Star Wars: Apparitions -- Scenes from The Last Jedi

Chapter 8 - The Crossroads

The first guard ran forward. He swung his heavy sword toward Rey. She blocked it with her saber, but barely threw him off in time to catch another's spear. She backed away, but the guard swung at her, making her duck and almost lose her balance. She steadied herself with a hand on Kylo's back, then she swung her lightsaber to meet an electro-whip midair. The guard began to reel in the whip with Rey's saber stuck to it. When she was close enough, the guard pulled the saber free of the whip and grabbed her neck, the whip lashing toward her. Rey gritted her teeth and held it in place with the Force. She swung her saber but it glanced harmlessly off his armor. Rey fumbled to keep the saber in one hand and moved the other to grab the whip, using the Force to pull it out of the guard's grasp. He aimed a punch at her stomach, which she barely dodged. She swung the whip wildly until it collided with his armor and shoved the saber directly above it into his chest, finally dropping him to the floor.

Kylo was locked in combat with a pair of guards that carried wicked silver spears. They drove him back and he quickly ducked underneath their weapons, stabbing another guard simultaneously. He knocked the other two into one of the deep electric wells, where there was a sizzling noise and then silence.

Taking a breath while he held the other guards at bay, he took a moment to watch Rey, who was faring well, considering she had been tortured only minutes before. And then the guard sliced at her, leaving a dark gash on her upper arm. She gave a hoarse cry of pain, and Kylo, distracted, almost didn't notice the guard with an electro-whip advancing behind him. The guard initiated what would have been a deadly blow, had Kylo not turned around at the last moment, deflecting the whip with a slice of his saber.

The guard Rey was fighting was twice her size. While holding her lightsaber at bay, he kicked her in the stomach, knocking the wind out of her. Tears came to her eyes as she stumbled backward and gasped for strangled breaths, her lightsaber falling from her hand.

Then Kylo was there. He cut off the guard's advance toward Rey, shoving the guard's spear away with the crossguard of his saber. Then he thrust out his hand, reaching out with the Force and lifting the guard into the air. He spun quickly, his teeth clenched, and hurled the guard across the room where he slammed into the wall in a shower of sparks.

The other guards were advancing fast, but Kylo shot Rey a quick glance. She answered with a nod, then tossed her saber back into her hand and steeled herself to keep fighting. But she couldn't lift her arm without it throbbing.

Backing away from the guard advancing toward her, she took one glance at Kylo across the room, and decided she would change her tactic.

She switched her saber off and clipped it to her belt. The guard charged for her, and she raised her hands, channeling from the deep well of adrenaline in her chest. She focused as hard as she could, but nothing happened.

The guard was running at her too fast, and now a second had joined him. Rey backed away as fast as she could, her mind spinning with panic.

But nothing clicked— until one of the guards Kylo was fighting thrust forward his spear. Kylo's quick evasion saved him from a fatal blow, but the spear slid cleanly across his leg, and he shouted and stumbled as blood spattered the floor.

Then Rey remembered how to channel her power.

She stopped backing away and braced her feet against the floor, letting her rage pour through her. She focused on the guards and threw out her arms. There was a rush as though of wind, and the guards were flung backward with the force of a cannon, crashing into the wall so hard it dented in. Only one was able to stumble back to his feet.

Rey aimed her hands at him, steeling herself with the sight of Kylo across the room, and let more energy fly from her fingers. This time, it came out as blue lightning. The guard collapsed as the electricity rippled over his armor, sending sparks everywhere. But he kept coming toward her.