Anakin and I launched forward with blinding speed toward Count Dooku.
There was no need for words between us. Only our trust and instinct's honed between us through years of training and fighting side by side. In a single heartbeat, both of us boys reached inward and ignited the Force inside us, drawing on our reserves of power we cultivated through countless years of meditation and practice.
Force Valor surged through our bodies first, a wave of intense Force energy that strengthened our muscles and, sharpened our perception to razor thin clarity, and pushed ones physical capabilities beyond the normal human limits.
Then came Force Meld, that rare and precious connection that few Jedi ever mastered, the ability to synchronize minds and movements until two fighters became one unified force. Our bond in the Force made learning this technique easier for our group.
Our breathing became aligned, our heartbeats falling into a perfect resonance of rhythm. As our awareness of each other became absolute, each knowing instinctively where the other would move, what angle we would strike from, and how we could adapt and flow with the other.
The world around us slowed to a crawl. Individual droplets of water from the nearby waterfall hung suspended in the air like crystals. The rustle of leaves in the wind became a drawn-out whisper. And in that instant Dooku's red lightsaber ignited with a sound like tearing silk, as the crimson blade casting a crimson light across the clearing.
And then we collided in a clash of speed and precision.
Anakin came in from the right, his indigo blade singing through the air with a distinctive hum I was familiar with. He attacked with a fierce blend of aggressive Ataru and reactive Djem So, adapting counters and biting offense with every shifting angle. His lightsaber flashed with tiny specks of white lightning that danced along the blade's edge, a manifestation of his connection to his kyber crystal that intensifies the more he fights. Each strike he sent was strong and instinctive, as he let his control aggression guide hist blade. The true mark of a duelist who fought with both his mind and his heart.
I came in from the left simultaneously, my golden lightsaber cutting through the air like a falling star. I hammered strike after strike with the overwhelming pressure and the decisive power of Djem So in its purest form, each blow fueled by perfect timing with Anakin and relentless precision. My strikes were meant to break his guard, and overwhelm his defenses through sheer kinetic force channeled through the Force itself. Everyone of my movement's was economical as my roots in Makashi shined through, as every angle I attacked from was optimized for maximum impact.
Dooku met both of us in a single, seamless rotation.
His red lightsaber moved in elegant arcs, each motion minimal yet absolute. His Makashi was beyond perfect in its refinement, his form so thoroughly mastered that it had become an extension of his very being. The precision dueling style, designed for lightsaber-to-lightsaber combat, made him untouchable. His blade flicked, tapped, and weaved through their strikes with effortless poise, as if he were conducting a symphony rather than fighting for his life.
Every parry from him was a dismissal of our efforts. With every deflection a critique of our forms. Every turn of his wrist sent their power sliding away harmlessly, redirected into empty air. Every graceful step repositioned him into advantage, his footwork so refined that he seemed to glide across the grass rather than walk.
But we didn't break our stride, instead we pressed forward, adapting our timing and strikes, we were evolving as we fought.
Where Anakin pressed forward, I followed behind him. Where I feinted and struck low, Anakin struck high and pushed harder. The clearing became a storm of motion, indigo, gold, and crimson streaking through the open air in patterns too fast for normal eyes to follow. We spun and danced around Dooku, two converging storms of light and fury, our blades creating a web of plasma that should have been impossible to escape.
But Dooku moved like a leaf carried by the wind.
His footsteps were soft and light, even silent. His blade continued to redirect ours with the ease of a composer that had perfect control over the tempo of a song.
Dooku didn't waste a single movement, didn't expend an ounce of unnecessary energy. While the moved fast and stuck hard, they also burned through their energy more quickly with their passionate and powerful strikes. While Dooku remained calm and centered, conserving his strength for the moment he would need it.
I don't like this! This Dooku seems stronger than the one from the movies and novels, I thought, my mind racing even as my body moved on pure instinct. But how? What changed? Or are me and Anakin that much weaker compared to him and Obi-wan compared to the movies.
Even if we are three years young, we should be stronger. But this Dooku, he's so much different then the one I know.
That's when Dooku's voice slipped in between the clashes. A calm tone and cutting through clearly despite the storm of violence around him. As his blade danced effortlessly between theirs, never faltering or hesitating.
"You are both indeed strong in the Force, almost frighteningly so," he observed, his tone almost conversational. "But your lightsaber skills are still lacking."
He redirected Anakin's blade with a subtle twist of his wrist, sending the indigo saber sliding past his shoulder harmlessly.
"Skywalker, your Ataru is well balanced, I'll grant you that. But it lacks pacing, and I sense you long for more aggression. You cannot decide between spear and shield, between offense and defense. Either refine and master Djem So for the power, or refine your Ataru for the speed. I doubt you could do both, so picking one would be best. But incorporate more Makashi it will help you blend the two more flawlessly."
Anakin's eyes narrowed as he gritted his teeth, his strikes becoming more aggressive, and more forceful. "Are you critiquing my forms?" he growled, pressing forward with renewed intensity. "Are we dueling or are you giving me saber lessons, old man?"
Dooku spared him only a sidelong glance before his eyes slid to Cain, studying him with the analytical gaze of a master evaluating a student.
"And you, Cain." His red blade caught my lightsaber in a bind, holding it for just a moment before sliding away. "Djem So does suits Plo Koon's student well. His influence shows clearly in your precision and speed. Your strikes are quite impressive, but they lack raw power. Your makashi is good but it can be much better. You also said Master Windu taught you as well. Did he teach you his lightsaber from as well?"
"Yes he did, him and Master Billaba also helped me refine it. I am creating my on version of Vapaad."
"Then why are you hiding it? Is it the same brute force and skirting the dark side as Windu's Vaapad, or is it still lacking too much? I had so much hope for you two but I'm getting more and more disappointed. Can you show me something different beyond pure brute strength? Or are you scared you're going to fall to the dark side?"
Anakin and I exchanged a look, and despite the danger and the reality that they were facing a former Jedi Master who had fallen to the dark side, we smirked.
Our resonance in the Force, that was strengthened Force Meld between pulsed with shared understanding, shared determination.
My voice was calm and low as he spoke. "Anakin, I think your great grandmaster wants us to go all out."
Anakin twirled his saber behind his back in a flashy display. " I think your right Cain, and we shouldn't keep my senior master waiting. So let's show him how the best future Jedi of the old Order really throw down."
Dooku sighed lightly, a sound that carried both annoyance and amusement. He raised his blade again, settling into a perfect Makashi stance that spoke of his absolute confidence.
"So be it, boys, come at me then. Let me feel the power of the Order's best students." His eyes hardened, the amusement fading into something colder, and more deadly. "But I will warn you, if I'm disappointed by what I see, you will lose much more than just this duel."
Anakin's indigo lightsaber flashed, faint traces of white lightning pulsing along its length for a single, dangerous instant. The air around him seemed to crackle with barely contained energy, the Force responding to his rising emotions.
My golden lightsaber shined brighter, its black hue deepening and swirling like shadowy mist contained within the plasma.
Then we charged, and the world vanished around us. No forest, sky, or distant temple spires. Just the void and the fight, the eternal dance of light against dark, as Anakin and I entered a flow state.
I shifted my stance and unleashed a controlled yet vicious blend of Vaapad's ferocity and Djem So's crushing precise power. My strikes were sharp and unpredictable, and yet precise in every angle used to exploit micro-openings in Dooku's defense.
I drew on the lessons Master Windu had taught him, channeling his emotions without being consumed by them, using the energy of the fight itself to fuel his movements. While using Master Koon calm precision to make my strikes go to where they needed to be. Each of my strikes was a question posed to Dooku's defense, each angle a test of the Count's legendary Makashi.
Anakin surged with heightened aggression in his attacks, his Ataru evolving moment by moment, laced with bursts of acrobatic footwork, and perfect Djem So counterstrikes. His movements blurred like a burning indigo flame, as he leap, spined, and striked from unexpected angles. He incorporated the kinetic energy of his movements into his strikes, adding momentum and force that made each blow hit harder than it should have. His connection to the Force deepened, drawing on his power that came from his unique nature.
Together, I could feel that we were magnificent in this duel. A perfect storm of coordinated assault, two minds working as one, our two blades moving in harmony.
But Dooku...Dooku only smirked.
He noticed the boys were stronger now, faster and more coordinated. Their strength in the Force made them formidable opponents, their strikes flowing together flawlessly. But Dooku knew knew about this day for years now. That vision showed him of his death, and he trained and pushed himself for years. He ended up in a bacta tank more times then he could count, but all of that was for this day.
The Force showed him that he was supposed to fall to these two on this day, but now he was certain, today these two will be the ones to fall. From his experience to his understand of the Force, they were still children compared to him.
Dooku's lightsaber danced through theirs, a seamless integration of Makashi's precision, Shii-Cho's fundamental principles, and Soresu's defensive perfection. He turned aside strikes that could slice durasteel plating. And redirected blows that should have forced him back. While slipping past feints that would fool lesser masters. His Makashi intensified into elegant strikes and narrow deflections, a lethal economy of motion. That wasted no energy or movements, and gave away any openings or weaknesses.
Everyone of movement's was calculated. Every parry positioned him for a counter. Every step adjusted his angle to create new openings in their defense.
I saw it through my shatterpoint vision, the web of possibilities collapsing into terrible certainty. All his shatterpoints were lessening or impossible to reach. No way. Makashi. Shii-Cho. Soresu. All three lightsaber forms were woven together flawlessly. I can't find an opening.
The realization hit me like a physical blow, we weren't just outmatched. We were completely, and utterly outclassed.
That's when Dooku made his move.
In one flawless motion, he broke our synchronized assault with a single, perfect Makashi flourish. A sweeping slash that seemed to come from nowhere and everywhere at once, a strike so precisely angled that it forced both of us off balance simultaneously. He redirected Anakin's blade with a subtle twist, caught my angle of attack with a counter-rotation, and created an opening between heartbeats.
And then Force lightning erupted.
A powerful burst of Force Lightning exploded from Dooku's free hand, blue-white bolts of pure electrical energy that screamed through the air with a sound like tearing metal. The lightning was beautiful and terrible, a manifestation of dark side power that illuminated the clearing in stark, flickering light.
Anakin and I barely managed to raise our lightsabers in time, ourr blades catching the lightning and absorbing it through the plasma. But the force of it was overwhelming, and pushing us back, our arms straining against the torrent.
I had Tutaminis that master Plo was teaching me, I wasn't proficient with it but it was allowing me tred the storm. Anakin wasn't as lucky. The energy burned through our willpower, testing the limits of our endurance.
The smell of ozone filled the air, as Dooku was already moving.
He blurred forward with Force-enhanced speed, his form becoming a dark streak that neither of us could properly track. He appeared before Anakin in a blink, his red blade already in motion.
He attacked with three rapid strikes. Each one precise and aimed to dismantle, with the cold efficiency of a master executioner.
Anakin blocked the first strike, his lightsaber meeting Dooku's in a powerful collide. He barely deflected the second strike Dooku sent, his arm trembling from the impact. Then the third slipped past his guard like a serpent striking it's prey.
SHHK....
The sound of a lightsaber cutting through flesh and bone was distinctive, unmistakable. A white-hot slash, and then a scream that tore through the clearing, and a sensation of pain reaching me through our shared connection.
"AHHH! MY HAND!"
Anakin's right hand fell away, severed cleanly at the forearm, the stump cauterized instantly by the superheated plasma. The limb hit the ground with a soft thud, the hand still gripping the lightsaber hilt, the indigo lightsaber deactivating as it left his grasp.
Anakin fell to his knees, staring in shock at the cauterized stump where his hand had been. His face was pale, his eyes wide with disbelief and agony. The pain hadn't fully registered yet, his nervous system still processing the trauma, but the shock was immediate and overwhelming.
Back at the Jedi temple. Barriss, Derren, and Seris all faltered as the sensed Anakin's pain.
I nearly stumpled feeling the sensation of pain through our connection in the Force. The white hot pain felt so real, I looked at my right hand to see it still there.
Dooku stood over him like an executioner, his expression cold and indifferent, showing no remorse for what he'd done.
"I warned you boy, and this is the price for disappointing me."
Then, with a contemptuous gesture, he thrust out his hand and blasted Anakin backward with a brutal telekinetic wave. The Force strike hit Anakin lifting him off his feet and sending him flying several feet backward, toward the cliff edge of the waterfall and raging waters below.
"NO! ANAKIN!"
I roared as I thrust out my hand instinctively, reaching out with the Force, and catching Anakin's falling body in a desperate grip of telekinesis. The connection snapped into place, and I felt Anakin's weight, and his fading consciousness from the shock and pain.
But in that moment of me maintaining the hold that required total focus, Dooku preyed upon me.
The Count's red blade came down in a vicious overhead strike, aimed directly at my head. I managed to block in time with my lightsaber at the last possible instant, my golden blade catching the crimson just inches from my skull. But I was off balance, my attention divided between two impossible tasks, and Dooku pressed his advantage mercilessly.
His lightsaber hammered down again and again, each strike forcing me back, each blow trying to destroy my defenses. Sweat dripped down my brow, stinging my eyes. My muscles burned with the strain of holding both my lightsaber defensively, and keeping Anakin's suspended from falling.
It took everything I had to keep him in the air, I couldn't even pull him back. My stance wavered under the constant pressure, my feet sliding backward across the grass.
Through the Force, he could feel Anakin dangling over the cliff edge, suspended above the churning waters that would surely kill him if he fell. The waterfall roared in the background, a constant reminder of what would happen if Cain's concentration slipped for even a moment.
"You must choose, Padawan," Dooku said, his blade pressing harder against my defense. His voice was calm, almost gentle, like a teacher presenting a philosophical problem. "Save Skywalker and die, or defend yourself and pray the Force shows mercy on him so that his death is quick."
My teeth clenched so hard my jaw ached. My arms trembled as I attempted to hold Anakin and defend himself simultaneously. I was caught between two impossible choices, each one leading to disaster. If I let go of Anakin, my brother would die. If I didn't focus on my defense, Dooku would kill me, and then Anakin would die anyway.
There has to be a way to break this deadlock. Come Cain THINK!
That's when Anakin acted. "CAIN!"
Anakin's shout cut through the chaos of my thoughts, his voice strained but determined. Suspended midair by Cain's Force grip, his left hand reached outward, extending toward the ground below.
I sensed Anakin's intention through our connection, a split second before it happened.
Anakin's severed arm still lay on the ground, the hand still gripping his lightsaber hilt. Through the Force, Anakin called to it, summoning the weapon with every ounce of willpower he had left. The hilt tore free from the dead hand's grasp and flew upward, spinning through the air as it ignited mid-flight.
The lightsaber blazed to life, a spinning disc of indigo plasma that screamed toward Dooku.
The Count sensed the Lightsaber coming and was forced to move aside, his attack on me interrupted as he sidestepped the flying lightsaber. It was only a momentary distraction, but it was enough.
In that instant, I caught the spinning hilt in my free right hand, my fingers closing around the bulky grip of the hilt. At the same moment, I fully grasped Anakin through the Force and pulled, yanking him back from the cliff edge.
Anakin's body flew through the air and landed hard on the grass several feet away from the cliff, rolling to a stop. He lay there motionless, his chest rising and falling rapidly, his face pale and covered in sweat. The shock and pain had finally caught up with him, and he passed out.
But he was safe, and he was alive. Which is all that mattered.
I stood up alone now, my chest rising and falling violently, my breath's coming in ragged gasps. But my mind began to become clear, the immediate crisis past, but a cold fury began to burn in my heart. My golden eyes hardened as I gazed at Dooku, and something shifted in my presence in the Force.
The fear was gone and desperation were gone. What remained was something colder, sharper, more dangerous.
Dooku watched Cain rise to his full height, his expression now unreadable, but his eyes showing a flicker of interest.
I know I can't beat Dooku, I thought, his mind crystallizing into perfect clarity. Especially by myself. I know that with absolute certainty, but right now, I don't care
He hurt Anakin, he wounded my brother. So I'm going to hurt him pay for that.
I held both ignited lightsabers at his sides slightly lowered. Anakin's lightsaber in his right hand, its lightning crackling with barely contained energy. And my own lightsaber in his left, the dark hue swirling like a living shadow.
I slid my feet apart, lowering my stance into the opening position of Jar'Kai. As I let the Force gather in and around me like a raging storm. Allowing my presence in the Force to intensify, I myself was becoming calm as everything around me raged like a storm in the Force.
Dooku felt his presence and recognized the stance immediately, his eyes narrowing slightly. His expression remained unreadable, but I sensed the subtle shift in the Force around the Count. A building tension. A gathering of power to meet my own.
Like Master Windu said I become the eye of the storm. My shatterpoint vision, with my use of Vapaad in a Jar'kai variation. I must let let the raging storm flow fiercely around me, while I remain calm.
Like Master Koon taught me. I will be a calm fury that destroys my enemy without losing myself.
"Well then," Dooku said quietly, raising his blade again into a perfect Form II guard. "Hopefully you learned something from Skywalker's failure. Especially now with dual blades. Let us see if you have the discipline to match your anger."
My voice turned cold as ice, with each word I spoke. "Oh, I learned, Dooku, and don't worry about my discipline. I have two lifetimes worth."
My body began to emit a faint aura from my highly tuned focus and intent in the Force. It was the stillness before the storm, the moment of perfect clarity before violence erupted.
"I've also learned that I'm going to make you pay for hurting Anakin. You can bet on that Count."
Dooku's eyes narrowed, studying this new version of the boy before him. "Revenge," he said softly. "That is not the Jedi way."
My head tilted slightly as I stepped forward, my dual blades held in perfect balance. my mind was deathly calm, carrying absolute certainty.
"I am no Jedi Count, but I swear on the Force I will be better then them. I will be like the Jed'aii of old, with the teachings of the Baran Do Sages like my master before me."
Dooku smirked. "Then show me these teachings of yours boy. Show the same spirit that made you defy the Jedi order."
I then launched forward, my lightsabers at the ready. Indigo in my right hand, and gold-black in my left, both lightsabers blazing as I charged forward once more.