The sky was coloured a dark orange, the setting sun casting eery shadows over the burning buildings, tall dark clouds hanging over the city as smoke arose. Ashes flew through the air like terrifying snow, covering the blood-stained streets in a grey veil.

It was completely silent aside from the sound of fire, a silence that made a chill run up every bone in my body. It should've been filled with screams, with the sound of battle, but all I could hear was the cracking of the heat as it licked the homes of my people. "I shouldn't be here." Whispers fell of my lips as an icy cold settled in my stomach.

"Beware the darkness of power." The same voice echoed through my head as I stood there, determined, narrowed eyes looking at my surroundings. "Beware the stalker of dreams." My heart was thumping and I could feel the adrenaline coursing through my veins as I struggled to focus. My vision stuttered every few seconds, glitching like some hologram.

"Beware the corrupted once trusted." My eyes went down, focussing on the bodies littered on the floor and the blood that formed a dark puddle everywhere the eye could see. I bowed down next to the closest body, trying to see his face, yet finding it distorted, as if someone had tried to erase it. "Beware one who is not who he seems."

Sighing, I looked up at the sky, expecting to see that dark figure flying over. Ashes landed on my cheeks and stuck to my eyelashes, creating a cloudy image of the view above. "Are you sure about this?!" I yelled, standing back up on my feet and trying to make my way over the street.

"Try to concentrate." Obi Wan's voice echoed through the dream, making me roll my eyes and fold my arms before my chest. "Find something, anything, that might tell us what is going on."

"You concentrate." I sighed, walking further up the steps leading to the palace. With every step blood splashed from beneath my boots, making a sickening sound that made goosebumps appear all over my body.

I felt myself drifting closer to despair, as I normally did, yet tried to hang onto that sliver of light that kept me in focus. There was a ghost of a touch lingering on both my shoulders, a slight hint of warmth that I used to fight the icy cold. They are right here with me. I told myself, trying to collect the last remainder of my courage.

"Crimson eyes shall awaken, -" That same shadow flew over me, making me glance up at the sky, following the foggy outlines of its figure. Yet, I still couldn't see what it was, for it was a mere dark shadow passing over before the sun shone right into my eyes again.

"Are you seeing this?" Quickening my pace, I tried to keep up with it, following it towards the castle. "Royal blood shall be spilled;" Ashes flew all around me, sticking to my armor, waving through my hair till I was almost completely covered with grey. I had to raise my hand before my eyes, lest I be completely blinded.

"Follow it, you must. Find out what it is, we will." I huffed in protest but followed his commands all the same. There was limited time to solve this puzzle before the final flash came, the moment where I always awoke. I wasn't ready to dive back into this nightmare to answer their questions again. I had to get it right the first time.

"Streets stained in ashen paint, " I opened the doors to the throne room with a loud bang, eyes darting around the hall before they landed on two figures on the other side. The throne was empty but it was the image before it that made my heart stop beating. "When thousand innocents are killed."

"No." Stepping back, eyes widened, my legs trembled as I saw the image. It was like my mind short circuited. I turned my head away, closed my eyes and balled my fists, nails digging into my skin. "Get me out of here, now!"

"Something is coming to tear the earth; something is coming to scorch the ground;"

"Lyanna, concentrate. It is not real." Obi's voice echoed through the halls.

"It looks real to me." Clutching my hands before my eyes, I fought the urge to see it again. "Please, Obi, get me out!"

"Valeria will fall beneath thunder and ashes, -"

"We're right here with you, Lyanna." His voice was softer. "You're not alone. You're safe. All you need to do is look."

I trembled with fear, making me hiss through my teeth, tear-clouded eyes lifting again to face the vision. There was a dark figure with great, black wings, huddled over a corpse lying in the puddle of blood, feathers framing them both, dipped in that terrible red liquid. It was merely a shadow, crouched over a body that was completely hidden from my sight. Yet, I saw its hand, lying limply at its side, facing upwards with a sword lying next to it. There was no mistaking that he or she was dead, and that the shadow above it had done the deed.

"The two fates shall at last be bound." As if the figure heard it, it glanced up from the corpse, flaming red eyes focusing right on my figure, great black wings rising up and shadows forming behind it. Then, with one brilliant flash as it swung its wings forward, the same blinding light erupted from it and tore the entire throne rooms to pieces. The last thing I saw was flames rising from the cracks, engulfing me and the entire throne room as it burst, a single threatening voice sounding loudly. "You will not survive."

"NO!" I jolted wide awake, sitting upright, eyes darting around the room as it came into focus. The sun blinded me, the light brown colour of the room reflecting everything right into my eyes. Hands grasped me from the side, holding my upper arm in place. They were talking to me, but I was too long gone to actually hear them.

Breathing heavily, realization dawned on me. "Arthas." It was but a whisper, as if I was afraid to even utter his name. I saw his eyes before me, those raged-filled crimson eyes staring back at me, his hand reaching out to me as if he was trying to take me with him. "No." Their hold tightened, but I wrung free and jumped on my feet, starting to pace in the room with hastened breath.

"It's Arthas, it has to be." As soon as I could speak, my eyes focused on both Obi Wan and Yoda as they watched me. Obi's eyes were filled with sympathy, yet Yoda was looking at me with a cool, pensive gaze. "Crimson eyes shall awaken, stalker of dreams, it all makes sense!" I continued, pulling on my hair, trying to get my thoughts in order.

"He's going to break free again!" I felt the tears prickling my eyes but paid no mind to it. "He was the one we saw at the end, I'm sure of it! Those red eyes, I know it, it was him. He's going to come back!"

"Lyanna, calm down, take a deep breath." Obi tried to reach out to me but I wasn't having it.

"No, you saw it too, right?!" Scrunching my eyebrows together, I watched him from the corner of my vision. Both him and Yoda had taken a hold of me, watching the dream as it unfolded. After I suffered the same nightmare as we slept and woke up screaming, Obi Wan decided that it was best to find out what they meant, both to reassure me and himself that I wasn't going crazy. "You saw his wings, his eyes?! Didn't you recognize him?"

"Lyanna, it could have been anybody." Obi softly whispered, watching me from his seated position.

"Anybody?" My voice broke as I tried to collect my breath. "Nobody has that amount of power, nobody but him. I'm telling you, Obi, he's going to come back. I wasn't before, but now... now I'm sure of it. He's going to try and take the throne again and this time, this time there is no miracle that can stop him."

"Unclear, your vision is." We both immediately turned towards master Yoda as he spoke, watching his little green eyes as they narrowed in thought. "Clouded by the dark side, these things are. Make assumptions of its meaning, we must not. Meditate on this, I must."

"Master Yoda, I can't wait that long. If what I think is true, I have to warn Aidan before it's too late." By the sight of him, my nerves diminished, yet the fear resided within me still.

Yoda and Obi Wan glanced at each other, holding some wordless debate that I wasn't a part of. "We don't know when it will come to pass, if it will even come to pass. Visions are rarely as they seem. These are tricks, and we must not let them fool us." Obi Wan stood up from his chair and walked towards me, keeping his arms folded behind his back. "You shouldn't put too much trust in what you think you saw."

"But Obi, the stakes are too high to ignore, -"

"Lyanna." He interrupted me and merely put his hand on my shoulders, eyes looking deeply into mine. I felt myself calm down almost immediately, even if he didn't really say anything to accomplish it. Butterflies fluttered in my stomach, and I had to hold myself back from flying into his arms. Instead, I sighed, casting my eyes down to the floor. All this secrecy was killing me.

"Right now, more important matters, there are." Yoda leapt off his seat and to the floor, making his way towards us and glancing up at our towering figures. "A dinner to attend, you have, mmh?"

"Right, senator Amidala's dinner." I let out a deep breath, rubbing my knuckles against my eyes. "Politics are exactly what I need right now."

"It will take your mind off of this, your majesty." Obi smiled at me.

I scoffed, looking into his eyes as they shone with admiration. "It would be a miracle if it did."

Yoda gave a light chuckle and waddled his way over to the door, where he glanced back at the two of us. "Get master Windu, I will. Escorting you this night, he will be."

"Right. Thank you, master Yoda." My breath felt heavy as I watched him leave, closing the door behind him. My eyes then darted towards Obi Wan, who was now staring out the window. "So, you're not coming tonight?"

"I have other matters to attend to, I'm afraid." The words rolled off his tongue easily as he thought deeply.

"Hmm." Humming, I came to stand next to him, mimicking the way he folded his arms behind his back. I could almost feel his thoughts swirling. To distract me from my own personal chaos, I instead tried to focus on his. "What's on your mind?" I glanced at him sideways, watching the sun shining right into his eyes, illuminating the brilliant colour that played within them.

"I wonder..." Obi played with his beard, staring out over the horizon. "Whether there's still a part of Arthas inside of you that, -" After noticing the way I scoffed and crossed my arms before my chest, he quickly turned towards me and placed a soothing hand on my arm. "don't get me wrong, princess, but a part that may be making you see these images right now. These visions, maybe it's him that's putting them there willingly, to try and make you return to him."

"I died, Obi Wan, for if you don't remember." I sighed, glancing away from his piercing eyes. "That should've gotten rid of his... piece, too. There should be no way for him to force himself into my mind like that, not while he's still trapped in time."

"I remember very clearly, princess." He forced me to look at him by placing his fingers underneath my jaw, gently lifting it so our gazes would meet. There was a sadness in his eyes that melted my heart almost immediately. "I don't think I'll ever forget." Obi whispered as he stepped closer.

"But that doesn't take away the fact that we have to take all possibilities into account." He continued. "And one is that when you came back, the part of him inside of you returned, too."

"Let's hope not." I whispered. "I don't feel like dying again."

"I'd rather you don't, too." Obi Wan whispered so softly that I had to go nearer to hear him. He smiled, thumb gently touching my lower lip as he gazed at me. Slowly, he lowered himself, lips ghosting over mine. "I love you."

I froze in place, eyes widening as I looked into his. My breath was stolen, as he had taken almost everything else. "I love you, Obi." I whispered the moment I had regained the ability to do so.

Without any further warning he planted his lips onto mine, pulling me closer by placing his hand on my waist. He slightly bend me over his arm, holding my face delicately in his other hand, as if I would break with even the slightest amount of force. I couldn't help but moan softly into the kiss, closing my eyes and feeling myself drift away in a perfect ocean.

The moment he dropped his hands to my thighs I knew what he was planning. So, I draped my arms around his shoulders and let him lift me up, wrapping my legs around his waist and knotting my fingers in his hair. Gods, I loved the way he held me, the soft but eager way he touched me, the way his beard scratched my skin perfectly, contrasting to the delicate way his lips wrapped around mine.

"Windu is coming." Obi broke away for a second and then quickly placed his lips back on mine, muffling the frustrated huff that had tried to escape my lips.

"Ugh." I rolled my eyes, biting my lip when he used the opportunity to plant a trail of kisses down my neck. "Are you sure you can't come?"

"Oh, I'm sure." Obi Wan snickered, placing a few kisses right underneath my jaw before he started to whisper into my ear. "Because if I take you, I won't be able to keep my hands off of you." I didn't even have time to respond before he planted his lips right back on mine, taking my breath away. Eyes widened and limbs trembling, I felt the fires he had suddenly evoked blossoming at the pit of my stomach.

"Now, act natural." He planted me right back on my feet again and took a few steps away, straightening his back and folding his arms behind him as usual, as if nothing had even happened. I, on the contrary, couldn't wipe the redness off my cheeks as easily as he did, nor the hastened breaths I was forced to take.

Before I even had the chance to collect myself the door opened, revealing Mace Windu dressed in his usual jedi robes. "Your majesty." He spoke dryly, eyeing my figure with suspicion before he let his gaze land on Obi Wan. He, as usual, looked serene and collected.

"Master Windu." He even bowed slightly before him with a smile on his face.

Windu nodded at him with respect before turning back towards me, his face falling to that same robot-like facade. "Come with me, your majesty, you have a dinner to attend."

Ooooh the plans I have for this story. I've written out the main plotline and mannnn... it's going to be awesome. Can't wait to introduce Maul into this book.

Special shoutout to @ponca_a because you've been here all this time and I am so grateful for your endless support. You're amazing and I wanted to let you know that J.