A Tale from the Dark Side

She took another step forward, and elicited the same response. No more than six meters away stood the massive double-door that formed a tall trapezoid at the structure's base. Sith markings ran around the door's perimeter and along the seam in the middle. Though she couldn't read them, she knew that such engravings both warned intruders of certain death and acted us a receptacle for dark side power. Those who dared to penetrate the temple would be attacked by that stored energy - and there was very little evidence to suggest that anyone had ever survived such a deluge of dark side power. Vara hoped that the spirits would judge her worthy and not cast their hatred down upon her.

She dared to move closer. This time the energy swarm erupted and reformed so quickly that Vara wasn't sure whether it had actually happened, I guess I'll take that as a good sign.

She came closer, and as she pierced the invisible barrier of energy radiated by the library-temple she felt her heart flutter, its rhythm suddenly interrupted by the plane of ionization. Vara had read of such defensive shields, but none that allowed an intruder to pass through. It seemed that the spirits had accepted her right to enter...

She heard a faint call, like someone had whispered her name in a rush of cold air.

"Vara Nreem ... "

Her body tensed, and she glanced around to see who had spoken. Seeing no one. she turned her attention back to the double-door, and there stood a translucent, shadowy figure, its head adorned by a crown of spikes and its body enveloped by a voluminous robe. She could make out its features only because they were different shades of black, the eyes and mouth the darkest of all.

She stopped herself from involuntarily staggering backward at the sight of the specter, for she knew that a display of fear would only decrease her chances of surviving an encounter with a Sith spirit.

Apparently satisfied with his effect on her, the shadow spoke. "Vara Nreem, you have awakened us from our ten- thousand-year slumber." The voice hovered just above the lowest register Vara believed her senses could perceive. "Do you believe you can truly defeat us this time?"

Vara swallowed the saliva that had collected in her mouth and throat. "I ... have come for knowledge, not for battle." Her own voice sounded brassy and high as it followed in the wake of the specter's deep timbre.

"You are a Jedi," he stated, as if that simple sentence held volumes more than its surface meaning would suggest.

Vara considered. She had to maneuver the conversation just so if she wished to accomplish her goals. "If by that you mean that I am a believer in the Force, and that I have learned to manipulate it at my will, then yes, that is what I am." She straightened up as she spoke, intending to present herself as an immovable and impervious object. "But I do not believe in this distinction between the dark and the light. To me they are but one and the same. And I have come to complete my learning by mastering the techniques of the Sith methods for using the Force-not the dark side of the Force - just the Force."

The spirit raised its head slightly as if summoning long-dormant memories or receiving information from some invisible source. Vara's breathing had begun to speed up, and she did her best to mask her nervousness, for to allow the specter to see such weakness would be the last mistake she would ever make.

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.