A pair of massive, ancient doors loom at the entrance to the throne room. Upon opening, they give way to a large chamber with a high ceiling carved smoothly into stone. The chamber itself is the size of a professional holo-ball court but the hard-tile flooring has been sand-blasted to perfection and patterned symmetrically throughout. Tall, rounded pillars frame a center dais that forms an elevator platform. Perfectly centered on the low platform is the heart of Clan Arcona's power--the Serpentine Throne. The ornate throne stands several feet above the head of even the tallest Shadow Lords. The dais is back lit by an ever glowing wall of flame that attunes itself to the order-color of the current Consul. A sable carpet trimmed with white lays down over the shallow steps and continues all the way towards the entrance doors.
The Throne Room is completely sound-proofed, and almost feels like entering a vacuum. Voices carry easily, but never leave the chamber. A combination of alchemy and engineering allow the room to be shut off from the rest of the Citadel while maintaining proper ventilation for the unique curtain of flame. It maintains a steady room temperature, ignorant to the climate outside and throughout the Citadel's ancient walls.

Andrelious burst through the throne room’s doors. He had been forced to slay his way through the citadel, having been quickly identified as a traitor and member of Arcona’s hated rival, Clan Taldryan. Killing and wounding former allies hadn’t bothered the Sith; he remembered just how hard many of them had tried to harm him and his family when they had fled from Selen.

“Inahj! So nice of you to drop by!” Zakath hissed. The Barabel was waiting near the Serpentine Throne, ready and armed with his lightsaber.

“Zakath. I’d like you to tell the Shadow Lord that I need to see her, please. And I’d appreciate if your people would stop firing on me,” Andrelious stated.

The Arconan grinned. “Do you think Atyiru is stupid? We know why you’re here. Conzider yourzelf under arrest.”

“I’m warning you, Zakath. There’s very little stopping me from tearing this room apart to get rid of you. You are, after all, considered undesirable,” the Warlord snapped back.

“Not coming quietly? Very well. My orderz didn’t state you had to be in one piece. I shall enjoy thiz, hew-mon,” Zakath replied.

“And so will I,” Andrelious answered, readying his lightsaber.

Zakath leapt in the air, snarling as he landed inches away from his opponent. He swung his lightsaber directly at Andrelious’ head, but the Warlord had moved to block the blow almost before Zakath had even begun the attack. He had not anticipated just how powerful the attack would be, however, and found himself stumbling backwards as the Barabel’s blade smashed into his. Zakath followed up with another strong slash, trying to force his opponent to give up further ground, but the Warlord side-stepped, leaving the Seer cutting through thin air.

“You shouldn’t have come back, Inahj. There are some in the summit who would pay handsomely to see you on a slab. I, on the other hand, want to have some fun firzt. It’s been a while since we caught anyone working with Taldryan. I’m sure you’ll have a lot to tell uz,” the Barabel threatened.

“I’m afraid that will not be happening. The Elders of Taldryan have given me the strength I need to defeat you. But I will not forget my years here on Selen,” Andrelious answered.

“You seem pretty intent on killing me. Am I not worthy of such clemency?” Zakath queried.

The Warlord smirked. “You and that psychotic bitch you call a daughter murdered Naradas. Let’s just say I preferred his company,”

Zakath grinned again. “So it iz perzonal. Az uzual,”

Andrelious didn’t answer. He was moving back towards the Barabel, lightsaber held high, and slashed downwards, forcing Zakath into a more defensive stance. The Warlord’s eyes glinted scarlet as he attacked, the sheer hatred he felt towards his opponent burning away any doubts he was feeling as to what to do.

“You let the summit betray Arcona’s roots, Zakath. Naradas is just why I’m coming for you first,” Andrelious hissed as the two lightsabers met in mid-air, hissing and crackling as their blades interlocked.

“I let the Summit betray Arcona’z rootz?” Zakath said incredulously as he strained against the Human’s lightsaber, their blades crackling as the Barabel’s greater strength began to tell, pushing Andrelious’ blade slowly backward. “Stupid az ever, I see.”

That elicited a low growl from Andrelious, but before he could retort back, Zakath abruptly pulled away, whirling out of reach before thrusting his hand forward in the Warlord’s direction, an invisible wave of energy staggering the Human backward and causing him to stumble down the stairs leading off the elevated platform. Andrelious landed on the ground floor with a slight groan escaping from his mouth.

Zakath glared down the stairs at the fallen Warlord, his eyes glowing violet as he began to draw upon the Dark Side, feeding his connection to it with his hatred for Andrelious. An instant later, he threw his free hand forward and dark lightning erupted from his wicked talons, streaking down at the Sith. Andrelious reacted almost instantly, his scarlet blade intercepting the bolt before it could slam into his chest. A second later, the Barabel let the lightning die away.

“Az for Naradaz…” Zakath let a dark chuckle escape him as he stared down at the Human, his mouth spreading into a wide grin that revealed his razor sharp teeth. “He got exactly what he dezerved, nothing more. You should have heard hiz screamz.”

“He will be avenged,” Andrelious snarled before he let loose a lurcid bolt of electricity at the Barabel, who reacted instantly with a sweep of his lightsaber that intercepted the bolt and absorbed it. “He was a far better person than you ever were.”

“Then you will enjoy hiz company when you finally join him,” Zakath growled before he leapt down the stairs, his scarlet blade raised above him in a two handed grip.

Zakath’s blade smashed into Andrelious’ own blade, staggering the Sith Warlord slightly, and before he could recover, the Barabel seized the initiative. His lightsaber recoiled and smashed again and again into Andrelious’ defensive parrying and blocks, forcing him back step by step. The Barabel’s fury grew as he noticed that the Human’s attention was seemingly divided, as if he was trying to pay attention to two things at once. Letting loose another loud snarl, the Barabel continued his battering assault, aiming to break through Andrelious’ defenses and slice off his lightsaber arm.

And then the next thing Zakath knew he found crashing backward onto the floor as invisible hands pulled his feet forward, toppling him. His sixth sense whispered at him to roll away, and Zakath obeyed, instantly moving leftward- just as Andrelious’ lightsaber chopped downward, burning through the stone floor and taking the tip of the Barabel’s tail with it.

Zakath let out a loud roar as the burning pain shot through his tail before he managed to dampen the pain and rise to his feet, his blade already moving to intercept the Warlord’s intended death blow. The blades crashed into each other, and for a precious few seconds, the two strained at each other, Zakath’s eyes glowing brighter as he fed his power with his pain. A second later, Andrelious whirled away unexpectedly, the Barabel’s blade suddenly slicing through thin air as the Warlord darted back up the stairs, his form clearly visible through the violet flames that lined the wall behind the Serpentine Throne. An instant later, ruby blaster bolts erupted, sending the Barabel diving sideways.

I will break him, Zakath thought angrily as he drew inward, the next explosion of firepower from above suddenly disappearing just before it could hit the Barabel. I swear, he will fear me again once my foot is crushed against his throat.

“You used to be the master of your own destiny. Look at you now. Giving up the ways of the Sith just because somebody asked. Pathetic!” Andrelious hissed.

“I am simply not az narrow minded az I once waz. Atyiru alwayz said you were a very obtuze one. That will your undoing,” Zakath answered.

Charging in with a growl, the Seer jumped in the air, trying to land directly on top of his opponent. Andrelious backpedaled, forced to quickly switch from blaster to lightsaber, raising his blade as Zakath came crashing down. The two lightsabers collided in mid-air, the Warlord’s muscles straining hard as he parried the Barabel’s attack.

Before long, Zakath was again using his strength to force the Taldryanite onto the back foot. He aimed powerful, yet fast attacks across Andrelious’ entire reach, compelling the Sith to concentrate fully on the battle rather than on any Force based trickery.

Ducking as he took an extra step back, Andrelious managed to force his enemy to over-extend himself just enough to break his momentum. With a wicked grin, the Warlord aimed a burst of lightning at the Arconan, the natural colour of his eyes completely overtaken by the yellow and red hues of dark side energy.

“Nice try,” Zakath taunted as the lightning dissipated half an inch from his body.

“Using the Force like a shield to protect the weak. You’ve regressed so much. To think that I was beginning to respect you when I left,” Andrelious spat.

The Barabel snorted derisively. “And Atyiru provez herzelf correct once again. Your narrow-minded concept of rezpect meanz nothing to me, Inahj.”

“All of you in Arcona. All trying to make Atyiru proud. Don’t you sense the conflict in her? She doesn’t even know what she wants for herself. What will you do if she turns Sith?” The Warlord retorted with a disgusted tone of his own.

“My loyalty iz with her no matter what, Inahj. You abandoned uz becuaze of your refuzal to see the wizdom in diverzity,” Zakath shot back.

Andrelious answered with a crushing blow of his lightsaber. Zakath moved his blade downwards to intercept, easily blocking the rather poorly aimed attack, but it was clear that the ex-Imperial was far from finished. He followed his initial move up with a series of well choreographed slashes of his blade that tested the Seer’s resolve as much as they did his dexterity. The pair continued to trade powerful blows; they knew each other’s styles and how to counter each other so well that an uneducated observer would have believed they were simply sparring with each other.

As his enemy swung back, ready to strike again with all his might, Zakath clenched his free hand into a fist and hit the Sith with a powerful uppercut, knocking Andrelious backwards. The Barabel moved forwards, following up with a punch square on the centre of the Warlord’s face that broke his nose with a satisfying crunch. Blood spurted down Andrelious’ face, but the Sith was far from beaten as he counter-attacked, quickly hurling Zakath away with a telekinetic attack so powerful that the Seer felt as if he’d run into a wall of pure of duracrete.

As the Barabel climbed to his feet, Andrelious used the brief pause in combat to let the Force tend to damage to his nose. He managed to knit the destroyed blood vessels back together, stopping the almost torrential bleeding. He was about to move on to repair the broken bones when he noticed his opponent charging in once again. Noticing that Zakath was again about to leap, the Warlord reached for his belt and pulled out his Sapphire Blade, thrusting it towards the Seer right as he landed.

The Sacramental blade pierced Zakath’s scaley skin with ease, burrowing itself deep inside the Barabel’s body. At the same time, his lightsaber swung into Andrelious’, the force of the blow enough to cause the Warlord to drop his weapon. Though in pain, the Arconan had enough strength left to slash violently at Andrelious, who was unable to do anything the weapon slicing through his left wrist, severing his hand.

Grimacing with a mixture of pain and anger, the Warlord violently tugged his Sapphire Blade out of Zakath’s body, deliberately twisting it so as to widen the stab wound.

“They’ll come to help me, Inahj. You’re doomed,” the Seer spluttered, finding his pain intense enough to make standing difficult. The large wound that his opponent had inflicted poured with blood, but the Warlord was apparently far more interested in saving his own skin.

“We shall see. Goodbye, Zakath. Consider yourself most fortunate,” Andrelious replied, gathering his fallen lightsaber. With a final look back at his injured enemy, the Warlord exited the Throne Room.

Next time we finish it.