Cain knew he might need to intervene soon, before either of his friends was seriously injured or worse. But a part of him was also keenly aware that Kar was wholly focused on the two; Cain still held the advantage of surprise. Perhaps the wisest move was to strike when Kar was fully engaged – a last-resort ambush to tip the scales.
For now, Cain held back, watching as Anakin and Ahsoka regrouped for the next round. They shook off Kar's mental assault and resumed their positions, circling him carefully once more. Both were breathing hard, splattered in mud, their lightsabers steadied in guard. Kar huffed like a bull in the middle, turning slowly to keep them both in view.
The tension in the clearing was palpable. All three combatants bore wounds and signs of fatigue, yet none were ready to concede. If anything, the clash was about to escalate to an even more intense ferocity – Cain could feel it building like the pressure before a storm.
Thunder rumbled overhead, and a new torrent of rain began to pour through the canopy, drumming on leaves and the combatants alike. The ground turned slick. A stray bolt of lightning cracked, momentarily illuminating the scene in stark white: Kar Vastor's towering form with shields raised, Anakin and Ahsoka poised like dueling silhouettes with their glowing blades reflecting in the puddles. Cain narrowed his eyes, fully attuned to the flow of the Force now, ready to spring into action if needed. Just a little longer…
Cain watched as the duel entered its next phase with a kind of terrible awe. Anakin moved first this time, sliding in low with a series of Djem So lightsaber strikes – broad, powerful sweeps meant to drive Kar back. Ahsoka darted in simultaneously, employing her Ataru-inspired acrobatics to strike at Kar's head and shoulders from the opposite side. The coordination between Master and Padawan was seamless: they attacked like the two halves of a scissor, one high, one low, forcing Kar to divide his attention.
Kar, however, rose to the challenge with almost superhuman effort. He planted his feet firmly in a wide stance and let out a booming roar, both vocal and telepathic, that seemed to make the very air shudder. As Anakin's blade came crashing down, Kar caught it on one shield, locking it in place with brute force. At the same instant, he swung his second shield upward to intercept Ahsoka's descending strike.
For a heartbeat, all three were locked in a deadly gridlock – purple and green blades pushing against vibrating metal. Rain hissed into steam where it hit the superheated lightsaber edges. Kar's arms trembled under the strain, his muscles bulging, but a manic grin split his face. In that contest of raw strength, he was holding both Jedi at bay simultaneously.
With a snarl, Kar suddenly twisted, deflecting Anakin's saber to the side and shoving Ahsoka's blade away. He created just enough space to surge out of the trap. Digging his bare feet into the muck, he barreled forward with his shoulder, slamming into Anakin like a charging reek. The impact was tremendous – Cain could feel the thud through the ground.
Anakin was hurled backward and hit the ground hard, momentarily stunned as the wind was knocked from him. Kar didn't pause; he rounded on Ahsoka, who was regaining her footing after being thrown off. Kar feinted a swipe at her head, then at the last second dropped low and swept his leg, returning Ahsoka's earlier tactic in kind. His muscular leg struck Ahsoka's ankles, sending her sprawling onto her back with a cry.
In two swift moves, Kar had flipped the momentum yet again. Cain's fingers twitched near the hilt of his lightsaber as he contemplated intervening right now – but he hesitated, trusting that Anakin and Ahsoka still had fight in them. They did.
Anakin recovered in a flash of determination: he extended his hand and unleashed a Force pull on Kar's left shield. The vibroshield jerked, nearly yanked from Kar's arm. Kar stumbled forward, surprised, and in that moment Ahsoka, from the ground, kicked upward at Kar's wrist. Her boot connected, and with a splash the left-hand vibroshield was knocked loose, flying free of Kar's grasp and clattering to the ground a few meters away.
Kar recoiled, now armed with only one shield on his right arm. He snarled something guttural – perhaps a curse in the Korun dialect – and leapt back to distance himself, eyeing his lost weapon. Anakin, now back on his feet, used the Force to slide the discarded shield even farther away, out of Kar's reach. Ahsoka kipped up from the ground, mud streaked across her montrals but a triumphant spark in her eyes at disarming their foe partly.
"Give up, Vastor!" Anakin shouted through the rain, chest heaving. "It's over."
Kar answered with a deep, resonant growl that echoed not just in the clearing but in Cain's mind – a defiant "Not yet!" that needed no translation. Wounded, outnumbered, and now down to one shield, Kar Vastor still radiated an almost primal refusal to submit. In fact, to Cain's senses, the Force around Kar only swelled darker and more potent – fed by his pain and fury. The jungle responded too: as if on cue, a distant chorus of predator howls rose in the night, and the wind picked up, thrashing the branches overhead.
Anakin and Ahsoka pressed their advantage. They advanced with careful steps, trying to herd Kar toward a corner of the clearing where a large boulder and the river at his back would limit his movement. Ahsoka maintained a defensive stance, ready to intercept if Kar tried anything sudden, while Anakin took the lead with measured strikes, testing Kar's now-reduced defense. Kar blocked one strike with his remaining shield and dodged another, but his range of defense was halved; a few times he had to hastily pull back to avoid being cut, lacking his second shield to counter both opponents at once.
Cain observed that despite Kar's ferocity, the two's teamwork was beginning to wear him down. Kar's chest was heaving harder, and blood mixed with rainwater from the burn on his arm, dripping onto the muddy ground. His hair – a mane of dreadlocks tied back with bone beads – had come loose and clung to his face. Still, his eyes burned with unyielding intensity. Even cornered, the jungle warlord refused to show fear.
In an attempt to end things, Anakin gathered the Force for one more push. He gestured powerfully, and the large boulder by the river shuddered, then lifted – Skywalker was leveraging his formidable telekinesis to hurl it at Kar from behind as a distraction. With a grating noise, the boulder ripped free from the earth and sailed through the air toward Kar's back. At the same time, Ahsoka lunged at Kar's front with a feint, keeping him busy.
At the last second, Kar sensed the massive projectile. Instead of dodging (there was scant room), he did something remarkable – he pivoted and punched out with his free hand, channeling the Force through his fist. His knuckles met the hurtling boulder and shattered a chunk off of it, altering its trajectory just enough that it crashed to the side, missing him by inches. The ground trembled with the impact, and fragments of rock sprayed outward. One shard grazed Ahsoka's thigh, causing her to falter with a wince.
Seeing Ahsoka hurt, Anakin's temper flared – Cain could feel a spike of anger. Anakin rushed in with a powerful downward slash aimed to end Kar then and there. But Kar, capitalizing on Ahsoka's brief distraction, threw himself forward to meet Anakin's charge. Instead of trying to avoid the lightsaber, Kar raised his right arm and sacrificed his last shield – he braced it to take Anakin's strike full-on.
The purple blade sheared through the worn vibroshield with a screech of tortured metal, cleaving it in two diagonally. The force of Anakin's blow and the sudden lack of resistance drove the blade further, grazing Kar's shoulder and leaving a smoking burn. Kar roared in pain – but his gambit worked. In that heartbeat where Anakin's saber was lodged in the shield, Kar was inside Anakin's guard.
With his one arm now free of the ruined shield, Kar clamped his massive hand around Anakin's forearm – the one holding the lightsaber – in an iron grip. Anakin gasped as Kar's grip threatened to crush bone; his lightsaber was pinned against the ground by the half-shield and Kar's weight.
Kar bared his teeth in a feral grin and, drawing on every reserve of strength, he lifted Anakin off his feet and hurled the Jadaii Knight over his shoulder. Anakin flew through the air and collided with the trunk of a tree with a sickening thud, his lightsaber flinging out of his hand and deactivating somewhere in the underbrush. He slumped at the base of the tree, dazed and coughing, trying desperately to pull himself up.
"Anakin!" Ahsoka cried out, fear lacing her voice. She dashed toward her fallen master, but Kar Vastor moved to cut her off. For the first time, he spoke an intelligible word – or at least Cain thought he did – a deep, rasping voice that uttered, "Stay!" as if commanding an animal.
Whether by Force influence or sheer intimidation, Ahsoka froze for a half-second, and that was all Kar needed. He swung a backhanded fist at her—unprotected now but still deadly. Ahsoka brought up one saber to block, the blade searing Kar's fist, but his knuckles still connected with her chin in the same motion. The Togruta padawan was knocked flat on her back, her lightsabers falling from her grasp.
A flash of triumph crossed Kar's face. Both were down – injured and disarmed for the moment. This was the climax Cain had feared: Kar Vastor, bleeding and battered, yet standing victorious over two of the Order's finest. The survival instinct fueled by the dark jungle had overcome disciplined Jadaii training in this brutal exchange. Kar stalked toward Ahsoka, likely to ensure she stayed down, and perhaps then to finish off Anakin. His hands flexed, ready to rend or snap necks – whatever his savage will decided.
Cain knew this was the critical moment. He could no longer remain a mere observer. The Force screamed at him to intervene now. Cain rose from his cover, heart pounding, adrenaline surging through his veins.
As Kar loomed over Ahsoka's prone form, Cain stepped forward out of the shadows, finally revealing himself at the edge of the clearing. The rain-soaked leaves crunched under his boot, causing Kar to whip his head in Cain's direction. Those feral eyes locked onto the newcomer. Cain golden eye met Kar Vastor's gaze through the downpour – a steady, unafraid stare. His thumb hovered over the activator of his lightsaber.
For a split second, time seemed to slow. Kar bared his teeth in a snarl at this unexpected third challenger. Anakin, still slumped by the tree, looked up in confusion at Cain's sudden appearance, and Ahsoka, groggy on the ground, blinked in surprise. The tension coiled like a drawn bowstring, about to snap.
Cain had arrived, and the battle was about to take a new turn. He could feel the Force swirling chaotically – hope, fear, anger, and resolve all mixing in the humid air. The jungle around them seemed to hush, as if watching with anticipation.
Cain took a deep breath, every sense on high alert. He could practically taste the electricity in the air. Across from him, Kar Vastor roared in defiance, slamming a fist against his chest like a gorilla, acknowledging this new participant. Cain tightened his grip on his weapon. The final round of this savage encounter was poised to begin, and Cain was determined to end it.
Lightning flared above, illuminating the clearing once more. The duel was not over – it was about to intensify even further, now with Cain thrown into the mix. He braced himself as Kar Vastor charged forward, and the chaotic symphony of battle rose to a fever pitch around them…
*Cain watched the scene unfold, fully aware that the outcome of this fight – and possibly the fate of Haruun Kal's future – hung in the balance, just as the next furious exchange was about to begin.*