"Hey, Buddy, weren't you listening? What part of anything touching it isn't here anymore didn't you understand?"

I nodded to the twin lumps.

"Whatever or whoever is underneath that is under a chronotic shield," I repeated my earlier observation.

"If anything touches it, well, it just is gone.

"Poof."

I spread my hands out a little to each side and made flicking motions with my fingers, waggling my brows at Big Red as I did so. Then I paused, stared at him a moment, noted him nursing his hand.

"Hey Big Guy, you ok?" I asked, frowning to see the returning "I'm all right, really I am" lie he immediately put on his face.

Snorting, I turned to Erik.

"Hey Jedi, he looks hurt. Can't you heal him or something?"

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

He traced the link with his spirit, basking in the strength he felt there. He imagined himself reaching out his hand and having it grasped by Jharmeen’s. He smiled inwardly, and perhaps outwardly, and allowed his body to rest and heal. The strength was returning to him bit by bit, fueled by his love and by the healing powers of the two women mixing strongly with his own inherent magick.

His mind wandered back to recent events, time he spent pumping magick into holding his innards inside, and a time when he half-consciously heard the Master and Roan speaking. There was talk of deception, of… vials? Mutations… what had that been? He let his mind free to grasp the half memory, hoping it would stumble upon the answer.

ShRhylla. She would discover the vials… the vials aboard the ship they had brought with them. It had been a setup, conceived by the Master. Why? What mutations had he spoken of? And what more had Roan said about her…?

Phalomir’s eyes opened, wide with urgency. He lifted his head and looked into Jharmeen’s eyes.

“We must return to K’eel Doba,” he said hoarsely. “ShaRhylla is in great danger, or about to cause it.”

He looked down at the gash in his midsection. It had somehow began knitting itself together, aided no doubt by the reality bending powers of the All.

“She had the Finger of R’lous,” he said, trying to sit up. “And the vials on the ship, the Master spoke of them….” He paused, caught his breath, and looked around.

“Where are the others?”

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

He trailed, his brown eyes defocusing a moment. Then they snapped alert. "Anyway, I don't think I have what it takes to heal Panthar. I can lend my Force energies to help a healer heal someone, but as an actual healer...

...I'm pretty much stuck. Not one of my force strengths."

He shrugged, Then he finished with, "Maybe Shayla could help when she comes out of there..."

And Panthar would probably just love that, came a little dark addendum that Erik wasn't entirely unaware of.

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...who was also being held here. There has been a doppleganger on Khar Delba acting as him...

...one probably created by the Master and Roan..."

Shayla trailed, hesitating a moment before she continued with, "One who has successfully stolen the Finger of R'lous through trickery and deceit, using one known as Rykounagin as his thief."

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He scowled at his own comment.

“But if they have the Finger…” he started. “There would be no stopping them. I think, from what I was able to hear from their boisterous talking when they thought I was unconscious, that the doppelganger may have been Roan himself, with aid from the magick of the Master. I do not believe they trust each other, each other, and that may be to our advantage.”

Phalomir shuddered, a severe pain shooting through him. He coughed and turned his head, quietly spitting a wad of dark violet onto the floor, trying to conceal it from the women. He regained his composure and turned back to Jharmeen.

“We should move quickly. There is much to repair, and the longer we wait the worse matters may become. The Master had planned for me to be dead or — or possessed by now, so time may be on our side. Events were set into motion with the news of your ‘death’ on K’eel Doba…”

He forced a smile onto his face.

“I am fine, or soon will be. Let us gather the others and return. What do you two say?”

He paused, thinking.

“And what is this ‘flame’?”

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

Graysith reached out a hand and laid it softly against Phalomir's jaw. A bit of a frown flicked across her features when she felt how clammy his skin yet was.

"Please, do not push yourself. If you press before you are completely healed, all the work that Shayla and I have performed may be undone."

She paused a moment, searching deep into his physique with her talents, trying to sense how strong the Sith Lord truly was. The initial knitting of ligament and bone and vessel and flesh had begun, but the deep bone marrow connective tissues were not yet what they should be, and his blood volume was far from being up to snuff.

"I think you should let us heal you just a moment longer, to make certain you are able to withstand the trials ahead. Recall, if you will, that we are yet in the Darker Realms; while under this shield we are protected, but the Master skulks without, undoubtedly just waiting for us to come out from protection. I hope that Lord Aelvedaar and Aeylmaar, combined with the strengths of Erik Kartan are enough to keep him at bay -- for they were hard on our heels as Shayla and I came here, surprising the Master -- but there is no guessing when it comes to this.

"You should be in peak fighting condition, or at least as close to that as possible; what if Lord Roan should return and you were not yet strong?

"Would there be strength enough between us to fend them off then, particularly if it is he who now possesses the Finger of R'lous, as we suspect?"

[ 11-12-2005 11:51 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Graysith ]

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“Yet, if the others are indeed aiding us at this moment, out there beyond this shield… what if they require our assistance? Perhaps is the not knowing that pains me… My spirit is strong, my lady, and with you here it grows stronger still. If Roan enters, and he has the Finger, then they will need us.”

Phalomir sighed again, his body again shuddering.

“Is there a way to know what transpires here without bringing the shield down?”

[ 11-13-2005 01:08 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Graysith ]

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She trailed, considering something. Then she looked at Jharmeen. "I have a strong Force-link with my husband. Would that be an ineffective mode of communication through the shield as well?"

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"I do not believe so," she frowned, pondering.

"After all, this shield was developed to be a total defense mechanism, that nothing would be able to penetrate it."

She chewed her lip.

"While I do not believe even a strong force link would penetrate it, I will admit that I have never tried to contact anyone in this manner who was beneath a shield, or to reach out to someone on the outside while I mysclf was thus protected."

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"Th- then if you're not a Jedi, how in Hell's Seven Circles did you manage to lambast the Master?"

Now I turned my eyes to Terrin, the look in them becoming progressively more worried.

"If he's not a Jedi, how can we really count on him when the going gets rough?" I whispered.

Yeah, right Galen. Like they weren't rough enough already--!

"I mean, as much as I hate to say it, I hope he won't become a stone hanging around our necks. That shot he blasted out just now might only have been a lucky chance."

I stopped with that, growing a bit uncomfortable with even harboring the thought, for hadn't something exactly like that happened to me?

I shook my head, glancing around to make certain that the blankness which surrounded the Master hadn't altered any. It hadn't.

Good.

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

"As for that blast--" trailing a moment, Terrin's eyes darkened just a shade more, "What man wouldn't love to nail anything threatening the woman he loves that way? Still, the whole blast thing is a bit unnerving..."

He quieted another moment, "I didn't know he had that in him, and have never seen him do anything quite like that. He's been holding out, or something fishy is going on..."

Terrin's frowned darkened, then faded a bit as another reality surfaced, "But then, this guy has already been around. At least he has that to his credit."

[ 11-15-2005 06:59 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Terrin Danner ]

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...or your own sister? You know as well as I do that being a Jedi and having all the powers in the universe doesn't necessarily mean a hill of beans. I've been trained in the Jedi arts...that training is a bit rusty, and I don't necessarily use it...

...not unless I find it practical. That is the way of a Corellian Jedi. And to take that the step further, I never attempted my trials for one reason, and one reason only. Placing yourself on trial means proving yourself to some council or some governing body of Jedi, and I don't find that practical or useful. I could have passed those trials, but I already had the knowledge I needed to do what I needed to do if and when the training was needed. Having someone tell me that, or for that matter declare it to the known Universe, seemed unimportant."

Erik paused, pursing his lips. "As for the blast itself, again, a practical use of training. Still...

...I didn't expect to be quite as effective as I was..."

[ 11-15-2005 07:00 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Erik Kartan ]

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Nobody -- and I mean nobody talks to me that way. I whipped a glare on Erik as, shrugging off Terrin's arm I stomped over to him.

"Look, buster!" I fumed, getting right up close and personal. I stabbed a finger into his chest.

"I don't know who died and left you in charge of the 'poor me' department, but consider this a wake-up call."

I paused a moment while about eleventy million things I wanted to snap at him tried to coalesce into something a bit more civilized.

"Was I talking to you? Seems I only asked how the hell you managed to shut down Ol' Ugly over there --" I nodded tersely toward the one black lump "-- and it seems you've had more than was necessary to reply to that.

"Yeah, I know about powers, and not having them. I know about who and what to rely on; I've seen Jasyn and Matt sticking their necks out on the line plenty, and when it comes to Terrin's, well... he makes the other guys look like stand-arounds.

"But you--!"

Another poke to the solar plexus.

"I don't care if you took your trials or not, I don't give a womprat's hind end if you're a Jedi or not.

"All I care about is what you'll do when the going get's tough, and buddy there just better not come a time on down the road when our lives depends on you and your 'gee, I didn't know I had it in me' mumbo jumbo!

"What have you done to assist us anyway? Ok, again, you flattened the bad guy.. this time. But what about the next? Can we rely on this or not?

"Seems you've been kind of hanging off in the background for the most part, Charlie, and now you have the nerve to go whining about not taking your trials because you can't give in to authority for the greater good of all--?!"

I blustered to a halt, just shaking. I don't know what it was that got me so bent out of shape; like I said, things just hadn't been all skittles and Corellian ale lately, what with all the craziness we've been subjected to...

...but all I needed now was one of our own to go off into his own little pity party and mope there.

I shot Terrin another quick glance, hoping like hell he was in my corner on this one...

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

"Look pal," Terrin then spoke up, his eyes not leaving Kartan's, "We're all here now, and we've got to rely on what we've got. Me...I have no problem with relying on people who don't have a damn lick of Force sensitivity. But then I still expect to know what they can do and will do when the time comes, and I like that to be a consistent thing. If you don't know how you did something like that last display of yours with the Master, then 'X' it from the things you are certain you can do for the group. At least at that we'll know what we have to work with."

[ 11-15-2005 08:37 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Terrin Danner ]

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...I just didn't know it would be to that extent. However, for the sake of the group and to make you all feel more at ease with what I can do, I won't do it again. And please..."

Erik paused a moment, turning to look at Galen, "Believe me when I say that I'm here for the team. You can count on me not to back out when the going gets tough. I know you might not believe me til the time comes that I can actually prove it, and I understand that. But until then, you have my word."

[ 11-15-2005 08:48 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Erik Kartan ]

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"Words aren't worth the paper they're written on unless they're backed up with good ol solid collateral.

"Just ask Terrin... he'll tell you about how it works--"

With that I let my words die out and returned, snorting, to Terrin's side. As far as I was concerned, I wasn't going to believe a thing Mr. Kartan said about what he was going to do, until the time came to throw his cards on the table.

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...only to come up entirely short. She opened her eyes, frowning and shaking her head. "No, I can't contact him," she then stated aloud. "The only way we will know what is going on out there is if the shield is dropped...

...and I agree with Jharmeen. It's unwise to do so until we are all prepared to meet whatever obstacles will face us," she ended, channeling healing energies to Phalomir once more.

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

And now they trap Master and Darkness… the Dark Master. It is shield, but will it hold? I asks, I tells them… but they trusts not me, they trusts not no-one. How to make them trust? How to make them see? I knows…

The imp crept silently across the ceiling until it clung just above Erik, the Jedi which had sent the Master reeling. It bared its claws and propelled itself from the ceiling with lightning speed, grabbing Erick around the throat with one hand and pressing a claw into his neck with the other, positioned just next to the jugular. It wrapped its legs around Erik’s midsection and clung to his back.

The little imp peered around Erik’s head at the rest of the group and spoke loudly in its gravelly voice.

“I not hurts him, you not hurts me. We talk, we listen, no-one hurts no-one. I lets go when we trusts. But now we speaks, we speaks much. Agrees?”

[ 11-16-2005 09:05 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by patternghost ]

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“Holy crap!” he cried out. “What the heck is that thing? Erik, are you all right?”

[ 11-18-2005 11:29 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Panthar Dantares ]

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“You speaks or no?” it quipped. “You must hurries, if you wants what I knows.”

“Hurries to save him,” it said, indicating Panthar with a jerk of its head. “And hurries to save him.” The imp pressed its claw deeper into Erik’s neck, bringing a gasp from the force user. “All me wants is speaking, why is you so silent? Speak peace to me, asks me of the son Phally-mire, you does. We speaks.”

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

Shayla likewise had rested her hands on Phalomir to administer her healing powers, and his other hand took hers.

He focused on the hands he held. He could feel the warmth, the softness of the skin, and as he let his mind wander he could begin to feel Jharmeen’s pulse in his right hand. He imagined himself following her pulse, and could almost sense the blood moving within her. His own pulse quickened, then slowed, and in a moment was matching Jharmeen’s. He then felt Shayla’s hand, and in the same manner soon her own pulse had matched the others.

Both women were now sitting with their eyes closed, kneeling next to Phalomir. They each held a hand, each one’s heart beating in rhythm with Phalomir’s, and each one breathing in perfect synchronicity. There was no sound other than this chorus of breathing and heartbeats.

Phalomir stretched out instinctively with his powers, not thinking but just doing. He could feel the energies from Shayla, intensified by the powers of the All coming from Jharmeen. It kindled his own energies, the Sith magick that dwelt within him, and he could feel a powerful warmth spreading through his body. Strange twinges and itches sprang from everywhere as tendons, muscles, bone, and tissues knitted themselves together. The pain intensified greatly for a brief moment, the shock blasting through not only Phalomir but the two women as well. All three hearts raced.

Phalomir’s back arched as a cry escaped all three people. Jharmeen and Shayla both fell backwards, their eyes flying open in surprise. Phalomir lay silent, eyes wide open, unmoving. For several seconds all either women could do was stare at the other.

Phalomir coughed, breaking the silence.

“Wha—“ he started. “What just happened?”

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

Terrin firmed, his initial shock shifting to mental clarity even though his mind was racing.

"Why should we trust you when your threat is to kill him?" he queried, indicating Erik. "No trust can be found in this scenario...

...not unless you let him go, and now. What of Phalomir do you know...

...and how?"

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

“I wants to speaks, but I am not trusting you, as you not trusting me. Swear, swear on the soul of yours mother, you not harms me if I not harms you. Swears on her soul, you does, no harms comes to me. Then we speaks. Then I lets go.”

The imp glared at Terrin.

“Swears it now! Swears it now or I sees you are not for trusting! Swears it now or enemies you are and this one dies! NOW!”

[ 11-19-2005 12:54 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by patternghost ]

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...especially considering one was digging nicely into Erik's throat. A myriad of options--none of them particularly grand--swirled through Erik's mind. He settled on one, stopped struggling, and spoke directly to the imp.

"Leave them alone," he growled. "Get off my back and talk if that's what you want...

"...no harm will come to you."

Like we could truly harm you if you're of the Realm of the Dead anyway...

[ 11-19-2005 04:04 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Erik Kartan ]

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Ok. Resident quasi- Jedi...

--but memories of what those horrid little demons could do stopped that battleplan dead in its tracks. Thus I merely made an abortive step forward and stopped cold turkey, eyeing its lashing tail warily.

Then it struck me that if it had planned on killing Erik, or any of us for that matter, we'd all be history by now. Those things were fast, as far as I remembered, and had a weird way of popping in and out of reality like dissipating and coalescing smoke.

I wavered, then ventured to speak, though I didn't particularly relish the idea of possibly drawing its attention.

"I-- I don't think it's intending you any harm; er, that is, not any immediate harm at any rate," I said, tensing in case the little horror decided to make good on my speculation. Luckily for me -- and Terrin as well, who yet stood near me -- this didn't provoke anything from the imp other than a red-eyed glare shot at me. Heartened, I continued.

"I mean, you'd be dead now if that's what the thing had in mind, trust me on that one."

Now that the initial adrenalin rush had subsided a tad, I was able to turn my attention to what the thing was saying. It appeared it wanted to talk, and it appeared it wanted certain assurances on our parts that it in turn would not be injured by us.

Injured by us? Now that was a new wrinkle!

Hoping my logic wasn't too faulty, I decided to speak up for the group.

"Ok, Lizard Lips, you've gotten our attention. And so far a tiny modicum of trust, just because you haven't already killed Erik there."

I nodded toward the unlikely pair, then went on.

"You don't hurt us, we don't hurt you. I, umm-- we swears.

"Now what's all this brouhaha about, anyway?"

With that I widened my stance and planted my fists on my hips, determined to present a firm and fearless front even though inside I was a hair-line away from melting into a puddle of fear-induced goo.

[ 11-19-2005 04:38 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Galen ]

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