The Master beamed an eye at Rykounagin, his mouth set in a sneer.

“I suspected as much,” he said. “The runes tell a story, albeit a bit lacking in plot and character development, but a good story nonetheless. It tells of a cycle, one initiated by the discovery of the All. We have the Sith Triumvirate, you see, the ancient ruling body that has led our people through many countless generations. But when the Dark Lords of old learned of the All, this brought with it greed and a lust for power, and I think you can guess where that sort of thing would lead. That is why Trelanicus was hunted down, and why he allowed his secrets to die with him.”

The Master then ran his finger over several of the raised runes, tracing their lines and curves.

“But his cult lived on,” he said. “To every corner of the Sith worlds they fled, hiding their secrets and burying them in shrouds and riddles only a member of the sect would recognize. They hid clues in temples, on mountaintops, in deep frozen caves, and in simple peasant huts with deep wells.”

The Master continued to run his fingers over the runes, his face becoming more and more calm.

“But this set of runes tells more of the story,” he continued. “It mentions the triumvirate of old, and the path down which it led. The path to its ruin. It tells of the rise of the new triumvirate, and warns against it – that of the female. Oh yes, a female triumvirate alone would be scary enough, but that is not the reason of this warning. This rise will bring about the end of the game.”

The Master moved his hand further along the runes.

"Ahh- right," I opened with, then laid a hand on the Sith's shoulder. Pressing in, be he Dark Lord or no, I gritted my teeth and turned him to face me.

"Right," I repeated, letting my hand drop. "Look, pal, I'm really not quite certain of all the political intrigue you seem to be conjuring up--" For why else would someone clone a lot of a particular someone else? "What I do know is that standing here, wherever the hell here is, and dithering away isn't getting us any nearer to finding the friends I said I'd help find."

“Your problems are petty,” he said. “But I suppose in the big picture so are mine. So are all of us. The best one can do is make use of the time at hand and strive for what makes you happy. Your ship makes you happy, as does being with your friends.”

Phalomir looked again at the rows of clones, and shook his head.

“And I will help you, as I promised. Our paths have crossed at this juncture, and this must mean something. But I do not know how to leave this planet, not without the use of a portal. However, I believe I have found my answers, and we may leave this place at least.”

Phalomir placed his hand on Yaoksi’s shoulder and walked past, towards the door.

The power coursed through the tuk’ata now, and it fed into Shayla as well. He could feel her as well, and Llarnalth was beginning to like this new relationship.

Ahhhh...the foul of the air does produce great sustance, she thought back to the creature. And as for what you can kill otherwise, well...

Must be prey…

The tuk’ata lifted its head high into the air and sniffed deeply. It smelled the Sith, and of the other tuk’ata. It would be a challenge indeed, but it lived for the hunt.

And the hunt was life.

"Hey look, buster," I couldn't help bristling. "My so-called problems didn't even exist until certain people came along and sidetracked me from hunting for the people I've been trying to help find in a logical, normal manner. No Darker Realms, no demons from hell, no tomatoes who tell you where to go on planets taken out of the universe--"

I puffed for air.

"And no ship! Dammit, why do I do this? Why do I just go along with what every gut instinct I have tells me is wrong? Look, you might have some weirdo from thousands of years past out after your most Royal Lordshipness or whatever, but all I ask out of life is to get back to it.

"And a return trip to that place worse than hell is not my idea of how to go about doing it! You're the High Mucketty-Muckness of Sithydom, you're the ones with all the hoo-doo; you just figure out a way to get us the hell out of here and back to normalcy!"

I don't know why I snapped; probably just the thought of having to face another trek through horror once again. And I didn't know if it was the actual place itself that was making me react this way... or the prospect of stumbling across the sad remains of my poor Devil.

Find out what weapons...

Shayla pursed her lips.

The Dark Lord is the supposed Clan Leader of the Weapons Clan. Here lies knowledge of things that may be used to control the natural unnaturally, and he will attempt to access them. I must first know of any devices, and what they can do...

...before the pretender is dealt with...

As these final thoughts passed through Shayla's mind and to the tuk'ata's, the shadow of the looming Temple began to show in the distance in front of them.

"Sure." I said, beginning to examine the room more closely, while my thoughts went over the triumverate. Specifically the Female Triumverate.

“I said I would help you, did I not?” he said. “The problem we have, however, is that there is nothing in the arsenal that would assist us directly in finding a way home. That leaves two immediate options. First, we find the Master and travel through the Darker Realms. I understand your fear of this, and I cannot fault you for that. I too have my trepidations of that option, but with the combined power of myself, the Master, and--”

Phalomir paused, as if trying to force a bad taste upwards.

“—Rykounagin, we should be able to stall long enough to get the hell out of there without harm. It would only take a second or two. Another option, although this will seem strange to you also, is to take advantage of one of many random doorways out of the Elseness. This is a world between worlds, and there are countless portals that lead out of here to other worlds. The problems with this are, firstly, we need to remove ourselves from the planet to find a portal, and, worse, we have no idea where – or when – such a portal would lead.”

Phalomir shook his head.

Suddenly I felt badly about snapping at him. I lifted my chin, and in strove to lighten my tone a bit.

"Well... it's the best we can do at the moment, and I suppose that since you're who you are with all your hoo-doo, if someone begins to act up against us you can offer protection to complement what I can."

I patted my holster, and let a little smile creep about my lips. Funny how it's presence, along with my attempt to not be so witchy to Phalomir, seemed to suddenly lighten my own terrified spirits.

I took another look around, waved a hand to indicate the clones.

"Ummm... I know I said these guys would more than likely be unnoticed here, if not unattainable. But do you think you should maybe, well, muzzle them or something? You know, just in case--"

I didn't finish that sentence, not wanting to give myself a recurrence of heebie-jeebies. Anyone who could blithely parade onto this strange world, hidden as it was in this strange place, and who would then put into action whatever it was he was thinking of doing, was someone I didn't want to come close to meeting.

Not even in a dream. And what with Phal's talk of being displaced in time... and now the announcement of these portals that send you to when he didn't know... well. It suddenly seemed that leaving these clones unattended didn't seem to be in the best interests of the Sith Lord.

But then, who was I to tell him what to do. So I just put the biggest smile that I could on my face, gripped my blaster, nodded backward over my shoulder and said:

"Are we walking, or is Fido gonna carry us?"

“Not carry,” he said. “But go to him, he will show us the way. I feel better about this decision, my instinct is still to ‘muzzle’ them…”

Phalomir waited as Yaoksi gave him a strange look but then moved past. As soon as Yaoksi was free, Phalomir raised both of his hands and held his palms out, one each towards the first block of ice in each row. A bright light shone from his eyes as a fiery red energy struck from his hands and blasted into the ice. The energy then arced to the next block in each row, then the next, until each block was part of the chain of red power. Phalomir let loose with a loud, vicious roar and the red power surged. One by one, along each row, the blocks of ice exploded into chards and smoke.

Lair, it sent to Shayla. Close, lair am here. Blood-clan, not mine, not friendly. Mine killed, dead all, but other clan live here. Move we, smelling me. Smelling blood-clan, here living; smelling Dark Lord, in there being

The tuk’ata snarled low.

...and more importantly, what it may be used for...

Trailing at this, a little dark thought crept into Shayla's mind of a threat which was a very real and palpable thing to her. for if there was weaponry here accessible to certain individuals who may be able to learn how to use such weaponry...

The Master continued to touch the runes, quickly traversing through sequence after sequence. His hands moved unnaturally fast and after a few moments he stopped and sighed.

It was only a momentary flare, the backdraft leaving a momentary void in the air before it was filled by rushing air from the stairwell.

But more importantly now, there was only one rune that stood out, that now glowed with the appearance of trapped fire. "You see, like magnets, magic attracts magic. That's our key." I said, gesturing at it casually. "You can figure out how to trigger it." I said, not up to full strength yet even considering the healing.

He understood immediately. Setting Link down, he approached more closely and stopped a meter or so from the edge of the strange device.

"On Sith world, how heavy blockade is?" he queried, feeling that the answer to this question might indeed prove to be helpful in the future. But to his amazement, nothing happened. The device merely remained stubbornly blank.

He turned to Aaron, clattered his mandibles a bit and then returned to the device.

"On Sullust, Piringiisi volcano erupting, is?" he tried experimentally.

Nothing.

He would have frowned had he the ability. Instead his mandibles set up a staccato racket for a second or two before quieting enough for him to ask a third question.

"World this is?" he asked hopefully.

The device acquiesced to reply to this, the greeny-golden mystery within it now swirling in loops and coils to finally coalesce into a rather mediocre looking world. Over this world an image of a sigil appeared, one that once again mirrored the one on Phalomir's wrist. Behind the world, however, lay a murky smog that was clearly not the black of space.

K'kihl nodded, his understanding now complete.

"Limited in power, is this device," he asserted then. "Of this world only can it reveal; of otherness, not. Whether built to reveal this world only, or also trapped by strangeness, speculate I not."

He shrugged, then straightened.

"This room, of itself or larger place is?" he asked, waving a manipulatory appendage to the side. Once more the device obliged him, the image of the world warping and fading only to be replaced by a schematic view of a rather imposing looking ediface. From one spot along it's boundary outline a thin line ran straight and true off into obscurity; close to where that line intersected the outline of the building four bright green dots were blinking.

"Ahh--" the Verpine stated then, and stated no more but leaned in more closely to study the schematic with his engineer's eye. At length he whirled and moved quickly away, coming to a halt in front of one of the bookcases. He studied the book titles with great care, at last coming to one bearing on its binding the same sigil Phalomir wore. With a little clack of his mandibles, K'kihl reached out and pushed the book.

The entire bookcase rotated on its axis, stopping perpendicular to its original position. Beyond, the insectoid could make out a great, shadowy room, one filled with richness and wonder and even more strange looking devices.

He looked back at Aaron, who was still eyeing the image in the device.

“Yes,” he said. “You have managed to discover that the runes are lined with Sith magick. I could have told you that. But it does not provide an answer as to what sequence, or combination, or even with what body part to touch them. However…”

The Master studied the statue, his eyes moving slowly up and down the ancient stone.

“Perhaps the runes are a distraction,” he continued. He raised his hand and held it over the statue’s face, and a line of intense red light flashed from his hand and shown on the stone. He moved his hand slowly down the statue, sliding it left to right as he made his way down. When he reached the midsection of the statue, a small rectangular shape was outlined in the red.

Eyebrow raised, the Master reached for the rectangle with his other hand and pressed the middle of it. A nearly inaudible click preceded a rumbling that reverberated through the chamber, and the area of wall in front of the footsteps slid slowly open. The Master waggled his eyebrows at Rykounagin, let the light from his hand go out, and together with Rykounagin stepped to the now open doorway.

A set of steps let down into darkness.

Eventually they up far enough where the water ceased to show on the walls, and after walking for seemed like an eternity the smell of fresh air came into the halls.

Then the tuk’ata stopped abruptly, causing Yaoksi to stumble into its tail. It sniffed at the air, over and over, in long breaths. After a moment it lowered its head and uttered a low growl.

Other near is, it sent to both Phalomir and Yaoksi. Welcomed not, enemy maybe is. In Temple is. Fighting am I, calling bloodclan am I.

The tuk’ata let loose with a long, loud wail that resounded though the hall. Both Yaoksi and Phalomir were forced to hold their ears as the tuk’ata’s vocals blasted through the temple. After a full minute it finally went silent.

Brothers told. The tuk’ata again sniffed the air. Others here is, temple in is.

Another low growl came forth, but this one held more contempt. The tuk’ata stalked forward, leaving Phalomir and Yaoksi to look at each other in momentary confusion.

In a few minutes, the distant top of the temple was visible through the sporadic clearings. The tuk’ata pressed on, slowing only for maneuvering around trees and brush, until all at once it stopped, front paws skidding into the dirt. Shayla again nearly tumbled off, this time grabbing tightly to avoid flying over the beast’s head.

A quiet animal wail could be heard, carried by the wind from the distant temple.

I lifted a brow at this, turned to Phal.

"I thought you said this world was empty?" I asked, now turning away to watch the staccato go muffling off, grumbling to itself.

“Yes, there is something else in this temple. A tuscata’s -- tuk’ata’s -- senses are very acute. It said it was something unwelcome, perhaps an enemy. Ours, or his, I am not sure, but we can be fairly certain that any enemy of his is an enemy of ours. I suggest we stay close to him, and you stay between him and me. I can provide protection with my magicks, and can draw upon the energies of the Temple.”

Phalomir turned to look behind, the halls dimly lit and now foreboding with the tuk’ata’s warning. He sighed and turned back to face Yaoksi.

“He said he called his brothers, so there will soon be a host of tom—of tuk’ata outside. Do not be alarmed when you see them, they are part of his pack, and will not harm you. At least, they should not.”

Phalomir half-smiled and began to walk with Yaoksi.

“You should have been with us when I first came here with Galen, Jharmeen, and the others. The tuk’ata lined the road to the Temple and sang for us. It had been a very long time since a Dark Lord walked these halls, and this clan had been the lone guardians of the Temple all that time. They are fearsome allies.”

A thought struck Phalomir as they walked.

“What did you say happened to the others after I was taken by the tuk'ata? Especially Shayla?”

I shook my head, my thoughts darkening as memories came rushing back.

"Well, there was a general brouhaha and confusion when you were snatched; the consensus was that you were din-din for Fido, although she kept insisting you weren't. Your dear ol' dad didn't believe her, and wanted to take us back to reality through the Darker Realms, and his sidekick wasn't doing much to try to dissuade him.

"Me? No way in hell, buster; I thought it would be better to go see if you really had been made into mincemeat, and suddenly your papa changes his ever-lovin mind. Poof-- he makes a nice little path where the taskerdoodle had run off with you. We were in the middle of debating what to do then, when Blondie goes all dark and ballistic on us, and whammies your pop and his little stooge. Puts 'em into some kind of sleep, covers 'em with vines.

"That didn't cotton well with me. And then soon thereafter, Thea drops down in some kind of sleep she insisted she didn't create. I still don't believe her, though..."

I paused a moment to study the walls we were passing. They seemed to stretch upward into infinity, covered with runes and sigils and strange images and pictoliths. I shook my head, brought my wondering senses back to earth again, and taking a deep breath of air pressed on.

"Basically, I said I was going to find you. I left K'kihl with the kids and took off, and finally met up with Fido at the little stone hut.

"The rest, as they say, is history."

Phalomir continued walking, looking at the walls much in the same way Yaoksi had.

Which it really could be... but don't go there, pal--

"Well-ll," I said slowly. "At first she was kinda cool, all logical and whatnot, positing the question of why a tuskadero would attack a Dark Lord when they're supposed to be their bodyguards or something. She actually got angry with your dad and the other weird Sith dude. She got really, really mad when he changed his mind and opened the path, and accused him of trying to lead us somewhere else but not to you. Said she, ummm-- wasn't going to be lead as a lamb to the slaughter, and then whammied them."

I paused a moment, meeting the Sith Lord's verdant eyes with my own green pair.

"Funny... but that path did take me to you, or at least to where you had ended up before-- well," I fumbled, trying to piece things together.

"Your trail ended at the hut, and Fido found me and brought me from where that stone statue was, to here.

"Anyway, Thea went a little crazy, calling her a traitor and evil and all that, I think she would have attacked her; I tried to calm her down, but--"

Again I paused, now closing my eyes so as to better resolve the shaky shadows swimming about in my head into more coherent memories.

"She told us your father constantly lies, that he was going to take us back to the Darker Realms to kill us, that he had taken you somewhere and tortured and tried to kill you. All through this she was adamant that you were alive, although by this time I didn't know what to believe. There was once when I thought I saw.. something, deep in her eyes, when I was confronting her, reminding her of what she did back in the sick ward on your planet.."

I stopped abruptly, a frisson racing up and down my spine.

"Anyway, that's why I decided to set out on the path your dad had opened, to see if I could find you myself. Only then could I be certain who was telling the truth, and who was lying."

A final peep of memory squawked for attention: an image of Shayla, tears welling in her eyes, telling me that her husband was trapped on Dagobah, that Phalomir wasn't the only one who had been betrayed. After a few minutes of waffling as to it's importance, I tossed it out to the Sith Lord as well, then fell into a thoughtful silence, trying to remember if there was anything I had missed telling him.

“I do not know what to believe of her,” he said. “We were clearly betrayed by Jharmeen, or rather, Graysith, when we were sent here instead of Dagobah. Whether Shayla knew of this deception or not, I cannot say, but I must think she did. If she were truly betrayed along with the rest of us, however, she may blame my father somehow…”

“My father was once a part of the Darker Realms, a prisoner to his own darkness and blind devotion to a cause that he thought was right. But he was misled, and believed that the way to save the Sith from impending doom was to bring about the birth of a super-being. He wanted to fuse the darkness that gave power to the Darker Realms into me, and in order to prepare my body for that, he tortured me and had his demons commit certain – atrocities. But that is over.”

Phalomir’s body language indicated that deep within him, just the opposite was true. He would bear the trauma of that time for the rest of his life.

“The Master was defeated, beaten by Jharmeen and Shayla, and the others. They rescued me, we fled, and then later something else drove the darkness from him. I do not know what did this, but it is indeed gone from him. If any wickedness lives within him, it is his own.”

Phalomir shot a look to Yaoksi, as another idea struck him.

Phalomir stopped as the sound of the tuk’ata’s claws clicking on the stone came to a halt. It stood still, staring down a long hallway at the light that spilled from an open door.

Phalomir looked at Yaoksi, who looked back in turn. Phalomir nodded and stepped closer to the animal, and put his hand on the tuk’ata’s back. The tuk’ata did not move, and Phalomir slid past. He walked slowly and quietly, hugging the wall, towards the door. Halfway there he paused and looked back at Yaoksi and tuk’ata. He then swallowed and continued on.

When he reached the door he paused, collected himself, then turned and stepped to fill the doorway. He tried to see inside, but as soon as he moved into the doorway the room went dark. While Phalomir stood, waiting for his eyes to adjust, the tuk’ata moved like lightning to stand beside him.

Only to discover that it wasn't dark in that strange room at all...

It was blue. A weird, deep, electric, ultrviolet kind of blue, the blue that just edges in upon one's visual limits, leaving one with the sensation that he is looking at something but just can't quite determine exactly what...

I blinked, rubbed my eyes, squinted... and thought I could make out a wavering image of--

The strange lightning in that room, however, was quite more than enough to gain his attention.

Everything was blue...

...and there were devices, everywhere.

Aaron's jaw nearly dropped to the floor with a resounding thud.

"Woah," he whispered instead, at first just scanning the new area they found themselves in...

...and then hearing something that for damned sure sounded like scratching, and footsteps.

More than one set of footsteps, at that.

He reached down and fingered his blaster. But then he heard something. A voice, and perhaps a familiar one.

K'khil?

Aaron took an involuntary step back, now seeing to shadowy figures in somewhere in the strange blue vicinity.

He turned around, beginning to speak, but drew himself up short with an agitated clack of his mandibles.

The bookcase, indeed, was firmly closed. And he had an all too clear direct line of sight to it.

Aaron and the kids were gone...

“Aaron?” said Phalomir. He blinked twice to clear his eyes.

The near-blue wavering lights began to diminish, and the normal lighting came back. Phalomir stepped forward into the room.

“Aaron, it IS you!” he exclaimed.

Phalomir stopped to think logically about what had just happened. Then the knowledge of the Clan, deposited into his mind when he completed the ritual of becoming Dark Lord, came forth with a theory. The Temple was known to have traps, devices that work on warm-blooded creatures to keep certain areas guarded and inaccessible. The lights in the room could perhaps have been caused by such a device, transporting the victims via an All-powered portal to here…

“Are you well? Where, um, were you just now?”

Wherever that happened to be.

Frustrated, he turned back to consider the room he found himself in. It stretched off into an unknown distance, it's walls hidden by murky shadows. The only light was provided by the sole glowstick that he carried. He held it down below his waist as he moved along, so as to not blind himself against the gloomy dark.

As he moved along the sensation of hulking devices pressed down upon him, devices which were hardly seen but instinctively felt. His antennae quivered this way and that, seeking answers to myriad questions, but the one of primary importance to him received no answer whatsoever:

What had happened to Aaron, Thea and Link...

Suddenly the light from his glowstick revealed something: another set of doors, richly carved with strange runes and sigils, inlaid with ancient woods patinaed with age. He approached the doors, reached out to touch them; they oiled silently open, revealing a corridor leading off to his left and right.

He trailed then as he turned and looked behind him, only to find no bookcase there whatsoever. He turned back to the others, his eyes widening, opened his mouth to say something...

...then closed it again as with a start he realized something else, frowning more deeply. "I followed K'khil in here," he finally said, frowning, looking around. "Didn't you see him come in before me? Where is he?"

Suddenly Aaron had a very funny feeling. For as far as he could tell, K'khil wasn't anywhere in the room.

“Let me help you with Thea,” he said. “If K’khil was with you, this helps explain things. Wherever you were, I believe you may have stumbled into an ancient trap of sorts. The Armorers devised many means of keeping unwanted visitors from entering places of importance.”

Phalomir stepped closer to Aaron and offered to take Thea.

“But if you did indeed walk into such a trap—or really more of a ward—then it would have been one infused with the All, since you obviously came here by means of a portal. If Yaoksi saw K’khil – which is why I assume you called that name, Yaoksi – then perhaps the portal was triggered but did not effect him, since he is not warm blooded.”

Phalomir stopped and thought for a moment.

“But if it were infused with the All, then that is most curious. The Armorers did not work with the All, it was not until the days of my – well, they did not do it. So it must have been placed by someone with the power… From the days of Tralanicus? Or perhaps the Master? Or Aelvedaar even?”

He looked back to Aaron, not realizing he had been staring at the wall beyond. Again he held up his arms to offer to take Thea.

“Where exactly were you? I mean, how did you come to be in the room you were in? I do not know of a greeny-gold thing that answers questions. And Yaoksi, are you certain you saw K'khil?”

I turned back to Aaron, who still looked a touch on the befuddled side.

"Don't ask me, I'm clueless too, pal," I opened with, then went on.

"How are the others? What's been going on since I left to find Phal? Hey, you know those tomatoes? Well, seems like we might have a big 'un on our side, which is going to be helpful should push come to shove."

Against-- what, exactly, Yaoksi ol' pirate?

A brief flash of white captured my attention, pulling me away from darker speculations. it was Link, who was standing still as a statue in front of one made of carved stone.

"Hey kid," I called to her. "You all right?"

"What... oh um... I've been better... You know its amazing I've been all over the galaxy and never have I had the time to see things like this. I'm always on the move chasing the next job, now I find myself with the time to appreciate all art and architecture of this place and the only things I have to worry about are crazy lady, and those weird Tu..."

As I was turning around I saw it and I instantly cut off what I was about to say. Even though the others spoke of it in conversation it didn't process that what Yaoksi affectionately referred to as a 'tomato' had tried to kill me earlier.

A wave of fear washed over me and instinctively I tried to backpedal only to trip and land backward on the ground. The fur on my body stiffened and I grabbed desperately for anything to use as a weapon and found my vibro-blade which I held as more like a club then a blade.

“Do not fear,” he said quickly. “This tuk’ata is my blood hunt brother, a guardian of this temple and loyal to me. He is not wild, as the ones you may have seen outside. He will not harm you, and will in fact protect you – and all of us – to his death. He is the one who took me from you, but he was doing it to get me away from Shayla. His name is – well, rather hard to pronounce, but a friend of mine, Panthar, called him ‘Diffy’. I do not think he would mind that.”

I shook my head, and quickly moved past the Sith Lord, raising a hand to him as a reminder that, strong though he might be, he was still holding my charge and loosely adoptive daughter by only one hand now. I approached the terrified Link, and let that raised hand now arc smoothly toward her in offering.

"It's ok, Link; I think we can trust him," I said with a nod backward.

"And as for dear ol Diffy, well... I think if he was truly dangerous we'd all be bug-splat by now, don't you think?"

I smiled, relieved to see that her demeanor seemed to be loosening a tiny bit; I drew in a great breath, for danged if I wasn't going to help her lay her final fears to rest.

...excepting K'khil, for whatever reason...

...we were being attacked by one of his wild relatives," here he paused, pointing back at the tuk'ata, "So we headed into some hut. K'khil bumped into some huge, weird-looking statue and accidentally opened a secret entryway to a staircase. We took those stairs down, kept following through some really rich looking doors, took another set of stairs down...

...and ended up in some room...

...with a frozen thing that looked like it held a pretty fabulous copy of yourself in some rather impressive robes. Beside it was another space for another block--

one that seemed to have been melted because all that was left was the water; no body. Anyway, we then ended up in a strange set of tunnels, stumbled upon some weird bubble device that carried us on to a particular stopping place where we ended up in another room full of gadgets, rich tapestries and rugs...

...and that greeny-golden thing that answers questions. We discovered we were in some big ediface, were in the process of working our way into it via a bookcase that K'khil had somehow surmised would take us out of that room, I guess...

...and then I ended up here. Or at least, it was something like that."

Aaron paused then, his frown deepening. "We need to find out what happened to K'khil, and soon. The tuk'ata that drove us into that hut sounded to have some awful, untimely death as judging by some sounds we all heard...

K'kihl, ol buddy--!

I quickly apologized to Link by taking her hand quickly in mine, giving it a little squeeze as I helped her to her feet, and then before she could get too embarrassed I let it drop and turned back to Phalomir.

"That doesn't sound good; look, I'm kinda worried about my buddy, K'kihl. You know, the walking cricket with a fondness for hydrospanners? I wouldn't think a critter like Diffy there would find him especially tasty, but who knows who or what caused all the ruckus Aaron heard behind them."

I paused a moment to shoot a concerned glance his way, and then went on.

"Do you think your tentacled buddy there could scent out K'kihl? Or is this place too big for him to hunt in that way?"

I cut myself short as a surprising thought struck me.

Phalomir sighed, moving Thea to a better positon, curled up like a doll across his broad chest.

“As Dark Lord, I was granted the knowledge of this Temple, and what it holds within. But the places and devices Aaron describes are not known to me. This is most troubling, for there seems to be a part of the Temple that was intended to be hidden even from the Dark Lord. Diffy brought me to the hut with the statue you spoke of, and I read the runes, but did not discover the hidden door. If my guess is correct, then that door opened into an underground compound of some type, concealed and powered by both Sith magick and the All. I still think you stumbled into a trap that sent you here to prevent you from entering further. K’kihl was not transported here, I believe, because he is probably not warm blooded.

But as the power surged through his fingers, it immediately fell flat and seemed to seep out of him. But it not stop there, the power continued to flow from him, as if falling into the open air and dispelling. He gasped, and concentrated on burying the power back inside of him.

After a moment he fell against the wall and sank to the floor, gasping for breath.

"Ahh-- send Fido out on the hunt for him; won't that work? I mean, he sure seemed able to nose his way through the jungle out there, and then obviously managed to find you. Maybe he'll be able to find K'kihl, too."

As I spoke I sneaked a reassuring hand around behind me to waggle at Link's nose. Yeah, the gesture was something a father would more than likely do to a very young child, but I hoped it would help her bolster up her spirits. Perhaps if she could see the lightheartedness there, she'd realize that the animal probably wasn't going to eat her, or me, or any of our party for that matter.

Phalomir inhaled deeply and sent a sidelong look at Aaron.

“Then we shall rely upon your skills as an assassin,” he said. “Magic is not always the answer, and this shall be one those times when we rely upon ourselves.”

He stood tall finally, and glanced down the hallway.

Phalomir looked back to Yaoksi. And nodded.

I came back, and chuckled. "Someone made a very, very good attempt at hiding it, but they're stupid. Why would you clear out all the debris and dirt from the crossroad and then leave your tracks openly so close to it?"

"Do I ob--" I began taking a step toward him when common sense rose up to halt me in my tracks.

Look Yaoksi, you ol' pirate; he's pretty adamant that he can't just twirl his pinky and have the Cricket pop in from thin air. If he says we have to go back to the hut, then we have to go back to the hut.

I sighed.

"No, no objections. Other than I think we might be placing Thea in a possibly compromising position. She can hardly run, and one of us, preferably you, is going to have to carry her. That is going to slow things down, not to mention provide a means by which our unknown tomato-tweaker might get an upper hand.

"But hey, if this doesn't bother you, then lead on, lead on."

Phalomir turned and strode back to the hallway, where Md'diffnnd waited. Without so much as words, the tuk’ata turned and lowered its back so it may be mounted. Phalomir climbed on, tucking Thea safely into his arms.

“The journey would be quick,” he said, calling back. “But being weighted down with all of us will slow-”

Phalomir’s words were cut short as the low growl of tuk’ata came echoing from the other end of the hallway. Two hulking beasts walked into view at the other end of the sunlit hallway, and after a moment of staring at Md'diffnnd, both looked towards Yaoksi, Aaron, and Cel and lowered their front legs to come closer to the ground.

To my great surprise, words-- no, sensations of words crept into my mind.

Fearless be, harmless not I you...

"Wha--?!" I jumped back a step, surprised not only by the unexpected communication but by it's even more unexpected gender.

She--??

I gulped, took another step closer, reached a trembling hand out and laid it against his-- no, her glistening hide. Up close I actually found the courage to put aside my fears and marvel at her intimidating beauty. She was a deep teal, with violet spotting that blended up to a solid colored back. Her eyes, eerily pupilless, were an intoxicating icy green.

"S-sure thing, sweetie," I mumbled as I holstered my blaster. Then taking a deep breath I clambered aboard, gripping instinctively with both hands and knees as she rose smoothly to a fully upright position once again. I could feel her muscles rippling beneath me, and remembered the size of her fangs and claws.

Oh yeah, we're going to have a good defense! Before I could stop myself, an idiotic grin had plastered itself across my face. I turned to Phalomir.

“Be careful, Yaoksi, she may take a liking to you. Tuk’ata are very jealous, you best hope she has no mate.”

Aaron had finished climbing onto the other tuk’ata, but paused as he held out his hand to help Link up. Phalomir burst out into unexpected laughter, letting the momentary tension pass. Md'diffnnd sprang forward and trotted down the hall, soon followed by the others.

In a few moments all were back into the sunlight, moving quickly down the stone steps of the temple and into the ruins of the vast courtyard. When he reached the opening of the path that led into the jungle and to the hut, Md'diffnnd broke into a full run.

Unable to do much but hold on while the tuk’ata went sprinting along the path, jumping roots and bushes and avoiding other obstacles, Phalomir contemplated the statue and its secrets. After reading the book in the Temple, he felt confident he could find the trigger. But what he did not know was who placed the statue there, and who built the secret area that Aaron and the others had discovered. And why.

He also prepared his magicks for the confrontation he was certain would happen. If the others had been pursued, if were not a tuk’ata then it left little choice. The Master, Shayla, or something else. He would bet on Shayla had it not been for the fact that she left the group on her own accord. The Master was knocked out and subdued. So it could very well be something else…

He glanced back to see the other tuk’ata carrying their own loads. Aaron and Link seemed to be coping as best they could, but Yaoksi appeared to be on the edge of sheer delight.

The thought of my poor Devil burst through my euphoria, and to my surprise it didn't bring with it the pain I was so used to carrying. To my delight, I found it was the beast I was riding who was somehow alleviating my misery over my ship.

The Master walked to Rykounagin. He held out his hand and ignited a light from it, using Sith magick this time.

“Well, at least we know now that it is All power that this area sucks out. It’s like an entire hallway with the properties of an Eye of R’lous… perhaps we should name this the Hallway of R’lous… or, sticking to body parts, the Veins of R’lous.”

The Master laughed to himself as he followed Ryounagin.

“Not to distract you from your tracking,” he said. “But I am curious. What is it that makes you hate Graysith so much?”

I considered elaborating, and decided "hell, why not?"

"You see, the reason I hate Graysith is also the reason that I hate the Finger of R'lous. That thing is a pandora's box. I was instructed to steal it by a previous master so that he could regain certain lost bits of himself. As usual, the thing led to its' new owner's betrayal, and voila, I was put here."

...and dared not prod out with the Force too much at that point. Her greeny-blue eyes darkened to the shade of murky sea-water, clouded by black oil. She pursed her lips into a hard line, her mind now set to the task.

Keep an eye out, my friend. But be wary. Others lurk here who would dare to do harm...

Slipping that tendril of a thought into the tuk'ata's mind, she began to ascend the temple steps, quickly reaching the top. There she paused once more, knowing what her objective was, knowing that the task required a great deal of stealth and care...

...knowing of at least one individual who was, at least to her last knowledge, inside. She took a few steps away from the main entrance to the Temple to consider its grandeur...

...as well as to consider another, less expected entrance. This Temple, like other Sith temples, had great balconies...

...and Shayla suddenly found the already strong levitating abilities she had to be further strengthened by something other, something powerful. Stretching out with the Force as well as with that something dark now oiling in power within her, she chose her target, and levitated herself into the balcony on the second story.
Keep watch for me, below, she thought to the Llnarth. And then she quietly slipped into a richly-decorated suite, laden with tapestries and dense carpet. Paused a moment to consider.
Now. What you are searching for is not the sort of thing that would be laying about on the surface...

Nodding in agreement at these thoughts, knowing the Temple well enough to then carefully and cautiously begin working her way to other places, Shayla entered the room to which the balcony was attached, and then headed out of it entirely, stretching out carefully with the Force to discover, with some surprise, that the familar Force-signature she had been tracking her seemed to suddenly and quickly be fading away.

Leaving so soon? How interesting...

Deigning not to concern herself with that observation, however, Shayla continued to shield herself only with the Force, and searched until she came upon what she sought, one of many within the walls of the Temple:

A stairway spirling downward to...

...something. A darkness oiling up deeply within Shayla locked onto something familar, something known. She began making her way downward...

...and his thoughts strayed to the fact that perhaps Terrin was killed by a creature such as this one. He was killed by something wild here, anyway...

Frowning at this thought, Aaron's mind wandered for some length of time until they finally reached the clearing where the hut was. As they began their approach, the tuk'ata he and Link rode seemed to slow inexplicably beneath them.

The reason for its slowing, however, became readily apparent as they neared the hut. In front of it lay a mass of bones and gore. By the looks of it, whatever the thing had been it certainly wasn't human...

...and appeared to have something stemming from its appendages that looked very much like large, large claws. Aaron's eyes widened in shock mixed with something akin to horror.

Excepting one major difference. For upon the handles of this door was a strange sort of locking mechanism bearing an infinity symbol. In one side of the symbol for life had been placed; in the other, the symbol for death. Hovering above the sign were a set of chrome eyes.

And below, were three pairs of runes, resembling eyes as well: one pair was violet, one was turquoise shot with violet...

...and the final one a sea-like greeny-blue shade.

Shayla didn't even blink, but reached out for the door, placing one small hand upon it. The locking mechanism suddenly came to life, wrapping about her hand, molding upon it. Shayla didn't even blink at this, for something deep within her welled up in a strange sort of recognition at the process. After a few moments the mechanism seemed to find the desired match, and it withdrew itself from her hand, the doors oiling open to then reveal a lavish room decorated with thick tapestries and plush carpeting.

And in the center of that room sat a single object:

A large globe, its edges golden, and its center greeny-gold.

The greeny-goldness swirled, and shifted and morphed until two words splayed in its depths:

"What is this? How do you know me?" she whispered quietly, darkly. The center of the globe swirled and shifted, answering the final question.

You are a part of the Nexus. It is time.

After these final words splayed forth, a set of winding passageways below the Temple then appeared in the center of the globe. Two individuals were also shown within the image: One Rykounagin, and one Aeolmir. Shayla's eyes slitted further, and her lip curled in disgust.

They must be eliminated, she hissed. Strangely enough, the globe seemed to respond to that statement. The ground beneath them began to shift as the celing above them began to inexplicably crumble.

Another shift within the greeny-golden depths to reveal the images of Phalomir, Aaron, Thea, Link, and Yaoksi, all heading through dense forest to then approach the hut.

Oil rose in Shayla's eyes, darkness now filling them. She stretched out to the semi-sentient mind of Llarnarth, sending him a mental image of what she was now seeing in the globe.

Prey... she thought out simply. Prey...

“I do care for my son,” he said. “I care for him a great deal. I don’t expect you to understand this, but only one thing rivals his place in my heart, and that is the Sith people. You see, I was blessed – or cursed – with the gift of ingenuity, and a serendipitous discovery into the workings of time. This allowed me to see things, terrible things, that would befall the Sith. And to save them from this dark fate, I did the only thing I could imagine at the time – I made a deal with the Devil. In exchange for the power and means necessary to alter the events of the future, I agreed to sacrifice the thing that meant the most to me – my son.”

The Master looked Rykounagin squarely in the eyes.

“All I do is for the sake of my people,” he said. “And there are great things that need to be done still. The years of planning, of preparing, were ruined by the actions and emotional devotion of my son to that – that witch. I love him still, for he may yet be key to saving the Sith, but I am well beyond the hope of any sort of reconciliation with him. He hates me, and he has every right. But I do know that it will take something much worse than a tuk’ata to kill him.”

Tapping his long finger to his head, he smiled slightly.

“I foresaw his death,” he said. “I stole him from it, and cast him backwards while I prepared my plan. I knew I was still changing the future, even though through a different course than I had previously planned. In my preparations, I saw the new course of his life, where he dies at the hands of the one he loves the most. That is why I do not grieve, for he is not dead. That is the faith I hold, and the love I hold.”

Flashing a quick smile, the Master turned to look at the surroundings.

“And if he is alive, then he freed you,” he said. “For whatever reason, he felt you should not be under his control. In fact, I—“

The ground beneath their feet began to shake, violently. The Master stumbled against the wall, and grabbed Rykounagin as the ceiling above cracked and split open, tumbling tons of rock before them. Holding Rykounagin closely, the Master blasted out with a burst of energy to shield them. The rocks slammed into the hastily constructed shield and both the Master and Rykounagin were knocked the ground.

A few seconds later, the Master realized he was still alive, but the weight of the stones was bearing down upon him. Though the shield still held he was forced to expend enormous amounts of energy to keep from being crushed.

“Rykounagin…” he gasped. “Are you alive?”

"Ahh, who the hell knows." I swallowed thickly, averting my eyes from the scarlet mass. It was presented entirely too vividly against the emerald green backdrop upon which it lay; the mere thought of it made me shudder once again. Beneath me, the female tomato felt like solid rock, she was coiled so tensely. Her face tentacles flapped everywhere.

"It- it looks like it's.. inside out."

That did it. Quickly I slid from the animal's back upon which I was astride, and made a beeline for the surrounding forest. After a moment or two of self-purging I emerged, coughing and snuffling, wiping my mouth, feeling pale and weak but worlds better. The beastie lowered herself obligingly so I could climb aboard once again, which I quickly did.

Better to be sitting on top of a living arsenal than standing small and alone, should whatever had done this decide to make an unexpected appearance.

“We will not be able to ride the tuk’ata into the hut,” he said. “We should enter now, and leave them alone to their sorrow for a few moments. They will follow.”

Registering the blank stares, Phalomir continued.

“This was a tuk’ata, a member of their hunt pack. The way this poor beast died, this deed stinks of darkness. I would guess it to be Shayla, or even my father. Either way, they are most likely inside, and probably close to finding your friend. I will go first, then let you know if it is safe to follow. Agreed?”

Phalomir did not wait for a response, but turned and walked for the ancient stone hut. He pauses for a second at the opening, then prepared his magick and stepped inside.

The first thing he did was send a blast of light into the darkness, illuminating the stairwell and the bottom of the well. He descended quickly, prepared to defend himself. But there was nothing when he reached the bottom, just the statue as he had left it.

But not exactly as he left it, for he could sense a touch of magick residue on the statue, as if someone passed it over with a crude wash of magical energy.

I sighed. So be it.

Sliding off, I gave her sleek hide what I hoped she would recognize as a reassuring pat before, blaster once more gripped firmly in my hand, I hastened after the Sith Lord. While I really hated being parted from the tomato, for in the short space of time since we "met" I had grown unreasonably fond of her, I sensed somehow that she needed her "space."

But whither Phalomir ledeth, thereby shalt I followeth, or something like that. Besides, he was still carrying Thea.

Knowing that Aaron and Link were behind me I hastened down the steps, to find the Sith frowning in front of the weirdly carved, immense stone statue. I drew up beside him, settled my grip on the blaster.

"What?" I asked, not knowing what else to say, just understanding immediately that something wasn't kosher in Alderaan, as they used to say back in the day.

I gave a cry and lifted up as hard as I could with my right and left leg, before rolling to the side; feeling the jagged surface of the boulder cut my back as I barely made it out of its falling area.

"Feth that..." I groaned, getting up slowly, the back of my clothing torn and cut, but not badly. I looked around, waiting for another trap of some sort.

“Someone has used a crude form of Sith magick to study the statue, perhaps searching for magick upon it. It leaves a residue, although not for long. That rules out Shayla, so I think our tuk’ata killer is the Master. I feel somewhat better about that, oddly enough, for I do not believe he intends to hurt your friend. He may even have just gone in search for the rest of the group, upon waking and freeing himself from the vines Aaron described.”

Phalomir placed his hands on the statue and ran them across the stone.

Slowly the heavy stones began to rise, being lifted by the magick shield as their weight decreased. Soon the Master was able to throw them aside and roll closer to Rykounagin. The Master sat up against a stone and panted.

I began to crawl and make my way over the rocks, eventually ascending a small rise in their level, observing an almost total blockage save for a break in the barricade towards the top. "There's a hole here. I can probably get through but..."

This is NOT ACCEPTABLE! They MUST NOT enter.

HE must not find you, for he wants the power within you for himself.

Totally unacceptable.

Stepping awaay from the globe but still keenly aware of the events taking place within its depths, Shayla again looked over the room she now found herself in. Other than the globe in the center, nothijng else seemed to be in the room, just tapestries...

...so many tapestries, in fact, that the room seemed overdone. That darkness within Shayla honed in on something she wasn't even quite aware of, and growled in anticipation. She stepped to the wall, and began running a hand against its perimeter, up and down, carefully, for not so long of a time before she came upon a knot.

Strangely enough, Shayla seemed to know where that knot was.

Or rather, something within her knew where it was.

Pulling the tapestry back slightly, Shayla pressed on what appeared to be nothing more than a small raised notch on the wooden walls of the room. The spot responded to her touch, and an entire portion of the wall slid open to reveal a very small, unadorned room that was just large enough for her to step inside a few steps. Inside was a small greelwood table, with a solitary item in its center:

A Yuuzhan Vong villip.

As Shayla stepped in, the opening to the compartment slid closed, and the villip began to open...

Then he felt another vibration as he passed his fingers over a stone in the waist area, in synch but different, as if harmonizing with the other magick. Phalomir pressed down upon the stone. A grinding sound filled the room, and Phalomir opened his eyes to see the others standing in amazement, and Aaron looking a bit sheepish as a door in the wall opened.

“It appears we have found it,” said Phalomir.

He stepped forward as the grinding stopped and walked through the door. He immediately encountered a set of steep steps, and descended. Hearing the others eventually following, he flicked his finger and cast a light from it. Eventually the steps ended in a large set of doors, covered in runes.

“The new beginning,” he read aloud. “My friends, what lies beyond these doors was meant to bring about a change – an epic change, to the Sith and beyond. I know nothing of this area, which means the lineage of the Dark Lords knew nothing of this as well – or it was blocked somewhere along the line of succession…”

He exhaled heavily and pushed open the door.

“Perhaps even with Lord Rean,” he said to himself. The door opened easily, almost on its own. Phalomir stood staring as the light fell upon a pair of blocks exactly like the ones that held his clones, except these two were both empty.

“Again?” he asked. He could feel the others close by now, and he turned to face them.

The villip sent Shayla an evil smile and then turned itself inside out, now presenting to her an incongruous snow white face of darkness, in which there swam a pair of brilliant chrome and electric blue eyes.

"Yes?" came a growl of intense thunder...

"We have made the first move, and they do not even know it," Shayla purred darkly. "And now we have also made the second, and the nexus has been infiltrated, completely. The war has begun, and we only await your arrival. In the meantime, there are those who one stand in our way and pose a true threat: One Dark Lord of the Sorcerors Aeolmir, and one Dark Lord of the Armorers Phalomir. The latter may be easily swayed, the former not so easily.

...with someone who looked very much like you."

At what, ya ol' pirate?

I swallowed again, forced my arm down, forced tension to release a little so at least my jaw would work.

"Ahh--" I began somewhat stupidly. "We- we saw a roomful of these frozen doohickies, each with what I'm sure was a clone of Phal here--"

A grimace intended as a smile crossed my features.

"--and he whammied 'em. BUT if THESE frozen doohickies here held two more, were they both of Phal? And where did they go? And who in all the universe could have made 'em disappear?"

Another thought struck me then, one so obvious that it brought my blaster up to waist level once again.

"I thought this place was hidden here so no one could get to it, right? How could someone else have gotten here to-- to-- oh, I dunno, reanimate maybe or just plain steal this presumably Phal clone and whoever else was here with him...

"Not to mention why..."

I trailed off suddenly, paling. From somewhere in the echoing distance there came the slightest of noises, not much of a noise but considering there wasn't supposed to be anybody here but us it was definitely out of place. And judging by how small a noise it was, it wouldn't have been someone simply out for a stroll -- like my Verpine buddy, for example -- no.

This little sound simply oozed forth an aura of stealth.

"Goo-oo-ood," he purred in turn, the intensity of his gaze growing even more thunderous until the entire chamber seemed to be filled with a strange ultraviolet glow.

Figuratively speaking, of course...

The face within the pod seemed to turn sidewards then, staring down as if in contemplation, or if it was perusing something. It then lifted, pinning Shayla with the same intensity as before.

"There is linkage to this Dark Realm of which I have had some experience? And out again?"

The eyes grew momentarily vague as the Dark Lord recalled his brief experience with Maladius, seeming eternities ago. They brightened; the fleshy, sensuous lips curled in an even more oily smile.

"Your Mistress has those who dwell there under my command? I expect to find it so at my arrival!"

Having anyone else so much as thinking of owning the dark command of the imps was so intolerable to him as to be instinctively dismissed.

"If this is the case, then all is prepared. We shall meet at the designated spot; destroy this villip that none other shall find it."

He paused only for a moment.

"And as for the others, I do not expect them to be looking forward to enjoying a doddering old age. I give you leave to use your ingenuity. Use allies, if need be, but remember--"

He paused, the villip seeming to grow in stature, growing even more formidable.

"All shall owe allegiance to me!"

With that the villip reorganized abruptly reorganized itself into a simple pod, and sat silent and still.

((OOC: Abaddonis "returns" to Standing on the Edge of Forever in the CSWU forums, thank you.))

A stillness.

Awareness slowly crept over him, but disoriented and groggy he did not understand where he was. He allowed the memories of recent events to swim into his mind, but the swirl of images and voices in his head prevent a coalescing of sense.

The scrape of the stone from far away caught his attention, and he sat up. He was on a cold stone floor, and the area below and around him was damp. He realized then he was unclothed, and the air around him was cold and damp. His eyes adjusted to the extremely dim light, and he pushed himself next to the wall and away from the damp spot on the floor.

He heard another sound, this one closer, as if someone clicking the lock to a door. He stood shakily and walked backwards, away from the sound. Soon the door opened and a light poured into the room before him. More voices, though he could not see who it was who made them. But they spoke of stasis, of clones, of—

Of a noise.

“The tuk’ata are restless,” he said. He stopped for a moment, listening to the calls from Diffy.

He allowed the youngling to live long enough to send a call for help, and the two older bloodclan members who stood watch over the hut now moved quickly towards him. He let go of the dead tuk’ata’s neck and slipped away into the jungle, then dashed silently for the hut.

Smaller and sleeker than the others, Llarnarlth had no difficulty maneuvering down the spiral stairs, and with an effort squeezed through the secret door before it slid shut. More steps, then the prey would be within reach…

Silently…

Voices, coming from somewhere up ahead...

Although he was not stealthy by character, the surreality of it forced him into such; without thinking he segued himself into the shadows of a nearby niche, becoming one with the small spot of darkness residing there. His keen Verpine ears strained to their utmost, but no matter how hard he focused all he could make out was a single word.

That word, however, was enough to cause him concern. It was all he could do to keep his mandibles from clattering as he then tiptoed silently from his hiding spot to retrace his steps to a secondary corridor he had passed. Once there, he continued moving backward, eyes staring at places he had been occupying seconds before, ready to respond to any threat from that direction.

Thus he was taken utterly by surprise by the sudden and seeming threat coming from his back...

Chattering, he whirled even as he stumbled, finding himself now on the stones of the floor, flat-out face to face with a personage who remained unknown for only a nanosecond or two further...

He paused to collect his wits, drawing himself upright to stand quiet a moment longer. He cocked his head to one side, razed the figure yet on the floor with a steady up and down glance.

"Your garments, relieved yourself of them somehow you have," he observed before falling into a more characteristic, unflappable silence, now holding out a pincer to assist the other to his feet.

I let out a sigh of frustration, annoyed with myself to see how the tip of my blaster wavered in tiny circles in response. I gripped it more tightly, shot Aaron and Link an admittedly uncertain glance.

"And what would be making the tomatoes restless?" I ventured, hoping against hope that it would be some normal pack squabble they were involved in, and that if we all just stood still and silent long enough they'd leave the area and go about their beastly business.

And spoke!

But he was not going to let happen, not again. He was not completely sure of where he was, and why, or where he had been, but he did know WHO he was. And a man of his station and power would not give in to such frailties.

His face set in a scowl, he stood on his own, showing neither fear nor shame of his lack of garments. Power and confidence returned to his face.

“Who are you?” he asked. “What is this place and why am I here? It feels of the Temple, yet… not.”

"Remember you not I, K'kihl?"

The question was more of an introductory statement, for by now logic had forced him to deduce that someone, he knew not who, presumably their unseen enemies, had somehow overtaken the Dark Lord and had reduced him to this state. Therefore, it fell upon him to attempt to bring him as quickly back up to par as he possibly could.

"With you and Aaron Barnes have I come, with the young ones," he went on.

"Here purportedly by Dark Lady of Warriors sent in lieu of Dagobah. Tricked have we been, and toward Shayla are we on guard.

"Against the assassin on guard are we as well, as with your father. Loves you, does he."

A momentary flicker of sadness washed over Phalomir’s face, but it quickly replaced by a harder expression.

“Speak well of her when you deign mention her name or title,” he said. “She is deserving of all the respect the galaxy has to offer, and holds station not only within the Warriors, but over all of the Sith. As do I.”

Phalomir stepped closer, his confidence and demeanor returning, despite his lack of clothing.

...then paused mid-motion as something other seared up hot and heated. Whether or not this new thing was something of Shayla or something completely other was indiscernable. But the fact remained that it was.

He believes that he will have control! it snarled, hot and bitter. If he only knew...

This otherness dissapated at that, as quickly as it had come, Shayla's eyes their true greeny-blue for a bare moment before oiling over once more. And with that she stretched out once more, her fingers extended, and destroyed the villip in its entirity, returning it to nothing more than molecules. Only then did the compartment's sliding door slide open once more, allowing her to step out and back into the room with the globe.

She cocked her head and considered the scene it now revealed: one of Rykounagin makig his way through destroyed portions of the tunnels below. A dark little smile danced upon Shayla's features, something about it totally unnatural. She stretched out to Llarnalth.

Retrieve the prey, my dear, dear companion...

...but do not destroy them completely. That pleasure I desire for myself alone...

Sending out this thought, she returned her thoughts to the Master and Rykounagin...

...and dismissed Rykounagin for the moment entirely. Instead she stepped up to the globe, eyed the Master's image contemplatively...

...and reached her hand out to the globe. Something peculiar hapened, and without really knowing how or why but simply knowing that she could Shayla reached through the globe with her Force powers and channeled Dark Force through it, sending the already wounded Master to his knees with the force of ozone and knocking him completely unconcious for at least the moment.

And it was in that instant that the globe, strangely somehow linked to that which was within Shayla responded to "her" thoughts and desires. As Rykounagin whirled to discover just what sort of commotion was occuring behind him, the Master had disappeared entirely...

...and lay crumpled and unconscious at the feet of one gloating Shayla Stargazer Petrolu as oil danced deeply within her eyes before fading into obscurity.

But that was not what Fate had dealt him; forcing his mandibles to silence he drew in a great draught of air through his spiracles and plunged ahead.

"Missing our compatriots, Shawn Petrolu and Galen and Terrin Danner, and then Dark Lord Aelvedaar -- among others -- were we. To Khar Delba, there to meet with Lords Aelvedaar and Aeylmaar went we; to K'eel Doba did the Sith Thoran instead take us, there to gain help? Know not this I, only that through Darker Realms to avoid Imperial blockade traveled we."

He paused for effect, raising a pincer to his eye to wipe away an imaginary tear.

"Lost Boss-Captain Yaoksi's ship there did we; into K'eel Doba did we then escape. Hurt was Aaron Barnes, into Healing Chambers placed was he, so told was I. Heard I of attack of Shayla, killing many did she. Meeting with Dark Lady Graysith, did we, seeking help in finding friends needed we. On Dagobah are they, to Dagobah opened she portal.

"Only portal leading us here did; this is Dagobah not."

He waved a pincer, cocked his head more deeply to one side.

"Remember you not this, Phalomir? Remember you not meeting us in Healing Chamber, with us meeting the Lady, the Dark Lady of the Sith? Recall you not her making portal? Her sending us; Shayla too? Here come we, where Shayla again attacks, your father, assistance gives he did, now unconscious and beneath twining vines?"

He paused again, mandibles beginning to clatter as deep within his soul there began to grow a dark suspicion that, in regard to the Dark Lord Phalomir, something truly was rotten in Alderaan.

Phalomir led the group down the hall, coming to a fork in the passages.

“Which way?” he asked.

“Shayla?” he questioned himself out loud. Realization came to him, and he quickly forced himself to his feet. A force of Sith magic instantly blanketed him, and as he still fought to regain his full composure the magick formed into an instinctive defense. He then tried to organize his thoughts enough to call upon the All, but he knew he was not yet ready for this.

The Verpine's jaw would have hit the floor at that, but being a Verpine precluded this, anatomically speaking. So once again he could only relieve his growing startlement and concern by chattering his mandibles; they sounded like the castanets carried by the old Jabba the Hutt's dancing slave girls.

Gamely, though, he didn't run. Drawing in a breath once more, he opened his mandibles to try again when the Verpine equivalent of a light bulb flashed over his head.

Clones. Someone had spoken of clones. Here was Phalomir who was not Phalomir, who was as naked as a new morning, who spoke of a Graysith he had never met and whom he doubted truly existed.

He thought further, scraping his memory for anything he had heard whispered during his brief sojourn on K'eel Doba; the confusion of his friends regarding those they thought were of a personality, dear friends, only to prove themselves as being something...

Other.

Thought of the fact that they were now in a place removed from space and time... and if this place could be so removed, so could the occupants of space and time, or perhaps time itself could be twisted, or diverged, or--

He quieted, drew himself up and bravely faced someone he suddenly knew deep in his heart was most assuredly not the Phalomir he and the others had accompanied here.

"Of clones has someone here spoken," he said in sudden non sequiteur.

"Since knowing not that which I have seen with my own eyes are you... than the Phalomir who with us here is not you. Perhaps clone are you, perhaps clone is he.

"Which is which, how to prove, but find our friends we must. Danger here is there, danger more out there, in the reality that out of are we. Ladies in high royalty did we leave behind, one coming with us.

"But, Dark Lord if you are, believe me you must. No enemy yours am I or mine; friends seeking help most dire are we. With you here had we come, you to assist us, we to assist you. To come to bottom of this new quandary, find others must we."

He paused, waved a pincer about himself.

"Somewhere in this place are they, know not I where. Separated from them have I become."

“Clone?” he asked. “You think I am a clone? I can assure you, a clone I am not. But if you know me, that is, you know Phalomir, then I would have to say to you that you have known a clone of me. But time is a strange thing, my friend, and there are other possibilities that should not be ruled out. But for now, I shall believe you that you are no enemy of mine. But if you are lying to me, know that the full power of the Single Triumvirate boils within me, and in wars such as this I never give a second chance. If for one minute think you are in league with them…”

Phalomir’s eyes flashed a brilliant red, and a spark flew from his fingers.

"Engineer am I, hydrospanner have-- had I."

He trailed mournfully for a moment, then forced himself to brighten. After considering for a few moments the scorched mark on the stone wall impacted by the red flash this Phalomir had produced, another virtual lightbulb flash went off over his head.

"Magick apparently have you," he observed calmly, as if he was describing the color of the Sith Lord's eyes.

“I may be able to,” he said. “There are many ways to search an area, and many ways to find that which is lost.”

Phalomir spread his fingers and held his hands out before him. Sparks gathered between his fingers as he closed his eyes. He let his mind reach out, releasing his spirit from his body. Floating now, he looked down to see the insect still staring intently at Phalomir’s own body. He then moved along, through walls and stone, and searched.

After a moment, his eyes snapped open and a look of distressed wonder came upon him.

“I found them,” he said. “There are many—the Great Captain Yaoski himself, another human male, two children – one human and one furry – and… me. They are this way.”

"Coming am I," he said, then hastened after the swiftly striding Lord as fast as his multi-jointed legs could carry him. Phalomir set a fast pace, but his legs were long and he was fairly untiring. Quickly they moved through the winding corridors of the immense building they were in; even more quickly did his thoughts flick from one question to the next this new Phalomir had raised within him.

At length he could keep his curiosity under check no longer. Daring to reach out a manipulatory appendage, he tapped Phalomir lightly on the shoulder.

"Of this Great Captain Yaoksi did you twice speak," he observed, shaking his head inwardly at what to him was the utter incongruity of the title.

“In the years before the great war,” he said, “Captain Yaoksi was a diplomatic tie between the Sith and the human races. He was key in striking the great treaty with the Empire, which in turn led the way to the unification of the Galaxy. When the war came, although an unwilling victim of circumstance, he became one of the great heroes of the Galaxy.”

Phalomir turned to glance at K’kihl as he continued to walk

"Agreed," he said simply, storing the impossible statements Phalomir had made of Boss Yaoksi under the file Impossible, to retrieve and study at a later date. Now the important thing was to rejoin his mates, and let them know of the strangeness he had encountered in his solitary wanderings.

"But of your presence will I divulge," he stated, somewhat naively. Speaking no more he turned from the Sith Lord and struck out toward the bisecting corridor ahead. Once there he paused, cast a final look at Phalomir, nodded once, then left.

He turned his head to look Shayla in the eyes.

“He can take care of himself, I am sure. But I wonder about you, my dear. Why did you bring me here? Surely it is not to call me a liar and be done with it? You must know I cannot trust you, after twice attacking me. What is it you want? Or, should I ask, what does the darkness within you want of me?”

He smiled slightly, and then continued.

"K'khil, is that really you?" he called out as the insectoid began heading their way. As the Cricket finally got close enough for his identity to be perfectly clear, Aaron's face showed signs of evident relief.

"Oh thank the gods you are alright," he then commented. Then he paused, cocking his head a bit. "What the heck happened back there when we lost you, do you know?"

"Know not I," he replied, then continued a touch hurriedly for him.

"But met with Phalomir did I; and overheard someone speaking of clones, as well."

Turning from Aaron then as if what he had just stated was yesterday's news, he hastened to make certain the children were well. From there he moved to stand in front of Yaoksi.

His shining eyes moved up and down the lanky form of the green-eyed man.

"Impossible," he muttered to himself, shaking his head and then letting his mandibles chatter a few times before turning then to Phalomir.

“What do you mean?” he asked. “You encountered my clone down the hallway? Where? If the clone is awake and aware, then whoever is responsible for them may be here with us now. I should go dispatch this clone, and perhaps learn something of the its master.”

He moved to stand beside Aaron and Yaoksi again, let his mandible clatter.

"Distress this causes," he said suddenly.

"The Phalomir I met, harm toward any other did he not state. Of power was his bearing, but knowing not I nor you nor the younglings was he."

He paused to contemplate the figure whose lengthy strides were carrying him fast away.

"Of harm to others, killing clones of suspect is this one." He nodded toward Phalomir, paused a moment once again, trying to think.

"Why?"

Again he paused, struggling to express himself.

"In strange otherness this place is, removed from reality is it. Urgent to return to reality, more it is. Here are we all, now." He spread his manipulatory appendages to either side of him, pincers lightly brushing against the two men. "But the task this Phalomir now attends...

"Of what priority it is, ask you now I?"

...and what do you plan to do to get it?"

He folded his arms and half-smiled at Shayla.

“I made bargains already with the powers of the Darker Realms,” he continued. “But those deals were not kept by the darkness. Something other interfered, keeping me from inheriting the power I needed to succeed in my quest. Now you have that power, and your sister has that power… or rather, that power has you. And I ask that power now to listen to me, to reason. Changes to the Sith triumvirate will come, yes, and of that I have no concern. But aid me in my quest, and prevent a tragedy for two planes of existence.”

The Master then held out his hands to her, opened.

... and do not lose him this time...

and then perhaps I will know that your words are more than just that, and we can continue working on our bargain."

“It seems our bargain was dissolved some time ago,” he said. “You broke your promises to me, even when I had delivered him to you. Even when I had prepared him as you had instructed. I tortured him, had my demons perform atrocities upon him, all because you deemed it necessary. Do not speak to me of words that cannot be trusted. If you wish him still, then speak to me with respect or collect him yourself.”

He closed his hands into fists.

Knowing full well of the Vong, Shayla let absolutely no evidence of her knowledge of this seep forward. "You, as the Father, have the most opportunity to retrieve your son. If you do so for me, your bargain with will be honored, fully. It was the fallacy of Dark Lord Roan which lead to the end of your son's initial conversion...

“Roan did take me by complete surprise, the way he showed up at the Tower all vibrant and full of power, and him just a shade even, and then just sort of razed it all. Ironically, a short while ago I used an old device of mine to locate Roan, to see what he was up to. It took a while to find him, which in itself was rather interesting, but what it showed me surprised even more than seeing Roan at the Tower. It showed me Roan… the REAL Roan, I believe, imprisoned and looking more like a sack of rotten yag roots than a vibrant Dark Lord of the Dead. Rather mysterious, wouldn’t you say?”

But not even a mild case of curiosity about this. Shayla offered only a dismissal and then baited him about the Vong.

But wasn’t his own memory full of holes? Didn’t he arrive in this time, this place as merely a shade stuck inside the head of a human? And just where did he find the body he now occupied, and how did he know where to find it and how to restore it? What if his consciousness was destined for one of these cloned bodies…?

The blast came quickly, without warning, as if the shadows themselves fired the energy. Even as Phalomir turned to see where the searing lightning originated, it had already begun to short-circuit his nerves and he crumpled to the floor silently.

In a minute’s time, the outer robe Phalomir had worn was removed and wrapped around another Phalomir, who began walking towards the group that the insectoid had joined.

“Greetings,” he said upon his approach. “I am Phalomir of the Houses of the Sith. It is a pleasure to meet you all, and a great honor to meet you again, Captain Yaoksi.”

Er, he looked like Phalomir... and he sounded like Phalomir... but the context of his words sure as there's podracing on Tatooine didn't jive with what our Phalomir would say.

I took a shaky step backwards, avoiding the hand which loomed in my direction; only then did the accompanying words he spoke hit me.

I couldn't help it.

"HUH?!?" The word blurted from my lips before I could think to stop it. I shot another look toward the others, only then realizing that I still had a blaster in my hand. It raised instinctively, wavered, then lowered it a tad from where it had bull's-eyed Phalomir's chest to the region of his navel.

There it froze, as did I.

"Thinks you are savior of the universe, does he," he asserted with a definitive nod toward the burly Sith Lord, who was and yet somehow was not Lord Phalomir.

"These word games you play have grown tiresome, and we are past the point for me to entertain further requests from you. You are trying my patience...make your choice and follow through on your promises or begone.

"Only when you have given me your son will we determine the changes in our agreement that you require."

He raise a smug eyebrow to the woman before him.

“Not of the Universe, my friend, but nonetheless a very important figure in history. We met many years ago, at the start of the war, when you and the others convinced your Empire to join in our alliance…”

He paused, reading the stares from more than just Yaoksi.

"Well..." I drawled in another attempt. "As far as I can tell, we're on a Sith world aiming for a Sith temple, one of armorers, I think is what you told me-- er, rather what he told me-- that is, somebody told me..."

I trailed again, cringing inwardly at how ridiculous this all probably sounded. Cringed further, for it was about to become even more so.

"And we're stuck in some other dimension, something called the Elseness, I think; we were tricked to coming here by the Lady Graysith, who sent her little stooge Shayla along to keep tabs on us-- we think.

"As for who would make a clone of you, or why, I haven't the slightest idea. I'm new to this, buddy; all I can tell you is that there apparently were a passel of clones, but your twin whammied 'em, and was going to whammy you-- er, he headed off to kill himself, I think; at least that's what he indicated he was going to do... unless he's you; er, you're him... ahh--"

I ground to a halt, sending Aaron a silent look which cried out for assistance, still cringing and berating myself for not sounding more believable. But then, considering what we'd all been through, who could really blame me...

Right?

"It is good to meet you," Aaron suddenly broke forth with, sensing Yaoksi's unease. "I'm Aaron Barnes, owner of Eagle Enterprises. Pardon me if I'm being impolite, but could you tell me where the...

...ah...

"Well this is proving pointless..." I muttered, continuing along the passage. "Maybe I should have... no, it'd get used against me eventually."

Then, without a word, Shayla looked to the golden globe. Once again, it began to respond to that which was within her, not needing any verbal indication of what she wanted. In its center, greeny-goldness began to swirl and spin and continued doing just that as if it were seeking, searching...

...and not finding. This continued for a seeming eternity before the swirling finally stopped, and the globe revealed a multitude of Phalomirs, one unclothed and on the floor, one conversing with the others, and then an uncountable number of frozen clones. The globe at last went completely dark.

"Oh my, my," Shayla then whispered softly, darkly. "What a tangled web you have woven. I see why you care so little for him now, however. But I assure you, if you bring me anything but the true Phalomir...

"I'm not sure, kiddo," I replied as I gave her a little squeeze before letting go. A brief smile flicked about my lips.

"As for Thea, why, she's right over--"

I trailed, turning to Phalomir, my jaw erasing the little smile as it fell open with one of those awful ye ghods kind of realizations.

"Phalomir was carrying her... you were carrying her, only you're not you, and you whammied our Phalomir!

"Where's the kid?!"

I didn't care if this guy was bigger than me, stronger than me, and owner and operator of who the hell knew what kind of weird powers. All I knew was that he, or his doppleganger, was the last one to have my charge in his arms.

Phalomir turned and began walking back to where he had come, then paused to see if the others were following.

-------------------

Moaning, Phalomir raised his hand to his head – partly to see if it was still attached to his body, and partly because it hurt. The clone must have attacked him from behind with an energy weapon. But wait, no, he began to remember… it was blue lightning, the ancient Sith power. It had become a lost art, stolen centuries ago by the Dark Jedi and used very rarely among modern Sith… well, Sith of this time… well, actually, the Sith here were Sith of the time of the Dark Jedi attack. He shook his head, making it hurt worse.

He felt the warm body of Thea move slightly. She was still curled up in his right arm, kept safe from his fall by the sheer luck of landing on his right side. She had been hit by the blast as well, but she was alive. He did not know what damage had been done to her, but he was thankful for the breath he felt within her. He tried to stand but felt his legs wobble as he put weight on them. With a groan he rolled over to his back and sat up, keeping Thea snuggled close.

He then realized this was the first sign of movement he had felt from her since he had taken her. The shock of the Sith lightning coursing through her may have broken whatever it was that was keeping her unconscious. She was still definitely sleeping, but perhaps that condition would change.

“Clones?” he said, looking at Shayla. “Why would there be clones of Phalomir? And so many? There must be hundreds of them, why? How….”

His eyes widened, a frightening realization coming to him. Long ago, with the power of the Darker Realms behind him and the mastery of time within him, he had pulled Phalomir and Graysith from existence, freezing them in time and space and hiding them away in a secret place in the Darker Realms. No other would have known, except for the being that knew all that took place inside the Realms… but had always pretended not to care.

Now it saw clearly.

And each pawn had played its part well. The Dark Lords, all of them, had served in their own way. And now the ladies as well would serve their turn. And there were others.

There were always others.

The foolish game could be played in many ways.

"I have a bad feeling about this..." he stated very softly, perhaps unnecessarily, something about this entire thing screaming that they shouldn't follow. He shifted his blaster to stun. "This is not our Phalomir, and ours had Thea..."

Before he could consciously think about it, Aaron leveled his blaster, aimed, and shot. Phalomir "number two" never knew what hit him, and crumpled to the floor, stunned.

“It’s not the how they were made as much as the why. And you had nothing to do with this? I somehow find it hard to believe you.”

After a moment he sighed and stepped back.

“But I suppose I have little choice. If you don’t which is the real Phalomir, then I shall have to put them both to a test… assuming one of the walking ones is the real one.”

The Master shook his head as he split the air with his finger, forming a portal. The other end of the portal opened into a dimly lit hallway back in the underground passages he was taken from.

“With your leave,” he said. He stepped through the portal and paused.

“I hate clones, you know,” he said. He stepped the remainder of the way and held for a moment longer.

Hot damn, the man could act! I didn't know he had it in him!

Then I drew in a breath, a placed my hands on my hips.

"Well, I suggest we do something with this guy, because if he's got any of that magick that the other Phalomir has in him... and in fact, he does--" I amended, thinking back to the red crackling energy he had released earlier. "--I sure don't want him aiming it in our direction.

"So, what shall we do with him, anyway? And what in blazes do you propose to do next? I'm not sure exactly where our Phalomir went to, and to tell the truth--"

I paused a fraction as another thought slammed home to me.

"I'm not even sure if he is the real Phalomir at all! What if he's not? What if he's a clone, too?"

The incredulous look I was shooting at Aaron changed into one of rising trepidation, for I knew that if that indeed was the case, we were all so much bantha poo-doo, and more than likely stuck here until Blondie's mistress deigned to let us come home to reality.

For really, when you think about it, of what good is a clone anyway? And what had our Phalomir done other than lead us here, and lead us there, and slam-bang everything in sight that appeared to be a clone of him.

What if he had destroyed the true Phalomir?

I shook my head at that. It was beginning to ache like blazes.

Aaron trailed, frowning. "And I don't know what to do with him. I don't know if we can cut and run before he wakes up...."

And the darkness.

The Master knew who had those clones made, it had to be. There was no other being who knew where he had hidden Phalomir and Jharmeen. He was dealing in unnatural things, removing bodies from their own times, but back in his younger days he was so sure that his was the ultimate knowledge. He was so sure that his meddlings in the future would have only positive consequences. But now the very timeline he was trying desperately to avoid was already upon him, and in the back of his mind he was aware of his own role in bringing it about.

He looked around, and seeing that it was indeed the very spot he had left Rykounagin, began to wander back towards the large doors and the steep staircase. That was the where the group of Yaoksi, Aaron, and the children were speaking with Phalomir.

One of them.

How was he going to know which was real? That part was easy. The real Phalomir was not a walking corpse.

After a moment he heard footsteps from far beyond, and perhaps a voice.

"I don't know, I didn't hear--"

My words were cut abruptly off as from somewhere in that distance there came a call, a cry, as if someone was lost. And the voice was awfully familiar...

"I think we're going to have company, and I think it's Phal's dear ol' daddy," I said darkly, drawing Link closer to me. I didn't care at that point how tough the little slicer was; there was no way she could stand up against all the wierdness we seemed to be surrounded with, no way.

Yeah, ya ol' pirate. As if any of us can...

The Darkness had never left the Msster entirely, he had said so himself...

Stretching out to the globe with one hand, shayla then literally touched the portion of the image which showed the Master, connecting there, searching and seeking until it found something familiar, and something to command. For no matter how much one thinks he or she can control the Darkness, this is never so.

Bring the Son, and kill all the others, it whispered darkly to that of itself which was yet in the Master. Kill them now.

A dark hiss echoed in his mind, an inky blackness that he at once recognized.

You? But you had left me, rooted out by the collapse of the Tower…. How, why?

The command came reverberating through his head, crystal clear and full of power.

Bring the Son, and kill all the others. Kill them now.

The Master cringed, his hand flying to his head to keep it from exploding. He felt his magic welling up as if to cast a spell, and he felt at once powerful and helpless. He glanced again down the hallway at the innocents regarding him, and fought desperately to control his hand as it raised towards them.

He fought harder, but he could not stop the involuntary rise of power within him. A gurgling sound escaped his lips as he fought for the will to hold back the blast readying itself.

“Run…” he whispered, sharply sounding off of the walls. He sucked in a breath and shouted with a fury. “RUN NOW!”

Whether the innocents were able to move, he could not know. He held the power back for a few seconds more but could no longer control the magic. Something dark and powerful forced its will upon him, and he screamed in frustration as the bright blue lightning shot arc after arc into the end of the hallway, filling the air with ozone and dust as rocks crumbled where the blast struck.

"I don't know who we can trust but each--" I began when my words were nipped rather abruptly in the bud as Phalomir's daddykins put in his appearance. I froze, squinting a little as I peered into the darkness; was he raising a hand in greeting?

It seemed like he was trying to get our attention; what the blazes--

"Run now..."

The words impacted even as the hand I thought was raised in greeting proved itself otherwise. Well, actually, I'm not into precognition or anything, but there was something rather sinister about how he just stopped where he was and hollered that out to us.

I didn't stop to think about it in a committee; nor did I ponder on what the true purpose of that raised hand could possibly be. All I knew, quite suddenly and absolutely, was that it boded no good; and sure as gandyraks froze in headlights I didn't think we'd be able to run from whatever he was going to do.

"Down!" I screamed, reaching out and slamming Link to the cobbled stones at our feet, belly-slamming myself next to her and then quickly rolling on top of her furry body. I hunched over her, burying my nose in her fur, cradling her head in my arms as I tried to protect her from-- from what?

I didn't wonder long. My unvoiced question was answered as something whizzed and crackled overhead, filling the corridor with radiant electricity, every so often reaching a tendril of itself down to twang me on my leg. But thank the Fates the majority of it went elsewhere; presumably he thought we had taken him at his word and had hot-footed it, trying to escape, and had thus aimed along a plane about a meter or so above the ground.

I bunched myself into Link as hard as I could and prayed he'd not notice that we were laying there like so many granite slugs...

At length the awful discharge ceased, and unnervingly enough, the sound of choked weeping wafted into my ears. Drawing in a shaky breath, I dared to raise my face and squinted down the corridor once more.

There he was, on his knees, head bowed, crying like a baby. But I didn't stay put long enough to wonder why. I just leapt to my feet, my blaster suddenly materialized in my hand, and shot the bastard where he hunched.

He toppled like cordwood; I took a quick gander and discovered my blaster was set to stun. Quickly remedying the fact, I took careful aim once more, but something inside me made me pause.

He had called out for us to run. Was that to warn us, or to herd us? That just didn't seem right...

I wavered, said as much to Aaron from the side of my mouth. "What's your opinion, pal, what's to do now?" I finished, then refocused on the Master again, waiting to drill him and send him to his own Happy Haunting Grounds if he so much as moved one muscle or peeped one little word further.

...which means a few things to me. He's got a terribly sick sense of humor, he's insane..."

Pausing mid-sentence, Aaron's eyes defocused. He chewed his lip introspectively, as if debating over something in his head. "Or his body is not fully under his own control."

Quieting once more, Aaron frowned, his look darkening. "Phalomir #1 already said that Stargazer was possessed by something..."

His eyes arrowing into the still form of the Master, Aaron finished with, "...what if she's not the only one? He was after all the one proposing to get us out of here back through the Darker Realms."

Small, insignificant, weak, being. You were given a gift...

...and you don't even accept it.

Snorting in derision at that, Shayla continued to watch the interplay proceeding. The Darkness within whispered another command to the Master.

Giving the Son will set you free...

The muscles in my jaw tightened then as I clenched them, taking careful aim at the toppled figure.

At least he's out, he won't ever know what hit him... The thought crossed my mind, dragging me into the realms of justification for the taking of another life, when something gave me pause. I slid my eyes down, directly into the widened pair of Link.

She was giving me a look of utter astonishment.

You didn't think I had it in me, did ya, kid? I thought as I pulled back a touch on the trigger... only to...

Stop.

I sighed, let the muzzle lower to the stony floor at our feet.

"I can't do it; if he's under the possession of something, to kill him now would be plain murder," I admitted through clenched teeth. Indeed, that wasn't all that was clenched; I felt like every cell in my body was on edge, ready to act, waiting for the Master to leap to his feet and attack again so my instinctive reaction would be considered self-defense and I could feel good about killing him. But he didn't move; he just remained curled on his side, like some gigantic larva.

I sighed again.

"But we can't just leave him laying there either," I observed. "I mean, if you're correct and something is possessing him, it's clear to me that something wants us dead. So if we leave him he'll only just track us down again. At least this way we know where he is."

I paused, now turning a thoughtful gaze down at the unconscious Sith Lord. Cocking my head a little, I nudged him with the toe of one boot.

"What do you think, Aaron?" I asked.

"Which one do we hand over our lives to? If either?

"Or do you think we stand a ghost's chance in hell of getting away from either one of them... to go where? We are stuck here, and these are the only two with the ability to get us out of here again. Even if--"

I shuddered.

Link didn't like the idea of trusting her life to either of the two, not Yaoksi or Aaron. But Phalomir 2.0 and his dad. Looking around for a better option a plan formulated in my mind. Link pulled out two small blocks and took a quick look at the ceiling.
loose but durable... it might work.

...of who to trust. All I do know is that my partner, who would just as soon kiss a womprat than trust a stranger, entrusted the lives of his wife and his adoptive daughter to these people...

...and he died. Only to somehow be brought back to life by them. And I think he might have had something to do with it," Aaron thought aloud, nodding towards the quiet Phalomir. "But that is not our Phalomir, I don't think. And the Phalomir that was ours was going to take us to him," he continued, now indicating the Master.

He sighed again, feeling very uncertain. "But then, what if he wasn't really the real Phalomir either?"

Aaron shrugged, shook his head. "I don't think I answered our question. I just wish that there was some way out of this under our personal control. But I'll give you this, if Terrin, of all people, trusted the Phalomir we came here with, which seems accurate judging from the fact he was at some point with him and others on K'eel Doba...

...well maybe we should too?"

"Are you certain you could do that? Collapse the ceiling, and not kill them?" I shot back.

"And are you certain this would hold them? Remember, Phal's dear ol' daddy just got finished shooting more energy toward us than I want to think about; who's to say he wouldn't be able to get himself out from under something as simple as a pile of rocks and rubble?"

I let my eyes slide to Aaron.

"And how do you know that Phalomir is the correct Phalomir? The one Terrin trusted? Has he been with him every waking moment? Always? Continuously?

"No, we don't know for certain; dammit, but everything just got that much more complicated with the discovery of those clones."

I paused, rubbed a weary hand through my hair. Thought of all we'd gone through; wondered how in blazes we were going to get out of this one.

My poor, poor Devil...

I puffed out a breath of air.

"I seriously don't know what to do, but I do know that we've got to do something with him."

Aaron pursed his lips, then frowned. "It's too bad we can't do as much. Without killing him we have no idea what he is capable of if and when he finds us again after we do whatever it is we decide to do to him." Aaron snorted then, his look darkening once more. "And Vader thought he had something to worry about with Luke Skywalker back in the day when he tried to carbon-freeze package him for the Emperor..."

"That sounds like an idea," I admitted, pausing a moment longer to consider it further.

"At least this way we'll know he won't be able to reanimate himself... but what's to say that whatever it is that might be possessing him won't do it?"

Link quickly checked all her equipment and all of it seemed in good working order.

"If we can find one even if its online I'm positive I can get one online. And it would hold them better then the mountain of rocks idea I had. If we can't find another way off this planet we can always unfreeze him later and force him to take us back through the darker realm."

Rather, his clone. Walking and breathing, but how could this be?

He paused, the pain growing worse. His balance giving way, he allowed his weight to shift so he could fall against the wall. He closed his eyes and turned his back to the wall, breathing deeply to take his mind from the strange pain.

But an even stranger sound brought his mind back. His eyes flashed open, the crackling sound of lightning in the distance rattled in his ears. He began walking towards the sound, quickly, back the way he had come. Without thinking about it he found his feet running, and within a few moments he was breathless and sagging to the wall once again.

But he could hear voices, Aaron and Yaoksi, and the little white furred creature. But no other voice. Thea stirred again in his arms, and he struggled to breath deeply enough to move.

"We've already found an empty storage unit, one that a clone used to occupy. Now, if you could get it working again..."

I nodded encouragingly at her, and lifted my eyes to Aaron. I was just in the process of opening my mouth to say, "Let's get him there as fast as we can!" when who of all people should come staggering around the distant corner but Phalomir, still clutching Thea.

He held her up and out from him.

“Please,” he continued. “My side…”

"Oh, hell," I finally muttered as I holstered my blaster and ran toward the sagging Dark Lord, giving the silent form on the stone floor wide berth as I did so. Coming up to Phalomir I quickly snatched up the still slumbering Thea, then moved back to join the others.

Never once did I let my eyes leave his injured form. For some reason, call me overly cautious, I didn't believe he was as injured as he appeared.

Phalomir indicated his twin, then noticed the Master lying further on.

He arrowed a suspicious look at the sagging Phalomir then. "Your Father told us to run, then tried to fry us," he responded, casting a side-long glance Yaoksi's way. What happened to you?" he queried, arching a brow. "And how the hell are there two of you here?"

"And furthermore, what I'd like to know is which of the two of you is the real Phalomir, if indeed either one of you is.

"And how you're going to prove it."

I gripped Thea more tightly, and studied the leaning Phalomir from beneath lowering brows.

“I do not know who the ‘real’ me is,” he said. “I do not know if there is a real me. But I do know that I am, and I am Phalomir. I am the same person as I was years ago, and I remember a full life. There are many questions still unanswered in my past, yes, but I am not controlled by any dark thing. I intend to free my Lady Jharmeen from its influence and hope to return you safely to your friends.”

Phalomir winced then.

“If I can figure out why I am in pain. And what do you intend to do with the Master?”

Phalomir held his side tighter, the pain becoming almost unbearable but trying to not let it show on his face.

“Then I heard the crackle of the lightning again, and had enough of my faculties back to come and investigate. But I see the Master here now, so I do not quite understand what has happened.”

Phalomir looked directly at Aaron.

"Further, how do you really know you're you? I mean, speaking of SOP, isn't it usual that cloners place memories into their creations? How do we know your memories are the real McCoy?"

I shifted Thea again, squinting slightly as I studied this rendition of Phalomir... be he real or imitation.

Something about what he was saying, about his entire demeanor, was leading me to believe he WAS the real McCoy... but we had to know for a fact.

"Considering what your dear ol' daddykins just did to us, what do you suggest we do with him?"

Without giving him any indication of the fact I casually drew my weapon, juggled Thea a bit as I reduced it's energies to stun once again, and gave the silent form another blast.

He stood a little straighter and drew in a deep breath.

“I did destroy the other clones, when I discovered them with Yaoksi. They are unnatural, and were in a state of suspension. If I have been cloned, then it is possible that the clones have the same powers within them as I do. If this is the case, and if they were controlled by someone with sinister plans… that is a chance I wish not to take. Do you?”

Phalomir then nodded towards the clone, then to the Master.

"Learning goes into one's head, right? One's memories? So whose to say that this guy--"

Now I nodded toward the silent Phalomir at our feet.

"--doesn't have that power, too? And you didn't answer my question, buddy," I finished, gripping my blaster more tightly and fumbling one-handed to cycle it back up to kill.

"Your dear ol' dad tried to fry us; we'd be dead now if we'd run instead of dropping and rolling. I've got his lights knocked out for now, but surely even you can see the inherent danger in just up and leaving him.

"Nor can we take him with us; we've already got enough on our plates to have to worry about keeping an extra eyeball pinned on this guy."

I motioned to the crumpled heap that was The Master, and Phalomir 2.0

As if he was but yet another clone too, similar only in appearance to the others, differing only in his artificially stored memories?

I shook my head slightly, slid my eyes to Aaron, and then turned to Link, forcing a smile to my lips to hide my growing unease.

"I can always depend on you to get right to the heart of matters, kiddo," I said, refraining from reaching out to pat her on the head. Instead, I returned my focus to Aaron, all the while letting my blaster drift innocently toward Phalomir Numero Uno.

"D'ya think we can manage them both together?" I said as I then moved away to where the Master was laying in a fetal position on the stones. Once beside him I bent my knees and lowered myself down, back straight, and with blaster still innocently pointed toward the taciturn Phalomir tried to hoist his unconscious father in my arms.

The guy was not only big, he was solid. Dense. I gasped a little and staggered, the muzzle of my blaster jiggling in tiny circles as I attempted to keep it poised in Phalomir's direction while trying to haul the dead weight of his father off the floor. It wasn't easy; the best I could achieve was to finally grasp him under his arms and raise his upper torso; his hips and legs dragged and scraped against the stones.

I knew it wasn't going to be any cakewalk getting him to the chamber where the two empty storage devices were.

"C'mon, lets get these two babies tucked into bed," I gritted between my clenched teeth as I then began backing down the corridor, halfway hoping Phalomir #1 would try something so I could blast him and thus put to rest any niggling worries about what nastiness he might be capable of springing upon us.

"Link," I called out as I huffed and struggled. "Do you think you can carry Thea?" For fates love a duck there was no way I could transport the still unconscious girl, and assuming Aaron would follow suit with Phalomir Numero Dos, the only other person who was left to assist us was the first Phalomir.

Supposedly our Phalomir.

Who so far hadn't said or done anything extraordinarily useful lately, come to think of it...

He frowned again, still dragging #2 along. "What would be manipulating our clone boddy here anyway?" he asked, physical strain obvious in his voice. "Other than us, that other guy with your dear Dad, and Stargazer, nobody else should be here...

"Yeah," I finally agreed as I stopped to take a breather, letting Phal's dear ol' dad flop back onto the stone floor of the corridor like yesterday's laundry.

"Unless something snuck in from that Dark Place we had to come in from..."

I trailed a moment, not liking where my thoughts were leading me. For every one ended in the same gigantic, single response.

“No one should be here, not even us,” he said. He inhaled deeply and concentrated on his powers, trying to ignore the pain in his side.

“Allow me to help,” he added, closing his eyes. He held out his hands palms up and then closed his left hand into a fist. The body of the unconscious Phalomir began to float, feet first, then lifted a few inches from Aaron’s grasp. The right hand closed, lifting the Master from the floor.

“The Darkness was already within the Master,” he said, opening his eyes. “It may still be there within him, controlling him. He has been very erratic since his entry into this time, and it would explain some things to me if he was under a partial influence.”

Phalomir stepped forward, the bodies moving before him.

"Well-- I kinda thought we could put them in one of those storage units where the clones you killed were kept," I said, forcing a dry swallow to go down my throat. I glanced down at our twin Sleeping Beauties.

"Maybe they'd stay out of our hair if we put 'em on ice."

“Empty?” he asked. “Both?”

He seemed to stare into space for a few seconds before blinking again.

“Jharmeen…”

He looked sharply at Aaron, his eyes narrowing.

“This clone may have come from one of those units. But if both are empty then Jharmeen’s clone may be here also.”

“If the units function,” he said, walking again, “I would assume that would suffice as a decent storage facility. I destroyed the contents only, not the machinery. But we should hurry.”

After a few more steps he spoke again.

“I sense your confusion and distrust. I do not blame you. I will admit to you that I am rather uncertain as to what is happening here. If you could, please, imagine finding yourself in a room filled of replicas of yourself, not knowing who made them or why, or even when. Then come face to face with yourself, with a living, breathing replica who seems to have your skills, and more. This one here has the power of Sith lightning, something I never learned. I tried, of course, but my skills with it have not yet progressed. Perhaps with more study, more time, yes, but I--”

Phalomir stopped short again, thinking.

“No, that could not be.”

The question strained against my lips, but I bit them to keep it back. Obviously now was not the time to pry into whatever affairs this Phalomir was choosing to keep, at least for the moment, private.

Our priority was in icing the Troublesome Two; after this was achieved we'd have plenty of time for a chatty little tete-a-tete.

"Yeah, I guess it's closer to get to the pair in the circular chamber; let's get them there and then..."

And. Then.

“The Elseness is our problem, for leaving this ‘rock’ would only serve to put us further out of reality. After we brought Terrin back from the dead, we were confronted by an entity that did not quite appreciate this task. We were allowed to leave only after promising to make sure this could never be done again. So Jharmeen, Galen, myself, and your other friends used an ancient Sith device – a ship, really – to move this whole star system into Elseness. To protect it – or to hide its secrets.”

He shook his head, feeling the pain return but trying hard not to let it break his concentration.

...who's to say he won't try again, in the middle of the Darker Realms?"

For some inexplicable reason, I sighed with relief at that.

"Anyway, that's assuming an awful lot," I went on as I began tugging the massive body off in the direction of the stairs.

"We don't know if that Phalomir has the ability to open a-- a door or whatever at all; we know even less if he's willing to assist, and who's to say what might happen when the two Phal's eyeball each other face to face?"

I shot a dark look toward our walking, talking Sith Lord, who come to think of it was a bit on the wobbly side and tended to gasp rather than talk firmly.

"I say we put these guys on ice, and head on back to the Temple. Maybe there will be something there to help us."

He shook his slightly and looked to Aaron.

“I am concerned about meeting with this clone. I believe the pain I feel is related to my proximity to him, it intensified the closer I came and is nearly unbearable now. I do not know why, perhaps the Master could explain it when he is free of the darkness. But I am hesitant to want to talk with this clone out of fear that-- well, that I find out he is the real me.”

Phalomir inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly, calming himself and focusing again on the pain. A small smile crossed his lips and he looked back to the men.

"The Great Captain Yaoksi, this one did he call," he announced as he took a little step forward.

"Stated that met they had, that enjoined Sith and Empire to join against Vong did he, asserted your clone."

He quieted then and stepped back, his input dutifully delivered.

“This other me would not know Yaoksi… and could not know of my plans to ally with the Empire against the Vong. I have a bad feeling about this.”

Phalomir looked away, thinking.

“It is something the Master told me long ago, during my torture in the Darker Realms. He spoke of his own plan to save the Sith, and of a contingency he would not elaborate upon. I admit, I was barely conscious, but he made reference to pulling them away from death’.”

He looked sharply at each of the others, almost afraid to say what he thought. But he did so anyway.

Well. It was enough to make a body head for the biggest, privatest, hottest spring Sullust had to offer, grab the magnum size Whyrene's and disappear for however long it took to make the universe revolve back into reality again. However, thoughts such as these weren't doing much to help our present situation; I sighed and paused, still holding Phal's dear ol' dad by his armpits.

"Look, maybe what you're saying holds some water," I finally agreed. "Maybe we should ice this one Phal; personally I think he's got his banthas all in a wad, 'cuz sure as Fate would have it there's no way in all the damned universe I'm ever gonna show my face anywhere close to the Impies, nope, not after what happened on Sullust."

"Our" Phalomir eyed me with blatant curiosity, to which I simply shook my head.

"Another time, pal, when the circumstances are a tad wee more amenable," I gritted as I hoisted daddykins up a bit.

"Anyway, maybe if we ice this guy, we wouldn't have to worry about him. Then, and only then, if you have enough hoo-doo in you to keep whatever it is inside your papa here at bay, well..."

I let my eyes slide down to the nodding head of the unconscious, elder Sith.

"Maybe he could be enticed to helping us."

For much as I hated to, I had to agree with Phalomir. His father did try to warn us before letting loose with whatever the hell it was he had let loose with, and that had to count at least for something. Besides, if I started down the distrust road we all seemed poised upon, pretty soon I wouldn't have anyone with me to help but K'kihl.

Lordy knows what help he could actually be without his blasted hydrospanner.

Phalomir once again opened his hands and allowed his magic to focus through them. Soon the two bodies were being lifted by a constant localized wind that carried them down the hallway. Within a few moments they were all outside the room that Yaoksi and Aaron had led to.

Phalomir dropped the magic and the bodies fell to the floor.

“Perhaps I could have been a little gentler with the dismount,” said Phalomir, “but I shall not worry about it. Let us get them onto the platforms.”

Phalomir stepped to help Aaron with the hulking body of the clone. As he reached for an arm, however, the pain within him began to crescendo and he fell backwards clutching his side. As he moved away the pain lessoned, but it was still very sharp.

I pulled my blaster and pointed it at him.

"If being in so close a proximity to your clone is hurting so much, why don't you back off to where you can handle it better, and use your magick to get him airborne again. I'm sure Aaron won't have any trouble re-aligning him and getting him into the storage cubicle, or whatever it is. Besides--"

I trailed a moment, just long enough to wave my free hand over my shoulder in a beckoning gesture. I was rewarded by the satisfactory sound of an approaching Cricket.

"K'kihl can help, can't ya pal?"

I then returned my full attention to the still quiet Master, keeping the barrel of my blaster pointed right at his temple, and standing a bit back so if he would volcano into sudden life I would hopefully be able to get one or two shots off before he smeared me all over the stone floor.

"Ready to assist, am I," he stated then leaned down and grabbed the unmoving Phalomir from the floor. Without even thinking of it, he quite easily hauled the massive body upright -- for Verpine are strong, after all -- although the legs still dragged the floor by the simple fact that the Sith was taller than K'kihl.

"More help, need you?" he queried, and fell silent as he waited for someone to jump in or give him further instructions as to what he should do next.

“The sigils are simple commands,” he said. He turned and held out his hand, and the clone lifted slightly out of the hands of K’khil and Aaron and straightened. Phalomir shifted his hand slightly to the left and the clone moved closer to the center of the device.

“In Sith runes, the open circle represents nothingness,” he said. “In this scope I would venture to guess it refers to the ‘off’ position. But these other symbols, they are not Sith runes. They are not even part of any standard set of Sith symbolism, which implies that these devices are not Sith in origin.”

"Allow me," Link walked up to the control panel and started to examine it. "I think I've seen one of these symbols before. back in the Corporate Sector I was doing a job that involved some really old tech, the client said it dated back to the Great Hyperspace War, the half circle with a line beneath it was used to indicate which button powered up the device. Although in one case it did cause the device to explode but the device was over 20,000 years old so I'll write it off as unstable."

Link snapped the panel back into place and pressed the first button and was greeted by the storage unit powering up. "This unit is now active, from what I can tell these where built using technology of at least three different groups, one of which uses some form of technology I've never seen."

Such weakness, she thought blackly. It will be a surprise if he can truly deliver that which he promises.

Her eyes snapping alert then, she sent yet another thought into his subconscious, knowing that the otherness within him would hear regardless of his state of awareness.

You know where to find me, her mental thought whispered through an oily connection. But it is time to set some matters straight. This place is sacred and powerful...

and should not be defiled any longer.

Stepping back a few steps then, Shayla gave the golden globe one long, final glance. Then, not even thinking twice about it, she reached out with her right hand, palm out and fingers extended, and literally touched the greeny-golden depths within.

All about the Temple of the Armorers, the flames within sconces flickered in warning. The strength and abilities ingrained within Shayla’s body wound themselves around that Something Other, and her powers were therefore extended beyond her normal capabilities to achieve an objective laid out not only by she and her Sister, but by that Something Other as well. As if responding to the internal vibrations of the dark power Shayla was connected with, and in fact doing precisely that, the ground beneath the Temple started to shake and shudder. The plates beneath its surface began to shift as a great earthquake took hold of that area of the planet, extending for approximately five kilometers of the Temple’s perimeter. Within the Temple’s walls, glasses and contraptions and materials of the Great Armorer’s makings fell to the ground, from shelves, shattering and twisting until at length they were substantially, if not permanantly, damaged.

After only a mere minute or more of this, the quaking began to cease, the Temple and anything nearby in utter chaos and disarray. Shayla, still in her space below the Temple, stood in front of a strangely undamaged golden globe, at first seeming totally unaffected by the quaking which had occurred all about her. But it was then that her head flung back and her hand fell to her side as she gave a great cry of intermingled agony, pain....

...and dark glee. In that moment, her legs turned like rubber beneath her, she fell to the ground in front of the golden globe, exhausted and unconscious.

What was that???

I don't know if I hit the floor out of self preservation or fell to it because I couldn't keep myself upright.

All I know is that I was down momentarily, and I do mean momentarily, for the count, while everything around me rumbled and growled and generally tried to bury me beneath tons of rock and soil.

I picked myself up before I knew I was down, castin an instinctive self-preservation kind of glance around as I did. At least the Cricket was upright and appeared relatively unharmed by---

What?

A broad grin appeared on the Master’s face. He stepped forward and grabbed the quiet Sith Lord by the robe and lifted Phalomir as if he weighed nothing. He did not notice the other Phalomir stirring on the floor next to Yaoksi. A hand quickly sliced the air and a portal appeared from nothing, tearing into the fabric of space and time. The Master stepped through it quickly, his prey in tow, and closed it behind him.

Once through the portal he let Phalomir drop to the floor and looked about him. He spied the unconscious Shayla on the floor and cocked his head wearily.

“What have you done, my dear?” he asked. “I bring the Darkness what it seeks, and now I find you lying down on the job. I have done my part, now give me what I seek.”

The Master bent down next to Shayla, scooping her delicate head in his hand. He leaned down close to her cheek, his breath hot fire upon her skin. His mouth opened slightly, exposing his fangs, and he ran one of the tips along her face and nibbled slightly on her earlobe. A small trickle of blood ran into his mouth and he savored the salty taste.

“No more games, my love,” he whispered. “You know what it is I seek, keep your end of the bargain and give me the Finger of R’lous.”

His instinctive move to inspect the condition of his companions was aborted in complete shock, however, when one of the two objects they were attempting to deep-freeze clambered to its feet, shook itself off, and unobserved by the only other semi-lucid being there -- that being the green-eyed smuggler -- grasped the other being meant for the strange device and disappeared with it seemingly into thin air.

Unable to widen his lidless eyes, he could only stand a moment chattering his mandibles in agitation. Then he moved, insect-quick, going about the others and rousing them all from varying states of unconscious- and semi-consciousness.

"Up, up, quickly up," he allowed in a loud voice.

"Gone is he, and with him the other has taken. To where--"

His mandibles chattered like castanets.

"This is unknown."

"Oh hell," he growled, "I think we are in Hell. He sure woke up and moved out with convenient timing...

...nevermind the fact he is supposedly our only ticket out of here right now. What the hell just happened here, and what are we going to do? Look for him? Stargazer said he was a turncoat. I suppose she was right after all."

Ok, ya ol' pirate. 'Nuff about self-presevation already!

--and got quickly, if shakily, to my feet.

"The kids, are they all right?" I wheezed, for there was so much dust yet lingering in the air that I could scarcely make out the walls of the tiny chamber we were in.

"Aaron, you ok? Where's Phalomir and his daddykins? And Phal, I mean Phal Number One, are you all right?"

I peered into the dusty gloom, coughing and sneezing and nodding my head when I felt K'kihl's chitinous, inquiring touch.

"I'll live; what about the others? Hey guys--?"

“Is everyone all right?” he asked, still coughing. He looked about, the dust still hanging in the air. He scowled and held his hand above his head, realizing that despite the bumps and scrapes he had just suffered, the incredible pain he had been feeling was suddenly gone.

His hand began to glow bright red, and a small whirlwind of dust began in his upward turned palm. Soon the whirlwind grew larger, and the red glow about his hand extended outward and upward until it was a large ball hanging in the air above his head. The dust in the air stirred into a stream that flowed into the red ball, and within a minute the air had cleared enough to breath easily.

Phalomir let his hand drop and the red ball of dust floated gently to the ground and rolled to a corner. He then spied a white furred leg lying under the unconscious Thea.

“Yaoksi,” he said, pointing, “there!”

As Yaoksi headed for the children, Phalomir turned to Aaron and looked him up and down.

Link gently pushed Thea off of her and into a position that didn't look like she fell there.

Knowing she'd be embarrassed I jerked my arms back and straightened, seguing the move into wiping both palms on my thighs.

"I'm with you, kiddo!" I agreed with Link's comment, sighing inwardly with relief to see that she was apparently okay, and not too concerned about the still slumbering Thea. Which meant she was all right, too.

I jerked my head around to the others.

"What the hell just happened there?" I inquired of no one in particular, frowning a little as an insanely giggling little devil popped up on one shoulder to whisper into my ear that in all probability we were destined to remain the rest of our lives stuck in this godforsaken place.

“There was some sort of earthquake,” he said. “A large one that shook the very pillars of our surroundings. There was something similar on K'eel Doba, not long ago. If the Master had something to do with it, then he did it without any of us seeing him move. I think that is highly unlikely, for even when he does mundane magic work he seems to require some sort of movement component. But he certainly took advantage of the distraction to escape, regardless of what actually happened.”

Phalomir exhaled heavily and surveyed the room.

“The damage here is extensive,” he sighed. “I am concerned as to the stability and condition of other parts of this underground area. If we can find a location that is part of the Temple complex, I can figure out how to escape.”

Phalomir raised an eyebrow and looked back to Yaoksi.

"Nothing would make me happier!" I agreed with some vehemence, for to tell the truth I was beginning to absolutely detest creeping about beneath the ground, following this tunnel or that to who in all the known universe knew where.

"There's something unnatural about sneaking around underground; I'm a spacer, not a mole-rat!"

That comment carried me to where Aaron and Phalomir were standing; the massive Sith seemed a touch preoccupied, studying our surroundings with sharp eyes, which honestly didn't do much to make me feel any better. The little hairs on the back of my neck insisted on rising up, as if in warning that the entire chamber was about to give way.

Now, logic precluded that, of course. But tell that to the little hairs on the back of my neck.

I waved a hand.

"There's a stairway up to the surface," I offered, now giving Aaron a curious look. He sure hadn't responded to Phal's inquiry as to his physical well-being, and personally I was beginning to wonder if perhaps he hadn't received a knock to his noggin or something. I strained to see his pupils, but the dimness of our surroundings prevented me from seeing his eyes in any great detail.

Another reason to get to the surface! I reasoned, concerned.

Check him out, and Link and Thea too. Cricket seems all right though...

I jerked my wandering thoughts back to the situation at hand, now turning to address the Sith Lord.

"I'm all for the surface, even though there are tomatoes up there!" I said, then with no further ado turned and began heading toward the spiral staircase that I knew would take us back into sunlight once again.

"Ahhh...why did the Master take your twin with him when he left?" he asked out of the blue to Phalomir's departing back. "This is all giving me a headache..."

Such a frail thing...

The Darkness, however, was interrupted by the intrusion of another, one familiar, and bringing another familiar.

Ahhh....

Her head was still in the Master's hand when her greeny-blue eyes began to flutter. The Darkness sneered at the Master's apparent weakness, and she reached out to place a hand on his cheek, drawing his lips to hers, and kissed him briefly.

The Darkness within him brought her to full awareness, and her eyes opened bright and clear. "Take us all to the Tower in the Darker Realms, before he awakes...

...and you will have your reward."

“Yes, my sleeping beauty,” he said. He loosened his hold on the back of her head, but only for a brief second, for an instinctive impulse rippled through him, spurred on by that bit of blackness haunting his soul and influencing his actions. He gripped her tightly once more, and pressed her head to his, taking Shayla in a full kiss that seemed to meld them together for several moments. When he withdrew, both pairs of eyes were locked on the other, neither noticing the mixed violet and red trickles of blood that ran from each mouth.

...and I do desire it to continue. For if he wakes before we leave here, he will surely put up a fight."

“He shall not awake,” he said. “Not until I allow it. Fear not, dear creature of darkness. You enjoy my swiftness, but I shall show you how much more enjoyable it is to be slow and deliberate.”

He wiped away a remaining trail of blood on her face, then moved away strands of wet blonde hair from her eyes. He fought against the urges he now felt, for in his heart he knew the path upon which he was stepping would lead to no good. But he did not care.

“It wants this,” he whispered, more to himself than Shayla. He could not help it, and moved his face to her neck, nibbling and licking. A soft moan escaped Shayla, but whether from her or the darkness he could not tell. He did not care.

Practically.

“I do not fully understand the actions of the Master,” he said. “I have tried, truly. Our goals at times seem to be the same – to prepare for an impending invasion from the Vong. But I do not understand his strategy and tactics. He believed he would need a great power to defeat them, and was willing to trade me to forces beyond our realms to obtain that power. It was on that day, as a boy, that my powers came into their own. He was speaking to a man – well, a man made of tar – that had come through a portal from the Darker Realms. I escaped by blasting them both through the portal…”

Phalomir paused, thinking.

“Perhaps he thought my clone was me? Perhaps he is still trying to make this deal? Or perhaps the is some other reason, I do not know.”

He exhaled loudly, rubbing his hand across the back of his head. He surveyed the room one more cursory time and turned to look at everyone.

“Do it, I shall,” he hissed.

He stroked his hand across Shayla’s forehead, then traced a finger down her face and to her neck. There he gripped her, holding the back of her neck in a tight embrace as his other hand followed the curve of her hip upwards. Boiling passion threatened to tear him apart, feelings that had evaded him for years. A fire had been rekindled, a once-bright flame that had not been seen since the death of—

Death of—

He froze, his thought suddenly focused on memories that had long been buried, for what he thought would be forever. Memories of a time when he was not the Master – when he was Aelomir, Dark Lord of the Sorcerors. When his life had belonged to another, a woman whom he loved, when he could love… and to the son that was born from that love.

Shayla stared at him with piercing eyes, anticipation firing back at him. But anticipation of what, he now wondered. This was not Shayla speaking to him, it was the darkness within her. That same darkness had left a residue within him, had forced him to attack Yaoksi and Aaron. And now it wanted him to couple with Shayla, and to promise to follow its wishes.

He could feel it within him, controlling his hormones, his innermost desires…

“NO!” he shouted, dropping Shayla to the cold floor. “I will not give you that! I will uphold our bargain, but what you ask now is outside of that scope.”

He wiped away a bead of sweat from his face, hiding with it the tear that had formed. He then swiped at the air with his hand, slicing open a portal to the Darker Realms.

"This is getting old, and it's time for a change." I mutter. "Feth the witches with their damn alls, and fethed artifacts, and hell forsaken mythology!" I began to trace long, interconnected runes across the surface of the rock.

"I'm going to get out of this hellhole, get back to reality, and reclaim ShaRhylla from whatever peril I'm sure she'll have gotten into in my absence." I muttered, finishing one rather intricate design, before tying it to the next one in line.

Within five or so minutes, I had tied a total of sixteen runes across the surface of the rock, which slipped across to the upper left corner of the pile, where, from my crawling excursion before it had collapsed, I knew the rock was weakest.

"Let's get it done then." I stepped back nearly a hundred feet, taking it slowly and running a fingertip through the dust to keep myself connected to the runes. When I had reached a safe distance, I cracked my neck and smiled.

"Let's get it done." I murmured again, crying out in a gutteral voice as the first rune triggered, vanishing from the surface of the rock; the magic that it was bound to flashing across the others to the main one upon the weak point.

An explosion tore straight into the rock, vaporizing a meter or so of stone. I let out another cry, sending another blast through the rock, doing so again and again, until the fourteenth rune went off, leaving a hole in the rock.

...and the Darkness within her practically cackling as something of the Master's innermost feelings brushed against She Who Once Was...

...but for only a moment. That small connection, one sparking a similiar memory of a time much like the Master's, was instantly squelched, locked far away and far away and far beyond anyone's reach.

"You mean, you should be ready for him; you're the one with all the hoo-doo, pal!" I reminded him, my aching legs now climbing faster for now I could make out the dim glow of distant sunlight.

"I'll be ready as far as a good blaster can make me, but I'm gonna depend on you to see that the thing works against him!"

With those words my head broke into light. I paused a moment, letting go a sigh of relief to discover I had made it all the way to the little hut, and was poking my head out the little doorway that someone had left conveniently open.

Odd--

I didn't make mention of this, as I figured our resident Sith Lord had the wherewithal to figure it out on his own. Instead I just grunted, and soon found myself standing in the confines of little hut.

"Ok guys, hopefully it's all downhill from here!" I called cheerily, then bee-lined to the door leading out. Drawing my blaster, I poked a cautious head through the door, peeped around carefully...

And then scrabbled back as fast and as silently as I could.

"Dammit!" The word escaped me in a vicious burst of air.

“If there are tuk’ata out there,” he said evenly, “they may be here because of the quake. I will see if they are of the clan of my bloodhunt companion, and if so then we have nothing to fear.”

Phalomir clasped down lightly upon Yaoksi’s shoulder and smiled slightly.

“I will let you know if they are rotten tomatoes,” he said. He then walked past Yaoksi and paused at the door of the hut. He then slowly peeked his head around the open doorway and looked out into the open. The night was approaching, and within an hour, Phalomir surmised, it would be dark.

Then he saw the tuk’ata. One of them was indeed his companion, and the other was the female that Yaoksi had ridden. But he understood Yaoksi’s fear, for there was now at least half a dozen other tuk’ata milling about. Phalomir swallowed hard and stepped forward into the open air.

“Ho!” he called out. A chorus of snarls and grunts rang out from the tuk’ata, all now staring at Phalomir. Icy chills suddenly danced up his back, and doubt crept across his thoughts. A huff from his large companion in the back brought silence to the group, and Phalomir breathed easier.

After a moment he stepped forward again to meet the advancing Md’diffnnd. A moment later Phalomir smiled and patted the huge animal’s head. He then turned and walked back to the hut, where he was met by the anxious eyes of his friends.

Been there, done that, made it through okay... other than my nerves!

"Ok," I gulped, moving to one side so the others could join me in the clean, fresh air of this hidden world. I stared now at Phalomir, who more and more was convincing me that it was he indeed who was the Original Item, the one we had met in the halls of the temple back on K'eel Doba. He merely smiled back at me, and nodded to one of the beasts who as now lounging nearby the one Phalomir was patting, that one being the evident leader of the pack.

"I'm with you, buddy, and sure would like to get to your temple before the sun sets!" The thought of other tomatoes, and who knew what other beasties, that lurked about hidden in the dense foliage around us was enough to quicken my steps. I paused a moment before the lounging creature, who eyed me a bit diffidently, then made a queer purring yowl.

I took that to mean, "Climb aboard, sonny." Which I hastily did.

"As long as you're sure these tostadas are trustworthy--"

"Ahhh, yeah," he said, eyeing the somehow blurry forms of the tukatas. "Let's just get going. My head is killing me, I think I must have knocked it back there."

“Help him to see,” he winked. He then looked at Aaron seriously.

“When we reach the temple,” he said, “we shall check your condition. If you have suffered a concussion then we should attend to this as soon as possible. Hang on to Link and tell her immediately if you feel faint. Link, you may stop the tuk’ata by patting it hard right here.”

Phalomir showed her where to slap the tuk’ata, and relayed the information to Md’diffnnd so he in turn could tell the tuk’ata that would carry Aaron and Link. He then turned to K’khil.

"If carry Thea you will, than assistance need I not," he finally asserted.

"Fleet am I; require steed I do not."

With that he held out the slumbering girl, unfolding a third set of appendages as he did so. They were extremely long, and jointed apparently backwards, as are the jumping legs of a grasshopper. He flexed and wriggled these as he waited for the Sith Lord to take Thea, for this third set was normally kept hidden from view, generally being considered as "excess baggage" until the rare circumstance arose which would warrant them being put into use.

He wiggled the lengthy appendages again, clicking and chittering as if to remind all present that he was of an insectoid species. And as most insects, not only was he unusually strong for his size but could really cover ground should the situation arise.

“For safety’s sake,” he said, “I suggest you stay behind the tuk’ata. Since there are more than what we need to ride upon, the others will go ahead to make sure our path is clear.”

With that, Phalomir climbed aboard his blood-hunt companion and held Thea close to him. Within a moment afterwards the group of free tuk’ata had padded off and the mounts followed after, followed closely by K’khil.

The group picked up speed as they progressed down the path, and were soon threading through the forest at a great speed. Phalomir glanced behind and was impressed to see K’khil scurrying along close behind. He stared for a while, amazed at the insectoid’s speed, then was even more amazed as K’khil launched into the treetops and scurried in the canopy at times when the underbrush became too thick.

The sky grew red as the group progressed down the path, eventually darkening as they reached the clearing that led to the temple. The lead group of tuk’ata had stopped, eyeing the temple suspiciously. The others drew up to join them, and all eyes turned to Phalomir.

The sound of gibbering and maniacal laughter came floating over the strange air. He turned to see Shayla step delicately through the portal, then he waved his hand to close it.

“Yes,” he agreed. “There is something not right here, or something in the temple itself that they are fearful--”

The whining tuk’ata suddenly stopped its noise and stood again, trotting off nonchalantly towards the temple. The others began moving also, letting their tense muscles relax a bit.

"Suddenly-- kinda like a door opening and closing, right?" I said as my tomato-beastie began trotting along again, jogging and jouncing me with every step she took.

The tuk’ata group had reached the temple steps, and soon everyone was dismounted and standing at the top of the great stairs. Phalomir peered sadly at the damage to the entrance area.

“If someone was in the temple, then they arrived before the quake or via a portal. There is no way anyone could have passed through this rubble. I will need a moment or two to clear a path.”

Phalomir handed Thea to Yaoksi, then set to work upon moving the large pieces of stone and rubble with his magick. As promised, his powers seemed to be stronger here, and large stones began to fly through the air and land on the meadow below the steps.

“It was on these steps,” said Phalomir as he worked, “that the Master stole Shayla away from us once. Long ago, I was here with her, Panthar, Jharmeen, and others – the Master popped in through a portal, grabbed Shayla, and disappeared. I learned that Thoran had been forced to serve the Master, and they had come to prevent me from – well, I never learned what they had intended, if anything really at all. All along he wanted to trade me to the Darker Realms, the rest is irrelevant. But we did manage to retrieve Shayla, and--”

Phalomir stopped, mostly done with his task.

“There is something you should know,” he said. “I have made mention of something called ‘That Which Is’. It is a – an entity of some kind. It was seen here once, and I do not know if it will be here again. It referred to a spot within the temple as its ‘place of places’, and was not happy with us. If it appears again, then-- well, let us hope it does not.”

I came up next to the Sith Lord, who was busily engaged in shifting smaller bits of rubble from around a couple that looked as if they weighed tons. I gave him a look, then cycled my blaster to a higher setting, took aim, and fired.

The multiple-ton piece promptly cracked, portions of it crumbling away in more manageable bits.

"And this is the guy who's our best hope of getting out of here," I commented as I took aim and fired once more.

"Why do I suddenly trust him even less than I did before; what if all this--"

I paused a moment and waved the blaster about myself.

"--is nothing more than a ruse to capture you and fulfill his promise to-- to, well, to whoever the hell it is he promised you to? What if, Fates help us if we actually do find him, he just takes you and leaves us stranded here, or even worse, drags us all back to that horrible place and strands us there?

“I do not have knowledge of the All,” he said. “That is the power he uses to open portals, and is the power wielded by both Shayla and my love Jharmeen. The darkness within them will now be able to access that power, but it is my understanding that some type of a balance must be maintained within the individual in order for this power to be used. It is my hope that each person still exists within the controlled body, and with my help the darkness can be driven out.”

Phalomir exhaled deeply and turned to move the remaining pieces of stone from the doorway.

“I must have hope,” he said. “I saw Terrin brought back from the dead inside this temple, I must also believe the darkness can be defeated here as well. I refuse to believe otherwise.”

Phalomir motioned wide with his hands and the last rock flew to the side of the massive steps, then dropped several meters to the ground. He turned back to the others and smiled slightly.

And look what happened to them.

But I didn't say anything; I just plastered a relieved grin on my face and stepped forward.

"Ready when you are," I announced as I passed the Sith Lord, who was still standing where he had been crushing and moving debris. My blaster was out and steady, my heart admittedly thumping like a frightened dzool, but since what I presumed to be light at the end of the tunnel was so close at hand I was able to put aside any lingering trepidation. In other words, my feet found the ability to move out on their own accord.

Hey, how hard could it be? There was just this corridor stretching into... well, who knew, but it looked enticing and scarier than hell all at the same time.

I tiptoed along, not knowing when I had slowed my pace to that, not knowing if the others were behind me or not, not knowing what was ahead. Only knowing that I was moving, that I could move, that moving would resolve all our issues and we'd get out of this blasted nonreality we were stuck in because of--

"What's that?"

I didn't pause, common sense seemed to have dwindled into a tiny speck. For there in front of me was the most beautiful blue glow, shining like an ultraviolet star, filling the corridor with a radiance that was soft and harsh, demanding and commanding all at the same time. My hand lowered to my side as I continued forward, my blaster dropped from unfeeling fingers; all I could see and think of and yearn for was that beautiful, beautiful radiance.

"What is it, it's so pretty..." I murmured somewhat stupidly as I proceeded toward it like some unthinking automoton, unknowing and uncaring of anything or anyone else around me.

But something about the entire situation was familiar, and that little fact wormed into the forefront of his mind, somehow.

Remember this Aaron, remember? a little voice whispered. You thought you were following K'khil, and BAM! He disappeared entirely, and you ended up somewhere other than him. Or perhaps it was the reverse. Don't go to the light, don't!

With a fair amount of effort, Aaron was able to dig his feet into the ground and make them stop. Still, he couldn't look away from it and still felt its pull.

"The light!" he managed to yell, his eyes still fixed. "I've seen it before...

...when I lost K'khil and the kids..."

His voice trailed off, and he concentrated on not giving in to the power that was suddenly pulling on him.

He turned behind to address Aaron just as the man stepped past to follow Yaoksi. As he prepared to call out, Link brushed past like lightning and broke his concentration. Phalomir turned his head back to catch K’khil’s questioning eyes. The insectoid still held Thea in his arms.

Phalomir shook his head, not knowing what was happening, then turned to enter the rubble-strewn hallway. He walked quickly, then nearly bumped into Aaron as the man yelled out and stood in the hallway, apparently in deep concentration. Link and Yaoksi were nowhere to be seen.

“Aaron,” he asked, “where are the others? Where are Link and Yaoksi?”

Aaron stared straight ahead, looking down the hallway, his face set hard as if struggling against some unseen enemy. The hallway was barely lit this far in, the ancient orbs that were still set into the walls giving off only a faint light, most of the rest had fallen to the floor and broken.

Aaron made no move to look at Phalomir. The Dark Lord, concerned, turned his head to call back to K’khil.

The entire hallway seemed to explode in a burst of chromatics... which was immediately followed by a weirdly external sensation that I was being somehow condensed... both which led to the sudden realization that I was down and rolling and tumbling, and that a soft fuzzy white thing was rolling and tumbling right along with me.

I came to a somewhat disorganized halt, and managed to right myself. All about me reality -- or was it nonreality? -- spun on some sort of universal axis, everything about me -- whatever that was! -- going round and round in a blur, until all settled and I found myself shivering and hugging the equally astounded form of Link. Equally, I say, because although I couldn't see my own expression I could feel the rictus of overly-stressed muscles as gut-level fear made itself known on my face.

We were sitting in what appeared to be some kind of alpine tundra, in the dead of night. Above our heads a maze of brilliant stars twinkled, stars whose patterns I'd never seen before in my life. I blinked, fighting back the gibbering insanity which strove so hard to overwhelm me, and hugged Link so hard it was a wonder I didn't break a rib.

"Where the hell are we?" I whispered into the uncaring dark, trying to swallow but finding my mouth far, far to dry to do so.

((OOC: Yaoksi disappears Into the Blue in the "CSWU" forums, dragging Link along with him, thank you.))

“It may have been another teleporting trap, but I do not believe that to be true. It may have been a doorway out of the Elseness, which vanished when Yaoksi touched it. If so, it is impossible to tell where -- or when -- he and Link have emerged.”

Phaomir looked back at K’khil, still holding Thea. He motioned for the Verpine to join him and Aaron.

“There may be another doorway,” he said. “We must be on the watch for them. Until then, we should stay together and continue on with our plan. Shayla is in the same situation as we are, relying on the master or Jharmeen to open a portal. If we find her, then perhaps she can be reasoned with somehow. If we find the Master, then we force him to help. While here, we make our way to inner chambers to see if any devices remain intact, perhaps there is something that can help us.”

I step out through madness from somewhere into nothing. That is, into a place very familiar to me, for it is here I once took Jharmeen to teach her, here where she bonded with her Blood-Hunt companion, the tuk'ata who shall remain faithful unto her until death. But now this place is indeed nothing; caught between one moment and the next it is mere dream-fluff...

Of the nightmare variety.

I am uneasy, and cast a glance around as I await the coming of the others. Around me is jungle, from whence come the cries of those innocent beasts who were caught up in the transformation of this system. Aye, transformation, for now they shall find life unending, for that is the gift of the Elseness.

A gift Men would kill for... and in the taking would go mad, for it is only here, in this great Eternal Now that life unending exists. That Which Is has deigned this as his Place of Places; nothing of flesh and blood, other than the beasts, belongs here.

For life unending is, as I am beginning to be painfully aware, against the Rules...

A glint of light reflected far down the hallway, and at once a snarl shot towards the group. Phalomir froze and held his hand up behind him to signal the others.

Whatever genus created tuk'ata should be incinerated from the universe. I thought, pausing at the steps to look for an obvious entrance, taking the moment to also check for any threats nearby.

After only a few seconds of observation, I noticed a rather obvious trail of destruction in the ruins. Well, looks like someone has left us a trail to follow. I thought, not taking a moment to realize the pronoun I'd chosen for myself.

And Phalomir expected that shooting the thing was going to be enough to stop it?

"I would have thought you'd have a better plan than that," Aaron said through gritted teeth even as the tuk'ata prepared to charge, its fangs exposed and deadly.

Now he wished he had gone through the doorway or whatever. Could it be much worse than this?

Panthar stepped through the portal and stood beside Aelvedaar.

Which is what Phalomir was hoping for.

The beast turned its head mid-leap to look at Aaron, hate and fire blasting from its eyes. Phalomir at that moment caught a large chunk of rubble with his magick. It lay between the group and the charging animal, and in an instant it was slinging across the space between the floor and the tuk’ata’s head, smacking the animal squarely between the eyes. The tuk’ata’s trajectory altered just enough to send it flailing to the side and into the wall, where it lay, momentarily dazed.

Phalomir quickly waved his hands before him in a circular motion and the air around the tuk’ata began to swirl. Dust clamored about the animal’s head in a mass of movement, until a small tornado seemed to whirl around the whole front of the tuk’ata. Phalomir continued this for several seconds, draining the air from around the beast so it could not breath.

“Quickly,” he said, “There is no telling how many other tuk’ata are waiting in here, let us go back to the entrance and rejoin my bloodhunt companion! Go, now!”

As Shayla stepped through the portal, she stretched out to sense the wild tuk'ata which she had connected with and sent to attack Phalomir. Not knowing if the beast would recognize her after the Darkness was removed from her, nor if it could even "hear" her call from their possible distance from it, she knew she had to try regardless.

"I sent a wild tuk'ata after Phalomir and the others," she explained to those who had already stepped through the portal. "I'm attempting to call off the attack...

...but the tuk'ata is wild, and I don't know how far we are from its location," she admitted, worry flitting through her greeny-blue eyes.

Shayla tapped in to her link with the creature as best she could, sensing some distance from it but not too much to miss the hunting sense in its thoughts.

Prey is not prey, she thought to the beast. Prey is friend. No attack. [b]No attack.[/b}}

I then turn to the young Adept.

"Did you blood-bond with this tuk'ata in a Blood-Hunt ritual?" I ask quickly. The confusion in her eyes confirms my suspicion about her link with this wild and dangerous beast.

"I thought not; hence, we can only presume it was the Darkness within you that had. Therefore we must also assume that the animal is yet predisposed to attack Lord Phalomir and the others as it was formerly directed--"

I truncate the remainder, now turning slightly toward a somewhat anxious-looking Panthar Dantares.

"Indeed, we must hasten, and this is how we shall find them."

I point in one direction, one showing us nothing but leaves and branches and greenery and swamp.

"The Temple of the Armorers is that way; as a Dark Lord of the Sith, you must trust that I simply know this to be true. And to get to it quickly--"

Once more I reach out with one hand, first and fourth fingers extended like horns, the remaining curled against the palm of my hand, snug against my thumb. I twist the hand at the wrist; once again the writhing mystery of a Portal opens through the All, one I have made to take us directly to the steps of the Temple of the Armorers.

"Come," I state as I move toward the Portal.

"We must indeed hasten, for it is not only against raging tuk'ata that we must beware."

I let them analyze that cryptic remark as they see fit, and step through the Portal, coming immediately out upon the heavily jungled pathway which leads to the front entrance to the Temple. Before me I see the Dark Lord we have come to find, along with others of his party, who is standing with arm raised in apparent defense against a charging tuk'ata.

I immediately join the battle, reaching out with the splendor of the All to further manipulate the molecules of air by which he holds the flailing animal. Obedient to the glue which binds all, they move, removing themselves from the topside of the creature to cluster beneath it. Now buoyed by a denser layer of air and given momentum via Phalomir's magicks, the thrashing beast rises upward, slowly but inexorably. Up and up it goes, until after attaining an altitude of perhaps twenty meters I withdraw my influence.

The tuk'ata drops like a veritable stone, crashing down upon the living stone upon which the others stand. There it lays motionless, alive but unconscious from the impact.

I approach Lord Phalomir now, pausing before him and bowing my head in acknowledgment.

"Greetings, Brother; it is good to see you all alive."

"Greetings, Brother; it is good to see you all alive."

I had heard that silken voice far too many times in the past not to recognize it, and came about the corner at a slower pace, not letting any weariness show.

"Perhaps you are of a mind that there are enemies present," I say, nodding once in the direction of the lowered weapon in his hand.

“I am glad to see you made it to us in time,” he said. “But if you want to come with us then you must put that away and behave yourself. There is no need for violence or dark thoughts here, we must escape this place together.”

Phalomir looked at Aelvedaar, gratefully.

“It is indeed very good to see you,” he said quietly, “but I suggest we make haste from here. There are things I must tell you, about Jharmeen and Shayla, there is a darkness within them and I fear they cannot be trusted. But let us worry upon this later, I believe the boy is somehow redeemable.”

Phalomir’s eyes caught another person stepping through the portal, and his face lit up when he saw who it was.

“Panthar, my boon companion!” he exclaimed. “Welcome to my clan’s homeland! Now let us make a hasty exit.”

"If you will all please go now..."

I finished, desiring to leave this place likely more than other, feeling a quiet shiver run through me as I walked through the portal to the other side.

((OOC: Rykounagin progresses to Silence of the Lambs in the Jedi Praxeum & Sith Temple, thankyou.))

Jah-mees? Jammies? He wants to go to bed?

Phalomir shook his head slightly, wishing that Panthar would at least whisper so that Phalomir’s keen hearing could catch the word. But instead Panthar just smiled.

Phalomir turned as he walked into the room beyond the portal. He stopped when he saw the face of the woman he loved more than anything else in his life, his heart leaping out to her but his mind still wary of the darkness within her, for that was what he last knew.

Yet something was different, very different. He gazed into her eyes, and could see clearly what that difference was. They were her eyes….

“Jharmeen?” he asked. “My lady?”

((OOC: Phalomir returns to Silence of the Lambs in the "Jedi/Sith" forums, thank you.))

This world, placed here to keep it from the reality of others, seems not as aloof as a certain Being of my fresh acquaintance undoubtedly would like it. I find it troubling as well that during this group's time here nothing untoward has occurred to anyone, not necessarily meaning any of those in this party, but in the Universe in general. Well do I recall those terrifying images which depicted Time freezing completely -- as do I remember my own actual and shivering gut reaction after it had resumed; I now know normalcy recurred only after the placement of this tiny and seeming unobtrusive system here in the Elseness... where it was meant to be left alone.

"I shall be able to locate your missing people," I finally respond, keeping my voice calm and freed of any indication of the troubling thoughts which plague me.

"It would be to their best interests if we hasten from this place as quickly as we can, if only the faster to find and retrieve them, don't you agree?"

I remain silent by the Portal I have opened, quietly urging the others to hasten their steps. A small smile flicks at the corners of my mouth as the chattering Verpine waits no longer, but follows my suggestion with surprising alacrity.

...the better."

He paused, frowning once more. "Gods only know where they ended up."

With that final observation, Aaron stepped obligingly through the Portal and to the other side.

She knew he knew differently, for her heart was angered by the inescapable presence of one Rykounagin. She held her feelings at bay, however...

...at least for the moment, and stepped the rest of the way through the Portal.

I sigh and wait no longer, but slip through the portal, returning to my temple on Khar Delba where the others are safely waiting.

((OOC: Lord Aelvedaar returns to Silence of the Lambs in the "Sith/Jedi" forums, thank you.))