“Why,” he purred, giving Terrin another shake. His eyes slid like worms from Phalomir to the man in his grasp, and back again.

“Not nearly enough. And that alone provides me with a reason, as if I need be constrained by such.”

Fangs glinted wetly in the dim lighting as the Sith Lord threw back his head and laughed, sending awful reverberations echoing impossibly off the very atmosphere of this hellish place. Galen couldn’t help but huddle more closely against Phalomir as that terrible cry was underscored by the senseless gibbering of myriad, unseen demons.

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

Phalomir raised his eyes to Roan, letting the power well within the concealed hand.

“Do you exist merely to torment this woman?” he called out. “Or have you other business? Perhaps something left unfinished with me? Either way, you no longer need this man…”

Phalomir’s hand flew outward from behind Galen, sending a bright flash of red shooting from his palm. Roan, expecting something, threw up a hand in defense, but the beam was not aimed at him. The flash passed by Roan and struck Terrin, freezing him in place and encasing him in a hard red gloss.

“Now,” ask Phalomir, feeling the power of the Eye within him still, almost yearning for a chance to be unleashed. “What is it you truly want?”

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

“You think yourself the possessor of knowledge, of all that exists; you believe you truly hold the answers to all questions rising before you,” he sneered as he clenched the hand that had once held Terrin by the throat. He glared balefully into Phalomir’s eyes, then let that evil gaze bore into the back of Galen’s head.

“How do you know what is real, and what is not?” he whispered, his voice now lowering to mimic black silk. "Command this realm, do you?"

Another oily smile spread across his features then as from within the hardened case Terrin’s figure began to writhe and squirm, fingers spread and clutching, mouth open in a gasp of despair as though he was striving vainly to gain air and couldn’t.

“Galen,” Roan purred, letting his voice hush even more, now letting it slide across the space separating them and into her ears on moth’s wings. “You can stop his torment, only you.

“He is no spirit, no shade from places other; he is alive, Galen, but he won’t be for long…”

He quieted then, spreading his arms out to either side of him while an absolutely angelic expression crossed his black features.

”You can save his life, Galen…”

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

You can save his life, Galen….

I was doing my utmost to ignore that, knowing full well who the hell Roan was and what he had done not only to me but to practically everyone I have ever loved, when it came. At first it was no louder than the sigh of a baby’s breath, but bit by bit it strengthened until at last it overcame the insidious power of Roan’s last statement and captured my attention completely.

“Galen,” Terrin’s awful croak came into my ears. “No, don’t. Whatever he says, whatever he does, don’t.

“I love you Galen, I always will—“

I clapped my hands over my ears and tried to bury myself in Phalomir’s robes, fighting every instinct which was screaming that I turn and run to Terrin.

“Phal—“ I whimpered.

“It’s him, I know it is…”

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

...but the fact was, he knew he was here in this place of demons, and with the seeming head of all of them clutching him by the throat and pinning him against some sort of strange non-rock. Whatever had brought him to this point was a still a blur...

...hadn't he been in some ancient Temple of the Sith looking for Galen, or something like that...?

...but what he did know was that he would rather die than be any sort of bargaining chip for Lord Roan whatsoever...

...and especially not when it was concerning Galen.

Galen...

Struggling for air even still, Terrin turned a pair of yet-firey blues towards Roan. "Leave her be," he half-growled, half-croaked. Then, the words clearly intended for his wife, he finished with a reutterance of some of his former words. "Galen...

... don't."

[ 02-02-2004 08:22 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Terrin Danner ]

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

This was Roan, Dark Lord of Lies and Deception. Terrin was dead, this had to be a ruse. The best course of action was to call Roan’s bluff, and let his bargaining chip die.

But the pleas from Galen pulled at Phalomir’s heart. She was so certain, there was no doubt in her voice. The strongest bond he knew was that of true love, and if this is what they shared then… yes, it must be real. It must be him. Regardless of how…

“Very well, Roan,” said Phalomir, releasing the power that held Terrin. “I believe you. What is it you want?”

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

”She knows,” he whispered chillingly, to which the struggling human in his grasp began struggling all the harder. His fist tightened; Terrin silenced once again, this time by force.

Now Roan turned his attention back to Phalomir. The smile turned to a grimace of disgust.

“Do not attempt to elevate your own importance, imposter,” he snarled at him, now giving Terrin a shake as if to underscore the words.

“I have no further business with the likes of you. You are but a worm beneath my feet, easily trodden into the dust from whence you came.”

Dismissing the Sith lord utterly then, he returned his focus to Galen, who was still cowering against Phalomir’s robes, her face hidden away as though she couldn’t bear to even look at Roan.

“So, Galen Jhin’Dar Danner,” he purred.

“Does this man live or die—for good.”

Somewhere in the depths of his eyes, something black roiled and glittered.

[ 02-02-2004 09:55 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Dark Lord Roan ]

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

But then, there was no time for that. Roan's words otherwise only prompted Terrin to fight back even harder with every once of energy he could possibly muster. He tried fairly vainly to kick and scratch, his hands going about his neck along with the massive claw which was already there cutting off his airway.

His blue eyes retained a look of utter defiance and anger through it all, however.

"I would rather die," he mouthed more than spoke, and then simply continued to struggle as best as he could.

[ 02-02-2004 10:14 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Terrin Danner ]

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

“Galen,” he asked softly. “Do not speak hastily. If this is Hell, then this beast should have no power outside of this realm. Our true enemy is Aelvedaar.”

Phalomir’s eyes narrowed. He was suddenly met with visions of the beast: thoughts of Roan’s sneering face as he assaulted Galen; Jharmeen facing his terrifying wrath; Phalomir himself sitting at a table with Roan, striking a deal…

“And if this monster is indeed Roan,” he continued. “Then it is very likely that one of us shall not survive this encounter.”

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

Galen…

--one underscored every time by a black and silken foundation.

You can save his life.

I clutched Phalomir’s robes more tightly as I struggled, my heart accelerating as thoughts of what might happen to me filled me with the most terror I have ever felt. Yet that terror, that fear and anguish found a modicum of relief, for I knew as sure as Khaandon made little green worrts that this really was Terrin, and that he really was alive, and that no matter what wonderful monkey-tricks Phalomir had up his sleeve, no matter how much his fancy red-thingy flashed, in the end it was simply up to me.

A life for a life; no.

A life for one returned.

I looked up at Phalomir, gulping although there wasn’t so much as a drop of spit in my mouth.

“I—I have to…”

Before I could change my mind, I released my death’s grip on his robes, whirled, and darted out. It seemed that roiling shadows backed up a bit, a dark and oily sea parting before my prow as I bore onward amidst all that red-speckled black, forward, not daring to look anywhere but into Terrin’s wonderful blue eyes, holding them like a lifeline…

I barreled right on and smack-dab into Roan. A gasp flung from my lips as I felt his claws now encircle my own throat, and I closed my eyes reflexively.

But not before seeing Terrin flying bodily through the air, straight at Phalomir. And before I fainted from sheer terror I heard another voice in the dim distance:

”It was her own choice….”

Then everything faded from view, except for a pair of turquoise eyes which glared down at me in triumph, and we simply disappeared from Hell altogether… undoubtedly to enter into yet another, more terrible one.

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

Kriffing hell...

As soon as he possibly could, however, Terrin scrambled to his feet, his blue eyes shooting to the only other apparent living being in his vicinity: The sith--the one who had been with Galen. He had emerald eyes, sorta like another Sith he knew...

...but this guy was not that one. This was the least of Terrin's worries at the moment, however. An admixture of anger and terror and horror was rising up in the depths of his blue eyes as he finally spoke...

...or rather, yelled out of pure and simple horror...

...at least, as well as one can after nearly being strangled. "Why didn't you stop her!?!?! He'll hurt her...do terrible things to her...!"

He trailed a moment as his blue eyes defocused, simultaneously balling one fist and shaking it. "I've gotta get to her...

...somehow..."

Once more he quieted, his blue eyes then locking on the Sith's emerald eyes, slitting. "But then, just who the kriffing hell are you...

...and how the hell do I know that I can trust you after what just happened?"

[ 02-02-2004 11:10 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Terrin Danner ]

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

“I would have stopped her if I could. Who the hell are you to question me? You are supposed to be DEAD!”

He stared long at Terrin, his hand blocking the air from entering the human’s lungs. Phalomir saw the surprise turn to pain, then fear. He continued to stare as Terrin attempted to mouth words, his face turning a deep red. Phalomir gazed into Terrin’s eyes further, as if he were trying to see his very soul.

“You can trust me no more than I can trust you, but I suppose that will have to do if we are to survive here.”

Phalomir dropped Terrin to the ground. The human grabbed his throat and gasped for air.

“For all I know you could be a product if Roan’s evil. If I have any reason to doubt your sincerity, I will kill you without hesitation. But if you are true, then we have something in common. I too am trapped here while the woman I love is in danger.”

He looked hard at Terrin.

“I will help you find Galen, and you will help me get back to her sister.”

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

Gripping his weapon tightly, the Kaminoan scientist carefully picked his way down the slope until he came to a halt on a slight outcropping of ancient bedrock. There he balanced precariously as he simultaneously tried to press against the rock behind him and peer down over the little ledge upon which he was standing.

Beneath him, the terrifying black and oily something writhed like a den of dianoga; he tightened his hold on his weapon and snorted, trying to chase away his rising fear.

I don’t really have to go after her, he thought to himself. There really is no reason for it; I can quite easily clamber straight back up this slope and head away, until I finally find—

It wasn’t so much the gut feeling that he would find absolutely nothing that stopped that train of thought. It was, rather, the sense of shame he felt suddenly rising within him.

After what I—after what He made me do to her….

He took a deep breath, strengthening his resolve. Then with no more looking back, he continued down slope, until at length he once more found himself on a small outcrop. This one was only a few meters above that roiling, awful nothing.

He took in another great breath of air, and blinked his eyes once.

Rhua, admit it. You never really wanted to be a scientist anyway now, did you?

No stepping back: he took a final deep breath and launched himself into the black, and only in the final seconds before impact did he manage to close his eyes….

[ 02-04-2004 04:45 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Rhua Ki ]

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

This would have been unnecessary. I could have overpowered the Eye, I did not need to die but for the denouncement I made.

Damn that meddling Recinis. Damn Her.

And damn to the iciest depths of this Hell he or she who tries to stand in our way. For although trapped here I am…

Unaware I am most certainly not.

On the other end of the corridor, twin eyes of pooled lava sparkled at him.

“Indeed, Brother.” The voice belonging to those eyes came whickering along the unfathomable pathways that existed between them.

“Although I would much have preferred you standing here with me, physically by my side, you can yet share the outcome of our great quest. A vicarious enjoyment is better than none at all, is it not?”

The voice tapered off into a rich chuckle as its owner clearly sensed Roan’s growing ire. For indeed, the Dark Lord was dead… at least as far as the normal universe was concerned. Nothing, not even the great power of the All, not even in combination with the most intricate of Sith magicks, could return true life to dead tissue.

The long and the short of it was that through such magicks, through the will of he who stood chuckling at this very moment, Roan existed, and to some extent alive. However he could only exist in this state within the confines of that Darker Realm, that awful dimension a proton’s width removed from the normal one in which the living galaxy existed.

He grumbled again.

“Send her to me!” he commanded, now trying to match the level of authority in his flashing eyes with that of he who yet walked in flesh and blood.

“What do you need her for? She cannot be of any possible use to you, especially after—“

The chuckle broke off with an audible snap.

“There is yet a use for this one, albeit not in the manner I had first intended. But such is the challenge in gaining galactic dominion, is it not, my Brother?”

Roan snarled in reply, and fisted his great clawed hand. After a moment or two in which he gathered his wrath into something more manageable, he lifted his head and gazed off into that weirdly existing corridor.

“And when you are finished?” he asked. The reply coming back into his very being was not long in forthcoming.

“Why, of course you may have her when I’m finished, Brother. Let her join the other I sent to you, let them exist for your pleasure in hunting them down, over and over again, throughout all of eternity.

“Or whatever else it is you would desire to do with them.”

Somewhat appeased by this, Roan nodded and closed his eyes. Then they snapped open, and he cocked his head. He reached out with his remaining All powers.

“There are yet others here, Brother; the one who carries the Spirit; where is the Eye?”

The voice remained silent for awhile. Then—

“It too will come.”

Roan closed his eyes again, and took in a deep breath. This time when he opened them, they were filled with a fire nearly equal to that within the being he was speaking with.

“I shall ready myself. I shall not be taken unaware again.”

The corridor between them seemed to smile before it contracted into an impossibly thin line, one which in turn pulled in upon itself until nothing was there except a mere point in the otherness. This finally disappeared in a brilliant flash of greeny-gold; Roan turned away with a sigh, then called out into the darkness all around him.

“Maladius, my friend! Come to me….”

The shadowy air burst into the sounds of explosive gibberish and wet laughter….

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

The word rang in Terrin's mind, confusion following on its heels.

"Dead?" he then managed, a frown forming on his face as he once more found himself getting off of the non-ground and back to his feet. "The last I remember I was brought here--

--with Galen and some other people I believe--

--and we were confronted by two evil beings: Graysith's daughter and one who might as well have been the devil himself. I don't know exactly what happened from there...

...but the next thing I remember is becoming aware of Lord Roan holding me by the throat. "

At this Terrin trailed a moment, and his eyes turned a bit vague. He wasn't particularly thrilled in trusting this Sith...

... Sith?!..

...quite so soon. Quite frankly, however, he had no other options. And Galen did seem to have a small modicum of trust in the guy herself, which counted as a mark in his favor.

"I can't say I know how to get out of this place...

...I'm not even exactly sure how I got here to begin with. But tell me...

...has something happened to Lord Recinis? And just how is it that I am supposed to be..."

He paused, swallowing hard, "...dead?"

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

“There is a long story to be told. To start, I am afraid we are in the Darker Realms, the place beyond life and death. Galen told me of your death, so I must assume that what you are now is a shade of your former self. Sorry to have to tell you this way, but we have no time for self-pity.”

Phalomir paused, watching Terrin’s confused eyes wander.

“Look at me!” he snapped. Terrin refocused on Phalomir, confusion still showing.

“Recinis lives...”

For now...

“But something is strange with him. He and Jharmeen have gone their separate ways. I am—“

He thought of telling Terrin the story of being from future, but the confusion in the man’s eyes was already too great.

“I am the new Lord of the Weapons Clan, the Armorers. Jharmeen and I have – a history – which has recently been renewed. We have uncovered a vast plot that involves both her and I, along with ancient powers beyond your understanding. Somehow Galen was involved as well, and we were searching for her in the Dark Canyon.. which I believe to be somehow connected with this valley of the Dark Lords others have spoken of. If suspicions stand to reason, by finding this valley then we may find the way back to the Black Canyon.”

Phalomir stared directly into Terrin’s eyes.

“If you are indeed dead, then you a resident of this place, as is Roan. If Roan has the aid of Aelvedaar, then who knows what may be possible? My powers seem even stronger here, and fueled with my hatred I intend to destroy that beast Roan forever.”It is I who ruled here…

Phalomir dismissed the errant thought and grabbed Terrin by the shoulders.

“Focus on Galen, perhaps you yet share some common bond with her. Lead us to her.”

[ 02-07-2004 04:27 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Phalomir ]

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

Falling silent then, he let his eyes remain on Phalomir's. Then he completely changed the subject, shifting it to any answer he might give to his final statement. "As for any possible link I might have with Galen...

...I can't say I have any sort of Force-link; after all, I am no Force user. However, I know Roan, and that could play to our advantage. He always wanted Galen..."

He trailed a moment, his eyes turning vague and somehow pained, "...because she had the ability to birth children with All capabilities. He, like Aelvedaar, had plans to rebirth the Sith Empire; I don't know if either have been successful in this. However, if Roan is dead..."

Terrin paused once more, his look turning entirely dark as some of Phalomir's words finally registered with him. "...you said he might be in league with Aelvedaar?"

With these words, a heart-wrenching sort of concern took over him. "...possibly Aelvedaar permitted Roan to have Galen in exchange for something else. Or perhaps..."

Terrin quieted a moment, the shade of his eyes turning to the bluest of midnight, "...Roan may have given Galen over to Aelvedaar. After all, if Roan is dead, I don't think he will be able to accomplish whatever goal he has...

...not without the help of the living. And Aelvedaar may have something to play in his favor. I made a blood-oath with Graysith, one which eventually was seen as an oath with the Sith, one which I made to secure my wife's protection from Roan. If Aelvedaar were to use that in his benefit...

...there is no telling what might happen. But if this is so I am almost certain of one thing: my wife is either still in this place, somewhere with Roan...

...or she is on Khar Delba..."

[ 02-07-2004 09:29 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Terrin Danner ]

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

Yet when one finds that one special place that has called silently for all one’s life, that one location that holds an open door for the heart, then the soul may rejoice and let the anchor drop, knowing that now the journey has ended. The eyes may close and rest may take over the healing of the weary.

But home is not always where one wants to be. Thoran watched from his hidden nook, contemplating his mad existence while the strange long necked creature stumbled through the spongy rocks. His own life had been so sound, so secure, and he basked in the knowledge that what he had done was in the name of saving the future.

But it was a lie. Everything he had believed was a lie. The Eye had awoken him to this, capturing his soul and throwing it back into the pit. Once here, Thoran had been forced into discovery, and what he had discovered had sent his mind reeling from the darkness that had bound him for so long. And now, thanks to the interference of other powers, the decision to share his discoveries was forced upon Thoran.

Many had followed him into this land of darkness. He had followed the flame-haired sister of Graysith, watched as Phalomir led her to the Dark One, and observed the exchange of one soul for another. But this was all part of the lie. Part of the plan. The Master plan, so to speak.

He must tell Phalomir, this much was certain. But how would it effect him? The truth, especially this truth, would be difficult to grasp. It would go against everything Phalomir wished and dreamed, everything he thought he was. But, yes, telling Phalomir was the first step to correcting this wrong, the first step to restoration, the first step to vengeance.

And this creature from the water planet was the first step in telling Phalomir.

Thoran slid like a serpent from his hiding place and smoothly descended the hill, as silent as the night wind. When he was within a few feet of the Kaminoan he paused.

“Hold, Kaminoan,” Thoran called. “I know who you serve, and I know who you seek. You should not be here. Why did you follow?”

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

He was fast, after all. The mere fact that he and Galen had managed to escape from the hidden lab proved that – for he was not the only Kaminoan who had been there at the time. But as parents are often wont to state to their children at the end of a bedtime fairy-tale, that is best left as another story….

Rhua swept his surroundings with a scientist’s eye… and finally found it. Nearby, seeming to huddle against the strange non-rocky material was—a shadow. A shade. A ripple in the fabric of the atmosphere. A point in the noneness from which surprisingly sentient speech flowed.

He gripped his weapon more tightly, blinked to focus more clearly on that weird ripple. It shimmered like black silk; he swallowed but held down the rush of fear that at first strove to entirely incapacitate him. His knuckles whitened.

“Whom I follow and why is business of my own,” he began carefully enough, loosening his stance just the slightest in preparation of either fight of flight. “And I serve no one.”

Liar...

He paused a moment, and took in a breath. The strange gases in the atmosphere tasted metallic in his mouth, like old blood. Swallowing, he pushed that thought aside and cocked his head.

“I am more concerned with the ease in which we have met, stranger,” he went on, trying to act as nonchalant as he possibly could.

“This is a strange and forbidding zone; who are you? Where are you—and most importantly, why?”

[ 02-09-2004 04:43 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Rhua Ki ]

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

“I am here,” said Thoran. “Do not be alarmed so, my friend. We serve the same master, though it may not be whom you think. We have met before.”

Thoran watched the Kaminan’s eyes as the mind behind them searched for memories.

“Look not for this face,” he smiled. “You shall not remember. Look only the to future, and open your mind to how we shall aid each other in this land.”

Thoran lowered his head slightly and narrowed his eyes.

“You are aware of your situation, are you not, my friend?”

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

“I do not have any idea what you are speaking of,” he finally said calmly enough, although his hand tightened further upon his hidden weapon.

“I do not know you; how may one know the future? One cannot travel this timeline, there are too many paradoxes involved—“

He trailed a moment as that portion of his mind devoted to such things immediately tackled the very idea, turning the kernel this way and that, seeking irrefutable proof of the mere possibility, or adamant disproof thereof. With a jerk, he then brought himself back to focus upon Thoran.

“I do not know you, and never have,” he repeated, now taking a step backward. “I serve no master; perhaps I once did but by reason of his abandonment of me, I remove myself from his service and now adhere to—“

Again he paused, cutting off his words before he let anything out he would later regret.

“Further, I see no reason to aid you in this land,” he finished, somewhat defiantly. “I shall find that which I came here to seek, and shall then depart. It is only that way.”

He waved a hand somewhat vaguely and then fell silent, but his eyes were busy scouting out the weird terrain, alert to any other shadows that might decide to come upon him as suddenly as had this one.

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

“I am unsure as what your oath could offer us now. Jhar—Graysith is under the influence of something, she will not honor any oath, even if it were still binding.”

Phalomir slumped his shoulders ever so slightly and exhaled.

“You are rapidly proving yourself of little worth to me,” he sighed. “If we have no link, and no idea where to find the valley, then we have little to rely upon.”

Phalomir looked around, surveying the territory that surrounded them. To the north – or his best estimation of north – was the hillside he and Galen had just traveled through… or under, to be more precise. To the east lay more mountains, while the south seemed to stretch out into strange plains. Phalomir peered out into the west, noticing the hills giving way to the plains, but not before being split by a great open area. It was still blind luck to find the valley, but at least this presented a viable possibility.

“We travel west,” he said flatly. “Keep your eyes and ears open for imps and other denizens.”

Without further ceremony, he began walking. After a few paces he stopped.

“Tell me, why would Roan imprison Galen on a deserted planet, guarded by a Kaminoan?”

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

“Your master, the one you thought you served, is here in this land. He would be most happy to see you, I have no doubt. His abandonment of you was brought about by his death, which was at the hands of the very person I was sent to destroy.”

Thoran’s smile faded.

“But that person is here also, though by right he no longer belongs here. Lord Phalomir is his name, and you will help me find him if you wish to ever see your home again. You see, he holds a key…”

Thoran scowled, his face slightly distorting.

“And as for remembrance, perhaps you would better recognize me as this…”

Thoran’s features shifted, his arms and neck extending in a fast, blurry haze. Within an instant he had transformed into a tall Kaminoan. His eyes darkened and he smiled, nodding to the startled Rhua Ki.

“Now do you recall?” he asked. “Or do we need to recreate the entire incident where I introduced you to Lord Roan?”

Thoran smiled a moment longer, then reverted to the human form.

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

But this was Rhua Ki. He, the oddball of his caste, the one always choosing to flee his water-world and travel, to seek and learn by actual observation rather than by what some other has written in a book. Although Thoran’s transformation to his well-respected colleague and back again, accompanied by his veiled threats concerning the Dark Sith Lord, were daunting to say the least, part of Rhua’s nature simply refused to let it overpower him. Curiosity now warred with logic, and between the pair of them his earlier rising fear began to abate, just a little.

“Your parlor tricks are very impressive,” he said, shifting his stance a bit. His fingers tightened ever so slightly. “But they serve only to confirm that which I already know.”

He nodded to himself, pleased with the tentative conclusion he was rapidly coming to, one further strengthened by what this stranger had just told him.

“I am currently either in a place of non-life, or that of another dimension. This has been postulated for sometime, although experiment has steadfastly refused to support our equations.”

A pause for reflection—

“If this is so, then those who are denizens here cannot depart from this realm. Not if they are true shades, or dead, or at least not enjoying life as it is known in what we would call the normal universe. By your very ability to deform yourself so easily, I can only deduce that shade you are as well, now joining the one to whom, regrettably, I was forced into servitude…”

He trailed off again, staring down at the weird non-rock as the fear within him jostled harder, beginning to fight for disclosure.

“He may be powerful… but if he is dead… well.

“Then he is dead.”

Now he lifted his head and stared directly into Thoran’s eyes.

“Science shall prevail, even here. The logic of macrocosmic physics remain steady as well. You are shade, He is now shade…

“I am flesh and blood, a stranger in a strange land. But by that very physicality, perhaps I have some slight defense against what might exist here--?”

His eyes grew blank then as his mind addressed this possibility. While he had been here – once – taken here as further inducement to assisting the Dark Lord, and was aware of the dark denizens of this place, by the very shock value he had been forced into experiencing he had not then had the time to ponder the oxymoron that this place did indeed exist, and he had been in it. But now he had had time to address this concept a bit more at his leisure.

Alternate realities cannot really cross, cannot truly interact. Dimensions, while existing with each other, cannot do so either. One cannot be in the same place at the same time, one cannot travel through time. Those objects belonging to one cannot harm what belongs within another. Ghosts cannot touch the physical, only the debilitating fear within one.

Yet-- something seemed not quite right...

He shook his head, putting the quandary aside for the moment.

“I have no ill-will toward this one you call ‘Phalomir',” he said, switching the subject. “But I do have—other business here, business that this little soiree is taking me away from. I am afraid I must continue on toward it’s conclusion, and wish you the best of luck in completing yours.”

Nodding then he began to step out, but hesitated. Something still didn’t seem quite right yet; shade or not, he waited to see how Thoran would react.

[ 02-10-2004 12:21 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Rhua Ki ]

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

Not waiting for a reply, Thoran stepped up to be in stride with the Kaminoan should he begin walking again.

“Certainly there is no need to fear me,” he said. “For a shade could surely cause no harm to a flesh and blood being such as yourself. Carry on, then, old boy!”

Thoran grinned and swiftly slapped the back of the Kaminoan, sending him stumbling forward a step.

“And I do so wish to see your logic hold back a horde of imps.”

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