Graysith sighed, and sat back against her chair. "I have been pondering matters," she broke the silence filling the little ship. "And have come to the conclusion that even amidst the strangeness of what we just experienced, I have learned something."

She paused as Shayla turned curious eyes in her direction. "And what is that, Sister?" she asked simply.

Graysith folded her hands in her lap. "I have learned that while there is nothing in the universe stronger than the All, for it truly makes all that is... I have learned of my own weaknesses I yet hold regarding its usage. I believe some of Veren Mechanica's beliefs in his own abilities may be synonymous with some I hold myself."

She rose to her feet, motioning M'wonBo'o to remain laying where he was, and approached the odd Sith viewport ahead of her. Her voice lowered to a whisper. "Perhaps I am unable to use this wondrous gift sufficiently to find where my daughter is because somehow I feel I am incapable of it. I did manage to sense her at an extreme distance before something arose within me crying out, 'too far!'"

She turned from the viewport to look at Shayla. "I-- I seem to have become plagued more and more with this ever since I discovered who-- ever since I found the knowledge within myself of who I really am, and that is Jharmeen Jhin'Dar. The wonderful balance I had achieved, taught to me by my Sire seems oddly...tilted within me now.

"I find myself able to utilize the All for the simplest of matters, tasks I have undertaken many times in the past and now find almost second-nature to me. But this..."

Once again she turned to the viewport, waving her hand to indicate the ravening non-ness of hyperspace. "Somehow this is too far for me alone. My Sire, I feel, would be able to deduce her presence easily, but... but I am not yet ready to face him. I must find my daughter first, and I must have some assistance in doing so."

She turned back to Shayla again. "And, my dear Adept, although you are most eager and willing, your skills are simply not enough this early in your training."

She blinked her violet eyes, thinking. The odd realms of distorted spacetime screamed without as Graysith stood there chewing her lip for a moment. Then she nodded to herself, coming now to the navigational control board and tapping her fingers lightly across the strange and eerily green glyphs which glowed there. Then she got to her seat.

"Follow this course, my Adept," she spoke softly. "Make certain that none take note of our arrival there. I have erected the chronotic shield about our ship; no one can sense us as long as it remains there. But take care when arriving at our destination; enter with honor yet humbly.

"We go to the Valley of the Lords, to seek the ancient powers of the Sith which still haunt the passageways and temples there. Here we will find the means of augmenting our abilities to use the All... perhaps enough to find and bring my daughter home. Remember, all for the Greater Good, my sister, always remember. For this place is heavily of the Dark, and it is into that mystery that we must tap.

"We go to Korriban."

Then she fell silent, turning her gaze away from Shayla's and once again staring out the forward viewport. Beside her, the tuk'ata let out a somehow tense yet happy whine.

"He has lost faith in himself, and with that, in existence altogether, my Adept," her musical voice sighed sadly. "Help him we could not, only his own beliefs could either come to his aid... or to his end.

"He has chosen the latter path... and a dismal one it is indeed. Pitiful to see how he viewed the All as nothing more than imaginary bits of dream, when it is the very alpha and omega of everything in existence as we know it. The force which holds matter to itself, over distances both great and small. The force which gives life to all, and joyous color to an otherwise black Universe. The force which creates everything that exists, which brings into being the very particles of their design.

"I almost wish--" She paused, then continued on an apparent sidetrack.

"It is a shame this one had to die before seeing the wonder of all that is, and all that he could have been...."

One of the ancient and powerful Sith had "reached" back in darkness to touch the soul of a young warrior of the named Kun. That experiment failed, for pure Darkness cannot prevail as neither can pure Light. Both must exist so that each other may exist... it is the balancing of these which was the key, a key known well to the other two who managed by the very powers they had discovered to escape certain death the actions of one of their own had triggered over four thousand years ago. There was well as a third who, incredibly, had been snatched from death even as its jaws had begun to enclose him, his release brought about by his reaching out into the future....

The little Sith ship and its three occupants continued to howl through hyperspace on a bull's-eye course to that ancient and uncharted hidden home world of the Sith. Strange events began to occur aboard her as she came nearer and nearer to Sith space; odd Glyphs began flashing into life, and a russet light arose from the very walls to illuminate the little ship's interior.

Graysith ignored the automatic responses the ship was making... concentrating instead on the task ahead of her. How well she remembered a particularly hidden portion of this world, a place of small ruin buried deeply within its equatorial band of jungle. For a moment she wished she was going to that one of the only two places in the Galaxy where for some reason she felt "at home," but realized what she really needed could not be found there.

They had to go to the Valley of the Lords... into the dusty and highly dangerous region of great canyon walls encrypted with beautiful and indecipherable carvings, musty mausoleums, ghosts of ancient times...

...and the source of the greatest Darkside focusing power in reality.

She leaned lightly against Shayla's shoulder and spoke as much, her hand reaching out to draw up a digital and three-dimensional topographic map of Korriban. Her deft fingers manipulated certain controls, making the image whirl about in fifteen-degree increments until a certain longitudinal band was presented dead-center to them. Now she used the controls to zoom in upon a spot at about 54 degrees south of the planet's equator. It loomed larger and larger before them until a 50 x 50 kilometer grid was laid out before them.

At its center a golden glyph flashed patiently, wondering at the absence of its creators.

Graysith hit another key, and the coordinates of that spot flashed in mid-air before Shayla's somewhat startled eyes.

"This is our destination, my sister," the Chosen Daughter said in a rather solemn tone of voice. "Please let me know when we come into its space.

"Now, I am weary from recent events, and would like to nap a bit to regain my strength."

With that she pressed a button and the back of her seat leaned comfortably back. Soon, in spite of her tuk'ata's rising whines of eagerness, she was asleep, leaving the ship and its navigation in the talented and sure hands of her Adept.

A safety which, unfortunately and darkly enough, they could not share with Graysith's own daughter. They simply had to find her. Dark mischief was afoot. The kind of darkness that cared nothing of balance nor the light. The kind of darkness that was extremely powerful...and could only be squelched with Darkness itself.

A glyph on the navboard began to come to life, and the little Sith ship, which Shayla had come to thinking of as the Retribution, glided safely out of hyperspace, yet with uncanny speed. In mere nanoseconds the ship had gone from barreling lightyears in a second to standing almost completely still in the space just in front of their destination.

One such a canyon was beginning to grow larger even as she gazed upon it.

She sat up and stared diligently at the viewport, now tapping another control and inducing another mid-air digital readout to pop up before her and the screen. A golden glyph continued to flash impatiently at the far north-eastern end of the approaching canyon.

She pointed to a place on the plateau above that flashing glyph, and then sat back in her seat. "That is where we must make landfall, my sister," she said smoothly, turning now to look into Shayla's eyes. "I'm afraid that after that we will find ourselves faced with some hiking; the dark powers there do not respond to anything but one's own skill and determination."

And face whatever must be faced, a voice in her head added.

Dusting off her solid black flightsuit, Shayla stood and indicated Graysith should lead the way.

Onward.

She tilted her head thoughtfully, then shrugged her signature cloak from her shoulders. Beneath that she still wore her form-fitting black practice doba, the one she had donned to strengthen her swordplay skills against Dark Lord Roan, seeming a lifetime ago. She eyed herself silently, then turned to Shayla.

"Let us go now," she said, then keyed the hatch open. Before she could move so much as one foot, M'wonBo'o leapt past her, clearing the thirty feet to the open hatch in one easy bound. His massive body sent particles of sand skirling into the air as all two tons of him landed in a defensive crouch. There he remained silent, his tendrils lifting to sense the cold air which moved in a somehow...threatening manner as it sought to fall off the plateau and into the yawning canyon below.

Graysith smiled as she and Shayla left Retribution. Once gaining the grainy footing of the plateau on which they had landed, she turned and erected a chronotic shield about the ship. She then turned and walked the few paces to the lip of the plateau; indeed her Adept was such a talented and precise pilot that she had landed the ship within spitting distance of that frightening cliff.

Graysith stood on the edge looking down into the canyon. There, nearly two and a half kilometers below, faint and alien images could be seen carved directly into the rock. Here and there the walls of the inner canyon were marred by black holes, holes which undoubtedly represented openings into mysterious caverns and rooms carved directly into the sedimentary rock of which this canyon was primarily composed.

Now Graysith let her eyes rove about, seeking the means by which they would descend into this yawning abyss of rock and scree. Layers of varying shades of rust and sand and red and yellow silently offered their descriptions of ages past; she ignored those towering rock faces, concentrating instead on the gentler slopes of scree which formed great fans at the foot of each. She pointed this out to Shayla.

"If we take care, Shayla, we can zig-zag into this great canyon following those slopes of softer rock, which have eroded and formed 'ground' at an angle easier for us to navigate." She shaded her eyes, peering out over the canyon. "I believe we can gain entry all the way to the bottom in this manner, but from this height I cannot be certain. The only way to discover whether we shall be successful is simply to go--

"Let us do so."

Saying no more, she stepped out, and carefully began to navigate her way down some slippery and loosely piled scree which lay nearby.

It had gotten to the point to where he had at one time actually stopped, sat down, and yowled his frustrations, refusing to descend further but indicating frantically a growing and very strong desire to go back UP.

After a lengthy period of persuasion in which both women were put to the task he had finally hauled himself to his feet and continued on. However, the incessant sound of rocks sliding downslope was quite often accentuated by his pitiful yowls and muttering growls as he complained his ever increasing dislikes concerning this entire affair.

Hours passed. Canyons do not easily yield their secrets, even though they are quite often exposed in the erosion of Time. The party picked and slid its way as it continued down, sometimes treading with careful sideways placement of feet when they hit slickstone; at other times actually progressing forward in a sort of bounding leap where the slope gentled to allow such an action. But overall they never slowed their pace nor stopped it, and as the day progressed they drew closer and closer to the floor of the inner canyon.

At length they came to a halt on the edge of an outcrop. About 300 meters below lay the floor of the canyon, streaked with hundreds of ripples in the time-packed sands, which in turn stood in silent fossil memory of the ancient stream which once had gushed there. The three of them stood panting silently as behind them the sun came closer and closer to the lip of the canyon.

Graysith pointed to the mysterious and alien carvings in the walls below. "The Valley of the Lords," she announced, shivering a bit as a sudden black and spirit-haunted wind blew up from the depths below. Then the Glyph drew her attention to the sole little switchback carved into the face of solid rock, the only means of making the final descent. M'wonBo'o's yowls nonewithstanding, the party continued on, and after about another hour had passed finally reached their destination.

Up-canyon lay rock and scree and fossil riverbed. But down-canyon:

Graysith turned and stared in awe. The walls were lined with carvings. The canyon walls arrowed in this manner for about a kilometer, where they suddenly curved to the right. Just at the point of that curve, a strange light flickered faintly upon the walls of rock, sending strange shadows dancing about the faces of the Sith Lords who stood in stony and brooding silence, guarding their secret place and the secrets that place had protected for millennia.

Graysith drew in a deep breath, then looked at Shayla as she pointed down-canyon to where that eerie light shone upon the walls. "It is there we must go, my sister, and we must gain this light before darkness strikes."

But then, maybe it wasn't fatique. Maybe it was something else entirely.

She shuddered in spite of herself, drawing closer to her sister. The loyal M'wonBo'o, who seemed just about as wary as she did, had a face tendril coiled around Graysith's waist. Shayla smiled softly a bit at that.

They continued towards the eerie light, and Shayla wondered exactly what they were truly heading for.

The truth.

But there was something else...

Something familiar???

She shrugged the strange sense of deja vu away. She'd never been here before...

...or had she?

Or was it a melding of something dark and evil within herself with what was here?

Possibly.

The canyon walls seemed to close in upon them as bit by bit the day descended into night.

Their footsteps, muffled as they trod upon the ancient sands, now rang strangely against the rock even though the ground had not altered beneath their feet. It was as though the rhythmic song of warrior feet were descending upon them to take them both into their ranks and remove them from the realm of the living....

The night hunkered closer... great stone Lords seemed to turn their massive and horned heads... great unseeing eyes seemed to burst into chromatic life as they became imbued with hues of scarlet and gold, turquoise and cyan, and the most royal of violet....

An eerie wind now began gushing coldly upon them... from somewhere at their backs came a familiar sort of yowly growl, a tuk'ata which wasn't in the least little bit M'wonBo'o. He in turn raised his hackles, his massive head turning, his pupilless eyes peering backward in anxious preparation to protect his Mistress and the Other....

Now the light ahead flared up into scarlet and crimson brilliance, dancing like hellfire upon the red stone walls, leaping and wavering and spreading as they approached...

...only to gutter down into near oblivion as though being suddenly doused by pouring rain.

Graysith stopped dead in her tracks. By now the Glyph on her forehead was in full-bore, having ravened up the electromagnetic spectrum beyond the invisible brilliance of gamma, shedding its weird brand of light upon the walls in almost commanding cadence to that flame which died even as it was touched by the cold light of it.

She pointed to the flame, whispering to Shayla, "There. The Eternal Flame..." then she dropped the hand of her Adept which she had been holding the last few meters and moved ahead. Coming just around the curve, she faced the stone urn in which the fire was now seeping into, disappearing, leaving, removing itself from this stranger who dared to come upon it and view it with human eyes. As it lowered, shadows pressed closer in excitement; in the distance there came another yowl of a tuk'ata at prowl.

Graysith would have none of it. She stopped, widening her stance, her old haughty glare brightening in her eyes as they did in her early days when she had first confronted Darth Wicked. Actually snorting in disgust, she raised an imperious hand, pointed now to the flame, and spoke out in a harsh and commanding voice.

"Thou shalt not depart from this place! Thou shalt not degrade thyself nor those whom thou serve! For I am the Daughter come hither to take thee unto me; come now as I command it!"

For a moment absolutely nothing happened. Then--

Slowly, a wind as cold as death began icing the canyon, bringing tangible blackness into it before which the night itself became pale. Slowly, a moan was set up, reverberating upon the great stone walls, back and forth, back and forth, increasing in amplitude as its harmonics began to vibrate within the same frequency. It crescendoed upward until it was as if all the thunder in the universe was compressed between the stone walls of the Valley of the Lords.

She flung back her head as tendrils of all that was about her coalesced into one and sought her out. It swayed and writhed, a black and deadly serpent, like seeking like... until suddenly recognizing the darkness within her it leapt forward in a blackly electric bolt and razored into the Glyph on her forehead.

She shuddered at the strength of it all, fighting to remain herself, to not become lost in the pure and dark and unceasing evil of this place... yet somehow relishing the strength of it and how good it actually was beginning to feel. Her mouth flew open in a laugh of utter enjoyment, and she whirled, holding out a hand to Shayla.

"Come, my sister!" Her voice rang like another peal of thunder from the canyon walls. "I need you with me!"

She stood there, her hair staticking about her in a flaming nimbus, her eyes ablaze as was the Glyph, her hand outstretched, waiting. "Only together can we use this to find that which I seek!"

Now her head tipped back, and she lifted her face to the dark skies above, for the first time crying aloud the name of her lost child.

"ShaRhylla!"

It echoed about in the night, coming at length to rest upon Shayla... as did the gaze of the Chosen Daughter who now stood in heady silence amidst the thunder, waiting for her to reply.

Complete and utter darkness. Death. Darkness.

But they needed this complete darkness to squelch that which had Graysith's daughter.

Dark Lord Roan.

Suddenly, a completely righteous anger flared from Shayla's inner being. He had lead her Sister to believe he had loved her. He'd mated with her to have a child to use for his own gain.

And in the process of it all, he'd most definitely intended to take Shayla's life.

Sensing a fire burning within her, Shayla reached out and placed her hand in Graysith's. Took her other hand and held it as well, the complete and overwhelming joy of completely justifiable angering seeking and gaining release from within her.

Swallowed in the ultraviolet glow of Graysith's glyph, Shayla gave herself over to that anger, and lent her strength to her sister to find that which she sought.

ShaRhylla...!!!

...and took hold of the very fabric of spacetime and stretched it flat. It lay before them like a black blanket, littered with billions of twirling entities some sentients have come to call galaxies.

And between the galaxies, a tiny brilliant light was fleeing... into another from another, it disappeared into light even as they watched.

Now pools of darkness encroached, great shadows rising up from non-ness to laugh and taunt them with an assurety so great it sickened them... the features of Dark Lord Roan swam into motion, along with another dark and wrinkled and evil-pocked being, beside whom there stood another with the eyes of a raven.

Centered within, her blood sister Galen stood defiant, a lone mote against a universe entirely too big for her to handle.

And from another swirl of stars there came another blight... which reached out to join in darkness with those beings who laughed and pointed and petted Galen as if she were a cherished sort of pet. Their evil hands reached out, a dark and drooling imp came from nowhere to slash and gnaw upon her...

...and all disappeared into utter silence as the Eternal Flame disappeared altogether, leaving Graysith and Shayla standing alone with their tuk'ata, silently overlooked by the great stone lords who brooded over this place.

Graysith fell back with a gasp, as her own unique essence slammed back into her. For a moment she remained silent, then turned her wide eyes into Shayla's equally wide ones.

"I know what they plan!" she murmured, near shock. "My daughter... they mean to use her... and my blood sister as well...

"My Sire is in danger most dire, and as we are we cannot prevent their plans from seeing completion."

She shuddered a little, sinking down upon her knees now as she thought what they needed to do. M'wonBo'o growled himself into a whine, his eyes everywhere as he sought to distinguish shadow from shadowy foe....

Graysith's head flew up. "Shayla, we need the Claw of S'slan," she whispered. "That device is the only thing that can stop this. It is the only means we can defeat He who is truly at the heart of this foul plot against his own kind."

She fell silent, pleading to the darkness, pleading to the light... pleading to the All for the sake of not only her daughter but for that of the civilization in whose ancient and mysterious valley they now had come.

For indeed was the universe in darkness... and they both had just touched the Night.

Graysith's innocent child...

...and those hideous monsters!!!

People could think that the True Sith were evil, but when truth was finally revealed, an Evil far darker and far more devestating lurked and laughed at all those who thought they knew darkness.

Shayla tried to think. Where could the Claw possibly be?

She'd had it in her hands...her own hands...

...Master REAN had taken it from her. And Terrin Danner had been with him that day...

Shayla dug deeper into her mind, into her memory, as if she would find the Claw hidden in the recesses of her mind. "Terrin Danner and the others must still have the Claw. If not, we are in even more trouble than I possibly can bear to imagine. But..." Shayla started, stretching out.

But no. "...I can't sense him. And I know Terrin Danner's force-signature."

Then, pondering these things, Shayla was suddenly struck with an idea.

You have the information right in your back pocket! You were an information smuggler...your company still exists...you STILL have access! You can find him! You can find them!

Even as this realization took hold of Shayla, she knew that, presented with how positive she was that Terrin Danner had actually fallen in love with Graysith's blood sister...

...he had to be either with Galen at the moment, or looking for her.

"I believe we need to find Terrin Danner and his crew," Shayla surmised. "And I believe they will be at the center of this dark and disturbing event which we have seen..."

She who does stands with others. She who belongs with strong he who stand with them. Bares his fangs and yowls does he.

Sense she do I. Sense humaness do I.

Yet sense strength in her do I. Yowl I, yowl I.

On the hunt am I.

To meet with she who yet senses not I...

But then, logic took hold.

Shayla stepped into the darkness, further, further...

...til at length she founded herself surrounded by shadows.

And the yowling of an animal on the hunt.

Reaching out with her newly developing talents, Shayla found it no difficult task to find the signature of that tu'kata which now sought to meet with her.

The primitive mind sensed her intrusion and yowled in thirst for the hunt.

A flash of fangs...

...ten inch claws...

Shayla stood ready, inflinching, unafraid. She reached out again with her talents and touched the mind of this being.

Seek the fresh taste of my blood, do you? she queried, slipping past the creature's jump.

It...she...yowled in return. Their minds were meshing...

Again, the animal lept.

In one fluid motion, Shayla again moved, but not without her arm first being slightly sliced by that of the tu'kata.

How well you fight, she said into the mind of the animal.

The creature did not respond, but merely sprang to attack once again.

Shayla found the strength to respond to this attack, even as her arm throbbed and blood oozed.

At the flash of an eye, Shayla jumped at just the right moment...

...and landed squarely on the back of this fierce creature.

The creature fought her presence on its back at first, but she again reached into her mind, sending words of calm.

Fight me no longer, she ordered. Your skill is apparent. Take you as my own blood hunt companion, would I, at your agreement.

Slowly, oh so very slowly, the animal stopped its thrashing as Shayla clung to her back. Slowly sat back on it's massive hindquarters, then laid to the ground in complete submssion.

Find I strength. Fight not. Protect I you.

Shayla stroked the fur of the animal, as she felt her muscles slacken in submission.

Very well, Al'iya. My blood hunt companion shall you be. We must return to the others who greatly need our help.

Protect I. Obey I. Going am I.

Getting to it's feet, the massive tu'kata took on her back her new mistress.

Beside her, M'wonBo'o leaped to an alert standstill, growling deep in his chest as he too reached out to sense this newcomer.

As Shayla brought her beast to a halt a few meters away and slid from its back, Graysith smiled. Nodding her head as though to say, we shall speak of this later, she then continued on in their former line of speculation:

"My Sister, what you say concerning Terrin Danner makes sense. Too much sense for my liking. Yet by your own admission we cannot ascertain his presence without your information smuggling skills, and that may take some time.

"I, however, in your brief absence--" Here she smiled and nodded again, her one hand going to rest on M'wonBo'o's sleek head. "I have reached out and found the signature of Galen. I find her in the presence of one who I have not dealt with for quite some time; this is disturbing in itself. Questing out from her, I have found... nothing.

"It is as though someone is blocking the All in the direction in which they travel. Nothing may block the All except he All, and this I find of great concern.

"Galen stands as some central character in the disappearance of my daughter; what say you, my Adept? In which direction shall we travel come the morning?"

Sheesh, who the Hell was with Galen if Terrin wasn't?

But she was certain of a few things.

If Galen was with someone else it would be quite likely that this someone else was taking her to her doom. If that were the case, they might still have a chance...

"I believe we should seek out Galen and snag her before she gets to Lord Roan. I know this is risky with no Claw, but I just know Terrin Danner is right behind her. He's followed her down to unknowns deeper than this before, although I'm certain even he is not aware of the danger lurking. But Terrin is just the sort of person to not back down when he really wants something."

The sort of person you knew he could be, even though you never were the one to spark the flame...

"He won't back down til he finds her. If we rescue her first, I believe Terrin will come after her. I just have this feeling he's somehow out there, even though I can't sense him. They've gotta have the Claw. After the price Terrin paid to get the thing, and after he saw me almost successfully take it on Sullust, he'd be a fool to let it out of his eyesight. And well, if they don't have the Claw, I'm suspecting we are in a pile of bantha fodder anyway.

"We should rescue Galen, find the Claw, then take care of this matter and find your daughter."

"I agree, my Sister," she said at length. Then she turned and in one flowing motion took a seat upon the ground. M'wonBo'o hunkered closer to her, still standing, his own eyes never leaving those of the new tuk'ata brought to them by Shayla.

"We leave at dawn." Graysith smiled quickly. "Now, my sister: tell me of this tuk'ata and how you manage to be astride her. When all is said and done we must return to this world and complete certain rituals, if you want to cement the Blood Hunt companionship I sense beginning to grow between the two of you."

"This one linked with my mind," she explained. She was interested in the hunt, while I was intrigued by her daring. After I was able to evade her attack several times, once only by a margin, I was able to jump upon her back. She fought me, but in time yielded.

She settled herself more comfortably upon the sandy ground, nestling within the trough of a great and ancient streambed ripple.

"We are being sought, my Adept." Though the words were spoken in a whisper, they echoed loudly against the night. "I am being sought...."

She paused another moment, reaching out to still her tuk'ata's slowly crescending growls as through his mental link with her he sensed this new and unseen adversary. Then she smiled.

"It is of little concern, my Sister. But it would behoove us to keep wary.

"M'wonBo'o, take with you your new packsister and guard. We still depart at dawn."

She spoke no more but moved about a little, trying to get into as comfortable a position as she could. Her features grew pensive as they stared back out into the darkness beyond the Eternal Flame, as she reached out with her talents to determine just who or what this new and apparently rash being was. A portion of the dark night split and grew darker then, as the two tuk'atas, one massive and threatening, the other sleek and deadly, rose to their feet and proceeded to follow the orders of the Chosen Daughter of the Sith.

"AAAAGH!!!" Tylon Kincaid sat up from his bed, drenched in a cold sweat.
Another nightmare, eh? A voice in his head said.

"Shut up..." Tylon replied as he pulled his legs out of the sheets and place his feet on the floor. "I know it was you."
Always is, "Sarge", always is!

"I said shut up! Lights!" Tylon waited for his apartment to brighten up. "I'm hungry..."
I'm sure of that. You emptied your stomach on the other side of the bed before you woke up!

"Why won't you leave me alone for at least one morning?" Tylon asked...himself.
You'll find out when the time comes. Oh, and check your computer.

"Why? For what?" No answer came to his questions. Shrugging his shoulders, Tylon walked up to his personal computer terminal and switched it on. A screen popped up: You Have (1) Messages Waiting For You.
Must be another client, Tylon thought by himself this time.

Typing a few commands on the keypad, the message came up on the screen.

To: All Available Hunters
From: The Guild

Hit a massive flow of contracts 0800 hours ago. All of them from other bounty hunter guilds. Prices are extraordinary. Free for all, ladies and gentlemen. Target is a "Graysith." Supposedly a Jedi of some sort. Has company. Possible Jedi also. Right now, the highest price is around 1,500,000 credits, and probably still rising. Wanted Alive. Will address contacts of the contract upon capture.

"Local data reports from planetary satellites detected strange energy emissions from the city...of Prhinnchatka?" Tylon Kincaid brought up the holo-navigation map on the control console, all the stars reflecting off his helmet.

"Phrinnchatka...I thought its people died out." Tylon said as he searched for any debris registrations in the system. "Don't bother looking for Graysith that way, Tylon. She knows how to cover her tracks."

Immediately, the Mandalorian bounty hunter drew out his blaster towards whoever was sitting next to him. "Oh...you again." The glow from the dead Jedi spirit reflected off the hunter's helmet as well as the cockpit window.

"Yeah, me again. There's no point in scanning for anything even remotely helpful here. Yavin IV was dead as soon as Admiral Actar attacked it!" The ghost said with a smirk. Tylon sighed. "Taunting me again, huh?"

The Jedi shook his head. "Not really. I'm actually gonna help you on this one!" The bounty hunter looked at him. "Help me? How?!"

"Prhinnchatka was an ancient city of the Sith. Graysith isn't a Jedi...she's something else. I don't want to get into details about that, but I'll say this: You learn a hell of a lot in the universe when you become one with the Force!" The ghost laid back in the passenger seat. "A hell of a lot..."

"You know where she is?" asked Tylon. The Jedi nodded. "The planet Korriban." The hunter laughed.

"Ha! I knew it! You are here to annoy me again. There is no planet called Korriban." The dead Jedi glared at him. "Think I'm lying? Here, scan this system." He pointed at a star on the map.

Tylon laughed a little again before he inputted the necessary commands. "Alright, fine. Let's see here...hmm.....incredible! An entire system composed of dead planets. I'm sure my target was wise enough to land on one of those..."

"You're right, Tylon. Except one of those planets is ALMOST dead." the ghost replied, his arms crossed. The hunter made a quick scan of the planet's atmosphere.

"...45% oxygen? The planet can still be inhabited." Tylon turned to the ghost. "But it isn't."

The dead Jedi shook his head. "Long story short, the planet belonged to the Sith. It was practically their homeworld. Some kind of catastrophe occured, and the entire population was wiped out."

"Hmm. It'd be the perfect place to hide out..." Tylon said. This time, it was the Jedi who laughed. "You think she's hiding out, huh?"

Before the bounty hunter could respond, the spirit faded away. The ship silent again, Tylon turned to the console and plotted a course for the system Korriban was possible in.

I have to face the Sith...as well as any other bounty hunters I will encounter. I may have to rely on my "friend" after all... Tylon thought to himself before his ship jumped into hyperspace...

Who dares...?

The foolish One was not yet near, but he was certainly on planet. What he thought he was going to accomplish here, and what would truly occur would be two different things, however. He had no idea what he was up against. Furthermore, he had no idea what he was doing.

Why was this fool after Graysith? And did he pay no heed to the strength anyone who was aware of her knew she possessed?

Shayla continued to stretch out, simply to monitor the situation as she awaited whatever would happen next. Almost as an afterthought, she sent out a thought along a link not accessible to those without the All to A'liya, her sleekly muscular and extremely deadly tuk'ata.

A'liya, stay on alert. A foolish One heads our way. Attack and capture upon sight. This one toys with that which he does not comprehend, and risks disruption of the greater good.

"Oh dear," she said softly, now sitting upright. "The effrontery of this fool, am I not correct in this assessment my Sister?" Smiling now she rose gracefully to her feet, adjusting her doba about herself as she did so, not waiting to hear Shayla's affirmative reply. Her bare feet left scarcely a trail in the hard-packed sand as she walked a bit into the gloom of the towering canyon walls, every so often glancing up at the great graven images of the ancient Sith Lords who had once called this planet home. As she moved further from the Eternal Flame and deeper into the darkness, a slow and dangerous kind of energy began to build within her once again. Now understanding her mental signature, the coiling and focussing power of this place had no reason to seek or hesitate; with a sudden dart a vortex the color of night leapt out from ahead and ravened once more into the Glyph upon her head.

This time, however, she was ready for it. She whirled on the spot, exhilarated by the explosion of power and strength this place was imbuing her with, heady with the growing darkness and evil which strove to overcome her innermost being in order to truly utilize the full abilities of this ancient and magickal place. That good within her, that balance for the sake of the All, bowed in obeiscence to it, but refused to depart in entirety, instead backing down enough and allowing it to gain a strange succor within the deepest recesses of the Chosen Daughter's talents.

The net result was that her abilities to use the All increased tenfold.

And doubling was enough to shred a Sith Lord to pieces.

Now Graysith turned slowly round, the Glyph on her forehead ravening with a strange and almost invisible radiance so high up the electromagnetic scale its energies were now drawing strength from. She smiled a strange little smile to herself, then closed her eyes and flung back her head.

Upon her inner lids was an image of a strange ship. It hunkered on Sith soil like a blight; her lips now curling in a sneer she reached out with every talent she possessed and...

...tweaked the molecular structure of the alien craft. Bonds were broken, new ones formed. Excess energies mushroomed up into the starfield above it, roaring out into the stratosphere as the ship in question gave a weird sort of shudder...

...and then settled into the landscape, camoflaguing itself perfectly there. Bit by bit its gleaming hull dulled, bit by bit disappearing against the background...

Until at length the transformation was utterly complete. No longer did a strange and unwieldy craft taint the soil of this sacred Sith place. In its stead there stood a giant boulder composed of sandstone, one that looked very much indeed like the craft in which the young fool had landed here.

Graysith smiled more broadly, letting the Glyph descend into the visible range of light as she pushed off the encroaching darkness and approached her adept.

"I believe our visitor will be having a difficult time leaving this place, my dear," she grinned as she placed a companionable arm about Shayla's shoulders.

Then, just for fun, she reached out with her talents once again... and the crystal in the intruder's weapon was transformed, in a manner similar to that of his ship, into a lump of coal.

"Oh my Sister," she commented lightly, turning to face Shayla. "How conveniently does this one find a crystal to mend his wounded blade! Strange, is it not do you think, that he has discovered this? On a world deserted and mouldering for over four thousand years?

"Indeed, I wonder what strange thing he has thought to have found, which he so readily and apparently believes to be his redemption from my supposed danger to him?"

Now her brow lowered, and her violet eyes darkened to the hue just before nightfall. "A danger am I to this one?" she whispered. "Perhaps more so than the young fool believes...."

Her voice trailed off into a dwindling sigh of the wind, which evermore cascaded gently between the hoary walls of this sacred Place of the Sith, this Valley of Lords in which no non-Sith might tread.

Except the Chosen Daughter and her own Chosen Sister.

Graysith now turned to that sister with a little sigh.

"It is equally apparent this one will not leave well enough alone," she sighed in resignation of the fact. For all her determination to spend a restful night and depart with the dawn, she suddenly knew deeply within her that this was not to be so. She sighed again, then patted Shayla on the arm.

"I shall travel to this one and see what nonsense he might spout. Then..."

She paused a moment, letting her eyes deepen even more.

"Why then, my dear, I shall deal with him."

With no further words to be spoken, she opened a doorway through the All, stepped through, and found herself on a barren spot some distance yet from the canyon lip, facing the completely startled and totally disconcerted young fool who dared to continue with his attempt to meet with her. He jerked up from where he had been examining some cavities in the ground, his eyes wide. She bowed her head briefly in his direction, her eyes never leaving his but boring into them like twin comets in the night.

"You wish to have words with me," she whispered softly, straightening her stance and calming her expression. Only her eyes remained dangerously dark.

"Korriban..." Tylon said to himself. He immediately did a scan of the planet. "Same results from Yavin IV. Barely any recognizable life signs...barely." He then homed his scanners on the largest life signatures.

"The only thing I have to a target? Best to land in a disclosed area." The hunter said to himself. He plotted a landing course for a large cavern on a mountain trail. "Hopefully, nothing could go wrong on this hunt."

Beware, Tylon. The dead Jedi's voice came again in Tylon's head. She controls the All. Take advantage of mistakes others make, and you can still win the game.

"What? Jedi, why are you helping me?" Tylon asked. No answer came.

She cocked her head to one side, clasping her hands before her as she studied the hotheaded youngster who stood so threateningly before her, and in so ridiculous a manner. For a long moment she remained silent, scrutinizing him, noting carefully his white-knuckled grip on his saber, quietly sending a tendril of her talents into his mind and sensing the depths of the darkness which howled within him there.

Quietly she pulled back, straightening. "And there are those who would call me dark," she murmured to herself. Then she smiled at him.

"You do not have that to which the All would respond within you, rash fool," she said shortly. "And I warn you, do not try my patience further with your unthinking actions."

Now she lifted her chin slightly, cutting her eyes to the starfield which twinkled over their heads. It was as if one of that myriad throng were falling to the very soil upon which she stood. Her smile broadened at the sight until her even white teeth were exposed; flinging her head back she let out a soft laugh.

"Yet another fool seeks that of which he has no idea!" she chuckled aloud. Then she brought her attention back to the young man before her. "Perhaps if you wait about, and ask nicely, this new stranger would deign to grant you transport to wherever it is you seek to go.

"But seek me no further. I have a limit to my patience; you are close to treading upon it."

With no further ado, she turned her back upon the impertinent young man, walking off a bit into the night. As she did, she lifted an arm, reaching out with her unique talents and taking up the very fabric of spacetime in existence around her. Giving it a little twist, as though to encompass more within her grasp, she then severed it, seeking through its folds until she came upon her adept and the two tuk'ata, who were at the moment trying to scale the canyon walls to gain her side.

She smiled at how simple it was to bring them to her, A'liya's yowls of startlement nonwithstanding. Then she reached through the strangely wrinkled fabric of spacetime into another entirely different direction...

...and stepped out in the spot before her blanketed little ship. Shaking her head, assisting her sister and the beasts, she let spacetime snap back into its former frame, lifted the chronotic shield long enough that they might board, and ushered the others into Retribution.

In a manner utterly defying known laws of physics, the strangely greeny-golden Sith ship departed, going from the surface of the planet to approximately 10,000 miles above its atmosphere in a matter of a second, inertia be damned. From that vantage point, safely ensconced within yet another chronotic shield, it departed into hyperspace.

Before the young Jin could blink, his quarry was gone. And in parting, the Chosen Daughter of the Sith left a protective All-shield over the Valley of the Lords, lest those not understanding or in possession of enough humility seek to mar its sacrosanct beauty.

Deeply within the impervious shield, the Eternal Flame burnt on.

The bounty hunter had drawn the E11 Blaster, and had it leveled at the apparent Jedi for a headshot. Numbers began to flash on the top right side of his visor...

My ship has finished the scans of the terrain...but I have no time for that now! The Mandalorian armoured warrior took a step forward.

"I don't know who you are, but I recommend you put down that saber now!" he said. Again his 'friend' returned inside his head...

Nice choice of words...if only they actually meant something to him. The Jedi's voice said.

Tylon shook his head. "I have no time for you now!" he shouted.

Can I give you a hint? In a way, both of you have the same goal...I suggest you take advantage of that. And at that, Tylon felt the spirit leave his mind.

A possible nervous reaction occured from his hands after the ghost's retreat, as suddenly Tylon's finger started to squeeze the trigger...

...And he was unaware of it.

Awaiting the answer, I placed my finger upon the button placed neatly along the side of the round, vertically shaped shaft, applying pressure. Extingusihing of the burning, boiling light I furrowed my eyebrow, as I placed it at its scabbard.

That was not...wait...how did that happen? he thought to himself.

The bounty hunter stared at the young warrior before him. The calculations conducted by his helmet's small target scanner revealed the age and gender of this mysterious being.

He has no fear of me. No fear at all... he thought. The bounty hunter quickly regained his composure and steadied the blaster again.

"So, you know about GraySith? Exactly what do you have to do with her and..." Tylon tightened his trigger finger. "How do you know I'm after her?"

The wind seemed to frown. In fact, it did: the very atmosphere seemed to split in twain, looking for all the world like lips pursed in disgust, great ethereal lips which pursed even further and from between them spit out a particularly blackened and noisome creature.

Maladius drooled and garbled his insanity as he unfurled his inkblot body directly above the head of the hot-tempered young Ahmad. Before the watching bounty hunter could even find the time to raise his eyes in surprise, the devilish imp had dropped his armored body upon Ahmad, the claws of all four appendages sinking deeply into his flesh, his long tail wrapping tightly about the young man's legs and causing him to fall upon the hard and sandy ground beneath him. Ahmad writhed and struggled, one hand going up for the demon's arm that now tightened about his throat, the other going for his lightsaber and with a sizzling shoosh igniting it.

That's just as far as he got.

Maladius's tail no longer needed, it now flashed out like a cracking whip, and like that whip-crack moved faster than sound can travel. The tip made brief but firm contact against the wrist of the young Ahmad; before the young man quite realized what had happened, his lightsaber was handily flicked out from his fingers and sent whirling some distance away.

Now the tail flicked out yet again... this time as a deterrent to the oncoming hunter, who paused for a brief few seconds, blaster aimed uncertainly, afraid to shoot for fear of hitting Ahmad. Those few seconds were all the demon needed.

"My Master sends his greetings, oh puny one!" he slobbered, bending his head down so as to bring his stinking mouth beside Ahmad's ear. "And this warning as well:

"Seek ye not the Chosen Daughter, or the next visit of my servant will be far less pleasant for you."

With that, Maladius drew back, quickly removing one hand from its death's grip upon Ahmad's flesh, in less than a second reaching out to grasp and then firmly and completely yank off the braid the young man wore. It's parting wasn't a completely smooth one, for a bit of Ahmad's flesh came away with it, dripping and red.

Brandishing the braid like a trophy, the demon leaped up so he was now squatting on Ahmad's shoulders. Then,quickly ducking aside the one blast now sent from the hunter's weapon in defense of Ahmad, the demon wiggled his fingers in an awful parody of leave-taking, cackling insanely all the time. Springing straight up into the air then, easily outdistancing Ahmad's outraged reach, he gave the braid one final wave, and disappeared completely through the strange portal gaping overhead.

That doorway through he All disappeared with the sound of thunder, leaving the two humans to stare at the place where it had been. Behind on the ground, a few drops of blood spoke volumes....

I don't have much time, so I'll be brief. Kincaid, grab Ahmad and take him to your ship quickly! Get to Yavin before its too-- The presence of the dead Jedi's voice abruptly cut short. The bounty hunter stood there completely clueless as to what just transpired. He stared up at the night sky, despite the wave of sand constantly blown from the wind blurring his view...

"Well...so much for this being an easy hunt..." he said to himself. He started to hear Ahmad, shoving sand away from his arms as he tried to sit up. Reluctantly, the bounty hunter walked over to the Jedi and grabbed his arm to pick him up...

"Hey...what is your name?'

From what I've seen so far, he can easily handle himself. Although I still don't understand why he needs my help... he thought.

Introduce yourself, Tylon. No sense in being rude after saving his life... The voice spoke to him again. Tylon sighed and turned to Ahmad. "My name is Ty--"

No its not. A sharp voice, one that sounded darker than the voice before, suddenly pierced the bounty hunter's ears. He shook his head slightly. What was that?

Don't give him your real name...not yet. Your name is...

"Renard. Jakob Renard." Tylon said.

Lo-Ban then quieted...

"AHHHRRRRRRHHH"

Lo-Ban laid there a few moments, holding his head...

He then got to his feet... supporting himself against a bulkhead..."I felt something, something so fierce... hatred, or regret.. an unbelievable regret for something... rage... I have been able to sense the moods of many over the years, at times even there thoughts... but, this is a first... whomever felt this, is not in there right minds, not in the least... the only problem... I have no idea who holds these great and terrible emotions... but, I believe we shall find out soon..."

Lo-Ban quieted, then waited to hear from the others...

She scanned quickly through the glyphs within, coming at length to those particular ones showing the spatial coordinates of Korriban. Now she reached out to the navigational board once more, this time to key in those coordinates so the ship would not only know of its destination, but the most efficient means of getting to it. She then replaced the ledger and sat back, now flicking on the primary forward viewscreen to watch the almost unbearable wonder of starlight being taken up as though it were a tangible thing, and stretched beyond them in taffy strings billions of lightyears in length.

She sighed, allowing herself to relax, one ear cocked to the slightly growing altercation progressing between her love and the young Loban, and was just wondering if she needed to go see what the latest problem befalling the young man seemed to be when yet another thought crossed her mind.

Now her smooth forehead creased in a frown of disgust with herself, the Glyph proclaiming how she felt to all who happened to be looking. How careless of her... indeed, this could have easily been turned into a grave error indeed. She had been lucky in her forgetfulness....

When had she missed this? Was it yesterday when she had been taken hold by that horrible despair? Or while she had been away taking Graysith's place aboard the Vong ship?

She frowned a moment longer at this then her look lightened.

Oh well, it didn't matter. Besides, Loban wasn't really a Jedi anyway, and lightsabers were useless weapons considering what they would be up against if trouble came their way.

Shayla really wondered why Loban was here at all. But then, that wasn't her decision to make, and the Sith always had justifiable reasons for everything they did, if people looked far enough to find them.

But small minds did think in very small terms.

Sighing at this thought, Shayla settled back into her seat and waited to see what else might occur.

"I'm just trying to help here... I can't turn it on or off like a switch... I only share what I sense, it can only help to voice what I know, it is up to others to judge... you do your thing, and I'll do mine..."

Lo-Ban then shot a quick look in Shayla's direction... then approached Graysith and the baby,"such a small... child, for such great importance..."

The baby kicked a bit,"They are so cute at that age... how so much can change between here and two years from now, I know not..."

"...that was a joke..." said Lo-Ban, with a faint smile on his face...

She let time sprawl between them in utter and compelling silence. Then--

"Indeed, this babe is small, as you declare. But perimeters can be deceiving; she is stronger than she looks. As you yourself appear before me now in such obvious innocence; tell me, Loban...."

Letting the words trail off as she turned to hand the quiet JhinDarra to Shayla, she now rose to her feet to confront the young man directly. Her very aspect described the words she had only just uttered; Loban took a step back as her small and slight frame bore down upon him.

"What is it you mean by that comment, that things may change two years from now? What is it you know? Cease now with these endless games you play of innocence and being the victim; take care, and speak truthfully, or you shall no longer be allowed to remain here aboard this ship."

"I... I merely meant a case of the terrible-twos.... it was a joke, I apologize for taking the moment lightly..."

"It would behoove you to joke less from this point on, young one," she finally said. "I may not be as forgiving the next time."

He then turned his gaze to loban for a moment, considering him in quiet contemplation.

He must find a way to control his emotions...i would teach him...but could one such as himself even grasp the concepts that took the sith eons to even imagin?

He didn't bother to turn, he merely lowered his head in disgust of his actions... he knew he shouldn't have made the joke, he just knew it...

Lo-Ban found a dark corner to sit, and ponder a few things...

Why did I come, indeed... you have a purpose... HOW? you have one, you just don't know what... but, you will make a difference... I WILL, no matter what, I will make a difference...

Such a small...child, for such great importance...?

It wasn't the words themselves she found herself not liking. There was just something eerie about his tone, something she made mental note of, should it later become important. But for now, she'd keep the baby as happy as she possibly could...and as far away from Loban as she could for the moment too. Something just wasn't right about the kid...

Looking down into JhinDarra's big blue eyes, Shayla couldn't help but let her mind wander to future hopes of having a little one or two of her own...

...with her future husband.

She grinned at the thought for a moment then sobered, turning her mind to the mission ahead, to Recinis's inquiry on the length of the journey. That particular detail Shayla wasn't sure of, but she had experienced the power of the Eternal Flame before. What she wondered, however, was just how they were planning on going about this. Would it take the strength of each one of them, along with the Eternal Flame, to bring Graysith's own little daughter to them?

Shayla voiced these two questions aloud in addition to Recinis's own question then quieted, gently rocking the baby as she waited to see what Graysith might reply.

But, then he sensed something... protection... from him?

He knew it was coming from Shayla...

but, why?

Had she miss understood him as well?

'small'... minds do think in small terms...

Could he have misjudged Shayla...

No matter... He planned on changing most impressions, on this pilgrimage...

She then turned her attention to the young Loban. Strange, this one is, she mused to herself. There is such a demarcation within him; it is almost as if he were actually two people encased in one, and each unaware of the other. As with the sorcerer, I do not sense any active potential for deceit; on the contrary he is quite filled with resolution... She smiled faintly, making a silent vow to herself to keep an eye peeled on this young one.

Next she turned her focus to Shayla, who was still sitting at the control center, quietly rocking the babe in their charge. Her faint smile broadened as she sensed the emotions that simple act set free in the soul of her adept; again her thoughts strayed a bit off-track. My Adept is to become one with this Erik Kartan, she reflected, unable to keep from shooting a slightly wistful glance in Recinis's direction. Indeed, I have been remiss in discussing this wonderful news with her; I must make certain to do so when we are safely back home....

Home. Such a simple term, yet one carrying so much meaning. So wonderful after a period of almost three years to have a place to consider such again....

Now she let out a little sigh, drawing outward once more, back into the reality of the warship, now taking in the words Recinis and Shayla were speaking to her. Waited a heartbeat more, and then finally replied to both in one smooth statement:

"The Valley shall reveal to us that which we need to know, and it will do so when we get there. Which will be in approximately 5 hours."

Why couldn't he understand the reasons everyone was so leery of him? Why couldn't he see that the jokes only made him appear entirely too unconcerned about the things which might occur?

Perhaps he was too caught up in the idea of finding adventure in life to realize that life, in fact, wasn't always that enthralling. That truly living was something beyond simple fun and games.

For even those with many adventures had many responsibilities.

Considering he was a Jedi wannabe, Loban sure didn't appear to be used to taking responsibility.

But then maybe he would learn, in time.

At that thought, Shayla suddenly realized something...or rather someone...that no one had thought about lately. "What of the young Thea Morgan? Should we recover her, would we then dare take the risk of sending her back to the Jedi Praxeum, or something else entirely? I'm not too certain she will be willing to trust us..."

"Yes, Shayla, you are right to bring this up," she said at length. "And the point you make is a valid one. I agree the child would probably not trust us in the least, even though the few times I personally interacted with her I always tried to be as kind as I possibly could. It is so difficult for a child to understand the larger whole of which they are but the tiniest part; but then..."

She stood up, stretched a bit, laid a hand on Recinis's shoulder and squeezed it. "But then, it is due to this inability that they are so trusting in turn, for they truly need guidance from adults and unconsciously seek it. I do not feel we would have to persuade her in any manner at all, as we would with a mature Jedi."

Her eyes cut briefly to where Loban yet hunkered in a cloud of gloom, before she continued. "I feel that with continued kindnesses and as much honesty as a child can deal with, she may gradually come to view us as friends. And she must, for I simply will not allow her being returned to the Praxeum. It is too dangerous at this time. I hope that eventually she will be able to be returned to her parents, but for now, I fear, she will have to find a new home with us in Phrinnchatka."

She left unsaid what was quite obvious to both her and her adept: that the child simply knew too much to go anywhere. Instead she let the unspoken words pass into Shayla's being by a particularly intense look she bestowed upon her. Immediately her eyes returned to their former and almost languorous expression, skillfully masking the concerns she herself was harboring about the little girl. Perhaps her sister and husband would be kind enough to temporarily give her a home and the stability she was undoubtedly needing at this point...

The merest wisp of a smile graced her features as, giving Recinis's shoulder another meaningful squeeze, she finished with, "I believe I shall retire to the observation lounge for a few hours, until it is time to make planetfall on Korriban."

Then she eyed the controls in front of her curiously.

This was one mother of a Sith ship! And Shayla figured, what the hey, with the time to lounge and wait she might as well look over the controls and familiarize herself with the warship a bit...

"You need not ask to join me, Recinis," she said simply, taking his hand. "For to you, and you alone am I merely Graysith, and not the Chosen Daughter."

With another little smile, she let his hand drop. The motion almost acted as a trigger, tripping to let loose the sudden wash of trepidation which flooded into her from nowhere. She swallowed, blinking a bit, before whirling away from him to go to the alien viewport. There she sent an almost stony gaze out upon the nullness of their protective chronotic shield, yearning quite suddenly to see beyond it, if not into the very future indeed.

Would this work? Would the child be enough to reach out across the immensity of millions of lightyears, to then take her own daughter from the clutches of the dark one who held her? Was this to be a successful mission... or one leading to more danger by revealing this ancient and revered place to the eyes and ears of intruders, dressed in the attire of an ally though they might be...?

I believe you, my love. I believe that all shall be right... and if any should threaten, you shall make it right once again.

...a moment bisected all too swiftly by a sudden call to the command center. Graysith drew back from Recinis's hold, her heart pounding yet in cadence with his, the Glyph illuminating them in its soft violet glow. From thin air came the sound of Shayla's voice, informing them they were about to come out of hyperdrive, and that they were entering into Korriban space.

She let her eyes fall into the wonderful green pair before her, once more thinking how alive those eyes looked, how alive they made her feel, how they almost seemed to represent life itself. When she started to speak, her voice was shaky, barely above a whisper. It echoed loudly in the otherwise silence of the observation lounge.

"I-- we must go now, Recinis," she finally faltered, beginning to stand up. All the while she kept her eyes glued to his, drinking them into her, holding his hand as the ship gave the slightest of thrumms about them, informing them that they had reverted to realspace.

Then she turned in her seat at the control center to regard the entering Graysith and Recinis, waiting to see what directions might be given next.

Korriban.

Hidden away in the far-off Horuset system, it was a world which once sent shudders of fear racing through the veins of the strongest and most stalwart of beings, whether or not they were adept in the Force or not. It was a dry and sere world of great sandy deserts and dusty sandstone canyons, a very small area of about 10 degrees encircling its equitorial region being the only spot where anything green could be found. There, a planet-circling wild and shadowy jungle, moist with understory, hid myriad not only dangerous denizens of the jungle floor but ancient and moss-dripping ruins which remained hidden here and there in the dense vegetation. This was the ancient stronghold and home of the Sith, that ancient and powerful race who at one time in the far-distant past had held the entire Galaxy beneath a thumb more pressing than even old Palpatine could have managed...

Striding up to where Shayla sat vigil at the controls of the ship, still holding the sleeping babe in her arms, Graysith stopped and leaned lightly across Shayla's shoulder. "Here is our destination, my friends," she announced as with a flick of her hand she drew up a digital and three-dimensional topographic map of Korriban. Her deft fingers manipulated certain controls, making the image whirl about in fifteen-degree increments until a certain longitudinal band was presented dead-center to them. Now she used the controls to zoom in upon a spot at about 54 degrees south of the planet's equator. It loomed larger and larger before them until a 50 x 50 kilometer grid was laid out before them.

At its center a golden glyph flashed patiently, wondering at the absence of its creators, sensing the return of at least one.

Quietly, filled with sudden awe as memories flooded through her, she tapped the display with a reverent finger. "It is here that we must go, into the Valley of the Lords."

Then she flicked another sigil; the forward viewscreen complied instantly, now revealing to them a wildly beautiful scene: the actual surface of the rapidly approaching planet. Streaks of russet and umber, ochre and burnt orange criss-crossed a pinkish-yellow terrain, marking the places where ancient canyons had been eroded from the perimeters of great and land-encompassing plateaus. One such a canyon was beginning to grow larger even as she gazed upon it. And from somewhere at it's northeastern end there came a steadily sussurrating glow.

She pointed to a place on the plateau above that flashing glyph, and then straightened her stance. "That is where we must make landfall, my friends," she said quietly. Then, as she did when she and Shayla had come here months ago, she allowed her Adept to see to those final maneuvers. As before, nothing untoward occurred during their descent. The great warship sliced through the atmosphere, coming to a silent halt on the edge of that plateau, exquisitely poised on its very edge.

Graysith rose gracefully to her feet as the warship kissed the sandy soil of the barren plateau. About her that magnificent vessel was absolutely silent, having no need for outgassing any of its potent energies. They were simply absorbed directly into its hull, there to recycle and add more strength to its already formidable abilities. She tilted her head thoughtfully, memories once more filling her being... then shrugged her signature cloak from her shoulders. Beneath that she still wore her form-fitting black practice doba; rolling her shoulders about she now turned to the others with a carefully masked look on her face.

"Let us depart, my friends," she said simply, the look wavering into something that allowed a bit of her feelings exposure as her gaze fell into the now-stony one of Recinis. Then she turned, and led the party from the ship.

Once gaining the grainy footing of the plateau on which they had landed, she turned and erected a chronotic shield about the ship. She then turned and walked the few paces to the lip of the plateau; indeed her Adept was such a talented and precise pilot that she had landed the ship within spitting distance of that frightening cliff.

Graysith stood on the edge looking down into the canyon. There, nearly two and a half kilometers below, faint and alien images could be seen carved directly into the rock. Here and there the walls of the inner canyon were marred by black holes, holes which undoubtedly represented openings into mysterious caverns and rooms carved directly into the sedimentary rock of which this canyon was primarily composed.

Now Graysith let her eyes rove about, seeking the means by which they would descend into this yawning abyss of rock and scree. Layers of varying shades of rust and sand and red and yellow silently offered their descriptions of ages past; she ignored those towering rock faces, concentrating instead on the gentler slopes of scree which formed great fans at the foot of each. In sudden recognition, she pointed this out to the others.

"Here it is where we must carefully descend into the canyon," she said quietly, one eye on the group, the other on the sun... which had passed zenith and was perhaps six hours from setting. "The way is steep, the stones are loose, and we must make the floor of the canyon by nightfall." No replies came to her ears; all knew the task was not to be an easy one. Graysith nodded, then turned and began to carefully pick her way down. The occasional scrabble as loose stone slid downslope assured her that the others were following her.

Hours passed. Canyons do not easily yield their secrets, even though they are quite often exposed in the erosion of Time. The party picked and slid its way as it continued down, sometimes treading with careful sideways placement of feet when they hit slickstone; at other times actually progressing forward in a sort of bounding leap where the slope gentled to allow such an action. But overall they never slowed their pace nor stopped it, and as the day progressed they drew closer and closer to the floor of the inner canyon.

At length they came to a halt on the edge of an outcrop. About 300 meters below lay the floor of the canyon, streaked with hundreds of ripples in the time-packed sands, which in turn stood in silent fossil memory of the ancient stream which once had gushed there. The little party stood panting silently as behind them the sun came closer and closer to the lip of the canyon.

Graysith pointed to the mysterious and alien carvings in the walls below. "The Valley of the Lords," she announced, shivering a bit as a sudden black and spirit-haunted wind blew up from the depths below. Then the Glyph drew her attention to the sole little switchback carved into the face of solid rock, the only means of making the final descent.

Up-canyon lay rock and scree and fossil riverbed. But down-canyon:

Graysith turned and shivered in awe, as though this was the first time she had ever seen this place. The walls were lined with carvings. The canyon walls arrowed in this manner for about a kilometer, where they suddenly curved to the right. Just at the point of that curve, a strange light flickered faintly upon the walls of rock, sending strange shadows dancing about the faces of the Sith Lords who stood in stony and brooding silence, guarding their secret place and the secrets that place had protected for millennia.

She pointed toward the light.

"There lies the Eternal Flame," she said simply, her heart suddenly pounding in her breast, every muscle inexplicably tensing and her eyes dilating into blackness. "There lies an End to What Is, and the Beginning of What Is to Come."

She cast another glance at those with her, but one now filled with a sudden eruption of wild and almost primal glee. A part of her buried too long reached out in joyous kinship with the dark powers inherent here, seeking reunion with it, her heart practically leaping forth from her chest. That part of her willing to do evil, willing to bring discord and to kill with abandon now rebounded with ferocious strength, finally breaking through the iron chains imposed upon it by the great and growing love she felt for Recinis, and flooding out with equal strength. Relishing that invigorating power, she once more tossed back her head, lifting her face to the darkening sky. Something which was more scream than peal of laughter erupted from her lips.

Then without another backwards glance, she hastened the final descent to the canyon floor below.

For a long moment Shayla simply stood silent, her gaze lengthening, her eyes darkening. Some unholy pull began drawing her in, seeking and searching to find like for like...

Evil for evil.

Images of a love now strengthened by the promise of forever slowly faded into those of a stranded child in a Jedi Praxeum. Of an infant in the hands of one of the most vile creatures to haunt the galaxy. Of one who used she whom Shayla now called Sister to accomplish his own gain...

She tilted her head back, basking in the growing and righteous throes of anger when, quiet suddenly, it was backwashed into a growing tsunami of despair.

You cannot succeed. You cannot win. They are stronger, they have the child. They will find you all...

Suddenly gripping herself in fear and despair, Shayla fell to her knees, the hard canyon floor meeting with them and drawing blood.

Blood. The blood of the Universe would be on their hands. For they would fail...

The images of the others began to blur as tears from nowhere filled Shayla's eyes. She shuddered, overcome with saddness when suddenly...

Righteous anger pointed out reality.

Still shuddering, Shayla forced herself to pause and listen to what her head was telling her.

He did this to you. That evil being...that...that thing that was somehow allied with Roan. He did this to you...

...this despair has been planted within you.

Shayla closed her eyelids, letting her tears flow freely as something even more dark and purposeful shot up into her psyche.

Righteous anger. Her own righteous anger. Answering all that was not her with all that was her. Answering the planted despair with purifying rage.

For while most sentients believed anger could only serve evil purposes...
...a righteous and justifiable anger could often serve to benefit the good..

Shayla took a deep breath, letting the righteous anger flow into her. Roan's ally had done this to her to destroy her. To torture her. AGAIN he had used his powers and the powers of those he had surrounded himself with to further achieve his own agenda, by destroying the enemy from within.

But Shayla was stronger than perhaps he and his ally realized.

Oh, they would pay. They would pay dearly. Especially HIM, for all he had done to her sister.

And righteous anger slowly developed into iron resolve. For anger, though dark it might appear on the surface, can be used to serve the good when accepted and put to use for the Good of All.

Within Shayla, the anger reached out to squelch that despair maliciously placed within her with an iron fist.

And, slowly regaining her senses, Shayla stood in new strength fueled by the passions of the darkness...

...and a anger born of righteousness.

Somewhere behind them, there came the haunting yowl of the wild tuk'ata. It was joined by another. And from up ahead, there now moaned a cry even more persistent for the sheer depth of meaning it carried along the icy wind now so suddenly buffeting them.

Graysith came to a halt, her eyes filled with shadow just as dark, her heart positively exploding inside her. The Glyph lashed out it's brilliant light, making of itself a weapon beyond the most indomitable of blades, slashing to keep that threatening barrier at bay. She drew upon every last bit of haughty demeanor at her disposal, once more flashing back to that strength she had found within to first confront Darth Wicked, reaching into her very essence to let that strength erupt and magnify itself by the powerful emanations coming forth from the yet-unseen Flame.

"Again have I come hither, and again thou dost dare to impede my path!" she cried in the voice of thunder. Pure invictus, she set one foot back, altering her stance a bit to the side, now raising a hand whose fingers were coiled in the peculiar Sith design taught to her by her Sire. A slim and willowy figure, she stood silhouetted against the darker shadows ahead. Once more her voice rang out against the stone walls.

"Thou shalt let us pass!"

Somewhere, the encroaching night seemed to grumble, considering. Graysith never moved an inch but remained in the position, daring the awesome powers within the place to deny her... and at last, at long last those powers acceded to her command, recognizing the essences of themselves in Freedon and Recinis, bowing before the Glyph which flared in absolutely unstoppable glory.

The not-quite-seen barrier backed down-canyon, a tendril of itself now writhing out only to curl back upon itself, as though beckoning them to continue.

Looking far more innocuous than it was for the very simplicity of its being, it flickered and flamed in the stone urn which held it captive, placed there untold eons ago by the magicks of the Sith, here to wait until evil sought evil... and somehow managed to persuade it to continue living in the face of that conjoining evil.

Even as Graysith and her party approached the living entity of which that fire consisted, it guttered low, seeking surcease, unwilling to be put once more into use, almost as though it knew that with enough such allowances nothing but its own death would be assured. In the shadow of death then, it sought avoidance of death, bowing down before the myriad dark shadows whose lamentations rent the night with an infinity of accolades to unceasing torment, an eternity of praises to pain.

Graysith stood firm against the opposing sensations which sought to overcome each other, instead reaching out joyously to grasp them both by the throat and bend them to her will. Her long hair responded to the powers of the place, following unseen pathways of current and billowing out about her as though taken up by an unseen wind. Impossibly, her visage grew even darker, and the purity of evil incarnate ran rampant through her heart.

Her laughter rang out again, beating back the flame, finding succor in the encroaching shadows which represented millennia upon millennia of corruption. Now she turned back, holding a hand out to her Adept, the darkness a living entity in her eyes.

"Shayla, your hand! The child!" she cried out in a voice to make a warrior tremble, now sensing that additional stength within the warrior in their midst, and reaching out to take it unto herself as well.

About them dark thunder crashed, and the lightning which joined in from seeming nowhere was anything but natural.

Who knew what that Flame might have to reveal to them...

...until the dark shadows, writhing and coiling like some hideous fog hiding enactments of utter blasphemy within its swirling mist, struck her tiny body with tangible impact. She let out a yawp, ferocious for its very smallness, omnipotent for the fact that neither the flickering flame, the thunder or the lightning, nor the very shadows of death which lurked with curled talons could ever come close to overtaking her essence.

Somehow the shadows recognized that inherent power, and recoiled to bow in homage to it. They now intertwined into one great and roiling mass of otherness, nosed about...

...and found a pathway to follow, through her, guided by the Chosen One.

The sound of the very fabric of space and time tearing asunder rent the canyon with ululating waves of sheer noise, the very darkness paled in comparison as impossibly, a portal was opened up through which the millions of lightyears existing between them and a fleeing Yuuzhan Vong ship was as nothing.

Graysith let out a cry of sheer joy now, stepping hurriedly through, her eyes everywhere at once as she sought the flesh of her flesh, hidden here somewhere in this ship of terror and surrounded by living nightmares. Time was short, she had to hurry; quickly she sent out her essence that it would lead her more quickly to where her daughter and the young human child were being held captive, that she could yank them from this place and bring them back to a saner reality...

...only they were not there.

Beyond shock, her entire body numb, she flinched instinctively back, even as the Vong warriors approached with their weapons. Then the Portal snapped closed with a resounding crack, it's overwhelming thunder matched only by the outcry of despair which now wrenched from her lips.

The One He knew would come here, for indeed it was here that She stood the only chance in Living Hell of taking her daughter back unto her once more. Maladius chortled and gibbered as he easily read the sorrow laying deep in the violet eyes of the Chosen One, drinking it in and making it a part of himself, that he would gain that much more in his own strength and mastery of it. Drool dripped from his slobbery lips, and his hiss came wafting upon the air like that of a cobra.

"Awwww, poor, poor Lady...." He cocked his head to one side in a false presentation of sympathy. Then that facade erupted into hatred, and his insane yowl cascaded into the night.

"Did you think it would be this easy?" he finally said, centering his gaze on Graysith, not moving a whit yet somehow creeping closer to where the flame-haired woman stood in heated defiance before him. His words purred out, taking her attention, grasping it and holding it firmly. Inside his dark heart a great howl of joy arose to see the depth of pain now flashing across Graysith's face. "Did you think He would just sit back, and let you take her? Didn't you think?!? -- silly lady, and even if the whelp had been there, did you actually think she'd want to go with you?

"She wants to be with her Daddy...."

Now it was as if his arms spread themselves upon the night, as quietly and insidiously they stretched out to either side, the clawed hands seeking purchase of the canyon walls. There, incredibly, he hovered nightmarishly, arms and legs disproportionately long, the now thrice-lengthened tail beginning to slide out from the elseness from which he had come, it's dripping tip tensed and poised to strike and end this battle over destinies yet fulfulled once and for all....

One handed? The child needs more than one hand... as if she didn't care if the child were to fall...

The evil he now sensed... goosepimples grew in him... He began to sweat quite fiercly, not a drop of it due to heat...

A despair planted within her threatened to hinder her thoughts...

...but she slammed it back into the farest corners of her mind, refusing to let it ever take hold.

No.

It could not end like this. The lives of all of those here were in danger. And two of those some of the most valuable of all of those in the universe.

No. Not like before. Not again.

Shayla's essence reached out to touch the despairing mind of Graysith, lending strength, lending support.

Where it would lash was anybody's guess.

At length:

"How fast can you be, silly man?" his voice spread across the night like fetid ichor oozing from the remains of a dead and decaying thing. "Think you can out-maneuver me?

"I am death! I ride the Beast whose outcry is despair, and whose coat is the color of blood! Watch and join in that despair, and bring back to your pitiful Sorcerer this message from the TRUE Lord of Warriors:

"If He cannot have her, NO ONE SHALL!!"

Lightning strobed upon the stone walls, making all events suddenly surreal in their stop-time action. There was no time for anything, no time but for the ringing yowl of victory which gibbered from the lips of the thing as he lashed that deadly tail over his head like a scorpion, over and down, down and assured, arrowing with the certainty of death directly toward the still-chortling form of the little Jhin'Darra, who the Chosen Daughter was now cradling to her very heart....

"Wrong again, little warrior!" he cried with glee as, purposefully letting his claws tear and shred in the process he wrenched free his death's grip on the canyon walls, his limbs now shrinking back to their normal size, the severed stub of his tail lashing about like a writhing slug coming dully from a dank and noisome lair, the hideous goo which passed for his own blood spraying right and left, and drenching all present with a liberal coat of hideousness.

Still cackling and slobbering with joy -- for oh, the exquisite pain of that severed tail! How much he would miss it, how it sent fires of agony coursing through him, how he loved this warrior for delivering such soul-consuming pain unto him! -- he let his body drop directly atop the still-frozen form of the Chosen Daughter of the Sith.

There he hunkered low, his claws digging into her flesh, his drool dripping down on top of little JhinDarra, his opened mouth millimeters from the throat of the little one, now turning his eyes back into those of Recinis and simply daring him to make another move. Behind him, the inky portal through which he would depart with his prey began to coalesce from the very red-shot blackness of his mind.

In turn, Graysith simply swayed on her feet, her eyes wide and blinking. All, from the time that demonic thing had appeared above her head to when he just now fell in death, all had occurred in but mere seconds.

The look she cast upon Recinis was vague, unseeing, her eyes blank with shock. Her grip on the child loosened bit by bit, her arms lowering until the little girl simply fell from her grasp, sliding down her body to land quietly and quiet safely on the ground in front of her. All around, it was as if the very night turned itself off, as the powerful energies of the place sucked back into themselves, having given of themselves in command of the two who remained before the quiet flicker of the Eternal Flame.

He did not reach the baby in time... he scooped her up quite quickly, however...

She didn't seem to be hurt, or even bothered at all...

He cradled her, waiting to see what might happen next...

Throwing her head back, Shayla reached deep within her own self and flooded Graysith with all the strength she had, slowly bringing wounds created by the evil demon to a quick and painless healing. There she remained for some time in silence, bringing the healing energies within her to she whom she would always love as a Sister.

And when the physical wounds were gone, Shayla reached out to share the emotional ones. For a long moment, Shayla sent not a word through that link, but merely shared those sorrows and despairs with her sister, seeking to calm, seeking to empathize. Then at length she did speak, words of reassurance flooding from her soul:

This is not over. You have the power to defeat him, and I will stand at your side. We will find your little ShaRhylla, this do I swear. For in me has been planted the despair of the Universe, and therefore in me exists the knowledge that only we can stop it.

And then there she remained, hunkering close to her sister, continuing to pour strength into Graysith and all the while keenly aware of the presence of Loban nearby, holding little JhinDarra protectively. Shayla kept her concentration focused mainly on Graysith and also on the babe, and waited.

...was out.

She sat up abruptly, the Claw-bearing hand reaching out as though trying to grasp the ungraspable. Her violet eyes were drawn to that hand, and she stared at it as though it were an unknown thing, as alien to her as that demon which had so recently tried to rip her flesh from her body and take her away. It shook slightly, the exotic beauty of the Claw of S'slan marred by the taint of demonic blood....

Now she shook her head, blinking, her gaze now straying from that hand up to fall into the concerned and loving gaze of her Adept. Shayla, ever by her side, through all adversary; that hand rushed over suddenly to clamp upon her shoulder in affirmation of that unity they shared, well aware of who it was who had healed her wounds, wounds delivered by the thing which Recinis had managed to kill.

Recinis.

The Glyph on her forehead flared to life as she suddenly scrabbled onto her feet, moving quickly to where her love now lay against the Flame-bearing pillar, his eyes glazed and half-opened. She fell heavily onto her knees beside him, her bloodied hands now reaching out to gently cup his face, drawing him to her to carefully scrutinize him, to see if that deplorable thing had managed to deliver any blows upon him, her hands roving over his body as her eyes sought to bring him back to her.

He remained quiet, lost in his own world of healing. But that was something of which the Chosen Daughter was unaware.

Suddenly the sounds of her accelerated breathing echoed in the quiet night, the tiniest scritch accompanied that sound as she gritted her teeth, her jaws clenched now as did her fists, her eyes filling with a redness born of something beyond that of the demon. The movement as swift as it was unexpected, she flew to her feet, the Glyph flaring in its demand that the Flame come to life, her hands reaching out of their own accord to snatch the gurgling JhinDarra from the surprised grip of the young Loban.

Holding the infant aloft as if she were a trophy, she whirled about where she stood, her love at her feet, her eyes ablaze. Her clarion call rang out in the night, and somehow seemed to surpass it entirely:

"ROAN!" The valkyrie cry burst from her lips. "You WILL COME TO ME!"

Oh, were there other things.

Shayla stood by rock-solid, seeking the power the Flame for strength, finding another power yet inside of herself as she did so. And within that Flame fueled by the Sorcerories of the Sith, Shayla saw something else entirely...

There was a new strength amongst them, standing alongside them. Primeval, simple, but most certainly and blessedly there...

Although the tension of the moment lent itself not to words, Shayla sent one small tendril of thought out to Graysith.

There is much more that has been revealed this day than we have yet become aware of...

Yet more that is at stake, that must be defended, that must be protected...

...for you, my dear sister, are with child.

And even in the unholy blaze of the Eternal Flame, Shayla couldn't help but momentarily smile, something akin to triumph deep in the depths of her eyes.

She not only held the child in such a manner, but... SHE WAS SEEKING THIS EVIL DARK LORD AS WELL!!?

Dark Lord Roan came forth unto the Valley, his turquoise eyes ablaze with hatred, fired with rage, filled to the brim with knowledge of the deed that had just been done... and the simple awareness of who had caused that to occur. Even as he stepped forth, his hand shot out, the fingers curled into a Sith design. The other remained quietly active, it's palm filled with his soul crushing sword, the blade as black as the absence of day, and eager for blood to give it strength.

His eyes arrowed into those of the furious Chosen Daughter, glancing only but briefly to see the Claw she now pointed directly at him. His smile grew into hideous proportions even as she took careful aim....

"I hold your daughter, and if you want to ever see her alive again, you will now cease with this action."

Why was it roan was here? what was he going to do?

The thoughts were filled with only blank emotion, for indeed, he was not fully concious of the meanings that such things should contain.

As he sat there, his eyes suddenly grew wide as realization hit, the fog that had contained his mind slowly receeding into the depths of subcounciousness.

as things began falling into place he found that as much as he wished to simply jump up, and bring his sword upon this man, he scarcly could keep himself concious...

he had a very bad feeling, he hated to admit it, but they could be in very serious trouble... one thought did ring louder among his thoughts that he believed possible though, one thing acting in a manor that thought usaly did not act, the very essence of the thought seemed to gather energy from about him, finding way's for him to move, though he still could not.

He shall not be allowed to even touch her... i will not allow him to become so much as a foot closer.

He slowly approached Recinis, and helped him to his feet... placing Recinis' right arm over his shoulder for support, and waited for him to regain his strength... hopefully sooner than later...

And, all her strength expended in this deliverance, Shayla's knees shook under her cloak, threatening to give way. Despite the risk she sent out yet more of herself, bringing Recinis reknewed strength at last...

It is but a simple thing. You hold the weapon, the only thing which will ever destroy this one. It is literally in your hand, there, look upon its splendor, acknowledge it, just one look, just one thought, and the Beast can be sent ravening forth to rip and rend and devour, oh how it so badly wants so tear this one's lungs out through his throat....

She shuddered with the effort to keep from releasing her hatred in one overwhelming blast... for the few words he now spoke to her wormed into her brain, and indeed did cause her to stay her hand.

He admitted it. He had ShaRhylla. She didn't dare harm him, for if she did, how would the shield surrounding her child ever be breached? How could they find and rescue her daughter and the little human child he held hostage?

How indeed...?

Graysith's lips worked soundlessly for eternal moments before she finally managed to speak. "You will return her to her rightful parent, Roan!" she shot out, then quieted, the Claw still aimed directly between his blazing turquoise eyes.

"Why of course, my... loved one," The barest whisper of a sneer made a mockery of the words he now spoke. "Whatever could possibly have come over me? Of course the child belongs with her mother now, doesn't she...?

"If you want her, why then, go and claim her, my sweet."

A casual wave of one clawed hand, and a portal through the All opened like a tunnel between them, leading through in those unimaginable places existing between time and space, and coming to an abrupt terminus in front of a distant and wonderful form. The child kicked her tiny legs, wiggled her tiny fingers, raising them up blindly to play about the pearly horns which protruded from her forehead, her little claws grasping , her little lips bubbling with pleasure....

Shayla gathered her strength about herself, using her healing energies to bring complete strength back to herself. It was as though Roan was a predator, waving a choice cut of meat in front of his victim.

No way. No kriffing way. This was so very, very, wrong...

Shayla sent out a tendril of herself via that carefully guarded link she shared with Graysith.

Into his hidden sanctum, where he was met by Desolist and Taehun and readily incapacitated.

Then, as if this were but a walk in the park, he turned his blazing eyes back to those of the Chosen Daughter, and bowing slightly at the waist, the movement causing his every muscle to ripple and flex, he merely continued to wait to see what she would do when Recinis's steady words came into his ears. His lips curled again as, turning his eyes to meet the emerald pair of the warrior, he deigned to give him an answer.

"Honor is for fools, young one," he spit, snarling. "Victory goes to the cunning, and the strong."

ShaRhylla. Her daughter. Flesh of her flesh, conceived in love, stolen from her, taken away. All she needed to do was take but one step forward, just one simple step....

As though caught in the depths of a trance, she did just that. Took one small step, at first hesitant but then one rapidly strengthening, one step forward, her arms outstretched, a great rush of heat filling her being as tears of mingled joy and relief and the most soul-wracking terror she had ever felt in her life flooded into her eyes.

ShaRhylla...!

The blast shot out from the tiny child like a tsunami, coursing from her being as she instinctively reacted to a perceived threat. Once a thing had produced unwanted waves of sound in her ears; she had dealt with that as well, although not as harshly. That thing was simple and annoying, but this...

This wanted to take her away from where she was secure.

She would not have it.

And so, she prevented it from happening at all...

Lo-Ban took off at a dead run...

He soon came to where Graysith had hit the canyon wall...

The baby protected in her grasp, yet she was badly injured...

He picked them both from the dirt, and carried them back to the group.. and Shayla..

The word spit from the lips of the Dark Sith Lord as though magma being erupted from the heart of a volcano. "What need have I with the likes of the Triad? Their power is weak; I have defeated Rean, and I shall defeat the brother who yet defies me... as I shall defeat you, whelp!

"You speak of honor, yet you stand here mouthing utterings of your precious clans while she, whom you proclaim to love, lies hurt and bloodied at the hands of her own daughter! Well do I now see these priorities which are to lead the Sith forth in their grand and glorious new life; BAH. Sheer rubbish it is! I have no need of such scribblings to mar my flesh; you would seek to bring me to my knees, but you fail, for I denounce all link to the clanship!"

With that, he raised his wrist to his lips, sinking his long, sharp fangs into his own flesh, worrying and gnawing and chewing, pausing now and again to spit bloody gobbets upon the ground. At length he pulled his dripping wrist from his mouth, turning it to present it to Recinis, who yet stood in righteous anger before him.

Upon his wrist which once bore the mark denoting him as being the Dark Lord of the Warriors, there was nothing but a gaping and bloody hole.

His reddened lips broadened in a smile.

"You think you have won, but your logic is faulty, my dear, dear young... Lord!" Now he fell to his knees, bowing his horned head in an awful parody of homage; then leaping to his feet he let a great gutteral roar of laughter erupt from his oily heart.

"I have the daughter you need... and I have her by her own choice! Tell her mother..." he spit the word as though it were an anathema to him "...that the child takes only too much after her. Dark indeed is her precious little heart, and like, after all, does seek like."

He paused a moment, deciding whether or not to attack the warrior, deciding it not in his best interests at this time. With a wave of his hand, he reopened the portal he had just let close, and began to step toward it when he stopped.

"Tell the female that I at least enjoyed a modicum of pleasure in the conception of my child, the one who will rise to rule not merely the Sith, but this entire misbegotten galaxy."

With those words and a patronizing bow, he disappeared in another onrush of sith flame and shadow, leaving nothing in his wake to remind any of his ever having been there save for the aching absence of Freedon Naad... and the black robes which lay on the ground like some uncleanseable and horrible stain.

Lo-Ban couldn't help to be disappointed... how did he serve in this mission?

all you could... why didn't I shoot in to grab the wee babe? it wouldn't have been successful, she shunned her own mother... I didn't know that, I should have done something... something to make a difference...

NO... he wouldn't let this get him down, it simply wasn't his time to make a difference... but that time will come, sometime soon he hoped...

He came to a halt, at the controls of the ship, why not take a look... he took a seat, and examined the strange design...

Then the vague fuzziness swirled into a composite of red and black, and from out of nowhere strong hands came along and picked her up, nestling her into an even greater bubble of warmth and love and protection, sending this to her along a precious link she yet managed to keep open, though near the darkness of oblivion her conscious mind hovered.

Blackness dropped a gentle curtain around her... which finally, slowly, began to lift. A groan escaped her lips as memories now flooded into her along with the light now coming into her eyes. Slowly she lifted her lids, lids feeling like the heavy step of a bantha, and bit by bit became aware of her surroundings.

She was aboard the Sith warship, which thrummed an innately felt message that they were returning to Phrinnchatka. They were out of the Valley of the Lords, had left the hidden and mysterious Korriban, and were somewhere in the realms of hyperspace.

She swallowed dryly as that awareness took root... and then froze as the remaining memories completely overtook that general one.

ShaRhylla....

For a moment she squeezed her eyes shut, seeking strength within before seeking that without. At length she got herself under a modicum of control, and finally managed to completely open her eyes... only to find Recinis's brilliant and highly worried emerald pair before her.

She swallowed again, drawing in a deep breath as she reached out now to lay a hand upon his face. There was no need to speak for a very great length of time; all they needed to tell each other passed along that link they shared. Graysith's eyes widened in something close to shock as she now let them drop, seeing for the first time the tattoo on his right wrist, which instead of being its former dull black now glowed with the brilliance of sunrise. The meaning inherent in that sigil gave fresh strength to her heart; with another little gulp, she finally managed to speak.

"He has the child, my love," she whispered to Recinis, finding strength from his contact to battle the rising crush of pain that statement brought with it. Drew in a breath, struggled to face it and eliminate it in its entirety. Acceptance denies that which would terrorize; somehow she knew that if she just accepted the fact that ShaRhylla chose to remain with Roan, it would somehow be easier to bear. So she took the only direction she could, crying with grief that the words had to be presented in this manner instead of in the light of pure glory they deserved.

"I grieve for my daughter who it appears I have lost... but I shall find succor in the flesh of your flesh, my love."

She paused for a hair's-breadth, studying him carefully, needing to know that he knew, and not knowing if she had been totally clear. In another short burst of words, she finished with,

"I carry your child, Recinis."

Then she fell silent, simply not knowing what other words there were at the moment to speak.

She reached out her arms to place both hands on each side of his face, returning his intense gaze with one of her own. For a long moment she remained absolutely quiet, cherishing the fragile wonder of the moment, seeking to grasp it and tuck it away forever in her heart, that she would never forget the sheer beauty of it, nor it's magick. She shivered with something more than delight as the sound of her name came musically from his lips, like water over a rushing fall. Then--

"Yes, Recinis," she whispered. "I will become bound to you for life, for eternity, for death will not part us. I am yours, and yours forever, my protector... my love...

"...my Lord."

Worry you of personal gratification, when so much has been revealed? When so much is yet at stake? Think not in terms of momentary reward, but instead of the Entire Picture.

At that, she backed away from his mind and quietly reached out to that presence that was Graysith, expecting to find looming despair but instead finding overwhelming joy. She smiled.

For every overwhelming despair there is an overwhelming joy...

Then she reached out, her Force-essence touching Graysith and the little JhinDarra, bringing physical healing to them both.