Shadow of Trust

Chapter 25 - 24 Hours

Chapter 25 – 24 Hours

It took less than 24 hours for the lackeys of Raven Dread to track down Anakin. It only took them another four hours to find him out without him noticing. As if he didn't seem to care that the Emperor's henchmen were hot on his heels.

His senses were no escape for him. They had let him down. And when he finally faced danger, he realized he had failed.

But he was a Jedi Knight. And a Jedi didn't go down without a fight. Anakin hadn't gotten his emotional chaos under control yet. Incredible anger seethed in his chest. Fury so powerful it could have destroyed an entire army. In the dark hour, surrounded by overwhelming enemies, he did what any other Jedi in his place would have avoided. He decided to fight. To the death if he had to.

It was the dead of night. But the conditions were different than usual. It was dead quiet. Very unusual for Coruscant. And as the first warriors dared to emerge from the shadows, he was prepared. A dozen against one. For everyone else hopeless. But he wasn't just anyone. He was Anakin Skywalker, the chosen one. And so he tempted his fate.

When the first laser salvos were fired at him, he was ready to risk his life. Insane. Frivolous. It was like a game. A game he would emerge from either as a winner or a loser. But he would have to pay a great price for losing. The chance of losing his life today was greater than ever before. However, the young man was not deterred by this. Almost in high spirits, he threw himself into battle.

Every punch was strength. Every breath was freedom. Every death was power.

He almost seemed thirsty for it. He wanted to see their blood on the floor, their lifeless bodies twitch and the startled eyes to see his silhouette before they died. He wanted them dead. Them all. Without knowing their motives. Without knowing who they even were. It was a need in his chest he had never felt before. It burned hotter than a flame, growing larger, stronger, and more powerful with each inanimate body.

He punched into the darkness and realized far too late that they were all gone. Dead, a voice whispered in his head. But he didn't care. He didn't even care about the woman watching him from the lighted rooftops. Probably had been watching all along.

And when she suddenly stood at the foot of the house and looked up at him, he looked into her eyes for the first time and shuddered. They were completely foreign to him, and he was sure that this was the demon from his nightmares that visited him every night anew. Now it had come to fetch him.

But he didn't want to surrender. He wanted to go. Away from her. His feet, which had been so perfectly in tune with him, failed him. He stood there frozen in place and didn't even flinch when she reached out for him. Almost friendly.

He was completely insecure. Didn't know what the gesture meant and didn't bother to see the real meaning. Only when the blue bolts of lightning hurled from her fingers to torture him, did he wake up from his rigid state. The scales fell from his eyes.

But it was too late. Too late to defend himself. Too late to waste one last thought on his beloved. Too late to stop for a moment.

Even before his lids closed, he felt the icy cold creeping up his chest. Unable to close his eyes, fainting, he watched as another figure stepped out from behind her.

Then he was finally redeemed.

oOo

It took less than 24 hours for the lackeys of Raven Dread to track down the rebel camp. It took them only another four hours to occupy the entire building in an army of Clones. Anyone who crossed their path was instantly knocked down by a hail of bullets. They spared no one. No children, no teenagers. Nobody.