"May I?"

Obi Wan's eyes widened, confusion and hesitation flickering through them. His lightsaber lowered by his side unconsciously as the sun bathed his skin in warm colours. Behind him the sith temple stood, the dark stones contrasting against the light of his tunic and the warm hues of the sky. Dawn was breaking, and it set the sky alight with colours.

The jedi was trembling with dread, his mind fogged by fear. All he could see were the flashes of the past. How Satine stood beside Maul and was killed right before his eyes before he could even have the chance to intervene. He'd watched, unable to do anything else but hold her tightly against him as she passed.

I couldn't let it get to me, no, I couldn't even wait another second for his permission before the sith could prepare himself, no matter how much I wanted to soothe his fear.

"What, -" Maul snickered behind me, oblivious of what was about to come his way.

It was enough to drive me over the edge. In one burst my wings sprouted from my back in a blazing glory. Feathers spread as my wings unwrapped, the tips reaching till 6 feet on either side of me, scorching everything in its path. The flames enraged until they encompassed every single inch of those grand wings and became them, casting the cliffside in its searing light.

Maul was sent backwards by the force, his entire chest burned by the melting fire as he let out an anguished cry. His lightsaber scorched the flesh of my neck as he was flung away, making me hiss out in pain, but the cut wasn't deep enough to hit anything major. I didn't give him even a moment to react before swinging those wings down, lifting myself in the air and carrying the mandalorians holding my limbs with me.

Flames scattered over the ground in a wave, scorching the ground and starting a growing fire that engulfed everyone in its radius. The mandalorians yelled and pulled against the restraints holding me as they were carried away by the current, banging against each other underneath me and loosening their grip, falling straight into the pit of fire. They were unconscious even before they hit the ground.

All the others had to shield themselves from the flames, activating their shields or staggering backwards and putting their hands up against the light before they were blinded.

I didn't give them even a moment to recover. With another great swing of my wings, I brought myself back to the ground, letting my fist pound the surface and thus creating a massive wave of fire that erupted around me. For a moment all I could see was that fire, illuminating everything around me, whirling like a wreaking chaos and expanding exponentially. Blue and red waved together as the ground scorched.

The cliffside groaned and cracked as if howling in pain but I didn't take the time to see what damage I had caused to it. Instead, I quickly charged towards the closest Mandalorian I could see and disarmed him with a few practiced moves, pointing his blaster at his fellow soldiers while I knocked him out with a kick straight to the head. My vision was red with bloodlust and I wasn't about to deny it the satisfaction.

And thus, the fighting started. The other Mandalorians had either recovered or were lying on the ground, groaning, their hands reaching towards their scorched flesh. Some had activated their jetpacks and were now soaring through the air and away from the heat, firing at either me or the jedi. I hadn't spotted the sith amidst the smoke yet but I could hear his frustrated growling through the groaning of his men.

"Lyanna!" A light figure made his way towards me through the smoke and fire, his lightsaber slashing through anyone who came near. He didn't seem bothered by the flames, and they bowed away from him the moment he came near. Obi Wan reached my side, continuing to deflect the shots that came our way while I sent wave after wave of flames towards our opponents.

"We need to get out of here." He said as our shoulders bumped. Right after he'd spoken a mandalorian duck right for him from the air, blaster pointed straight towards his forehead. Before he could even think to pull the trigger the jedi had extended his hand and thrown him to the side, where I engulfed him in another sea of flames.

"You get out of here." I hissed, stepping away from him and towards the spot I knew Maul remained hidden by smoke. The fury that blinded me was overwhelming, especially after he'd forced me to kneel on the ground. Even after all that I'd been through, losing my titles and posing as an obedient doctor for months, that was something I couldn't simply let go of.

My eyes narrowed when I could spot the faint glowing of his yellow eyes behind the clouds, the hatred within me boiling. "I'm finishing this."

Then, with one move apart with both my hands, I drove away the smoke to engulf our other opponents and created a straight path towards the sith. The smoke and flames overwhelmed the others, making them cough and fall towards the ground, while Maul narrowed his eyes, staring me down as he emerged.

For a moment we stared at each other. "You made a mistake in thinking me a mere pawn, Maul." I hissed and ignited my fists with blue flames, ones that burned hotter than any normal one. My wings lifted behind me and thus enraged the ones surrounding the mandalorians, turning the same colour. Agonized screaming followed soon after. "And you will pay the price for it."

His mouth purled up into a snarling smile as he twirled his red lightsaber by his side, his feet shuffling over the ground and into a battle position. "Did I?" Maul smirked, cackling. "Seems you're still one step behind, doctor."

I growled in response as my vision turned red and let the fires around me enrage. Faintly I could feel something growing on my arm, a phantom hand crawling up, up, up towards my head and heart. There, it prodded against a wall, testing its boundaries, becoming more forceful with every second. Soon it turned into a pounding that only further enraged the boiling hatred and wrath within me. It threatened to overtake me, and I knew it would the moment I reached the sith.

After I'd taken but a single step forward I heard a lightsaber igniting from behind, immediately followed by a loud cracking that echoed through the mountains like thunder. The very foundation I was standing on shook.

Crumbling followed, so loud it sounded through my entire body. The ground thrilled and tore and soon I saw those tears in the corner of my vision, like veins, running through the surface and past me. My eyes quickly shot their way and followed their path. They stopped mere inches before the feet of the Dathomirian.

The cliffside was breaking and we were on the very edge of it. Stones and debris tumbled down and it took a dangerously long time till we could hear them crashing on the ground. I almost lost my balance the moment another piece broke off the cliffside.

In one swift move I turned around and faced the jedi, my breath leaving my body in a surprised, furious gasp. Those dark tendrils and pounding seemed to vanish the moment I saw him.

"I'm sorry, Lyanna, -" Obi Wan muttered, his auburn hair waving before his eyes in the wind. His hands were clasped around his lightsaber which he'd burrowed into the already unstable ground. From there the cracks grew and the surface started to break, pieces and bits already falling down the cliffside while the part he was on started to rock unstably.

He breathed out deeply as our gazes met. "but I can't let you." Then, the surface cracked with him on it.

"Obi!" Dread filled my heart the moment I saw his body being taken by gravity. I darted forward to grasp his hand, my wings lifting me in the air, to yank him from the surface and keep him from tumbling down the cliffside but I was too late.

I could feel the faintest touch at the tip of my fingers before he was torn away, falling through the sky and down the enormous height, surrounded by the pieces of the cliffside he'd torn apart. I watched him fall amidst the debris, our eyes focussed on each other as the distance between us expanded.

"Finish it." That distant voice whispered in my head.

In the last second I glanced back towards Maul, doubt running through me as I looked at those amused eyes. Time seemed to slow as our gazes connected and a knowing smirk appeared on his lips. My body was spiked with adrenaline, the bloodthirst still thrumming through my veins but there was something else, something far stronger than my pride and the need to take revenge combined.

It made me turn around and dive off the edge in a heartbeat. It didn't matter that the sith was still there, unhurt and alive. It didn't matter that I couldn't exact my revenge or prove my previous statements to be true because what or who now soured through the air down below towards and inevitable death was far more important, no matter how badly he'd enraged or hurt me.

"Obi!" I was gliding through the air, zigzagging between the numerous pieces of earth that now tumbled down the cliffside. The fire trailed behind me as I searched for him amidst the ruins, the air flowing through my hair as the surface down below neared.

"Obi Wan!" Twisting and turning, I tried to find him amongst the debris. My heart seemed to burst with worry until finally I spotted him, running along a falling piece of surface. His gaze shot my way as he neared the edge, the wind around us threatening to pull him from the little purchase he'd found.

"Jump!" I yelled at him right before he would've hit the ground. He shot into the air and reached out, huffing when I caught him mid-air and tore him with me.

"Hold on!" Groaning, my muscles strained as I tried to lift us from the descend, my wings aching and fighting against the wind while my arms kept themselves tightly secured around his waist.

Some nerve wrecking seconds later I finally managed to stabilize our flight. My limbs shivered with the effort but the relief that filled me shut out their tiredness. "Lyanna, we need to head back to the station, -" Obi Wan yelled over the raging wind when we'd found a safe height, flying over the vast forest now hundreds of feet away from the cliffside.

But when the sound of jetpacks came near he quickly turned his head and spotted the Mandalorians now headed our way. Four of them emerged from behind the trees, their weapons pointed towards us. "Watch out!" Obi Wan yelled, pulling at my arm to get my attention but it was too late.

A net was shot straight at us, engulfing my left wing, making me lose my balance only slightly. I growled, moving the feathers mid-flight to try and shake it off. I was about to succeed when a current of electricity suddenly passed through it and shook me straight to my core.

I was blinded as the pain tore through my entire body and black spots covered my vision, an anguished cry leaving my lips as I did my best not to tumble straight towards the ground. But I couldn't hold out much longer, not now that my muscles spasmed and protested against the weight of him while electricity seemed to run through every fibre of my body.

The jedi I was holding quickly caught on. "The river, hurry!" Obi Wan yelled and pulled at my arm, directing me towards the river soaring down the mountain. "Hold on, princess!" He tightened his grip as black spots started to cover my vision and nausea crept up my throat.

It was too much, the pain, the knowledge that if I let go he'd surely tumble to death. The sound of the river, the water crashing down onto the rocks kept me from giving up in the last few moments. "Now!" Obi Wan yelled the moment we reached the water.

I let go. A moment passed as we fell through the air, a moment in which everything seemed to cease and hold in its breath until we crashed. The impact tore through my entire body, pain slashing through my back. I could feel the water boiling around me, the fire fighting against the cold of it until every single spark was put out and each feather returned to its black colour, drifting.

Everything was quiet for a moment.

I was engulfed. Encompassed by that ice cold liquid, flowing against my skin as we sunk ever deeper into the pit. My wings remained before me, stretched out to the surface where they barely crazed the edge. I could see the net they cast over me drifting upward, shaken off by the impact of the fall. The water soothed the burns on my limbs, turning the pain into bliss until suddenly that calm water turned into a malicious current.

It caught me in its grasp and swept me away swiftly. We were dragged along, pulled into its endless path. The gasp that left my mouth turned into a soundless gulp. I'd lost all control over my body, no matter how hard I tried to regain it.

I tried to grasp onto anything I could reach, the stone on the bottom, the weeds that slipped through my fingers but nothing could keep us from descending. I tumbled through the water hopelessly, hitting every damned stone on the way as we went further down the cliffside.

Every hit sent fiery shots of pain up my body. My shoulder, my elbow, my head. Each bumped against the stones and other debris that were also caught in the current. I could feel the skin tearing, and the swift gust of warmth that left.

But that wasn't the worst of it. No, the worst was when my back banged against the bottom and my wings cracked. I could hear it even over the raging of the water and made me quickly retract those wings. My vision blinded as I clenched my teeth to stop my mouth from opening in a soundless scream. I didn't even get the chance, not when I was dragged even further. My fingers clawed at the bottom but it was of no use.

Suddenly I came to a halt. I was still caught in the stream, my legs sweeping from under me as I remained on the bottom of the river, water finding its way into my nose and mouth. In a way, this was even worse. To feel everything drifting away around me yet be stuck in that position. When I tried to pull free, I discovered that my shoulder was stuck on the bottom. To be more precise, the phoenix that adorned my shoulder guard had gotten caught.

I yelled in the water, mere bubbles escaping my mouth as all I could hear was the water raging all around me. Panic was rising. I placed my feet against the surface, trying to push myself free of the grasp. Water was trying to force its way into my nose, my throat, and all I could think of was air and the growing ache in my chest.

I needed to breathe, I needed to break free. I already felt the urge to breathe in the water.

As I put all my strength in my legs I felt a satisfying clank but then, then I was caught in the current again and swept away before I could even think to push myself to the surface. I was ready to give up until I felt fingers catching my wrist, pulling me from the river's grasp and upwards.

I broke the surface and gulped in the air, filling my aching lungs. The water swept against my neck, droplets dripping all over my face, and kept my body in its grasp.

"Hold on, princess!" Obi Wan yelled over the raging of the water. I looked at him, eyes widened, at how he held onto a log that had lodged itself against one of the protruding rocks. He had but one arm clasped around it, while the other held onto me tightly. His auburn hair now looked nearly black, matted against his face which was slick with water and all the dirt and debris that flowed through the river.

He didn't have a plan. There was no way we could remain there, and there was also no way to climb onto that log while we were caught in the current.

Still, I savoured the air I could now fill my lungs with and looked back at the path we still had to take. Dread blossomed in my stomach. We were mere feet away from a waterfall which would take us 100 feet down. It was a fall that could be lethal, especially with all the debris that was being dragged by the water.

I swiftly turned back towards Obi Wan, gaze snagging on the strained expression on his face before it drifted to something behind him. Something that was advancing quickly. Within a heartbeat my stomach roiled and my heart dropped.

"Obi!" I yelled over the raging water when the enormous log with protruding, pointed branches, came towards us. It would crush us before we had the chance to dodge it. "Let go, now!"

He didn't do so immediately. His gaze shot upwards and widened the moment he saw what was coming his way. His fingers tightened their hold on me by instinct as he inhaled deeply, shocked. By then it was already too late. He was hit, the impact making him loose his grip on the log and let out a pained scream that sent shivers down my spine.

We were immediately dragged away by the current, swept under the water. It crept into my mouth as I tried to scream his name, his fingers digging into my wrist because of what could only have been pure agony. My other hand reached for him, trying not too loose him in the chaos what was to come but the moment I felt his skin on the tip of my fingers we were falling, our bodies jerked into a different direction.

His grip around my wrist loosened. I tried to find him, desperately, my fingers shooting out towards the direction I'd felt him earlier but met with nothing but the water that forced us down.

Another scream erupted from my throat the moment I hit the water and sank to the bottom, all the noise suddenly gone and replaced by an eery silence. Gallons of water fell on top of me, forcing me against the bottom, but my desperation to find him was much stronger.

I saw nothing but darkness around me. I tried reaching out with my senses but the panic was making it hard to concentrate, along with the water that now made its way into my lungs. I had to breathe, before I was too dead to even help him. My feet planted themselves on the ground and pushed, making me shoot towards the surface.

The lake we'd landed in was much calmer. We'd already drifted towards the edges, the water pushing us to the outer banks. The moment I broke the surface and gulped in the air I could hear Obi a few feet away, climbing onto the bank and lifting himself out of the water.

Relief flooded me as I did the same, knees and hands gripping the pebbles and forcing my body out of the water. Droplets fell from my face and out of my hair which was matted against my cheek, the cold of the air biting at my skin. Rough coughs shook my entire body as my lungs forced out the water that I'd gulped in.

My entire chest ached but I kept on crawling out of the lake until I was at the outer edges, only my knees a few inches submerged. On my side I could hear Obi Wan groaning softly, breathing heavily. What was first relief soon turned into rage.

"What the hell were you thinking?!" My gaze shot his way, watching how he stood on all fours, his head bowed down as water dripped from his hair. "You could've fallen to your own bloody death!" I yelled, my fist pounding the floor as I lifted myself to my knees.

"I had him, could've ended this for both of us had you not, -" I halted mid-sentence when a pained groan escaped his lips and his arm remained clasped around his torso. My eyes drifted from the strained muscles of his biceps to his hand that held something against his chest. There, droplets that seemed almost black in the dark of the night seeped through his fingers.

"Obi?" My voice was barely above a whisper. As I blinked away the water that'd blurred my vision I could distinguish the branch that was protruding from his chest. By the gods, he'd been impaled.

"Obi Wan!" I quickly darted his way and gently turned him to his back till he was laying on the ground, hands hovering above the wound as I watched the enormous patch of red growing.

"Lyanna." Obi Wan muttered and then hissed in pain, eyes scrunching shot as his teeth bit the inside of his cheek to shut out the terrible pain. His skin had already paled and his hands were painfully cold. In the distance the engines of jetpacks rumbled through the air. His eyes opened, looking straight into mine.

"Lyanna, please, run."