Darth On'kayak's words rang in my ears.

"What?" I whispered hoarsely.

"You heard me. Kill her immediately or I will." He threw my lightsaber at my head and my instincts kicked in as my hand whipped out to catch it.

"Why?" I stared at him defiantly. "You never said I couldn't receive help from someone else." His eyes hardened.

"Next time I will be sure to make myself more clear. But I did say you had to return by sunset, which you failed to do. Now your friend has to pay the consequences." I shook my head and stepped in front of Lexxi.

"No. Punish me instead. I will not let you lay a finger on her." He smirked.

"She won't die by my hand. She'll die by yours." He reached out his hand and shoved his will into my limbs. I activated my lightsaber and bathed Lexxi's terrified features in blood red. I gritted my teeth and fought savagely against my own body.

"I will not hurt her!" I growled past clenched teeth. Lexxi stumbled back but Darth On'kayak rooted her to the spot. Tears streamed down my cheeks as I raised the saber above my head.

"I'm so sorry," I sobbed as she exhaled slowly. I whimpered as she met my eyes.

"It's okay. I'm sorry too." She raised her head defiantly. I screamed as the lightsaber swung down in a smooth arc. Bile rose in my throat as Lexxi slumped to the ground, her once vivid, youthful eyes now empty and glassy. I roared and as my will returned to my limbs. I collapsed to my knees beside her still form, her blood smeared across the cold floor. Tears dripped from my cheeks onto hers as I cradled her head in my lap.

"How dare you?" I whispered venomously as I felt him step closer. "How dare you!" Huge sobs racked my body as he rested his hand on my shoulder.

"I told you I would push you to your limits. I have taken steps in pushing your emotionally limits and I will break them beyond repair if you don't stop snivelling. Do we understand each other?" I hiccupped and nodded slowly. He helped me to my feet and I brushed him off before stalking back to my quarters, my hands curled into trembling fists.

I slammed my door shut and collapsed on my bed. This had been the first time I had killed someone that wasn't a stormtrooper. I curled up, shaking. I hadn't even killed the Jedi woman on Tatooine; I had merely knocked her unconscious. I then fell into a restless slumber, the image of Lexxi falling at my feet seared into my brain.

When I awoke the next morning and returned to the dining room, Lexxi's blood had been scrubbed from the slick floor and her body had vanished. Darth On'kayak raised a brow as I slumped into the seat across from me.

"What a fearsome Sith you are," he commented, calmly taking a sip from his mug. I snarled at him and folded my arms across my chest.

"It seems I must push you harder emotionally than I've had to with past apprentices. It must have been those what," he murmured, stirring his caf, " seven years you spent with the Jedi?" I said nothing as I silently calculated how many years it had been. I shrugged as I came to the conclusion that seven sounded about right. With a start, I realized that it would be my twenty-first birthday in a few weeks.

"Today, I have decided on another training activity. Follow me." He set his empty mug with military precision beside his plate and left the room without a backwards glance. I hesitated a moment before I rolled my eyes and stalked after him. As it had been made crystal clear to me the previous night, I had little control over my own body.

"Early this morning, I had a legion of stormtroopers return the body of the savage to her village." The contempt in his voice made a shiver course down my spine. Did he truly believe that they were savages and that he was above them? "Only one returned. He brought a message for you." He turned his cold calculating eyes on me.

"The entire village has challenged you to a death match until either you have been killed or they surrender." His lips curled into a sneer. "I have accepted on your behalf. You have ten minutes to prepare. Good luck my young apprentice." I stared after him in disbelief, my hand slowly clenching and unclenching in an attempt to suppress my rage.

I stepped out of the barrack as I yanked my hair back from my face and secured it in a tight knot. I rolled my shoulders, nudging my cloak from my shoulders. I inhaled and gazed around at the faces surrounding me. It appeared that all of Lexxi's village had come. Youthful men with bare slim brown torsos painted with war paint snarled as hunted for the chief. My eyes drifted over a cluster of young women, about my age who also had patterns painted across their faces. So my challengers would not all be men.

"I am Chief Chamundi. Are you the one who calls herself Darth Tÿtar, the murderer of my daughter?"I swallowed as a broad-shouldered man with an ornamental headpiece stepped forward. He had Lexxi's dark eyes and narrow nose and the way he held himself was every inch his daughter.

I gaze up at him and raised my chin. "I am." Sorrow swamped his features as his eyes hardened.

"Each of my warriors will challenge you to a fight to the death. We cease the fighting once you are dead or we surrender, as per our ways." I held his gaze and nodded.

"What are the rules?" He raised an eyebrow. "I don't want to be accused of cheating."

"Each warrior will be given one weapon of their choosing. Any thing else goes, including the use of the Spirit."

"I am ready." I strode to the middle of the semicircle of onlookers as met the eyes of each warrior. "Who will challenge me first?" A tall, lean man of about twenty stepped forward, red and white paint smeared beneath his hollow eyes.

"I will." He stepped into the makeshift arena, and a low murmur rolled through the crowd of onlookers.

"I am Lexxi's betrothed." He swallowed. "Was Lexxi's betrothed. You will live to regret the day you killed my beloved." He withdrew a long bladed knife from behind his back and through it in front of me. "I choose hand to hand combat." He tilted his head as if daring to challenge his claim. I mirrored his look.

"Is use of the Spirit allowed?" Surprise flickered through his eyes at the mention of the Spirit.

"Yes." He turned to the chief.

"On your mark, go!" Lexxi's fiance slowly circled around me, eyes hungry. I kept my posture relaxed as I watched him circle. As he disappeared behind me, I felt a stir in the Force as he lept, aiming for the backs of my knees. I twisted to the right and snagged his leg with the Force. He slammed to the ground with a grunt, blood spilling from his nose. I loomed over him and delivered a swift, merciless kick to his ribs, using the Force to pin him in place.

With a howl, he wretched himself free and swept my legs out from underneath me. I tilted backwards, the bright blue sky spinning as I hit the hard packed earth with a thud. Before I could draw a breath into my stunned lungs, he was on top of me, wrapping his slender fingers around my throat.

I twitched as his hot, stifling breath fanned my face.

"You killed the love of my life. Now you will pay with your own." My nails racked his forearms as my vision blackened at the edges.

My lungs screamed for air as his thumbs dug into my neck. With the last remains shred of energy, I summoned the Force and threw him off. He flew head over heels and his head cracked against the ground. He stared up at the sky, moaning. I drew myself up to a knee and reached out and snapped his neck.

"I'm sorry," I murmured. "But you're with Lexxi now." Chief Chamundi stepped into the makeshift ring and leaned over, fingers pressed to the side of his neck. Grief swamped his features as he closed the lad's eyes and motioned for a length of cloth spread between four others.

I bowed my head, mourning for a brief moment before I lifted my head stared down my opponents.

"Who's next?" A lithe female with long dark hair pulled back into a single braid stalked forward and brandished a wicked looking dagger.

"I am." She motioned to the discarded knife in front of me. I stooped and twirled the knife in my hand. I studied her intently as she barred her teeth, a scowl marring her fine features.

She kept for me, and I dropped, the dagger slicing through the air where I had been but moments before. She snarled and slashed downwards. I rolled out of the way, fingers gripping my knife. I swung and nicked the arm clutching the knife. She hissed as I sprang to my feet, her blood dripping onto the ground.

"You'll pay for every drop of blood you have spilled today." She spat, twirling the dagger around her fingers. She then hurled her dagger at me, and I barely had enough time to throw myself to the ground before I heard it whiz above my head. I looked up and the dagger had returned to her hand and she prepared to throw it again. I rolled to my feet as she threw, and I watched as she twitches her finger and the dagger changed direction and nicked my arm.

Red hot blood dropped down my arm as I twisted desperately to avoid her next attack. I tried to rip the dagger from the air with the Force, but she had created some form of shield. I called the Force to me and lept for her, knife aimed for her heart. At the last possible moment, she twisted and my knife sunk into her side.

Her breath caught in her throat as she contorted her body to stare at the knife stuck in her side, buried hilt deep. She staggered and sank to her knees, blood gushing from the wound. Her eyes emptied of life as she fell to her side. I clamped my hand over my arm as another stretcher arrived to carry her body away. I heard the Chief clear his throat as he turned away. I removed my  hand, sticky with blood as I stole a glance at Darth On'kayak. Oh, how I longed to wipe that smirk off his face. He knew this bloodshed was pointless. It should be he and I facing off.

"Am I allowed to challenge someone?" I called to the Chief. He paused and looked at me, confusion arching an eyebrow.

"Who?"

I raised my chin. "The one truly responsible to the death of your daughter." I turned and purred," Darth On'kayak, will you kindly step into the ring?"