Maul: Legacy of Shadows

Chapter 30: Legacy of Shadows

***Year 2 BBY*** Coincides with Star Wars: Rebels - Twin Suns

Eldra could only watch in despair as the Force guided these two combatants together once again.  The planet was silent, as if only Maul and Kenobi existed upon its surface.

"Look what has become of you, a rat in the desert," Maul whispered, his voice filled with hatred and contempt.

"Look what I have risen above," Kenobi shot back calmly.

"I have come to kill you, but perhaps it's worse to leave you here, festering in your squalor," the words oozed from Maul's mouth.

"If you define yourself by your power to take life, the desire to dominate, to possess, then you have nothing," Kenobi replied as both foes circled the campfire opposite each other.

Maul contemplated this reply.  He had something once, and it was taken away.  The light side had failed him, and he lost the only person he had ever truly loved.  Angered at the presumptuous words of Kenobi, Maul yanked his lightsaber from his cane, igniting one end and slashing the sand.  As the crimson blade tore into the ground, melting a line into glass, dirt flew from the impact dousing the fire.

"And what do you have?!" Maul asked in a fury.

The light between the two faded as the fire died.  Kenobi could feel a presence in the air surrounding them, and he pitied the warrior who stood before him.

"Why have you come to this place?" Maul asked, his silhouette exposed by the crimson blade held in his hand. "Not simply to hide."

Maul used the Force to feel his way into Kenobi's thoughts, and the image of a young boy flashed into his mind.

"Oh, you have a purpose here.  Perhaps you are protecting something?  No.  Protecting someone," Maul replied, answering his own question.

Kenobi now knew the threat Maul posed.  Even as he felt a voice in the Force screaming for him to stop, he ignited his lightsaber, letting its blue glow wash over him.  Taking the stance in Form III, Kenobi prepared himself for battle once again against the former Sith Lord.  Maul returned the favor in kind, activating the other half of his blade while taking his signature stance in Form VII.

Eldra screamed through the Force, praying one of the combatants would hear her pleas and stop this madness.  Desperately she tried grasping Maul's arms to hold him back, yet every time she would simply pass through him.  Suddenly she watched as Kenobi changed his stance to that of Form IV, the style used by his deceased master.

Maul's eyes narrowed at the gesture, preparing himself for the coming moment.  Smiling, he simply nodded at his hated foe who stood unmoving in the darkness.  For what seemed an eternity, the two locked eyes as Eldra stood between them, hoping to stop what was to come.  Neither of them saw her standing with her arms out, as their gazes pierced the fabric of time.  Destiny had finally come.

With a loud roar, Maul performed his signature flourish; the same one he had perfected over the decades as both a Sith Lord and exile.  Passing through Eldra's ethereal form, Maul's lightsaber crashed into Kenobi's, who quickly parried the blow with an overhand strike.  Maul smiled as he shifted his blade to attack his foe's legs, remembering his duel with Kenobi's former master on Naboo.  The next attack was one Kenobi was prepared for, as Maul brought the hilt of his lightsaber to bash into his face.  Quickly switching back to his preferred Form III, Maul's eyes widened as Kenobi released their blade lock and came crashing down on his lightsaber's hilt.

Memories flooded within Maul.  The years of anguish and pain, and the happiness he had found with Eldra.  Time stopped as Kenobi's lightsaber touched his own, and finally he could hear the voice he had searched for.

"Let go Maul," Eldra whispered in his ear.

Maul could tell she was crying through her voice and finally understood that it was his own hatred and desire for revenge that had dragged him back into the solitude of the Dark Side.  Accepting his fate, Maul breathed in one final time.  Time resumed and the blade cut cleanly through, gashing into Maul's body and severing his lightsaber, just as it had been during their first encounter.

His hatred no longer sustaining him, Maul slowly lowered both halves of his lightsaber and deactivated them, falling into Kenobi's arms as he did so.  As his death drew near, he could finally see Eldra standing over him, a single tear falling down her cheek.

"Tell me, is it the chosen one?" Maul asked Kenobi, his voice quivering.

"He is," Kenobi replied quietly, nodding his head as he held Maul in his arms.

Maul looked up at Eldra, who gave him a soft smile as she knelt next to him.  Kenobi was unable to see her as she lightly kissed Maul on the forehead.

"He will avenge us," Maul whispered as his life finally faded.

Kenobi nodded to his foe, as he felt the presence in the Force surrounding the two combatants fade away into the darkness.  Closing Maul's lifeless eyes, Kenobi grieved at the loss of one he respected deep down.  Burying Maul in a small unmarked grave, Kenobi gave a silent prayer to the Force, asking for Maul to finally find peace in death.  Packing his gear, Kenobi left to visit a small farm in the distance, watching as a voice called out from the farm.

"Luke.  Luke?" a soft female voice called out, as a young boy stood outside the dwelling.

Kenobi watched as the young boy hurried inside, pondering silently to himself.

Eldra and Maul watched as Kenobi looked on, their hands intertwined as both smiled towards the scene. Free of his hatred, and finding his love once again, Maul and Eldra faded away into the Force, his role in the galaxy finally complete.