I stared around myself, momentarily taken by the grandeur of the room we were in, and the richness of attire of its inhabitants. Then I shook my head, bringing myself back down to earth once again.

Keep your wits about you, Yaoksi ol' pirate! I berated myself. For while it seemed more and more that this imposing Sith was being completely truthful to us, there was still no way of knowing for certain.

And with Thoran out of the picture, we're kinda stuck, totally reliant upon their hospitality... which could change in an instant.

So I just stayed quiet awhile, watching while Aaron settled himself as best he could, and when someone came up to ask what we wanted I ordered meat and fruit, bread and wine. The waiter, or whatever he was called, bowed and disappeared into the gloom of this room's shadowed corners; at that I turned to Phalomir.

"Well... that's just great, you know!" I opened with, shaking my head.

"Here we come through some dire and devilish place, where all these little... things rip the hell out of Aaron and hull my poor ship; and now you're saying that something similar is possessing those two ladies...

"...and that the one, though human, is some kind of leader of yours?"

I paused in growing increduality.

"How in all the Fates did that come about? I mean, no one knows of these planets--!"

I cut myself off then, as a faint memory of something Galen had mentioned back when I was transporting her and Captain Danner to where they'd needed to go.

...only to pause mid-motion as Yaoksi's final question caught his attention.

"Graysith," he repeated then, leaning forward a bit. "That was her, I've seen her before, a very long time ago..."

He trailed, remembering that day, remembering that Terrin had indicated that he'd contracted to work for the Sith in order to protect Galen and her child. Recalled how he'd been told of how the two sisters had been at more than just minor odds with each other for quite some time.

Aaron frowned thoughtfully, looking over to Phalomir. "You mentioned that everyone is on Degobah...

...although I don't know why. I sent a buddy of mine, a Shawn Petrolu, here before me to help me find my friends. Thoran mentioned him back on the Hornett, but you haven't. Is he with the others as well?" Aaron asked, falling silent then as drinks and some food arrived promptly. Placing a hand on the goblet of something green he'd been given, he began to pull it to his lips to take a drink...

"But you can't be a Sith! I'm standing right next to you and I barely sense any Force-sensitivity in you. I'm not well trained or probably too good but I could always tell if I was with another Force-sensitive being. And the Jedi would NOT do that! We would never... never. To destroy and hunt down a culture requires use of the Dark Side and that is forbidden to all Jedi. In signing on at the Praxeum we were told that any infraction of that type would be cause for immediate dismissal. WE were nearly wiped out by the Sith! Darth Vader helped his master take over the galaxy and be proclaimed Emperor. They KILLED ALL the Jedi except two."

Thea was practically yelling at this point. The suggestion that the Jedi could ever do anything so vicious.

"The worse part was that Vader had been a Jedi and turned traitor just like Shayla. He killed his master, just like Shayla caused the death of hers. If Master Skywalker hadn't managed to show him the error of his ways there would be NO Jedi left. And the galaxy would still be in the hands of a madman who used threats and death to control by fear!"

Thea paused a moment willing herself to soften her voice and calm down. "You can't be a Sith. If you were you'd have recognized me as a Jedi and I'd have a lightsaber through me now, unless Link was faster that is."

"Not Sith?" she asked Thea, utterly confused for a moment. "Force sensitive?"

She paused, a frown creasing her face as she struggled to make some kind of sense out of what the human girl was saying to her.

"Don't be silly; of course we're Sith; we've been Sith for, goodness, thousands and thousands of years. I mean, we've been us, living on our four planets: this one, K'eel Doba which is where the clan of the Warriors stays; Khar Delba, which is the home of the Sorcerer clan, Koris'ian, the place of the Armorer clan, and Korriban... the place of our dead."

She stopped, seeing her own confusion mirrored in Thea's eyes. Nonplused, she pressed on.

"I don't know much of what you speak, but this thing, this lightsaber..."

Seeing Thea tighten up in anticipation only made the young Sith more determined than ever to set her guest aright. Now clasping her hands and setting her head to one side, she struck a stance such as a schoolgirl might take when instructed by the teacher to recite back a lesson.

"The lightsaber was that terrible weapon used by the Ravagers, those who went by the name of Jedi," she said solemnly. "By swooping down upon Koris'ian, which is part of the Diamond of the Sith, and in far away space, and with the use of this awful weapon, these Jedi were able to force the Armorers to flee to Khar Delba, there to be taken under the wing of the Sorcerer's clan and protected from their awful foe.

"The Jedi never came to K'eel Doba or Khar Delba, but at this time seem to have vanished into space. The Sith can only hope that they do not ever choose to return."

Blinking her eyes then, she softened a little, transforming from the student back into the serving girl once again.

"How can we be evil?" she aske Thea then, her eyes so very bright.

"We love all life, and do whatever is necessary to bring peace and prosperity to all peoples. That is our task, what we must do, as the Rulers of the Galaxy."

I deactivated the self destruct sequence on the data pad realizing that if the sith heard our conversation that my plan went out the window.

"Look I don't like the jedi either, but one thing I can tell you is that the jedi I've heard about today are not the jedi your talking about, sure they go overboard and ignore how much smugglers and slicers have been useful in the history of the galaxy especially the galatic cival war. But they do not throw guests against walls or blow up furniture in their faces."

I got up and headed towards the door stopping at the enterance then turned around to address Thea.

The young Sith servant made a hesitant step toward those placed under her care.

"If you do I will be in trouble. I was told that this one--"

Here she pointed at Thea.

"--wished a place to hide, a place that was safe from this evil you keep telling us about. But... I cannot believe any of our people would be so callous, so harmful to anybody.

"Can you tell me exactly who it was who did such an awful thing? Which one of our people tried to kill you, or whoever it was?"

"I'll be right there, Link. I can't let this poor girl go on thinking... this. And it was someone here who has tried to kill me. As I said there is a Sith Lord here - Shayla Petrolu. She betrayed the Jedi and has already caused at least one Jedi death. She would just as soon kill any other Jedi she meets and she knows me from before she turned, she knows what I am."

Sighing Thea pulled out her recorder from under her shirt.

"Listen, I can't explain this history as well as Logan could. He was my friend at the Praxeum before it was destroyed. I couldn't read when I got there but I wanted to be able to keep up in my lessons so he recorded the history for me on here so I could memorize it and learn from it."

She searched quickly through the files on the device and Logan's voice came on:
"The history of the Sith. In the days at the beginning of the Old Republic, before the Jedi had fully organized, a group of Force Users banded together following the ways of the Dark Side. They took control of many worlds ruling through fear and subjecting the peoples of these worlds. They called themselves the great Lords of the Sith and sought to dominate all peoples of the galaxy. The Jedi at the request of the free peoples of the galaxy banded together to meet the threat. They managed to contain the threat and free some of the subjectgated planets. However the greed of the Sith proved to be thier undoing. The Sith fought amoungst themselves for ultimate control and used the Dark Side to decimate each other. In the end only one Sith Lord remained and the Jedi had been able to use thier in fighting to carefully free the rest of the captive planets. The remaining Sith Lord decided the only way to prevent the complete destruction of the order was to limit the number of Sith to two, a Master and an apprentice. They went underground and for many years were thought to have disappeared all together. However near the end of Republic this was proved false as Darth Sidious in the disguise of a politician called Palpatine slowly took over the Senate and through creating conflict was able to get himself proclaimed Emperor. He ruled the galaxy through fear and death for many years oppressing freedoms and creating terror amoung all peoples. He was assisted in his rise to power by a succession of three apprentices, the last of which was Darth Vader. Vader had been a Jedi before being seduced by Sidious and the Dark Side and turning on the Order. He lead the extermination of the Jedi, personally slautering Younglings and many other Jedis. Only two Jedi survived the Purge and they were able to train Master Skywalker. He then was able to redeem the fallen Jedi who destroyed Sidious before dying himself. Through this the Jedi Order was able to be reformed and the path to galactic freedom and safety was secured..."

Thea stopped the recording and clenched her hand on it for a moment, listening to the lessons always made her homesick for the Praxeum. Looking up again she stared right into the rose colored eyes of the other girl.

"That is the truth of history for the past couple of hundreds of years the Jedi have kept the peace in the galaxy, insuring the freedom of all peoples. We do not harm others, its against the Code. No one can rule a galaxy in peace only by terrorizing the people. Democracy is the only way, all the peoples represented and having a say. The Jedi have always protected democracy in the galaxy, protecting the people from dictators who would take away their freedoms. How can anyone who would take those freedoms away NOT be evil? And how can you call yourself a Sith with no knowledge of what the Force can do, or the weapons a Force-user uses? Why would you want to call yourself a Sith? Why would you want to turn yourself over to darkness? I am a Jedi, in training. I won't claim to be more, though I want to be. I'm a Padawan, no more, without a Master to teach me at the moment, but I hope to be a Jedi someday if the Force will allow it and I prove to be up to the task. How can you think the Jedi would ever try to control another?"

Thea looked at the other girl expecting a response. She glanced towards the door where Link was heading and froze. Part of her wanted to follow her friend out and get back to Yaoksi, but part of her was afraid to go out that door and run into Shayla or worse.

"But-- but--" she stammered, opening and closing her mouth like a fish out of water before finally finding words to express herself with.

"We have no Dark Lord named Shayla. We had our Dark Lord of the Warriors, Lord Ankrist Roan, but he has gone away Beyond The Sun. He was consort to she who is our current Dark Lady, the Lady Jharmeen Qu'taro. We are not evil, we have NEVER been evil; we have always led those within our realms in peace and love and kindness."

She chewed her cheek, frowning.

"This Force of which you speak; you said I am not sensitive in it, whatever that means. I do not know; I am unfamiliar with this thing, is it a kind of magick, such as our sorcerers use to heal us and help the armorers create useful objects?

"Please--" She stretched out a hand toward the young girl, beseeching her to believe her.

"Do not go, do not fear me or my people. I am very confused about much of what you say; perhaps you would like to be presented to some of our Teachers? You could be taken to our Great Library and learn all of our history and know that what I say is the truth, for you have been kind and have shown me your history.

"Even though I do not understand much of it--?"

Entirely puzzled but by now frightened that her charges would bolt and lose themselves in the immense, winding labyrinthine corridors of the Temple, the young Sith now took another step toward Thea, tears beginning to form in her rose-colored eyes.

“Yes, Graysith is the more formal name for Jharmeen,” he said. “I know she has had an interesting past, and I will not go into detail about it. But she has had much shoved upon her, and I have helped her as much as I can. And I help her through this as well, one way or another. It is not your concern, as long as you stay out of her way, and avoid Shayla as well.”

He took a bite of a piece of meat that had appeared before him, a servant backing away.

“I also know Shawn, forgive me for not mentioning him. He too is on Dagobah, helping find Erik.”

Phalomir took another bite and eyed Yaoksi. He noticed the body language of the human and was troubled by it.

“I understand there is much here that is new to you,” he said. “I wish I could alleviate your concerns, but only time will allow that to happen. I have my problems here, I will not bring you into them.”

He finished the meat in one more bite, then took a drink.

“Thoran told me of the problems you encountered,” he continued. “He has a special ability to open portals in space and time that lead to that horrid realm. It is useful for traveling, but as you have already seen, it can also be very dangerous. Bringing in a large ship is a great strain on him, it could have possibly killed him. You should be aware of the risk he took to help you. As for your ship, it is possible that the demons left it alone after you departed, and the damage could be minimal. It is also possible, and perhaps more likely, that it is ripped to shreds by now. Either way, I will see to it you are compensated.

Oh ye ghods! I thought to myself, my eyes darting back and forth between Aaron and this powerful being.

It's Her. The one who was hot after that spunky lil gal, Galen; her damned SISTER and she's HERE and this guy is somehow involved with her...

Staggered, I blinked, reached out in a daze, took up my drink and chugged it down whole. A waiter promptly materialized from nowhere.

"S-something stronger!" I somehow managed to choke out before cutting my eyes back to Aaron again. I waggled my brows at him.

For a long moment no one said a word, and I did my best to remain silent and still, just staring at Aaron, careful not only to keep from looking at Lord Phalomir but also to keep my own face hidden from him as well.

I've got a ba-aa-ad feeling... I mouthed in Aaron's direction, before reaching a finger into my collar to loosen it. The fact that the attached shirt was already halfway unbuttoned didn't deter me in the slightest. What did at last was the lengthening silence.

"Umm... yeah, another," I garbled like a fool, my mind racing as what on earth we should do now.

"Yeah, there's another; that is I think he's somewhere out there, or maybe back in the hospital where--"

That cheerful little slip of the tongue only brought forth a rampage of mental imagery of what we had just witnessed.

"Ahh... ship. Compensation; er, yeah, heh. If you could get me a ship, well... I'm sure we'd be happy to leave you guys in peace.

I took hold of the door and opened it then replied back to Thea.

Phalomir noticed again how Yaoksi fidgeted at the mention of Jharmeen’s name.

“What do you know of Jharmeen? Er, Graysith? The mention of her name seems to bother you greatly. I have known her for--”

Phalomir struggled to find the words to use, for he had known her, at least he thought he knew her, at least in his memories, for years. But he did not know her in this past for nearly so long.

“—a great deal of time, but she was a key figure with the Sith long before we met. What is done is done, she is not an evil person. And I assure you, neither am I. We Sith are like you humans, we have our good and bad, but our society functions on basic decency to others.

“Perhaps it is the fact that she is human that bothers you? Our species are physically compatible, and I indeed love her very much. How she came to be with the Sith is a very long story, and one she is not happy to speak of.

“But I digress. If I were able to arrange immediate passage to Dagobah for us, would you accept it? Of course, we would need to locate the rest of your crew...”

The boy rounded a corner and was faced with a gigantic black and oily serpent, baring down on him with crimson red eyes. The boy turned to run, and the serpent followed. Its fangs dripping black oily venom... And in an instant its jaw extended and...

And in an instant emerald shot violate filled the room once more as the boy's eyes shot open, his hand instinctivly clutching the sheathed blade which had been at his bedside. Sweat dripped from his brow and his heart raced... Air...he needed air...

He stood from his bed, and entered the hallway, wandering off into the temple with no direction in mind, clutching the elresar's sheath, not bothering to secure it to his belt.

"I... well I think Shayla would want to take care of me herself so I don't think... you seem young to me, like we are. But I know Shayla is here I can feel her. She was the apprentice of a Graysith last I saw her. As for the Force... It is an energy field that binds all things and pentrates all things tying the galaxy together. Its not magick but life itself that feeds it. Force-senstive beings can use it to sort of bend things to adjust what is around us. I have had little training but I can lift things and throw them by thinking about it and concentrating on the flow of the Force around the object. I could also communicate even at distances with other Jedi that I knew well and was connected to, but they are all gone now. Anyway basically I've learned to feel what is around me and how the life Force of the universe works in and around it. You couldn't miss the sensation if you were Force-sensitive, its unbelievable being connected to everything. It makes me feel alive more than anything else. I can't explain it, what I've said hasn't done it justice at all."

Thea turned to Link, "Yeah we should... but what if we run into her. I don't think I could handle her. She frightens me."

Then she brightened. There were, after all, only two places in the entire Temple where the Lady Jharmeen would take non-appointed audience: the Great Receiving Room and the Grand Dining Hall.

At first she thought she would seek her in the former chambers; however, as her route from the servants' section of the Temple brought her closer to the latter place, she thought it best to try there first.

The Lady will be more amenable to distressing news if her stomach is full, after all, she thought to herself wisely as, coming upon the doors into the place, she drew in a fortifying breath before pushing them open with both aged hands. They oiled smoothly away, giving her entrance into the enormous room, one filled with the quiet clink of utensils and the even quieter murmur of voices.

For a moment she stood in the doorway, casting a look about the room. The Dark Lady was nowhere to be seen, at least not immediately; taking another breath she entered the Dining Hall and began to walk through it, looking into its various nooks and niches to see if the one she sought had sequestered herself away from the madding crowd.

After a five minute hunt she had yet to find her... but found another she thought she could speak to instead. A visiting Dark Lord; it would be prudent on her part to speak with him, too.

So she hobbled up to the table, only discovering as she came directly upon the booth in which they sat that he too had a pair of humans for dining companions. Coming to a halt beside their table, she lowered her eyes and bowed her head.

"Pardon, m'Lord, but there is a matter of importance I feel it necessary to speak of. It appears that there are some... strangers here--"

She eyed Yaoksi and Aaron carefully, unsure as to whether they were Lord Phalomir's dinner guests or prisoners.

"--young strangers... who speak of... of...

"The Jedi."

She pursed her lips at that, great shivering tremors racking her body as memories rose up from...

The Time.

For she was not of the warriors bred, but of the armorers; and one of few who chose not to relocate on Khar Delba but had come here to K'eel Doba instead.

Better to be close to the Warrior Clan, she had reasoned on that fateful day, should those terrible, terrible Jed-aye return to our worlds...

With a little grunt she shook her head, flinging the memory back into the corners of her mind. Then, sniffing a bit, she grew still, respectfully waiting should the Dark Lord deign to reply to her humble words.

"It really sounds to me as if it is this Shayla who is the evil one, not my people," she observed, looking Thea now directly in the eye, all tears evaporating.

"She is the one you fear, the one you sought shelter from; is she the one who caused the Great Shock that caused us all to fall down? At any rate, this is probably the reason the Elder brought you here to the servant's quarters; no one would dream of looking for a guest here; why, it's unthinkable!"

She stopped a moment, thinking.

"We were both given instruction to remain here: you for your own personal safety, and I to assist you in anything that you need. I am not certain if taking you away from this room would be thought of as what you need, even though it is what you ask of me.

"Perhaps, if you tell me where this friend of yours last was, I can send a runner to find him and bring him here? Being considered likewise a guest, he should be easy to make contact with."

She stopped again and looked at Link, who seemed ready to disregard her altogether and bolt.

In all the confusion no one noticed one lone Verpine wandering aimlessly off. Suffering now from impact induced short-term amnesia, he then meandered about the Temple, studying all he saw with wonder in eyes that would be very, very wide were he able to alter their size in any respectable manner.

Soon he was far, far away from the others, ambling though corridors growing narrower and dimmer, corridors that led to steps going down, and even more steps going down, corridors whose walls were now beginning to grow moist and covered with black mosses and lichen patches.

He stared nervously about himself, keeping those alert eyes everywhere, but being the Verpine that he was kept going.

For the Verpine are an extremely sensitive race, curious as to the wonders of the universe around them...

Phalomir turned his head to Yaoksi, his voice pleasant.

"Ahh... that works for me, as long as we're all together safe and sound again... and we can then proceed on to a more populated area, say CORUSCANT, to drop off the kids and so on."

I paused a moment, studying him carefully.

"The Sith have these special ships that can get through the blockade, or so I've been told by a very reliable pilot of my aquaintance nce as well as yours," he replied then, looking over to Yaoksi, recalling how Galen had gone off to the Sith worlds to ahhh...

...appropriate one of these said ships so that she could go to Coruscant and get her daughter. "As for heading off to Degobah to get our friends and then heading to Coruscant, that sounds like a good plan as well. I think Terrin might have some connections there we could rely on; in fact, I'm certain of it. Not only have we done business there, but he was born and raised there. As for our missing children, though," Aaron continued, now shifting to look at Phalomir, "One would be human, the other one Ryn."

“Fetch the children and bring them here,” he said in a low voice. “Fear not, for even though they speak of Jedi I will discover the truth behind their meaning. Remember, they are children and have active imaginations, but be wary nonetheless. Tell them they shall be reunited with the one named Yaoksi. Oh, and please make arrangements for adjoining sleeping rooms for them all.”

He let go of the woman and opened the door for her.

“You are a very brave and loyal Sith,” he said. “I thank you.”

He turned and headed back for the table.

“The children shall be here shortly,” he said. “I will send word to look for your friend. I trust he is also human?” Phalomir paused, then added, “One more thing. In our history, the word ‘Jedi’ meant only one thing: death. It was the Dark Jedi, as they are now called by you, but to the Sith the Jedi are nothing but a murderous hoard of savages. Please refrain from ever mentioning that word here, and inform your children to do the same, for your own safety.”

Phalomir smiled and sat down.

"Where were we?"

"Yes, Shayla is evil. We tried to save her once and were rewarded with attacks and death. She is the Sith I've always been taught to fear. And the worst kind because she had been a Jedi and so knows our secrets - strengths and weaknesses. That's what makes her so dangerous she looks like any other person, but she's not. She could have caused that, I'm pretty sure she destroyed the Healing Chambers where one of our friends was. I could feel that shift in the Force. Anyway Yaoksi is more like my father than friend, he's cared for me since my last Master had to leave me behind because of my age. He was going to get Aaron away from Shayla in the Healing Chambers but I'm guessing he wouldn't stick around there long. More likely he'll be trying to find us."

Thea looked over at Link, "Do you have his com frequency? Where would we even begin to look to find him?"

It was such that when he had begun to feel a might peckish on his walk, he had subconciously begun to drift down the hallways towards the dinning hall.

However along the way he became distracted from his persuit of nurishment... As he rounded a corner to notice an elderly sith woman who seemed to walk with a hobble.

The boy frowned... It was not right for a woman in her condition to be wandering the temple alone, any number of things might happen to her.

he approached her quickly, unsure of which direction she was heading or for what purpose, but deciding that it was a more noble task to offer her assistence and company then it was to put to rest the minor peckishness that was within him.

When he had neared he called to her softly.

"excuse me, ma'am. but it is not right for a lady to travel alone, even within the reletive safety of these halls, My honor would be dirtied were you to deny me the oportunity to accompany you and assist with whatever task it is you are undergowing, Might you allow me to help you? I would be honored to be allowed your company"

"Does Yaoksi even carry a comm, If he does I can scan for it."

I hooked up my comm to my data pad and began to scan for comm frequencies, from this I can sort them using many different parameters such as disreguard comms with military cyphers and ranges restriced by most goverments. From there I can narrow it down even farther. But some information would help.

"We'll do it your way, but if we stay here that sith has to stop shoving her idealogy down my throat."

The next question I addressed towards the sith.

"Well I've never seen him use one. But he must have one - it wouldn't be very responsible if he didn't. We know Aaron has one and they should be together by now, I hope."

Thea let Link get on with her work and turned shyly back to the serving girl curiosity finally winning out.

"I don't mean to be rude, but I've never seen anyone of your race before. Ummm what race do you belong to?"

"I've been trying to tell you: I am a Sith," she said, slowly and with great emphasis.

"I am of the Warrior Clan of the Sith."

She turned then to the irate furry one.

"And I do not mean to force any idealogy on anybody, but after what you have said I believe you are confused. I was merely trying to explain the truth to you."

Falling silent, she then folded her hand in front of herself and turned her gaze back to Thea.

"But Sith is an ideology. It's what the ones who chose the Dark Side over the Light of the Force and the ways of the Jedi have always called themselves. I've never even heard of it being a race. It's what you chose to be not are born. There have been Sith from every race - the most infamous were both human. I... I don't really understand."

"I--" she began when she was interrupted. For the door that Link was hesitating in front of suddenly came open, revealing yet another of the servants of the Temple.

"I have been instructed by Lord Phalomir to bring you to the one called Ya-ows-kee," she elucidated, speaking each syllable strangely, as though they were uncomfortable rocks in her mouth.

"In seeking you, I found the Elder, who has gone about other business; please now, if you will all come with me..."

Reguardless at least we would get what we wanted to find Yaoksi and hopefully leave this place.

...but at the moment, there are some good friends of ours who are tangled up in them. We'd like to get to them ASAP; it's been long enough as it is."

Quieting a moment at that, Aaron simply leveled a gaze with Phalomir...

She clasped her hands together as the pair moved to the door, pressing herself against the frame to allow them free passage into the corridor beyond. There she easily took the lead, so as to show them how to get to the Dining Hall from the servant's quarters.

As she led them gracefully along, the Teacher within her could refrain no longer.

"It is always wise to respect the ways of others, for only by this shall you in turn be respected by them," she commented lightly, keeping her eyes ahead although she cocked her head a bit backwards, that Link would know that comment had been directed toward her.

"It's hard to respect your ways if they invole trying to convert me and feel sympathetic to your cause, I know nothing about you, your race, your history. Just like you know nothing of mine and I'm content to leave it that way."

"I feel sorry for you, young one," she said softly.

"For one so young, to hold such hardness against others, to remove oneself as you have from the beauty of the universe which surrounds you, and to only see that universe through such pre-ordained, tunneled vision..."

She trailed, shaking her head in sad bemusement.

"I wish you could remain with us. Our teachers would be happy to open your eyes to the fact that there are others who share this wonderful universe with you, and who have much to give, not--"

She stopped, her lip quirking a little before she forced it to behave itself again.

"Push upon you, as you seem to believe we, and perhaps all you have ever met, are so erroneously wont to do."

The sith condensending tone sent me over the edge for her to simply pass off what my life was like and feeling sorry because I didn't find beauty in the universe.

"If you lived the life I had to live of course you would havesuch hardness towards others."

I stopped in the hallway calling back memories I long hoped I had buried.

"I tried to live a normal life, I was raised by smugglers because they reguarded me with the same curiocity as a batha, they all didn't care about me. I eventually perfected my computer skills and lanted a job, I was going to be legit, a programer for a company in the corprate sector."

I pulled back a my long hair exposing the back of my neck which revealed a patch of skin where fur did not grow and was burnt.

"When I arrived and that they saw I was ryn they imediatly sold me to a slaver who did this and auctioned me off, there where two buyers one who wanted me as a pet ryn for his daughter, the other wanted my fur for a rug. I was sold to the later, but as it turned out after I was sold the two men accused each other of cheating and fought each other. I managed to escape and used my computer skills to slice my way off planet and make a living hiding the fact of what I am."

Tears began to roll down my face of the pain I was subjected to and how alone I was, mearly because of what I am.

But this-- this was an anathema to her, foreign to her very belief system.

"A-- slave?" she murmured, blinking a little more rapidly to keep back the instinctive rush of tears Link's words provoked from her. She swayed the tiniest bit, refraining with every cell in her body from scooping the Ryn into her arms for a long over-due hug.

Somehow, as much as she knew the young girl needed that, this was not the most appropriate of times or places for it.

"Oh my dear, such people you have been subjected to, to treat you in this manner. We would never, could never treat our young, or any young for that matter, in such a way. We--"

She paused, seeing instinctive anger beginning to rise up in Link's eyes once again.

"I will take you to your companion; and while your past has been a dim one indeed, I do hope your future holds more brightness for you. But please--"

Now she did take a step toward the Ryn, holding out one hand in her direction.

"Try not to be so coldly aloof. By your words you have been through much, but if you continue to believe that everyone will always be like those you have encountered, you will never be able to accept those who are quite the opposite, and would otherwise treat you with respect, simply for being a fellow living thing.

"I shall say no more; I see this upsets you. Forgive me if I have overstepped any bounds here. I shall take you now to your friend."

Which was exactly what she did, turning forward again and speaking no more until after about another fifteen minutes of wandering through corridor after corridor she came to a set of ornately carved double doors.

"The Grand Dining Hall," she said by way of introduction as she pushed them gently open to lead them inside. There she allowed them little opportunity to stop and gawk at the immense splendor they were now in, but led them directly to the table where Yaoksi and Aaron yet remained with Lord Phalomir.

"My Lord," she said as she closed her eyes and bowed.

"I have brought the ones of which you spoke."

Saying no more, she remained in the humble posture, waiting until Lord Phalomir would release her from it.

He studied the two children before him, raising his eyebrow slightly at the Ryn. “I am Phalomir, Dark Lord of the Armorer Clan. Please feel free to eat and drink, and make yourselves comfortable. Yaoksi, Aaron, and I were discussing your friends Galen and Terrin and the others, and after everyone here is rested I shall arrange for a reunion.”

Phalomir extended his hands to two empty seats. “Please, sit, be comfortable. I understand you’ve all had quite an adventure, and I apologize for the strange circumstances in which you arrived. I also see from your faces that I and my people are strange to you as well. The Sith race has been remote, out of contact with your society for a very long time.”

Phalomir folded his hands on the table before him. “I would be happy to answer any questions you all have while you take your refreshments.” He lifted his hand to a servant standing by the doorway.

“But to answer your questions, Aaron, we do have ships that may be able to slip past the blockade, but the more this happens, the more likely the Empire shall one day find a way to stop us. And if I can arrange it, we may travel there even faster. And not through the Darker Realms, this I promise.”

The servant arrived and waited. Phalomir looked to Yaoksi.

Thea could hear the debate going on between the woman and Link but she ignored it until Link blurted out her history. Shocked she looked at her friend and the scar on her neck. Thea couldn't believe there were people in the universe that would do this to someone. She had long been taught that race meant nothing and it was what a person did with their life that matters, after all at one time there had been Jedi of all races and they were judged only by their strength in the Force and skills.

Thea gently slipped her hand over Link's trying to protect her in the little way she could, through the only comfort she could give. She listened as the woman put her thoughts into words and waited until they were once again underway to reach over and brush a tear from her friend's face.

"Link, I'm sorry. You'll always be my friend and my equal, I promise you."

She walked on in silence keeping her hold on her friend. And even as they reached the table and she slid up next to Yaoksi and hugged him.

Listening to the strange man's words of welcome she hesitated to ask someone so much older the question she still had.

After giving her a hug in turn, followed by a kiss on the top of her head, I pulled back a little so as to lend the look I was giving her more weight.

"Thea, hon," I began, wondering how to say what I had to say. Then I gave mycelf a mental shrug, and just went on with it.

"I don't know what you're talking about, sweetie. Cella was ki--"

I paused, unwilling to even say the word to so young and tender a set of ears. But she had to know the truth.

"Cella was killed by some kind of demonic imp thing, the same thing that-- that seriously injured a very dear friend of my own."

I drew in a ragged breath, stricken with a sudden rush of anguish. I opened my mouth to explain what K'kihl was, but remained quiet. It was, after all, the Lord's turn to speak, and to tell the truth I didn't think I could say another word right at that moment.

Nassy--

“I believe this evil you speak of is what we called the Jedi,” he said. “Our people have been called ‘Sith’ for thousands of years. Our society is based in magick and honor, and we ruled the galaxy for countless generations. But the Jedi came to us, deceived us, and attacked relentlessly with their weapons of evil light. The scholars of my time – that is, um, in my time as Dark Lord – learned that these Jedi worshipped the dark side of your Force, which meant that there was a light side, and that gave us hope. These Dark Jedi, it was also learned, had stolen our name and the most powerful of them had been able to somehow learn some of our magick. Those are the ones you know of as ‘sith’.”

Phalomir paused to allow that bit to sink in, then continued.

“You see, our history is very close to our people. Very close indeed. What you think of as Sith, and what we think of as ‘jedi’ are one in the same. It will do you well to not mention the word ‘jedi’ while you are a guest here. We owe you no ill will, and I hope you will do the same.”

Phalomir took a drink from the glass that had somehow been filled while he was not looking.

Ghods, but it could still hurt...

Then I removed it altogether and held it about a foot over my head.

"He's the only two-legged cricket you're going to find around here, more than likely, about yea high, always on the lookout for a hydrospanner..."

A sigh of air pushed my lips in to a meager grin at my joke, and I drew in a deep breath.

Somehow, I didn't know exactly how, but I swear to all the ghods in the universe I'm gonna get my ship out of that place of horror...

...and seek revenge for what those ghodforsaken things had done to Cella and Nassy.

Not to mention Terrin.

“There you have it,” he said. “Inform the exterminator to kill nothing larger than a t’aark today, and spread the word amongst the runners to look for a large intelligent — cricket — and bring it here. Lure it with a hydrospanner if need be.”

The servant turned, and Phalomir caught his arm.

"And send for the City Warden, I wish to know if the Dark Lady has charged him with ascertaining both the damage to the city and the cause of the quake." The servant nodded and then dashed off. Phalomir leaned back.

“While he wait,” he said. “I will be happy to answer any other questions you have. And please, eat to your fill. The food should be to your liking, it is well received by other humans who visit us. Speaking of, you say you are friends, or employees, of Terrin Danner? I am remembering when I first met Terrin, and I am willing to bet you were rather surprised to hear that was – um, still alive.”

He turned his eyes all about himself, then spotted a darkened doorway. Hurrying therein, he sequestered himself in the gloom, standing tall and dark and utterly silent as a small retinue of Sith guards marched past, muttering to themselves, their hands full of something they seemed to be divvying up amongst themselves.

It looked to be Mandalorian armor.

If the Verpine could raise a brow at that, he would have; instead he merely waited until the sounds of the guards had disappeared back the way he had come from and then ventured carefully forth. He didn't have to wonder where said Mandalorian armor had come from, for now coming from somewhere ahead of him there came a series of loud thumps, joined by muffled shouts.

Hurrying along, he came to a particularly noisome door, one in which a small barred window allowed him to peer inside. A nanosecond later, he found himself on the other side of the corridor, his stifled yelp of surprise clutched in his thorax.

A vividly blue eye had peered out at him...

Cautiously, he approached the window once again.

"Er, can I help you, Sir?" he offerred simply, wondering if he should be speaking to one who was so obvious a prisoner.

Nothing broke it. Ever.

Except for now...

I froze in mid-tirade, fist lifted, eyes wide, mouth agape, glacial anger coiled like a knot of liquid nitrogen in my chest.

"K-kihl?" I whispered, barely able to choke out the name for the tension and the pain that filled my body. Then a dam within me broke loose.

"K'KIHL!! Ol' buddy, it's me, it's Sorben, get me out of here, pal!"

I began pounding on the door, unaccustomed tears springing contrarily to my eyes, blurring my vision; my hands filled with splinters even as my heart rushed up from the depths of darkness, now filled with sudden and quite unexpected hope.

Then I remembered something of why I had been placed here; pressing my body against the wooden door, I now whispered softly, so that the Verpine had to hunker quite close on the opposite side.

"Be careful K'kihl; take a care as who you trust here. She, that blasted sister of Galen, that Jharmeen, that bitch whose been hanging here all high and mighty with these Sith... she's done something buddy; I don't know what, but she's got that damned power and she used it against us, I don't know what she did but my comm-link was blinking, and Landarian knew this mission was of the utmost secrecy yet the comm was blinking--"

I broke off with that, suddenly aware that I was rambling. Wiping sweat from my face, I forced myself to calm down.

And then the very universe had exploded, or so it had seemed...

His thoughts flew farther back, years back, back to the time he and Sorben had gone about, before there was an Empire that the bounty hunter could rise within, back to the time when it was just the two of them and the little gal Galen, who was at first so heatedly seeking her sister, and then so desperately fleeing from her.

How well he recalled the powers she had used upon occasion against them. And now-- against the Empire??

The Empire...

If he had been capable of frowning at that moment, he would have. Instead he remained quiet, chitinous head cocked, mandibles working silently as he perused yet more memories and from them sought to sift fact from fiction. Recalled what Yaoksi had told him of the explosion that had ripped through Devil on Sullust, and the chaos that had them erupted in its capital city, and how the Imperials had materialized but had indeed only seemed interested in reestablishing order from that chaos.

Thought back to all the whispered stories he had ever heard during his sojourn aboard Hornett about this system and that being blockaded... strained to recall when any citizen he could think of had ever come to any harm...

...and promptly came to a conclusion. Weight for weight, a simple blockade, a retention of citizens just wasn't as destructive as a blast that had knocked everyone willy-nilly, and to hear Sorben tell of it had reached even farther out than the Temple alone, to which he had thought the blast had been limited.

Sorben was right. There was something afoot.

Something terrible.

And at any rate he couldn't determine any logical reason why his old partner would now be held prisoner here.

He shook himself from his thoughts, clacked his mandibles.

"Okey day, Boss," he said amicably enough.

"I will do my best..."

With that he simply turned and began hastening back the way he had come, heading back to light and friends and possible enemies... but who? And why?

Why.

Aye, there was the true crux of the matter.

"I am a Jedi. We do not recognize those traitors as a part of us. It is death to become one and our sworn duty to kill any that we meet. We fight only in defense and only to insure the safety and freedom of the peoples of the galaxy. We do nothing to harm others - it would mean immediate explusion from the Order. I was expected to follow these rules at 6. They are the first lesson we learn and the one we must master before being given the priviledge of learning any other. I still carry the recording Master Cella made for me around my neck at all times. The Code is life and the Jedi are here to protect that life. That the evil ones have taken your name we did not know. All our history tells us is that a group detracted and came back years later calling themselves Sith, they then set about destroying the Galaxy. The Jedi were the only ones strong enough to defeat them and save the galaxy from destruction. The Order has long struggled to reform and strength themselves after the Purge during the reign of the Empire. It is Shayla who is what you fear. She was trained as a Jedi for many years then turn to the Dark Side after being captured by a Graysith. You follow the ones you claim to fear. And you call the ones who would free you to rule yourselves in the way you wish evil? It makes no sense."

But the words spouting from this young gal's mouth were those I wouldn't want to hear coming from someone three times her age.

"Thea, honey," I said softly, putting an arm around her even while wondering how to put into words the thoughts that were racing around in my head.

"I'm surprised to hear you say this. I mean, it isn't sounding very Jedi-ish--"

I interrupted myself to glance quickly at the Sith Lord.

"You'll have to pardon my use of the term," I said to him, then went on.

"In fact, it sounds like you're out for revenge yourself.

"And another thing-- I think you need to be opening your mind up a little bit. For the wonderful thing about the universe is that nothing ever remains static; otherwise, nothing would ever grow. We seem to be having a problem with semantics here; if I were you I'd refrain from spouting off how the Jedi are coming to save the day, at least while you're on this planet, and take into consideration how these people have been reacting to that term."

I paused with that, unwilling to continue on and tell her that I didn't think there were any Jedi left anyway, saving of the universe be damned.

"Thea, let it go."

I looked up from the table and stared face to face with Thea. My fur still wet with the tears of painful memories.

"Let it go, your master and friends where betrayed and killed, yes you where wronged and have every right to be angry and want revenge. But in the end what will you gain."

I took my hand and wiped away the tears from my face.

"You seem a bit young to be making those kind of statements, Link," I opened, drawing Thea a little closer against my side.

"Thea doesn't seem to be the only one here letting the past haunt her; why don't you give the universe-- and those who dwell within it-- another chance before condemning yourself to a life of loneliness.

"We're here for you after all, aren't we?"

"My past I cannot let go of, because every where I go, everyone has the same look on thier face, because I am ryn. They don't care if I don't act like ryn or if I've never met another ryn, to them I am the lowest form of life. And every day I see at least one person who sees me this way. You know its true and you can't deny it."

I took Yaoksi out streched hand and clung to it tight.

he turned about and shuffled down the hallways untill he reached the great doors and slipped in quietly.

Slowly he wandered through the hall, letting his nose guide him, trying to find something that perked his appitite.

yet as he slipped through the hall the sound of something caught his attention, it was low, and he could only just make out part of it...
"My past...cannot let go... everyone has the...look...thier face...because....They dont care..."

“I understand both the confusion and the pain you all feel,” he said. “I have much of my own.”

Phalomir leaned back and regarded Thea.

“First,” he began, “young lady, I it appears we share a common philosophy when it comes to the Dark Jedi, and life itself. You will find that although we have our good and bad, like you humans, we are not an evil race, and I offer you whatever help I may provide in your quest. I do not know what happened to your master, but I do know Shayla, and whatever happened that day is far in the past. I realize you have just seen Shayla do something terrible, but you must believe me that this is not truly her. The same with Jhar—with Graysith. I love them both, Shayla as a dear friend and Graysith as my own, but right now there is a painful darkness that inhabits them and I fear what I must do to remove it. I only hope it can be removed…”

Phalomir’s face darkened and a sadness beyond expression suddenly tried to break free from him. A realization crossed his mind, one that he never even considered to be a possibility until that very moment, and he struggled to force it away. But it was planted, and now a niggling doubt that he would actually be able to save his dear ones crept its way along his thoughts.

“But for you, Cel, is it?” he forced himself to speak. “I know nothing of your race, and care nothing of what I am supposed to think of you because of what you are. I could only hope the rest of the galaxy would do the same for my race when we reintroduce ourselves to it, but I expect we will not receive a warm welcome. One of my many worries, I’m afraid.”

Phalomir lifted his head to the ceiling as if to let a bit of the sudden stress wash down his back. When he looked back, a lone figure in the proximity of the table caught his eye.

"excuse me Lord phalomir... I did not mean to intrude... As warry as i was, i could not find rest...so I decided to try a bit of food to relax me...thats when i overheards a bit of the happenings here... I didnt want to interupt...im sorry"

Bowing to him, she quickly related the desires of the visiting Dark Lord; the pair had cast quick glances at each other then dismissed her. Then they had turned right round, the Lieutenant seeking the Servant's quarters where he might find runners, the Captain going himself to seek the Warden in his chambers, and send him on to Lord Phalomir....

___________________________________________

The Warden, having just laid down to rest for the night, had that pleasant moment interrupted by a fierce and urgent knock at his door. Opening it to reveal a Captain of the Guards, he stiffened, bowing his head in mutual respect for the pair of them were of equal ranking in the Sith heirarchy. His initial query was nipped in the bud as the Captain wasted no time, speaking word for word the command Lord Phalomir had sent him forth with. The Warden merely nodded, dismissed the Captain, and after watching him disappear down the corridor returned to his chambers, now taking the time to freshen up and robe himself, that he would be fitting to have so near a private audience with the Dark Lord. Finding himself presentable at last, then he hastened to the Dining Hall, where he quickly found the table where Lord Phalomir and his growing group were seated.

"M'Lord--" he said as he came to first a stiff attention, fisted hand over his chest. Then he bowed, retaining that posture until the Dark Lord should speak and release him from it.

____________________________________________

Finding the Verpine took a little more effort on the part of the Sith. However, the Temple's network of runners was vast, meant as a means of communication in times of duress: it took the sending out of nearly eighteen of that swift group before one of them found K'kihl as he hurried up from the direction of the dungeons. The runner lifted a brow at this but said nothing, and recognizing the Verpine as a guest and one desired to join the visiting Dark Lord merely indicated that he please follow him back to the others who awaited him.

The Verpine made no noncompliant action but came eagerly to the side of the runner. Thus it was not long after the Warden had come up to the Dark Lord's table in the Grand Dining Hall that the missing member of their party was likewise escorted there as well.

Considering the circumstances.

I was starting to fidget, for this Phalomir fellow was seeming to take his sweet time in responding to the official Sith, when another one popped out of the figurative woodwork as well.

And wonder of wonders, he had a particular Cricket of my acquaintance in tow.

"K'kihl, pal! Where have--" I began, half rising from my seat. But then I froze.

Now Verpine, having exoskeletons, aren't much in the way of being expressive creatures. They can't blink their eyes; they've got no eyelids. They can't quirk their lips; they've only got mandibles. They can't waggle their brows; they haven't got any.

But there was something about his posture that, having had him with me now for some time, I was able to read.

Something was bothering him. Sonething wasn't... well, cricket.

Immediately I covered myself by issuing a series of fake coughs.

"H-hey, pal--!" cough, hack "--it's gr- great to see ya again!" choke, wheeze* "Guess the air isn't agreeing with me here; ya wanna have a seat, pal? The conversation's just getting good..."

With that I blinked meaningfully at him and sat back down, acting as if everything I had found myself involved in over the last few hours was the most natural thing in the world for me.

She looked right at Phalomir, "Sir. I agree that in some ways we feel the same about the Dark Ones, in general. But you say you trust these two, and that I cannot. They have tried to kill me before, and only the intervention of another Padawan and his Master saved me. I am not out for revenge, but I will not throw away my own life, not to them, not now. We know joining the Order that we might die for it someday. Master Jeroc and Logan did - defending Younglings from the Empire when they attacked the school. And that I could do. But how can I trust someone who has tried to kill me, or trust those that are allied with them. I'm not out for revenge I'm just not stupid and I know I need to protect myself and those I care about first. I want to be around long enough to finish my training and do some good in this universe."

"Forgive me if i do not know the full of your circomstances...But here please here my words... I know not what binds you, but i can tell you this... If anything binds you to hatred, and it is indeed hatred that flows through you as you speak these things, you should disregard it...For even if those you seek to destroy are evil...If you let your distrust of them, your foul memories of them, and most of all your dislike and hate of them...Then should you ever succeed in killing them...you will have become them... You should only fight to protect those you love, or that which is important to you... Once something is lost, it can never be brought back...Holding a grudge of losing it, will not make the loss any easier."

He then gave a sad little smile and shook his head, "the truest way to defeat those who have wronged you, and to hold true the memories of those who are lost...is to forgive. As anyone who is truely evil, has no purpose but to spread evil...only through forgiveness and love can that evil be stopped."

at that he fell silent.

I drew in a deep breath and shook my head, hurt to the very core by what I hoped had been an unthinking statement on her part.

So young... and in the naivete of the young, so persistant in only seeing one path before her...

But what a path.

"Thea, honey," I began, once more shooting a glance toward the Dark Lord, trying to explain in that look that Thea was indeed only a child, had been through much, and really didn't mean any insult in the words she had just spouted.

"I think what Lord Phalomir is saying is that there is something else beyond just the people who are Jharmeen and Shayla; that it's this something else that we have to battle..."

I trailed, seeing confusion in her face. Pursing my lips, I decided on a different tact.

"You've never spoken of this to me before. What exactly did Shayla do to you when she tried to kill you? How are you so certain that she means to do this now? I mean, wouldn't she already have done so? We are here, without a ship, dependent solely on the hospitality of these people-"

I nodded respectfully toward Lord Phalomir, all the while widening my eyes and waggling my brows at the young Jedi-wannabe.

"--and there is something else to consider in all of this: that being there seems to be another power, a something else that I don't understand that I don't think even the Force can stand up against..."

I shot another look in Phalomir's direction; seeing the unverbalized agreement there I went on.

"Thea, all we've got is each other; you've got to understand that, and trust those who state they are here to help us..."

Once again I trailed briefly as the stunning realization struck that I was speaking those words more to myself than to Thea. I cut another sidelong glance at the Sith Lord, and seeing his slight smile of acquiescence went on.

"Thea, isn't a Jedi supposed to be mindful of everything that is around him? Do you sense any evil coming from any of us seated here? Don't you think you're operating from past assumptions at the very least?

"Please tell us all what has happened to you, in detail; perhaps we can at least set a few things straight."

I stopped with that, knowing that the evil behind what had happened to Terrin and Cella and Nassy was something deeper, something other, than the mere simplicity of a good Jedi gone bad.

"Please, M'Lord, if I may speak..."

It was the rose-eyed young Sith, who had been charged to assist Thea and Link however she could. Emboldened by the fact that she yet considered them her charges, she now approached the table and bowed. And when she straightened, hands clasped respectfully in front of her, it was at Thea toward whom she directed her words.

"You played your device, that I might learn of you and your history," she began carefully. "And on that device was much wisdom by those you call je--"

She stumbled, then quickly moved on.

"--your Teachers," she amended. "They spoke about fear, something of how fear leads one down the path to anger, which then leads one into hatred... which then leads ones into the even more frightening and despairing realms of suffering.

"This you related to me, by your device. Yet...

"This is a path you seem ready to follow yourself, for you are so very, very afraid. Please, do not go down this dark path, do not be afraid.

"We are here to help you-- I am charged with this."

He smiled a half smile at Yaoksi, trying to remain focused. But his mind drifted, and he thought of Jharmeen, remembering the strange time he had been able to walk with her spirit inside her very mind. He remembered then how fragile she was. There had been a beast, a truly ferocious manifestation of something within her psyche, that held down a small mote of something. He had fought that beast spiritually, only to discover the beast had been holding back the insanity that threatened her. As it unleashed through her, he had taken it into himself, and locked it away within his own mind, where it remained tightly wound into a ball of power.

He wondered if the ball was now unwinding, for he found himself more and more disinterested and distracted, and this was not like him.

The words from the servant brought him back, and he suddenly found interest once again. The teachings of the Jedi, yes. Fear and anger, the milestones on the path to the dark side of the force. Interesting, something such as the Force, binding the galaxy together yet having two distinct halves. Was there no middle ground? No gray areas? And yet when spoken of, it was always the light and dark side, not the good and evil sides.

Was the same true of the All? Was there a light and dark side? Or was the All really the thing that encompasses everything about the universe? The universe was balance, and that was what he remembered of the All as well. Balance. Light and Dark, not good and evil… Balance…

Jharmeen…

The darkness within her was powerful, this he knew from the Master. But in order for Jharmeen to be so powerful, enough to worry both the Master and Lord Aelvedaar, there had to be something just as equally powerful within her to balance this. Yes! There HAD to be, and that meant that she was still there, perhaps hiding within her own mind. The darkness was in control, that was certain, but it needed the light, the love. He had to turn those tables, somehow.

But that meant that the darkness could not be taken out of her. BUT, it could be forced into retreat, perhaps.

“Fear and anger,” he said. “I do not need to be force sensitive to feel that within you, Thea. But you will find that in all of us at the moment, I think. Tell us exactly what happened, and try not to fear.”

The serpent coiled within, and a darkness shifted momentarily, but the feeling subsided after a slow breath.

A child...alone, and scared...he could understand those feelings, he had felt them most of his life...

Then he turned to look at Thea. "And as for anyone's ability to fight against whatever evil that is going on here, I wouldn't dismiss any of it. Terrin, Galen, Matt, and Jasyn have managed to defeat insurmountable odds in the past...

...and I think the same may be true here. Don't misunderstand me, I'm not dismissing the dangers here by a longshot. What I am saying is that the best thing for us to all do is to simply stick together.

"Especially considering you are talking about wanting to be a Jedi; and your Master Petrolu will, hopefully, be here soon. I'd hope you'd trust him to be able to help you learn, and protect you as best as he can, as we all will. And especially considering that the person called Shayla whom you fear so much is his sister. He believes in her, has been searching for her...

...and it doesn't much seem the Jedi way to threaten to kill one who is not directly harming you, even if they have done so in the past. After all, isn't there some Jedi adage about not dwelling in the future? So why then would you dwell in the past? There is something far greater going on here then what was past...

...and we need to deal with it here and now, together."

He paused, focusing in on Thea. "You know deep in your heart who you can trust."

"I know I can trust you Yaoksi, but I don't think you could stand up to her if she used the Dark Side to attack. She can sweep all your weapons away like crumbs. As great as you are and as much as I know you and Link, and Aaron could protect me against Imperials or street thugs or anyone using a physical weapon, I don't want you hurt because you tried to get in the way of her power."

Thea then turned to the girl, "And you are right. Fear has been the greatest obstacle to my training. That is why I'm here with Yaoksi instead of with Master Petrolu. He told me that until I could approach new people without fear I wouldn't improve as a... Padawan. He said that fearing someone just because they are new is damaging to our mission. But that the same time caution when you know someone or a situation to be dangerous is imperative if you plan on surviving it. Even talking to you all is a great improvement for me from that time."

Thea then turned to Aaron, "You said my Master will be here soon? Have you heard from him? Is he alright?"

I merely hid in those arms and listened in on the conversation unfolding; the arguments back and forth, the introduction of new characters. I pulled Yaoksi's arm back because now he was starting to put pressure on my broken arm, using my tail I wrapped it around my broken arm to support its weight.

I listened in on Thea relaying her past to the group, how it seemed to make her more at ease. While in a way the same applied to me when I shared mine with Thea I was not ready to do so with Yaoksi or Aaron as of yet.

"I has been a long day, I fear that we are reaching our limit for rational conversation for the day. Personally today I have been thrown back and forth in a ship, crushed, broken an arm, run around a large complex, seen furniture randomly explode, and tried to be converted. On top of it I have had no caff."

I took a quick look around and scanned across everyones faces.

"For ryns and humans I believe we have reached the limit of rational thought before exhaustions takes over, I can't assume about sith or verpine but I would venture a guess its similar. Seeing as to how we have no reliable means to leave anyways perhapses we should reconvene in the morning or whatever time it will be in 8 hours."

“I agree, you should all sleep, it was been a long ordeal for you. I shall procure transportation to Dagobah, to seek out Lord Aelvedaar and your friends. I shall have you summoned in eight standard hours, to meet here. We shall eat and be away.”

Phalomir cocked an eyebrow to Yaoksi. “If that is to your liking, of course.”

He then turned his attention to Thea one more time. “There is something more you should know, young friend. You say Shayla was taken be Graysith and was concerted to the dark side of the Force. Graysith is not a Force-user, and could not have converted Shayla. In fact, Shayla is not a dark jedi, she is one of light. However, she is currently under the influence of an evil that goes beyond the concept of dark or light jedi, and once this is gone from her you will see that she is not the evil person you believe her to be.”

Phalomir hoped he was right.

"If you could see to adjoining rooms, one for Thea and Link and one for me and K'kihl, I'd sure appreciate it," I said, shooting both of the youngsters a glance which I hoped conveyed to them the fact that I wasn't doing this to be bossy but simply to expedite matters.

Besides, truth be known, I was getting a little ragged around the edges myself.

"I'm sure someone could point me in the right direction for some R&R...

...and maybe a bit more of this," he added, holding up his empty goblet of green liquor, "...when we're finished."

Phalomir waited as the young ones and the verpine were led away, Jharu leading the way with the servant. He felt much compassion for the boy, and hoped he would return to converse. After a moment he turned his attention back to the two men before him.

“I could obtain more of the Sith brandy for you, but I would suggest only one glass more. It is quite potent to those not of the Sith, and you will need your wits about you in eight hours. I wish to tell you exactly what is happening so you know what to expect. I also understand you have found yourselves in a most peculiar situation, and find yourselves in a very uncomfortable situation of dependency upon us. But please, have no fear, we are very hospitable.”

Phalomir leaned forward.

“But there are things you should know. To begin, Thoran is not a Dark Lord, as I surmise he has led you to believe. He found himself in a situation that called for a foolish stunt, and he took the chance. He was truthful in his offer to lead you to your friends, they are indeed within reach and involved in the affairs of the Sith. They may not all wish to go with you, but they will certainly not be prevented from doing so.”

Thea turned her attention to the younger man leading them. He didn't seem much older than Logan was and yet he seemed to have the respect of the much older man. This puzzled Thea, "Excuse me but I don't know much about your people, and well it just seemed that Phalomir gave you a lot of respect. How do you determine who is of a higher... level? Age, strength in the Force, and skill are what we base our structure on, but you are much younger than he is."

"No," I finally replied. "I'm afraid I'm not personally familiar with your ships. However, in my experience I've found that in the long run, other than the big military guys, ships are ships; I suppose I could fly one if given the opportunity to study the controls."

Jharu looked down at his hands for a moment and shook his head.

"someday I hope i will have the respect of the sith for my own actions..."

I looked over at Jharu, to answer his question.

As he lead the children down the hall with seeming confidence, he couldnt help but wrack his brain over where there might be quarters next to eachother that were unoccupied...for yes the temple was his home...but it was a home he had been away from for some time...

He decided to stick with what he knew, and lead them nearer to his own room, he was sure that there were a few empty rooms in the vacinity.

As he lead on something of thea's earlier question came to tickle at his conciousness, and he turned to her as they walked and couldnt help but ask...

"before...you said that your people base there respect of you on the strength of your force, and skill...Forgive me...but could he explain this more? I dont mean to judge your people...but it seems somewhat barbaric to give someone respect based on how forcefull or strong they may be...do you fight to prove yourselves? or..."

"Pardons, M'Lord, but the guest quarters are in that direction--"

Her rosy eyes pinned to the stones beneath her feet, she made a gesture indicating a corridor they had recently passed by.

"So they are, It seems im not quite as familiar with the temple as i should perhaps be" he let out another quiet laugh along with a little smile as he reached out to gently pull the young siths eyes upward to meet his gaze "thank you" he said in his quiet sincere manner.

He then shifted the troup so they migth head in the correct direction.It will take some time getting used to things...

Phalomir exhaled deeply. “There is another thing, however. Your daughter, Thea. She seems quite different from the other…” Phalomir lowered his voice on the next word. “…jedi… I have known. Shayla and Shawn seem much more sure of themselves and their abilities, and do not dwell on the past. I mean no disrespect in asking this, but I do not know what we shall face when we reach Dagobah. Are you sure she is capable of handling danger should it arise?”

Phalomir held his hands before him, raised slightly.

Now, that was something I'd been pondering upon since the lil gal had been placed into my care. Now, however, while every fatherly instinct within me was screaming that she and her little Ryn friend should be tucked away safe and sound somewhere, deep in my heart I knew that wasn't the best move to make.

That's just thinking of me, of me wanting her safe... not allowing her to spread her wings and fly...

She'd already passed through the Darker Realms unscathed; what could possibly be worse than that?

I said as much to Phalomir.

Phalomir stood tall and stretched, then sat on the corner of the table.

Jharu's question however was troubling.

"I...Think i understand..."
This force...is in some way similar to the powers mother holds?

"I apologize for missunderstanding your words. I hope i didnt offend you."

they rounded another corner and an idea came to him.

"if it is indeed mental prowess that your people hold in high regard, you might wish to visit our library sometime...Any added knowledge will always benifit-..." As the words came from his mouth he looked up to realize they had reached, as far as he could tell, there destination.

I opened the door and headed into the room. It was a decent size room with two beds, a couch, some chairs, and a fresher. One thing I noted was it didn't have a sani-steam, but an old fashioned shower.

"Thea, you humans have it easy, with just that little bit of hair on your head it must be easy to keep clean. Hopefully you didn't need the shower first because I'm going to take a while."

"You didn't offend me. We are often misunderstood by even others of our own races who are unable to learn to connect with the universe. My first Master and his apprentice both gave their lives to protect the other children at the Praxeum - our school - from others who sought to destroy them just for wanting to learn. I'm just glad that you wanted to learn, not get rid of me for aspiring to be a Master someday. Many people would have chosen that road, others would run in fear over what they don't understand. A library sounds wonderful I'm sure ours was destroyed when the school was. I loved spending time there even though I was just learning to read at the time. But I do need sleep now, its been a long day. Thank you for helping me feel better. I'm still afraid of Shayla but I think it is a little better."

Fashioning the materials into what appeared a nest I looked around the room and found a small glass vase on a table. I took it and stashed it into my 'nest'. Without my blaster I will need something I can easily break and use as a weapon if I need one.

Notwithstanding the simple fact that he was towering over me even more closely at the moment--!

At any rate, I could feel tension beginning to ooze from me; giving a little grunt I straightened in my seat, but not before shooting a quick glance at K'kihl. That worthy was blissfully engaged in emptying the basket in front of him; whether he was tired or not, who could tell. All I knew was that if I didn't hit the ol' sack but soon I'd be a puddle on the floor.

And that could be right embarrassing.

"Well... not really," I finally said, lifting a hand to my mouth to hide the yawn I just could not manage to stifle. I blinked, toying around a bit as to whether or not I should bring up the little matter of Devil-May-Care again. Dammit but it was getting to be like missing limb syndrome:

I sure as hell missed the ol' girl!

“Then I suggest you all get some rest. Eight hours will pass quickly, and you will need to be fresh. I will make arrangements and investigate the state of your ship, if possible. I shall meet you back here in a few hours!”

Phalomir looked to the servant, who nodded and waited for the men – and cricket – to follow. Phalomir leaned his back to the wall and watched them all depart.

He looked down at the glass in his hand, now half empty. He didn’t usually drink much, but the brandy was going down easy that night. He would stop with this one, his third. He turned the glass around in his hands, watching the light play on the crystal. The brandy was doing its job, and he began to appreciate the liberating feeling in his head. He had too much body for the brandy to make him inebriated, but his thoughts were suddenly incredibly clear.

Giving a polite bow of his head jharu let his words roll out softly, "i apologize if i am keeping you lord Phalomir, i did not mean to invade. Please do not allow me to inconvenience you"

He looked at phalomir quietly for a moment and looked back into his mind.

"the passage of time is a strange and mysterious thing... Forgive me if i cant give you details, but the exact details are not known to me... Away with my father, i've spent the last few years trying to peace together who i am, and my reason for being here..."

He looked outward once more to find phalomirs eyes, "My past is not something I can be sure of... I finaly decided that the past can not be what you base your future on... I retrained myself, and found comfort in my being...That is what is important...its now that i'll move forward and make my place in this universe."

A bit of boyishness crept into his features with a sincere little smile, "Regardless, i will always be the sad little boy who wishes to be with his mother... I want to help with whatever is going on"

I shot him a frown, and leaned my head a bit in his direction.

"K'kihl," I hissed in a low whisper. "It is kinda late, pal; do you think you could possibly manage to--"

The rest of that admonishment was nipped abruptly in the bud. Still moving along, he simply turned his face to me, cocked his head a bit into the direction that we were traveling, and moved his mandibles.

Damn, there he goes again. There's something about his posture...

"What is it, pal?" I asked, all thought of remaining quiet for the sake of the lateness of the hour slipping from my mind like water. But he refused to speak, just turned to contemplate our forward progress and remained thus until we were brought at last to a wooden door.

It was beautiful in its simplicity: richly carved, shining and darkened with age, hints of inlay and golden studs providing subtle patterning upon it. The Sith merely paused, opened that door, and gestured we enter therein.

I waggled my brows at K'kihl and did so, pausing a few feet inside to gawk. Behind me came a characteristic clatter as K'kihl came up then shouldered past me, to jump upon one of the two richly adorned beds and bounce upon it. This was followed by Aaron's short chuckle.

I turned back to the Sith, jaw agape.

"Tha-" I began, but she merely bowed, stated the children were in the adjoining room, and left.

I blinked at the rapidity with which I found ourselves alone in such luxury.

"Wow, guys; a man could get used to this!"

Grinning like ten kinds of fool, I started moving about the suites allotted to us, fingering rich tapestries and furs and woolens and satins and gem-encrusted furniture and--

The clatter of mandibles sounded from the bed and I turned, all appreciation for the rooms gone.

"What is it, buddy?" I asked as I moved to a sideboard where something green in a crystalline flask beckoned. I poured myself a glass and took a sip, gesturing toward Aaron with the bottle even as I turned back to K'kihl to hear what he had to say.

"Yaoksi... Boss Sorben... here he is, in dungeons is he... prisoner have they made him..."

He paused again, cocking his head a little when Yaoksi only shot him a slightly confused look. Moving his mandibles silently, he finally finished.

"Boss Sorben... Lt. Sorben Tarnus is he.

"And here, locked away, also he is. Truth is this, Boss Yaoksi; I saw him..."

One shiver raced through my body which, with some effort, I managed to suppress.

"Are you certain, K'kihl? I mean, that's a rather--"

Again my words were nipped in the bud with his simple and immediate nod.

I drew in a deep breath, let it out in a long whoosh.

Gods. Who could we trust now? That hulking Lord had mentioned there was evil in that Graysith and the blond; maybe this evil was the author of what was happening here but he did profess to love them both...

And who in all the known universe would have the power to imprison the man who was in charge of the Empire, for god's sakes...

I shuddered again, now remembering the strange doorways through which we had traveled to get here.

And who had opened them.

Gads. Had we been that naive...?

I drew in another breath.

"We- we're going to have to spring him, guys," I whispered, now sitting on the bed myself. Beside me the ol' Cricket merely nodded with enthusiasm, as if planning the jailbreak of someone who in himself represented what could be yet another enemy, from the bowels of a temple on a planet filled with people hardly anyone even dreamed existed, was the most natural thing in the world to do.

I sighed again and let myself flop backward, ignoring both roommates to stare upward at the ceiling arching dimly over our heads. It too was richly designed, made of tiles and stones in startlingly detailed bas relief. I blinked, stared closer, started seeing images up there: images of battles and...

People dying? Being conquered?

I didn't even hear the Old Cricket as he moved from the bed to a couch wehre he would sleep the night. I paid no attention to the soft rustles of Aaron as he too moved quietly about. I just lay there, staring and thinking, shivering and wondering what in all the Universe we were going to do now.

"Not to complicate matters further," Aaron then spoke up, "But how did the guy who runs the Empire get captured here, alone? And why would he be here alone?"

Aaron didn't really know the answer to that...

...but he had to wonder. He'd been there when Galen and Jasyn were plotting to get into Coruscant to take Darra back from the Empire, after Terrin had been killed. And the last time he'd seen Terrin alive, his partner was enroute to Coruscant after sending Galen and Darra there...

...with another man, according to Terrin's own words.

But what other man?

Aaron's frown deepened. Why was he vaguely remembering Galen mentioning a "Sorben" back when Terrin had first brought her to the Hornett? Was there a connection, or was he dreaming things? Maybe he'd had too much of the green stuff...

Aaron shook his head, clearing his vision enough to look back and forth between Yaoksi and the Verpine. "How could he be here alone, with the resources of the Empire at his fingertips? And why haven't they come after him, unless for some reason they were instructed not to do so? Or unless something has happened to them too..."

He trailed then, chills now running up and down his spine. The very thoughts that little suposition brought were much more than just unpleasant. "Eagle Enteprises does not have the best relations with the Empire...

...but maybe we need to make contact and let them know about this, because I'm not sure we have the resources to spring him effectively...

...and I'm not so sure someone isn't waging war with the Empire with this move." Another chill. He looked over to Yaoksi. "You're saying you had a bad feeling about all this...

...I agree. I don't know who to trust...

...and now how utterly convenient is it that Terrin, Galen, and the guys are on Degobah, some of them in precarious situations as well? And all of us now stuck here?"

He frowned again. "I wonder...I think Petrolu is in good graces with the Empire," he said then. "I know he's had interactions with Tarnus. We just might be needing him, soon...

...but then again, by the time we get to him it might be too late..."

"Excuse me lord phalomir, but i have just remembered something that requires my immediate attention. I hope to be able to continue this conversation in the near future"

Phalomir stood and walked to the doors, and in a few moments was headed out on a late night shuttle to the shipyards. He needed to know what had become of his ship, and if was still in working order. He was happy to discover that the ship was exactly as it had been left. When they had landed in it, the Warriors were in the middle of a crisis with the “death” of the Dark Lady and the usurpation of the throne by ShaRhylla. He was very happy to make this discovery, and after a brief inspection he stepped out and returned to the temple.

Once there, he checked the main receiving hall for Jharmeen, but she was not there. Assuming she had gone to bed, he headed for his own quarters. He was soon standing inside the grand room, and sat down on the edge of the ornately carved bed. He closed his eyes and fell backwards onto the silky bed covers.

“Jharmeen,” he exhaled. “What has become of you, my love?”

His softly spoken rhetorical sigh was answered by what sounded like a stifled laugh from the far corner of the room. Phalomir opened his eyes as he swung upwards and around, coming to sit on the bed once again, facing the corner.

“My Lady?” he asked the hidden shadows.

He hoped so.

I crept over to the door and slowly opened it. Peering out into the hallway I saw no one coming. I was about to head out to Yaoksi's room when I realized I didn't know where it was. I carefully closed the door and headed over to Thea's bed. Reaching out with my left hand I nudged her shoulder to wake her.

"So what is the plan for today, do you know? How are we supposed to find the men? They are supposed to be nearby, should we just knock on doors until we find them?"

"First off, morning is a relative term, on Nar Shada it's morning, coronet its afternoon, and here I have no idea because we have been indoors the entire time."

"As for finding the men, knocking on the doors will wake whoever is inside. It might be our friends or it might be the sith. And right now I neither like nor trust the sith. I opt for a stealthier approach."

I pulled out a data pad and a comm link and connected the two. I did a quick passive comm sweep for a rang of frequencies of my choice. Once I found the signal I was looking for I isolated it and used a program to triangulate the signal. To my dismay I was left with 4 different locations, I was about to give up when I thought of an idea.

A sudden hiss came from the corner, and Phalomir’s wide eyes barely caught a pitch black formless shape as it shot upwards along the wall and disappeared into a crack in the ceiling.

Phalomir stood and backed away, the light dimming but not extinguishing. After several moments of looking at the walls, he finally moves the large dresser and touched his palm to a decorative figurine. The light transferred from his palm to the object and lit the room in all directions. Phalomir sighed and lay back on the bed.

It took quite some time, but he eventually drifted off. It seemed barely a moment before a servant was knocking on the door to wake him.

With effort, Aaron at length managed to force himself into a sitting position. "Coming, coming!" he grumbled towards the door, that insistent rapping continuing as he reached down to pick up his boots and slip them onto his feet.

Had it really been 8 hours already?

He stretched again, this time finally throwing the covers off and getting to his feet. He started towards the Sith equivalent of a 'fresher...

In retaliation for the blockade? I wondered as, groaning, I scrubbed my face with both hands before letting them run up and through the womprat's nest my hair had become. Another groan, this one louder, propelled me upright in the bed, covers falling in a puddle all about me.

It was then that Aaron's words caught my ears.

"Wha--?" I began, yawning and blinking great hunks of goop from my eyes. They burned like the very fires of hell, no doubt because I hadn't gotten hardly more than an hour's sleep.

Aaron's words rang in my ears again, and after letting another yawn escape me their content managed to finally make sense. Now my eyes popped open.

"Are you kidding?" I garbled through thick lips.

"Not when they're the ones who've imprisoned him to begin with; I think the best thing we can do is just lay low and look for an opportune moment..."

I ground down to a halt at that, frowning.

"Dammit, we're not going to get an opportune moment, not if we're going to be taking off for Dagobah!"

I pursed my lips, sniffed and released yet another stifled yawn. Then I shook my head.

"I'm sorry, pal; I think we've got to come up with some kind of stall or something. K'kihl here can lead me to where they've gotten him stashed; maybe we can break down the door or something..."

I trailed, knowing how naively inane my idea sounded. But dammitall, we couldn't just up and leave when another human being was trapped and undoubtedly left to rot within these dank stone walls.

Even if it was Sorben Tarnus!

Besides, I vowed to myself, letting an unconscious hand drift upward to rub the side of my throat.

The son-of-a-dewback owed me for what he did to me; no way was I gonna let a bunch of Sith remove me from the pleasure I'd get seeing the look on his face when I hauled his sorry hiney back into the light of freedom!

With that I headed off to what some would refer to as a 'fresher, but which I would call pure heaven--

REAL hot running water?!

--leaving Aaron to mull over my words while I tried to drag myself into something that remotely resembled alertness.

We had just left the room, to head towards the closest signal when we ran right into one of the servants. I was about to hide my data pad when I remembered that the last servant we had run into had zero knowledge of modern technology. I took one quick look at my data pad and saw that the closest signal emanated from a room that was adjoining to the one we stayed in. Looking down the hallway there was a sith servant standing in front of that door as well.

Once again I looked back into my data pad making it seem I was oblivious to the world around me and bumped into the servant on purpose.

"Hey, watch where you are going."

I took a moment to make it look like I needed to regain my balance. Then addressed the sith again.

Instinctively he reached out with his inherent magicks... and slowly smiled.

It was that obvious.

"I believe the Dark Lady would be interested in this," he sniffed as, the movement quick and dartlike he reached out and snatched the data pad from Cel. He held it in his hand a moment, turning it front to back as he studied it.

Crude-- he couldn't help thinking to himself before tucking it safely away into a pocket of his robes, then placing his hand inside to keep it safe. He waved at the door he stood before with the other hand.

"They are inside, right next to your rooms, as ordered last night," he sniffed further before he began moving on down the hall. Not far from the door he came upon another pair of servants hastening along on some early morning errand; being of higher rankings within the servant's heirarchy, he commanded one of them to take over his position outside the door of the strangers.

Then he continued on toward the Grand Receiving Hall, where sooner or later he knew he'd find the Dark Lady, to then hand over the device he had snagged from the Ryn.

"Alot of good that will do them."

I aproached the door that the sith pointed out earlier and started knocking.

You are going to bail on everyone. Again. And for a leader of the Empire, no less.

But think about it pal, you have to do it. I mean, someone has the Lieutenant General stuffed away here. Does that sound like peaceful intent to you?

Hell no. Terrin would tell you this is bigger stuff, especially considering there is help on Degobah...

Hearing Cel's call, Aaron sighed, and headed for the door, noting with sudden irritation that he was still feeling the impact of the demon's attack. A thought...

He rose to his feet, clattered to Aaron's side. There he stood a moment, clacking his mandibles together.

Aaron trailed, cocking a brow then. "What're you thinking?"

"Boss Sorben," he finally said, his voice low as he leaned forward even closer.

"Imprisoned in this place is he, extricated must he be, if only for the sake of loyalties past must this be," he muttered, rearing back a bit to then direct a glittering gaze to the two adolescents.

"Help need we, help unnoticed NOT unseen by others, if Boss Sorben extricated will be," he finished with a final clack of his mandibles.

His eyes slipped to Thea, "...and Force-sensitive. One or both of you has the best bet of getting him out of there, is what I think K'khil is thinking. Are you willing to assist?"

Her lips curled with derision.

"Ahhh... my love..." she purred, her tone silken, her eyes dead, before she turned on the spot to depart the chambers, from there to go to the chambers where her Adept yet lay in sleep.

She did not bother to knock, but entered directly and glided quietly to the bed. There she stood, staring down upon Shayla's light form, watching with her dark eyes, looking deeply in search for that which ever eluded her.

Which might yet be found here, within her Adept and Chosen Sister.

"The time has come," she whispered, not bothering to touch her but allowing her voice alone to act as the catalyst to awaken Shayla.

"We must go... and we have a most dire foe to confront... and it must be done with the greatest finesse.

Thea registered the hardship Link must feel at the loss of her datapad but technology had never been her strong suit so she wasn't over worried especially with Link statement that it wouldn't help them much. But Aaron's question she couldn't ignore. As much as she was itching to use the little bit of training she had received, she had no weapon and still feared who she might run into in this complex. She thought of a way to stall making a decision on her own.

"K'kihl, what will Dad say about me running off to rescue an imperial. After all they destroyed the Praxeum and he promised Master Petrolu to protect me and bring me back to him. We should ask him first."

...and take him back to the Empire. I can't see how, after breaking him free, that we will ever have any... friendly negotiations here...

...which basically means that, if we go at all, we will be headed to Degobah alone."

He sighed, not seeing any other solution. "And as far as the how, I believe we were thinking of something simpler than the use of equipment. After all, you and Thea are both quite small...

"Boss Sorben, more than you think is he," he stated assertively. "Man of honor was he once, is he still, believe him to be do I.

"And--- Empire, with ships many, has he. To Dagobah alone then?"

He clacked his mandibles once again, somehow sounding a bit put out by Aaron's assumptions.

Yeah, buddy! I thought darkly to myself as I approached the group, now relieved to see that Thea and Cel had joined us.

Like he was so honorable when he nearly choked me to death in that alley, when he took off from you and left you high and dry. You'd still be wandering around if I hadn't taken you and Nassy under my wing--

I nipped my thoughts of with that, for they were heading off into a direction that simply hurt too much yet to think about. Instead I came up to my Cricket buddy, and blurted out everything else I had been thinking about Lt. General Sorben Tarnus.

"Who," I stressed meaningfully. "At one time was trying to chase down the little gal we're trying to recover, am I right or am I not?"

I reached into the pockets of my vest pulling out what I had and setting it onto one of the beds.

"Couple of comm links, datacards, blank cred cards, blank key cards, an imperial rank cylinder, my direct interface gloves and visor, a mullti tool, a few remote uplinks, and two small explosive charges. The only things I'm missing is my blaster on the devil, a vibro dagger Thea's carrying, and one datapad and comm link the sith just stole."

Taking a quick look over my gear I started to return it to my person while continuing the conversation.

"K'khil has seen it," he responded, pointing towards the Verpine with a thumb, his eyes then turning distant as something Yaoksi had said registered even more deeply...

...and memory surfaced. He turned to the man. "And yes, Tarnus was after Galen at some point in time, not all that long ago, that much I am very aware of. After all, I was the one who managed to get enough information from some guy called Rathal to find her, on Coruscant, totally unconscious. She had been taken to Admiral Actar, by Tarnus...

...and by all appearances left there. Terrin always thought the Empire was after Galen, and her baby Darra."

He paused, hesitating, his eyes growing even more vague, "And EE and the Empire haven't always had the best relations. I'm not sure how this will all end up...

...and I don't think it will be a good idea to entangle the Empire in the search for our friends on Degobah. Still, I know a man who has helped in the search for a woman he once chased after as well..."

Aaron trailed, frowning. "I just don't know."

A few moments later he was striding through the hallway towards the guest quarters. He had considered sending a servant to find the servant who was supposed to be fetching the others, but he was too anxious. The night had not provided him much rest.

He stood in the hallway, looking down at the ten doors on either side of the hall. He sighed again, and stepped to the first door and listened. Hearing nothing, he moved to the next. Then the next. Behind the fourth door, he heard a voice. Then another.

"Now what?" I wondered aloud as after giving Thea's head a reassuring pat I moved to the door and opened it, expecting to see yet another of the ubiquitious Sith servants standing without.

Imagine my surprise, if you will, when I saw who it was.

I blinked a moment, gathering my wits.

"Ahh-- bored?" I asked before turning a bit sideways, showing with a gesture of one hand that he was free to enter the room if he wished. I smiled at him, hoping like hell everyone within would follow my lead on this and put on their best bib and tucker.

“I thought you would be ready,” he said. “I grew concerned that-”

He blinked, covering his pause. Concerned that what? That everyone here had been visited in the night as he had? That they were all dead?

“That the servant had not come to wake you. The breakfast in the dining hall is very good. You will all need to eat, we may have a long day ahead of us.”

Phalomir took a bite of the sausage and turned his head towards Yaoksi.

“I checked out the ship,” he said. “It is a older one, but it is fast and wiry and should allow us to escape the Imperial blockade. I was delayed by the commander of that fleet once already and have no wish to meet with him again, not yet. Although at some point I am going to need to tell him something I promised I would investigate… But now there is a more pressing matter at hand, which is the retrieval of our mutual friends.”

Phalomir held out the sausage and broke a piece off, proffering it to Yaoksi.

“If you wish, I could escort those who are ready to the dining hall while you finish dressing.”

"Then let prepare ourselves, and depart."

Saying no more she turned from Shayla and headed through a side door into the adjoining private bath. There she indulged herself with a quick but steaming multi-faceted shower, complete with scents of varying ambiance. After drying herself in front of wall-mounted air jets, she returned to the primary chamber, there to come to a halt before an enormous armoire which commanded an entire stone wall. From it's depths she pulled a simple gown of velvety midnight blue, chased with an intricate webbing of spun-silver thread and pale blue Krayt dragon pearls. A small matching headdress and a pair of soft nerfsuede slippers completed her outfit; a dab of Kashyyyk essence of orchid lent a subtle air of wonder about her being.

Smiling, she watched as Shayla moved to dress and adorn herself; nodding her approval at the apparel her adept had chosen she turned away from her.

"Let us waste no further time, but go directly to the Receiving Hall to await our... guests," she purred, something black and oily rising up to flash a silken warning in her eyes.

It subsided as she stepped out into the corridor without, and was masked entirely as she led the way to the appointed place. A mere movement of one hand and the doors leading into the Receiving Hall opened to allow them entry; saying nothing she moved inside and on whispered feet approached and then climbed the dias leading up to the twin thrones perched solemnly at it's apex.

They needed a Dark Lord not, after all.

Then, in answer to some unspoken yet somehow shared thoughts that seemed to be rising between the two of them, Shayla nodded to Graysith but once, daintly, and smiled a dark little smile of her own...

...moving then to take the vacant seat of the Dark Lady.

But how to stall?

Unthinking, Aaron reached up to rub his chin, and a pain shot up his arm from one of the now slowly-healing marks the demon had left on him. Aaron winced in spite of himself...

...and then realized something. He wasn't going to be very much good assisting anyone in his current condition. Which meant...

"Do you think the Healers could do something about these cuts and scratches before we depart, so I can be in the best form possible to help out when we get where we are going?" Aaron piped up then, the request actually fueled with geniune concern...

"As long as it takes," she purred before letting her gaze return front and center, a smile now shading her lips with shadow. She sat in quiet contemplation a bit before raising her voice once again.

"When they arrive, we let them make the first move," she stated, giving her head a slight nod for emphasis. Then she gave Shayla her full attention.

"Ah-- yeah, yeah," I stated emphatically, holding up a palm against the Sith Lord's proffered bit of food. I shot a look at Aarron for the briefest of moments before turning to the Dark Lord.

"Yeah," I repeated. "Aaron won't be any good as banged up as he is; can you see that he gets healed for good, before we go?"

I then let my eyes stray toward the younger ones, a hand straying of its own accord to my grumbling stomach.

"Throughout history there have been many, ahh-- negative engagements created in the aftermath of one's perception of a particular circumstance. There has already been an attempt on my life; you were acting on my behalf in perhaps trying to prevent another one from occurring."

She shifted in the throne, pinned Shayla with a deep look.

"As I said, throughout history there have been many such... misunderstandings, if indeed what you perceived was just that, which have led to the deaths of innocents--"

Or innocence itself, for that matter.

"I believe it is termed, collateral damage."

“I certainly do not wish to depart without first being fully prepared,” he said. “If you are too injured to travel, we must attend to this at once. I will not sweet-coat it, injuries from the Darker Realms are serious indeed and will require special healing and much time to vanish completely.”

“As for breakfast,” he said, turning back to Yaoksi. “I shall have a servant show you all to the dining hall in five standard minutes. Please be ready, I am most anxious to be on our way to Dagobah, and to see what our friends from the Empire’s blockade are doing these days. I had a precarious encounter with the General up there at one point, and I now believe I may need to turn to him as a friend soon.”

Phalomir turned to the door and opened it. The servant who had come late to wake them was now standing outside the door, looking sheepish. Phalomir frowned and stepped into the hallway.

“Call for an escort to take Aaron Barnes to the healers to continue his treatment. Then return here in five standard minutes to lead the others to the main dining hall.”

Phalomir looked back into the room.

“I shall explore another possible means of travel,” he said. “I shall meet you back in the dining hall.”

Phalomir then turned with a swish of fabric and began walking down the hallway. He was not pleased with the delay, but perhaps what he had in mind would speed things up dramatically. Either that or kill him.

He was not sure exactly where she would be, or if she was even in the temple. But addressing her was suddenly very important to him.

Chambers? No, that would be presumptuous. He would check the most logical place to begin, the receiving hall. Within a few minutes he found himself nearing the doors to the hall, and was caught between relief and trepidation to see them open. He paused, inhaled deeply, and stepped forward. He turned at the doors and faced inward, eyebrow raising at the pair seated at the other end of the grand hall. He exhaled and stepped inside.

When he had disappeared from our immediate vicinity -- and here I stuck a cautious head out into the corridor to make certain of the fact -- I closed the door quietly and turned back to the others.

"Well." I said with an explosive exhalation of air. "What do you make of that?"

Eyebrows raised in front of me, the kids began shooting uneasy looks at each other, and from where he had been standing quietly waiting in a corner of our room I could hear the distinctive clack of K'kihl's mandibles.

I shook my head, held up a hand.

"Nevermind, I didn't mean it that way," I said by way of explanation, then got down to the nitty-gritty of it all.

"Look, I don't know if he knows what we know, or if he knows what we think he knows we know, ya know--?" For a moment I broke off in confusion; then, the Verpine's obvious clattering clack of disapproval bringing redness to my face I went on, trying to marshall my thoughts.

"What I mean is this. Suddenly he's all palsy walsy with the Empire, and wants to have tea with the very guy K'kihl says is being held prisoner here. I don't know whether he's telling the truth and this is all a big ol' coincidence, or whether he's fabricating this to keep us off our guard. What I do know is this, and that is I feel a touch wee uncomfortable with how he suddenly wants to go to Dagobah so badly."

I paused, staring from one face to the other, taking them all in, inviting comment from anybody before someone came to separate Aaron from the rest of us. Even a suggestion from Thea or Link would be welcomed; suddenly I felt very, very small, alone without my ship and stuck at the mercy of an alien race upon their alien world.

...and we know we can trust each other. Those are about the only things we do know that I'm willing to bank on."

He paused, frowning. "I don't know how we are going to pull all this off. I mean, how are we going to excuse three or more members of our party to go find Tarnus and jailbreak him under Phalomir's watch? And what are we going to do with Tarnus to get him out of here if and when we do get to him? Getting me into the healing chambers buys us time...

...but not alot of explanations. What we need is a convenient excuse for a few of us to get lost while the rest entertain Phalomir. And what we need them is a way to get the hell of this rock and to Degobah...

"Unobserved by others when beneath their noses, we Verpine always are," he stated, coming now to stand between Aaron and Yaoksi.

"Always overlooked, unseen. Freedom of movement does this give. As does it to the little ones."

He paused, swung his shining, unblinking eyes toward Thea and Link, and continued.

"Truth do not I speak?" he asked, cocking his head to one side and clacking his mandibles together. Before they could reply, he turned back to the men, went on.

"Ship Boss Sorben has, must have, if to get here to begin with he did. In ship will he take us, or who the ship carry can.

"Link--"

Again his black, mirrored lenses pinned the Ryn, eye to eye.

"State you proficiency in lock breaking; old locks are these, ancient of days long past. Have you wares the hinges to remove? For on outside of door are they, for security."

"Ryn go as unoticed as verpine, even more so in some cases so the both of us can easily sneek about. And Thea is small so it should be easy to take her with us, maybe she can use her jedi magic to help."

I looked over at Thea making sure to get eye contact.

"I could tell you if either of the Dark Side users are getting near us. I know their imprint on the Force too well. Maybe hold up the door a little to take the weight off the hinges if that would help."

“To see your face brings warmth to my heart, my lady,” he smiled. “May we never again endure losing one another. And you, Shayla, I hope we may come together in close friendship once again, with the pain of the past behind us. As you know, I wish to call a meeting of the Triad, arriving here with Lord Aelvedaar. He was called away to attend to an emergency, helping those who seek Erik. To my knowledge, he has not yet returned. I am compelled to go to Dagobah myself to investigate, and ask for any assistance you could provide.”

Phalomir folded his arms, then continued.

"Passing strange I find this, that he comes here only to ask a means by which to depart from us so quickly." she said offhandedly, turning openly to Shayla now as she spoke.

...and in the same breath also speak of dire circumstances on Degobah. How interesting."

She leaned slightly forward, fisted her hand and rested her chin upon it, elbow propped on the arm of the throne.

“Proof of all that I speak?” he mused. His expression then darkened somewhat.

Proof indeed of my latter statement, perhaps.

"Perhaps things aren't as... dire as you proclaim them to be," she offered, the tone of her voice still sweet, the look plastered upon her face anything but. For a moment her lips pursed into a tight little knot as she chewed upon them; then, exhaling loudly she straightened upon the throne.

"But, we can sit here and speculate about such things until the dewbacks come home. Apparently there is enough mystery circulating about your companions to warrant haste on your part; unfortunately, the old warship is--"

She paused fractionally, blinked.

"Being refitted."

Another quick flick of her eyes to Shayla, then she rose gracefully to her feet. Noting her adept following suit, she moved halfway down the dias, where she stopped.

"Anything I can do for you, my Lord, of course you have only to ask."

So saying she closed her eyes a moment, held herself very still, seeming to reach out to wriggle a pathway through the very interstices of spacetime itself. One pale and slender hand rose gracefully upward, first and fourth fingers extended like horns, the others curled to meet the thumb. A quick movement of the wrist and those horns became oriented perpendicular to the floor, while now pointing off somewhere behind Lord Phalomir's back.

A scent of plants and trees and chlorophyll wafted suddenly from the shadows, buoyed gently upon a burst of somewhat humid air. And in those shadows there now writhed a darker one:

A Portal. To... someplace green.

But entirely unbeknownst to Lord Phalomir, it did not open onto the swampy soil of Dagobah... but rather into the deep and moist forests extending along the Koris'ian equatorial region...

"Please, go about your business; I am happy to have provided you with this small assistance." The words were honeyed, simple, seemingly innocent. But from somewhere deep within them they carried the barest hint of outraged fear and denial.

“My thanks,” he said. “But I had intended to take the visitors with me, they were keen on helping and being reunited with their friends. If I may impose upon you to wait while I fetch them, and the equipment I wish to bring…”

He arched a eyebrow at Graysith.

"Please, do not trouble yourself. I can fetch your companions directly."

With that she glided down the steps remaining, purposely approaching and passing Lord Phalomir well within the area of his personal space, and continued toward a large pillar beside which there hung a tasseled bell-pull. She gave this a quick yank; nanoseconds later, it seemed, a Sith servant hastened forth from the shadows, who came to a respectful halt before her, head bowed.

Instead, the somber Sith who stood there was dressed in robes of gold and scarlet and black, robes nearly as elaborate as those of a lord, robes clearly denoting his position within the wild tangle of Sith heirarchy the Temple held.

He bowed quickly and straightened, opened his mouth to speak, was truncated in mid-greeting as two more Sith came up behind him. They paused, glanced at one another; the one in blue spoke up in High Sith.

"We have come for the guests at the behest of the Dark Lord Phalomir, to take the injured one to the Healing Chambers, the others to break their fast--"

The regal Sith interrupted them with a simple raising of one hand.

"This is at the behest of the Dark Lady of the Warriors," he stated flatly, turning deep, gold-flecked burgandy eyes upon the pair. He stated nothing further; indeed, he didn't need to. The other two merely bowed, turned, and returned to their business, leaving him to focus once more upon the little group.

"You are to come with me," he said and fell silent, turning sideways to usher them all from the room they had been given and out into the hall. There he hurried them along, barking orders upon occasion so as to clear the corridors of any other Sith who might impede their progress.

"There is nothing further to impede your search," she smiled, now indicating the patient rip in spacetime with a smooth gesture, even while her other hand reached forth to rend from the very air the molecules she needed to create a wealth of equipment necessary for a rescue expedition: ropes, knives, a means to light fires, a portable tent, some dried foods, several canteens, some blankets, a med-kit and a bio-scanner.

She swayed a bit, her eyes closing briefly at the expense this gesture cost her. But when they opened they were steady and firm... and now directed into Shayla's own.

"I'm sure you wish to accompany them, my dear?" She smiled softly, even while her eyes shot a quite different meaning at her.

"Fear not, my Sister; there is no place in the Universe or beyond where our Link will sever... unless I choose to sever it. This is now an opportunity for you to truly come into your own..."

With that she nodded meaningfully, then turned her gaze back to the waiting Lord Phalomir and the others, cocking her head a bit expectantly to one side as she did.

“The Dark Lady has arranged for a portal directly to Dagobah,” he explained. “It will be much faster, and we shall be able to return the same way. She is being very generous.”

Phalomir turned back towards Graysith.

“I thank you, my lady,” he smiled. “I shall return to you, and then we may discuss the future. My heart cries out against leaving you again, and I long for the time when we may by together.”

Phalomir then sighed and looked to Shayla.

Pausing for a moment then, Shayla looked at each individual in the room, her eyes finally resting in those of Graysith's, meaningfully. Then she began to descend from the thrones in a smooth, graceful manner, pausing once more at the bottom to then regard her gown almost casually.

"I fear am not dressed in the best manner to assist in this quest," she observed, something roiling deeply within in sudden anticipation. "This must addressed before we depart..."

"If this is a thing that concerns you so, then be quick about it," she snapped before turning once more to Lord Phalomir.

"The effort of keeping this...unused portal open is beginning to wear a bit on me," she apologized politely.

"If you would be so kind as to bear with me further, I shall close it until my...Second has changed her attire into something more suitable for the occasion.

"She shall then lead you through the new one I open, and onto the soil of Dagobah."

...for I only desire to be in the best position to assist in getting the others out of their current predicament..."

And to be in my best position to serve our true purpose, came her final thought through that Link she and Graysith shared. Quickly then, she departed, changed a form fitting black practice doba and a deep purple cloak, fitting her feet with boots. Then she returned to step in front of the anxiously waiting group. Her greeny-blue eyes yet unreadable to the others, she then nodded in brief apology to Graysith.

"Let us depart quickly, so that our lost companions need not tarry much longer," Shayla spoke up evenly, waiting then...

"Fare thee well," she said, nodding now to the others that they be on their way...

Supposedly to the swamp-world of Dagobah.

...but she didn't bat an eye regarding it. Instead she turned back towards the others standing on the other side of the portal, waiting for them to step through as well.

(((OCC: Follow Shayla into Middlespace, Thirdspace within this same forum, thank you.)))

“With luck we shall return soon with all in tow,” he said. “Should Aelvedaar not be able to open a portal back, and no ship available, I shall try to contact you via the link we made so long ago. Or perhaps you have such a link with Shayla now? Either way, my lady, we shall return.”

Phalomir bent his head low and touched his lips gently to her forehead.

“I would brave Hell again for you, Jharmen,” he whispered. “Have strength.”

He felt Graysith tense ever so slightly, and took his hand from her shoulder. He looked deeply into her eyes, searching for the spark he hoped was still there, somewhere. She blinked and smiled, looking to the others as they stepped through the portal.

Phalomir lingered a moment longer, looking at the woman he loved with a sadness expressible only in silence. Hoping his words were not lost in the darkness within her, he turned and moved to the portal. He paused again, and turned his head.

“Take care, Jharmeen,” he said, and stepped through.

(((OCC: Follow Phalomir, Yaoksi, Aaron, K'khil, Cel, and Thea into Middlespace, Thirdspace within this same forum, thank you.)))

"Fetch the Lady ShaRhylla," she commanded as she then proceeded to the foot of the dias, there to stand and stare up at the pair of silent, empty thrones.

"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.

"Take care..."

Shayla 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...

"Have no trepidation regarding the Dark Lord Phalomir, my dear," she 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."

The reply sent, Graysith opened her eyes. Then with a sigh she mounted the dias, soon reaching the thrones atop it where she took a seat.

Thus she discovered -- in glorious detail -- not only how the halfling had fared at the not-so-gentle hands of the white-haired assassin, but of greater interest how she had fared during her time in the Darker Realms. Truth be known, Graysith knew in general what had occurred there, and that within her sensed a deeply roiling blotch yet staining the soul of ShaRhylla.

But now, over an unexpected offering of Sith brandy brought by a summoned handmaiden, Graysith's daughter's tongue had loosened enough to bring forth in glorious detail all she had experienced and endured. The more she had spoken of it, the quieter she had at first become...

...only to somehow strengthen, her attention turning inward, focusing on images of times past. So preoccupied had she been with her own details that she hadn't noticed the blackness roiling up in her mother's eyes, quickly masked as Graysith had at last sent her off to her quarters.

For a long time after she hunkered in the throne of the Dark Lady, the door to the Receiving Hall closed and locked by her talents, all Sith ordered on pain of death to disturb her for nothing. She did not know how great a period had passed; time segued into one lingering now, for the place her thoughts had occupied indeed experienced no time as reality would have it.

Finally she rose from the throne, her eyes the color of night. She quickly sent a sly tendril forth, seeking knowledge of Shayla's business, smiling to herself as she touched the mind of her Adept and felt what was lurking so strongly there. Quietly letting the tendril withdraw, she stepped down the dias until she gained the intricately designed stonework at its feet. There she had paused, staring out at nothing...

Then, a quickly raised hand ripped a Portal into something beyond the fabric of space and time. Within that rip an oily darkness roiled and swirled, and a distant, gibbering laugh rang obscenely against the shadowed walls of the Receiving Hall.

Smiling, she stepped through, let the Portal snap closed in her wake.

He grunted again, blowing shaggy hair back from his robin's egg blue eyes.

Not bad, he thought to himself as he rose to his feet.

A little more practice and I'll be sure to be recruited into the Temple Guards!

He let a small smile flick about his lips, for actually he stood a very good chance at being accepted into that elite group of warriors. For his uncle was one of the Captains in the Guard; deep in his soul of souls he knew that his striving now for as much perfection as he could achieve was not merely as requisite to being admitted, but to make his uncle proud of him when he was.

He was preparing another routine when there came an unexpected blast of air from above. Squinting, he raised a hand to his eyes and watched as the strange little ship materialized from the shadows, sweeping up over the nearby hills and beelined directly over his house. It flew so low the windows rattled, sending his Mother out to the little yard in alarm.

But before they could so much as begin to speculate upon the ship's sudden and strange arrival, it was gone.

The youth looked at his mother, then shrugged. She nodded in turn and returned to her chores, leaving him to his eventide practicing.

At length the senior Guard deigned to speak.

"The Dark Lord is away," the former guard repeated, slicing his eyes once again to his compatriot, nodding his horned head to the barest degree. Both took steps sidewards, away from the door, their spears now perfectly perpendicular to the floor, hafts planted firmly upon it.

"You may enter; seek the Dark Lady in the Receiving Hall, third door on the left. If the doors are closed, enter not; return to the Dining Hall, first door on the left, and there seek assistance."

Naad smiled at the guards as they admitted him into the temple. “You have done your people a great service today,” he said to them. If they heard his compliment they seemed relatively unmoved by it. Instead they reacquired their stony demeanors and stiff postures and resumed their silent vigil over the Temple’s entryway. Naad walked purposefully down the richly appointed hall, looking over his shoulder only once just in time to watch the great double doors swing silently shut behind him. Ahead of him lay a long central corridor, riddled with numerous smaller, bisecting corridors. The place was a labyrinth and, had it not been for the guard’s instructions, Naad surely would have wandered for hours. It occurred to Naad that, though his bluff had succeeded in the immediate sense, he had, in fact, foreseen no danger or peril of any kind for the Temple’s inhabitance (except that which he himself was stirring up) and that it might have been foolhardy to embark upon such an outlandish deception without at least some preparation. Then the plan struck him. It emerged, fully formed, out of the depths of his self conscious. Indeed, the thought occurred so suddenly that Naad himself was taken by surprise and felt compelled to say a silent thank you to his (relatively) newly acquired young and nimble mind. Mentally examining the plan in his mind for any flaws that were the hallmark of ideas conceived in such a spontaneous fashion, Naad decided that this course of action was indeed the best available to him at this time. He smiled; he had not remembered himself being so cunning as a youth. He ached to contact Kaz and the others of the United Sith so that he might get his newly conceived gambit underway, but he contained this impulse. He would have to wait until he was alone before he undertook such activities. Right now his job was simple. He must convince the Lady, whoever she was, who was currently in charge of the Warrior clan of an imminent threat posed by the empire. Naad could not believe it hadn’t occurred to him sooner. Surely the Empire would not take kindly to the wholesale destruction of the fleet they had stationed in the Sith system, which Naad had sensed and later, through various scrying and divining magicks, born witness to.

Naad reached the third door and, carefully following the guard’s instructions lest he be cast out of the Temple (or something worse), put his hand against the ancient door, which was slightly ajar, and pushed against it. He hoped as the door swung open with a faint groan, that this did not constitute a violation of the guard’s instructions. The door swung open just enough to reveal an empty chamber. Naad turned on his heels and proceded briskly back up the hall to the entrance to the Dinning Hall. Naad tried to attract the attention of passing Sith warriors and ask them for directions, but most simply ignored him or brushed him off and pushed violently past him.

She sighed as she maneuvered through the doors, juggling the oversized tray and her delicately coiling horns through the opening as they began closing. Doors in the temple opened smoothly, silently; they closed with something of alacrity.

By wriggling her hiney and arcing her back she managed to gain the main corridor without having the door bang into her, or snatching up the hem of her dress. That had happened to her more than once; it was more than a bit embarrassing, for no warrior in his right mind would stop to assist her; neither would the upper crust servants. Thus is it lessons were learned in the Temple of the Warriors: by trial and error.

And usually those who continued trying via error did not last long...

Puffing a lock of her raven's-wing tresses from her forehead, she was starting her turn in the direction of the double doors at the end of the corridor, those leading to the heavily pillared Grand Foyer beyond, when in her peripheral vision she spotted something dishearteningly familiar.

Someone was being unduly jostled by the passing warriors.

She paused out of sheer curiosity; was there another young, green serving girl? She hoped so; it would be nice to have a friend. But no, it turned out to be a male, not female; her brows rose in surprise, however, to see the Sith wore not the armored tunics and braces of the warriors but rather the long flowing robes of the sorcerers.

She squinted briefly: rather bedraggled robes at that, denoting this particular sorcerer was not one of the upper echelon.

Her heart went out in sympathy. Turning from her duties for the moment, she approached the pummeled Sith, who had turned to look --glare more than likely -- at the receding backs of the last pair of warriors who had brushed against him with undue roughness. Because his back was to her, and because her tread was light, he didn't know she was behind him until she spoke.

"I apologize for their behavior," she said softly as she came to a halt a meter or so behind him.

"Warriors are all muscle, you know; would you like some water?"

Naad was startled by the gentle voice behind him. Indeed, he was so startled that he flinched slightly (a reflex he tried to mask by turning around to face the person addressing him). His level of surprise was further elevated when he found himself face to face with a dark haired and rather charming, young Sith girl.

“Ah, heh, um,” Naad said eloquently, remembering now, as his blood boiled and his hormones began to make their presence felt, why, in his youth, he had done his best to avoid any interaction with the fairer sex. He forced himself to be quiet and smiled at her while he took a moment to compose himself. She was quite pretty, if a bit haggard and bedraggled from a hard day at work. She had black locks which flowed wildly, yet with a sort of grace, down to her shoulders. Her coiled horns rose up out of her dark hair; their elegant semi-spiral shape looked almost dainty on her. It occurred to Naad that he had been smiling at her quietly for longer than he had planned. Indeed, as the seconds passed he was rapidly approaching the boarder between a kind smile and a leer. To avoid, as much as was possible at this point, embarrassing himself and driving away the only person who had seemed willing to help him, Naad forced himself to speak.

"If the Dark Lady is not in the Receiving Hall, she must be out and about upon temple business," she stated, reasoning this for the fact that indeed she had heard nothing via the servants' grapevine as to what that personage desired on this particular day.

"But if you wish, I may be able to find her daughter, who would stand in her stead if the news you have to bear is of so urgent a nature."

"Then, if you will be so kind as to follow me," she said, indicating the corridor in the direction of the double doors that led to the Grand Foyer beyond. Turning, she then hastened quickly along, seemingly too embarrassed to look Freedon in the face, keeping her eyes demurely to the floor. Moments later she stopped, indicating another huge set of ornately carved and richly bejeweled doors.

"In here, if you will," she said, opening them to reveal the Dining Hall.

"If you will make yourself comfortable here, partake of food and refreshment, I shall inform others of your presence and desire here."

With that she bowed her head, waited until the sorcerer had entered the Dining Hall, and then left. It didn't take her long to find one of the elder servants, and explained Freedon's request to speak with the young ShaRhylla in lieu of the Dark Lady. After a brief conversation with her elder, she bowed respectfully and left for the Dining Hall once again.

She found Freedon sitting in a quiet booth, alone and unserved. Frowning, she approached his table and came to a halt beside him, bending low.

"The Lady ShaRhylla is not known for her alacrity," she whispered into his ear. Straightening, she continued.

“Good day Kaz,” Naad said by way of introduction, “I trust everything is going well.”

“Yes, sir,” Kaz replied, never one for lengthy conversation.

“Good,” Naad said, speaking quickly so as to not still be conversing when the servant girl arrived, “I havn’t got much time, but it is urgent that you see that what I am about to tell you is done swiftly. Please don’t ask any questions unless absolutely necessary, and even then let me finish talking before you ask. I haven’t much time. Do you understand?”

Kaz was silent.

“Kaz?” Naad asked, his voice a menacing hiss, after a few moments pause, “is you nodding?’

“Yes, sir.” Kaz’s response crackled on the other end of the line. Naad sighed, for all Kaz’s fealty; the fact remained that the farmer simply wasn’t the sharpest sword in the armory.

“Don’t nod Kaz, I can’t see you.” Naad replied testily.

There was another fairly lengthy pause then Kaz said, “oh… uh… sorry about that. Yes, sir.”

“You remember how I told you. How I told all of you of the many lies you had been told. How you had been brought forward through time by the lord of sorcerers. How in truth our race was all but whipped from the pages of history by the Dark Jedi,” Naad did not wait for Kaz to reply this time, “Well, in the intervening time the political landscape of the galaxy has shifted. significantly, but our place in it is still a precarious one. Not long ago the alien fleet blockading our world was, as I have told you, destroyed. Very likely this feat was accomplished by one of our people. What the perpetrator of this deed failed, seemingly to appreciate that this would prompt retaliatory action. I don’t know when this retaliation will come, but it is not wise to sit around in wait for it. Far better I think to see if we cannot curry favor with the political powers in the galaxy and see if we can’t manipulate them to our ends. I do not relish the ideas of involving these outlanders but practical reality dictates that we must. I trust your judgment Kaz. Pick from among our number an emissary who is clever and… er… politically savvy. Send a warrior or two with them for safety, and bid them, on my authority, to seek an audience with Admiral Actar, leader of the Galactic Empire, or else another significant Imperial authority there is a man by the name of Sorben Tarnus who, if memory serves, is also a prominent figure in Imperial politics. Inform them that they are on a very important and very secret political mission. Further instruct them that they are to make every effort to convince the Empire that we would be an invaluable asset in any future retaliation, so long as they allow us to retain our autonomy. See that they depart immediately. I will contact them personally with further instructions as soon as I am able, but it is vital that they start at once as I am sure that it will be very difficult to arrange a meeting with an individual of such standing. Do this at once. Also, I can’t stress this enough, neither you, nor our emissary is to breath a word of this to any other citizen of the United Sith. Do you understand?”

“Yes, sir,” Kaz replied.

“Good, we will be in touch, but I must go for now,” said Naad, slipping the com unit back into the folds of his robes.

"Thank you," she said softly as she slid into the seat across from Freedon, hurriedly placing her tray with it's burden of glassware on the seat next to her. Satisfied that she could pass, at least for the moment, as another customer, she folded her hands on top of the tabke and studied the sorcerer from beneath her long lashes.

Underneath those lashes, her deep bittersweet eyes seemed to smoke with a sultry abandon that was in complete juxtaposition to her quiet demeanor.

At length she raised her face completely to Freedon.

"Who are you?" she asked, a bit boldly. But she had been invited to share a table with him; such boldness therefore was not against the Sith equivalent of Amy Vanderbilt's "Rules For The Genteel Young Lady."

"I've not seen you here before, but then, I am kept quite busy. I don't get out very often."

She quieted, a rueful smile flickering across her full lips, here eyes growing a little vague as images of the her life of drudgery momentarily intervened. Shaking this off, she smiled more brightly.

"My name is RhoHalla," she finished, and fell into quiet once again.

“Who am I?” he repeated, surprised that the simple question was not one for which he had a quick answer. Sure he could say he was a reclusive Sorcerer who lived on this world. Indeed that would probably be the wisest course of action. Yet, somehow his ego would not permit him to tell her that he was of such a humble background. Even though he knew it was essential that no one, even a servant, know of his seditious faction and of his plot against the Triumvirate, he found himself wanting to reveal this to her. Not so much out of a sense of honesty, but because some part of him wanted to impress her. He met her gaze evenly, like an expert gambler meeting the eyes of his opponent over a hand of sabacc cards, and told her, not everything, but far more than even he himself thought was safe.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you RhoHalla, my name is Freedon Naad,” he began, his voice probably unnecessarily quite considering the loud clamor that the Warriors around them were making in the course of their dining, “and you are correct, I am not from around here. Though I do live on this world, I can’t say I come to the Temple, or even this city, very much.” He paused and smiled wryly at her, “which I’m coming to believe was a mistake on my part.”

Even as the words left his mouth he knew he would look back on this conversation and kick himself for saying that. Indeed, Naad was more than a little disturbed at the changes this young Sith was causing in his personality, which had remained pretty consistently inflexible for eons. Shaking off the onslaught of embarrassment he continued, “I live north of here in a…” Naad hesitated as he tried to pick a word which would accurately describe his tiny city-state without making it sound suspicious, “community of free thinking individuals, of which I have the honor of being the leader. I only made the journey to the temple today to warn the Dark Lady of this clan of a imminent danger that looms before our people. But I see that the leadership here, much like the leadership of all the other Clans lately, is characteristically absent and seemingly apathetic to the issues which their people face.”

((OOC: I almost feel bad making you do all this character development for what amounts to an NPC.))

"Are you a Lord, then?" she asked, frowning. "Strange, that a sorcerer would lead a small clan on K'eel Doba..."

She caught her lip between her dainty fangs then, catching the sight of Freedon's apparent discomfort. Whether that discomfort was directed at her or at himself, she couldn't say. But being the servant that she was, she responded immediately to his discomfiture.

"But then, what do I know of the political structure of our great world?" she asked, smiling prettily. "I am but a servant in the temple; all I know is that if one who is not Sith may lead our people as Dark Lady, then why could a sorcerer not become a Lord over a warrior's clan?"

She cast a bold look once more into Freedon's face before lowering her eyes demurely. Then, since a serving wench had come and left them with a pitcher of water, she helped herself of it, and soon hid her own growing embarrassment behind the lip of one of the two gleaming silver goblets which had been provided for their use.

"I was brought here when young; from what the Elders have revealed to me, the Ruling Clan was in need of new servants. Word went out; my family is poor, and needed the money. I have-- had often been told that I was pretty, and that this would guarantee me a place within the Temple. It was the one small way I could honor my parents.

"Or so it was explained to me."

Naad smiled at her. He was a practiced manipulator, and like many of his ilk, the facial features became tools of deception rather than mediums for emotional expression. He had learned to smile while sorrowful, laugh while enraged, and to look someone unabashedly and sincerely in the face while he told them the most elaborate lies. In the course of mastering this art he had progressively eroded his capacity for genuine expression. Rarely, if ever, did he smile inadvertently. He smiled now, not because he was trying to console her, but because he realized how useful someone as unquestioningly loyal, and yet, nimble of mind as RhoHalla could be. He smiled also because he saw now that it might be possible to recruit her to his cause. How useful it would be to have a pair of eyes and ears within the temple itself.

He took a long drink from his goblet and then asked, “Tell me RhoHalla, were you not constrained by the accident of birth, what would you like to be doing with your life? Surely, you must dream of leaving the life of a Temple servant behind you? Pardon me if I am being presumptuous.”

Kaz was uncomfortable with the amount of power Naad had entrusted him with and could not wait to return to his usual agrarian responsibilities. Naad had suspected that this was the case and had selected Kaz as his temporary replacement for this reason. He had not, however, fully realized how reluctant Kaz would be to exercise power. In Naad’s short absence sub-communities had begun to form within the village seemingly of their own accord. These groups tended to be organized along vocational lines and in many ways resembled the clan system that the United Sith had formed in defiance of. There were a few key differences which Kaz felt were reasonable enough that he did not wish to ban them outright, these differences being that these groups (which were increasingly being called Guilds) did not mandate membership along familial lines but rather was a voluntary organization, the second key difference was that they were substantially smaller and less powerful than the Clans and had no place in village governance.

Still Kaz felt certain Naad would not like these new organizations. He also felt guilty because he had, inadvertently, started the first of these when he had established the Agricultural Planning Committee. He had done this because there was far more land than there were farmers and as it became necessary for some farmers to share the labor on certain fields, at least until the worker shortage ended, and to regulate the work on these communal fields, Kaz had created the Agricultural Planning Board (with Naad’s authorization) several weeks earlier.

Shortly thereafter the Guild of Warriors had formed. It had been comprised of the former Warrior Clan members and of officers in the Militia. This too had seemed innocent as they seemed predominantly concerned with establishing a uniform system. Then, immediately after Naad’s departure, some of the more veteran sorcerers formed Guild of Sorcerers. Many of the younger sorcerers, however, had decided not to join this and had either remained independent or joined the emerging Guild of Sorcerer-engineers (a group which was lead by the former Armorers and which taught the young magicians who made up their small body of membership the art of Sith craftsmanship.)

When Naad had contacted him Kaz had been eager to discuss these pressing developments with him, however, he had been cut off and instead given a strict set of instructions. Kaz was good at following orders and glad to have orders to follow again so he immediately sprang into action. The decision of who to send as a fitting diplomat for their people was a surprisingly simple one. It took him more time to decide on who would be a fitting escort and who the village could spare for a potentially long mission. Kaz sent a runner out to summon AyaShaar, a young, but promising and potent sorceress, and HaFassil a seasoned and inveterate warrior. Because Kaz knew almost nothing about statecraft he was reluctant to give instructions and instead repeated to them what Naad had told him and assured them that their leader would contact them with further instructions as soon as he could. Within a few hours AyaShaar and HaFassil were boarding one of the more elegant Sith, and Kaz hoped, functional, spacecraft that the village had in its possession.

The spacecraft were housed in a compound near the town wall which had been built by the Armorers and a score of laborers almost a year ago and was set up to accommodate no more than three medium sized spacecraft. It currently housed two medium transports and a handful of smaller spacecraft in various states of disrepair. The Armorers alleged that they were repairing the crafts but Kaz was convinced that the facility had become more of a teaching center for the fledgling sorcerer-engineers.

AyaShaar was the first to arrive at the makeshift spaceport dressed in elegant and stately sorcerer’s robes. HaFassil arrived a few moments later, clearly uncomfortable in the new uniform he had been fitted with by the Guild of Warriors. In a departure from the traditional robes, he had been fitted with a white breastplate (which would appear commonplace familiar to anyone familiar to a storm trooper uniform, but which appeared strange to the Sith Warrior) and a black armorweave body suit beneath. Perhaps as a concession to tradition the armor was partially covered by a standard Warrior’s robe which had been so scaled back on top (for fear of compounding the limitations on movement that the breastplate caused) that it resembled a toga. The one part of his attire that HaFassil appeared completely comfortable with was the finely crafted saber which had been sheathed in an elegant ebony scabbard at his side.

As strange as the uniform doubtlessly was, Kaz had to admit that the two looked the part of diplomat and bodyguard. The two boarded the spacecraft together and took off for the stars. Kaz felt a wave of relief wash over him when the little ship disappeared into the sky and did not come hurtling back down.

((OOC: Follow the two envoys of the United Sith to "Back into the fire" in EMPIRE AND NEW REPUBLIC.))

This was her place. This was where she was meant to be. This was what Life had woven out for her, her destiny...

Wasn't it?

For a long moment she sat thus, her slender, daintily clawed hands fingered nervously together as myriad shady questions suddenly began shadowing up in her head, dangling there like so much forbidden fruit enticing her to take a bite.

Was such a thing, although accepted by their culture, truly right?

The fingers of her hands uncoiled, allowing one set to lift and place themselves against her mouth. She blinked, raised her face, cast a quick glance about herself as if afraid others had been able to overhear them, to read her very thoughts.

"I-- I don't know," she finally said in a near-whisper. She stopped, swallowed, considered a moment longer. Dared for the first time in many years to think outside the parameters of the box she had been placed into.

Recoiled in instinctive fright at the grim, preordained gloom and loneliness and glittering drudgery she suddenly saw waiting there. Focused eyes now flickering with the slightest touch of anger directly into Freedon's pair once again.

"Perhaps... simply the ability to decide for myself what I'd like to do with it?" she finally said, her voice very, very low but for the first time filled with budding determination.

"How--" she whispered, fighting against the ingrained fear. For she had really known no other life than the one of servitude that she now lived; even concentrated attempts to recall her earlier childhood broght forth only bits and pieces, flashes of playing in a yard or sitting on someone's lap.

It pained her for a moment that when she looked up to see whose lap she was perched upon, all she saw was a vague shadow.

She swallowed, tightened her lips.

"I- I will find you," she repeated, although whether the confirmation was to Naad or to herself she really couldn't say. Then she straightened up, returned to her normal demeanor.

What she did have budding ideas about, however, was the current state of affair in which she found herself. Her eerie eyes darkened almost to the blackness of those deathly realms as she let newly released memories scroll through her head, going faster and faster, reminding her that once she had been a goddess.

Now she was-- what? She didn't know, and this insecurity roiled within her being. That which was human recoiled in fright, that which was Sith snarled at the quandary, but that which was neither...

Ahh, that which was neither simply smiled, panted, waiting...

For ShaRhylla was not like her mother or the Adept in this regard. They had merely been infused with the Darkness, tainted and overcome by it. ShaRhylla on the other hand had been a willing part of it, partner to it, and had given her life again and again in sado-masochistic honor of it.

Then through the auspices of that other thing within her, that which her Mother controlled so well, that which the Lord Aelvedaar controlled with even greater finesse, she had been brought out from under, had come forth, back into the light and life of reality.

She missed being a goddess. Things were so mundane here. But then that to which she had wed herself niggled gently deep down inside of her, and told her she would be a goddess again.

This time over two realities.

Sighing, she rolled onto her back and studied the ceiling.

I suppose I should go see what they're clamoring about, she over-reacted, recalling the genteel knock on her door who knew how many hours earlier when she had been politely summoned to the Great Receiving Hall.

Mother isn't about, so I suppose it is up to me, bother it all...

Her inner Dark lover tut-tutted her, waggled an incorporeal finger.

She sat up.

"Oh, very well then!" she announced to the empty room, then rose to her feet and glided to a bell-pull, which she gave a quick yank. A deep rumbling gong seemed to reverberate below her hearing; moments later there came a polite reply at her door.

She listened as the Elder announced that Lady ShaRhylla would now see the visitor. Without looking up, she grabbed her tray and slid from the booth, snarling quietly toward the floor as she made a hasty escape.
Now I have no reason to hunt down this kind sorcerer, she thought painfully to herself as she made haste to disappear before the Elder would follow, or send others after her. If she was lucky, she'd be able to get back on track, and perhaps the Elder didn't really know exactly who she was anyway.

“Lady ShaRhylla will see you now,” the Elder informed him in the dull monotone. Naad smiled appreciatively and thanked the Elder, being careful to address him as “My lord.” RhoHalla seemingly having cleared the table, chose that moment to slip away. Naad took a step towards her as she departed, in the process turning his back to the Elder, and took hold of her wrist. Clearly surprised, she turned sharply and almost dropped the contents of her tray, which she balanced in her other hand.

“You forgot this serving girl,” he said nastily, and thrust the napkin into one of the goblets, “I should pay more attention to what I was doing if I were you and not allow things to just lay around on the floor.” His tone was harsh and cold for the benefit of the Elder behind him, but he offered RhoHalla a warm smile as he spoke, and allowed his hand to remain on her wrist just a few moments longer than was necessary. He hoped she would have the presence of mind to examine the napkin. Should she do so she would find, etched into the fabric, this message: Don’t Panic. I will return to the Dining Hall before I depart. See that you find me there. Naad suspected that even these vague instructions would be enough to inspire RhoHalla to linger in the Dining Hall and await his return. He turned back to the Elder and shrugged as if to indicate that he could sympathize with the problem of sloppy servants. The Elder turned without a word and lead Naad to the Receiving Hall.

As soon as Freedon entered the Receiving Hall he felt his confidence evaporate like a few drops of rain in a vast desert. His gutted twisted with cold fear as he surveyed the figure that occupied the seat of the Dark Lord. She was, for all intents and purposes, an abomination. A grotesque half-breed, neither Sith nor Human, she had fiery hair, a fair complexion and generally appeared as one might expect a human female to, the exceptions to this rule appeared only upon a closer examination. She had pearlescent fingernails which appeared to almost be claws and two tiny horns poked out from beneath her hair. Her eyes, seemed to reflect what light there was to be had in the chamber. It was not her appearance which frightened Naad. Indeed, he would ordinarily scorn such a creature as her. What unsettled him most was the way she carried herself. She was stretched languidly across the Throne of the Dark Lord, a seat she was physically far to small to fill, as if it were just another chair. Her manner seemed to suggest that she was not simply a bratty child, but one so accustomed to wielding power that even a station as significant as Dark Lord of Warriors was beneath her notice. Puissant though she clearly was, she also radiated a sense of mournfulness and apathy that was almost as palpable. Naad found himself likening her to the marble sculptures of goddesses he had seen on countless worlds, beautiful to behold, but possessing little feeling or regard for the affairs of mortals. He told himself this was ridiculous, that she was a ruler like any other, but he could not shake the feeling that for her these games of politics were a chore, and nothing more. He knew in his core she would not be easy to manipulate, and he began to wonder if this journey had not been ill advised. He bowed low, going so far as to drop to his knees and prostrate himself on the floor. The gesture was genuine response to the awe he felt in her presence, not contrived. For a moment as he kneeled, face and hands inches from the floor, he was wholeheartedly and completely honest. Naad was thankful she could not see his eyes for he was certain at that moment they would have betrayed him. Regaining control of himself, Naad’s face once again became impassive and unreadable.

Finally she deigned to speak.

It was not just words, he meant what he said to me, she thought to herself as she turned her eyes downward again, backing off to one side as he swept out from the booth and followed the Elder away across the expanse of Dining Hall. Only when they had completely exited did she turn her attention to the wadded up napkin he had shoved with such apparent superciliousness into one of the goblets on her tray.

She was not a stupid girl. Being young and relatively new to the cadre of servants within the Great Temple of Warriors, she was therefore low man on the totem pole, so to speak, and had few if any friends. Beings left to themselves in this manner normally follow one of two courses: they grow dull and apathetic, going about the drudgery of their lives in a self-induced fog so as to lessen the pain of their menial existence; or they use the relative freedoms allotted to them to their best advantage, seeking and poking, observing and learning.

RhoHalla was one of the latter. Thus she did not go off obediently to toss away the offending bit of paper. Instead she had the alacrity to wonder exactly where it had come from to begin with.

"For," she reasoned to herself. "I certainly did not give him such; now why would he be concerned about some other person's bit of leftover garbage?"

Her eyes widened with the sudden knowledge that he had intentionally given that to her, made issue of it to bring it to her attention. It must be of some importance, then; casting a somewhat furtive glance about herself she moved away from the booth to a quiet place behind a great supportive pillar, and with trembling fingers carefully removed the crumpled napkin from its resting place. Squinting, she studied it, frowned to find it blank.

But, no--

She squinted harder, thought she saw something impressed into the fibers. A message--?

Her heart beat suddenly faster.

Casting another look about, she discovered that, true to her position, she yet remained ignored by everyone in the room. So hiding the napkin within her bodice she took her tray and headed toward a long, richly shining wooden bar. A regally horned Sith stood behind it, wiping goblets with a silken towel.

"H-her Ladyship desires brandy within the half-hour," she announced, fully aware of the young halfling's fondness for the liqueur. Saying no more she held out the pitcher, but not before first pouring a gobletful of water from it.

"A patron desires drink; I shall return for the Lady ShaRhylla's refreshment," she said and quickly fled, goblet in hand, which she soon handily discarded in the leafy confines of a flowering plant. Knowing now that she had some brief time to herself, she moved smoothly but swiftly from the Dining Hall altogether, and hastened away down the lengthy corridor without. After a bit she came to a portion which was empty of others; there she quickly beelined to one of the flickering wall sconces and held the precious napkin up over the flame, being careful not to let it catch fire.

The smoke from the flame began darkening the napkin, settling in the grooves and microscopic crannies there, and soon outlined Freedon's message well enough that it could be more easily deciphered.

She thought her heart would thump cleanly from her chest altogether.

Allowing herself another quick smile, she then lowered the napkin, holding it by one corner as the flames from the sconce quickly reduced it to blackened ash. Then she returned to the Dining Hall and approached the bar, where she retrieved the tray and pitcher. She didn't bother to thank the tender, for servants do not acknowledge such things; she only said, "The Lady has postponed her refreshment; I am to wait until called for."

Nodding to herself at the bartender's apathy, she returned to the little nook in the back of the establishment, where she took a seat in a quiet spot to wait for Freedon's return.

But then what happened?

The room he was in was quite dark, the only light seeming to spill softly from the bars in a window across from him. He looked around and realized he was in a damp, musty room, perhaps a cell. Perhaps he was still in the Temple of Warriors; it was certainly dank and depressing enough.

But what had happened?

“Phalomir!” he exclaimed loudly, slapping his head. “Phal told them to take me to a cell, then the bastard blasted me. Oh great, they think I’m nuts and wanted to kill Gray. I bet I’m down in the deep cellars, and I’ll never see the light of day again.”

A stir of echoes wafted through the bars. Thoran looked up at the dim window and frowned. Shrugging, he stood shakily and hobbled to the door. He pressed his face to the bars, peering out into the hallway that was lit only by a single torch, hung on the wall several meters away. The dark shadows that played on the ceiling and wall of the hallway made Thoran wish the torch was not lit at all.

Then a shuffle and a creak caught his attention. It seemed to come from across the hallway, and Thoran could make out the bars of another door across from him. He stared for a time, not sure whether he actually had heard something or if it was his imagination.

I hoped he was alive and well, wherever he was, for I could only assume that he too had fallen into dire straits. For to a Verpine, a promise is a binding oath, and the fact that he hadn't returned could only lead me to believe, well...

I jerked my thoughts from that line of travel and prowled the confines of my gloomy little cell for the umpteenth time. Most men would probably have been paralyzed by despair by this time, but I still had reason to hope. Food and water, bland enough but life-sustaining, had arrived at regular intervals, and once in an even greater while a large stoneware basin and tattered rag would be shoved in alongside my bi-daily swill, clearly indicating I maintain my health as best as I could considering the circumstances. As a rule, one's enemies don't generally provide sustenance and the means to continue one's ablutions if they intend to kill, or even worse, ignore someone. So those small concessions led me to believe that sometime, somewhere down the line, I was going to be taken somewhere from this cell to meet...

Somebody.

Who or why I had yet to determine, but logic proposed the notion that perhaps since I was, after all, third in command of the Empire, which at the moment was maintaining order and control over more and more systems, it just might behoove that someone to not leap directly into serious confrontation by killing me.

Why I was here and not being kept as some kind of pet under closed quarters and even closer scrutiny didn't even cross my mind; well I remembered the few times Galen and I had stumbled across one Dark Lord or another.

They did seem to have a penchant for tossing one into dungeons, and as for Galen's dear, sweet sister--

I gritted my teeth, forcing down the anger which, rising, tried to blind me to logic. After a moment or so had passed I found myself under steely self-control once more, and once again paced the perimeter of my cell, seeking yet again any hidden weaknesses which might lend themselves to an escape.

A few stones looked a tad wee loose; I was reaching out to wiggle one beside the door, hoping to then loosen the great metal hinge which held it adhered to the outside of the wall, when I heard a noise. More than a noise, actually; it was words.

Real words. And from the sounds of them, being voiced by another prisoner.

I listened to the call, hesitating for a moment on the off chance that it was some kind of trap. But common sense won out once again; shaking my head at the silliness of that thought, I sidled to the tiny barred window and peered out as best I could.

There didn't seem to ba anyone around, other than my fellow inmate, who from the sounds of it was in the cell across the corridor and to the left of mine.

"Yeah," I returned gruffly. "I'm over here, pal."

With that I fell silent, unwilling to pass along any more information regarding myself than I absolutely needed to. At least until I had determined just who the unknown caller turned out to be.

“That’s great!” he said. “Well, I mean, not great that you’re in this mess too, but great that I’m not alone. My name is Thoran, by the way. Better tell you before I forget my name and all, I guess people do that sort of thing while they rot in a cell.”

Thoran laughed at himself, dismally.

“Sorry,” he continued. “I just keep finding myself in worse and worse predicaments. One minute you’re helping save the galaxy and the next you’re accused of plotting to kill the Dark Lady. Go figure. I mean, yeah, I was, but not out loud, you know.”

Thoran laughed again.

She was sitting upright in the throne, which oddly enough seemed to somehow fit her. Her pearly claws dug deeply into the richly carved arms, and she leaned forward a bit, her bi-color eyes flashing fire.

"Do not toy with me by playing the dullard!" she hissed, her eyes going from their normal violet-ringed turquoise to inky black. Then they returned to normal, and she calmed herself, settling back against the velvet cushions with apparent laissez faire.

"I ask again, oh humble sorcerer--

Halfling or no, she was the Goddess of the Darker Realms, and the Heiress Apparent to the clan of Warriors, now dissociated from the other clans by the choice of the people, when egged on by Lord Roan so long ago! No one, NO ONE treated her with this kind of disrespect!

Once more she drove her nails into the arms of the throne as she whipped into an upright position, preparing to launch herself at this unknown upstart that she might rend him into tiny pieces with her own two hands. But deep inside her, the Darkness in her heart once again raised a cautionary finger, forcing its way past her blind anger and shoving whatever humanity she had within her into momentary oblivion.

Think. Observe. Learn.

It was difficult, but she settled herself once again, growling deep down in her chest as she slouched against the richly carved, jewel-encrusted throne-back.

"I do not know you, nor do I recognize you," she finally stated, the look she now sent to Freedon sending flaming daggers into his back.

"Any fool can wear the robes of a sorcerer, especially those such as you have dressed yourself in."

She paused, nearly spitting at his humble attire, then continued in a somewhat calmer tone of voice.

"Do you truly expect me to just leap up at your command, to come panting to you in response for mere words you have flung upon me? We -- I do not need the assistance of your clan; we are very much aware of current states of affairs, and quite prepared to defend ourselves from any and all attackers, from whatever quadrant they might spring."

Again she paused, forcing herself to become calmer yet, forcing herself to now resume her former position of aloof lazing, studying her pearly nails once again.

"The mere magicks of such as you do not impress me, especially when it would appear you cannot present me with proper--"

Her eyes slid from her claws to the form of Freedon Naad once again.

Naad took comfort in the familiarity of pain. The self doubt and anxiety that plagued him since the beginning of this interview were momentarily silenced and he found himself oddly at peace. Which is convenient, a voice in his head quipped sardonically, because it is very likely you will soon be killed. Naad focused his will, murmuring eldritch words of power under his breath, and raised his bloodied fist. For an instant his eyes rolled back into his head and he looked momentarily unstable, but the weakness vanished as swiftly as it had come and his eyes returned to ShaRhylla’s with renewed intensity. The magicks of which he was a master headed his arcane commands. The room around him seemed to blur, as if everything, except himself and the Dark Lady on her throne, had suddenly gone out of focus. The little details, the cracks in the masonry and the folds in fabrics, faded first, then larger shapes began to warp and shift. The great double door became a swirl of oaken hues and then the walls and floor began to bleed into one another. He opened his fists face up, exposing his bloodied palms to the half-breed. The room around them began to fall away, colors blending into one another to the point where the illusion had so twisted things that the walls, floor and ceiling were indistinguishable from one another, and form and direction ceased to have any meaning. He, ShaRhylla, and the throne on which she sat, where, for all intents and purposes, the only objects which appeared to retain any of their structural and special integrity, everything else had degenerated into a swirling mass of chaos. By this time he had crossed half the distance between himself and the throne.

“Credentials? Attire? Only a mutt child like yourself would consider such things of any worth. Just as you say any idiot can dress in robes. By the same token, any idiot can wield power. Such frippery is utterly unimportant, the distractions of the week minded and pompous. I know not what cruel twist of fate would spawn a creature such as yourself, but I can feel the All running through your wretched soul. It stands out like a pillar of gold in a river of bile. I can only imagine it is by the machinations of Aelvedaar that toady he has the audacity to call his “Chosen Daughter,” that you are seated upon that throne. You lot fancy yourselves demigods, because you have gotten your hands on a bit of power, but only idiots buy into that fantasy. Power is worthless without knowledge and control, and for all your puissance and despite your affectations I can see that you havn’t got a clue.” he spat back, his voice booming with not just anger and contempt, but also possessing a primal, authoritative timbre that it had lacked before.

In truth he had been able to discern very little about her by means of magick, she was surprisingly resistant to it. It was true that his occult senses could detect the current of the All running through her, as well as a thousand other forces some of which defied his comprehension entirely, all of which frightened him, vying for dominance within the half-breed, but the statement about her lineage had been merely a hypothesis that had arisen from information he gained during the brief period of time when he had served the interests of Aelvedaar and his Chosen Daughter. At the time he had known that Graysith had a child with a Sith Dark Lord, but that was only a few years ago and the child had been an infant at the time. Even so, Naad could see the family resemblance, and decided it was a reasonable assumption even if it did have several glaring problems. He realized that by even uttering that sentence he had gambled with his credibility, but these were desperate times and such risks needed to be taken. ShaRhylla’s face remained impassive, not indicating to the sorcerer whether there was any truth to his assertion. Naad, knowing that if he awaited a response he would betray his uncertainty, continued his tirade.

“I imagine you think the All makes you exempt from such mundane and worldly concerns as invasions. You are deluding yourself,” at this point Naad waved his hand and the amorphous chaos that surrounded them snapped sharply into focus. They were no longer within the Temple, but instead found themselves on a verdant, grassy plain surrounded by an impossibly thick mist. ShaRhylla, still on the throne, was on a small dirt mound only a few paces in front of Naad. Then the mist lifted, like a curtain rising to reveal a stage, and they were surrounded by a different kind of chaos. All around them a battle was raging. Sith warriors, their weapons covered in blood and the grime of a battle field were valiantly, but obviously futilely, engaging in combat a small group of black clad humans who wielded swords of light. The light weapons cleaved through the Warrior’s defenses and mercilessly hewed their powerful bodies in twain. The Sith did their best, fighting with their claws when no armaments could be found, but they were no match for their attackers who twirled across the battlefield, flourishing their fearsome weapons, in what resembled a macbre but nonetheless beautiful and captivating waltz. Those Sith that were not cut down by the light swords were twisted, choked and hurled about by invisible forces the dark clad invaders commanded. In the sky’s above a vast fleet of alien vessels laid waste to the Sith craft that were endeavoring to aid the warriors on the ground. Perhaps, most horrifying of all were the scores of charred and blackened Sith corpses that had been slain by a garish facsimile of Sorcerer’s Lightning. The battle was over in a few minutes and majority of the invaders departed, leaving behind a few to dispatch any of the wounded Warriors. These unfortunate few did not even resist; their bodies had been so damaged by the combat and so mangled by the mysterious powers that the black clad fighters wielded that they begged for death. Most were granted it. Others were tortured and made to scream and cry for the perverse enjoyment of their conquerors. As the battle raged all around them, Naad spoke, “I have no doubt that you can recognize, as an illusion. Though you can hear the screams of the dying, smell the stink of battle and feel the land under your feet, you know this isn’t really happening. But let me be very clear when I tell you that it once did. And furthermore let me tell you that massacres of this scale were commonplace. The Sith were humiliated utterly by these invaders, they were brought to their knees and forced to serve and pay homage to these humans.”

When the last scream was silenced, and all that remained was the stench of charred flesh and death, mingled and the calls of carrion birds as they descended on the dead, Naad gestured casually, and the world once again shifted. The two were now standing in the air above the Temple of Warriors, all around them the once proud Sith were cowering and bowing slavishly to the invaders. It was clear from the sheer multitude of humans in the city, and the profusion of half-breed outcastes who, having been ostracized from both societies, now begged in the streets that this scene was several decades later. After allowing ShaRhylla a moment to take survey what was happening beneath her Naad continued, “The humiliation and defeat we suffered in the war was nothing compared to what followed; an age of misery and servitude as our civilization was progressively eroded by the excesses and vices of our new Masters. Eventually there was nothing left.”

As soon as these words were spoken every sentient life form that had once crowded the streets of the vibrant metropolis beneath them, the denizens of one of the grandest cities of the Sith, simply turned to dust. Abandoned to the ravages of time, the city grew dilapidated and fell into disrepair. Before their eyes the Phrinnchatka became a forgotten ruin. It was clear the Sith culture were but a distant memory. They lingered on only as a faint echo in the vastness of the universe. When Naad was sure that he had driven the point home he allowed the illusion to dissipate. Once again the world blurred, but this time it was not a scene from history which swam into focus but the Receiving Chamber in the Temple of Warriors. At this point there was only an arms length of distance separating Naad from the throne (it was a distance which he carefully maintained lest the Dark Lady lash out at him).

This fool does not realize-- the words purred through her very being, but on a level she did not consciously recognize --the wonderful strength of that which runs through the veins of those select few born to it. How little he understands; how much better that he continue to remain ignorant to this, that all remain ignorant...

Instead, when the pomp and circumstance had reduced itself to normalcy once more, she merely sat upright, her fangs peeping from her mouth as she smiled broadly and clapped her hands.

"Bravo!" she cried out, laughing darkly. "You have indeed proven that at least your claim to sorcery is true; I thank you for an afternoon's entertainment!"

Her smile broadened further and her eyes darkened with joy to see the anger that began flushing Freedon's face.

"However, I do believe you need to add more blood and dismemberment; there wasn't nearly enough blood and dismemberment."

Something primal within her let out a rejoicing yowl at that; forcing the heady rush down, she fisted her hand and placing her elbow upon her knee now rested her chin upon her curled fingers. She pinned the sorcerer with a cutting stare.

"How disrespectfully you do speak, small one, especially in regard to the fact that, at least by your words, you state you are here to lend assistance. I scarcely think barking out such hurtful words such as you have will go far in gaining my sympathy."

She smiled sweetly, batting her eyelashes prettily. Then she darkened, leaned forward.

"What you have shown me is pap!" she spat, now beginning to tremble with the rage she had managed to keep banked thus far.

"Beware of how you refer to me and my line; we may not hold the most violet of Sith blood within us, but none of you would be here now if it had not been for Mother!"

Now she rose to her feet, and before Naad could react moved with remarkable alacrity smack into the most personal of his space. Standing there, she had to raise herself up on her tiptoes, for he was tall and she was shorter than full-blooded Sith.

"Do not underestimate us, nor what we can do! And do not show me any more pretty pictures such as you have, for the power that you so handily would sneer upon has overcome history itself, proving those images you have showed me to be utterly irrelevant!"

With that she fell silent, yearning to say more but refraining, for once acting in a manner bearing some semblance of caution and wisdom when in fact she wished with all her heart to give herself back to That to which she had wed, and rip this Sith's throat out with her fangs.

She fancied his blood would be as hot as the words he had just flung upon her, and relished the thought of partaking of it.

She paused a moment, glaring up into his eyes, her hands now fisted with the effort to keep herself from springing upon him. For several seconds she remained thus, before finally whirling upon the spot and regaining her seat upon the throne. There she settled herself regally, continuing to glare down her nose at the sorcerer, whom by now she had judged to be so full of himself as to not listen to a word she might have to say in response.

She decided she'd say it anyway.

"You fancy your pitiable sorceries more powerful than that which we hold, than that which indeed the Dark Lord of your very clan holds, and wields with such proficiency, just because you have managed to live out an extraordinarily long life? You think this, the prolonging of but a single life, so memorable as to give you leave to sneer upon that which has rescued an entire civilization from extinction, bringing it out through the millennia to this time, every man, woman and child?

"It has been accomplished once; you do not believe it could be accomplished again? Or indeed, feats even greater? These things are inconsequential to you?"

She rose to her feet now, trembling with barely restrained fury, now raising an arm and pointing a finger directly between the eyes of the sorcerer who stood smirking at the foot of the dias.

"If this is what you believe, then fool you are indeed. I repeat, with such as we possess, we do not fear those light-flashing dark jedi of old, neither do we fear any other enemy who might threaten us. We have announced thus to any ears without this system that might care to listen, and in listening give heed to us.

"There are powers more intimidating than you might imagine, sorcerer; go back to your powders and devices and simple mind tricks. For we know that is what so-called magick really is; what we wield is the absolute control over and utilization of all that exists! And that is something that even the most powerful Dark Sorcerer Lord could ever command.

"Reality against illusion, sorcerer; this is what we offer our people; what you think of the matter that I am not full-blooded Sith, or that my mother has no Sith blood at all is quite beside the point. The point is that she was chosen by your own clan, by the Dark Lord himself, and without her the Sith would now be dust long blown away, and you a lonesome, solitary wanderer in the universe!"

She stood in fury-filled silence then, still pointing her finger at the sorcerer, glaring. After a full minute had passed thus, she forced herself to soften a bit, and once more mounted the great throne to take a seat. From there she regarded Freedon, her eyes slitted like a hunting cat's.

"Perhaps if I, in all my youth, cannot persuade you enough, you might wish to remain amongst us long enough to speak with my Mother? I'm certain she would be most happy to--

And in his case, he more than likely scuttled his own! I thought to myself as he blathered on. It was his final words, though, that really captured my full attention.

I sidled up more closely to the door, stood off just to one side of it, snug against the solid stone.

"A bug?" I called back. "Would you be speaking of a Verpine, perhaps?"

I paused then, debating to myself as how much I wished to reveal at the moment. Sighed a little: one cannot expect further information from a relatively unknown person without divulging something of one's self in turn.

"I was traveling with a Verpine, but we became separated."

True, if in a round-about way. He didn't need to know just how and when our separation had occurred, after all... I continued.

"There are none other that I am aware of on this planet; I'm sure you are speaking of my friend. How was he faring when you met him; was he well?"

Thoran coughed, sending a pain through the wound in his leg. Though the poison was stopped, it would take a very long time for the wound to heal and would remain painful for months.

Phalomir. The one who had promised to assist me in finding Darra. And apparently K'kihl was now with him?

"Nevermind who I am, pal," I replied in a soft but carrying whisper. "At least not for the moment. But yeah, K'kihl is my Verpine buddy; you say he's with Phalomir?

"About how long ago did you see them together, do you remember?"

Silently I awaited his answer, which would determine which one of the two possible ways I would then respond in turn. For judging by the bits of information he had just revealed, logic determined there was indeed but two possible recourses open to me. One quite obvious; the other, nearly impossible.

Galen. Now why am I not surprised to find her mixed up in all this?

"All right, pal, since you insist. The name's Sorben Tarnus, and I for one do not plan on rotting much longer in this cell. I have a ship waiting for me; a little assistance and perhaps we can spring ourselves and get off this rock. Then--"

I paused a moment, yet unwilling to press any further just what the name Sorben Tarnus had come to mean, on the off chance that he was ignorant to it.

For one who would be turncoat to his own clan obviously would find it ridiculously easy to become an open enemy to the others.

"You do not claim the Dark Lord Aelvedaar as your own?" she queried, cocking her head to scrutinize him as if he was a mere granite-slug beneath her feet.

"Those are traitorous words that you speak, and though sorcerer you may be I will not abide with them here. I do have some decorum about me, after all! I should toss you into my dungeon, but I will not sully these walls, nor the minds of my people, with even the most remote threat of your simple trickery!

"Guards!!" she raised her voice, clapping her small hands with authority. Immediately there materialized a squadron of personal guards, great hulking warriors of great fighting skill and strategic savvy, who carried magickally endowed weaponry with them. She nodded toward the group, who moved into equidistant positions around Freedon, and before he could react drew from pouches at their waists slender silver cords with which they loosely lassoed him. The cords were not meant to be a physical barrier, but rather a magickal one; beneath their influence not one of his spells would have any effect upon anyone or anything.

"Escort this one to the gates of the city, and release him. Meanwhile, I shall send word to our-- Brother -- of this traitor in the sorcerers' midst, that he might deal with him in whatever manner he wishes."

She glared at Freedon, who met her eyes fearlessly with his own, and smiled to herself to see the lifelong rage against her that she had fomented.

Go-oo-ood...

"Do not return to this city again, upon pain of death." She smiled silkily. "We might be mere warriors, and you a skilled illusionist, but believe me if you so much as step one foot upon Phrinnchatkan soil again you will find exactly how powerful my All-ally can truly be."

With that she nodded, and the squadron bowed their heads. Then they whirled in place and quickly ushered Freedon from the Receiving Hall, out into the corridor without. They didn't so much as pause but continued down the corridor, finally passing the Great Dining Hall, and coming to the double doors opening upon the pillared Grand Foyer. Through these they proceeded, out onto the courtyard, through the small archway and down the stepped side of the immense temple, Freedon helpless beneath the influence of the cords that bound him.

Thus was the sorcerer sent out of Phrinnchatka, taken to the city gates and released to the country beyond. The squad leader showed surprising respect to him, for he was a fellow Sith after all, and apparently not too much of an enemy as he had merely been booted out in what was to them disgrace, and not killed or even imprisoned.

“Well,” he chuckled mildly, “Mr. Sorben Tarnus, I wish you luck in applying your laws to the Sith. They’re not part of any big galactic bonding party, not yet anyway. And they usually keep to themselves when they can help it. But from what I know, this is a time of terrible mystery and anxiety -- there is a huge invading fleet surrounding the system, and I know of at least one ship that was detained. That is going to make anyone down here nervous, you know. Plus, the Dark Lady is not herself right now, and I beg you to not let her ruin it for all of us. Some of us are quite friendly! Hell, if we get out of here, I’d be more than happy to let you buy me a drink!”

Thoran sighed and leaned on the door.

He would return, he promised...

She balled the napkin up again, hiding it in one fisted hand and folded both together atop the table, waiting with great patience and expectation. But as time continued to tick on she grudgingly was forced to admit that all Freedon had said to her, and indeed what he had imprinted upon the little napkin, had more than likely been empty words, and that he was by now long gone.

She blinked rapidly, fighting a sudden heaviness in her heart.

That couldn't be it. He had been so earnest, seemed so honest with her, and had quite captured her heart and mind with all he'd had to say to her. Surely he wouldn't have risked exposing such to anyone if it were untrue, for wouldn't that risk bringing misfortune upon him if then revealed to others, even if those words had been false?

She straightened in the booth, pursing her lips as she considered this further.

Perhaps the Lady ShaRhylla had managed to ferret from him the same traitorous words he had given so freely to her, which would explain why he had yet to return to her.

That had to be it, and at this very moment he was more than likely rotting within some cell deep within the bowels of the huge temple.

She fidgeted slightly, new and somewhat darker thoughts now flicking through her head. He had indicated to her a willingness to assist her, to free her from her life of unending drudgery and loneliness, hadn't he? Didn't that deserve some kind of commitment on her part in turn?

This could be just the thing she needed to prove to him that, even though she had just met him, and scarcely knew him for that matter, she believed firmly in what he had said to her and would thus quite willingly throw in her lot with him.

Nodding her head as if coming to some sort of agreement with herself, she rose quietly from the booth, and thrust the balled up napkin deeply within the pocket of her serving gown. Then, her lowly status keeping her generally ignored by the clientele in the Dining Hall, she exited the room, not being stopped by a single soul for a drink for her tray was yet sitting on the seat of the booth.

I'll not be using that again, she vowed to herself as she turned left and headed down the corridor. She left the main thoroughfare at the first intersection that she came to, and by constantly doing thus at length found herself away from the throng of Sith who were going about this business or that. One way she would zig, and then she would zag in another direction, her pace increasing now for she was certain she was far enough away that she no longer needed to remain stealthy.

A grin flicked about her lips when she thought of herself as being stealthy, and broadened when she discovered that she liked the sensation very much indeed...

On and on she went, soon penetrating deeply into the heart of the temple, where at length she came to a small, moss-covered wooden door. Beyond this lay uneven and condensation-slicked stone stairs; taking a deep breath she stepped out quickly, letting the ancient door creak closed behind her. She proceeded onward, going down one set of stairs after another, interspersed here and there by some going back up, or by corridors leading off in various directions. For the dungeons of the Sith were, by both their position within the temple and the means one had to take to reach them, clearly meant to show to any brave enough to go there the fate of the prisoners they contained:

Those unlucky souls were meant to be lost and forgotten by all but their gaolers for the remainder of their natural lives...

The sorcerer crossed his legs and with one claw scratched a circle around himself in the loam. He closed his eyes and focused. Old memories of his days as an Apprentice Sorcerer flooded his mind. In those days he had used (and on a great many occasions misused) on a multitude of occasions. It was, after all, one of the fundamental Magicks (and yet also one of the most difficult to grasp initially.) It was said that if you could project your consciousness, or mind-walk as it was termed the sorcerer’s vernacular, then you had a future in the Clan, and if not, then you probably wouldn’t amount to much of a Sorcerer. Naad could mind-walk. Indeed, his most potent ability (the ability to transfer his essence from host to host) was largely extrapolated from research on mind-walking. While the adage had proved untrue, and Naad had never been more than slightly above average in any other aspect of Sith Magick, he was still a more than competent mind-walker. Naad pushed aside his memories focusing his entire mind, not on himself, but on the world around him. He concentrated on the sounds of the world around him. He heard the wind in the grass, the breeze in the trees, the animals and people going about their day around him, he even heard the insects chirping and buzzing about. He could smell the earth, the manure, and very faintly, that particular unpleasant and yet comforting scent that can only be described as the smell of the city. Beneath him the grass and dirt could be felt, and all around him the sweet country air, perfect except for the hint of tainted air from the nearby city, tasted. He imagined he could feel the planet turning, spinning on its invisible axis through space. Slowly, he rose up out of his body. Whereas before he had only been focusing on the input of his senses and picturing the world around him as best as he could in his minds eye, now, very slowly, he could truly perceive. Gradually this nebulous feeling of perception and presence solidified and localized until a spiritual body, visible only to himself, was floating in the air above his corporeal form which still bore the expression of deep though and meditation.

Time was of the essence now. While mind-walking did not completely separate his consciousness from his body, it did leave his body essentially immobile and completely defenseless. Furthermore the state could only be maintained as long as his mind could deal with the significant strain of maintaining the magick. He had been tired when he undertook to perform this task, so he was fairly certain his body would give out before long and he would be forced to return. Because Naad’s spiritual body was not a real thing, but construct his mind manifested to enable to him to focus on specific parts of the vast world around him and not be overwhelmed, it could travel at the speed of thought. Naad’s spiritual form covered the distance between his body and the temple almost instantly. Passing intangibly through the great doors of the temple Naad could see faint glimmers of light and thought all around him. He knew these grey blurs and clouds of light were people who he was unfamiliar with going about their business. At this range, it would be impossible to see or communicate clearly with anything or anyone except those whose minds were open to him. He focused on RhoHalla. His spiritual body faded and twisted like vapor in a breeze as he widened the scope of his focus. Then he found her. He relished the warm, colorful glow of a mind that was both familiar and friendly to him and seeped inside he consciousness like so much cloying smoke. This was not an invasion of her mind. Indeed he could not control her like this if he wanted to. He couldn’t even discern her thoughts. Mind reading, though simple in theory, was quite complex and entailed rooting through a myriad of diverse and largely irrelevant bits of mental activity to locate one valuable snippet of information. Attempting, through this form of Magick, to read minds, was like searching for a needle in a haystack. It was hard enough to make sense of the alien forms that the thoughts of others took, but that was only the tip of the iceberg. The fact that the lions share of brain activity was given over to things like automating internal functions and monitoring the status of the body, and the fact that one though process was superficially indistinct from another did not make mind reading through mind-walking an attractive prospect. The idea of expending significant effort deciphering a particular thought only to discover that all he had learned was how many times RhoHalla’s heart beat per minute, or how many mitochondria were present in a specific cell did not appeal to the Sorcerer. Instead, he sought to muster a significant psychic presence that he might communicate with RhoHalla. First, he became aware of her location. The rest of the temple had been a blur of reconstructed memory, but where she was he could more-or-less see clearly. Was this the dungeon? What was she doing here? Naad decided to address these concerns later and instead focused on relaying a message. His voice, initially a faint whisper in the back of her mind, gained strength as he spoke, “RhoHalla, it’s me. I have not abandoned you. I have been cast out of the temple, barred from the city, but I could not leave one such as you behind. I gave you my word I would come back for you.”

Strangely enough, it persisted, poking into her consciousness now with such tenacity that she paused in her tracks and cocked her head to one side. Next to her a strange reptilian sort of creature slithered through the black and dripping moss that covered the dank walls, pausing in turn to regard her with its beady, bright eyes. This too, though, was ignored by her, as was that first little niggle, but only from sudden and overwhelming shock.

"Freedon?" she whispered, raising a daintily clawed hand to her mouth in wonder.

"Is that you?"

Surprisingly enough, from somewhere not too distant from her, there came snippets of a seeming reply.

"If you... get... of cells... crazy..!"

Confusing thought with reality, echo with whisper, she pressed onward, and coming around a corner came to a corridor which was filled with the dying sounds of speech. She blinked, wondering who was here, and why, for although the dungeons were the bane of life they hadn't really been used in many, many years.

"Freedon, is that you?" she called out, a touch more loudly now as she took a corresponding step forward toward the source of the voices.

"No," he explained, doing his best to maintain clearly understandable voice, "I'm not down... here. I'm elsewhere... outside the city," he paused, his incorporeal ears also registering the faint snippets of a conversation.

“Yes,” he said to himself, “freedom!”

Then he heard more words coming, but this time he realized they were not spoken merely in his head. No, this was coming from the hallway!

"Freedon, I am here!" she called as she rounded the final junction and came to two lost and isolated cells. Black mold swarmed on the dripping doors which locked the pair, rusty nails and chains and padlocks completed the picture of misery now standing in front of her.

"I shall release you, do not fear!"

Still believing the voice she had heard belonged to the sorcerer who had so quickly entranced her, she took a look around, her eyes darting here and there as she sought something to use to either unlock the locks, or batter down the door itself. Nothing presented itself save a lone spider, which crept along the stone wall and was of a size to very capably drag along its current prey, a large granite slug.

She rushed to the nearest door, placed her hands upon it and raised up on her tiptoes to put her mouth nearer to the tiny, barred opening.

"There is nothing here with which to free you; I shall depart for the moment and seek out a tool, or perhaps I can find a key..."

She paused a moment to give the one she believed to be Freedon the opportunity to offer any better suggestion, waiting with her heart in her throat for fear one of the husky jailers would appear to catch her where she most certainly ought not to be.

“You can help me,” he said quietly. “I can remove myself from this cell, but I can only do it by first opening a gateway to a very bad place and re-emerging to somewhere I have seen. I wish to also release my friend, but I will need to know where he is so I may find this place again. Please, go to the--”

Thoran paused, thinking of a place that he knew of here, not too public, yet easy to identify.

It didn't even dawn on her as to why he just didn't do this the moment his gaolers had left him...

"I shall do as you ask," she replied. "And swiftly, too."

“Hey,” he said. “You still want out of here? Here’s the deal, I can zoom myself out of here by—well, by, um…”

Thoran paused, searching for words.

"I'd kind of like to link up with Phalomir myself," I replied, a bit tersely. Then I quickly followed with, "After all, you said that was the last person you'd seen my Verpine friend with."

A momentary pause ticked by, and I clenched a fist, studied the projecting knuckles.

Maybe this young girl, whoever she was, would be able to lead us to where my gear had been stowed. I was kind of fond of that armor of mine...

“All right,” he said. “I’m going to open up a gate to the Darker Realms. If I don’t get eaten, I’ll open up another gate and get back here soon. Prepare yourself.”

With that, Thoran took a deep breath and sliced the air with his hand. He took another breath and stepped through, quickly closing the portal behind him.

A few seconds later, a slight shimmer lit the shadow to the side of the fireplace in the great dining hall. Thoran appeared, sweating, and frantically closed the portal. He took in a deep, deep breath as he backed into the wall. He wiped his forehead, and dreaded going back into that realm again.

That was too close, and they’ll be waiting for me next time.

He then remembered what he was doing and glanced around for the Sith girl. There she was, standing facing to the fireplace, holding a bundle of cloth.

And here she was, speaking with him. If anyone should happen to see them together who knew who he was, she would be guilty of freeing him at the very least, not to mention of whatever crime he had committed at the most, simply by associating with him right now.

A flash of anger brightened in her eyes. If she was going to risk everything, she really would rather have it be done for Freedon's sake, not this stranger's. But the tuk'ata had already fled the stables; time to force that away and go on in the direction Fate had presented her with.

"You are not Freedon," she said tersely through gritted teeth, but held out the cloak even as she spoke. Thank S'slaan that he had appeared here with his back to the room, and that they were in fact over by the great fireplace and not anyplace closer to where others were dining. His ragged clothing spoke of some sort of issues he had undergone, either before landing in the dungeons or en route to them. In either case, they were not what a well-appointed Sith would wear out to dine, especially one who wished to remain invisible, so to speak, to others.

She cut a quick yet assessing glance out as he took the cloak and donned it, still facing her. So far so good; no one appeared to take notice of him; now that he was safely garbed she felt she could breathe more easily again.

"And now--?" she said, her voice very low, nodding toward him and making a miniscule motion of one hand to indicate the diners in the Great Hall.

“I don’t know who ‘Freedon’ is,” he said. “I’m sorry if that’s who you thought I was. My name is Thoran, and I was put in there by mistake and left to die. I will tell you my story on the way, and I swear on the very heart of R’lous that I will not harm you. It is imperative that I find Phalomir… he’s the Dark Lord of the Armorers now.”

Thoran glanced at the others in the dining hall. Graysith was nowhere to be seen, nor was Shayla. Aside from them, the only people who could possibly recognize him would be Graysith’s daughter, perhaps, and whoever it was that threw him in the cell. At that thought he pulled the top sides of the robe up further to cover his cheeks.

Besides, hadn't she already tossed her lot in with that of the Sith now standing before her?

"There is a servant's corridor in the back of this room; if we leave through it we can travel far into the Temple without being seen by many others who might recognize you," she finally said, although judging from how much of this Sith the cloak enveloped, she believed the risk of him being recognized to be a slim one. But still it was the safer way to travel; her relative anonymity within the heirarchy of those who served in the Temple assured that.

"Come, and please, tell me your story. It shall make the time pass more quickly while I guide us back into the Dungeons."

With that she motioned Thoran to an unobtrusive little doorway, and ushered him into a plain, narrow stone corridor.

He followed the girl into the corridor. He looked around to make sure nobody else was here to listen. He still shook from the narrow escape he endured in the Darker Realms just moments before.

“I don’t even know your name, or anything about you! Except that you’re probably a serving girl? But what were you doing in the dungeons? Well, looking for this Freedon, I guess. OK, sure, I can buy that, but I hope you’ll elaborate later.”

Thoran looked at the girl, who was looking back at him now. Her eyes shown in the dim light giving her a quality of youthful beauty he could appreciate. His nerves relaxed a bit, and he was able to inhale deeply.

“You have lovely eyes, by the way,” he smiled, finally calming. He shook his head and rubbed at the back of his neck.

“My name, as I said, is Thoran. I am really sorry if you thought I was someone else, but I really didn’t know… I mean, it was hard to hear in that cell and I thought I heard you say… well, anyway, you helped me and I really appreciate that. So I will be blunt: the Dark Lady of the Warriors is under the control of an evil force. Her second-in-command is too, and for all I know maybe even her daughter ShaRylla. I need to contact Phalomir and tell him he was right, and then maybe we go to Aelvedaar for help. He’s the Dark Lord of the Sorcerers.

“Anyway, Phalomir has the marks of all three clans, and if anyone should be trying to unite the Sith then it should be him. He is a strong believer in the triumvirate, but it doesn’t have to be three different people, see? But anyway, Graysith wants – I should say, the darkness that is controlling her -- wants to begin a new triumvirate, with her, Shayla and ShaRhylla as the members. Well, one human as a Dark Lady is enough, but 2 and a half? Not to mention they would need to bump off both Phalomir and Aelvedaar to do this.

“But that’s not really point either, because the whole issue is that the Yuuzhan Vong are coming to invade, and in order to stop that we’ll need the Sith united and working with the other races. And THAT is what we need the guy in the other cell for! With him and Phalomir, and Aelvedaar, we should be able to… well, get started anyway.”

Thoran paused and looked at the girl.

She blinked, staring at the floor, and was walking in this position as Thoran continued with his speech when Freedon's whisper strengthened in her mind from uncertainty to reality. Her eyelids fluttered, her mouth dropped open a bit in astonishment; then she got a grip on herself, and smiled a little.

"Yes, Freedon," she tried to think back, not really certain if he could hear her or not, but happy that she was hearing his voice.

"You may listen to what I hear..."

With that she raised her head, and tossed a sideways glance over her shoulder toward Thoran.

"I do not know of much of what you say, but I do know that the Dark Lady has always been one to be trusted," she said simply, beginning to feel a bit uncomfortable toward this man even as she tried to shed a niggle of discomfort at the very words she had just spoken. Not only was it becoming clear to her why this one might have been imprisoned -- his words, if not utterly traitorous, were by their nature inflammatory to say the least -- but it was becoming just as clear that her own feelings about her life were being questioned more and more as well...

By herself.

Two people, strangers to her a mere day ago, both daring to speak out in one manner or another against the only way of life she knew of. Who was right, who was wrong? Who spoke calm words of reason, who utter nonsense buoyed by fanaticism? The words spoken by this prisoner whom she had just released were frightening, and would have any loyal Sith in an uproar. But Freedon's private hints, though brief and quiet, had spoken volumes as well, not to mention the fact that they had personally touched her.

Her head whirled; this was all way beyond her understanding, let alone her comfort zone. In the space of hours her life had turned upside down, yet in the face of this momentous occasion routine continued as normal within the Temple. That sudden realization made her head whirl all the more, too, provoking yet another brief flush of something akin to victory.

Perhaps this one might assist Freedon somehow? In a way, the words they both hint upon are alike... The thought struck her even as his prompt to pay heed to what Thoran had to say came through.

She remained quiet a moment, then spoke up to Thoran once more. "Who are the Yuuzhan Vong?" she queried in a soft voice, all the while hoping that Freedon was not only hearing all this, but that he would speak back to her and put her uneasy thoughts to rest.

Thoran paused, remembering what the girl had just said about the Dark Lady.

“Don’t get me wrong, though,” he said. “I know the Dark Lady, she’s a real sweetheart and I would do about anything for her and Phalomir. But she is under the influence of a darkness and has to be saved from it – and if that can’t happen then she has to be stopped somehow. I know this darkness, you see, and it won’t let her go without something big and drastic happening. I just hope we can deal with this before the Vong, those are two problems which in bad enough on their own. Cripes, imagine if they were connected!”

Thoran began walking again, shaking his head slightly.

“Which is why I need to get this other guy out of jail. He can help me find Phalomir, he’s the Dark Lord of the Armorers, remember? Also a damn fine sorcerer. In fact, he carries in him the lines of all three houses. But anyway, we’re about to embark on a mission to find him, warn him of the darkness thing before Jharmeen – I mean, the Dark Lady – you know, under the spell of this darkness, does something to him. Then we can save her, get the Sith all happy and unified again, make some new friends in the galaxy, then kick some Vong ass.”

Thoran smiled, then looked at the young girl as he walked.

Sometimes with a vengeance.

So she didn't say anything much, merely returning Freedon's vow to protect her with a simple, "thank you" before stating the same to Thoran. Then she quieted altogether, focusing on leading him through the maze of back corridors until at length they emerged via a nondescript wooden door into another stone passageway, one with a lower ceiling and one whose walls dripped with slime and black mold.

Avoiding coming into physical contact with the noisome walls, she proceeded onward, turning left at this branch, going through that door to take stone stairs slippery with moisture down and down into encroaching gloom. On and on she led, deeper and deeper into the bowels of the great Temple until at length, after an indeterminable period of time had passed, she led Thoran out into a short passage.

"We are in the belly of the beast," she commented as she pointed to a set of doors, the sole pair within this corridor, one on either side.

"The other man is in that room--" she pointed -- "while the one you occupied is the other and of course, now empty."

Letting her arm drop she then crossed it over her torso, letting the other come up to join with it, and turned to face him.

“Well,” he said. “My plan was to jump through the Darker Realms, back into the cell, grab Sorben, and then back out here through the Darker Realms again. I got one problem, though, in that the nasties will be expecting me to do that and are waiting to tear me apart. I was kinda hoping to be able to open this lock, and I’ll give it a try. A key would help a lot, obviously, but I have a couple of tricks I could try. As a last resort, I’ll try the Darker Realms. I just realized that means nothing to you, and to explain it would take longer than we probably have, but let’s just say I have the power to open a gateway into Hell and back, sort of.”

Thoran started to say something else to explain away the look on RhoHalla’s face, then realized he had nothing to say that could possibly do that. So he instead sighed and turned his head towards the small hole in the door.

Not to mention find my armor, if there is indeed a god in the known Universe...

"Yeah," I replied tersely, backing away from the door and tensing my body into the very semblance of the walls which imprisoned me. My senses flying back to my days of hunting, every cell alert for whatever might come at me from whatever direction, I crouched slightly and thus prepared waited to see if my unseen partner could and would follow through with his promise to free me.

Thoran lifted the lock and felt its weight. It did not move far, for part of its efficacy was that it allowed little if any movement of the door when secured. Sighing again, he wished he could reach deep inside for some magick, but all he had within him was his strange ability to manipulate spirits, and the dark portal opening afforded him during his service to the Master. Thoran was no sorcerer, and he was not a warrior. In fact, he was simply a thief from a time long before anyone even knew or cared about such things as the Empire, or the All. But he had worked with those who could do great things, and he learned from them.

Thoran licked the claw on his finger, ready to apply his skills to the task. He inserted his claw into the lock and felt around inside. He put his ear to the side of the lock as he moved his claw in the slightest here and there, feeling for the mechanism. After a moment he withdrew in frustration.

A hairpin??? My rescue depended upon a hairpin???

A growl began rumbling in my chest.

"Look, pal," I spoke up suddenly as I pressed myself against the stone next to the door. A bit of old dirt and grime sloughed off on me; turning my head slightly, I perused it in a new light.

"Look pal," I began again. "Maybe you can try something else, like forcing this door somehow. I mean, wood doesn't grow out of rock unless it's in the form of a tree, and this--"

I rapped my knuckles against the ancient wood.

"--sure as hell doesn't look green and leafy to me. Why don't you see if you can dig out the hinges; this stone looks old and damp, and old and damp stone isn't as strong as stone that is dry.

“Look,” he said, “I was just trying to figure out a way to do this quickly without resorting to what I really don’t want to do. But maybe it would be just as easy to do this anyway. I’m going to open a --”

Thoran paused, trying to find a way to explain what he was about to do without sounding like a complete fool.

“Ok, well, I’m going to open a portal into another dimension…”

That wasn’t the way.

“All right, look, I know that sounds crazy but you have to believe me. When you see a slit appear in your cell, like a tear in the very fabric of existence, then run through really quick. And I mean quick, because I don’t want to hold it open any longer than I have to. I’ll be waiting on the other side, and once you get through I’ll open another door back to this spot. Then we both run through it as fast as we can and I shut it.”

He stepped back down and looked at RhoHalla.

“You probably think I’m nuts, but I am a, um, wizard. Of sorts. But what I am about to do is very risky and could be dangerous. If anything but me or that guy on the other side of this door comes through there, run as fast as you can for the nearest warrior and tell them the demons are back. I’m going to pick a different location this time, since they’re probably waiting for me in the caves… oh, never mind, you don’t know what I’m talking about.”

Without waiting for questions, and without waiting for his courage to give way, he turned away from RhoHalla and slit the air with his finger. A small crack in existence formed before him, shimmering along the edges and then opening like an elongated tear in a wind-blown sheet. He took a deep breath and stepped quickly through.

Thoran glanced around quickly at the desolate black landscape. There were no demons in the immediate vicinity, but he could hear the sickening chattering and howling in the not-to-distant distance. Dark shadows moved across the horizon, and he turned his eyes away to close the portal. He wished he could keep two portals open at once, but it was beyond his ability. In fact, just opening one took a great deal of energy. His ability to move in and out of the Darker Realms was granted to him by the virtue of his servitude to the Master, and now that the bond had been severed he could feel that power fading. But there was still something within that connected him to this land, and this also concerned him.

He turned his body and raised his hand to open the portal back to Sorben’s cell. He hesitated, seeing the Black Tower in all of its ominous glory. He had guessed correctly that there would be very few demons in this locale, but the sight of this monstrous construction made him shiver. He followed the dark skull shaped walls upwards and inhaled the rank air deeply. A figure moved in the shadows behind one of the huge empty eye sockets. Thoran let his hand fall to slice the air once more. A shimmering tear appeared before him, leading into Tarnus’s cell. As it widened he could see the human standing on the other side, eyes wide.

“Hurry!” he hissed.

(((Thoran jumps to Siege of a Soul in this forum)))

Then I shrugged; it was of no importance, at least not at the moment. Fisting my hands and wishing to all the known universe that I at least had my protective helmet and a blaster with me, I drew in a deep breath and quickly stepped through the rip...

((OOC: Sorben Tarnus departs for Siege of a Soul in the "Jedi/Sith" forums, thank you.))

The Dark Lady of the Sith appeared as if by more than mere magick, coming across the mysteries of all that is from one Sith temple into the next. Taking in a breath, she cast a glance about herself to get her bearings.

The corridor she found herself in was like any other, and although was indeed one she had entered at some distant time, was not necessarily the one holding the tiny cells which in turn held the prisoners they were seeking. The dank mosses which slimed the dim stones here were more than capable of telling those inherently magickal who was present, or who had traversed these crumbling halls; however she wasn't Sith, and therefore not magickal.

For indeed were the All and Sith magicks separated, and by a distance far greater than all the abyssal gulfs of Creation.

Phalomir entered the corridor through the portal.

“I am here, my lady,” he said. Looking around, he saw Jharmeen several doors down, peeking through the tiny holes in the doors.

“Hold, my lady, let us find where our friends are held.”

Phalomir held his hand to the moss on the wall next to him. Calling out with the sense of his magick, and using the authority of the Dark Lord, he connected with the ancient life that was affixed to the walls of the corridor and cells alike. This moss was an ancient presence in the dungeons of all of the Temples, and even in Phalomir’s original time they had aided the Dark Lords and jailors.

“They are both in the same block, across from each other,” he said to Jharmeen, who had returned. “Down that way, just to—wait…”

Phalomir listened to the empty air, taking in the information from the moss. His eyes darted back and forth, then jerked to Jharmeen.

“They are gone!” he exclaimed. “Aided by another, who still waits. Quickly, this way!”

"How could they have gotten out of the cells?" she wondered aloud, gasping a bit breathlessly.

"And indeed, if the one who waits is the one who assisted them, why does he yet remain? It makes no sense..."

She shook her head in perplexity; then knowing the answers to her questions might soon be answered she ceased speaking, devoting all her energy to keeping pace with Lord Phalomir, who by now had quickened his pace to a fast trot as well.

“There,” he whispered. “It makes no sense, but beyond the door at the end of this short hallway is our empty cells and the person who waits. The door seems to be slightly open, let me go first.”

Phalomir walked slowly to door, looked back to Jharmeen and nodded, then turned and pushed the door open further, stepping quickly through.

The room seemed to fill with his presence, but his stern expression turned to surprise, matching that of the young Sith girl who stopped abruptly from her nervous pacing.

I entered the passage silently, glancing about for a moment as the respective 'lord and lady' moved ahead. I silently ghosted behind them, casting a passive magic shield around me that would dampen mundane senses attempts to detect me, my appearance seeming now translucent; ghostlike.

I followed them, knowing that any comments would be unappriciated by present company, and did not even make suggestions as to how our supposed contacts had gotten out of their cells.

She fell to the cold stone of the corridor floor, not daring to look at anything but the dirt directly beneath her nose.

"M-m'Lord, Lady..." she whispered into the grouting, all the while beginning to seethe inwardly.

Where was Freedon? Why had he seemed to have abandoned her? For if ever there was a moment where she needed his advice, or at the very least the comfort of his presence, it was now.

"You do not belong here," he said. "But answer our questions truthfully and totally and perhaps the Dark Lady shall show mercy."

Phalomir glanced at Jharmeen, lingered for a moment, then looked down at the girl.

"Or perhaps not, but it is best not to test her. Who are you, and why are you in this hall?"

At least not in her humble opinion.

"There was one I had befriended whom I had heard was imprisoned, m'Lord," she replied, still not daring to lift her face.

"I had come to lend the comfort of a familiar voice. It would seem the news I was going by was false, though, for my friend is not here.

"No one appears to be here, m'Lord," she finally finished, and fell silent.

“This girl is not telling us the entire truth,” he said flatly, flicking his eyes towards the space occupied by Rykounagin, then back again. “My – sources – said she aided Thoran. He probably made his way out with a portal, taking Tarnus with him, but this girl’s involvement is a mystery. This is your clan, my lady, and your servant.”

She strode over to the prone girl, and knelt down in front of her. One slim hand reached out, grasped the girl by the chin, and yanked her face up from the floor.

Violet eyes bored into rose-colored ones, watched as a flare of something approaching a bid for independence ignited briefly, then died. She only gripped RhoHalla's chin more tightly.

"We know you have aided these two in gaining their freedom, for no one has ever before managed to escape from these cells. What is done is done, and shall be dealt with; it shall go much easier for you if you tell us where the pair has gone from here."

She fell silent, her grip growing tighter yet, allowing RhoHalla no relief from the steady yet somehow dangerous look she was sending her way.

"I-- I--" she stammered, striving with all her might to keep from bursting into tears. The hand remained inexorably wrapped about her chin, the eyes continued to bore into her own.

"I do not know!" she finally gulped, unable to hold back the flood of shock and terror at her own actions, the sudden discovery that she had had the temerity to do what she had done, to act against the system.

And thus to get caught like a womprat in a trap.

"He said he needed me to lead him back to the cells, and then he could release the other person, something about a portal and some kind of dark place-- they were to come back here, but so far they haven't, and it's been so long--"

She could go no further, but dissolved into silent hiccups and gulps, still trying to keep from utterly falling apart yet quite certain she was failing miserably in the attempt not to do so.

Then she opened her fingers, releasing the girl, who promptly tried to disappear into the stone upon which she lay. The Dark lady rose to her feet then, and stood a moment staring down at the prone form before turning to Phalomir.

“A portal to a dark place?” he asked. He glanced back to Jharmeen, his face growing grim. “If he indeed has lost his connection to the Darker Realms, he could be trapped there.”

Phalomir turned his head back to the girl.

"He tore the air," she stumbled, clenching her hand save for her pointer finger. The delicate claw upon its tip raked upon nothing as she moved her hand up and down a little, trying to explain.

"I-- I do not know how long it has been, but I do know it has been longer than it took me to lead him here from the Dining Hall, where we met. He should have been here by now, he said they would come back..."

“We have no way of knowing where in the Darker Realms he went,” he said. “And I know we dare not blindly stumble into that realm ourselves. Perhaps the library, or the Octahedron could tells us where they are, and if they still live.”

Phalomir then noticed the sounds of sobbing coming from the girl. He looked down at her, sighing.

“Thoran is, as of late, true to his word. He was placed in here by mistake, and is not a criminal. If he said he would return, and has not, then something must have – delayed – him. But…”

He turned his head back to Jharmeen, and continued. “We do know that he was able to open a portal, thus he still had his connection. I don’t see why that connection would be cut on the other side. Perhaps something else is preventing him from returning? I believe we really do need to consult a scrying device.”

Phalomir glanced at the area where Rykounagin stood.

"And send our escort back," he added.

Finally she spoke.

"You have been honest with us, girl," she said, keeping her voice steady but allowing just the slightest tinge of sternness to creep into it.

"As in reality both who are missing were imprisoned falsely, and are now freed, there has technically been no crime committed by you other than in thought. I believe you can come to your own conclusions through your own thought; you may now return to your duties. Remember all that has transpired here."

She paused as RhoHalla climbed to her feet, bowed low to them both, and then fled. When she was certain the serving girl was beyond hearing them, she turned back to Phalomir.

"This we can easily discover with the use of the Crystal Octahedron. I feel this not only the fastest method in finding their location but the safest one as well, rather then going to the Great Library where none are expecting us and too many tongues might wag.

"Although, as Dark Lady, I do have the freedom to go where I wish on this world."

She smiled slightly, then raised a hand, prepartory to opening a portal back to where they had come from.

"Have you any objections, or reasons leading you to believe why using the Great Library would be more to our advantage in locating Thoran and General Tarnus?"

Phalomir looked at the raised hand of the Dark Lady, and lifted an eyebrow.

“I do have one suggestion, though,” he said, half smiling. “Unless you closed the portal we used to arrive here, we should return using that one rather than open another, should we not?”

"A most sensible plan," she agreed as she then lowered her arm and began moving toward the closed door at the end of the corridor they were in. In going, she came up to the strangely warped spot Phalomir had spoken of; now that smile erased itself from off her face, though her brows lifted innocently.

Phalomir waited for Jharmeen to step through, for although anxious to return he was not moving before the Dark Lady. He watched the strange swirls of the bizarrely colored thing that would take them across the distance of space, safely back to the inner chambers of the Temple of Sorcerers.

His thoughts drifted for the moment to the matter he wished to discuss with Jharmeen and Aelvedaar. There were many dangers at hand, for now it seemed the Vong invasion was going to coincide with whatever problems were coming from the Darker Realms. Either alone was terrible, but both together were devastating. Now they had to strategize. But if the Master did not yet have the Finger, then perhaps it could be retrieved and used in the—What was that? Phalomir thought, breaking his train of thought. The colors of the portal seemed to shift somehow. He could not say for sure, but as he stared there seemed to be a very slight change in the pattern of the swirls. He blinked, and the portal looked the same as it always had.

He shook his head and stepped forward, following Jharmeen and Rykounagin through the portal.

(((Follow Rykounagin, Graysith, and Phalomir to If You Go Out in the Woods Today in the CSWU forum. THanks!)))