now, utterly defiant despite the knowledge he was no match for a Sith Lord. Yet Caleb had known he had something Bane needed; Lucia could make no such claim. There was nothing to stop him from extinguishing her life in a single instant.
He began to gather the dark side, the power slowly building. But before he could unleash it he was hit by a wall of thunderous force rolling out from a corridor to his left. Instinctively he threw up a defensive shield, absorbing the blow. Despite this, he was slammed against the opposite wall, knocking the breath from his lungs.
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 do so, she tilted her head back and laughed.
'You even let yourself get trapped in these halls without your lightsaber.'
She took another step forward and Bane responded by taking several steps back.
The double-bladed lightsaber began to pick up speed, slicing the air in quick, circular patterns.
She had one final thing to say before she launched herself at him.
'Your time is over, Bane.'
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Serra stood as if she was paralyzed, her finger hovering just above the button that would confirm the Stone Prison's self-destruct sequence and initiate the destruction of the facility and everyone in it. She had been standing in this exact position for several minutes, unable to push the button.
Do it! Who cares about Lucia? She betrayed you! Do it!
