Always In My Head

Chapter 12

The air was tense as the two former co-students began their duel.

Sofie could sense Ren's desperation as they fought. The only thing standing between him and Mortis' power was her.

Sofie blocked attack after attack, trying to fit an offensive move in. Despite the training with the Resistance, unsurprisingly, the Supreme Leader of the First Order was a difficult opponent.

They both swung to kill now--a stark difference from their previous fights.

They went back and forth for minutes on end and could sense fatigue sneaking up onto them both. Fighting to the death resulted in aggressive strikes and extensive defensive maneuvers.

Finally, after a particularly long back-and-forth, they both separated to breathe. The air was filled with their deep, heavy breaths.

"You know, you could just drain my life-Force energy," Sofie said between breaths.

"I'm not a coward, I need to prove that I can beat you fairly because I'm better than you," Ren replied.

"I'd challenge that part about being a coward," Sofie asserted, "destroying planets and civilizations is a pretty cowardly thing."

Their chat was short, and their fight continued as emotions rose.

Sofie struggled to dodge Ren's moves. She could feel her muscles becoming weaker and knew Ren was trying to take advantage of this.

Suddenly, Ren began to run towards the back of the temple. Confused, Sofie ran after him, jumping broadly up the steps. She considered trying to throw her lightsaber, but the thought was stopped short when Ren turned towards her.

Ren swung upwards continuously while taking broad steps towards Sofie. Sofie stepped back defensively, but struggled to focus on avoiding the steps.

Ren swung again, but this time Sofie barely moved in time and missed blocking him. Ren's saber grazed her, slicing diagonally through her face. Ren watched wide-eyed as his lightsaber effortlessly went through her jaw, nose, and eye, melting anything in its way.

Sofie screamed from the pain, stumbled backwards and fell. She felt her body go into a shock and gingerly put her hands up to her face, trying to comprehend what had just happened.

"Ben--oh my god, Ben! " Sofie screamed at him, realizing he had sliced through her nose and rendered her left eye useless. Doing her best to not hyperventilate, she tried to wipe away the blood that had appeared, but instead quickly ripped part of her clothing to press against her wound. The heat of the lightsaber had cauterized her wound slightly, but blood still managed to escape.

Ren stared at her wound in disbelief. He opened his mouth to say something but struggled to find the words.

"Y-you... why didn't you move out of the way?" Ren stammered.

"Shut the fuck up," Sofie said through a rough throat and gritted teeth. The pain intensed in her face as her body began to come out of shock. She held the cloth from her pants firmly against her face. She was losing blood, and the faintness creeping into her head confirmed that.

A tear dropped from Sofie's right eye and she sobbed. Blood streamed down her face and down the back of her throat uncomfortably.

Although she couldn't move her mouth, she used what energy she had to speak into Ben's head.

"I hate you, Ben. I hope you know that. You're heartless and you've ruined so many lives. I'm sure your soldiers have brutalized countless people like you did to me. All I ever wanted to do was help you," Sofie lamented. Ren didn't respond, instead, he deactivated his lightsaber and began to walk towards the back of the temple.