//------------------------------// // Chapter 6 // Story: The Zabrak and the Dragon // by DeltaXeno1138 //------------------------------// Maul pulled back and to the left on the handles of his speeder, bringing the whole thing into a parallel position. He had stopped just outside the Everfree Forest, where it met with the area he had come to know as Rambling Rock Ridge. There was nothing impeding him from continuing on the speeder, but he had the oddest sensation that he should continue on foot. He had finally found where the dark side radiator was. It was.....not calling to him, exactly. There were faint pulses of the dark side coming from off in the distance, and he was drawn to them, urged to find the source. He had set out just as night began to fall. It was already dark and the moon resided in the sky by the time he arrived. He climbed off of the speeder, confident that no animals could cause it any harm or steal it. He was carrying his darksaber with him, along with one of the vibroblades, as a precaution in the unlikely case that a wild animal would disarm him of his primary weapon. Said weapon was being used for him to run practice drills alone when he was not training his new apprentice. They had begun with simple exercise to hone a more appropriate body for the dragon. Needless to say, this meant they had some time before they would begin weapons training. That didn't mean Maul had to refrain from maintaining his present skills. Ideal warriors trained every day, or at least most days. He began his walk towards...whatever was out here. He made sure to emanate his own dark side power to ward off any would-be attackers. There wasn't much that he could sense, mostly smaller, barely threatening predators such as owls. But he did sense something deeper in the forest whose outskirts he was currently occupying. He paid this feeling no mind, focusing on his main objective and continuing on. Maps could be very misleading in distance going off of images alone. Equestria's maps were no different. It was nearing a half hour as Maul could feel that he only had a quarter of the way left. He slowly came to a stop as he sensed something odd. Looking up and further ahead of him, Maul spotted something sticking out of the ground. And it was giving off the same form of energy that was drawing him in, but differently. It seemed this object was only giving off a portion of the power. He approached it and soon felt that there were more like it further ahead. He knelt down do inspect what the object was. It was a sharp tipped crystal, dark purple in color and appearing to have a dark aura. He raised a brow at the small crystal before reaching a hand down. A living image flashed in his mind along with a sound, causing him to pause in his reaching. He had seen eyes in pure darkness, eyes of red and green with flowing purple energy coming from them. And he had heard something between a growl and a snarl. He blinked before continuing to reach down, taking hold of the crystal in his fingers. It wouldn't budge from the earth, even when he put more strength into it. He retracted his hand as he gave the crystal a cross look. He decided against using the Force to try and pull it free, as it was not what he came for. He looked up, quickly sensing more, then spotting another one nearby. It was slightly larger in size. He stood and began moving in the same direction he was being drawn toward rather than to the other crystal. He started seeing more crystals in the ground, each one increasing in size and proximity to the others. Eventually, he saw multiple jagged crystal lines leading to a small rock wall, the lines appearing to give off streams of energy from the main source. On the wall there wasn't crystals, but what appeared to be flat lines of the dark material leading up to a grouping of crystals in the middle of the wall. The object he was seeking was inside the grouping. He didn't step closer, staying where he stood, feeling the waves of the dark side as they pulsated from within the crystals. These waves still weren't speaking to him, but he did know what he had to do. He had to free it. He slowly reached out his hand, calling on the Force to apply pressure to the crystals. He clenched his fingers, applying more pressure when he felt that more was needed. He saw vibrations but the crystals didn't move at all, as if they were a picture that was being shook. A few minutes passed with no progress, angering the zabrak. He furrowed his brow and applied even more pressure, his hand now trembling from the effort. A small number of cracks began forming in the crystals as they themselves finally started to twitch. More Maul thought to himself, his teeth now clenched and fury blazing in his eyes You....will yield....to my-! Maul threw up a protective Force bubble when the crystals suddenly exploded, sending pieces all over. They bounced off the invisible wall, bringing no harm to the dark sider. Maul lowered his hand, bringing down the shield and allowing him to see where the cluster previously was. He had to step forward to get a clear look at what was resting inside the indent left behind. The indent was curved, sharp, wavelike, as if blades were glued together into a pocket. What seemed odd is that the indent didn't have features to suggest it was created by some tool or Maul's actions, but that it appeared naturally formed. Maul quickly surmised that whatever power the object held had manipulated the rock wall to form the indent as a resting place. The object in question was some form of curved spike, red in color that gave it the appearance of an intensely heated object. It clearly wasn't a crystal like those that had been covering it, and he couldn't discern what it actually was. He stretched out his hand again and used the Force to levitate the object out of the indent. Once it was halfway and it caused another flash of the same eyes, Maul suddenly knew exactly what it was. It was the horn of a unicorn, but not like any of the ones he had seen adorning the heads of the ponies. He brought it to levitate in a slow spin above his palm, inspecting the horn curiously, noting its curve and lack of spiral grooves. He halted its spin and slowly gripped it in his hand. And almost immediately, his hand seemed to be forced away by a rather powerful surge of dark side energy. His Force hold on it had been broken, but it remained hovering in the air. He eyed it in an alarmed state as it remained where he had been holding it. Small pulses of black lightning started to come from the horn, increasing in quantity and intensity by the second. Maul was about to Force push the horn away from him, his former master's lightning and the pain it brought flashing through his mind. But the black lightning shot out before he could do anything, forcing his back to arch as it hit him in the center of his forehead. It did him no damage or harm, much to his surprise, but put him into a state that somehow felt like he was simultaneously in a trance and completely aware. His eyes glowed green as he felt very familiar magic surge through him. He saw white for a few seconds before being consumed by utter blackness. He could tell his physical body was immobile, but appeared to have an ethereal form in the blackness, which he couldn't see. He turned his immaterial head, looking for anything in the dark. Then he started to make out a figure coming from the dark. The magic he felt could only bring one conclusion to his mind. And so he did the closest thing to speaking in this netherworld of blackness. "Mother?" "No" the figure responded "But from what I can gleam, I'm not that far off in terms of power." The deep voice, the appearance of the same eyes from earlier, and whatever magic this being had that was surging through him suddenly filled Maul with understanding. "I know who you are. My acquaintances spoke of you. My apprentice spoke of you." "Then you should know of my title" the being responded "My position of power that, from the looks of it, you should be in admiration of." "Of course" Maul said with an indulgent smile, using his invisible and immaterial form to kneel before the being. "It is always a privilege.... "Meeting a King."