Maul: Legacy of Shadows

Chapter 24: A New Master

***Year 3,958 BBY***

Sorus led her new apprentice to her tomb, one of many that dotted the landscape of Korriban.  A large statue of a robed figure stood towering above an intricate entrance, lined with ancient writings and symbols.  Bao-Dur merely watched as she waved a hand, causing the ground to shake around them both.  The indecipherable symbols slowly shifted until reaching and forming a large triangle within the center of the door, which slowly began to rise.  A cloud dust and wind blew out of the temple, rushing past Bao-Dur and instantly chilling him to the bone.

Sorus didn't say a word, and instead just entered the doorway, as one would their own home.  Inside torches began to light themselves through some unseen magics, leading deeper into the tomb.  Bao-Dur followed behind, his senses attuned to any dangers that might suddenly appear from the catacombs.  He felt nothing however, and eventually their destination lay before him.  A large room, glowing red from two pillars with large Sith symbols running down their sides, and a sarcophagus laying within the center.

"This is where my body rests," Sorus finally spoke, as she waved another hand and the stone slab covering her body lifted.

Inside lay the bones of a human, cloaked in an intricate black robe, decorated with golden pieces of jewelry.  Held within the corpse's hands, grasped against her chest, was a small dagger covered in the same symbols found on the pillars.  Laying next to the body was a small candle, made of a black wax that radiated a sense of both death and power.  Bao-Dur could feel the candle pulling at him, begging him to grasp it within his hands, but he refused to give into his urges.

Sorus could feel this inner conflict and smiled at the man's attempts to keep himself from giving into the greed of knowledge and curiosity.  Bao-Dur looked around the room for other objects, but found it quite empty for a tomb of one known for her knowledge and understanding of the Dark Side.  Hiding his disappointment, Bao-Dur felt his mind wandering back to the image of his master's death.  As his anger rose once again, the room's crimson glow began to increase as well.  With the Dark Side reaching its zenith, the two pillars activated, sending a wave of energy and lightning at the former Jedi.

He collapsed to his knees, trapped in a field of stasis between the two pillars as Sorus walked slowly towards her own corpse.  Picking up the dagger, she gracefully walked towards the Zabrak who was trapped and helpless in her resting place.  Bao-Dur couldn't speak a word of protest, as Sorus took the dagger and cut a small symbol in the Zabrak's forehead. The wound didn't bleed as the blade sliced through his flesh.  Instead it was as if the mark was being burned onto him by a molten brand.  When she finished, Sorus merely stepped back and admired her work, as Bao-Dur nearly broke some of his teeth from the pain of the mark.

The stasis field finally released its hold on Bao-Dur, who vomited from the pain he had just experienced.  He slowly reached up and touched the mark on his forehead, which felt like a raised scarring of a snake or worm protruding just beneath his skin.

"I've created monsters that haunt this galaxy to this day, from serpentine leviathans to the Jedi-hunting terentateks.  You Bao-Dur will be my greatest creation!" Sorus screamed through the Force, the bones of her corpse rattling within its bed of treasures.  "I have foreseen the future of the Dark Side, and your legacy will live on for millennia."

Bao-Dur finally regained his composure at her words, and knelt in front of her earthen form, the sand dusting off her body in small quantities as she spoke and moved.

"Yes, my master," Bao-Dur whispered as the mark on his forehead pulsated with a red glow.

***Far Across the Galaxy***