Author: Red (dzohhar@yahoo.com)

Comments, critiques? Please! dzohhar@yahoo.com

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?There,? the smaller man pointed due west, at the range of mountains on the other side of the vale that stretched before them. A thin stripe of lighter grey could barely be discerned, cutting the vale in half ? the old road.

?That I?d do gladly.?

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We landed at a place that my Master indicated, at about sundown, and spent the night in the ship. Early the next morning we started off to the Temple. We travelled on foot, as was the custom, signifying respect to great ancient Masters and their teaching, and giving one an opportunity to reflect on the greatness of the tradition and one's own position within it. I followed my Master, wearing my formal robes, one step behind his left shoulder, a position I had gotten used to over the past few years when I had been living with him. I carried a small pack containing our supplies ? and (something that had puzzled me at first, but later I understood Master?s smirk when he suggested I should include it in my pack) a spare pair of pants.

As we went on, the huge dark pyramidal structure loomed far ahead of us over the wide and deep valley. I remember the weather was calm, there was not a wisp of wind down here, the leaves of trees hung limply, and there was not a living being besides us, not a single bird heard or seen, not even an insect buzzing. Nothing at all. Yet, oddly dark grey-and-magenta clouds swept over the sky. My Master said it was a good sign. I found this odd, because I had never heard him mention signs and omens before.

?Everything has a meaning,? he shot over his shoulder, never slowing his steady strides, ?you must learn to read them, and then to use them.?

?Yes, my Master,? I said as always, but my heart was lifted - as if it could be lifted any further. This day would make me not only apprentice to a Sith Master, but a Sith Apprentice. Yes, I vowed, I would learn anything and everything. I was ready to learn every fucking bug in the galaxy to be worthy of my Master.

The road was lined on both sides by grey stone figures and pillars; most of them were standing, but a few had fallen down. My Master had explained that some were images of ancient Sith Masters. Some were Apprentices who had never made it to Mastery, but who had made an important contribution to the Order so that their Masters had seen fit to perpetuate the memory of their role in the Order in this way. Others were monuments to important events or symbols of places. They all radiated power; I could feel that. It was the dark power with which I had already been acquainted, but there was also the dignity of age. I took in the crumbled edges, the moss-filled cavities, the weather-striped surfaces, and felt great pride to be a part of this long history. There was glory to it, greater than I ever had thought possible; and it made me smile to think that neither the dignified Jedi Council nor the Senate, nor anybody in the whole Galaxy had any idea about this jewel in the power that was our Order ? my Order ? and about the heavy concentration of Force that was this place. Each step towards the stairs of the Temple was a step on the Path ? it humbled me, it awed me, it purified me of all personal weaknesses and imperfections and made me a worthy vessel for what I was to receive ? the unspeakable, unimaginable Dark Side power.

At sunset we stopped at a place where the Temple?s long and deep shadow ended. Master took my bag from me and commanded me to kneel down where I stood in the middle of the road. I was not to eat, drink or sleep, but to meditate until he would return.

I meditated the whole night. My mind never wavered. I felt the strong Force-currents of this place flow through me. Never had meditation come so easily to me ? not that I ever had any difficulties concentrating my mind, but here it seemed to come unaided from without me and positively slam down on my head.

At sunrise my Master suddenly stood beside me. I hadn?t noticed his arrival. I turned quickly on my knees to face him. He touched my brow and said, "My Son (this was the only occasion when I was called Son, just as in the future there would be another time ? I hoped ? when I would call him Father), this is your First Coming. Today you will be presented to your ancestors. Today you will come to your roots. You will renounce the false peace of stagnation and find your strength in the bottomless well of anger and rage."

Then we proceeded towards the huge Temple. I realized that the road had ended where I spent the night. The temple was surrounded by a huge field of patches of grass and scant stunted shrubs that had a bitter but not unpleasant scent, not unlike the mountain pastures of my homeworld.

At the stairs my Master stopped and commanded me to kneel. Only masters were to walk on these stones: the way from the first step to the large doors was called the Path of Apprenticeship and, as an Apprentice, I had to crawl the entire way on my knees, as had all Apprentices before me, to mark our submission and dedication. My Master took my recently constructed lightsabre to present to the Ancients at the Altar ? this was another custom of the First Coming.

As I knelt on the first step, my Master said: "You have served well, my Son, you have been loyal, dedicated and fearless, and I have deemed you worthy of this day. You are ready to learn where your true power lies."

Worthy. I felt so proud. I knew my Master had had one or two apprentices before me; they, however, had never made it so far. They had not been worthy. One had been ? had seemed worthy, but obviously was not, otherwise I would not be here. He had died about a year after his initiation.

I climbed all the way up, my head respectfully lowered. On the last step my Master touched me again on the forehead. "My son," he said, "I am the one who takes you here today. I am your Master. I am everything, without me you are nothing. You are but what I make you to be, as I was made before you and all other Masters before me. I am all Masters and they are me. I am The Sith. A body may die, but The Sith is forever."

We crossed a small square to the heavy doors of the temple - about ten paces. The ground was covered with gravel and small stones, so that soon my pants were shredded and knees bloody; but, steadfastly, I crawled on behind my Master.

At the door the Master once again turned to face me. Again he laid his hand on my head? carefully, to avoid horns?

(His companion snorted. Maul chuckled, ?Yes, after a few initial incidents he was always very careful.?)

?My son,? he said, and pressed my head even lower down, so that finally I was touching my Master's knees with my forehead. I waited for him to continue, but he just stood very still, his hand pressing me down. I reached out with my senses to find what had caught his attention, but couldn?t find anything.

Then I understood. That was another teaching ? a teaching of silence, and a symbol of all the unspeakable things that I was yet to learn. Things of secret wisdom and power. The Dark Side. ?The Dark Side doesn?t give gifts,? my Master had often taught me. ?It doesn?t co-operate. If you want to use it, you must bend it to your will, you must tame it. In order to do that, you must relinquish all weakness, or the Dark Side will use it against you.? I was awed, but at the same time I felt ready. I felt a tremendous hunger to get to know this power firsthand. I knew I would be able to tame it. At that moment I felt him smile, he removed his hand and said, ?My son, I hope I will be proud of you.?

Then he turned and made a gesture with his hand. Slowly, noiselessly, the huge doors began to slide open.

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?Yet I cannot let our tradition just die. My loyalty to my Master and Order forbids it. I am but what I was made to be, and if I let die what my Master taught me, it would be just another form of self-destruction. I must ensure there will be a next Sith Master, to preserve the continuity. But with the rite I?ll acquire new powers. Then destroy me if you can!?

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It was completely dark inside; all I could see was the dusty cube of light that shone in from the doorway. I remained kneeling at the door, as instructed, while my Master went inside. There was a flicker, and soon a light went up on a dais near the far end of the huge room. The Altar, I realized with awe. My Master was visible only as a blackness that now and then blotted out the light, as he moved about.

More lights went up, and now I could see Master clearly. He stepped up and sat on the Master?s throne.

I stood up and stepped into the chilly hall. The line was crossed: I had made my final decision. The rest was really about sealing the pledge.

Slowly I walked down the aisle toward the throne. ?I am The Sith. I am The Sith. I am The Sith,? Master?s words hammered in my head. And then, watching him sitting on the throne, pale hands on the armrests, motionless yet alert, I felt, no ? I knew that he was. He was the ultimate power in the known galaxy. He was the unstoppable force. The Heart of Darkness, the Fire of Hate. And ? in what I saw as an act of infinite generosity ? everything he had he laid before me that day, for me to reach out and get hold of: ?Son, come and take it ? if you dare. If you can.?

I dare. I can. I will, I vowed.

? Who are you, and what do you want?

? I am a seeker. I seek the truth. I want power. I want immortality.

? What truth? What power?

? The truth of the death of light. The ultimate power that binds everything.

? What is the source of that power?

? The Dark Side.

? Is that what you want?

?Yes,? I sighed, ?oh, yes.?

? What will you give to get what you want?

? My service. My loyalty. My blood, my life. Everything. I give everything, because I want everything. I pledge my whole self to the Darkness, for I have found true life in the death of the light.

And I knelt before my master in supplication.

?So be it.?

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