Джуд Уотсон - Jedi Apprentice 7 - The Captive Temple

He landed on a table close to the window. Gripping his lightsaber, he cut a hole in the window that overlooked the tall towers of Coruscant.

The window peeled back. Keeping his eyes on Qui-Gon, Xanatos smiled.

"You will never defeat me, Qui-Gon Jinn. That is your curse."

Then he leaped out into thin air.

Since the turbolifts weren't operational, Obi-Wan had to race behind Bruck down hallways and stairs. The sound of Bruck's heavy footsteps alerted him to the boy's direction. Bruck had never been light on his feet.

Soon, Obi-Wan guessed where Bruck was heading — the Room of a Thousand Fountains. Where better to hide Bant than underwater?

He ducked into the room. Immediately, he spotted Bruck running along one of the trails that twisted through the greenery. Obi-Wan ran as silently as he could, hoping to surprise Bruck from behind.

But an instant before Obi-Wan reached him, Bruck stepped off the path and reversed direction. He had learned cunning from Xanatos.

The Force warned Obi-Wan of the attack a split second before, or he would have run into the end of Bruck's lightsaber. Bruck came at him with a two-handed sweep.

Obi-Wan had time for a flashpoint of unreality, as though he were in a dream. His old adversary advanced, a light of anger and rivalry in his eyes.

Everything was so familiar — Bruck's aggressive stance, his small, angry eyes, the way his fingers gripped the hilt of the lightsaber.

But this isn't training. It's real. He wants to kill me.

Obi-Wan deflected the blow and whirled to take the offensive. But Bruck had gained in strength as well as strategy. He blocked Obi-Wan's blow and struck again.

"I've learned well, haven't I?" he asked, his pale blue eyes fierce.

"Xanatos showed me what true power is. The Jedi will regret that they held me back!"

"They never held you back," Obi-Wan said, parrying Bruck's strike. He stayed on the defensive, waiting to turn into the aggressor. If he kept Bruck talking, perhaps he could spot Bant. While he parried and struck, his eyes darted around, searching for a glimpse of her under the still surfaces of the pools that surrounded him. "No one chose me as Padawan!" Bruck cried, grunting as he swung a brutal blow toward Obi-Wan's legs.

Obi-Wan danced backward. "Then you were not ready."

"I was ready!" Bruck screamed. Then his expression grew crafty. "More ready than you, Obi-Wan. You're the one who disgraced the order."

Obi-Wan knew that Bruck was trying to get him to lose his temper. But the words still hit their mark. His next blow had anger behind it. He saw Bruck's satisfied smile.

Yes, Bruck had learned well from Xanatos.

"I was always better than you," Bruck taunted him. "Now I am even stronger."

But Obi-Wan knew that he, too, was stronger. Thanks to Qui-Gon he was a smarter fighter, cooler, with better strategy.

As long as I don't give in to my anger.

Obi-Wan remembered how Qui-Gon had pointed out that in the battle on the platform, Xanatos had subtly kept them away from what he was trying to conceal: the airspeeder. Now Obi-Wan wondered if the apprentice had learned from the Master: was Bruck pushing him back slowly in order to keep him away from seeing Bant?

With a great leap, Obi-Wan suddenly launched an offensive. His furious blows sent Bruck backward, and he kept up the assault, driving him down the path. Sweat poured from his body as he swung the lightsaber in a ceaseless motion, attacking Bruck from all sides.

The highest waterfall loomed ahead. Normally the cascading water flowed into a deep pool, but since Miro had turned off all systems, the waterfall was dry.

But the pool was not. Obi-Wan felt his heart stop as he glimpsed a flash of a lighter blue underneath the deep sapphire of the water. Bant's tunic! His fear threatened to choke him, but he willed it to calm. He drove Bruck before him relentlessly until they reached the edge of the pool.

Bant lay on the bottom. Her ankle was securely chained to a heavy anchor. Obi-Wan felt relief course through him as tiny bubbles rose to the surface of the water. She was still alive.

Bant could last underwater for long periods of time, but she needed oxygen to breathe. How long had she been under?

"She doesn't look too good, does she?" Bruck remarked as he took advantage of Obi-Wan's distraction to administer a two-handed blow toward his midsection.

Obi-Wan raised his lightsaber and deflected the blow. As he staggered from the impact, he screamed Bant's name, calling on the Force to help him reach her.

Her eyelids opened slowly. She blinked. But she seemed to barely register his presence. Her eyes closed again.

Hold on, Bant!

But Obi-Wan did not feel an answer. Her living Force was ebbing. He could feel it. Bant would die.

"That's right, Obi-Wan," Bruck taunted him. "Bant is dying. I won't have to do a thing. I'll just make you watch it. We would have freed her if we got the treasure. But another person will die because of you. Right in front of your eyes. Just like your friend Cerasi. I overheard the other Jedi talk about how you failed her."

At the sound of Cerasi's name, something shattered inside Obi-Wan. The composure he'd fought for was gone now. He attacked Bruck in a fury, not caring about strategy or finesse.

Startled, Bruck backed up the hill that formed the waterfall. It was a rocky slope, the footing treacherous. Ruthlessly, Obi-Wan pressed Bruck, driving him up, keeping him off-balance. Their lightsabers tangled.

Obi-Wan's arm muscles ached as he swung with all his might with each stroke.

He felt clumsy in Garen's too-small boots.

Bruck reached the top of the hill. He took the opportunity to plant his feet and swing down at Obi-Wan, aiming for his chest. Obi-Wan twisted as he parried the blow. His foot slipped on the mossy rocks and he landed on one knee. Pain sliced through him, followed by fear.

If he lost this battle, Bant would die.

Still on one knee, Obi-Wan managed to deflect Bruck's thrusts. But he had allowed anger to pierce his heart — deadly for such an intense battle.

The muscle weakness he had felt outside Tahl's quarters returned. He could barely keep the lightsaber moving in order to counteract Bruck's blows. He tried to use the Force again, but it proved as slippery as the moss-covered rocks.

"Good move, Oafy-Wan," Bruck sneered.

Bruck had given him that nickname when they were students in the Temple, making fun of his growing legs and his occasional misstep during training.

At the memory of Bruck's cruelty, a sudden passion for vengeance rose in Obi-Wan. Bruck's cruelty had once been petty. Now it was dangerous.

Xanatos had made Bruck a killer.

Boiling anger blurred his vision. He hated Bruck as he had hated no living creature. Anger drove out the Force completely, leaving him in a vacuum that he filled with his rage. The rage united with his fear and panic and created a dark cloud that threatened to overtake him completely.

Bruck saw the change in his eyes. His own pale blue eyes flashed with cruel satisfaction. He planted both hands on the hilt of the lightsaber and raised it high.

In that split second, Obi-Wan saw the seeds of his own defeat.

This is the moment. The very worst time is the time you must follow the Code.

Cast away your doubt, Padawan. Let the Force enter you.

Obi-Wan raised his saber. He let his anger and fear move through him, exhaling them in a breath. He reached inside and found his center of calm.

Bruck's lightsaber came down, and he blocked it. But his diversion had cost him. He struggled to the lip of the hill and gained it just as Bruck's next blow fell. Obi-Wan parried the strike, but did not have the balance to counterattack. It didn't matter. He had regained his calm. He could regain his footing. He knew now that he could defeat Bruck.