the darkest night ♛ kylo ren (2)

chapter twenty nine ♛ the duel

My stomach is full of stones as I bound out of the transport, my sights set on the Palace of Theed just across the courtyard. Every time I close my eyes I see my love's face bruised, and terrified, and it takes all of my strength to keep my knees from buckling. My footfalls pound at the cobblestones, and I thrust my palms out before me to force-shove each and every refugee blocking my path. I do not even think to apologize as I hear curses, cries, and the sound of bodies skidding on the pavement. In fact, I try not to think at all- if I do, I might collapse.

Many palace guards are on the ground by the time I reach the palace doors, sweat beading at my temples, cheeks flushed. I rip them open and turn instantly toward the dormitories, intent on finding the only person in the entire city that I can count on to understand my complete desperation. Between one heartbeat and the next, I'm pounding on Nikana's door, hoping with everything in me that she's not occupied by council meetings elsewhere.

One of the handmaidens I do not recognize frantically answers, my best friend peering out safely from behind her, but once she catches sight of my current state, she grabs my forearm and hauls me inside.

"Tell me what's wrong," she demands in an overly calm voice, as if she's negotiating with a child to gently release something fragile before they can break it.

"I need to borrow a ship. He needs me, Nikana, I might not have much time," I plead, gulping in what feels like my first few breaths since the end of the Holo call.

"What's wrong with your ship?" she asks.

"There's nothing wrong with it. If I leave it here, Sybil and Avalon can still carry out our missions. There's still hundreds of the First Order's targets out there, and they're their only hope now," I breathe, already growing exasperated at the seconds lost having to explain myself. The Force warms and twines around me, backing my instinct that the exact thing I am dreading might already be coming to pass. Understanding lightens her eyes, and she presses her lips into a thin line in determination.

"Take any N-1 in the hangar. You've flown them countless times," the queen replies, spinning me around so I can march out the door. "He's gonna be okay, Lyra," she mumbles, briefly cupping my cheek in her palm to be sure I truly hear her words while my mind races. I offer her the best smile I can, just a small lilt of the corners of my lips. Then before sadness gets its chance to ebb at me as I realize there is a very real possibility I might never lay eyes on her again, I vanish, bolting towards the hangar.

-

"Where in the hell do you think you're going?" an incredulous voice hisses behind me, just as I'm putting an N1 fighter helmet over my head, seconds from mounting the ship. I face Sybil, whose face is twisted with fury.

"I'm not taking our ship so you and Avalon can continue our missions-"

"Without you," she finishes, her black eyes pits of depthless rage. "You're abandoning us for the man who left you to suffer and burn in that fire, utterly alone. The fire he caused," she spits, stalking closer. I stare at her, my eyes wide, the permanent scars on my skin throbbing as I'm forced to remember that night. It's a memory that threatens to break me when I already feel as if I'm dangling over an abyss, only holding myself together by the tips of my fingers.

"There's light in him, Sybil," I reluctantly admit, my quiet voice trembling, "I've seen it. And he needs me. I can save him," silver pools at my eyes as the image of Ben's battered face, anguish swimming in his gaze, forever seared in my memory, haunting me. I push back the memory of feeling flames licking greedily at my fingers and blistering my flesh while I waited at a locked door, wondering why the truest love of my soul had abandoned me to such agony.

"What about Marco? He'll die, Lyra. Does that mean nothing to you anymore?" she argues, and my shoulders tense. Why won't she understand?

"It means everything to me!" I scream, desperate to make her understand, now livid in my own right. "I would rather die than sacrifice Marco, or have him hurt. But every second I spend here trying to make you see reason, I am one second closer to letting Ben Solo suffer as he waits for one person who truly knows his heart to liberate him from the darkness," tears track my cheeks now, the weight of what's to come finally crashing over me. The Force twists and writhes around me in reaction to the overload of emotion now streaming through my veins.

"If you do this, Marco is as good as dead," Sybil replies, her voice falling dangerously quiet. "There is no light left in Ben Solo, but you do not see that because your vision is clouded by the love you have always felt for him."

I don't know what comes over me in that moment, but before the thought even crosses my mind, my lightsaber is clutched and ignited in my hand. I bare my teeth. Sybil's red saber hums to life.

I let out a feral roar and strike, quicker than she had expected, and she barely raises her blade in time to catch mine. The brawl that follows is a savage dance of two of the galaxy's longest honed weapons, a lifetime of training and suffering hardening their resolves. The lightsabers scream at each slamming contact, the two beams meeting in a form of exchange, give and take, scarlet catching sapphire, cerulean halting crimson. I do not yield a backward step, and neither does Sybil; we are each other's equal in almost every way. It is not the same, however, as one of our many sparring sessions in Jedi training, and the difference lies in our strikes.

We are no longer aiming to clash with the corresponding saber, but the person struggling to keep its hold.

But just as I cannot bear to lose Marco again, not after I had just gotten him back, I cannot bear to let my lifelong friend fall at my hand.

When Sybil turns, fatally leaving her torso open to my killing blow, I throw my hand forward and rip away her consciousness, not even allowing myself to catch my breath as I switch off my saber and climb into the N-1's cockpit and set coordinates for Ben's last transmitted location.

-

The Supremacy is just as massive as I'd remembered.

I peer through the N-1's spotless windshield and put every last ounce of my strength into focusing on covertly coding my way into the ship's landing bay. I'm almost breathless, my chest is impossibly tight as my love's heart pounds too quickly at the back of my mind. Once I'm cleared, I use all of my restraint to keep from approaching the command ship at full speed.

I jump out of the starfighter and pay the ranks of stormtroopers no mind as I sprint toward the belly of the ship, depending entirely on memory to find my way back to Snoke's throne room. For some reason, the stormtroopers I pass are standing shoulder to shoulder in countless ranks, and deeper in the hangar I swear I hear Hux's voice, scolding another set of rebels he'd managed to ensnare.

I speed through the corridor, driven by the frenzied pounding of Ben's heart in my head. I do not pass many military personnel on my journey, though it is very unsurprising given the sheer amount of them bearing witness to some apparently monumental announcement in the hangar bay.

I'm glancing between a split in my path when a deafening roar explodes my eardrums, and I'm thrown across the corridor. I feel the crunch and snap of bones breaking as I'm slammed into the wall.

My vision goes black.

-

I am officially BACK!!

And for good this time, I promise!

As I'd said in my post last night, it really warmed my heart to see so much love and support for me and my Kylo fics when I opened this app for the first time in quite a while! I knew I couldn't leave you guys hanging- so while it may be tough these next few weeks since I'm still working hard to finish out the semester online, I am gonna do my very best to finish this book and the next so I'm not leaving you guys hanging any longer!

I'll admit, though it's harder for me to write Ben now because I miss him so dearly, it's really good to be back ;)

I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Don't forget to vote, comment, and share! It means a lot!

-Kait