Silus never caught them. The ship was out of system before anyone could reach it. From then on, it was child's play for a pair of Jedi to secretly make their way home. Dolash parted company with Fraktusk, to make his way to the academy alone, and muse on his discoveries.
He had wanted a vacation. But then, the Force apparently really does move in mysterious ways. He was meant to meet Silus, meant to fight alongside Fraktusk, and despite the unusual circumstances of the fight, he was meant to learn something from it all.
But what was he to learn? All he had seen was that a human, outnumbered, and certainly outclassed in physical strength, was able to win, evil over good, using nothing but the Dark Side and his own pool of rage. How could he be expected to overcome such obstacles, such power?
It took some time, but the answer came in, drifting between his minds in bits and pieces as each half considered it. Was hate power? No, it is an emotion, it has no more physical characteristics or influence then any other emotion. What about passion? Their foe's hunger for battle certainly was greater then Dolash and Fraktusk's. But that was not true either, for passion is just a word to describe devotion to an emotion.
And that was when Dolash realized it was devotion alone that gave him power. The target of the belief, of the principle, is not important - individual belief in it is. This is why a farmer who believes strong enough in defending his hearth and home can fight harder and fiercer then a paid mercenary, even if that mercenary is skilled and stronger. Silus had devoted himself to hate and rage, control and cruelty so strongly, that his conviction in this and his desire for it empowered him both through the force, and psychologically.
But, Dolash reminded himself, one way hate and rage differs from other emotions is in its' self-destructive properties. Someone consumed and devoted to them is trying to put their body into a state that it was only meant to use in times of stress and extreme crisis. The same effect has been seen in Azguards who spend too long as their second brain, their Draad, and they eventually expend all power they possess fueling this rage until they are utterly spent. One such as the Sith, however, faces a much greater risk, for the Force can take a much greater toll on them when used to feed the fires of the soul.
This, he concluded, was why the Jedi practiced a none-emotional belief. Devoting themselves not to an extreme, an emotion, but to a state of meditation and rest, they proctect themselves from the raging emotions that threaten to destroy them. Even amiable emotions like love and friendship are dangerous, although far less so then rage and hate, because these ones can still make demands on the body and the Force, and they are easily turned to other, darker emotions by disaster or misfortune.
Finally, Dolash understood. Silus had raw power, he could crush Dolash with it, but as he did so the power would sap him too, even more then it would Dolash. A Sith needs to strike fast and hard, win their battles early, for they are ticking time-bombs, and the slightest emotional imbalance, the slightest flaw, will destroy them.
Dolash opened his eyes, and realized that he was home.
