How well I know that special bond, she thought, thinking of her own dear M'wonBo'o back on K'eel Doba.

I wonder how this human in Sith form came to bond with that One; I shall have to ask him of this when we have the time for such idle pleasantries.

Her attention was brought from this line of thinking as they travelled on, soon coming toward and then passing by the warship which had been left here, seemingly years ago.

"We shall take that with us when we depart," she said quietly, nodding toward the ship. Then she quieted, concentrating on following the spoor the tuk'ata, after going on swiftly ahead of them, had clearly left for them to follow.

It wasn't long before the little party came upon the animal, who was sitting around the other side of the ship, waiting for them. Letting Panthar take the lead, she continued on with the group, all of them stopping in a little cluster in front of the tuk'ata while they waited to see which way it would go next.

The beast eyed them with its eerie pupilless eyes, twined its face-tendrils around Panthar's outstretched hand, turned, and bounded off into the trees once again. Nodding to the others, Graysith once more stepped out, hurrying now to keep up with the swiftly moving Panthar and the even more swiftly moving tuk'ata.

They finally exited the clearing, coming out into a miasma of gloom.

There before them was the Temple of Armorers, looking somehow foreboding yet sad, as though angry at being abandoned here on a planet quite literally in the middle of nowhere.

[ 09-26-2005 12:12 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Graysith ]

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And now here they were once again, ready to step into that strange and eerie place.

And so they did, following the tuk’ata to the steps and into the first hallway. The stones were still loose and scattered from where the tuk’ata had forced its way in when chasing Phalomir. Panthar looked down the hall at the steps leading down, and again shivered with the memory of the big hovering eyes.

Panthar could hear thoughts from the tuk’ata, though this time it had been mostly silent, but its feelings were coming in loud and strong. It did not like being forced to stay in the Elseness, for it knew what had been done. Yet it led them through the halls and once again to the splintered wooden door that housed the room full of bizarre artifacts.

Panthar touched the tuk’ata on the head, and it looked at him with sad eyes. It trotted into the room and sat in a corner, allowing Panthar and the others to pass inside. Panthar looked around and found the red sphere right where he had last seen it. He sighed and turned to Jharmeen.

“Well,” he said. “This is it. Who should we dial up first?”

[ 09-28-2005 10:18 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Panthar Dantares ]

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

It seems so... different, she couldn't help but think, recalling the days spent here on Koris'ian with Recinis and Jharu, the day she and her husband had come here to prepare for her son's Entitlement trials, the dress she had found...

This place was empty and dark, devoid of life and its purpose for being... but never had it felt so foreboding, so...

Oppressive.

Gulping away the memories with a flick of her tresses, she forced her steps to hurry, and soon found herself in the dimly lit chamber where the tuk'ata had led. Weird shapes sat about, like shadows in the night, almost seen, almost touched--

"Who shall we dial up first?"

The words clashed harshly against the overwhelming sense of--

Was it sorrow?

--strangeness that filled her. She shivered again, hurried to his side.

"While it is of the utmost importance to find the whereabouts of Lord Aelvedaar, I must know how my love fares in the awful hands I have placed him in."

She turned to stare at the device, bracing herself.

"Show us Lord Phalomir, and then Lord Aelvedaar, and quickly," she said, then fell silent, the shadows seeming to press in even more closely all around.

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

“It didn’t take this long last time,” he said.

The sphere eventually brightened and clouded, an image forming in the gloomy chaos.

The sphere showed a room, dark and foreboding. The image was as if the group was looking in through a window in the ceiling. The center of the room held the remnants of a large framework of some sort, with cords hanging down from the top and bottom, as if someone had been suspended within it. The floor below the frame was a dark pool of some thick liquid with a hint of purple. Off to the side sat a pair of imps, one small and crouched in a corner, the other larger and missing a part of its tail. They were both staring across the room where a large red-skinned man lay nearly naked in a semi-fetal position, the horns on the head indicating this was indeed Phalomir.

Phalomir’s body was covered in cuts, bite marks, and dark areas. The horns on his head were stained with violet blood, and though his face was turned the agony was apparent. He clutched his abdomen tightly, a blue glow showing beneath his hands. A slight whimper was heard amid the heavy gasps for breath.

The imps stood and moved aside as the wall seemed to just open a small slot, making way for the unmistakable form of the Master to walk through. He grinned from ear to ear, then pulled his hands from under his cloak to reveal a long, forked whip. He cracked it and the larger imp jumped. The Master laughed aloud and turned to Phalomir.
“And now, my son,” he called out. “The true lessons in love and pain begin. Soon you shall beg me to allow Him entrance.”

The Master cracked the whip again, and from across the room Phalomir’s body jerked. The Master threw his head back and laughed, then stopped. He looked warily upwards, then rested his eyes in the direction of the group. His smiled faded, then returned again with malice.

“Come for him,” he said quietly, though his voice was heard clearly. “We shall be waiting.”

The whip cracked again, followed by a scream from Phalomir. The Master waved his hand above his head and the sphere went black, then settled back to a dull red.

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

She forgot all about pain.

All she could see was the horror, the indescribable terror and agony in Phalomir's body language, the bloodthirsty joy lighting the eyes of the imps.

The frighteningly insane and charismatic glow which emanated from Phalomir's supposed father, lending him the sinister aura of a cult leader.

Her nails cut through into her flesh, burying themselves there. The chamber ravened with the light of her Glyph; it was all she could do to keep from tearing open a portal right then and there and leaping in to Phalomir's aid.

"He-- he would not wish me to do this, not this way, not now..."

That was all that kept her sane, that kept anger and dark promises of vengeance from overwhelming her pain for him altogether, to keep here here in the realms of light and sanity and reality.

The image faded to bloody red, then disappeared. She bowed her head, collecting herself.

"Sh-show us Lord Aelvedaar," she said hoarsely, not daring yet to look up from the stones which lay at her feet.

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

...and with a sudden start, as the Master addressed them directly, as if he knew they were there, she suddenly had to pause as something occurred to her. Before she was really aware of what she was doing, she reached out to Jharmeen and took a hold of her arm.

"Wait," she said suddenly, in a whisper. "How did he know we were here, watching him? He wants us to come after Phalomir, and the image was enough to make us want to do so right now...

...how can we be certain this is not a trap, and that this device is not somehow controlled by the Master? How can we know that the images we see within are the Truth? He knew we were watching, he knew..."

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

She cleared her throat.

"I agree," she finally managed. "This of course is a trap, although why I cannot imagine. After all, I was within his grasp; why he would let me go at that time is beyond me, unless he wants us all under his thumb."

She brightened fractionally.

"Perhaps he has decided that we present something of a threat to him after all, and this is why he- he does-"

She cleared her throat again, faltering.

"He commits the atrocities he does upon my beloved. But do not for one second believe that the images shown to us are false; this Master is evil, that I clearly sensed when I was there with him. He wants his son for a purpose which yet remains a mystery to me, and clearly means to break him to his will.

"Which is why we must hasten... but must also proceed with the utmost of caution.

"And now I present the quandary to you all: if we do indeed present a threat to him, how so? In what manner? We must come up with the reasoning for it, if indeed it is a truth, for clearly that will be the means of defeating him.

"Having Lord Aelvedaar with us will only strengthen us; Panthar, have you discovered anything yet?"

Drawing in a deep breath, she finally managed to quiet her wildly beating heart and bring a semblance of normalcy to her features. She folded her hands in front of her and looked around at her companions, hoping they would be able to determine the answers to the scenario she had posited.

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

“I don’t know exactly how this works, I think you just concentrate on the Dark Lord and then it…”

“Hey, you know,” he interrupted himself. “When Erik and I were here last time and that ugly mug showed up in the sphere, he spoke right to us. In fact, he opened up a freaking portal right here, as if he was right here with us! Like idiots, we walked into it and ended up trapped with Galen and the gang in the Temple of the Sorcerers, trapped there by Aleve—“

Panthar paused.

“The Master was in cahoots with Aelvedaar at that time, it sure seemed. Then our friend Thoran said something later on about the Master and Aelvedaar having a fallout, then we conveniently find the Master on board that weird ship and let him free. He said he was put there by Aelvedaar. Now why would Aelvy choose that particular place to imprison someone as apparently powerful as the Master?”

Panther scratched his head and looked at the others.

“Now, I’m just thinking here, but the Master sure has been trying to get his hands on Phal for a long time, trying one trick after another, when it seems that all he ever had to do was come take him by force. But everything he has done to us has been a trick of some kind, hasn’t it? I mean, if he could open up a portal by remote before, then he could surely have done something nasty to us by remote just now. Why didn’t he? Why does he want us to come for Phal?”

Panther turned to look Jharmeen.

“Anyway, what I’m getting at is this. Your quandary, the threat we pose – what if it’s not a threat he sees? I mean, what if means to lure us there for something else? Is there a reason he would want any of us to enter the Darker Realms, especially in a panic? He seems to be a master of deal-making, could any of us be something to barter with? You know, like Roan used Terrin to barter for Galen….”

A light seemed to ding in Panthar’s eyes.

“Is ROAN working with the Master? Wasn't he after you or Galen when he died? Or had one of you somewhere...?”

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

Galen of all people understood this, yes. It was in her eyes...

In three swift steps she was in front of Galen, one hand reaching out to squeeze her shoulder in support.

"He will bring you to no harm, this I can promise," she said softly. Then she turned back to the others.

"The possibility is very real, and one we must assume is genuine," she agreed, nodding her head. "It would be utterly unthinking on our parts to ignore the sheer proximity the Master has with Roan; why else would he operate from the Darker Realms if not to utilize all they have to offer him? That includes not only those awful imps, but Roan and perhaps the darkness that is Entaris as well.

"If not more of which we have yet to become aware."

She sighed, then lifted her head, her eyes darkening as she obviously braced herself. Then turning to the deeply shimmering sphere, she closed her eyes and concentrated as hard as she could upon her Sire.

"Show him to us," she murmured, not opening her eyes, waiting for the others to inform her that her query was being answered.

That answer was not long in coming. Gradually the sphere brightened, taking on the hue of freshly spilled blood which roiled and churned within its depths before coiling back upon itself to thus clear an open spot. Within that red-lit spot there came the image of Lord Aelvedaar: his strong frame hanging limply from the blue-glowing manacles which affixed him to the black-mossed stone, his robes of state torn and soiled, his head bowed down in an attitude of despair.

If not defeat.

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

Terrin knew for damn certain that Roan had been up to something that day in the Darker Realms, when Galen had exchanged herself and took his place. That was the reason he'd fought to get her back. And he wouldn't stand idly by while something of that nature happened again. Galen had already been through more than her fair share of hellish experiences.

But what was it that Roan had been up to? Did anyone even know what he had been doing with Galen? Or...to Galen?

Terrin frowned, and almost totally missed what had been going on until startled gasps jerked him back into reality...

..and to the image of Lord Aelvedaar, his head hung, his arms bound, his robes torn and tattered. While everyone else might have been in shock, the image reminded Terrin of himself, once upon a time in an Imperial prison on Coruscant. And that got him thinking.

"How do we get to him?" Terrin questioned simply into the shocked silence. "We're going to need him if we intend to have any chances to come against the evil powers we face, and the dark plots which might be directed at several of us..."

Trailing, Terrin tightened his grip on Galen slightly.

"...and perhaps he needs us as well."

Terrin looked to Jharmeen, cocking a brow. "You were able to locate me and find me on Coruscant in prison. Can you do the same with Aelvedaar now?"

[ 10-04-2005 09:26 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Terrin Danner ]

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“Maybe it’s not a super special power the Master has, maybe it’s a function of the sphere. The ability to send his powers through it, I mean, like when he opened the portal in this room when he wasn’t here. I mean, look, it’s like I can reach out and touch him almost!”

Panthar reached his hand out and let it hover over the sphere.

“It feels cold and damp right here, do you feel it? Is it worth a try, maybe you can do the same thing the Master did?”

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

"The reason that I was able to find you in the Coruscant prison was due to the link I had established with you," she replied. "But the link I have with my Sire, which has gone unfailing--"

She paused fractionally, closing her eyes as she strove to reach out, to find and touch the warm presence Lord Aelvedaar had always been in her mind. But the tendrils she extended slammed up against something harder than dura-steel, colder than the icy heart of space itself.

She shivered.

"--is now gone."

Blinking back that remnant of fright, she turned away toward the sphere once again, moving to come to a halt next to Panthar. He turned to her, brows raised, as if asking her to verify what he was feeling.

She extended a hand. Yanked it back, and withdrew a few steps.

"I agree with Panthar," she said slowly.

"This device, in showing us the whereabouts of those whom we seek, seems to likewise be opening up a portal through which we might enter. However, there is much danger involved; while I conclude that we will be able to join Lord Aelvedaar, come to his aid, I do not know just where it is that we are thus finding him.

"That is something we will not know until we are actually there."

Her look grew earnest, serious, and she cast it into each and every pair of eyes around her.

"I cannot deny my Sire assistance, when it is obvious that his pain enthralls him so greatly. I go to his side; however..."

She now turned to Ayelmaar, who up until this point had remained silent, choosing to simply follow the lead of the others in the party.

"I wish for you to be the last through, should you desire to join me. If so, bring the sphere with you; if you remain here, stay with the sphere, that you may assist us if we need help returning to this place.

"Although I shall now implement certain... assurances to the effect that we shall have no such difficulty."

In one smoothly swift gesture her hand shot out, placing itself upon Aeylmaar's face, fingertips over the nerve ganglia at temple and forehead, her palm resting lightly on his nose. Moments later she withdrew that hand, amiling in satisfaction as she clearly felt a small part of her essence now wandering through the corridors of his psyche.

"I have established a link with you Aeylmaar, that we might find our way back. And in the even that you do desire to come..."

Now she turned to Galen, who yet huddled against Terrin. Smiling, she repeated the rite she had performed upon the young sorcerer.

"I trust you wish to remain here, Galen," she murmured, nodding in understanding. "And you as well, to protect her?"

The latter words were directed towards Terrin. Another brief smile flicked across her face then, and she turned back to the sphere.

"Those who wish to do so may follow my lead, but be on your guard. As I mentioned, I do not know exactly where it is we go, but if it is in the lair of one who can shackle a Dark Lord of the Sorcerers..."

She let that ominous statement trail off, its implications crystal clear.

Then reaching out with her talents yet again she touched the power of the sphere, followed the winding pathways therein which followed the interstices of spacetime itself, and finally connected to--

Cold. A cold icier than death, more glacial than space itself.

The cold of utter despair.

I am coming, my Sire, she thought toward him, hoping a connection had been made.

The air in front of her ripped open, revealing living shadow.

She stepped through... and found herself upon something that was not quite stone, staring up at the limp form of the Sorcerer Lord, who hung by blue-glowing manacles against something else that was not quite stone, some twenty-five feet above her head.

Even though she knew that time was of the essence, she could not refrain from taking an instinctive step backwards.

"I-- I know of this place," she said tersely before then reaching out with her powers to try to free the imprisoned Dark Lord of the Sith.

((OOC: Follow Graysith into Into the Out Of in the "Jedi/Sith" forums, thank you.))

[ 10-05-2005 02:13 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Graysith ]

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And with no further ado than this, Shayla stepped through the portal, knowing her husband was just another step behind her.

(((OOC: Follow Shayla and Erik to Into the Out Of in this same forum, thank you.)))

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

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

As Graysith and Aeylmaar gathered around Panthar and Aelvedaar to heal him, Shayla took Erik by the hand. "Your strength will be needed as well," she said to him.

"But I..." he started.

She cut him off. "You can," she said simply. "It is within you."

And with nothing further than that, Shayla joined the others gathering around Aelvedaar, stretching out into the Force and towards the Dark Lord, channeling all the strength and healing energies into him that she could. As everyone continued their united efforts, Shayla could already sense strength slowly beginning to flood back into the drained Dark Lord.

[ 10-05-2005 10:26 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Shayla Stargazer Petrolu ]

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Not that he was all that suprised by the rapidity--or the nature--of the events, really. But still...

As the others gathered around Panthar and Lord Aelvedaar, Terrin reached out and took Galen's chin in his hand, making her baby browns meet his blues.

"You have it within you to help them," he said quietly to her, nodding in the direction of the little gathering party and saying nothing further, unmoving for the moment so as to instill in Galen the faith he had in her...

...and in the abilities he had believed were within her all along.

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

Something deep inside me cracked, began to thaw, to melt. The loose form grew blurred as tears welled up from nowhere to obscure my vision; with a motion that was almost angry I dashed them from my eyes, and turned back to Terrin.

"I--I don't know what to do--"

He said nothing but gave me an encouraging little push. Biting my lip, I sidled to where my sister and Shayla were bracketing Panthar, and moved up alongside them.

"I want to help, somehow," I stated, the fact that I was unsure as to just how I would do so evident in my voice. Jharmeen turned to me with a soft smile, that weird thing on her forehead striking me with its eerie light, filling me with warmth and serenity and--

And. Something. Else.

Unthinking then, I reached out with both hands, one going to the Dark Lord, the other taking hold of Jharmeen's. Her grasp was cool and firm, undoubtedly just as cool and firm as the hold she had upon Shayla's shoulder.

A rustle intruded upon my peripheral hearing; turning my head a bit I saw Aeylmaar coming to join us, obviously fighting back tears of his own by the contorted expression he wore.

Together then we stood, the four of us, unconsciously moving to surround the Dark Lord of the Sorcerers at each of the four cardinal points, joining his fading spirit with our own, sensing, reaching out, finding, healing...

Just before I lost myself to what to an outsider must look utterly strange but which to me suddenly felt utterly natural, I caught it: the red glow.

It was emanating softly from the sphere that had showed us how to find that which we had sought.

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

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

And stepping in a bit closer to the group, he responded, his look thoughtful. "Might be Sith magick...

...I've seen that glow before."

And with nothing further he fell silent and waited along with his two employees, the only members of the little group left who could, as it seemed, do nothing but wait.

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

Four sets of eyes blink; I can read the concern therein. I raise a weak hand, wave it somewhat ineffectually, much to my embarrassment.

"I-- I shall live, and I thank you," I manage before, with a great effort, I try to raise myself to a sitting position. It is only then that I realize that I am indeed supine, but in the arms of--

Another Sith?

We stare at each other in mutual discomfort and further embarrassment. Then I am swiftly carried to a seat, and placed upon it. The Sith backs away, but hovers nearby.

I let my gaze sweep over them all.

"I thank you," I repeat, then rise to wobbly feet. Instantly there are eight hands upon me, holding me, steadying me. Filling me with even yet more warmth.

I allow myself the luxury of a small smile, and then sober. For weak though I am, there is no time for niceties; I recognize the room we are in, here in the Temple of the Armorers.

This is a Good Thing.

"There is great danger, my friends; we have no time to spare."

With that I fall silent, falling back a bit, sagging into the chair once more. My ordeal has left me weaker than I thought.

[ 10-07-2005 09:47 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Aelvedaar ]

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...but we really don't know what. The Master is strong, and we cannot come against him alone, particularly not with Roan at his side as well. We need your help."

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

I blink, staring, admonishing myself for the glaring oversight. Blink and rub my eyes as hard as I can, he yet remains standing there, smiling with such relief that only one who loves another greatly can show.

"Aey- Aeylmaar?" I begin slowly, carefully, turning my head sideways and cutting my eyes swiftly to the others.

"You... are here. And Brother Roan, in the Darker Realms with the Master... you know of him then, of his deceit and the danger he presents to us..."

I pause as a giant shiver erupts throughout my body, sinking into the seat again. For a moment I remain thus, then glance quickly back to the group.

"Brother Roan-- he is dead then? And this Phalomir, of whom I know not... and Aeylmaar, who stands here before me, no dream... and this other of my people, whom I do not know..."

I turn now to the giant Sith who had carried me to this seat. He lowered his head, looking somehow sheepish. I let the look pass by; clearly hs is of no threat to me or my apprentice or my beloved Chosen One.

Now it is to her eyes that my gaze carries me. The look is returned by one full of questions; I sigh, then bite back confusion as one glaring reality strikes home.

"My people-- the Sith. Then they have returned?" I ask, letting a glimmer of joy flood into me at the thought, a welcomed escape from the confusion that dwelled so apparently not only in me, but in others here as well.

"What of Lord Recinis, and Jharu?"

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

What madness is this--?

Then it hit her, and she raised a hand to quash any comment or further question. Now stepping closer to Lord Aelvedaar, she lowered herself, squatting in front of him now, eye to eye.

"My dear Sire," she began softly. "You have been through much, and we will obey and answer all your questions. But first... please, you must tell us:

"How did you come to be taken prisoner? How long were you there? And who dared raise a hand against a Dark Lord of the Sith?"

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

No details, just a dark, oppressive shadow. I do not know who this is, I only know that another had come to me, quite often, throughout the long and lonesome non-hours and non-days and non-years that I languished, to torment and taunt and gibber and laugh at me.

"He-- he said it was to save all the peoples of the galaxy," I begin slowly, struggling to focus, striving to remember that which my every cell shrieked away from in horror.

"I was sent for that day in Phrinnchatka, the day you died and were reborn--"

I stared at my beloved, stared into her face, right through the confusion and horror which was taking root there.

"The day the demons from the Darker Realms came to destroy Phrinnchatka; He told me they succeeded, that the city was destroyed, its marvels laying in ruins, never to echo with the sounds of laughter or happy feet..."

I blink, staring into that same middle space now, seeing that wonderful capitol city fall, hearing the gibber of the imps as they rend and tear and slash and destroy.

"I- I do not know by what power I was overcome; the demons came, and they took me. All was in darkness, and when there was light I was as you found me, bound and hanging, there to be forced to act the buffer for every bit of evil and wickedness and charnel depravity He could come up with.

"The All seemed to have abandoned me to that fate..."

I can hold back no longer. A sob of pain erupts from me, and I bury my face in my hands, my shoulders shaking and hot tears flowing through my fingers.

For how could this happen? Who could stand against one so evil, with such power, if the might of the All had no sway?

As was evident by the ease in which I had been taken from my temple, what I am beginning to believe was longer ago than I at first had thought.

[ 10-07-2005 11:49 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Aelvedaar ]

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To save the galaxy...

...The Master perhaps?

Shayla spoke as much, her greeny-blue eyes filled with emotion then as she queited, the reality of just how long Aelvedaar had really not been Aelvedaar impacted her.

Her unborn son was...where? And with who?

"I wonder what it is this... Thing was protecting the people of the galaxy from?" Shayla queried then, ideas already springing to her mind from events in the past. "The Vong?" she then added, her tone still questioning, the direction her thoughts were taking clear. "But to what end can total darkness without any light save any of us, let alone the entire galaxy?"

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