She presses the attack with a burst of speed, lightning suddenly crackling around the base of her 'saber and her other hand, potentially distracting from the sound of a blaster shot coming from above and behind him.

He is somewhat distracted by this - he hasn't encountered many Sith who could keep up two such complicated techniques at once, while also in one-on-one saber combat - but that doesn't stop him from sensing the danger and redirecting the shot just in time. This leaves a brief opening in his defense, however.

She takes it, aiming to disable rather than kill. "-Alek-"

"Aaagh-" He falls to one knee, catching himself with both hands when the lack of a second knee nearly sends him tumbling to the ground face-first. The shock of it sends him out of his carefully-cultivated calm, though the pain doesn't seem to be registering yet. 

Alek leaps forward when she calls, his rage pushing past fear and more conflicting feelings to urge him forwards before he even fully registers what had just happened. He lands a few paces away from the two of them, stalking forward with all his attention on Master Manoll. 

Esche peers up at Alek as he approaches, breathing hard, sweat gathering on his brow as the pain of the cauterized wound slowly begins to increase. 

"...Going to have him kill me, then?" He asks the Sith, his words coming in gasps. One further push into the darkness, to have the Fallen Padawan kill his Master? 

The fear eases, but the lightning continues to crackle around her hands and up her arms, sparking with a fuzz of pops and hisses; if the crest of his pain is a little lower than it'd otherwise be, well, he's unlikely to have anything to compare it to. She keeps her 'saber and her eyes trained on him. "As you like," she turns her head slightly to address Alek.

Alek pauses next to her, staring down at the Jedi. 

...He'd thought, earlier, that he wouldn't be able to kill his master. He's not so sure that's true, now. No, he's quite sure he could kill Esche Manoll, from this place where his desire to end this threat permanently is so much stronger. It would be easy to do it. 

"Padawan?" Esche asks, voice gentle, though strained. It seems unlikely that he'll escape this situation alive. Perhaps he can stop Alek from making a mistake, however. "You do not have to do this, Alek." 

"...I don't." Alek agrees, voice coming out harsh around the heaviness in his throat.

He stares for a moment longer, the inner conflict rising, and then - stilling. He's still enraged, but... almost tranquil with it, his path clear. This is his responsibility.

He takes another step forward, and his blade activates, forming a short arc of plasma before he deactivates it on the other side of his Master's neck. 

The Sith deflates, just slightly, as the Jedi's presence fades into the Force; the crackle of lightning dissipates and her 'saber retracts, and she steps over to put an arm around the young man's shoulders.

He tenses just the slightest amount, for a bare fraction of a second, before slumping into her side, all his tension bleeding away. He stares at the body, shivering a little.

"I-" he swallows, squeezing his eyes shut, "He never would have stopped chasing us. He was awful to Isk. I know you would have killed him, but he was my master. My responsibility," he reasons, his voice quiet. 

"Yeah." She's somber, but sounds fond, too, and proud of him, just a little. "That's why I offered." She gives him a little squeeze. "You'll be all right."

Nod. He breathes. In, and out.

Yeah, he'll be alright.