Night was falling on Iziz. And with the imminent departure of Prael from the skies, a man in a dark cloak had arrived. The towers of Iziz’s great castle loomed before him, stretching into the blood-orange sky like the fingers of a long-forgotten god.
His footsteps were muffled by the city's bustling, even with its people withdrawing home for the evening. Some were not fond of the people of Onderon. They were a stoic and reserved people, their faces set in somber masks, as if guarding some terrible secret. Many mistakenly considered those reservations hatred or ignorance, but he knew otherwise. The people of Onderon were both fortunate and unfortunate enough to be born on a world steeped in mystery and enigma, where ancient ruins and forgotten secrets lay buried beneath the sands of time.
With his arrival, the very air on Onderon grew thick with dread and foreboding, as if he had brought about some terrible curse upon appearing just within the city walls. None had seen him arrive aboard a ship, and he certainly had not spoken to any city officials or presented his identification. He was as much of a mystery to these people as this world was to the rest of the galaxy. And he wanted to keep it that way.
The guard on duty was an older fellow with more gray in his beard than anything else these days. His eyes were shrunken in by the weight of the wrinkles surrounding them; a lifetime of squinting under Onderon’s sun, no doubt. His hand instinctively fell to his sidearm when he saw the man in the cloak, for though he’d seen many strange things in his time, something about this stranger set his teeth on edge. The wanderer carried dark and unspeakable secrets, and this guard wanted no part of it.
“Halt. No one passes w’out stating their business,” said the guard. He’d intended for those words to be much more fearsome than they were.
The man in the cloak finally raised his gaze to meet another’s, and the guard’s heart sank into his gut. Those weren’t eyes. They were stars, balls of light hovering in black wells. He wanted to run, he wanted to faint, he wanted to do anything other than be here right now, tasked with keeping rabble out of the palace.
But with a wave of the stranger’s hand, all those fears were washed away. The old guard allowed a smile to creep onto his face, stretching those already-deep wrinkles further. Whispers filled his mind rather than his own thoughts, and they made so much more sense than he ever had.
“Right this way, my lord.”
As the guard made his way down the corridor, he and the guest found the palace shockingly quiet. The moons had barely begun their ascent into the night sky, and already it seemed like the palace was asleep. Candles lit their path, giving a dim glow to the dark grey castle surrounding them.
That silence would only last a moment, though. As they turned a corner, the guard ran abruptly into the body of a small boy. He stumbled backward, looking up at the guard and stranger. The guard seemed to panic, reaching to pull the small boy up quickly before bowing.
“My apologies, your highness. I had thought you were in the hall wit' the Queen,” he sputtered out quickly, though the boy hadn’t noticed. His eyes were fixated on the man he had not recognized, only ceasing his stare briefly to blink. His outfit was a deep blue, with gold flowers and vines sewn into the vest. And his blue eyes made him distinguishable, if his title already hadn’t.
“She sent me to retrieve her guest for her,” he explained, finally looking at the guard. The man seemed to take that as his leave, bowing once more before walking away quickly.
“My Lord, I am Oron Kira, Prince of Iziz. My mothe-” he stopped himself, coughing to attempt to cover up his brief slip of decorum. “The Queen wished for me to invite you to dinner. We’re almost done, but she could still have the maids make a plate for you. She… I understand your journey was a long one.” The boy ceased his talking and extended his hand out to where he had come from to show the stranger the way.
Finally, for the first time since arriving on this world, Kain spoke. “Long distance, but not a long time.”
He gave a smirk to the boy, then allowed the child to lead the way. The prince of Onderon was well-mannered, though it was clear he took his responsibilities a bit too seriously. Perhaps that was better than the opposite.
“You’re the one that saved the galaxy?” Oron asked, slowing down a bit to walk beside Kain. He looked at him with curiosity in his eyes, rather than the fear that the guard had before.
“My mother used to tell my sister and I the story of what happened when we were little. She said the mark on her forehead was from you, and that what happened on Korri… Korriban, that was the beginning of the war. That if they hadn’t survived, the galaxy wouldn’t have either.”
“Perhaps that is true,” said Kain. “Those sorts of things don’t get processed all too well in the moment. All I knew was that the galaxy was worth saving, and that was the first thing that came to mind.”
“Hm,” the young boy replied, if one would even count it as one. He continued along the hallway until they reached tall wooden doors at the end of it, both shut with a guard standing in front of them.
“Prince Oron,” the woman said, stepping aside and pushing the door open for them both. The prince stepped inside, and walked to his seat beside his mother. The Queen of Onderon stood from her seat, turning to face the Beloved King of the Stars.
“Lord Kain,” she said, and the remaining two members of her family stood from their seats as well. Avery bowed his head, smiling graciously at Kain. Oron formally bowed while his sister, Sommer, simply stared. The only one Kain had not yet met, but she was the spitting image of her Mother. And beyond looks, she seemed to share her timidity as well.
“Welcome to my home. You know my husband, and you’ve met my son. This is my daughter, Sommer.” She paused, her hand reaching down to touch the shoulder of the young girl. Though, she still continued to stare at him.
“Please, sit. One of our servants will bring you food, if you wish to eat. Or a drink.”
Kain found all of this unnecessary, but also saw no need to spoil the Queen’s customs. He gave a curt bow to Kolasi, her husband, and her children - even the one with a staring problem. His seat was plush and comfortable as he sat; a familiar feeling these days. To think that Kain had once been fine with sleeping in a bunk aboard a starfreighter all his childhood. Nowadays, he dealt in nothing but the finest everything, from beds to chairs to even the floors. And the Queen of Onderon did not deal in anything else.
“I wouldn’t mind a Tatooine Sunset,” he said with a polite smile. “I thank you all for the hospitality. Such a thing isn’t something I can find everywhere in the galaxy.”
Kolasi nodded her head towards a maid standing nearest to the table, who turned and walked to what seemed to be a kitchen connecting to the dining room.
“There’s no thanks necessary, my Lord. Onderon has a very… interesting reputation. I’ve tried my best to change that, and show how my home truly is, but people still like to call us… well, I’m sure you already know. Nevertheless, my children are almost finished with their dinner. Once they’re done, they’ll be off to bed and we may begin our work,” she said as she sat, her hand falling to her stomach. Even in the short time since Denova and Hastur, the child inside her seemed to grow significantly. Her fingers moved subtly, rubbing the side of the bump as the child kicked her.
“I hope you didn’t face too much trouble getting here, Lord Kain. Many of the Iziz people can be quite… prejudiced toward outsiders. Even other Onderonians,” Avery said, chuckling as he did so. Kolasi smiled at his comment as well, but said nothing. The maid she had sent away only a few moments before returned, placing the drink in front of their guest and bowing before walking back to where she had been standing before.
Kain took a sip of the drink, finding it as sweet as his expectations had hoped, and leaned back in his chair. “Prejudice can be quite the challenge to overcome for those not attuned to the ways a mortal mind works. It has not been an issue for me, though I appreciate the concern.” It was a roundabout way of saying it for the children's sake, but the Queen and King-Consort of Onderon would know precisely what he’d said; he would rather alter the minds of bigots than endure their idiocy.
He grinned. “Children, tell me: how do you think people who treat others poorly should be treated?”
“You should try to change people’s negative views of others, my Lord. But you also do not want to treat them as poorly as they’re treating others when trying to do so, or you’d be just as bad as them,” Oron answered, his voice seemingly diplomatic and proper. Kolasi seemed to sit up at this, moving her hands together as she leaned her mouth against them, concealing what was almost a laugh.
But after a moment, when the silence crept in, she looked to her daughter, reaching her scarred hand down to touch the top of her smaller one. “Sommer?” she said softly, rubbing her thumb over her daughter’s knuckles. The girl looked up, as if she hadn’t realized they were talking to her at all.
“I don’t know if it matters how you treat them. Someone’s mind can always be changed, whether they want it to be or not,” she said softly.
Kain nodded. He agreed with the girl far more than the boy, though he would not besmirch Oron for his ideals. He would learn, sooner rather than later, that the high road is a short one. And, most of the time, it ends at the edge of a cliff.
“Well,” Kolasi started, placing her hands on the table as she stood from her seat once more, “I suppose it’s time for you both to go to bed.”
Oron seemed to dislike this, his shoulders sagging as he looked back and forth between his mother and father. He opened his mouth to protest, but Avery stopped him.
“Your mother is right. Come on, I’ll walk with you both there,” he said, reaching over and grabbing the young boy by his waist. He hoisted him over his shoulder, and the boy began giggling profusely. They walked away from their side of the table, and Sommer reached up to grab her father’s free hand once he was close enough. Kolasi moved to kiss both of their heads, as well as Avery’s cheek, before they left the room.
“She’s far too much like me, and Oron is too much like my brother. If I didn’t know any better, I would think he was my nephew, not my son,” Kolasi said, laughing lightly as she did, “I think this one will be like his father, though. Stubborn and strong. The Beast Lords will be thrilled.”
She stepped away from the table, walking towards Lord Kain.
“We have much to do, my Lord. Saving the galaxy, and all of that.”
All the talk of sons and fathers seemed to wipe away the smile that Kain had worn since he entered the dining hall. He’d grown much more severe, no doubt reminded of the gravity of the situation outside this palace. His eyes scanned the room, admiring all of the fineries. He hoped that the new war wouldn’t find its way here. It was a fool’s hope.
“Indeed. Did you have a room prepared? Somewhere comfortable.”
“I do,” she said, walking out of the room and through the palace, assuming he’d follow. Just down the hall from the dining area was a small archway with stairs going down, alit with sconces every few meters. Kolasi took careful steps down each one, one of her hands clutched to the handrail.
“The catacombs under the Palace and City were once nothing but ancient stone and dust. Before the Clone Wars, King Hext Kira was Force-sensitive. He became obsessed with Freedon Nadd, learning anything he could find about him. But the Sith weren’t as easily found outside of books then, so he was never trained in the Force. He thought by renovating the catacombs that first held his tomb, the ancient Sith might find a way to return as a ghost again.” She paused, reaching the bottom steps and waiting for Lord Kain, walking beside him once he also got to the bottom. The hallway matched the palace above, though the stone was more plain and far less decadent. They walked past many doors, each hiding what was beyond them.
“After the Clone Wars, it was sealed away. They were worried the Emperor would learn that the tomb was renewed, and would try to bring back the Sith Lord. When my Father rose to power, he changed all of it and turned it into a place to put all of his snakes. When I retook the throne, I wanted it to be a sacred place. One for anyone to come and find peace and solace. I think it turned out quite well.”
After a bit more walking, she stopped, flicking her wrist and opening the door to their left. She extended a hand to the Lord, and followed him inside.
The room was lit with candles, with the walls lined with various shelves and stone statues. In the center of all of it, an area with carpet.
“Looking at the old maps of these halls, this seemed to be the area where his tomb once was, before it was moved to Dxun. When I would Flow Walk, I did so to learn spells directly from my ancestors, watching them closely as they did them. I felt closest to them in this room; the dark side is embedded into the very walls of it, just as it is to this planet. I do hope it will suit our needs today.” It was spacious enough, even with the candles. Though there were no windows, she had guessed they wouldn’t need them.
And she was right.
He knelt in the center of the room, motioning the Queen of Onderon to follow suit. “Before my return from the Void, I was not as adept at using the Aing-Tii arts to their fullest potential. My power allowed for more passive uses, such as their famed Fighting Sight. Perhaps that was also because I was focused far more on the future than the past, because I had so much to look forward to.” He sat silent for a moment. It was a pause just a hair too long for comfort. “Flow walking is much more of an effort by the user, as you well know. Are you ready to plunge into the river?”
As Kolasi kneeled, the corner of her mouth turned into a smirk. Even if she hadn’t been ready, she needed to be. But she was. She had always been ready for this.
“Let the madness begin, Lord Kain.”
Synchronization took hold. The Beloved King of the Stars and the Queen of Onderon submerged themselves within the river of time, swimming against the current. Their goals gave them focus along the stream, pushing them further and further toward their intended destination, or rather, their intended target. Darth Nephthys, the agent of the True Sith that survived when she should not have. The silent harbinger of Ooradryl and his second wave of the Old Ones’ armies.
They swam too far in the beginning. That was clear when they saw the sky darkened with a sea of blackened pyramids and a horde of undead being unleashed upon the unsuspecting citizens of a world once known as Entrallia. Innocent people were slaughtered by the thousands. Families were literally torn apart, bit by bloody bit. There was naught to do but watch the terror that these people suffered before the violent end, until the subject of their timely travels finally decided to appear.
Nephthys would have been a beautiful woman were she not so vile. She was a Sith pureblood, if the crimson skin and face tendrils were not enough of an indicator. Her hair was raven black, short, and messy from battle. Her clothing seemed far more modern than the rest of her True Sith brethren, though from what Kain knew, she had been hiding in plain sight among the known galaxy for some time before the invasion. Perhaps as a spy, though that was only an educated guess.
She had just slain some foolish Jedi that had singled her out. The man’s flesh had been charred to black by the voltage of her lightning before he’d gotten within saber-swinging range.
“This was her last victory,” Kain said. “The last world she helped take before Hesper and Volshe’s plans came to fruition.”
Kolasi’s heart raced as she looked up at the pyramids in the sky. She felt as if she’d be sick seeing such a dreadful sight again, even if it was just a glimpse into the past.
“How tragic for her. It’s a shame her destruction was stopped so soon,” she bit out sarcastically, her eyes moving to glare at the woman. “I suppose we just follow her?”
Kain nodded. “In a sense.”
The world around them dissolved into a blur of motion and light, changing from a city's destruction to a starship's cold interior. Nephthys was here, but not alone. More shapes began to take form. A viewport displaying the rush of cerulean hyperspace, a soft bed, and a man wrapped in its sheets. The Sith Lady was fully clothed. The human stranger was not.
“What are you going to do now?” he asked her. His voice was like sandpaper, matching his rough features.
“The Father of Shadows has more of his children waiting to claim this galaxy as His,” she answered. “Typhojem was a loss I did not foresee, but it is a loss I will overcome.”
“We didn’t just lose the Left-Handed God.” The man stood up, dropping the sheets and revealing the hundreds of scars that dotted his body like tattoos. “We lost Venomis and his thralls. We lost the Shadow Council. How were the True Sith not prepared after all these years?”
“We were.”
“Then what the hell happ--”
The air escaping his throat suddenly ceased. He clawed at his own neck, trying to remove a hand that wasn’t there. Nephthys wasn’t even looking at him.
“Watch how you speak to me, Torg. You have your uses, but you are not irreplaceable.”
Another second passed before she released her hold, allowing him to fall to the floor. His lungs struggled to regain their strength, forcing him to nearly cough them out to catch his breath. She did not seem to care.
“We put much of the plan's weight on the shoulders of Dreadwar, but you can see how well that turned out. And Darth Nemesis made the foolish error of creating the Dagger of Mortis, which was his undoing in the end. The Old Ones that remain in Otherspace have no such weaknesses.”
Kain’s voice cut through the scene. “She’s not wrong. Ooradryl is a threat that can swallow worlds just as well as Typhojem did. And there’s no special artifact we can acquire that will destroy him on its own. If it comes to war, it won’t end well without Apollo’s gifts.” Strange. He said ‘gifts’ but said it as if it were a curse.
Kolasi seemed to stop and think before speaking next, pondering the scene before her, as well as Kain’s words.
“That’s a lot of weight to put on a small child’s shoulders. And what if they find out about him? What if they learn what he can do and where to find him?”
“They already know what he can do,” he answered. “That’s why they turned Hesper against me, to take Apollo out of the equation before they arrive.”
“And now the Jedi have him. Either they’ll kill him, or they’ll turn him into another slave to use at their discretion. Either way, they’ll make sure he won’t be able to protect any of us. Even if we could tell them, they wouldn’t believe us,” Kolasi sighed. “None of this tells us where she is, though. We aren’t close enough yet.”
The scene before them melted away as if by her command, a fresh oil painting splashed with water. The streaks of color fell away, revealing something new beneath. A sun, shining in the afternoon sky, peaking only a bit above the horizon. Rimebats had already taken flight, scuttering about in the air and chirping to find their way. Nephthys was here, her face cloaked from what little sunlight there was. Torg was beside her, encased in a suit of crimson armor and marked by warpaint. Others were here, women of various ancient species dressed in robes that Kolasi would recognize. Their multiple shades of skin were pale, and their faces sunken in as if they were corpses. Perhaps they were. After all, they were more servants of the True Sith.“My lady, it appearsss that the dessscendant of Dreadwar essscaped,” one of the servants hissed.
“As expected.” Nephthys did not appear pleased, though. “They will come for us now. But they will be too late.”
Nephthys removed her hood, and her eyes fell… upon Kain and Kolasi. Her gaze became steely and cold. Surely she was looking at something past their incorporeal forms, staring into the distant rainforest. But that wasn’t the feeling they were getting now. No, she was staring at them. She knew. But how?
Surely it wasn’t true.
No, such a feat was impossible.
Leaving whispers, that much was possible. Common, even. But whispers were not enough to know the future had come lurking near you, nor would it be enough to see what, or who, had come looking.
But here Kolasi was, staring at the eyes of a True Sith as they stared back into her own.
“Something isn’t right. We need to get out of this. Right now,” Kolasi said to Kain, the urgency apparent in her voice. If they were trapped inside this spell, they could possibly not get out at all. Or was this something else? Had they been pulled from their spell completely? Was this curse completely separate?
Her mind screamed for her husband, but to no avail. She wouldn’t hear him in this spell, nor would she be able to reach him at all. No, he could not help her. If Nephthys could see them, if she knew they were there… it would just be Lord Kain and herself to stand against her.
“But we don’t know where this is,” Kain said. He seemed entirely too calm about the situation. “We need more.”
“We may not have more time if she knows we are here,” Kolasi took a step back from where she had been standing, and broke her stare towards Nephthys to look at him. “When you mess with the past, it tends to mess back. Even if she just suspects it, the True Sith have knowledge of the Force we’ll never be able to learn ourselves.”
“Is that what Dreadwar told you lot?” Kain chuckled. “It’s a poor attempt to gatekeep the most vital abilities for himself and those he worked alongside.” He outstretched a hand toward Nephthys, whose cold stare now bore a frown. “I’ve learned just as much as the True Sith… and more.”
Suddenly, a cry broke from Darth Nephthys. She clutched the sides of her skull, collapsing to her knees. Torg knelt beside her with lightning speed, grabbing her and demanding to know what was wrong. Images flashed in both his mind and Kolasi’s, snapshots of a world of green and blue. It was in the Duros Space Run. It was a world both of them knew, renowned for its battles during the New Sith Wars millennia ago. Kain’s hand lowered.
“Verdanth.” He grinned. “She is on Verdanth.”
The rivers of time wanted to lash back at the crime that Kain had just committed, but he and Kolasi were already free of the stream. They both awoke in the room of candles, shelves, and statues, kneeling on the carpeted floor.
Kolasi sucked in a breath as they broke free from the wretched spell, and she almost fell backward as the world came back to her. The candles’ blazes around them whisked as if a strong breeze had run through the room, extinguishing almost half of the flames.
A sharp pain came from what seemed to be her hip, but she ignored it, her anger too great to care about any momentary discomfort.
“You could have killed us!” she shrieked as she smacked at his shoulder, though with no intention of actually hurting him. Not that she could’ve if she had been trying to, though. The Beloved King of the Stars had been too smug, too arrogant to use such a risky curse. A thousand thoughts ran through the Dark Lady’s mind. Thoughts of damnation, of the woman that seemed to know they were there. If she hadn’t been able to see them then, surely she knew of their presence after what he had done to her.
She almost spat out all those words that ran through her mind, but all she could say was, “We’ve tampered with the very being of time. You’d better hope such a risk was worth it.”
“All the lives in the galaxy are worth any sacrifice,” was all he said. He stood, ignoring her outburst as anything more than a reaction to the situation. “I will inform Nathemus, Catalyst, and Volacius of her location. I thank you for your help, Lady Kolasi.”
Kolasi stood, her jaw clenched as she looked upon Lord Kain. But, instead of allowing her anger to continue, she let out a sigh, rubbing her stomach for a moment before speaking.
“I’ll walk you out, my Lord,” she stated, walking past him and back the way they came. When they reached the main floor, the moon still glowed in the night sky. Good, it hadn’t taken them too long.
“Whatever comes next, I do not believe any of us are prepared for it. I just hope we survive.” She started to speak again once they neared the entrance he had entered the palace through, the guards opening the doors for them both.
“I’ll await your message when you need me next, Lord Kain. I have much to prepare before then, and I suspect I’ll have very little time to do it. I hope you enjoyed your time on my planet. You’re always welcome to visit after the coming chaos.”
Diplomatic. Kind. Almost too much so, but not enough to make it clear as if it was genuine or a lie. But her smile pointed towards genuine. Perhaps that would be enough.
“I hope I will be able to take you up on that,” Kain said. “Enjoy the moment’s peace with those you love, Kolasi. Don’t take it for granted.”
“I hope you can find a bit of peace for the time being, my Lord.” Kolasi looked back from where they had come from, seeing her husband walk down the hall towards them. She smiled a bit more then, looking back to Kain and nodding before walking away.
“How did it go?” Avery asked as they reached one another, the doors shutting behind Kain as he left. He embraced her, and she seemed to relax then.
“I’ll tell you about it tomorrow,” she replied, stepping back and taking his arm as they began walking towards their room. But just as they reached their door, another sharp pain shot through her like a lightning rod. This time, the pain originated from her stomach. She grasped the wall with one hand, and held onto her husband with the other.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, his voice instantly filled with concern. Kolasi grunted, looking down at the ground as she attempted to catch her breath.
“I don’t…” she started, her voice shaking as she stepped back to look where she had been standing. Small droplets of blood laid on the ground, and she finally looked up at her husband.
“The baby’s coming.”