The Legend of the Jedi Queen

54. Abduction

The wicked wind howled as Nellith ran into the woods. She didn't dare take a speeder— they could track that. At least with her boots, it looked like the snow might fill in her tracks.

She ran into the ice caves. Unlike Tallis, she didn't fear the place. She ran deeper and deeper in, until she saw figures crowding the surface of the ice. One shadow stepped forward above all else, creating first a solid shape, the details solidifying and becoming more definite.

Nellith touched her hand to Tallis's, and felt warmth behind the ice. He stared at her with those lilac-gray eyes as if she were just a dream. She wondered how it had happened, and had so many other questions— before she heard a lightsaber sound. She stepped away— but she didn't see anything.

When she looked back, Tallis's image was gone, replaced by more shifting shadows. She reached her hand down to her lightsaber, and ignited it, the magenta light thrown across the caverns. She reached out as far as she could— but sensed nothing.

Then she saw the shadow of someone coming.

Filled with overwhelming cold and fear, Nellith ran, as fast as she could manage through the ice caves and into the snowy forest. All she could feel was pure panic, until—

There was a dead end. She could climb the snowy hill, but it would take too long, and she knew beneath was a thick layer of ice. When she turned, she saw the Jedi, led by Kiernan. His amber eyes blazed like the sun.

"Put down your lightsaber," Kiernan ordered. "You don't need to fear me."

"Why don't I believe you, then?" Nellith demanded.

"You don't understand the truth about your parents," Kiernan said. "Turn off the lightsaber, and we'll talk."

"You said my parents were colluding with the Dark Side!" Nellith cried as she tightened her grip around the hilt of her lightsaber.

"Because they are," Kiernan said. "Haven't you noticed that all of your parents' allies are going down the dark path? Rowley, Ben himself, Galen Palpatine, Tallis Shan, Rose Tico, and Poe Dameron."

"Those last two can't even use the Force," Nellith protested.

"There is darkness surrounding them, Nellith Solo," Kiernan said. He sounded very tired and impatient. "Surely a girl destined to sit on the Throne of Balance can sense that?"

"You and I both know I don't believe you," Nellith said, tightening her grip on the hilt of her lightsaber so much that her knuckles were white. "If you want me, you're gonna have to fight me."

She spun her lightsaber, inviting them to see what the Sword of the Jedi had taught her.

"You're not as good as you think, Solo," Kiernan said. He looked to the other Jedi surrounding him. "Do what you must to capture her alive."

At once, Nellith was rushed by several Jedi Knights, and she was relying purely on her reflexes and a pure tune-in with the Force to keep them from injuring her. She knew she would be overwhelmed quickly, but she didn't care. She would not surrender.

Then it happened, all too quickly. All Nellith felt was the burning, then the devastating pain that brought her to her knees. She reached her hand out instinctively to the stump of her arm.

Then she felt the heat of a lightsaber right next to her neck. She became very still, not daring to move and risk falling into the blade of one of Kiernan's Jedi. Kiernan walked over and pried Nellith's lightsaber out of her severed hand.

Kiernan turned it over and over. "The material is so worn," he murmured. "She took you to the Kenobi House, didn't she?"

Nellith said nothing, resolving instead to glare at him through her tears.

Kiernan knelt down in front of her, his expression gleefully cruel. "You have lost, Nellith. You need to accept that we're telling you the truth."

Nellith's full lips curled into a snarl as she reached her remaining hand out and made a fist. Filled with rage and pain and fear, she didn't care what happened to Kiernan. In fact, a dark part of her liked seeing him fly upwards, as he tried to pry invisible hands out from around his throat.

None of the Jedi could use their abilities to turn off hers, essentially, like they did with most Padawans. Nellith was too strong with the Force. She could feel their power combined straining against her, but her will and power continued to triumph.

Then she felt a hand on her back, and she knew what was happening before it did.

"Not fair. . ." she croaked before blacking out and crumpling to the ground completely.