George Strayton - A Tale from the Dark Side

The spirit returned its gaze to her. "We are… puzzled by this perspective. How did you come to this conclusion?"

"By many years of reasoning and meditation." she said, more confident now that she had already succeeded in confusing the Sith by her words. The light and dark sides are but aspects of the Force. The Jedi have always sought to show the barrier between the two — but it does not exist. The line blurs. All that can be relied upon then is the source of these two aspects, for it — the Force — depends on the existence of nothing, unlike the light, which would not exist without the dark. The Force just is. And therefore, worrying about its subdivisions does not matter."

The Sith did not respond, leaving the silence to speak for him. Vara began to wonder whether she had taken her ruse too far…

The specter laughed, a booming outburst like the rumbling of stone grinding against stone. "Your logic is faulty. Jedi. Did you think that your masquerade would allow you to enter our abode, to steal our secrets? We allowed you to find us. We allowed you to call us from the depths of this world. And it is we who will determine the consequences of your attempted deception."

Vara could not help shrinking back, feeling for the lightsaber tucked into her robes.

"Did you think us charlatans? Do you even know what power we possess? By your actions. I would have to say not." The Sith seemed to grow, its shadowy form stealing away more and more of the surrounding emptiness. "Other Jedi have come here before you. Do not think you are the first, or will be the last. Perhaps you would like to see some of those who have failed in this same endeavor."

With a wave of its arm, the Sith summoned three additional specters. But these did not possess the same black form. These were faded gray figures, their faces contorted as if in tremendous pain. But even in their spectral form, Vara could tell they were Jedi Masters. And if the Sith could do that to a Master…

She jabbed her hand into her robe and yanked out her lightsaber, igniting it before she even had a firm grasp on the hilt. The blade hummed to vibrant red life, and she held it in front of her, its tip pointed toward the lower-lying of the two moons, which hung in the sky just above the temple's obelisk-spire.

The Sith shadow focused on her again, and then suddenly swooped forward.

Vara swung her lightsaber around in a wide arc, slicing the specter from its left shoulder to its right hip. But the red blade passed through without leaving so much as a mark…

And then the spirit was upon her. It wrapped its shadowy form around her. rendering her visual sense useless and at the same time burning her skin with a cold fire. She screamed and slashed violently with her lightsaber. But the specter's attack only intensified; her body went numb from the pain as the dark side fire penetrated her corporeal shell and assaulted her spirit.

The end came swiftly, and Vara found herself merely a bleached shadow of her former self surrounded by dark side power. And the realization that she would remain in torment for eternity swept over her like a shadow. I cannot believe what I have done. I only wish I had a way to warn those who come after me not to underestimate the power of the dark side…