“Yeah,” he said, “what are you talking about, there?”

The Master turned his eyes to both men in turn.

“I am a traveler of more than space,” he said. “I have come through Hell and back in search of one who is very dear to me, my son. My search has taken me into the acquaintance of two very powerful beings, and now that I have seen them both for what they are, and have seen the plans they have in store for my son, they have abandoned me and left me for dead. But they are wrong, and I shall use all of my power to destroy them and find Phalomir. These same beings hunt you, for they believe you know where he is. Tell me, my new friends, do you know of Thoran and Aelvedaar?”

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"Aelvedaar is the Dark Lord of the Sorceror Clan," he answered very academically. "As far as my wife has told me he seemed a very benevolent being, mostly just misunderstood but his intentions good. Still, Shayla had some misgivings concerning him; something about him abruptly taking some of her newly learned abilities and also not assisting her in an attack against our unborn son..."

Erik trailed, his look turning distant for a moment. He didn't remember anything concerning the Sith...

...but he did vaguely remember that they had lost their first born son.

He jerked his thoughts away from the topic. "As for Thoran," he then continued, "I'm told you placed him in some crystal called the Eye with Phalomir. Pardon my cynicism, but with all the deception I know of first-hand regarding that whole scenario...

...I'm still inclined to distrust you."

Erik turned at this, eyeing the tuk'ata who yet remained on his haunches, alert. "Maybe we should ask our buddy here what he thinks of you..."

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“Wait a minute… Phalomir is your son? Big, tall, red guy with a weird sense of humor? That Phalomir? Erik, if this guy is Phal’s pop, then he could be telling the truth. Remember, it was my body they hijacked when they got released from the crystal. I have a lot of first hand encounter time with both of them, and believe, Thoran is NUTS.”

He looked back to the tuk’ata.

“But yeah, this guy has been guarding this place for a long time, maybe he knows something. How ‘bout it, Rover? Can we trust this guy?”

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The dark one sees, knows this one. We know him not, have seen him not, he smells not. Yet no body here, only head in rock. No body, no arms, no legs, this one not the one who comes, not the one who we bite.

“I think,” he started, “that he doesn’t know who this is. And I think maybe he sees that as a good thing, but he might not, but I could be wrong. What do you think?”

[ 03-22-2004 11:42 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Panthar Dantares ]

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The Master waved his hand before his face, and a strange white light burst forth from the crystal. Where the light ended, a large swirling vortex of black and silver opened up in the air.

“Hurry!” called the Master.

A crash sounded in the hallway outside the room, and the tuk’ata spun on its haunches. It raised itself and sniffed the air, growling deeply.

“Hey, uh, Erik?” said Panthar. “Um, what do we do?”

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

...but he didn't much like the looks of what was going on in this Temple either. He glanced to Panthar who, annoyingly enough, merely shrugged in an admixture of concern and possibly fear. Then his eyes flicked to the growling tuk'ata, and that caught Erik's attention. The tuk'ata had spoken of an Evil One who had come to this place, one he'd claimed would need to be destroyed...

...and one whom he also said would return. And someone was here; Erik could now feel it. And he knew without a doubt that the someone who was here was not his wife, who had said she would be coming for him...

... Shayla!

He turned to eye the Sith even as the vortex continued to whirl along with his thoughts.

She should have been here by now, and he hadn't heard or felt a thing from her in quite some time. And even as he stretched out now to sense her...

...he came up void. This chance might be there last to get off this abandoned rock.

Erik glanced to Panthar once more. "Something's happened with Shayla, I just know it," he then said simply. "This may be our only escape route."

With nothing further, Erik then stepped towards the eeriely beckoning vortex. "There is one who is coming to retrieve us from this place, who may come at any time. I need your word that we will come back for her...

...or that you will help us find her before she gets to this place and falls into a trap herself..."

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“The one you seek will not return for you,” he called out. “She has been betrayed by the one calling herself Graysith. Her sire, the darkest of lords, is now coming for YOU! I can take you to her, but you must leave NOW! Step through the portal, quickly!”

He nodded once towards the image of the Sith, then looking back to Panthar. "That's my cue to get the hell out of here. If Shayla is in trouble..."

He trailed a moment, concern clouding his vision. But just as quickly his eyes snapped back alert. "...we've gotta get out of here..."

...and get to her, came the silent completion of those words.

"So," he then continued aloud, "Unless you wanna find out what's back there that's bothering our tuk'ata buddy so much, I think we'd better hurry."

With nothing futher than that, Erik turned back to the yawning vortex he was approaching, considering it one final moment more before he stepped into it, nearly holding his breath as he did so. He could only assume that Panthar had followed behind...

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But this one looked a little different… more, well, sinister somehow.

Perhaps it was the urgency of the situation. Perhaps it was the mysterious circumstances of their meeting this Master. Perhaps it was just the overbearing feeling of gloom and doom that suddenly cast its shadow over Panthar. Whatever it was, something suddenly seemed not right.

But it was too late, for he was already passing through the vortex, feeling his body go cold and light. And as the sounds of snarls faded behind him, he heard the voice of the Master boom.

“All too easy, my Lord. They are now yours, I must attend to my son…”

((OOC: Follow the lucky travellers Erik and Panthar as they lunge into "...And Into The Fire".))

[ 03-31-2004 11:19 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Panthar Dantares ]

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