C'mon, let's duel! (Soth)

[Zeke]

Zeke has been following the vampire for a while now. The man is responsible for the destruction of a convoy that was en route to a new planet being added to the New Republic. They sent Zeke and and a few squads of NRSF...a couple of other Jedi too. Of them, Zeke is the only one left. Now the two face off in a windswept plain on the planet the New Republic was visiting. He stands with his hands in his pockets where his sabers are kept, feet apart in a stable stance, turned with his left side toward Soth. Zeke's braid blows in the wind, and behind him lightning flashes, accompanied by the bass roll of thunder.

"Soth, you have killed several New Republic ambassadors, and the ambassadors of this good planet. This shall not pass."

[Lord Soth]

The young jedi knight could not help but to react to the unholy wave of cold that pressed upon him, gnawing at him as if from the grave it's self. Searing eye's of crimson blazed behind the ancient helm of the Black Rose that the Death Knight was know to wear...His elaborate tooled armor glistened under the periodic flashes that ripped through the sky. Dark and wicked cloud's boiled over head, threatening to spill their contents at any given moment...

"You will find young one,...Life give's and take's as it so pleases...As it is within my power and right to take it as I see fit." The Death Knight word's carried with them a tinge of sarcasm as he slowly approached the jedi. As Zeke pondered the word's of Soth, he noticed a translucent hue of violet surrounding the Sith; shimmering as the lighting crackled over them.

"I admire your courage,...jedi..." Soth almost spit the last word out as he spoke, then continued.

"...But soon,...you will fully understand the magnitude of the Dark-Side of the force..." One of the Dark Knight's twin saber blade's ignited, followed closely by the other...Their sickly green light cast Soth in a serial glow as he took a casual stance ten paces or so from Zeke...

"Come boy...Death awaits you..." Soth's hallow voice fell on the young man's mind in icy tone's. Much like the frigid wind that seemed to blow through Zeke's form when the Death Knight suddenly appeared from the shadowy landscape that whispered his name.

[Zeke]

Zeke draws his two sabers, the blue his master had presented him with and the pale green he'd been awarded the night of his promotion.

"Death is gonna be waiting a looooong time, pal..."

Zeke would rather not make the first move, Soth's got experience he doesn't, and if he makes a mistake, Soth'll crush him. But if Soth leads, that might happen anyways...

"Enough talk! C'mon pal, let's duel!"

Zeke moves forward, half-floating over the ground at Soth, sabers up in a defense. He lashes out with a strike that, if unblocked, will cleave Soth in two from his left hip to his right shoulder. The other saber maintains its position, ready for any counter attack.

[Lord Soth]

The Death Knight could already see the folly in the young jedi's attack as he swung upwards with his right saber. A wicked smile formed beneath Soth's helm at the thought of Zeke's sudden misfortune.

Without hesitation, Soth stepped back slightly, intercepting Zeke's saber with his own. In one fluent motion, the Dark Knight rolled both Zeke's and his own saber's skywards in a wide arc then back towards the ground, their trajectory falling under the complete control of Soth as he did so...The weapon's hissed and crackled in defiance as they made contact with one another. The darkened landscape about them was cast in an errie strobe of vibrant color's, the shadow's of evil seemed to draw ever so close...

As Soth finished the simple parried maneuver, it in turn caused the jedi's blade to be sorely over extend; leaving the man off balance to his left and exposing his right flank as the Death Knight intended...Soth then quickly brought the same parrying blade backwards in upon Zeke, humming as it tore deeply into meat of his right shoulder...The two combatant's were now slightly adjacent to one another when a powerful kick to Zeke's ribcage sent him hurling to the ground in a heap a number of feet away from Soth.

The Death Knight let out a sinister laugh that echoed about them as he spun his twin saber's to his side in a display of masterful dexterity.

"You foolish,...Foolish boy!" Soth snapped, forcing steel into his voice as he took a defensive stance.

[Zeke]

As Soth strikes, Zeke's free saber moves in a fast arc. Soth's kick is to quick, and the blow that would originally have cut deeply instead simply scored the dark lord's armor.

Zeke rolls away and springs nimbly to his feet, breathing deeply to compensate for the wind that Soth's kick had liberated him of. His shoulder stings and burns, but it should be ok, so long as he's careful. He watches intently as the vampire spins his saber, thinking how to defend, how to attack, how to come out of this with at least a draw. He allows his hands to dangle by his sides and bounces lightly on his toes. He's got a plan.

"1...2...3!"

Zeke throws his blue saber low at the Death Knight and runs in on the tail end of it to throw a high spinning kick, making sure his green saber in a position to block if Soth should counter.

[Lord Soth]

The Sith Master clenched his teeth in a hateful grimace as Zeke pressed the attack once more. Another flaw presented its self to the ancient knight as he instantly reacted to the brazen assault; one that Soth expected from a warrior who fought in desperation.

Soth focused on the metallic hilt of the blade as it rotated at him waist level, quickly cutting through it with dexterous precision and ease as it neared him. Brilliant sparks erupted and showered past the Death Knight as the hilt was cut in two and the blue blade dissipated.

Within milliseconds, Soth force sped at a forty-five degree angle to the side and left of the jedi who's right hand was now void of a weapon. The Death Knight elongated his body away from the man who was still in mid flight; leaning his armored torso outwards on a bent knee and low enough to slash upwards with one hand. Once again the sickly green blade tore through Zeke's flesh, wounding his hamstring as he passed to the side of Soth, kicking at open air...

As the jedi landed on the injured leg, he fumbled in his steps from the sudden pain the registered in his brain, rolling to the ground as his leg gave out from under him. Soth spun in a half turn as Zeke's back remained turned from him...A powerful "wave of force" slammed into Zeke's form as the Vampyre held out his left hand in his direction. The young jedi learner's body whiplashed backwards as he began to stand upright; the impact of it was violent and without warring, server enough to send Zeke flailing uncontrollably to the harsh graveled terrain once again...

"Your pathetic skills are no match to that of the Dark-Side of the force,...jedi." Soth hissed as his word's came to Zeke's ears in lethal mocking tones.

The black clouds that loomed above suddenly began to spill their waters that they could hold no longer. The torrential down pour beat upon the two men, stinging their faces and drenching them within a matter of moments...Indeed, this fight would take on a new twist as the elements raged around them...

[Zeke]

Zeke struggles to his feet, calling the two halves of the lightsaber to him and pocketing them. That one belonged to Maia, he'll have to fix it later. He breathes deep, the rain is refreshing.

"Ok, Zeke, think. It won't do to have him beat you because you're too focused on beating him. Chill. Relax. Think."

Soth's got a Force barrier, armor, and a double bladed saber. He's also stronger than Zeke both physically and in the Force. All Zeke's got is a single bladed saber and speed. He sits back, relaxing, resting lightly on the balls of his feet, eyes closed in concentration. His attacks have been met with disastrous counters. So let Soth do something.

"Dark side, light side, what's the diff? Just different means to the same end..."

[Lord Soth]

The low boom of thunder resounded over the barren landscape, powerful and majestic in it's own right. A silhouetted curtain of mountain's could be seen periodically as golden flashes of lighting coursed behind their distant range...The down pour of rain increasingly grew with each passing moment as the combatant's stood stoically, eyeing one another. The slit's within the Death Knight's helm burned like two hot coal's, searing orbit's of crimson that even the rain's could not quell.

The Dark Knight could sense the bitter frustration about the young man as he pondered in thought. Soth wasted no time in reacting to the jedi's idleness and indecisiveness.

Reaching to the Dark-Side, Soth summoned the word's of power from the ancient and sacred text's of the Sith; drawing upon the force as he uttered the chanted incantation's in low whispers...It was the spell of "Rage!" As it's possessive properties took hold of Soth; flowing over him in heated waves, it's welling energies greatly increased the Death Knight's Force attribute's as he recited the foreign word's of old...

As the moment's seemed to stretch by without any reaction from the armor clad warrior, it became evident that the Death Knight would not fall to the temptation set out by Zeke's...However, Zeke's slight hesitation would soon prove to be foolish on his part. The Death Knight growing weary and was now going to end it once and for all!...

With his left talon hand, Soth clenched it into a tight griping fist, instantly constricting the air flow of the jedi that was only yard's from him. Zeke clutched at his throat immediately, dropping his prized saber to the ground as he fought in vain for the life sustaining oxygen that would not come. It was if two powerful unseen hand's choked him, forcing him to the ground as his eye's widened in horror. Now greatly amplified due to the "Rage" spell, the "Force Choke" doubled in strength. It's iron tension threatening to break the fragile trachea bone's in Zeke's neck at any moment...If the jedi was wise, he would beg for his life...Or perhaps even beseech the Death Knight in the ancient code of honor and combat as it was traditional to do so...To spare him this day and to show mercy...

The golden thread of life was now on the brink of snapping, Zeke's life dwindled rapidly as Soth literally held it within his relentless grasp!...

[Zeke]

Zeke's happy grin returns, fighting the grimace of pain brought on by Soth's Force choke. He's jacking his power up, to make the process faster. Soth seems to want the fight over with. He's succeeding beautifully, but that kinda Force has gotta take some monstrous concentration to maintain. Zeke focuses his own power, the tiny light of his ability paling in comparison to Soth's demonic power. His saber shakes and goes spinning across the ground toward Soth like a flat disc. Zeke, despite the pain he's feeling, follows after it on a low trajectory. If Soth dodges the saber, Zeke can follow up. If the saber hits, Zeke simply has to call it to himself to deal the deathblow.

[Lord Soth]

Soth sneered as the wiry jedi fought in vain against the iron grip that threatened his very life...Zeke's breathing became increasingly labored as the Death Knight maintained his relentless grasp on him for the time being...The sever oxygen depletion caused the jedi's head to pound and throb in pain. Tiny speck's of white swirling light formed in front of Zeke eye's as he lobed his remaining saber at Soth. However, no sooner had the jedi released his weapon, Soth relinquished his unmerciful grasp on the man.

The Death Knight's eye's narrowed in a tight grimace as Zeke darted foolishly towards Soth once more, trailing his saber as his momentum picked up. Bidding his time, Soth awaited the jedi's weapon that rapidly approached in a low spin, it's humming blade whining as it rotated towards the Dark Knight black boot's. In an instant, and the precise time that was chosen by the Death Knight, Soth welled the power of the dark-side, forming an unseen solid wall that Zeke was fully unaware of.

With a resounding crash of spark's and flame, the spinning saber impacted the transparent wall, then immediately rebounded back upon it's own wielder. It was far to late for Zeke to evade or even react to the lethal blade as Soth's controlling focus guided it's trajectory backwards. Cleanly, and without any hindrance of it's momentum; the blade ripped deeply through jedi's right arm, severely incapacitating it...Millisecond's later, the young man's body slammed into the Force Wall with a sickening thud. Zake fell helplessly to the ground in a heap not far from the feet of the Death Knight, his body writhed in agony from the sudden impact as he rolled in the muddy soil. Dark crimson stain spilled freely from the multiple facial laceration's that were now on Zeke's bruised face. The refreshing rain water from above stung and burned the freshly opened wounds; diluting his life's blood as it ran down the man's face in a quick wash. Unconsciousness seemed to loom in Zeke's tired mind...


"Are you so eager to die this night jedi?" Soth replied smoothly as his mocking word's stung at Zeke's darkening mind. The cool rain droplet's beat down on the young jedi, painfully reminding him of his own consciousness that seemed to waver.

"Or will the price of your own pathetic life be forfeited to me in order that you may surfeit your own pride now?... Foolish boy..." The Death Knight snapped as he looked down upon the stricken man with contempt in his hollow voice.

[Zeke]

Zeke maintains eye contact with Soth. He refuses to give up...but he can't fight anymore.

"We'll settle this later..."

Zeke relaxes and calls his saber back. He heaves a tired sigh.

"You may have won this time...but I'll keep coming back, and keep coming back, until you're finished, Soth."

Zeke disappears in a flash, using the last of his strength to stand and escape.