A portal tears open in front of us. A blast of wind rushes past as the cooler air of the temple seeks that of Koris'ian; the increasingly excited howl of a tuk'ata is heard.

I open my eyes; the Portal remains steady.

"Shall we go."

Panthar wiped the sweat from his brow and looked around at the few remaining people. When he came to Thoran’s stern gaze, Panthar at first lowered his gaze, but then a small smile formed on his lips and he quickly followed through the portal.

Thoran exhaled slowly, then turned to Aeylmaar.

“Take care,” he said. “The Master is very good at creating a paradox. And with his new dark powers, who knows what else he can do. There’s something going on here that’s giving me chills.”

And with that, Thoran stiffened and walked through the portal, immediately seeking out Panthar’s location.

Shayla had just been stepping through the portal behind Terrin Danner's two employees--if you could call them that now, anyway--but she was not far enough removed to not here Thoran's words before he began hurrying through the portal himself, nearly knocking her over.

She whirled to face him, unintimidated by his size.

"You're right, there is something going on here," she said sharply. "There is a body out there that the Master could throw Jharmeen's spirit into, and Phalomir doesn't seem the least bit worried. Don't come in here with all the answers in the Universe after you've walked the fence over and over again."

She paused a moment at that, calmly assessing him with her greeny-blue eyes. "There are two sides to every coin, Thoran. You don't like that Phalomir is being left behind--and frankly, neither do I. But then, where he is, he is safe. And the future of the Sith, as well as Jharmeen's, need him to be safe. And while you seem concerned for Phalomir...

...should we all maybe instead be concerned that you refuse to explain the reasons for the bodies....?"

“I was trying to tell you something, actually,” he said, facing a wall. “But everyone is all action all of a sudden.”

He turned, looking for Panthar, who was staring at him intently. Thoran swallowed hard, then looked away to Shayla.

“I don’t know for sure what he intends to do with those bodies,” he said. “But I do know where they came from. You see, once he was inside the Darker Realms, as sort of a visiting professor, the Master spent a lot of energy learning about the relationship between dimensional space and time. He knows how the Sith came forward in time, and he used that knowledge to figure out a whole lot more. He learned how to look backward along the line of time, and in a limited way even how to follow it into the future. What was worse, he learned how to travel backwards, even sending things – and people – back. He’s messing it up, and it’s just going to get worse.”

Thoran inhaled deeply before continuing.

“He pulled those bodies from the future, at the points of their deaths. All I know is that they were pulled from different times. But I also know that he meant for Phal to be here at this time, too. It was a long, complicated plan, but it involved getting him situated as Dark Lord and then killing him. Well, that failed, and the Master devised a new plan. If at first you don’t succeed, and all…”

Thoran looked around at everyone.

Nothing.

"Only the weak or cowardly would force himself upon the lesser; state who you are and what it is you believe you can accomplish by hiding in this manner."

I stand quietly, preparing both mentally and emotionally to do whatever is necessary to protect myself and those with us, should the even arise.

Frowning, Shayla sensed outward...

...and was hit by something most peculiar. And somehow familiar at the same time.

I cannot help but narrow my eyes at the obvious deceit, however.

Ah, how lovely. Can't go on a trip without having an unexpected hitch or two...

Although he would have liked to state as much, Jasyn knew from the look in the eyes of everyone else that he'd better hold his tongue and keep his wits...

...at least, as best as he could. Still, suddenly viewing Panthar as someone he thought he could actually get along with, Jasyn couldn't stay totally silent.

"Seems after what all you've been through, the last thing you'd have wanted is to lend your body to yet another mind, right Big Red?"

In for a credit, in for the crown. Knowing that by my words I couldn't help but have drawn attention to myself, I guess I'd just as well finish the bed I had made.

...so I know he has to be trying to fight back. There must be something we can do to help him."

"Look!" I spat, too exasperated by these continuing and obviously delaying mysteries to register fear any longer.

"I don't know who you are, or why we're supposed to be so kriffing entwined with you, but buddy, I think you've got your lines crossed!"

I took another step forward toward Panthar, a larger step, and stopped perhaps a couple meters from him.

"We don't want your help; we don't need your help, and as far as we're concerned you can just high-tail it out of our friend and hit the road.

"Right guys?"

Crossing my arms, I glared up at Panthar's hulking Sith frame and held my ground.

You're a Force user, Shayla, some little voice within her prompted, Use your gifts. Your true potential...

The vague image of a Sith, the sorceror's clan tatoo clearly visible, crossed Shayla's mind.

You can do something here, Shayla.

So, seeing her opportunity, Shayla reached out with the Force, stretched out and into Panthar's mind...

...and easily found that little part of his brain that controlled his waking state...

...a rather simple feat for a natural healer, actually. And before even the blink of an eye could pass, Shayla niggled that small portion of his brain, turning it "off," so to speak, and causing Panthar's body to fall limply to the ground in a sleeping trace...

"What's wrong with him? Shayla, you're a Healer; do something, can't you? Did whatever it is that's in him kill him or something?"

I turned back to Panthar, who was still in a bedraggled heap upon the ground. Seeing that he hadn't moved a muscle I broke free from Terrin and knelt on the ground beside him.

Shayla paused, looking towards Panthar's form. "Be truthful, and show yourself as you truly are," she spoke in his direction, the words clearly for the thing within. "There is no need for hiding and tormenting the spirit of this man any longer."

Now I let the nod express itself, and close my eyes briefly. Reaching out with my own not inconsiderable talents, I clearly feel the seething anger of Panthar's mysterious possessor.

"Indeed," I agree with Shayla.

"Enough of such cowardice. Come out of the body you have taken; explain yourself to us, and pray cease with your tiresome riddles and innuendoes, if indeed you have the ability within you to do so."

Before he was really consciously aware of what he was doing, Terrin stepped forward, kneeled down behind Galen, and gently pulled her back, if only a little bit. "Be careful, please," he whispered quietly in her ear, hoping she understood the meaning behind his words.

Then the hidden meaning behind Terrin's interjection hit home, and I leapt back like a scalded sandcat. Once again I careened into Terrin, this time nearly sending the pair of us to the ground.

"You-- you don't suppose it could have gotten into me?!" I garbled disgustedly. Grimacing, I began brushing off my body parts as if by doing so I could completely eliminate the taint that had come without invitation into our midst.

"She is clean," I announce as I then pull away and direct my full attention back to the silent form upon the ground.

The tuk’ata whined at the foot of the Temple, watching the group before it in the near distance. It rose to its feet when Panthar fell to the ground, but steadied itself.

Hearing him now… Calling me, he is. Fighting darkness he tries, but too weak. I hear, I know right he is. One way, one way.

The tuk’ata walked slowly towards the group, its steps light and sad. Everyone was still focused on Panthar’s body, and did not notice the beast in its approach until it was only a few meters away. It lowered its head and front legs, and whimpered. Galen took notice and looked at it, her own eyes reflecting the sadness that it emanated.

Know I, hearing him, knowing he right is. Darkness leave him never, never. Only one way, only one way…

With one more whine, which turned instantly into a snarl, the beast leapt. Clearing the distance in one bound, it caught Panthar by the throat and dug its fangs into his flesh. Panthar’s eyes snapped open, black as coal, but wide in shock and panic. His arms flailed as blood poured from his neck, flowing freely around the mouth of the tuk’ata. The color began to drain from Panthar’s red skin, and in a flicker of a moment the wound on his hand opened and a viscous tendril of black oily liquid shot from it and onto the ground.

The tuk’ata released Panthar and backed away quickly. The blood spurted from Panthar’s opened neck in a steady rhythm, and the beast let out a mournful cry. Panthar remained motionless as the ground around him turned violet.

Thus it is written, and thus has it always been so. Even now in this moment of danger the faithful shows why he is indeed chosen of the Sith, and why for that faithfulness he deserves the highest honor I can bestow.

"Healer, attend!" I cry aloud as, spying the pooling oil beginning to reach questing tendrils out, I flash one clawed hand in the direction of the tuk'ata, sending him flashing back hundreds of meters in but a moment. Our straits would be dire indeed if the thing managed to inhabit a body so fierce and strong.

It turns questing tendrils elsewhere... in our direction. I remain wary, unable to banish it to the Elseness for already are we there. Likewise, a chronotic shield will not work in this timeless place.

But normal Sith magicks do.

My outstretched hand reaches in the direction of the oily pool, taking hold of the very molecules of the air and crystallizing them about its foul presence. I do not know how long this can hold the thing; at least long enough for me to cast an eye toward the fallen Panthar.

He lies still upon the ground, his skin paling to a sickly mauve, streaked with deep amber.

"Shayla, your aid!" I cry out once again, even though only the barest of seconds have passed between that cry and the tuk'ata's surprising attack. I am unwilling to lend the full healing strengths which I myself possess, for this strength must be hoarded in preparation for the Thing's assured retaliation.

But I can send a minute portion to Panthar, enough to staunch the flow of blood pouring from his neck.

In this manner I stand, otherwise fully focused on the encapsulated blackness, knowing our comrade will be in good hands. Whether those hands prove skillful enough to save his life, however, only time will tell.

She'd seen one person die due to the wounds brought on by such a powerful beast...

...she did not wish to see another die.

Closing her eyes, she placed her hand directly on the wound, channeled every lick of strength and force energy into the already existing healing trance she had begun in Panthar's mind and body. Likewise did she stretch out into his psyche to search for that which was "Panthar." She quested for quite some time...

...but then she found something deeply rooted and ver much familiar. And she found that the spirit buried deep within was yet fighting.

She channeled all the strength she could directly to him...

...and took a brief moment to divert her attention marginally to speak to the others. "Galen, Erik, he needs your strength too," she whispered, now turning her attentions fully to Panthar once more. And she barely sensed that her brother--a healer as well--had already come to her aid.

I shot a look upwards toward the firm lines of Terrin's chin, then focused on the fallen Panthar. He lay on the ground like a bundle of yesterday's wash, his features half hidden by his shoulders which hulked up over his half-turned face.

I heaved a sigh and stepped out.

"Well-ll... okay, I guess I can give it another shot," I said somewhat dubiously. For though it was true that I had lent to the banishing of the Korriban system the same kind of power Sis and the Sorcerer Lord bandied about, I hadn't a clue as to how exactly I had done it.

I stopped next to Shayla and stared down at Panthar.

"In the for what it's worth department," I finished as I knelt down and laid my hands on Panthar's body. For several long moments I just remained quiet, feeling all kinds of a third wheel, when inspiration struck.

"Darra, you too!"

I twisted about without removing my hands, and centered a steely look upon my daughter. You know, the "mother's kind," the look that Brooks No Disobedience Whatsoever.

"Whatever this is, it's in your aunt, it's in me, and it's really in your cousin ShaRhylla. The way peeps were out to baby-nap you--"

And succeeded, actually, but let's put that little thought aside for the moment, shall we?

"--you must have it in your innards as well. So git yer hiney over here and lend a hand."

With nothing more to be said, I fell quiet, scooching over as Darra glided over to a position next to me. There she too knelt and placed her hands, albeit somewhat hesitantly, upon Panthar's shoulder. She blinked her baby blues, giving me a wide-eyed look.

His body… yes, that was what he had come to accept. He had been through so many strange things involving his “self”, having his consciousness invaded, removed, toyed with… yet he had remained himself though it all. And now he had finally come to terms with his predicament, had accepted his fate and vowed that he would never lose control of his own body again.

But to save himself, he gave an order that now left this body dying.

He felt warmth spreading throughout his body, as the feeling of his surroundings melted away. He no longer felt the hot sticky blood that coated his neck and chest, the coldness of the ground below him, or even the soft touch of hands on his.

Hands? Whose hands?

Why were they helping him? He had been so bad, allowed terrible things to invade his mind, had been tempted by the darkness and even before that… even before that he had been swayed by the Flame, and allowed the dark thoughts in his own heart to rise.

They should let me die… I can’t hide what I feel, can’t change what I am on the inside. I’ve been terrible…

“Shayla…” he whispered. “I’m sorry…”

Whatever it was they were doing.

But wonder and curiosity were abruptly pushed aside as from out of seeming nowhere there arose within her a deep, caressing warmth. It was as if a tiny ember had burst into life, furious and strong though miniscule. With every passing second it grew exponentially, until mere moments later it filled her completely, like life-giving fire.

She gasped, turning wide eyes to her mother.

Galen only smiled, and shrugged her shoulders, her hands never leaving Panthar.

Now the fire within grew even more fierce, even more full of life, as though it was the very essence of a sun which in reality does just that. The energies swelled, coming together within her torso where they swirled and coiled, only to burst out like birds on the wing to fly down the length of her arms and disappear into their fallen companion.

His skin beneath her hands fairly vibrated from the strength being poured into him.

"Mother, wha-?" she started, but fell silent with a gasp. The effort to speak pulled her focus away from the soaring fires within, which then only flamed the higher, the fiercer. Quickly turning her attentions back to them, she found much to her relief that they banked somewhat, once more able to be tolerated as they roiled and combined, ebbed and flowed, augmenting like lightwaves in phase which continued to pour into Panthar.

Is this what Mo- what my aunt spoke of? she allowed a brief wonder to herself.

Is this what my sister is so aloof, so nonchalant about? Is this that mysterious connection to all that is, the power which drives all that exists in all the universes at hand?

She blinked, wondering why she had come to think in such terms. Then the ever-rising heat forced her to concentrate on Panthar once again.

She wasn't even aware of the moment her mother quietly rose to her feet and stepped back, knowing Panthar's fate was well in hand, her own inexperience acting as a possible detriment to the effort of the group.

The he felt a cool breeze on his face, and the clamor dimmed slightly. He opened his eyes, and through the parting clouds he saw a figure approaching cautiously. The voices diminished into nothing, and his tears of pain turned to streams of relief. He stood weakly, the clouds now blowing away and a bright light shining behind the figure, now clearly a female. He reached out to touch the face, his own smile set broadly, and recognition slowly came to him.

JhinDarra, wide eyed, looked back.

“Am I dead?” he asked.

The world faded around him once again, and went black.

…

Panthar gasped, then inhaled deeply. He coughed, gagged, then turned to his side. After a brief moment he opened his eyes and looked cautiously around him. Everyone was staring intently. He rolled again to his back and looked up to the sky.

He lifted his head and looked about, then caught the eyes of JhinDarra.

Startled, Darra immediately stepped back, for a quick moment dropping her eyes as she gathered her composure. Then she raised her head and looked straight at Panthar, bestowing a brilliant white smile upon him.

"I believe so," she said softly before getting to her feet and stepping further back, allowing the others to now rush forward to congratulate him on his survival.

“I’m really sorry,” he said. “I’m not sure what all I did but, well, I can tell you it wasn’t all me. Wow, there are some really scary things out in the universe.”

He shook his head and turned, not wanting to drudge up the dark thoughts that had haunted him since the last trip into the Darker Realms. He turned quickly and was surprised to face JhinDarra. He smiled genuinely.

“Wow,” he said. “I think I owe you my life. All of you! But you were the one I saw… I don’t know if that makes any sense, but… thank you.”

Panthar smiled for a moment longer, then with an effort took his eyes from JhinDarra.

He looked around.

As he turned to join the others, he felt a slight shudder run through him, causing both pain and joy in one rush. He suddenly felt nauseous, and leaned forward as he went to one knee. Then all at once he felt some invisible string snap, a weight lifted, and he knew at once that the last hold the Master still had upon him was broken.

But it was more than that, something else was gone. He had spent so much time in the Darker Realms, in spirit form, that he had absorbed bits of its power, its evil. That too, was gone.

Steadying himself with one hand on the ground, he looked up to Aelvedaar.

The words are in immediate reply, for I too have felt a distant, mysterious disturbance. It is as if somewhere a mass of epic proportions has been eliminated from existence, allowing neighboring materials to rush in to fill the void, much the same as with the strike of lightning, where air heated to thousands of degrees, expanding, is filled by the rush of cooler surrounding air.

Whether or not this disturbance has created an accompanying thunder I cannot ascertain; I only know that Thoran speaks the truth. There has indeed been a momentous disturbance, its lingering after-effects reverbating now from its origins in the Darker Realms.

I nod toward the blackness I have encapsulated. It lays quiet in its crystalline cell, now limned with streaks of a sickly greenish black.

"But I do not know if what has happened there would effect the spirit of my Chosen Daughter," I state truthfully.

"I fear we must hasten our steps, for too long have we tarried here."

Even as I speak the blackness pales further, filling me with hope that its counterpart within the Darker Realms has somehow been removed, or destroyed. I do not, however, let myself be deceived into thinking that the task ahead of us is any easier: Roan still inhabits that terrible realm, not to mention the demons. And while the dimming of the blackness leads me to hope that the entity Entaris, or at least what he represents, has been eliminated, I cannot say for a certainty that all evil is gone.

But for now it appears that our path is cleared somewhat; raising my voice to capture the attention of the others I interject into their joy the need for us to hasten, to seek whatever magickal Sith devices that yet might be hidden within the Temple of the Armorers.

Which is why we have come into the Elseness to begin with.

...for she felt within her very soul that this was indeed the case. For, as Aelvedaar had spoken, Roan still inhabited the Darker Realms, despite what might have happened otherwise within. And that was quite enough to deal with. Especially considering how he had used Jharmeen in the past. And how he felt about her last he laid eyes on her, as well.

Unconciously, Shayla shuddered at the thought. "If something has happened to the Master," she opened with, "It is possible that Jharmeen is in more danger than she was even before, with Roan still at large."

Pausing at that, Shayla frowned thoughtfully. "We were planning to use a Sith device against the Master to defeat him. But if we must defeat Roan as well, we have somewhat of a problem, considering he is a soul and no longer has a mortal body. What could we find to stop him, a soul and not a mortal?"

Again she quieted, now getting to her feet. "We should begin looking, although it would be easier if we knew what sort of thing we were looking for." She turned towards Erik. "You and Panthar were here before, and were brought to a room with some devices in it then, were you not? Do you recall the location of that room? Or," she continued, now looking at Panthar, "Could your tuk'ata companion lead us there? It is a start."

Pursing her lips, Shayla then recalled Panthar's one question. "Phalomir is in a safe location, placed there by Lord Aelvedaar to protect him from the Master."

Then Panthar's briefly spoken words in his state of near-unconsciousness struck her. "Panthar, you...

...you told me you were sorry a few moments ago, when we were helping to heal you from the tuk'ata's strike."

“I, um,” he tried to speak. “Ever since the, um, Flame thing, I had some pretty dark thoughts, and um, I think that’s why that thing got in me so easily. I think I may have said some things or acted contrary to, well, me.”

He coughed and shifted his feet.

“Well, anyway, it’s all gone now. So Phal isn’t going to be with us? Wow. All right, well, I think I can find it again, but I’m sure my buddy can show us, just to be safe. That is, as long as he doesn’t try to eat me.”

Panthar smiled and walked towards the tuk’ata, an action he wouldn’t have ever dreamed of doing not long ago. It stood and met him, its face tentacles winding around Panthar’s face in a show of affection.

Soon it was leading the group through the maze of corridors inside the temple, stopping finally at the battered door of the “armory”. Panthar rubbed at his hand in memory of the wound he received while breaking the door in.

The room was lined with shelves containing various weapons: swords, knives, clubs, and more. Here and there other strange looking items were scattered. Panthar looked at a small table against one wall, and was dismayed to see it empty.

“Someone took it,” he said. “That crystal ball thing that we saw all the Dark Lords through, it’s gone.”

He sighed, looking around the room.

He saw her, sitting in the grass on a warm day. Her hair flowed in the breeze, and her eyes widened at the sight of him. But it was not all correct… she was not as he remembered her, she was very small, a mere child! His powers were in such flux that his own strange knowledge of time had interfered! But he had to do this, there was no time to try again, and his powers may fail completely.

“Shayla,” he called out. “Do not be afraid, child. In time, you will know me. Forces in your time shall prevent you from knowing these words, for the evil will know. But I will hide this in your dreams, and when the evil is gone you shall remember. Jharmeen holds you dear, for it is through her I found you. I have done terrible things, I have allowed myself to be used… but it is gone, the evil, and I-- I need you. She needs you! When you remember this, you will know. Come to us, now, before it is too late!”

He inhaled, the strain of this effort draining him further.

“Roan has the Finger”, he wheezed. “He has destroyed the Tower… my powers, too weak. Use your link with her, you have the ability! I can feel it in you. Forget what you think you know, you have to realize your true potential! Come!”

His powers failed, drained. He slumped backwards, exhausted, and did all he could do. Wait.

...only a reply never came. Like a Pandora's box, a key unlocked a door within her mind that suddenly spilled forth images and sounds, not all of them completely unfamiliar to her...

...but some of them very much so. Now unaware of what was occurring around her, Shayla closed her eyes, and put a hand to her forehead, the sounds now morphing into words, words produced by a very familiar voice: The Master.

It was that day again, and she was a child, sitting on the grass, seeing the image of a Sith sorceror beckoning to her.

Only now the words he previously only mouthed were audible.

Her eyes snapped open, and she gasped. "The Master, it was the Master who appeared to me that day, when I was a child, at the Praxeum."

Trailing a moment at that, her eyes still distant and wide, she was oblivious to the reactions of the others. "He says the evil is gone, Roan has the Finger, the Tower is destroyed and he is weakened...

...and that Jharmeen needs me..."

Once more, Shayla trailed, concern and worry flowing through her. Her eyes finally snapped alert as she looked to the others, the looks on their faces far from her primary concern. "He asked me to come to him..."

She paused, correcting herself, "Actually, he says to come to us, now, before it is too late." Her eyes clouded in concern. "Jharmeen must be with him, at least in spirit. Unless this is somehow a trap...

...this may be our only window to saving her..."

“Um,” he started. “What are you talking about? How could the Master have spoken with you, and why do you remember it now? This really smells like a trap!”

He paused.

He paused, looking to Aelvedaar. "Is there a way to determine if the vision is what really happened with Shayla that day in the past, or if it is a manipulation placed in her mind at some other time?"

I turn a molten look her way.

"That, I fear, is something only Shayla can define," I reply to Erik, my eyes pinioning her own widening pair.

"Tell me, do you sense any difference in the memory now flowing through you, in comparison to what you recall as a child?"

Beside her, Erik opens his mouth to reply for her yet again. I raise a hand, stilling his voice, for it has already begun taking up yet more time, time which I fear we do not have. We must hasten into the Darker Realms, where indeed all our speculations will be laid to rest by the truths we find therein.

She was certain.

"The memories are real, I'm certain," she replied then, her greeny-blues now crystal clear. "The only difference is that I now can recall the words spoken to me, whereas before I could not. But the words spoken match the images I recall verbatim...

...and I specifically remember wandering to the hilltops of Yavin frequently as a child, to...

...get away from the Praxeum. The words the master spoke implies he locked this memory within my mind, only to be recalled at a specific point in time...

... after the evil is gone, he says. And I haven't been able to fully recall or understand this vision, not until now."

I nod to her, once; then raise my face and peer deeply into her greeny-blue eyes. The fingers of my outstretched hand begin to form into a peculiar configuration: the index and little finger extending like horns, the thumb curling beneath my palm to join with the others, likewise curled. Poised to open the Portal, I speak to Shayla one final time.

"Has the vision given you any particular place within these realms where we are to meet? For an endless dimension do they inhabit, and without a specific link to a specific spot, I can only take us there blindly.

"I cannot guarantee that we will find ourselves anywhere near my Chosen lo- that is, my Chosen Daughter."

"He says I should use my link with Jharmeen to find them."

Without waiting for she or any other to reply, and utterly ignoring Erik's somewhat alarmed look at my actions, I reach out my free hand and place it entirely over Shayla's face. The fingers curve up over her brow and onto the top of her head, while the thumb and little finger seek the joint where her jaw meets her throat. In this manner I have totally encompassed every nerve ganglion in her brain and nearby vicinity; closing my eyes, I send a gentle tendril of my essence into her own, following the pathways within her mind, brilliant violet bolts of energy crackling about me like fantastic lightning, ever onward and onward until after passing through a particularly dark passage I come upon yet another violet light.

This light, however, is not that of the energies by which nervous impulses generate and travel. This one originates from a sigil I placed upon a certain pale forehead, seemingly eons ago.

Brilliant violet eyes stare at me with gentle calm, a testimony to how the adept considers her teacher. Without, my features break into a calm smile of my own.

"And now we go."

The configured hand twists just so, and before us there opens a rift from one impossible realm into another. I pause at the threshold, calling out to the others in our party.

"We go to a place beyond that which Man terms real. We go into danger, and the likelihood of entrapment. We may find ourselves in battle; there is a great probability not all of us shall return.

"If you do not wish to follow, there will be no disgrace or dishonor upon you for this. For wisdom does indeed often raise its head at unexpected times."

With that I simply step forth into the rift, following the beacon Shayla's link has laid out before me.

Strangely enough, though Shayla had been seperated from him from quite some time she still knew from their sibling bond what concerns were flowing underneath his Jedi calm. Her greeny-blues now shifted to JhinDarra's wide blue pair.

"You are, perhaps, the only other who may have an All link with Jharmeen," Shayla then stated simply, softly, "And you are the only other here with inherent All abilities."

Pausing at that, Shayla couldn't help but think of another time, and the child of her own she so desperately wanted protection for, and a life for. The words she spoke then were nothing more than a product of the motherly instinct she kept buried safely within herself. As she spoke, her look encompassed the entire group. "She is the hope of the future, and her safety is imperative."

Leaving her words at nothing further than that, Shayla exchanged the look of a mother to a mother with Galen Danner then turned and stepped into the yawning portal before her, her husband at her heels without so much as a word.

(((OCC: Follow Shayla and Erik into The Seige of a Soul in this same forum, thank you.)))

I turned my face up to Terrin, squeezed his hand.

"Yeah, let's go," I affirmed and with him by my side followed my daughter and the others into who in Hell's Seven Circles knew what...

Quieting a moment at that, Jasyn then looked towards Matt, who was already headed to the portal. "Another day, another bad feeling," he then quipped, albeit rather darkly. And then he followed Matt into the portal.

Truthfully, more was haunting him than perhaps his sister was aware of. There was something that he couldn't even quite put his finger on.

But then, worrying about the future was not the Jedi way, so Shawn focused on the present and what he was heading for. Mentally preparing himself for the utter darkeness he knew he was about to be surrounded with, Shawn stepped into the portal...

...and stepped once more into a realm that probably no other Jedi knew existed.

“We shouldn’t go empty-handed,” he said. He glanced around, grabbed a small device that resembled an ice-cream cone, and stepped through the portal.

The Master pushed his way back through the portal, into the ship with Rykounagin, and closed the portal behind him. He immediately opened another, and stepped through it, beckoning for Rykounagin to follow.

Within the chamber he opened a small chest sitting on a table, and withdrew a small dark red orb. He then turned and waited.

"What the hell just happened?" I snarled, entering from the wreckage of the ship, coughing sharply feeling something twist inside me though I did not complain at the pain.

"Now where the hell are we?" I asked, looking about the chamber and at the table the Master stood before, and then more suspiciously at the orb in his hand as the pain shot through my center again.

I wasn't aware of it, but all the "bumping" a moment earlier had redamaged one of the already healed areas, which, though healed, was still a bit rough as most scar tissue was. "What the feth is that thing?"

“You are standing deep within the Temple of Armorers, lad,” he beamed. “You should feel welcomed here, as my son is currently the Dark Lord of this abandoned ruin. I hear he plans on rebuilding it, though.”

The Master looked around the room, as if appraising it. “So I have laid claim to this building as my own, now. Rather homey, don’t you think? Oh, of course, it could use some new curtains and shelves, but one makes do.”

The Master returned his smile to Rykounagin and petted the crystal in his hand.

“This,” he purred, “is a device I helped to forge a long time ago. It allows me to keep tabs on certain friends, and I am suddenly most curious to know how some of them are doing these days.”

The Master waved his hand over the device. “Lord Phalomir,” he said. The crystal turned dark and milky, then cleared to show an image within of Phalomir standing next to a bed, his arm outstretched. Beside him, in the bed, was Thoran. The Master’s eyebrow rose.

“Interesting,” he mused. “But at least it still works! Lord Aelvedaar!”

The device cleared, then showed a vision of Aelvedaar sitting in what appeared to be a passenger area of a star ship. Delighted, the Master waved his hand over the device again to clear it.

“Do you see what it does, lad? And who it is able to find for me? It does have it’s limitations, after all. But let us perform one more call, shall we? I am most curious indeed to know the answer to this one.”

The Master waved his hand over the crystal once more.

“Lord Roan,” he said steadily.

The device went black in his hand, and remained that way for several seconds. Finally the milky clouds formed inside and then cleared, showing a very dark room, bare except for a decrepit form hanging from chains against a barren black wall. The body was limp, red skin chaffed and sore, the bases of horns protruding pathetically from its head. After a moment the body stirred, a shallowed head lifting as if to peer back through the device.

Once again a pair of bantha-sized Eyes materialized, blinking against the other-sky like a pair of silver-streaked, periwinkle suns.

A whirlwind of air presaged their sudden growth; soon they were as large as the Temple itself... then rapidly shrank to tiny motes which floated upon the air, dancing like touches of dust in the Koris'ian sunlight.

They wafted into the chamber where the Master held the assassin, and popped to their normal size once again.

"Foul!" came a booming whisper, but whether that was intended as a remark of their skills in playing the game they were wrapped up in or one concerning their personal hygiene, the Voice didn't elucidate.

The Eyes merely stared at the Orb sitting in the Master's hand, and in a twinkling of an eye had shriveled it into a blackened pea.

"This has gone on long enough, you know," the unlocalized Voice commented off-handedly, "so I think you can stay put here a bit and ponder this."

The great orbs darkened slightly."Reality shall continue... but you remain the same. Once there was a laughing girl, who sent a Raven to dancing upon a Mobius strip..."

Chuckling at that stupendous joke, the Eyes disappeared. The sky outside grew sunny and calm, a fresh breeze sprang up...

...which managed to wend its way into the Temple, to the chamber where the pair were held, effectively squelching the Portal back into the dimension of Man and spinning a wonderful tale that would prohibit such a doorway to be opened into it again.

Or at least until That Which Is deigned it time to open one back to where this one had come from, then to free the system back into space where it belonged.

"What the hell did you do?!" I cried out. "Furthermore, what the feth was that?!" I personally had no idea, but all I knew was that there were some answers wanted, and my anger at what was going on in the last ten or so minutes was increasing exponentially as the seconds ticked by.

I began to wonder if the magical bonds keeping me from killing people worked in other dimentions. If not, at least I'd have a cadaver to play with while we were stuck, since in life he wasn't doing much more for me anyhow.

The Master stood quietly for a moment, staring at the useless dried ball in his hand. He then closed his hand over it, crushing the ball into dust and letting it slip through his fingers.

“We have been discovered,” he said at length. “Putting it simply, there is an entity, an embodiment of All That Is, which usually keeps to itself as long as everyone plays by the rules. Apparently it did not like us making that particular discovery and now we have been penalized.”

The Master wiped the remaining dust from his hand and paced to the wall.

“But what puzzles me is why. Evidently this is part of its game…”

He turned to face Rykounagin, his face grim.

"I have an idea." I smiled. "You're the one who broke the rules, so..." I reached out the Lotus in my mind, but for some reason, it felt like trying to touch a painting behind glass, seeable and understandable but untouchable.

So magic from the material doesn't work here? Perfect. "...you're going to fix this problem before I lose my temper. Or, I'm going to be wearing a rather interesting looking coat by the time I get out of here. Understood?"

I glared at him. "In the time I've spent with your unpleasant company, you've prattled on and on about the apocalypse, unity, and special rules of which so far, you've only told me to keep me occupied. Well I'm not playing games, because games are for children. This is life, and I'm tired of being used as your pawn. Fix it, get us out, and don't push me any further. Because guess what?"

I smirked. "Apparently magic doesn't work here. So I can't stab you to death, but guess what that also means?"

“Except brute strength!” he shouted, flipping his head to the side and batting the boy’s body fiercely to the side. The power of the Sith sent Rykounagin flying across the floor to bounce softly into the wall. The Master’s hands glowed brightly as he raised them, holding them out as if on display.

“Do not assume magick has abandoned me, and do not raise yourself to the height of your ego,” he said. “I have come to you with an offer, I did not force you to go with me. Work with me and we both shall profit, work only for yourself and we both shall die alone. Why must you always be such a twit?”

I growled. "You've been lying to me, so stop with your damn games. If you really wanted everyone on your side, you'd stop sneaking around. If you weren't chalk full of feth, you'd be working with someone aside from an assassin right now. You said it yourself, you could be the shadow, so why don't we just split you open and find out? It's not like, according to everyone else, you've done the galaxy any good!"

I grinned now, my blood up, beginning to circle in the room, watching him move by default to counter. "It's people like you and me who put bad things into motion. You do it because you want to get things out of it. I do it, because that's my purpose. So why don't we just rid the galaxy of the lesser evil shall we?"

“Nothing except your life,” he said. “You would like it better if I had left you to die?”

His instinct cried out to smash the boy and leave, but he held back.

“I would think you of all people would see the benefit of ‘skulking’. You make no sense to me, lad, are you an assassin or not? I know you are afraid to retrieve the Finger of R’lous, especially now that the truth has been revealed, but redirecting your fear to hating me is counterproductive. Redirect it elsewhere.”

He search for more to say, more to do. His instinct still cried out, rid yourself of this menace!, but he was not finished. Whether he liked it or not, he needed this boy alive.

“I have no wish to kill you lad,” he said, then paused. His instincts again cried out.

“All right,” he said, sighing. “I shall be honest with you lad, completely honest, if that is what you wish. I would wish nothing more than to kill you where you stand. But I will not, because the task at hand does not change. If we do not retrieve the Finger then all is lost. But you be honest with me, if you feel you cannot overcome your fear then tell me now and I shall find another.”

He smiled slightly.

“Once we escape from here.”

I knew what I already was beginning to form in my mind was risky, but somehow I knew it was worth it. I knew that if I didn't get to Phalomir soon and have him release me or at least have him command me, my hands would become more than tied. There were consequences to "avoiding" your master when he had power over you.

Now fuming, instinct screamed for the worse. The Master instead switch strategies and waved his hand in another direction, this time a shimmering portal glowing into existence beside Rykounagin. Smiling fiercely, the Master threw his other hand before him, directing a force at Rykounagin that shoved him into the portal.

“Deal with it yourself!” he shouted, closing the portal that led to the only place he could open such a doorway, further out into the Elseness.

I saw the growingly familiar spark of a portal, but this one was not far away... no this was only a few hundred feet at most!

Where is this? When is this?

I wondered, some deep curiosity causing me to extend a hand towards the portal, fingers piercing through. I could suddenly feel intense heat radiating from the world it was upon. Where ever this was, it was hot.

Suddenly, two figures came through the storm, wrestling over a strange snake-like weapon that writhed between them. One seemed human or some subform, the other a scarred alien wearing a curious carapace armor. They struggled for minutes until suddenly the weapon struck the human, and within moments he was still.

The Xenos got up and glanced around, and then looked right at me. It seemed surprised for only a moment, then began to charge the portal.

I stood, blinking for a long moment, before suddenly the portal swirled shut, the alien only a few paces away from the portal as it vanished from my sight, and I from its time.

Shayla needed no more cue. She lead the way through the portal, ignoring that the others had quite a bit of materials to gather and carry through as she did so. As she stepped through the portal, she stretched out with her talents and sensed, and was almost immediately impacted with the truth of their location...

I did not know where, but I needed not to. Whispering a scant word of caution into the air, I pooled magic around it and sent it off to its destination as I had before to ShaRhylla and others in the past. As I did so, I felt something oddly quirk in my stomach, as though something had twisted painfully.

"This does not feel like Dagobah - there isn't enough life. What are you doing with us, traitor?"

...and deadly. Let us be on the move...

...and now."

Even as Shayla stated these final words, she drew the Force about herself, stretched out with it and sensed their location...

"If this is Dagobah, where is my Master? I don't feel him any closer than I did on Sullust - in fact he feels farther away. I don't trust you, traitor. I trusted you once and now everyone I cared for is dead, and I blame you. You use the gift of the Force for evil and I will not follow that. I will be a Jedi, and I know you tricked us - that is what you are. Master Petrolu is not here, none of the others will be either. I know my Master's signature."

But, and this was something that Thea's years just hadn't had the time to bring to her yet, it really didn't matter whether that trust was actually there or not. The important issue here was timing; and this was most certainly not the time nor the place to start confronting each other straight on. We did want to get out of here in one piece, after all.

"Thea, dear; are you certain?" I questioned as I came up quickly behind her and placed both hands on her shoulders.

"Do you think maybe there might be a teensy little chance of error in what you're thinking?"

I squeezed her shoulders, hard, trying to convey to her that considering our predicament we had every reason to believe that discretion was the better part of valor.

"Are your instincts with finding people through the Force always completely accurate? Are you certain this isn't Dagobah? I mean, yeah it's not quite as swampy as I thought, but we could have stepped out into a polar region, which wouldn't have as much water. We'd have to wait until night to watch how the stars move to determine that; come to think of it, did the Dark Lady let you in on any little secrets as to exactly where it is we've come to on this planet?"

I lifted my eyes and addressed Shayla, but before I let them stop on her slender form they tarried in the emerald green ones of the Sith Lord.

At least not yet.

She was keenly aware, however, that there was wild life in the area, and that she didn't sense any intelligent life via the Force. But there was Something familiar about the place...

Her eyes, momentarily defocused, snapped alert once more. Shayla chose to do what she felt, and decided to work from there.

"I think we should go that way," she commented, pointing out in a direction in front of her and behind the others. "That is at least what my senses are telling me."

"Hon, I believe you. But this isn't the time; we have to tread very gently..."

I cut my eyes back up to Shayla, grinned over the top of Thea's and Link's heads.

"Lead on, MacDuff!" I said with a heartiness I in no way came close to feeling. Then as the blond began moving us out I slowed my steps, dragging on Thea bit by bit until she and Link and I were tagging along in the rear.

"I'm certain this is a trap of some kind. You can never trust a... Sith... Dark Sider. I don't know about Palomir or his race yet, but I do know that there is not enough life here to be Dagobah - and none of the life that is around is intelligent. We may want to hurry out of this area though cause something is hungry and I don't want to be dinner. I think we should get away from her as soon as we safely can though, you, me, Aaron, Link, and K'kihl."

Thea was right, something was amiss here. The forest was too light, the sky somehow different. It was almost like-

Phalomir’s thoughts were interrupted by a faraway cry of an animal. His keen Sith hearing picked it up before the others, and his skin crawled with the realization of what kind of animal it was.

Then he felt it. All around him, in the air, the ground, so faint yet very distinct to the Dark Lord of the Armorers. The thrumming, subtle vibrations of the power of the planet that held his Temple.

Phalomir half scowled and stared at Shayla, still confidently striding ahead of him. Still silent, he took the canteen from his belt and held it in his hand. He inhaled, sneered, and in a flash sent the canteen sailing from his hand and into the air, where it collided with the back of Shayla’s head with a clank. The heavy, full canteen sent Shayla to the ground unconscious.

He walked to her, ignoring the startled cries of those with him. He looked back towards Yaoksi with a steady expression.

“Thea is correct,” he said. “This is not Dagobah. Fetch rope from the pack, hurry.”

Phalomir proceeded to rip two pieces of his clothing into wide strips and fashioned a gag and blindfold, which he secured around Shayla. He was handed a rope by someone, but he was not taking his eyes off of Shayla. He secured her arms behind her back and tied her legs together.

“We are on the planet Korris’ian,” he said, now looking at the faces around him. “We have been sent here to face the wild beasts of this world, probably to die. Whether Shayla was part of this plan or was likewise betrayed, I do not know, but I am not willing to risk it. I have had quite enough of all this. There is no civilization here, only the ruins of an ancient Temple. But it is my Temple, that of my clan, and it is there we shall travel. I can feel it, it calls to me. Graysith’s portal could only be opened to a place she has seen, and from the stories told to me of her stay here, she has not seen much far from the temple. Since Shayla was leading us this way, I suggest we travel the opposite way.”

Phalomir stood and hefted Shayla’s limp form onto his shoulder.

Actually, it was easier than I thought it would be to keep from blurting out the question, for it was lost in the myriad others whirling in my head since Lord Phalomir's surprise attack on Blondie. But whether all was peaches and cream, or whether we had just stepped from the exhaust jets into the proverbial engines yet remained to be seen; as it was, all I could acquiesce to was a directional shift from one potential danger (if not certain) to another.

The difference was that this one still held a slim chance of proving me wrong, and Thea as well.

I considered all Lord Phalomir had revealed, let my open mouth keep disguising my growing unease by pretending to be resultant human shock, and squeezed Thea's shoulder again. Somewhere in the distance, there came an impossible, snarling yowl that sent tiny hairs on the back of my neck to an abrupt attention.

That settled it for me.

"Yeah, right," I stammered, turning about to begin heading off in the direction he indicated, one hand freeing itself from Thea's shoulders to snag Link. Something told me they'd both be embarrassed as hell if I pulled them under my suddenly developing mother hen's arms; instead I merely pulled them alongside of me, then released them to walk on their own. A chittery sort of clack behind me informed me of K'kihl's whereabouts; with nothing in my forward vision now save for a wild tangle of forest and the brush of a cool wind, I was at last free to let my facial muscles do what they had been wanting to do all along.

I frowned, pursed my lips, let out a small sigh of major concern. For while it was indeed clearly evident that we couldn't trust the blonde as far as we could throw her, I was yet uncertain about the Sith Lord. Thea had wanted us to depart from him as well; that didn't seem possible at the moment.

Besides, I told myself as we trudged along, ducking to avoid the whip of thorny branches, stepping over one fallen tree after another.

Better stick close to this guy. He's more than likely the only way we're going to get off this planet, whatever this planet IS. And what better place to keep one's possible foe than right under one's nose?

I agreed with myself by nodding imperceptibly, and kept moving, at length building up enough courage to ask a real question:

"Ahh... you said this place was called Korris'ian. I've never heard of it, and I've been around the galaxy, don't ya know. I'm not seeing any welcome signs anywhere."

I gestured with a brief wave of one hand.

"Care to elucidate a bit further as to what little birdie came along to whisper this gem of wisdom into your ear?"

His explanation of temples calling out to him just didn't cut the mustard with me. I turned a bit to shoot a questioning look toward the Sith Lord, but it was snagged instead by the immense shining eyes of K'kihl. He merely clattered his mandibles again, and kept mute.

“Korris’ian is not in the known galaxy,” he said. “Not any more.”

His smile dissolved quickly as he continued, walking behind the others with a limp Shayla in tow.

“In the glory days of my race, long, long ago, there were four worlds that made up the core planets of the Sith. That is the race known as ‘Sith’, Thea, not the nasty Force users who stole the name of my race, the Dark Jedi. Three of the worlds each held one clan, and along with it the central Temple devoted to that clan. You have already seen the Temple of Warriors on K’eel Doba. Another splendid Temple devoted to the sorcerer clan is on Khar Delba. Those two planets orbit our red sun, while its younger yellow brother held the other two planets in tow.

“Korris’ian, where we are now, was the home to the Clan of Armorers, or as some called them, the Weapons Clan. The same word in Sith means both, depending on the context. The forth planet was sacred, and was for all clans. When the Dark Jedi came, Korris’ian was the first planet to feel the brunt. The entire population was evacuated to K’eel Doba, and then again to Khar Delba to live amongst the Sorcerers.

“Now this planet is a wild jungle. If we are lucky, we shall not encounter a wild tuk’ata before we reach the safety of the Temple. It has fallen into ruin, being unoccupied for 4000 years, but I have been there recently and know its condition.”

Phalomir suddenly felt a strange sensation, aside from the thrumming that he felt from the Temple. It was something familiar, yet he could not quite place it. Dismissing it, he then considered explaining about the Elseness, but decided against that at the moment.

“There is a guardian of this – realm,” he said. “It required that the world be hidden from the rest of the galaxy, and so it is. If we encounter the guardian, it is best to keep quiet and not be argumentative. I shall explain our condition and with luck it will send us back.”

His frown deepened. "One of those wild beasts...

..or something on one of these Sith worlds...

Phalomir looked to his right, into the jungle. A call from far away came wafting from the distance.

“The animals of the planet are diverse and mostly harmless. All except for the Tuk’ata. They are the predator above all here. They are huge, sharp in claw and tooth, with tentacled faces. They are highly intelligent, hunt in packs, and if we encounter them we may as well be dead. That is why I hope to reach the temple before we--”

Phalomir stopped, both in mid sentence and mid step. He was looking intently to his right.

“Hold,” he said, lifting his hand palm forward. “This is not the way to the Temple.”

Phalomir pointed to the ruins off to the right. Covered in tangled vines and leaves, a pair of small stone buildings rose from the foliage. The woman he held over his shoulder was moving slightly, Phalomir sighed and walked towards the ruins.

“I suggest we stop here for now,” he said. “Shayla is waking.”

Phalomir walked next to one of the buildings, apparently a house of some sort. The stones still looked mostly intact, and except for the missing door and windows. He placed Shayla down on the ground and knelt beside her. Swallowing hard, he pulled the gag from her mouth.

...but increasingly aware of that persistent niggle that something wasn't right. As conciousness began to return even more, she shifted a bit, only to find that her movement was restricted. To realize that she was laying down.

And that none of this had anything to do with her own will whatsoever. She stretched out with the Force a bit, assessing the situation before she fully returned to it, and was immediately impacted with familar, nearby presences.

White hot anger flooded through her...

...but something deeper and darker sent out a silent but beckoning warning call that she also took note of.

Her greeny-blues finally opened, their depths somehow musky for a moment before turning completely serene and unreadable, all traces of anything completely gone.

Yeah right. Like that was gonna happen...

I rubbed an exasperated hand over my face.

"Oh, hell!" I exploded as without thinking I strode over to where the Sith Lord was kneeling over Blondie.

"She's not gonna tell us anything; I say we leave her here as decoy for these tuckerhoosy critters, and get outselves to-- to--"

I trailed to a close, for I honestly had no idea where in all the universe we could go.

Or, beyond it as, if what Phalomir asserted was indeed true, the case was proving to be.

"Better then the last place..." I murmured, passing through it without hesitation this time, and feeling an immediate weight fall upon me, as gravity returned. "So it is a world..." I felt a wave of familiarity pass over me. "I'm back where we were..."

I quickly uncrossed my arms and made a movement toward the enraged Phalomir who, judging from the delicate shade of red Shayla's face was slowly becoming, either didn't realize or didn't care about the sum of Sith strength + human throat. He merely grunted, gave his head a dimunitive jerk in my direction, then returned his attention to the task at hand.

I hovered a moment, torn.

Wasn't this acting according to the Darker Side, as Thea was wont to spout? Wasn't this reducing outselves to the level of those who had become our enemy?

Then I remembered what had happened in the Healing Chamber: the overall destruction, and the quickness in which this gal had reacted to produce said destruction.

Not to mention the means by which she had accomplished it...

I looked at Phalomir in quite a different light.

"Good luck, buddy," I whispered to myself as, crossing my arms once more, I quietly stepped back to stand with the remainder of our so far silent little group.

"Hey, I think I've been here before. You sent me here with Galen once - when your... Dark Master was trying to kill us, didn't you, Traitor? Up in a temple on a rocky hill. And Khar Delba - you held us prisoner there too. You set one of those tuk'ata on us. If Jasyn hadn't found us and rescued us we would be dead now."

Thea was beginning to like Phalomir more now - after all he talked about the Dark Ones with the same dislike she thought of them as even if they knew them by different names.

...but was immediately squelched by something else entirely.

Betrayal...

Even those who claim to care...

...they really don't. It's all a ruse to feed their conscience. And it matters not.

In that moment, Shayla's eyes hardened. "You will believe what you will believe," she spoke vaguely through her constricted throat. Then, her eyes darkening, she added a final statement. "Go ahead and kill me...

...and be certain to aim for my heart."

Even as her last statement fell from her lips and her face continued to redden, her eyes flicked to Phalomir's...

He instinctively flinched, his eyes going wide.

“Panthar,” he whispered. It was the same thing he saw in Panthar, here on this same planet. He had been infected with the darkness that had been intended for Phalomir, and it was only through a self-inflicted, nearly fatal injury that made the substance leave Panthar. This he heard after the fact, for it under the influence of that darkness Panthar convinced Aelvedaar to imprison Phalomir. And now Shayla and Jharmeen both were under this same influence.

"Shayla already speaks," she growled, having quite enough of all of all this as she then closed her eyes, stretching out to her talents to then send an overwhelming blast of Force to once more knock everyone head over heels, including the Dark Lord who held her.

She took a few deep breaths then, fire burning in her eyes, the oil within fueling it even more. "You have made the first move, and chosen your part in the Game," she panted, stretching out then to her LInk with Graysith.

“The first move was leading us here instead of aiding us when I asked for help,” he said flatly. “How can there be trust when all I hear are lies? Shayla, or whatever you have become, if you and Jharmeen have issues with me then confront me directly with them. I am still Phalomir, the one who has been through so much with both of you. Just let me know that this darkness has not consumed you, and that it is still you inside.”

Phalomir paused, a lump catching in his throat.

"This is not unexpected, my Sister; a hazard of the task I have put before you. I must know what the Temple of Armorers holds, for if a device can be made once, it can once more. This cannot be allowed, for in the Grand Scheme of Things we have no time to waste on such distractions.

"One in particular being this self-proclaimed Dark Lord; be wary of him, Sister. He is powerful indeed; you have not yet mastered what you need to hold your own in an outright confrontation with him. Therefore, you must use that gift natural to you and all of the feminine ilk:

"Guile."

She let a pregnant moment pass between them before sending off one last, assuring thought.

"Fear not, however; should he persist in seeking your death, I shall have you from that place in an instant.

"You... you would kill us both?" she queried softly, seeming to waver for the first time.

“I do not wish to harm either of you,” he said. “Jharmeen is everything to me, you know this. And you and I have been through much together, and you know I would lay my own life down for you. But Shayla, there is something wrong, something amiss. Why have you turned against me? Why would you lead us here to this planet of wild tuk’ata and claim it to be Dagobah? What has been done to you?”

She trailed a moment, then continued, still not looking up. "And help her. You may be the only one who can..."

Trailing again, oil, now hidden from the eyes of the others, momentarily clouded Shayla's eyes, only to then recede back into it's hiding place.

When she looked up her eyes were totally clear. They locked onto Phalomir's. "We have to devise a plan..."

Phalomir frowned and glanced at the others, Thea in particular.

The Revealer...

"And how can I trust you after what the Revealer has shown regarding Graysith's untimely death while you stood idly by, gloating over an entire race of Sith in regal robes? I know you wish for me to dismiss this as merely a possibility...

...but, considering I have heard you speak of her death since the time that was shown to me, what else am I to believe? You know I would not betray her by trusting another, whether a friend from the past or not. Do you hold me prisoner for taking care in this? As for what I have done to the others here..."

She trailed a moment, first looking at Thea and then regarding the entire group, "I perceived a threat, and reacted hastily. Such things do occur, and I regret that. But of your being taken somewhere other than Degobah..."

She trailed a moment, debating just what she should reveal. "I did not know until I arrived either," she admitted, this time honestly. "I only sought to bring you all to somewhere familiar..."

That much was true as well, though towards what familiarity she had been taking them all towards, she did not know.

And even if she did, she would never openly admit it. For if it had not been the Temple that she had been leading them all to, as she thought, then there were few other places she knew well enough to take them...

"Threatened! We threatened you? We were trying to save you and you attacked us! You tried to kill me! I was six - SIX! How could I have threatened you? You are a traitor, and you've become everything the Jedi stand against - even I can see that."

She threw the rock as hard as she could at Shayla, not caring where it hit her. Thea turned to Yaoksi and the rest of thier group.

I surveyed my surroundings and saw that no one was obviously injured. I watched as the debate continued and Thea's fiery comments, and the stone. Seing that the attention was being drawn away from me I approached the spot where Yaoksi had landed and crouched down next to him, carefully whispering to avoid others hearing in on our conversation and hoping K'kihl would catch on and cover us like before.

"She attacked us first - just a minute ago. And she doesn't need a physical weapon to hurt any of us either - she has the Force and I have seen how well she can use it. Me I can throw a rock or try to get her with this but there is not much else I can even think of doing to her. I didn't use the Force at all to throw the rock - though I could have and I don't have a bedtime."

If only to prove her point she reached out and pulled the rock back to her with the Force before heading over to Yaoksi.

“Stop!” he called out. “Everyone, please.”

He looked down again at the faces all now looking at him.

“First, there is no ship that will answer a call. This entire planet, and its system, is removed from reality. And I am very surprised to see you here, Rykounagin, perhaps as surprised as I was to find myself here. But is you would please give me a moment, or more, I must attend to Shayla.”

Phalomir, not knowing the hostile act Rykounagin had performed on K’eel Doba that left Shayla dying, turned back to the blonde woman.

“Shayla,” he said. “I do not know why the Revealer showed you this. But you must believe me, when I saw this vision it was the Eye of R’lous warning me to not accept the Channeler, it was showing me what would become of choosing power over love. Don’t you see? This is the choice I have made, love is a greater thing. Love for my friends, love for my race, and love for my lady. What you have heard is out of context.”

Phalomir reached behind Shayla and pulled on the knot, releasing the rope that bound her.

I got up and walked over to Thea. Once I reached her I held out my hand before her.

"Here. Sorry, I didn't hit anyone else did I?"

Thea let her hand stray up to her cheek and winced. She noticed a small stain appearing at her shoulder. She hadn't realized how hard she had hit herself.

"Um do you have a cloth or something I could put over this? It's starting to sting."

But at the moment he was caught between a rock and a hard place. He had a feeling that he could escape here if he wanted, perhaps by opening a portal into the Darker Realms. But he had no desire to enter that land, not if the Tower was back, reconstructed by a darkness more terrible than the last. Who had done it? Someone, something, waiting in the shadows for the current ruling class to depart. The Master, steward for the darkest one, deposed in the midst of bringing back the great one, now sat in a dusty room in the Elseness, piecing together the mystery.

Then he felt it.

A small ripple in his concentration, tiny yet unmistakable. His son had entered the Elseness. Where exactly, he could not tell, but it was near.

The Master stood, an oval-shaped spot in the dusty floor marking his place. He dusted himself and walked out of the room, traversing the dark hallways as if he knew them well.

Which he did.

Reaching daylight, he paused at the great doors to the Temple. Rubble still lay strewn about where Phalomir’s first encounter with the wild tuk’ata of the planet had taken place, and where the Master himself had taken Shayla from them through a portal. He smiled to himself, knowing those days were long gone and fruitless. What lay ahead was a much more dangerous and important path to follow.

I reclined backwards, resting on my elbows, the palms of my hands flat against the ground and simply stared up at Link. Her lips were moving; with conscious effort I focused, took in what she was saying... and then little Thea as well.

Thea. Dear little Thea, who I thought was a child but who was showing a sudden ferocity no child should harbor.

I blinked as everything finally began to register, and I heard what Phalomir was saying. Pushing against the ground, I raised to an upright sitting position.

"I don't think we'll be able to raise another ship, kids, if what Phalomir is saying is true."

With the incredible luck I've been running, it simply HAD to be true...

Those words jolted a cold chill into life up and down my spine; now I turned an incredulous stare toward him and got hurriedly to my feet. There I couldn't help myself; I reached out and yanked both Thea and Link in closer to me.

"We can't go off on our own, kids," I whispered in a low voice.

"Until we get things straightened out, primarily where exactly that we are, I can't see any means of getting away on our own. Aaron is injured; I know he wouldn't want to slow us down, but I sure as hell wouldn't want to leave him behind. The ol' Cricket wouldn't let me."

I shot a glance at K'kihl, who only cocked his head and clacked his mandibles.

"Therefore," I pressed on. "We remain in a group. This way we can all... keep an eye out for each other, don't you think, Phalomir?"

"Well, since "Master" Phalomir didn't bother an introduction, I'll do it for him. I would be his newly acquired pet killer, though I'm guessing he really doesn't want to use me for that. Oh, and if you already forgot, my name is Rykounagin."

I was about to growl something to that effect when something he said finally made its way into my brain.

Phalomir's pet killer. And he had just knocked Thea's missile from it's trajectory as easily as I would bat a gleeberfly.

The cold chill that had developed along my spine turned positively glacial; I swallowed and turned to the smirking lad.

"You must pardon-- us if we don't all just rush up and greet your arrival with more-- more--" I floundered, trying to pick and choose my words carefully. For it was obvious to me that this guy was walking a razor's edge of sanity; why else would he have entered into our midst as he did, speaking down his nose toward people he had never met.

Well, save for Phalomir, by his admission. At least.--

I dared shoot a quick glance at the Sith lord before returning my gaze to the newcomer.

"Politeness," I finished, if a bit weakly, drawing Thea and Link more closely to me and sidling us en masse in the direction where K'kihl and Aaron stood silently by.

“Enough!” he called over. “Rykounagin is bound to me, it is a long story. I am quite surprised to see you, Rykounagin, and look forward to hearing your tale. And telling ours. But right now I need help in protecting everyone as we make out way to the Temple. There are wild tuk’ata in these woods, and the safety of everyone is my top priority at the moment.”

Phalomir looked back to Shayla.

Bound to Phalomir? What in all the known universe was that about? Here we go on the ol' "who trusts who" carousel once again!

My eyes then followed the Sith Lord's, dragged to Shayla by the very force of his words. That easy and unfathomable power he held gave me the willies--

But not as much as what I next noted.

It was Blondie. She was pale as a wraith, trembling, eyes deep and black and dangerous, hands fisted. Then before my very eyes torrid anger colored her features red.

I took an involuntary step backwards, bumped smack into a chitinous carapace, was brought to a halt there. I'm certain Thea and Link would be bearing bruises on the morrow from the force with which my fingers now dug into their shoulders.

...and for the fact that he approached at all. Something dark and oily bubbled and oozed deep within, and she was unable to keep it fully in check.

Darkness won out, and Shayla fought with her urge to immediately lash out, to destroy this threat...

...but something, for at least the moment, gave her pause.

He calls himself Phalomir's pet killer. He is bound to Phalomir. And he...

Her blood iced further. Camp fires...?

"Are you well aware of what that one has done?" she queried then icly, her eyes locking on Rykounagin, all others fading into the background as she stared him down, longing to do to him all that he had done to her...

...and that he didn't know who to trust beyond those he had come to the Sith worlds with.

“Do not move, Rykounagin,” he said loudly. “Be still and harm no-one.”

He moved his hand forward, around to the front of his body to face palm-forward just inches from Shayla.

“I know he deserted and stranded ShaRhylla,” he said evenly. “And he plotted with her in the attempted overthrow of Jharmeen. This is why I bound him to me, so he could do no further harm to them.”

I raised an eyebrow at this, knowing likely what the immediate following question to such a statement would be. "She was following me, and frankly, I don't like being watched. So, I blew her up. Or, tried, anyway."

Yaoksi's grip on my shoulder had gone from slight annoyance to sharp and painful. Wrapping my tail around his wrist I applied slight pressure and lifted it hoping to get his attention and release his grip on his own. While waiting for him to comply I returned my attention to the heated argument before me.

The kind of errors that get you quickly killed.

I didn't realize I was shaking my head, but did manage to feel a slight tug on my wrist. With a start I further realized my fingers were digging holes into Link's shoulder, and quickly released her.

"Sorry, Link," I stated by way of apology, then extended that to Thea as well by letting her go free too.

Hell, I have a feeling she's going to be able to defend herself more than I can! I couldn't help thinking as I shot hurried glances around our little group. The centers of attention seemed to be Phalomir, Shayla and the newcomer; all three were shooting heated looks of varying degree at one another, seeming to completely ignore the rest of us.

I bit my lip and sidled back a little, motioning the remainder to follow.

"I'm beginning to get a really bad feeling about all this," I whispered as I nodded meaningfully toward the other three.

After all, she KNEW the creatures who resided on this planet...

"You once promised that you would bind this one to myself and ShaRhylla, so that we could do with him as we willed," she then said to Phalomir, only pausing to look towards the other momentarily, "I expect you to make good on that promise."

Pausing, she looked at Phalomir intently, icily. "In the meantime, keep him away from me, lest I do to him just what I would like to do. I do not, however, want him out of my sight."

Quieting for one final moment then, a dark humor seemed to suddenly surface. "He might be useful for one thing as the youngling has suggested." She smiled darkly. "Bait. Now are you planning to lead the way, or let these others wander through the jungles on their own?"

I twisted just slightly with my head, a crick in the neck developing. "Now, I'd love to keep bandying about with witty remarks, but my head is getting cold, and your friends seem to be getting scared of the dark, so why don't we talk and walk, hmm?"

I raised a gloved hand, ignoring the dried blood on it, and ran it through my stuble of hair, making note that I too, had suffered in some way for my actions; not realizing I'd streaked my hair red.

“Very well,” he said. “We shall go to the Temple and seek a way off of this planet. But do not forget where you are, both of you, and respect my position as Dark Lord of this world. I will protect you the best I can.”

Phalomir lifted his head upwards, feeling for the thrumming he felt earlier. When he listened it was strong, directly behind him. He turned and looked, and realized the thrumming emanated from Rykounagin.

He sighed and looked around once more, surveying the land as best he could through the trees. Then he reached outwards with his magicks, bolstered by thoughts of the Temple. The tattoo on his face seemed to pulse for a second, and he felt it clearly now, the Temple laying off in the distance.

“It is this way,” he said flatly. “Follow me, and keep together if you want to reach safety. No bickering, no threats of death, no violence, and no arguments.”

I will have my way with you soon enough...

Her eyes shifted ahead as they began to move through the jungles then. She was keenly aware of all that surrounded her, of the pulsating life of the place as well as of the death. Once more she was somehow impacted with the very simplicity yet complexity of the connection of all things, of the power of this place.

Like Degoabah, there was most certainly something Other here, a nexus of sorts...

She drank it in as they continued to move, mostly in silence for the time being. In that silence, Shayla Stargazer began to think...

...and recalled the direction of her Sister, an almost dark eagerness filling her.

We shall see what lingers here, she couldn't help but think.

"What do you plan to do if That Which Is does not honor your request?" she then queried, the question seeming innocent enough...

“The Elseness is riddled with portals that lead out,” he said. “One must only find one. Thoran found one, after Graysith sent him into the Elseness when he discovered the two of you on Dagobah. It led him to your friends here. There is no telling where such a portal might take us.”

Phalomir stepped on, still not looking back. He exhaled deeply and continued.

“I do not wish to be your adversary, Shayla. You should know this deep within your heart. I wish only to rebuild my clan and love Jharmeen, and build the strength we shall need to defeat the Vong when they finally arrive.”

He turned his head to Shayla, and lowered his voice.

I began to look around quickly, searching for the approaching eye. "When I came here, some wierd being appeared, and we were locked into the elseness, unable to get out save for outside intervention. I don't think it's happened to us yet, but I'll be damned if I get stuck here again."

I felt my fist clench slightly at that thought. "Seriously... get us out."

I spoke hastily, though an annoyed note still found its way into my voice. I knew soon enough, with all misfortune, I'd have to deal with my apparent knowledge of their private discussion in the sith library.

I looked over at Thea, Cel, Yaoski and Aaron, and began to point one by one, finger by finger. "Little jedi, teddy bear, tweedle dee and tweedle dum, and then finally-" I looked over at Shayla and Phalomir "-witch and lord get eaten, and then who will poor me mock?"

The Master looked to the others, lifting his chin to address them.

“Why, I want the same as you, my dear,” he said. “I want to leave this realm and continue on with my life. Our friend the Eyes has blocked my ability to open a portal out of here. Well, I surmise that he has blocked a direct route out of here, I should say. However, as I was preparing to try an alternate method, I sensed my son’s presence here and thought it wise to investigate. And here I am! I thought that after saving your life, I'd at least get a kiss. Or perhaps a hug?”

The Master raised an eyebrow.

“But I am most curious as to what you all are doing here. And how you came to be here, for that matter. I have my doubts that Aelvedaar would have brought you here, and unless Graysith would have exiled you in her dark fury, I see no logical reason or means… unless she has turned on you as well, Shayla. But that wouldn’t happen, of course, would it?”

"So, That Which Is has blocked your ability to leave directly from this place?" she queried, darkly amused. "If you wish to have any success with It," she continued then, looking towards Phalomir. "I suggest you dispose of him from our party then. That Which Is does not play any games other than Its Own, and I doubt It will entertain the notion of letting this one," she paused, nodding then towards Rykounagin, "Or this one from here if It has already refused."

Quieting a moment then, Shayla's thoughts turned inward, once more recalling Graysith's request of her...

...as well as some of her last ventures in this place. And indeed, recalling What this Place really and truly Was. Her eyes darkened a shade. "I do wonder what you came here for to begin with," she then spoke up, eyeing the Master. "What were you doing here, my dear Savior?" she purred.

She turned back to Phalomir then. "You all may remain with him, and follow his lead if you wish. But be wary; leaving the Elseness by other means than direct ones may not be so simple as the Master proposes. Recall, if you will, that we brought this planet here for the very fact that it would be virtually impossible to get to and from once placed in the Elseness. It should not be so simple to get out. I know this from personal experience, for I too have been here before and know the place."

Her dark look faded into a deep smile, one not rid of all traces of shades of gray and night. "Funny one should fear a place of such Knowledge and Strength."

A final pause. "I am continuing on to find the Temple, as we originally decided. You may do as you please, but have you not already indicated you are the Dark Lord here?" she asked Phalomir. "What then should you fear?"

Saying nothing further than this, Shayla began to move once more in the direction they had taken with Phalomir's lead, her senses all the while trained on the response of those behind her.

I took a deep breath, glanced quickly around those huddled with me: Aaron, K'kihl, Link and Thea. They stood with varying degrees of stunned surprise on their faces, and in the case of some, surprise now being quickly shadowed by rising anger and determination.

I raised a hand quickly, seeing this.

"Guys, it's not going to do us any good to try to get anywhere on our own," I whispered quietly. "I think we can believe 'em when they tell us where we are, but to verify, Link, see if you can comm out to ANYBODY, all right?"

I cut a fast glance over my shoulder, then returned to the others.

"I think we should go along with them so far, but keep our wits about us. All this talk about magick and Whoosis What Is, or whatever; I'm not liking this one bit, but I think the situation is rapidly devolving into one where no matter how good of one ya got, a blaster just ain't gonna get us out of it. Nor a Jedi--"

I cast an apologetic look to Thea. "Sorry, hon; I know you're stronger than I gave you credit for being, but I have a feeling a whole praxeum of Jedi wouldn't have the chance of a gleeberfly against these guys. In lieu of strength and magick of our own, we're going to have to rely on our WITS.

"Again, if anybody comes up with anything better in that department, speak up. But in the meantime, since we're seriously outgunned here, and since we DO have walking wounded among us, I think all we can do is remain meek, compliant and just be the happy little group that we are, until we can sort out who we can trust from those four and who we can't."

Another idea struck me then.

"Maybe we'll find something at this temple they keep talking about..."

He pursed his lips thoughfully then, ignoring the fact that physically, his body was trying to point out the fact that the demon's dealings with him still hurt, quite a bit.
"Maybe they have some of those impressive little Sith fighters here," Aarn spoke up softly, almost seeming random in the statement. "But if this place is so wonderful, and Stargazer seems to have know about it...

...why would Graysith have sent us here?"

He paused frowning. "Seems in sending us here she unwittingly gave us some sort of advantage in our captivity. Unless..."

"I know," I whispered back. "That does seem mighty strange. I mean, what if what this new character is saying is true? Would she have handily sent us here to just boom-- get rid of us this easily? According to the big Dark Lord up there, he's the Master of this planet... well, the Sith master, at least.

"Why send the fighter to where his weapons are stored? Unless--"

I paused in thought, ideas and words now beginning to swirl about in my head in cadence to the march of our feet.

"Unless she knows we won't be able to leave, that his big Whoosis-thing won't let us leave, unless we somehow manage to do so ON OUR OWN, without whatever is inside this temple.

"I mean, how the heck else is she gonna get Blondie back to her; you don't think what this new guy is hinting at is true, do you? That she's exiled her here along with us to get her out of the way?

"Why would she do that? It makes no sense..."

I trailed as we continued through the ever-thickening greenery about us, a shadowed greenery interrupted here and there by the cry of some wild and unknown... thing. I shivered, not liking the sound, wishing like hell we'd get to this temple they referred to as quickly as possible, where at least we'd have walls around us to provide shelter against whatever nasty canastas were out there, lurking in the forest.

"If someone hasn't already said it, I have a really bad feeling about all this. Link, how are your communication ventures going? Anything?" he queried in the Ryn's direction.

"If this place is indeed apart from the known universe, just how the kriffing hell are we going to get back where we are supposed to be? I seem to have forgotten any studies on travelling through deminsions I might have had in school..."

"Well, Phalomir mentioned something about other portals, something about them riddling the Elseness, didn't he say? Maybe we'll find one of those and will be able to get the hell out of here. But--"

I frowned at the place logic was then leading me toward.

"This is a mighty big planet; and what if the portal we need isn't on it? That means it's out THERE--"

I waved a hand about, trying to make it look like I was swatting away some unnaturally persistent vines which were trying to impede our progress.

"Wherever the hell THERE might be. Hmmm..."

I paused fractionally, rubbed my chin, lowered my voice even further.

"If this was once a place of the Armorers, like Phalomir alluded to, well... these Sith guys had to travel to get places, didn't they? I mean, there's OTHER Sith worlds; maybe there's a ship at the temple we can stea- I mean, appropriate for our use. Maybe once we get off this blasted planet we can use that to, uhh... scout around and find another Portal out of this place?"

I couldn't help sighing as I finished. Yeah, this planet was a big place; who the hell knew how big Out There was.

Whatever it was.

He trailed, searching for a word. "...sour."

Even as he said this, the thick undergrowth they had been working their way through seemed to lighten slightly, and he thought he could vaguely see something ahead of them, albeit in the distance. Whatever had been out in the thick, howling and groaning every so often, seemed to be doing so a little less with each step.

Aaron hoped that didn't mean whatever it was had been following them and was about ready to pounce.

He didn't mention this little thought to anyone else. "I think I see something ahead," he said quietly. "I hope we're getting close...

“No need to whisper,” he called back. “We’re all friends here, even though some of us are just a wee bit touched in the head, if you know what I mean.”

He turned his head back to Shayla, who walked a few paces in front of him. “I do not fear the Temple, nor should any of us. It is a sacred place, and well protected by the magicks of the Sith, and of this planet.”

The Master’s smile vanished as he walked.

“What does concern me, however, is why That Which Is would concern itself in the affairs of our realms so deeply. And why it would cry foul when I discovered the truth behind Lord Roan. You see, he is not--”

That brought a touch of reason back to me; drawing a shaky breath I only then realized I was gripping Thea in a death's hold. Trying to send her an assuring smile, one which more than likely looked like a grimace, I set her down gently, making sure she didn't sully herself with Phalomir's blood.

For of course it was his; whose else could it be?

Even though my heart was hammering hard enough to nearly burst from my chest, I managed to speak.

Somewhere distantly I heard an echoing cry, somewhat of terror, but for now chose to ignore it.

I let my torso feel agony for one more moment before drawing a harsh and pained breath, placing my hands at my side and pushing myself up to kneeling, before, with practiced grace, steadied myself standing.

I looked at where Phalomir had been, looked around at everyone else for a moment, then looked to where the brush still trembled. Oh... had way to much experience with these things. But this time there isn't a warrior riding it. Free game.

I looked at Yaoski. "That was a Tuk'ata, unless I'm very much mistaken. Now calm down, we're going to go get him back."

I looked over to Cel and held my hand out. "Vibroblade, quickly, if you please."

At length the tuk’ata stopped before a mound of earth. It was overgrown with vines, covered in soil, but closer observation would betray the outline of an ancient stone hut. The tuk’ata dropped Phalomir onto a pile of leaves near an opening in the mound. Phalomir rolled to his back and pushed himself away as far as he could using his feet, until he struck the mound and stopped. He was covered in saliva, and he bled from light puncture wounds in his chest. He sat and stared at the tuk’ata, who sat down on its haunches and stared back.

Phalomir, wiping the goo from his face, studied the silent beast. Then he realized something.

“Md'diffnnd?” he asked.

The tuk’ata snorted and brought its front legs forward so it could lay on its belly. It stared at Phalomir intently, and at length a small pain persisted in a corner of Phalomir’s mind.

Dark Lord come home, he heard in his head. Dark Lord stay, Dark Lord now dead.

Phalomir merely sat there staring for a moment, not quite sure what the tuk'ata, his bound companion though the Lordship of the Armorers, had meant. Then he realized it.

"No," he said. "Not dead yet."

Phalomir felt inside his mind and found the link he held with Rykounagin. "I release you," he said, breaking the hold he had on the assassin.

"Now I am dead," he said. "What do you want with me?"

I pulled out my vibroblade and threw it a a tree near Rykouagin where it stuck into the side of the tree. Seeing a branch about 2 meters above me I jumped up and grabbed it with one of my hands and my tail, then swung myself up onto it.

I paused, considering for a moment, then turned back towards them all. "Too late. He's dead."

I sighed, and walked back onto our "path", feeling an involuntary sense of failure from the death of my "master", as it were. "Well, that is disappointing." I said, letting the blade swing loose from my hand at the ground; the edge nicking over the loose soil before bringing it back up into a firm grip.

"How do you know that?" I snapped, my brain beginning to kick back into gear now that the intial adrenaline rush was over.

"I mean, he might be injured--"

I stopped at the looks that received. Annoyed for how destiny was having such a hey-day with us, I pressed on.

No need to have foul surprises later on...

Unnervingly enough for anyone watching, Shayla Stargazer closed her eyes and stretched out with the Force, sensing the life surrounding them with her talents, sensing for one familiar life signature: Phalomir's.

At length Shayla's greeny-blue eyes snapped open. "Our friend here is mistaken," she announced. "Phalomir is not dead...

... yet. I sense his life essence not far from here."

...and shaking his head even more at Shayla's announcement that Phalomir was still alive. "Something wild on one of the Sith worlds killed Terrin," he then spoke up, his eyes darkening. "I think it was one of those things...

“If Rykounagin no longer feels the connection of the bond he held upon him,” he said darkly. “Then it is true, my son is dead.”

He turned to face Shayla, his face stone cold.

“What you feel must be his spirit within the land, within the tuk’ata. His heir will now inherit the Lordship of this clan.”

But the Master knew she was right, but he did not make this known to the others.

"Ohhhh, no, brother, not there again!" I took an involuntary step backward, shaking my head and holding a hand up as if by doing so I could make this guy's announcement disappear like mists on the wind.

"Not me, nope; been there, done that, ain't going back!"

Even if poor Devil's leftovers still remained in that awful place!

"Protection? Yeah, right. Like how you protected your son just now, right?"

I pulled Thea even closer to me, then shot a look off into the trees. By squinting I could just make out a glimpse of white fur.

"Link, hey, can you see anything from up there? Is there a chance of trailing that tomato? Can you make out enough to see where he took Phalomir?"

Even if he was indeed dead, we could at least find what remained of him and give him a decent burial, after all.

"There right, these things know the jungle to well for us to track them effectively, besides if we follow it that thing might lead us to its friends."

I turned around to face Rykougin and extended and open hand to him.

She stretched out to her Link with Graysith. The Master and Rykounagin are here, but for what reason I do not know. A tuk’ata has taken Phalomir into the jungle, leaving all others alone. This may be my chance to poke about the Temple...

...but then, there were certain things in the Temple that perhaps the Master and his pet were looking for. If this place truly finds Phalomir its Dark Lord...

...should I venture to its Temple and poke about without him, leaving him to possibly return and come after me? He is yet alive...”

What was with him anyway? Why this sudden pressure to return to that awful place? No one in his or her right mind would want to go there...

"Well, all right then. Do what you want to; I'd rather take my chances here with the live beasts than the dead ones."

Not to mention those who fall somewhere in between those parameters.

...saying he was tracking the essence of his son...

...to then react nonchalantly when that son is taken off into the jungle by a large, vicious predator, making no effort whatsoever to go after him, regardless of the fact that he is alive."

Shayla paused, actually looking at Thea. "You are a padawan. Trust me or not...

...you know you can trust your own senses. You feel him too, don't you?"

She feel silent, her greeny-blue eyes meeting Thea's unreadably. Then she pressed on, looking once more at the group in its entirety. "I do have Force abilities that can assist in protecting us from the tuk'ata that has Lord Phalomir...

..but there is another option besides tracking him randomly. The Temple is just ahead; you can already see it. There we will find ships, and other devices, which will aid us in our search."

She paused. "The choice is yours regarding what you do, however."

"Have no trepidation regarding the Dark Lord Phalomir, my dear," Graysith purred along their link. "For he has one failing which may be so easily utilized: deep within himself, he cares not only for me but for you as well.

"Continue your course; should he suddenly choose to interrupt you, well... my dear, I know you have been practicing your use of guile with him, and hopefully with the others as well.

"I foresee you having no difficulties with Phalomir... but beware his father. He cannot be trusted, as neither can the assassin Rykounagin."

He remained focused on saving his people, succeeding here where he had failed in the future. But to do this, he needed power. Why had it rejected him? Who was the new master of the Darker Realms?

“A Sith mourns in private,” he said. “I do not wish to place others in danger, and I hold very little hope that even my son could survive a surprise attack from such a beast. It had him in its jaws, his blood stains the ground, he shall not be alive for long. But I am touched by the compassion you show for him, and I am moved by your persistent hope that he will survive.”

He looked first to Rykounagin, then to Yaoksi.

“Come, then,” he said. “We will rescue my son and then decide the best course of escape from here.”

The Master turned to the jungle where the tuk’ata had stolen off. He waved his hand and the vegetation all moved to the left before him, creating a narrow path into the darkness. He then looked at Shayla once more.

It was only with great effort that I refrained from shaking my head. Instead I gave Thea a little hug.

"C'mon now, let's go," I said, cutting a look to Aaron and K'kihl before stepping out onto the strangely cleared path the Master had opened up for us. I couldn't help but shiver; there was something not right about that either. As there was just something not right about the shadows which seemed to be pressing in even more closely in upon us.

I squeezed Thea again, a little harder.

"Hon, while you're sensing out to see if Phalomir is alive, you might want to keep an antenna trained on whether or not any more of those tescaderos are still hanging about..."

Now what was this all about?

Saying nothing of her thoughts for the moment, however, Shayla stepped in behind the others who had begun to follow the Master, keeping her eyes and ears trained on what was going on as well as her senses. She was most curious as to what the Master was doing...

...and with a sudden realization came to an abrupt halt, her eyes slitting futher. "He lies," she growled. "He is not leading us to the place where I sense Phalomir; I will not be lead about as a lamb to the slaughter; enough!"

Before the Master could completely turn to even address Shayla, something within her reached out and melded and merged with what was already inherent to her very soul as well as to that which she was had learned throughout her training not only as a Jedi but as a Sith Adept. Tapped into it and sought to use it for all it was worth. Which was quite a lot, really. Before the Master truly knew what was happening, for the entire set of events happened in less than a second, he found himself slammed to the ground with great force, so much so that he was knocked completely unconcious. Nearby, much the same happened to Rykounagin, who was also left unconscious on the jungle floor. By the impact of the force, both would remain there on the jungle foor for a several hours.

Seeking out then for something even deeper and stronger to ensure that the Master and Rykounagin would not be bothering her for quite a while, Shayla stetched out into the grandness of the All, her renewed abilities now at her beck and call.

She sought far more than the creation of an apple out of the molecules of the air, but this time a logical but firm binding to keep the two in their place for a while longer after they awoke. In response to this, thick, firm vines encircled each one's arms and legs, leaving them bound tightly on the jungle floor.

"We must hurry from here and head that way," she then spoke softly as she pointed off in another direction, her eyes still closed, the grand majority of her very being still trained on the strength of the All see was connected with, and indeed, was indeed but a mere portion of...

"There is something intelligent out there but with all these people dropping in on us it doesn't have to be him."

Shayla's attack on the other Sith was the last straw in Thea's mind however. She gasped as the vines appeared out of nowhere.

"How could you? How could you be so evil. They can be killed out here trapped like that. How can you have turned your back on all you were taught to be!"

Unless Blondie knew something about them we didn't; ahh now, there's the rub.

I cut a short glance her way, chewed my lip a little as I tried to figure out what to say. Finally:

"Ahh... but isn't the opening that he--" I nodded in general toward the mass of vines. "--created going to where that beastie took Lord Phalomir? I mean, we saw it head off in that direction..."

I trailed before I could say anything else to possibly ignite her inflammatory ire. Gulping back the rest of what I wanted to say I moved to where Thea was tearing rather ineffectively on the vines.

"Maybe you might want to give it a rest, hon," I suggested, giving an imperceptible nod in Blondie's direction.

"If you know what I mean..."

At the bottom the spiral stairs opened into a larger room, though not much larger than the stairwell. Phalomir stepped onto the hard dirt floor and was instantly drawn to the large stone statue that stood along the wall. He stared at it, dumbfounded, taking involuntary backward steps until he thumped against the stone wall of the stairwell. His hand extended outward to shine the light on the statue, glinting off the crystal which lay on something its hands. He stood still for nearly a minute before he drew his next breath.

“How can this be?” he finally asked. The tuk’ata, waiting patiently on its haunches throughout this silence, turned its head away from the status to face Phalomir.
It is, came the telepathic reply.

Phalomir took a step forward towards the statue, still unsure what to think. The face of the statue, a stone mirror of the Sith he remembered as Trelanicus, one who Phalomir once thought to be his father from ancient times, stared out with hollow eyes. Phalomir placed his hand on the cold face and followed it down to the chiseled shoulder. He felt a warmth begin to flow into him, slight and wafting, and looked down at the stone scroll the statue was holding. Carved into it in intricate detail was a figure eight, lined with runes. Inside each circle was a triangle; in the left circle each angle held an ancient rune for Male, on the right circle it was Female. The center point of the figure eight held a crystal in the shape of rune that meant many things, among them Change, Ending, and Death.

Below it and above it, etched in the stone, were two more symbols. On the top, the symbol for Light, or Order; the bottom, the symbol for Darkness, or Discord. And as Phalomir let his eyes wander in amazement, he noticed the etchings set in the top corners of the scroll: a pair of disembodied eyes watching over all.

---

And now he claims to lead us to his son, when only moments before he refused to do the very same. Granted, the trail he began with seemed to take us in Phalomir's direction...

...but the Master is a crafty one."

She paused then, sensing outward for Phalomir's presence. "Even now his signature is on the move; he heads in that direction, quickly," Shayla said, pointing ahead, not through the path that the Master had opened but not far from it. "We should hurry. As for these two--"

She paused once more, "They will wake in due course. If we intend to get from this place by confronting That Which Is, neither should be with us when that occurs. They have, after all, already angered It. Clearly, they both have abilities to get from here once they awake...

...through the Darker Realms."

Trailing a moment, Shayla then knelt down on Thea's eye level. "...but they will not do so with us. For one who speaks of Jedi compassion, you have yet to learn it yourself. Far more lies here than what your eyes and ears see, and what your mind can take in. Think of me what you will; but know that just because you think it, that does not necessarily make it so. For while I have taken part in actions that you believe brand me an evil traitor...

....so have they."

Falling silent at that, Shayla then stood, turning to look at the still forms of the Master and Rykounagin, letting her head fall and her hair fall into her face as her eyes oiled for the briefest of moments...

...then cleared entirely.

They will both pay...

Looking up then, Shayla nodded in the direction she had indicated, taking a few steps that way, her senses once more on all that surrounded them, and on Phalomir's particular Force essence.

I shook my head, partially at myself but primarily out of sheer disbelief at what Blondie was so coolly handing out to us, like the words she was speaking were rare offerings on some kind of platter or something.

"Oh, and we're just supposed to take you at your word on all this?" I waved my hands around, partly exasperated, fully frightened. Frightened for what she had done and probably could do; frightened at the fact that words which would undoubtedly see to the above were now streaming from my mouth like water from a well; wholly frightened to find I couldn't stop myself if I tried.

"After what you did just now; hell! After what you did back there--! We're expected to just roll over and follow you all la-de-dah off into the jungle, away from the direction where we last saw Phalomir being taken--"

Don't even GO there, Yaoksi!

"--and off into who the HELL knows where?!"

Scaring myself even further, I released my hold on Thea and marched right up to her, stuck my nose smack into her face, pretty blonde curls be damned.

"Look, sister; we didn't ask you to come help us find our friends; hell, we're not anywhere CLOSE to where we're supposed to be, and all we've got to go on regarding any promise you might give us is how fast you whammied these two."

I nodded toward the silent pile of vines.

"Not to mention the injured peeps back in the temple, where--"

I pulled myself to a halt, eyes wide as I suddenly realized something. Something I thought I saw shining in the depths of her oceanic eyes.

We're not a one of us going to get out of here alive.

I took out my comm link to make sure that with what just happened I didn't miss anything that might indicate a signal, unfortunately there where no signals to even miss. As I was returning my comm link to its rightful place a thought hit me.

...but only for a brief moment, for something deep within seemed to raise itself up for perusal:

Ahh...something to use...

Shayla then lowered her face, stepping away slightly from the group but not turning away. She then stooped to the ground, seeming to inspect the very roots, her eyes growing vague.

"I...my..."

She trailed for a moment, her eyes growing even more vague. "My husband is trapped on Degobah as well."

Looking up then, but still kneeling on the ground, she closed her eyes as if trying to calm herself. "You were not the only ones who were betrayed."

But this--

"I-- I--" I gawped, blinking a little with the effort to keep from physically shaking my head in shock. Actually, it was more than that; maybe she wasn't quite the bad egg Thea painted her to be. Maybe some of her words held truth; we didn't know much of the pair she had just whammied other than the fact that of the two the Sith was more than happy to lead us all back to the Darker Realms, while the sullen white-haired stranger was quite satisfied to follow.

Maybe there's more here than meets the eye, Yaoksi ol pirate. Maybe some of her words are true; hell, maybe SHE didn't even really whammy everyone in the Healing Chamber; maybe there's something else at play here.

Who to trust? Ourselves on our own, on a planet in some weird other dimension farther removed from our galaxy than the farthest pulsar...

Or her?

I waffled, chewed my lip, frowned at what Link had piped up with. Thought of the tuk'ata that had carried Phalomir off like he was so much cotton batting. Thought of the howls and yowls and growls we had heard in the distance.. not to mention coming from somewhere not that far away.

Thought of her ability to whammy... and began to look at it in a new light.

"Hang a sec..."

Saying nothing more I returned to the others, quickly stated as much of the other side of the coin as I could think of.

"What do you think, guys? Go off on our own and keep following where that beastie went-- or trust Blondie and stick with her?"

I lowered my voice to the merest of whispers.

"She does have some kind of weird power; wouldn't it be better to keep her in sight, under our noses? I mean, if we go off on our own, what if she tails us? An enemy unseen is ten times as dangerous as one honorable enough to engage in a face to face confrontation, don't you think?

"Besides..."

I shot a sidelong glance over my shoulder, grinned idiotically at Shayla, then turned back to the others.

"Maybe she's being taken for just as much of a fool as we are. What do you guys think?"

Thea muttered under her breath, "Compassion. You call knocking people out and tying them up in a land of predators compassion? Who does not know it, I wonder. I know you betrayed the Jedi Order, I know nothing of them. All I know is that they have done nothing to us, nothing that would make them deserve the death you offer them."

Thea followed Yaoksi still worried about the two strangers.

She trailed, looking downward as she trembled slightly in anger, masking it as an action of fear. "I don't know what he is capable of. He casts strange spells..."

She trailed then, hearing something soft but veyr discernable in the distance. Stretching out with her Force senses, Shayla felt the nearby presence of Phalomir...

...and quietly slipped into the angered mind of one Thea Morgan.

Ahhh, what a wealth of hate for one so young, so convicted. How hypocritical, especially for one who is of the age that usually forgives more easily...

The darkness within Shayla oiled and bubbled in hot anger kept below the surface, then seeped out just a bit as she slipped into the mind of Thea. Not only a few moments after that same darkness slipped back out in disgust. For one who could criticize the dark and not embrace it despite her own dark tendancies was not ready...

...and in more than one way. Shayla really didn't know exactly what caused her to make her next move...

...but then again, she did. Before anyone really knew what was happening, Shayla stretched into Thea's awareness center with her talents and without so much as an eyeblink dropped her into complete unconsciousness, only to be awakened at Shayla's own discretion. Thea suddenly fell limply to the ground as if she had fainted...

She felt lighter than a piece of dream-fluff when I caught her, sagging halfway to the plants beneath our feet. For a moment I struggled with balance and my center of gravity; too much weight too low decided the issue for me. Grunting, I followed her slide to the ground, laid her down gently and then cast a look upward at Blondie.

"What's happened? Did you do something to her? Answer me, dammit!"

The combined efforts of worry and fear finally fanned a small yet up until now unnoticed ire within me into boiling anger.

"What did you do?" I hollered as I climbed to my feet, shrugged off a pair of chitinous, cautionary manipulatory appendages.

"I know it was you, who else could have done this? One minute she was just fine, and now--"

"Her life signs are still good," he interjected into the tense silence, praying for hope in the situation, at a loss as to what to do about it or what was even going on.

All he knew was that he didn't want any of them to die here.

"I did nothing to her..."

She trailed then, actually looking down on Thea, her eyes growing moist.

I may disagree with her beliefs, but she is only a child..."

Trailing again, something deep within howled in a furious reminder of something that had occurred. "Please, my Force strength is healing. Let me tend to her..."

Quieting at that, Shayla took a tentative yet seemingly concerned step forward, her eyes yet wide and full of emotion. However she did not press so as not to anger Yaoksi further.

Old. Studied, somehow...

I fought against the sudden chills which began to race up and down my spine, wracking my brain for inspiration. For the odds of Thea following the same path that Blondie had sent the others, practically right on the heels of said event, only purportedly at the hands of an unknown, unseen thing, were astronomical...

Against it. Only a fool would play against those kind of odds.

So I stood dithering, chewing my lip, trying to act natural and casual and knowing for a positive fact that I was failing miserably. And then sought-after inspiration struck.

"All right," I said with a definitive nod of my head.

"You say that these two are out for awhile; that means we have that much time to do something constructive. What I'm about to suggest I wouldn't wish on anybody; K'kihl--"

I waved at him, and he came up with a querying sort of clack of his mandibles. Scooping Thea into my arms, I deposited her nto his for well-keeping.

"Don't let anything further happen to her; I'm going to go down that trail and see if Phalomir is at the end of it--"

No matter what condition he might be in...!

I winced, continued. "If he's not, then we must assume that Blond--, I mean, Shayla speaks the truth, and we go where she says.

"If not--"

I narrowed my eyes, letting them darken. Gods alone knew what the hell any of us could do against her, considering the weird power she was wielding...

And strange, isn't it, that those who for one reason or another were put out of commission were those who had powers of their own?

I clenched my jaw as that little gem popped up for the first time, but other than that didn't let on any other worry or speculation to our dwindling little group.

"I'll keep in touch via comm-link; I do have one, you know!" Here I raised an arm, waggled it back around a bit, lowered my arm to my side where the hand attached to it first rested upon and then drew the blaster I had snugged to my hip. Then, before anyone could even think to try and stop me, I clenched my teeth together even more fiercely, whirled about, and headed down the path Phalomir's father had cleared through the dense underbrush.

It did not take long until I was far down that path, accompanied by nothing more than rising shadows, distant, unmentionable sounds, and a rising personal fear of such intensity to lend wings to my feet.

Phalomir climbed down from Md'diffnnd and walked up the ancient steps the led to the main door of the temple. He wished deep in his heart he could restore this structure to its original splendor, but he knew that this could never be as long as the planet was off limits.

He hesitated, thinking back to the day that Terrin was – well, brought back to life. He thought also of the trouble it brought to them, and the vast effort they undertook to send this entire system into the Elseness.

...and finding Thea's condition disturbing as well.

His eyes locked on Stargazer. "I think it's best that you remain right where you are until he gets back," he then stated, reaching then for his blaster and fingering it...

Within a flash the tuk’ata was bounding through the jungle, stealthy yet quick, until it felt it was close enough to stalk. Md'diffnnd crept along the forest floor, careful of where its feet landed, moving into position. The scent of the human was strong, and the deep hunger the tuk’ata felt wanted to rise to attention, but there were more important matters at hand for the guardian than taking in a small morsel. The human was indeed following the trail, and would find the stone man.

So it stopped and waited, lying flat on the ground and hidden amongst the green.

The human walked by, making enough noise to bring the entire jungle in upon it. But under the watchful eye of Md'diffnnd, none would dare molest the tiny being. Md'diffnnd crept along behind, staying just out of sight and out of earshot, until the human reached the ruined hut. It seemed to study the footprints and small pool of violet Sith blood on the ground, and then examined the opening of the hut. It put a hand down on the ground, touching the footprints of the Dark Lord, which led into the opening.

Blood... odd, purple and more than likely SITH blood... and entirely too many tuk'ata tracks scattered about for my liking.

Except--

Amidst the mangle of beast-spoor, something caught my eye. It was a more normal footprint, more like that a man would make. A rather large man, such as a Sith...

I rose from where I had knelt down to study the footprint, the blaster becoming slippery to hold for the sweat that suddenly coated my palm. For although I was entirely relieved to find it more than probable that Phalomir was alive and walking, I still didn't like the myriad tracks that muddled about near his.

I placed my hands on my hips a moment to stretch backward, getting the kinks out that tension and fear and worry had put into my body, then cut a quick glance about.
Nothing. There's nothing there, Yaoksi ol' pirate. You're just imagining things; all's nice and quiet.

Then why are the hairs on the back of my neck practically jumping off of it now?

I squinted, peered off along the way I had come, certain there was something there, not seeing it. Finally put it down to a case of nerves and returned to the tracks, in particular what had to be Phal's footprint. It was just too fresh.

I looked up, trying to follow where it led. While the spiralling steps going down into the darkness didn't inspire much confidence in me, I could see a touch of blood here and there. As if Phal had stepped in his own, and now left a track so obvious even I could follow it.

I glance around again, nerves tingling, then let out a breath of air I hadn't been aware I was holding.

"Well then, Yaoksi; let's just go see if he's down there--"

Tightening the grip I held on my blaster I girded my figurative loins, and began to descend into the darkness, lighting a glow-stick when it got too dark to see, following the occasional blotches of darkening purple as what I presumed to be Phalomir's track led me down and down into...

Who the hell knew what.

After a period of time that seemed a lifetime, I came to the bottom of the stairs. The short and dreary stone corridor I wound up in was truncated abruptly by shadows that stretched ahead. Forcibly swallowing back a persistent, rising fear, I raised the glow-stick a little higher, trying to illuminate more of that darkness even though I knew that in doing so it was likewise dazzling my eyes.

"Phal?" I called out cautiously. "You in there?"

So Md'diffnnd crept closer to the hut, still quiet, and sat down on its haunches to the side of the hut to wait for the human. None was faster than Md'diffnnd, and he would show this human when it emerged from the stone man’s well. Md'diffnnd had communicated with a human once before, although a human trapped in a Sith body, but he was sure he could make the link once the human came back.

"I'm going after Yaoksi, I can track these things from a better vantage point."

Before anyone could object I leaped up into a tree and proceeded to leap from limb to limb following Yaoksi's trail. Eventually I could see a hut up ahead, when I got within 5 meters of the hut I finaly saw it. Earlier when one of those creatures took Phalomir I didn't get a good look at it, well now I did. Paying to much attention to the creature instead of where I was going I landed on a branch that couldn't support my weight and snapped sending me to the ground.

As I fell I tried to grab onto anything but there was nothing save the falling branch. I fell 2 meters and landed hard on my back knocking the wind out of me. When I regained the ability to breath there the creature was staring at me. I sat up and quickly fumbled through my personal belongings and drew my vibro blade and held it in a semi defensive stance when I noticed my had was shaking beyond all belief.

With very little confidence and probably some fear I all I could manage to get out was a small "Stay Back."

...but Shayla knew immediately. "I saw one of those creatures nearly rip the heart out of Captain Danner..

...and kill him," she said softly, darkly. "There is no time to stand around and play any longer."

Without any furher ado, Shayla cast one final warning look Aaron's way...

...and without a word stole off into the jungle, at first behind Yaoski and Cel, her senses yet trained on that presence of Phalomir as she then began to divert from what appeared to be his path...

...her ultimate intent already set in stone as she began tracking not only the steps Phalomir had taken...

...but also his Force signature.

It wasn't a hard one to make.

Not immediately recalling Yaoksi's commlink frequency, or if he even had it, Aaron keyed a general frequency into his wrist comm...

"Yaoksi, Cel has gone after you," Aaron opened with, "And Stargazer just took off as well. I'm coming after you both; splitting up like this is dangerous, especially while she is on the move. Please let us all know where you are, your status, and if Cel happened to make it to you."

Sending off the transmission at that, Aaron drew his blaster from the holster and turned to K'khil, who still stood there with a very motionless Thea. "Come on, pal," he said softly, worriedly, "I don't want to leave you standing around alone and split us all further apart."

Shaking my head to try and stabilize my jangled nerves, I switched it open, listened to the message in-coming from Aaron.

Frowned.

Great, that's just great! I scowled before flicking the unit from receive to send.

"Aaron, this is Yaoski. I've trailed the tuk'ata to some kind of little hut; there's some mighty big footprints here that look to be Sith, and since they're fresh I can only assume that Phalomir is here somewhere. I'm checking now; do what you can to get the others back and stay in one group.

"There's tons of tuk'ata spoor around here, too... fresh tuk'ata spoor. It's enough that I risk my own life; don't need to risk that of the rest of you.

"Find Cel and get her back with K'kihl and Thea... and thanks for the warning about Blondie.

"Out."

Dismissing the comm-link, I took a tiny step forward now, glow-stick raised high. It didn't send much in the way of light; all I could see was a small circle of stone flooring, that upon which I stood, surrounded by utter darkness.

I took another step... and another, and yet another.

Something loomed in the periphery of the glow-stick's range.

I froze solid, my heart trip-hammering away. The hulking shadow was big, and dark...

"Phal?" I said and forced myself to take one more step. That brought the light upon something...

A statue. A BIG statue, one bearing weird markings and sigils.

I nearly fell over with relief-- but one short-lived, for it was only then that the light revealed the wall against which that statue stood. From the curvature I deduced I was in a circular chamber; pursing my lips in thought I moved out to seek the dimensions of that wall. All too soon I found myself by-passing the winding stairs I had come down, and it seemed only seconds passed after that before I found myself back beside the statue once again.

No Phal. Nothing but a stone statue.

I flipped the comm-link open again.

"Hey, Aaron; there's nothing here but some weird statue. I don't see Phalomir anywhere; I'm going back to the doorway in here and taking another look at those tracks. Maybe he went off in another direction from here."

With that I closed the connection, not bothering to mention my fear that Phalomir had been reduced to tuk'ata-chow. For I hadn't seen any footprints leading out... only into the little underground chamber I was in.

I sighed, drew in a deep breath. Then, gripping the glow-stick tightly and my blaster even tighter, I moved quickly back up the stairs.

Upon reaching the top I let out a relieved breath of air, happy to be back in the light of day again, even if it wasn't real sunlight

...and some more human-sized ones. Therefore he too nearly jumped out of his skin when his commlink chirped for attention.

Quickly he acceped what was incoming, and listened to the message, frowning darkly to himself. "Well, what if Stargazer was telling the truth about sensing Phalomir elsewhere?" Aaron asked under his breath. "You'd think there would be at least some evidence..."

He trailed, not wanting to follow that final statement to its conclusion. Then he got moving once more, not having to work his way through much more jungle until he approached enough of a clearing to see a small little hut...

...and a very frozen Cel looking dead into the eyes of a rather intent tuk'ata. Aaron swallowed, hard. Couldn't believe the thing was just standing over her like that.

Made a decision...

....and whistled out into the jungle air, hoping to let Cel know she wasn't alone...

To observers, he would be hovering. To Md'diffnnd, he was far away. But to Cel, the tuk’ata may as well have been licking her fur.

Md'diffnnd heard the crash of feet down the trail, and leaned his head towards the sound. One close, another behind, and two more approaching. He could easily accommodate all upon his back, but only one human need see the stone man. And that human was now emerging from the hut.

The tuk’ata turned its head to peer at Yaoksi as he walked out of the dark hut, blinded momentarily by the light. Md'diffnnd snorted and lowered its back so Yaoksi could climb aboard. It quickly sought the mind of the human, finding it as it had found Panthar, and secretly priding itself in its ability to reach such an alien conscience.

It had been DARK down there, after all, and the glow-stick really hadn't been much of one, a cut-rate variety, I should remember to lay into the huckster that sold the lot of 'em to me...

--but primarily from the words that slipped from nowhere into my brain, pushing aside my mental grumbling like the nonsense it really was.

Climb, human... climb?

I blinked and squinted, lifted the back of the hand that was holding the glow-stick up to my forehead as I peered about in response to that mysterious thought. Then scrambled backward as fast as I could as the green splotches left my vision to reveal a tostada, an entirely too large tostada, a MONSTROUSLY HUGE tostada apparently licking its chops scant meters in front of me.

I half fell against the stone wall, narrowly missing the open door and spiralling steps, and from that precarious position fumbled with the blaster, which had half-dropped from my suddenly nerveless hand.

"Stay back!" I shouted reflexively as the realization dawned upon me that I'd need both hands to stabilize my grip before I could even think of blasting the thing. By then I'd be bits and pieces, no doubt; my blood iced further when I thought I heard it growl.

Then I realized the growl wasn't a growl, it was a purr, well, sort of a purr, and it was worming its way not into my ears but directly into my head, bringing those utterly impossible words along with it.

Climb, human. Climb...

"C-climb?" I whispered stupidly, yet slowly beginning to lower the blaster as further waves of apparent warmth and cuddles came wafting over me.

"Wh-what do you mean, climb?"

Utterly shocked by this unexpected event, I didn't even hear the low warbling of a whistle that announced itself from somewhere close by.

But these feelings were meant to put the human at ease.

I blinked, gulped, now letting the blaster slip through my fingers altogether.

"Y-you want me to climb on your back because I saw the stone guy down there, and you're going to take me to a-- a Dark Lord?"

I worked my jaw a bit after that; it all seemed entirely too far-fetched for belief. But then, so did the concept of a thirteen foot long lizard-cat combo crouching in front of me, waiting to be my own personal taxi.

A light went off over my head.

I let my jaw drop, hang open a moment, then closed it with a decisive snap. What the hey; no reason not to believe the animal now, was there? For indeed by this time not only could I have been sliced and diced into handily bite-sized bits, but probably digested and passed on out to fertilize the soil; kitty here wasn't doing anything but its utmost to make me feel better.

I eyed it's looming back, gathered up my blaster, then raised my comm to my lips.

"Aaron, Yaoksi here. Listen, uhh-- Phal's ok. He sent-- a friend to take me to him; no need for everyone to troop along, things look like they'll be ok."

I paused a moment, trying to put into words something the tuk'ata had said without giving away the supposed secret of the stone man. For sure as planets spin around their suns, ol Beastie-Boy here didn't want she, that is her to see it; one could only preclude that meant others as well.

And it didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out who she was, either.

"Look, I'm ok, Phal's ok. Get everyone together, and get as far away from this path his Daddy made as you can. There's tuk'ata everywhere... they don't fall down before blaster fire, either," I lied, mentally crossing my fingers at that.

"Stay back, find Cel, take care of Thea and watch out for Blondie. I'll keep you informed on this end; I repeat: do NOT follow, but get as far away from this path as you can. I think Phal's daddy opened it up so we'd all end up as dinner for the wildlife here.

"Yaoksi, out."

I snapped the comm closed, then cocked my head to regard the crouching animal.

"Ok, Rover, it's up to you now... I suppose."

Drawing in a fortifying breath, for the thing was ENORMOUS, I took a little run and leapt atop its immense, broad back. It immediately rose up from the crouch, casting its head about a moment.

"Ready when you are, engage thrusters," I whispered and dug in with both hands and knees, getting as tight a grip as I possibly could upon the sleek hide of the gigantic beast.

A few seconds later, while the tuk’ata and its rider were speeding towards the Temple, a separate snarl came from the woods nearby, as if in response, and a pair of bright eyes peered from the darkness at the small white furry morsel still standing in awe near the hut.

No... this one was different. The other one didn't act aggressive it just look like it would. This one was definetly intending to harm me. I had no place to run it would most certainly catch me. Almost unconsciously my trembling body stilled and every muscle tensed as if to pounce, my tail extended straight up and back with the fur on it rising outward making appear to double in size. Readjusting the grip on my vibroblade it changed from a defensive stance to one of someone ready to attack.

It probable wouldn't understand what I was about to say but like most animals it would be able to sense the intent.

But if he could at least get the tuk'ata away from Cel...

With lightning speed the beast blasted through the clearing that stood between it and the wide-eyed Aaron. Hunger forced it into action, and brute strength sent it slicing through the air, claws extending like the razor-sharp sabers they were, preparing to rend the flesh of its long anticipated meal.

But in the next heartbeat, as the huge animal launched itself into the air for the death blow, another huge blurry shape blasted across the space before Aaron. It intercepted the tuk’ata and took it flying to the side of the clearing, where it rolled and quickly came back to its feet.

The new tuk’ata, ranking highly in the huntpack of Md'diffnnd and eager to defend their territory, did not wait for the invading tuk’ata to recover. With fangs and claws flying into action it leapt upon the stunned beast and attacked in a terrifying frenzy that would surely bring nightmares for many years to come to the witnesses. The stranger countered and tried to flee, but it could manage only a few yards before once again finding itself fighting for it’s life.

The fight moved further towards the trees, leaving nothing but a blood-streaked ground in the immediate clearing between Aaron and Link.

Especially since still laying on the ground entirely too close to him were the vine-covered forms of the Master and the assassin.

He clacked his mandibles, worrying to himself. Yaoksi had, after all, entrusted the care of Thea directly to him; however, as he saw it, the parameters of the situation had altered into a quite different one, one he didn't like in the least. His mandibles clattered again and again as he considered the options laying open to him:

He could remain where he was as Yaoksi preferred.

He could take off down the path Yaoksi, then Link, and finally Aaron had taken.

He could follow the disappearing Shayla, whose footsteps he could yet hear quite clearly, for Verpines' hearing is rather acute.

It didn't take long to come to a decision. With a final clack, he hoisted Thea's limp body easily over one shoulder -- for Verpine, although deceptively frail in appearance, are ferociously strong, as are most insects and their brethren -- and set off down the path. As he moved along his shining eyes read the trampled trail before him, filled now with myriad prints.

Suddenly there came the sound of blaster fire. He didn't even pause but broke into a run, hastening down the path as fast as he could until finally up ahead he could see Aaron's shadowy form, blaster raised over his head. He wasn't certain, but he thought he saw a flash of white farther down the path... and as he came closer myriad snarls and yowls and the sound of thrashing about became discernable, as did the bright red splotch of blood.

Not to mention the two creatures straight from hell who were currently engaged in trying to rip each other to shreds.

He screeched to a halt behind Aaron, his mandibles chattering a mile a minute, wondering why the man was just standing there, why Link was just laying there, when an avenue of escape had presented itself. At least he could see it: there, up ahead, int he form of a little stone hut.

He tapped Aaron's shoulder with his free manipulatory appendage.

"Ummm... to hut running we must, if safe from creatures we are to be," he commented as casually as if he was giving him a recipe for a Boonta Eve martini.

"Follow me."

With that he hurried forward, scooped Link up in his free hand, and burdened now wiht both youngsters took off in the direction of the hut. He knew it was a gamble, but the two great beasts looked as if it was going to take more than some tiny bipeds to grab their attention; fading now off into the trees a bit, he paralleled the path, came up to the little clearing, rounded it and then entered it on the backside of the hut, using it as a shield. The continuing snarls and screeches comforted him with the knowledge that the tuk'ata were still at it; tiptoing now he slunk up to the hut, hugged it's wall and crept around to the frontside.

Before he could capture the attention of the beasts he darted inside, knowing they were too large to fit through the human-scaled door.

Not giving chase, the local tuk’ata let loose with a long victory cry that resounded through the woods. It threw its head back and wailed, and when it was through it stopped to lick its paws and attend to a nasty wound in its leg. It stopped suddenly, training its sights on the hut.

It stood and walked slowly to the hut, stopping at the opening and sticking its head inside. Face tentacles search inside for something to grab, or to touch, and the smell of the wild began to fill the top portion of the stairwell…

--

The other tuk’ata, hurt and humiliated, staggered quickly down the path made wider by the Master. It came to a crossing, where another path led in two directions. It took the direction that appeared wider, and padded along. As it ran, the pain in its leg grew worse and it knew it needed to find a place to hide and rest. Suddenly the leg gave way a rush of pain and the huge animal crashed through a bush and plopped on its belly on the edge of a small clearing. There it lay, exhausted.

Rolling it’s eyes, it caught sight of a figure in the distance, short and petite but with radiant golden fur that seemed to grow from its head. The tuk’ata came to realize it was another of the small two-legged things, but it was too fatigued to move. All it could do was lie and wait for its fate, so it did the only thing it could do in defense. It poured its energy into sending soothing telepathic signals to this other animal, and hoped it was intelligent enough to know it meant no harm at the moment.

But if it was a younger speciman, or something altogether different...

He clattered his mandibles.

"Haste making must we," he announced, giving Thea's limp form a hoist as he continued down the stairs at an ever-increasing pace. From behind him came a slight snnkt, and he nearly leaped out of his carapace as his own shadow, oddly and obliquely lengthened, appeared on the walls in front of him. Then logic resumed it's course within his momentarily frozen thought processes; he would have smiled if he could in thanks at the unknown member who had ignited a glow-stick. His vision was acutely sharp, but even he had started having difficulties seeing the next step. Grateful to be able to quicken his pace, he did so, finally reaching the bottom of the stairway.

The sounds of footfalls, grumbles, along with another snnkt announced the fact that the others had joined him; it did not take them long to traverse the entirety of the little chamber they now found themselves in.

K'kihl sighed, lowered Thea to the ground, and turned to the others, the strange stone figure standing cold and silent at his back.

"Beasts up there, no discernable doorway here, trapped are we, what now?" he said, giving his mandibles another clatter for emphasis, his large unblinking eyes taking in the others in the little party one by one.

Realized that its desperate call, if answered, would hamper her quest for him who she was seeking.

This was not acceptable However...

The tuk'ata's injury was minor, and easily healed. And tracking Phalomir would prove much easier on a tuk'ata's back than on her own two feet. And much quicker.

Stepping up to the tuk'ata then, Shayla knelt and laid a hand on the wounded leg, stretching out then to connect with the semi-sentient lifeform.

Lost in another huntpack’s territory, wounded and hungry, he did not stand much of a chance. But with another, even as small as this, his chances improved. And if not, he could eat her.

"Yaoksi commed and said to get as far away from here as possible, that tuk'ata were everywhere and this path might have been laid by the Master as a trap," Aaron opened with, sighing. "I've got a blaster and a glowstick, but not much else to protect us from anything waiting for us up there..."

He trailed, something registering. "But we aren't all stuck down here."

He reached down to his wristcomm, opened a frequency. "Yaoksi, it's Aaron. We have a problem here. In getting Cel safe, we ended up stuck down in some little hut, and something is waiting for us above. I'm gonna try to hold off whatever it is with my blaster, but I don't know how we're gonna get back out of here unless there is some other way."

Sending off the message at that, Aaron looked about the room they were in once more. "The only way out of here is back up those stairs," he admitted in defeat. "Sooner or later whatever is upstairs will have to give up."

"Not good is this, the situation we are in," he admitted as he shifted Link in his other arm and shifted his weight. In doing so his chitinous elbow inadvertently pushed against the stone of the unfeeling statue, hitting it somewhere in the vicinity of its waist.

A chilling rumble echoed throughout the chamber then, and K'kihl nearly dropped his fragile burden in leaping away from the opening that appeared as if by magick in the floor just to his side. Landing lithely, Link still clasped firmly to himself, he whirled about to scrutinize the black rectangle, within which the top few steps of a stairway of unknown length beckoned.

His mandibles clattered yet again, and he lifted his shining eyes to Aaron.

The stairway went straight down, for quite some time. Aaron could smell an almost musky smell to the place, as though it hadn't been opened in quite some time. But they finally reached the end of the stairway, coming to a large, rune-encrypted set of double doors.

Aaron's eyes widened further, and he couldn't keep himself from reaching out and touching them, tracing the strange symbols, wondering just what might lay beyond.

"Well, let's hope this thing opens," he said, lowering his hand to then push on one of the handles. The doors oiled open surprisngly smoothly, and the former musky smell filling Aaron's nostrils faded.

He took a few steps inside, hesitantly...

...and came to a surprised halt as his eyes fell on two strange looking floor controls. One of the two controls held a large, human-sized frozen block holding a Sith that looked liked Phalomir's twin.

The other control, strangely enough, was totally unoccupied.

He trailed then, looking around the room a little more. On one wall, there was a shelf filled with various odd gadgets Aaron didn't recognize. On another, a huge bookcase, completely full of books of every size, shape, and variety. And on the final wall, another large, rune-encrypted door.

"We could poke around here and see if we can figure out what is going on...

...or we could try that inviting looking door over there."

He paused again, his frown darkening further. "But what if that is our Phalomir?"

But something else, something stronger, told it to stay. That the thing before it was helping, and a deal had been struck. It stretched out with its mind, projecting its feelings. Within that other mind it touched warmth, and caring, and sensations that made it feel welcomed. But it sensed something else within that mind; dark, foreboding, sinister. It closed its mind to that part, it would allow only the warmth to touch it.

But it let the human know what it felt.

Even as the vines fell away, the black thing had vanished.

~ ~ ~

I lurched up suddenly, feeling the pressing confines that seemed to have aided my slumber fall away. I immediately spat out a mass of blood that had gathered in my mouth during my unconcious period, and realized how seriously the strain of the recent events had pushed me.

The injuries from the crash, plus the shockwave, plus that witch's attack had royally fragged my insides.

With a groan of pain, I crawled over to The Master, seeing that no one was near, and began to tear the vines that held him down and unconcious away. "Wake up..." I mumbled. "Wake up you stupid bastard..."

I pulled away the majority of the vines, and felt unconciousness rushing at me again. In a last feeble attempt, I drew my hand into a fist and struck him across the face.

“Good lad,” he whispered. He inhaled deeply and allowed his body to regain feeling, and his mind pieced together the drama that led to this situation as he became aware of the tangled vines around him. An angry frown cut his expression and his eyes seemed to flash a bright red. In an instant the vines burst outward in a tangled mess of green and brown and the Master rolled to his feet.

He knelt next to Rykounagin and placed a hand on his forehead. Once again he reached inside the boy with his powers, seeking the damage and speeding the healing process. Within a few minutes Rykounagin’s body had set upon an expedited path to restoration. As Rykounagin’s eyes fluttered open, the Master held his finger to his lips.

“Shhh,” he said. “You are healing, but the damage will take some time to repair completely. I have pushed your body into a speed-healing, within a few hours you shall be your old nasty self once more.”

The Master stood and surveyed the surroundings.

“It appears we were attacked from behind,” he said. “Not to cast doubts upon our dear friend Shayla, but I would have to surmise she decided not to trust us. I can only hope she did not kill the others, or leave them to an even worse fate. We need to find them, or her…”

The Master turned his attention back to Rykounagin, his eyes narrow and focused.

“But when we meet her again, it shall not be pleasant,” he said flatly. “She is an agent of the Darkness, that power in the Darker Realms that has rebuilt the Tower. We saw Roan, imprisoned, didn’t we? That is her master, and the master of Graysith, and who knows who else. If they control the Sith, there is little hope for the rest of the galaxy. Killing Shayla will be difficult enough, but Graysith… Do you see now, lad, why we must possess the Finger of R’lous? The future begins here, with us.”

The Master, waiting for Rykounagin to regain enough strength to answer, looked out at the path he had widened. There were tracks.

I pulled myself to my feet, feeling like I was strapped to a bunch of tubes; perhaps a psychological drawback to the healing he was performing. "There's no reason they should be here. Your son is dead, and there's nothing of value. Let's just take your portal to the darker realms, and then get back to reality and leave them to die. They're all worthless anyway."

As far as I'd surmised, everyone in the group I'd come upon aside from Shayla and the Master was unimportant; just civilians who bumbled into sith politics and affairs. If the Master and I left, then chances were, they'd all end up eaten sooner or later like Phalomir.

If you are hungry, and seek food, we shall find it. Help me follow the large tracks before us to their endpoint, and you will find quite enough to satiate your hunger there.

Opening her eyes then, Shayla stood, waiting for the tuk'ata to rise and follow and sensing its strength and understanding of the bargain they had made...

...and sensing its attempt to block out something as well. Something dark flashed, briefly...

"Impossible, this is," he asserted to the others, giving his burden another shift.

"Two beings in same time, impossible. But--" He drew into a slow, thoughtful pause, clattered his mandibles again.

"Not in the universe this place is," he reasoned. "Laws of physics different are, perhaps?"

He turned to Aaron and cocked his head, then nodded toward the door.

"Go there inside are we?" he asked, shifting Link in his arms once again.

“No such luck for us, yet, lad,” he said. “We must deal with Graysith, but we cannot without the Finger. But we cannot leave Shayla here, she will find a way to survive. Her kind always does.”

He stared down the path and sighed.

For several minutes the pair descended through twists and steps, deep into the heart of the dark temple. Finally the tuk’ata stopped at a large wooden door, ornately carved. It stood open slightly, and a soft light poured from it into the dark hall. The tuk’ata lowered its head to allow Yaoksi to slide down.

From inside came the low voice of someone whispering, as if reading out loud.

I shook myself and slid gratefully from the animal's back, my suddenly sweaty hand clasping my blaster in a near death's grip. Fortifying my courage with a painful swallow I inched up to the cracked door, muzzle raised beside my face, as tense as a sandcat in a roomful of Tusken Raiders.

“It is all here,” he said. “I- I do not understand it, but it is here. The triumvirate, the darkness… how? The ancients have written it down, have foretold the change in power… I do not understand it.”

Phalomir placed the book on the small table that stood next to him and stepped forward.

“The tuk’ata, my hunt brother, brought me here. He did not know what this room was, but he knew there was knowledge for the Dark Lord here, when the time was right. But the volume is not complete; it ends.”

Phalomir looked back to the book and paused, then raised an eyebrow to Yaoksi.

"Ahh... because we thought a tomato had killed you and run off with you, and even you deserve a decent burial," I floundered, lowering my blaster but still holding it tightly, striving to ready myself for any unseen attack from the myriad shadows that seemed to lurk just behind my peripheral vision.

“I think I understand,” he said. “But I had to be dead, to you, and to everyone. But there would be no need for a burial, for a tuk’ata would leave nothing to waste. But this one, the one who took me, he is my friend – my hunt companion. He showed me a strange thing, a statue – I cannot explain it. But I must tell you, this raises so many more questions that I must find an answer to. Such as what lies beyond the door behind me.”

Phalomir gestured to a stone door behind him. It blended in with the wall so well that it was hard to discern even with the assistance.

“The book here contains knowledge for the Dark Lords, things I must take with me when I meet with Lord Aelvedaar. But it ends without revealing the most important answer, which is how this all came to be known.”

Phalomir closed his eyes and held his forehead.

“But I cannot tell you more,” he said. “But my friend here told me that the door will lead to more answers, and I intend to open it.”

Phalomir turned to the door, then stepped towards it. When he reached it, he paused.

"Not per se, no," I admitted, "Although there was some hope that you might be. Which is why I followed the tostada's footprints-- er, pawprints."

I paused a moment to scrutinize the door.

"Any idea what's so important behind there?" I asked, nodding toward it.

"And more importantly... any idea how some animal would just happen to know these things? Remember there are those with, ahh--" I floundered again. "--Weird powers who seem to have all kinds of influence over others people and things. If a toscadero can tell you something, maybe someone else can tell it what that something should be."

“I think the trail is clear enough,” he said. “But by all means, dazzle me with your cunning skills. You’ll need to hone them anyway, before we enter the Darker Realms. I fear it will not be an easy to even just enter there.”

The Master watched as Rykounagin gave a doubtful look and then followed the trail through the wide beaten down area the Master had cleared earlier. As they followed the trail through the jungle, it eventually reverted to wild game trail. But Rykounagin easily kept the tracks in view. Eventually he paused, looking out into a clearing.

A wild tuk’ata sat in front of a stone hut, burying its face in what appeared to be a door. It let out growls and wails, and pawed at the stones.

“It appears we have found them,” whispered the Master. “Perhaps I should handle this one.”

He held out his hand, allowing his powers to spring forth. The large beast slid backwards on the ground, its face set in a mix of confusion and panic. Its claws dug into the soil as it moved. The Master then lifted his hand, and the large animal rose effortlessly into the air.

“Shall we?” he asked Rykounagin.

The Master led, walking nonchalantly to the hut. Rykounagin followed, and began examining the doorway. The Master smiled and turned to the tuk’ata.

“Such a noble beast,” he said. “Representing all that is fierce and true about the Sith, it stands as a symbol to the unity that has persevered through the ages – of the traditions of justice and trust amongst the clans, and their Lords.”

His face hardened, and a frown turned quickly into a sad sneer. He brought his fingers together into a fist and turned it quickly. The tuk’ata gave out a sudden cry of pain that was silenced immediately, replaced by the sickening sound of bones cracking and fleshy tissues ripping. The Master opened his hand, releasing the tuk’ata. But instead of the wild animal, a mass of bone and gore fell to the ground, turned inside out.

The Master turned back to Rykounagin.

Exactly what had caused an animal as terrifying as a tuk'ata to shriek out so was something K'kihl did not know, nor did he pause to speculate upon it. Instead he quickly shouldered past Aaron, reached out and yanked open the door they had been debating in committee over.

"In we go-- now," he said, clattering his mandibles anxiously as he herded the others through. Before following, he turned to look back the way they had come.

The footprints they had left in the dust were like scrambled neon signs to anyone they might wish to hide from. He shook his chitinous head, his antennae trembling as distant, indistinct noises grew imperceptibly louder.

"Go faster, must we," he asserted, slipping inside and finding, thankfully, an ancient iron-like locking mechanism on the backside of the door. It, as was the backside, was covered in strange runes and symbols.

He slammed the door when all were through. The lock engaged by itself, it's runes glowing a weird greenish blue.

He clattered his mandibles, and freeing one manipulatory appendage found and lit a glow-stick.

“There are too many strange powers that abound in our galaxy,” he said. “But the Sith are rich in these powers, and it is part of our lives. We learn to deal with it.”

He put his hand on the door.

“As for the tuk’ata, however, it is my companion. I made a bond with it some time ago, and we share our spirits. If something had corrupted it, I would know.”

Phalomir gave the door a push. It budged slightly. He looked to Yaoksi and raised an eyebrow.

“This may prove interesting,” he said. He placed his other hand next to the first and shoved hard. The door slid backwards, opening into a dark room. Phalomir paused, then stepped gingerly forward. A bright light flickered on above him, lighting the room before him. He then stopped in his tracks and stared into the room, driven to stunned silence.

Lining each wall of the long room, perhaps 10 on each side, were small black platforms with what appeared to be blocks of ice encasing a large naked Sith male. Phalomir swallowed hard, then stepped to the first. Frost covered the features of the face, but Phalomir hesitantly wiped it away with his hand and came face to face – literally – with himself.

He stepped back until he bumped into the ice block behind him. He quickly brought his hand to that one, and wiped away the frost until he saw the same face inside. His mouth setting into a grim frown, he moved frantically from one block to another, confirming each one to be the same. Finally at the end of the room he stopped and turned to Yaoksi, who was standing in the doorway.

Although that does not necessarily mean it lessens in intensity any...

I strode into the chamber, eyed a blockful of frozen Phalomir, and continued to the next. It was still frosty, obscuring the image within; raising my arm I wiped it with my elbow. Tiny crystals of ice adhered to my shirt, sparkling in the dim light.

"This one, too," I announced even as I moved en route to the next block, and the next. Every one that I visited bore the same enigmatic image of the living Sith Lord. I stopped after checking out the fifth or sixth block and turned Phal's way.

"Anyone you know of sneak off to Kamino with something personal of yours, say, hair or cheek cells or blood or something?" I asked, nodding then to the block at my side.

...and it was extremely narrow in width, and in depth. Aaron's head quite nearly touched the "ceiling."

What was of even greater note, however, was the length of the room. Aaron's eyes widened with the realization that this wasn't a room at all.

"This is no room," he responded, nodding in front of them to a winding passageway, "I think it's a tunnel."

Then, glowstick in his own hand, Aaron began to lead the way once more, creeping further and further ahead, his eyes remaining wide, his senses fully alert. A few minutes later, he was met with a decision:

A split in the passage. Both passages had some strange runes at their apexes; both different. Both, however, had one identical symbol: an infinity sign, with some extra strange markings Aaron couldn't quite make out in their centers.

For a moment, Aaron looked down, pursing his lips in thought...

...and then looked up, his eyes widening once more. "Look!" he then exclaimed softly, as if suspecting that, at any moment, whomwever or whatever was following them would catch up. But even so he pointed downward to the dirt flooring beneath their feet...

...where large footsteps left a track leading from the passageway to their right and into the passageway to their left. By their appearance, they may have been there for quite some time, but the fact that they were there at all meant two distinct things:

First of all, someone had been there. And secondly, unless someone had been trapped and died here, the passage to their left probably lead to somewhere.

I sent out a longer probe then, feeling for life. "Yeah... they're still down here somewhere. Do we kill them or leave them?" I asked, pausing in my decent to look back at the Master.

But no, he would leave that for later, if need be. For now, this one had power, had purpose.

The tuk'ata lowered its head and touched Shayla's face with a tentacle. It then lowered itself by dropping to its front knees.

The Master stepped inside behind Rykounagin.

"I want to first know what they discovered of my son, if anything. That is Sith blood in the dirt outside."

The Master then motioned into the darkness of the stairwell. His finger burst forth into a beam of light that lit the steps.

But luck and fortune are fickle friends. I thought, looking in turn at my own fortunes over the year as I came down to the bottom level of the stairs.

"Your arms, free should be, but travel faster now of primary importance is. If walk these can, down tunnel one hundred meters set," he directed as he cast a final look about. All looked as well as it could for the plan he was hatching; now lifting his face he motioned toward the lefthand passage.

"Go you there, that way," he indicated, pointing to the wallow of footprints. "But first, boots you must give."

Saying nothing to the resultant queries and grumbles this odd command evoked, he merely stood his ground until the others had removed and handed their footwear over to him. As each set came his way he quickly tied the laces of each pair together, slinging them about his neck. It wasn't long before he looked like a walking shoe advertisement.

He nodded again, chittered his mandibles, and pointed down the left passage.

"Go now... quickly; to the bare stone walk, on dust and dirt not. Join you later, will I; take care."

Seeing them off, he then turned to the right passageway. Placing the first set of boots on his chitinous feet, he stomped down the passageway for several meters, swishing his feet around and trying to displace as much of the ancient dust that he could, mixing it with the odd bits of detritus laying about so as to leave a fairly clear indication that human feet had come this way.

Fairly clear.

After progressing nearly the length of an SSD's primary hangar bay, he slipped the boots off, re-tied the laces, slung them around his neck... and then, being the insectoid that he was, crawled up the stone walls to the ceiling over his head. Traveling in this manner he retraced his path back to the initial fork, crept carefully down, and replaced Aaron's boots back about his neck. He then repeated the entire procedure, using first Thea's and then Link's pair, for his feet were small enough to fit into the youngsters' boots as well.

He paused at the fork after his final pass, studying the results of his efforts. To even the closest of scrutiny, it appeared that the party had traversed the right-hand passageway, the footprints he had laid down doing a magnificent job of obsuring those coming from the opposite direction.

He nodded to himself with satisfaction, and turned his attention to the other passage. There was an odd partial footprint here and there, adding to the myriad Sith tracks which led down the tunnel. Hunkering down on all his appendages, being careful not to drag the slung boots into the dust beneath him, he drew in a great breath of air through his spiracles and let it poof out in a staccato burst. In all directions the dust rose a few centimeters, then settled back to the stone floor, some of the finer elements hanging motionless in the still air of the tunnel. He moved quickly down the passage about thirty meters, repeated the process, then worked his way back to the fork, pausing to puff away the incriminating footprints as he did so.

He then repeated this odd procedure on the right-hand tunnel's floor... only being careful to not totally erase the footprints he had laid down.

Now both tunnels bore a light misting of dust above their floors, with the righthand one showing the faint outline of human bootprints. The left showed only dust covered rock.

Satisfied with this ruse he had learned while in the company of the best bounty hunter to come down the galactic pike, namely one Sorben Tarnus, he carefully climbed the walls of the lefthand tunnel and once again gained the ceiling. Putting on speed, he scurried through the darkness, allowing his acute hearing to notify him of the others' presence before he came within sight of Aaron's lone glowstick, close to one hundred meters into the otherwise inky dark.

"Misleading trail, have I laid," he said as he lept lithely down to join them.

"Hopes have I time this will us give. Know I not what harm beast obtained had, or giving it to him which culprit guilty was. Know I only someone behind us is, hearing odd noises have I."

He laid a quick pincer on Aaron's shoulder.

"Go faster, must we, and with stealth. Here remain..."

Saying nothing more he picked up Link's light form once again and, scurrying up the wall set off via the ceiling into the darkness at an increasingly rapid pace. He carried her another three hundred meters before gaining the tunnel's floor once again.

"Move not, return with others will I," he said, handing her his glowstick. He then hastened back along the ceiling and in this manner transported first Thea and finally Aaron to the point where he had deposited Link.

"Still faster, and with stealth must we hurry," he asserted as he let Aaron fall from his strong arms to the floor of the tunnel. Igniting another glowstick he began jogging ahead, hurrying as quickly as he could while keeping a pace the others could maintain.

The tunnel appeared to stretch for kilometers...

...and if they would ever find their way out again. But one small observation kept bringing itself up as a point of hope in the darkness: there had been footprints leading here, Sith ones. Which meant, unless there was a Sith body at the end of one of these trails, someone had come and gone from this direction.

Which meant they were headed soemwhere.

But where?

Aaron continued to keep moving, holding pace with the insectoid.

Aaron frowned to himself. "I hope once we get ourselves lost in here, we find a way back out, he commented quietly to his compainions. "I wonder if..."

His words dropped off then as something finally caught his eye, something not readily noticeable, but perhaps favorable to their current condition. He kept moving, but shot a sidelong glance at the Verpine.

"This passageway is fabricated, not natural," he spoke up quietly, suspecting that the Verpine might have already guessed as much. "And every so often, there appears to be some knots in the wall that is made to look cavernous," he added, pursing his lips. "We found one secret entrance already..."

Trailing then, Aaron stopped, pushed one of the random knots slightly, and at first was rewarded with absolutely nothing. But then, quite suddenly, a strange sort of bubble was cast around them.

Aaron took one involuntary step back as the bubble then disappeared as quickly as it had come.

"To discover truth, one way there is," he asserted before he reached out and firmly grasped the knot. The weird bubble appeared around them once more, shining translucently in the dim green light of their glowsticks. This time, however, it did not disappear; perhaps some inherent timing device was being initialized since K'kihl yet held his grasp. And when he cautiously removed his hand...

"Bubble around is still is," he announced somewhat unnecessarily.

“I do not know who would have done such a thing,” he said. “The Master would have had ample opportunity to take whatever samples he would need from me, either when I was a child or when I was held in the Black Tower. But this… this does not smell of the Master, this feels different somehow. I mean, why clone me?”

He stood again and walked to the first duplicate. He wiped away the growing frost again and stared at the face inside, frozen in a deep slumber.

“A handsome fellow, is he not?” Phalomir forced. His worry and anxiety showed clearly, however. He glanced to Yaoksi, then back to the frozen block.

“If this was the Master, then I would feel better, actually. He, at least, is known to be insane. But if it is not his doing, then I shudder to think of who, and why. The statue I saw, it told of a prophecy, one of great change to the ruling of the Sith. But what I do not know is if it was an augury of predestined change, or a warning against it. That is the question I hoped would be answered in this book, and in this room, as the tuk’ata had thought.”

Phalomir thought for a moment then looked back to Yaoksi.

“You must think us all quite mad,” he said. “You come to our worlds for the first time, and are instantly caught in a whirlwind of political intrigue and power plays. You see exhibitions of powers that are likely alien to you, and now you find yourself between dimensions staring at a choir of frozen clones.” He shook his head and looked back to the frozen figure.

“Indeed,” he said under his breath. He stepped closer and ran a hand along the book that the statue held out, illuminating each rune with the light emanating from his finger. After a few seconds his paused and looked to Rykounagin.

“Do you understand these runes?” he asked. “This is indeed most ancient, and interesting.” The Master glanced to either side of Rykounagin, peering into the shadows.

I thought about it awhile.

"I dunno," I finally said, fidgeting as conflicting responses rose up within me. On one hand, I agreed wholeheartedly with him, positive that I too would feel strangely violated somehow if person or persons unknown up and decided to reproduce replicas of me without my knowledge or consent. But--

But having discovered them somehow negated that. For I was certain I would also feel strangely protective of the bodies, seeing as they were, or would be, after all, me.

I waffled, and finally explained how I saw things, ending with a shrug.

"It's all kinda moot though, don't ya think buddy?" I finished with. "I mean, they're kinda out of the loop of reality, so to speak; go ahead and destroy them if it would make you feel better, but I can't see how they're going to get out of here to harm you in any way.

He clacked his mandibles.

"Transportation device for a single person, obviously this is," he observed as he backed himself against the wall of the surrounding bubble in the vain attempt to give the others more room. To no avail; the bubble, meant for one, simply was not large enough to allow the others the room necessary to gain their footing. The sounds of grunts and a briefly whispered curse brought the futility of it clearly to the Verpine's ears.

"Remain as we are, must we. Sorry am I for unintended inconvenience..."

The weird bubble continued it's pellmell race into the unguessable dark, surrounding them with a "wall" of solidity which was at the same time as incorporeal as a true bubble of, say, soap. He leaned more strongly against the inner wall, trying to pierce it; nothing. It merely stretched outward a touch, then rebounded as he pulled back his querying appendage. Fumbling briefly then, he found and ignited another glowstick, and peered down at his feet.

It sent a greenish shimmer downward, illumintating the softly reflective bubble wall he was standing upon, beneath which the stone of the passage rushed by at a dizzying rate. He gulped at that, raised his eyes forward to gain equilibrium, then grunted himself.

"To somewhere of importance this device will us carry, is my guess," he stated, now peering ahead. Nothing rewarded him but more shadows and gloom, and after a bit he turned to see how Thea fared. Reaching down with a manipulatory appendage, he suddenly noticed the racing ground seemed to be slowing; that was the only indication that the bubble was indeed slowing it's incredible pace, as within it's confines he could feel absolutely nothing.

He pulled back his hand, shared this new discovery with the others, and simply waited. Not long thereafter the ground segued into immobile solidity once again, and moments afterward the bubble disintegrated around them.

He lifted his glowstick, now illuminating a set of richly carved doors, one in which runes similar to the ones inscribing the stone statue were carved. On either side of the door solid rock bore similar carvings, rock that blended into the walls of the tunnel itself.

"End of the line, this is," he said as he stepped forward, going up to the doors. He placed a pincer upon one of them, raised the glowstick higher. Perfectly balanced, the doors immediately swung inward, letting the feeble light of the glowstick now illuminate an area ahead of a few meters in diameter.

A richly carpeted area, for a sort of tapestry or rug stretched from the doors and disappeared ahead of them.

Aaron pursed his lips, thoughtfully surveying the door...

...and then proceeding to push it open. His jaw nearly dropped as he held his glowstick in front of him, for now they found themselves entering a room with three walls full of large wood bookcases and shelves, holding a multitude of books and odd items. But it was the item on the final wall which caught Aaron's main attention:

A strange sort of mirror-like device, wide and taller than himself, rimmed with gold. The center of the object seemed to move in a greeny-golden swirl.

Aaron's jaw nearly dropped to the floor. "Where ae we?" he queried aloud, to no one in particular. To his amazement, the greeny-golden swirl in the center of the device shimmered, and the image of a strange sigil appeared, one Aaron realized, with a start, was quite similar to that of the marking on Phalomir's wrist.

Strangely enough, however, two more sigils appeared along with this one and merged into something that resembled the sign for infinity.

“I feel no sense of kinship to these clones,” he said. “However, destroying them does send a pang of guilt through me. I see your point in that they are fairly harmless as they are, but at the same time someone did create these, and will try to retrieve them for whatever purpose. If only I knew how long they have been here…”

Phalomir turned to Yaoksi and sighed.

“I will not bore you with my life’s history, for I do not actually know all of it. I will, however, share with you a secret or two that may help you understand. I am not of this time. At least, I do not believe I am. You see, my earliest reliable memories are of as recent as two standard years ago. I was retrieved from a state of psycho-stasis transference. My consciousness was taken from me and held inside a crystal – all right, do not laugh. I believe I was inside of it for 4000 years, placed in it right before the Sith were brought-- before the Sith removed themselves from view of the galaxy.”

Phalomir shifted and walked closer to Yaoksi.

“Thoran was there with me, inside of the crystal. We were discovered in the ruins of an old Sith colony by Panthar Dantares, an archeologist. He triggered something that sent both myself and Thoran into his body, it was rather crowded. Eventually I was reunited with my body, which had been also frozen in stasis, and Panthar was unfortunately placed inside of a Sith body. Do not ask, it is very complicated.

“The point I wish to make is that my memories of the whole time before that are as holed as herder’s cheese. All indications say I came not from the past, but from the future, and the Master had something to do with it -- he and another Dark Lord of the Sith, now dead, named Ankrist Roan. My fear is that these clones are part of that bizarre plan! Are these 4000 years old as well? Were they created recently?”

Phalomir’s face turned a brighter red as the temper within him flared.

“And by whom, my father? Roan? That Which Is, or perhaps some other creature or entity that we have yet to meet? I am unwillingly being involved in a vast game of Mash, and all I want to do is lead the Sith into a time of peace with the woman I love! And I cannot even do something as simple as to be with the woman I love because she is possessed by the Darkness of the Darker Realms!”

Phalomir’s fist clenched and he sent it sailing through the air as he turned toward one of the blocks. He connected with it, cracking the ice for several inches. The block rocked backwards, teetering for a second before tilting forward again and coming to rest back on the platform.

“Perhaps,” he said. “If I were really dead, the game could take a new direction. If I were to thaw one of these, and make sure it did not breathe, and bring it to K’eel Doba… assuming we find a way…”

“There is much more to be gained by study than by constant destruction,” he said. “If they went through the wall, then they are either still there or they have found a way to the surface. In either case, unless they somehow convince our friend with the large eyes to send them home, they will still be here. But this--” The Master indicated the statue.

“This is most fascinating. To begin with, this is the likeness of a famous – no, rather, infamous – Sith mage from long before my time. Trelanicus. He was a rebel, one who dabbled in the use of the power some have come to call ‘The All’. The jedi and their dark cousins make use of the Force, but even it has a surrounding source, a parent. The All is everything, that which is around us and between us, both binding and destroying reality. Everything is connected, and he knew this. He also knew the dangers of learning how to manipulate this power, and foresaw terrible things to come. So he stole away with a cult of followers, and was rumored to create a device to limit the ways the All could be used.”

The Master chuckled.

“And that he did,” he smiled. “But before this epiphany, he dedicated himself to creating ways to use the All in better and better ways. He made many such devices, each one an improvement over the next, and named them all after his god. Body parts of R’lous. But when he realized his mistake, he created the answer – the Eyes of R’Lous. With those, he and his followers tracked down and destroyed the other devices. Unfortunately, he was hunted and destroyed by the Warriors under control of those who would use the All if they could, and he and his secrets were lost to time.”

The Master smiled further.

"Well, whatever he made, apparently he messed up enough to leave his little Pandora behind." I said, making a reference to the infamous Finger of R'lous. "I suppose there's might be some other minor experiments left behind as well. Maybe this is one." I shrugged.

"But right now, as we talk, they could be digging a tunnel to freedom or something. We can take care of inanimate things later. It's the living that bother me a bit more. Are we going to keep going? Or do you need to keep staring at that to decipher some magical meaning of life?" I asked, knowing the irony of saying that in regards to the creator of the known uses of the All.

I also secretly now knew the value of such artifacts that this sith had made. Things that limited and controled the power of the All. If those were destroyed or controled, then one could easily manipulate the All to limitless ends.

“I suspected as much,” he said. “The runes tell a story, albeit a bit lacking in plot and character development, but a good story nonetheless. It tells of a cycle, one initiated by the discovery of the All. We have the Sith Triumvirate, you see, the ancient ruling body that has led our people through many countless generations. But when the Dark Lords of old learned of the All, this brought with it greed and a lust for power, and I think you can guess where that sort of thing would lead. That is why Trelanicus was hunted down, and why he allowed his secrets to die with him.”

The Master then ran his finger over several of the raised runes, tracing their lines and curves.

“But his cult lived on,” he said. “To every corner of the Sith worlds they fled, hiding their secrets and burying them in shrouds and riddles only a member of the sect would recognize. They hid clues in temples, on mountaintops, in deep frozen caves, and in simple peasant huts with deep wells.”

The Master continued to run his fingers over the runes, his face becoming more and more calm.

“But this set of runes tells more of the story,” he continued. “It mentions the triumvirate of old, and the path down which it led. The path to its ruin. It tells of the rise of the new triumvirate, and warns against it – that of the female. Oh yes, a female triumvirate alone would be scary enough, but that is not the reason of this warning. This rise will bring about the end of the game.”

The Master moved his hand further along the runes.

“But fear not, lad,” he continued. “For there is a reason for every warning. Someone had the vision to see into the future, you see, giving us the vision to change the present and affect the future. And so we shall, once we find the key to your doorway there. Help me, would you?”