Fragments of the Dark

Chapter Fifteen

Celene was dreaming.

She had to be, despite how real the pain felt and how cool the air was. Her eyes fluttered open, registering that she was moving but not with her own feet.

This had to be a dream because it was the Mandalorian who held her, close to his chest, the Beskar biting into her skin.

She opened her mouth to tell him to put her down, to ask what happened and where they were but he must have sensed her gaze because he stopped, looking down at her.

"Can you walk?"

Her tongue refused to form words so she just nodded. He gently set her down, her bare feet pressing against the metal. This shift they had dressed her in was for medical purposes, sitting dangerously high on her thighs and doing nothing to keep out the cold. Her legs nearly buckled as she took a step but she forced herself to remain upright.

"We need to keep moving." His head was on a swivel.

She finally got her tongue to work. "The child-" she managed to croak, her voice nothing more than a hoarse whisper. Gone.

From the screaming.

"I have him." He stepped to the side to reveal the small pod and the blanketed bundle inside.

She had so many questions. Why was he here?

"We need to move. Here-" he held out a blaster and she took it, the cool metal of the grip centering her. She'd never seen him let anyone enough touch his weapons... but she filed that thought away for later. If this was even real and not another hallucination.

He started forward, Celene at his back. Her bare feet made no sound on the icy floor as they rounded the dark corner and the hall opened up into a room stacked high with boxes and crates. On the opposite wall was a single door. Her heart hammered against her ribs, an uneven rhythm. With each step she was aware of the burning of the deep cuts over her body. Blood ran down her skin in rivulets.

Light shattered the dark as the door opened and two troopers stepped through. The Mandalorian ducked but it was too late- they'd been seen. Blaster fire exploded, toppling the crates and searing the place where they'd been.

The Mandalorian reached back, snatching the Child from the small pod and holding him in the crook of his arm. Celene ducked down and pressed her back against the crates as the Mandalorian shoved the pod forward, sending it careening toward the troopers. It hit the boxes with a thud, drawing their attention. They opened fire and amid the haze and smoke, Celene and the Mandalorian made a break for it, reaching the door just as a third trooper stepped through.

The Mandalorian slammed his foot into the trooper's stomach, sending him flying into the wall. The other two turned to face them. "Stop! Hold it right there!" Celene spun, and fired off a quick shot, hitting one of the trooper's legs.

But there was no where to go, surrounded on all sides by the troopers. Celene's gaze was splotchy with black marks. She tried to keep her balance, back taut against the Mandalorian's.

"We've got them pinned in the storage room." Said one of the troopers into his comm. "Send reinforcements."

Celene's blood froze, her stomach roiling at his words. No. She couldn't go back- she wouldn't. "Close your eyes," she whispered.

The slight turn of his head was the only acknowledgment he gave that he heard. She just hoped he would listen. Celene closed her eyes, and let herself sink inwardly, deep into the spot inside she never touched. Never dared let awake. Never even dared to acknowledge.

But now she coaxed it into the light, bringing the shadows and darkness with it. Her breath rattled in her lungs, her blood pounding. Control, she had to have control or she would kill them all.

Energy crackled in the room and Celene closed her eyes. Faintly she heard the dull thud of footsteps as more storm troopers arrived, further surrounding her and her companions. Still, she kept her breath steady and her mind focused.

The air around her suddenly went taut, like bowstring pulled back. Then silence fell and she knew she had succeeded in the first piece. Her eyes flew open as she perceived the world through a film of chaotic energy. A bubble surrounded her and the Mandalorian at her back and outside the bubble was chaos. Troopers and storage containers and guns flew through the air on an unseen wind, slamming into walls and one another. Screaming ensued.

Celene felt the power thrumming through her veins, the long-dormant beast awakened at last. The monster unchained. The creature set free.

A Force Maelstrom.

A complex ability so difficult only two before her had ever been capable of doing so. She gritted her teeth as the energy outside the bubble grew stronger and more fierce. Pushed to the brink, Celene ripped the final tether free from inside herself and unleashed hell.

Energy and lightening slammed into the objects outside the bubble. Storage crates shattered, metal bent and warped. Troopers exploded into thin air and even the walls themselves began to creak.

Celene's knees buckled, her legs crumpling beneath her. All at once, the surge of energy was gone. The bubble dissipated revealing the carnage and wreckage around them. The Mandalorian spun to face her, saying words she couldn't comprehend. The floor was rising to meet her as she felt blood trickle from her nostril.

Noises filtered in and out and she was vaguely aware of the Mandalorian helping her to her feet, his arm around her shoulders. She convinced her legs to move, forced her feet to walk. She stumbled as he held her and they walked down the shadowed hallway.

Then a door opened and everything was too bright, burning her face, her eyes, her skin. Sand and gravel pricked her bare feet, the heat slicing through her. Again her strength failed her and this time the Mandalorian swept her up, into his arms. The Beskar was uncomfortable, her head resting against his chest plate but she didn't have the strength for words. A small bundle settled onto her stomach and faintly she realized it was the child.

The Mandalorian said something else but Celene didn't understand. It seemed they walked for days before she recognized the ceiling of the Falcon above her and not the brilliant blue sky. The cockpit doors hissed and she felt herself gently placed in a chair, the child still in her lap. She glimpsed his turned back, the rifle strapped across it and then they were moving. The dunes and sand of Nevarro faded away, the black void of space replacing it. Colors rose and exploded in a vortex as they rushed past.

Then the beskar helmet filled her vision again and his voice. He was saying something but Celene could only focus on his voice and his hand on her arm. It felt real. Was it real?

She didn't get her answer before her eyes closed and the black rushed in.