Lost Tribe of the Sith: Purgatory

Lost Tribe of the Sith: Purgatory Read Free

Book: Lost Tribe of the Sith: Purgatory Read Free
Author: John Jackson Miller
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back at Ori, barely concealing their disdain. Probably annoyed, she thought, because this was the one moment when they wouldn’t be able to sabotage her. They’d been watching her for months, eager to profit from any slip. With any luck, the end of Venn would be the end of the Luzos, too.
    “Easy, dear,” Candra prompted, catching her thought. “We’re all friends today.” The newest High Lord turned and nodded to the leaders of the two rival factions, seated in their customary red and gold boxes. High Lords Dernas and Pallima were as important to her as the Grand Lord was—and she, to them.
    “Friends. Right.” Ori rolled her eyes.
    “But our booth looks lovely. A fine job, again.”
    Reminded, Ori turned her gaze to something more pleasing—the dalsa flowers, fresh and vibrant on the balcony. Jelph of Marisota might never appear here, but at least some part of him had made the trip.
    Thunder came from below. Ori looked down to see the riders, wearing the ancient garb of Nida Korsin’s Skyborn Rangers, entering the field with their crippled uvak. Harshest of all bloodsports on Kesh, rake-riding even began with gore. The wing muscles of uvak hatchlings were cut, permanently grounding them while preserving some range of movement. With glass prongs screwed into their tough wing edges, the fully grown creatures stalked around, their flopping wings transformed into dangerous weapons.
    Squinting, Ori tried to identify the riders. Dernas and his Reds had their favorites out there, as did Pallima and the Golds. Venn had two entries, promoted by the Luzo brothers. The last to enter the field, however, was the one Ori cared about: Campion Dey, uvak wrangler from the southlands that Candra represented. Dey saluted Ori and her mother.
    “He’ll do well, I think,” Ori commented.
    “He’ll die,” Candra said.
    Ori looked back, surprised. Candra settled into her comfortable chair, indifferent to the drums beating below. Searching her mother’s face, Ori realized the truth. These sporting events were always succession struggles by proxy. The rival factions might try to win Candra’s favor by allowing her entry to win, but the newest High Lord wasn’t going to agitate Grand Lord Venn. Not today.
    “We’re going to have to win sometime,” Ori grumbled.
    “Not today,” Candra said. Campion Dey was as good as dead.
    The shell-horn sounding, the field dissolved immediately into a cloud of dust and blood. There was no strategy to rake-riding, no posturing. The riders had their lightsabers, but anyone with sense minded the reins and nothing else. Like any Saber, Ori loved agood fight—but this was nothing more than a brawl with animals: titans, lurching about, ripping into one another.
    And her family’s entry was simply there to dress the place, no better than the flowers in the—
    “Look!”
    All eyes turned to Campion Dey, whose uvak reared back suddenly on its clawed feet. It charged ahead, razor-tipped wings outstretched. But instead of goring the opponent stumbling haplessly before it, the creature leapt …
     … and
flew
. Wings that shouldn’t work pumped mightily, allowing uvak and rider to bound from the melee toward the grandstands.
    Dey, standing in his saddle, raised his red lightsaber and screamed something Ori couldn’t hear. He was in control, all right. Lighting her own weapon, Ori leapt atop the railing, ready to pounce if he came near. But the lumbering behemoth passed to the left, awkwardly clawing its way upward through the panicked crowd toward the Grand Lord’s luxury compartment, above.
    Ori saw Lillia Venn stand, unflinching, as the attacker scaled the stone bleachers toward her. Raising her shaking hands, the Grand Lord unleashed a torrent of dark side energy. Blue fire crackling all along its wingspan, the surprised animal fell backward onto the lower seating, throwing its rider free. The Luzos leapt from the royal box, their own weapons red blurs as they plunged toward the would-be

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