The Loyalty of the Dark

Chapter 30

"The Force determines our paths, do not forget that, Zilla."

Today was the day.

Zilla was standing atop a tower, watching as the sun rose in the distance as the wind blew in her face—chilling but welcome to her overheated skin. She had not slept once that night, but she felt ready.

Ready for the fight she knew would soon come.

"Never lower your defences! That is how you get yourself killed."

The Sith apprentice's saber flashed on, deflecting the blast right at the person who shot it. Assasin number five down.

She didn't bother to stay and look, instead leaning forward as though she was going to reach out and attempt to capture the sun's golden rays before gravity took control and pulled her down into the darkness, dropping from the tower like a stone off a cliff.

"I don't care of the price, keep her alive."

Zilla landed crouched on the sidewalk far below where she had jumped—her entire body jarring painfully from the impact despite the Force's assistance. She could feel her skin crack and blood run down her back from reopened or newly opened wounds. The pain was constant now, always there no matter how carefully she moved—even if she didn't move at all and just breathed. Pain turned to power. Power turned to determination. And determination dulled her senses to the pain as she fought on.

Zilla would be dead by sundown, with or without Sidious's help. She could feel it in her bones. Death was coming for her, hovering just out of reach.

"Almost there, Master," Zilla whispered to herself as she painfully stood. Almost there to guarantee Padmé's safety. Almost there to permanently stop Anakin's fall.

Almost there to rejoin Vader in death.

Almost there.