"The true Mark of Inheritance... of the House of Roan," he said. Then to further cement this knowledge he thrust forward his own wrist, where an identical tattoo glimmered, brazenly gold.

"Even in death does the blood of the Sith yet call out to me, and through me, to you," he intoned as he nodded his head.

"For see the Mark on my wrist has not yet grown dim... and will not until you take up the position for which you are intended."

For which you have always been intended.

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

But why the facade, the masquarade, the lies? Why not take him in as who he was in the first place, instead of hiding as the lord of sorcerers? Why not take his place as lord of warriors?

So many questions, but then. Why him? From every learning since birth, till "aelvedaar" had taken him in, Rykounagin had been taught that he had no place in the sith society- other than too serve their masters and too do no other deed.

So why him? Why not some proud sith warrior, or some strong son of Roans own? Why not merely give all power to his daughter? Why take in a mere servant of the thrones?

But now, all Rykounagin could do was chuckle, then laugh as he fell back upon the dark stone of the floor, his body trembling with the irony of it.

Here he was, Rykounagin, long ago abandonned with no possible future, and no here he lay, being offered the greatest race in the universe on a silver platter. How? Why? He didn't know, but it was too much, absolutely too much.

With perhaps a minute of this, his flesh now to match the color of his eyes as he struggled to fill his heaving lungs with breath, but then, he had to ask the questions.

"Why me? Tell me that "father", why did you select me? A pawn of the thrones after fourthousand years of disappearance? Tell me that."

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

"You did not question such when the offer was first presented, under the cloak of that weakling Aelvedaar!" he spat, refusing to even honor the sorcerer lord with the honorific belonging to him.

"But if it is something you disdain, then speak the words now, boy. What has been given can as easily be rent asunder."

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

"Forgive my curiosity Lord- I am most greatful for the offering. But it is a transition that is even more awkward than at that moment." Rykounagin said quickly, how Roan had acted reminding him of someone.

Reminds me of old dad.... no this makes Roan my father doesn't it?

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

Then he let his demeanor soften.

"As a non-Sith there are certain... immunities to which you are inherent, which in the near future might be of great use to me-- to us" he quickly amended, now coming forward and clapping a clawed hand upon Rykounagin's shoulder.

"For there are those who wish to remain in the ways of The Old, to follow the Old Trails, those weary by-ways down which we Sith travelled for millennia... only to be laid heinously low by the traitorous actions of a group who I have come to know call themselves the Jedi."

His hand tightened involuntarily, his claws sinking into Rykounagin's flesh with the intensity of his thoughts.

"I have come to know there were others, non-Sith, non-human, of this Jedi... but the majority were of your kind. My son--"

He cut himself off, stared down into Rykounagin's face as if suddenly seeing him there for the first time.

"With your blood, and what I teach you, and joined in union with my daughter, there will be non strong enough to stand against us. You will rule the Sith, my lad; and then through them and their strengths and your magicks and my cunning...

"The very universe cannot but fall before us as well."

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

The death that this could involve, the pain, the destruction. Would it all be worth it too acquire what he wanted? Would the innocents lain to rest, the cries of mothers over their fallen children, the families mortefied?

Definately.

CHOSEN

"Then what is it that we shall do father?" He asked, opening his eyes to look up to him, something... feral behind them.

"Do we take vengeance upon those who destroyed us so long ago? A crusade to purge the stars of their kind? Or is it that we shall upsurp the fools upon their thrones? If it be the former, the time comes soon, for the month of harvest is soon upon us..." He smiled faintly, and yet again, something... different was there, a difference not quite definable.

But anyone who truely knew him (and there were few amongst their number), would tell this was not the same red eyed assassin that a choice few had known before.

[ 12-29-2005 11:35 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Rykounagin ]

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

Indeed, one after his own heart, this one. For if his weakling brother Aelvedaar could choose a human to be the tool toward whatever end he had thought he would achieve...

...then he, too, could also choose one of his own. Only one stronger, a male, a son any father would be proud of, one destined to destroy that other idiot who plagued him so, the one so full of himself to go by the pompous appellation of Master.

He squeezed Rykounagin's shoulder one more time.

"Ah, a fine warhorse you are indeed, my lad," he crooned as he deftly turned Rykounagin away from him. With his free hand he made a motion, and by that motion tore asunder the very fabric of spacetime which separated the dimensions from one another. The rift he created roiled and bubbled, writhing and churning, while dark Sith flames lapped about the edges as they sought eager entrance into the realms of reality.

Somewhere deep within that Rift, an angry young halfling's voice could be heard hissing...

"First you go and take that which is yours, that which will unite the Sith into a strong whole: the Bride through whom you shall become Dark Lord of the Warriors, and from which stance shall beckon our brother Sith to come back into what they had agreed with me, lo months ago, when my dearest Kreesha was yet alive."

As was I, the dark thought thundered in his brain.

And the one who machined that fateful event will indeed rue the day he had killed me; with what loving touch shall I return the favor, only holding him lingering on the threshold, begging release...

He jerked himself back from the luscious thought of what he planned for the bastard Lord, and gave Rykounagin a little push toward the Portal he had opened into the Temple of the Warriors of the Sith.

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

Then with utter confidence, unlike any he had ever shown -with his near phobia of the portals- he strode through the portal to face what would come....
(((OOC: Rykounagin strides daringly into "Chasing the Shadows" in this forum. Thankyou.)))

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

CHOSEN

He smiled as he saw he had been delivered to the same point that he had left from. Perhaps she had found the location from his arrival? It mattered not.

He looked about. "Father... I have returned begging your forgiveness..." He knealt slowly in respect for his fathers domain, and awaited a response (if it should come).

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

"My son!" his rich baritoned voice boomed as he strode out from the shadows.

"Have you brought that with you which shall cleave you even more tightly unto me? She who is my daughter, she whose union will strengthen you as my son through both blood and bond."

He paused in his speech, coming up to the young man, who remained kneeling respectfully. There he stopped, his eyes darkening from turquoise to deep teal.

"Where is she?" he questioned as he looked down on Rykounagin, waiting.

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

He looked up into the teals with his blood red's, and scowled slightly. "She refuses too believe a word. Not a thing I say she will believe. That I am too be her husband, that you arranged it, not a word."

He stood, his face now scorning the wall to his left.

"She now even dares too send me too take the Finger of R'lous from you too prove that I am "trustworthy". She says that if it is all true, you shall not hesitate." he held his hand out- palm open.

"Dare you prove her wrong?" He asked- not in arrogance- but in a strange way of "asking for it".

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

"Neither of you have the blood to so much as look upon the Finger of R'lous, let alone touch it!"

His eyes unseeing for the red now blurring afront him, he reached out with one hand to the side, and snapped his clawed fingers. Immediately there materialized the Finger, the Axis, that magickal device by which powers might be strengthened, taken from those who have such, given to he or she who wields it. It lay in his hand, shining a sultry silver, a reddening glow beginning to build around it; a quick twist of that great hand and the Finger of R'lous diesppeared back into the shadows where Roan had secreted it.

He blinked, gradually bringing his raging senses back under control. A smile curled across his face, exposing his fangs.

"Tell her I deny her this request, but by this she shall know it to be true."

The hand once clutching the Finger of R'lous now reached up to his chest, upon which lay a strangely designed amulet. It bore a striking stone of blood and ichor, bound by ivory fangs of some slain warrior, topped by a single shining droplet of crystallized blood.

His fist closed round it, he yanked it from about his neck. The silver chain which held it sliced into his flesh before parting, leaving deep but bloodless cuts upon his neck and shoulders.

"Give this to her, she shall recognize it."

He thrust it out toward Rykounagin, but held on to it for a moment as his chosen son reached for it. Their eyes met over shining silver and cold stone.

"You do wish to rule the Sith, do you not?" he questioned, the words heavy with implied meaning.

Then he let go of the amulet and turned away, to once more disappear into the Sith flames which had heralded his approach. He left nothing in his wake but a temporary portal, quickly established, through which Rykounagin might slip back into the realm of reality once again.

[ 01-09-2006 12:28 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Dark Lord Roan ]

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

"But it was my hand by which the thing graced yours..." He muttured quietly before slipping through the portal- feeling it close behind him.

(((OOC: Rykounagin slips from this thread back into "Of Saints and their Slayers" in this forum, thankyou.)))

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

I was not particularly afraid, but nor was I the most of amused beings as I found myself not in her warm embrace in an equally warm room, but in the chill space of the darker realms, though entwined we still were.

I looked down to her eyes, and with the humor that I could muster, spoke: "What is it that I shall learn of you here?"

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

The words, not entirely of ShaRhylla's own devising, slid with deceptive softness from ShaRhylla's mouth. That mouth remained open then, fangs fully exposed, which before Rykounagin had scarce the time to realize had sunk themselves fully into his wrist.

The-Thing-Not-Quite-ShaRhylla, its fetters loosened even more, slobbered to itself as she devoted her full attention to her task, while the remaining portion of her own consciousness stood in something approaching appalled shock, wondering why she was doing this, why she had brought them here...

And why she was finding it so suddenly, exquisitely delightful.

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

Though there was a slight pain, and a slow weakening, something else within reacted. Something dark and ancient, that was not a part of normal humanity, not a normal or natural thing at all.

A quiet hiss escaped my lips at this, somehow gaining command of my arm to flex it slightly and offer it more profoundly to her. "Drink... my dark lady..." came my voice, though I did not command it so.

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

The victor raised dark eyes and darker mouth to Rykounagin.

"Are you shocked?" it whispered, blood glinting redly upon its fangs.

[ 04-18-2006 11:55 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by ShaRhylla ]

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"Once a demon, always." I did not care for any pain I felt as I looked to her, a deeper darkness seeping through me as I continued to speak. "My blood is yours as yours is mine. If you would want it, then take it!"

With my free hand and sharp nails alongside, I cut across my exposed torso for her to continue her feast as further dark liquid beaded there.

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

“Freely offered blood is of no use. Only the blood of pain and suffering brings the joy of the Dark.”

The Master kicked the boy in the back.

“Here you shall learn the true meaning of pain, whelp. Here you shall learn respect of those greater than you, and the harsh beauty of pain. Here you shall understand that what the Realm claims, none may take away.”

The Master flashed his black clawed hand through the air, ripping shreds into Rykounagin’s neck. Streams of dark blood immediately flowed from the wounds, running down his neck and chest.

“Welcome home, Dark Rose. Your ‘husband’ awaits his lessons.”

The Master’s eyes flashed red, his breath short as he growled with each inhalation.

“And when you wish to learn your next lesson, I shall be waiting.”

A face not that of the Master’s stared from behind the dark eyes. The black skin around his body boiled and rolled, and the pupils burned hot from the sockets. Long white fangs shone from the darkness of his face, and the Master’s boot kicked out again and connected with Rykounagin’s side with a loud crack. As the Master drew in a long, hissing breath, he whiled on his heel and strode off the far wall of the room the three occupied.

“Pain is fleeting, whelp,” he said without turning. “Relish it.”

The Master stopped before the wall, facing it, as if waiting. A broad smile accompanied the burning eyes.

"Welcome to my reality, Father!" it yowled before losing itself in a second bout of bestiality.

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

Much more than I would like.

I growled and before she could find me, reached out with a hand and grasped her by the appoaching shoulder, rolling her from me and using her own momentum to pull me into a rising crouch.

"There is no master for a dark lord!" I spat, realizing suddenly that all former form had been lost, that horn had faded and false flesh had been rent away to reveal my true and human body within, leaving me matted in my own blood, pale hair flecked across my face by the precious red liquid.

"I am not bent by any beast save my own will!"

Even as I spoke, I knew there were two risks. Rhylla would not be pleased by my reaction, as she was already bent upon taking my blood. But the master himself was a challenge, for I did recognize him as he was, and I for one, did not intend to let him toy with me.

No one toyed with me anymore.

"Blood is never freely given, there is always a sacrifice made, and a benefit recieved." I said, quoting from some pool of thought in my mind Evictus as the very same curved sword came to my hand.

"To whom and why I give it is none of your concern!"

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

The Thing within snapped and retreated.

An inner door slammed shut.

"R-Rykounagin?" she stammered, the hand at her temple now drifting down to wipe blood from her lips, altogether too much of it for her liking. She pulled it away, stared at the fingers as if she had never seen them before.

Turned violet-rimmed turquoise eyes up against the dark.

"Rykounagin?" she repeated in a small and somehow frightened whisper. Then--

"No.. not again."

The blood-besmeared hand now went to her eyes, covered them, held them closed before finally giving way to the wave of insanity which descended upon her, tsunami strong. That hand curled into talons as it moved down from her face then, leaving raking gashes across her fair features before turning upon the flesh of her own arm and digging furiously into it.

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

"Stop it!" I hissed, pinning her for a moment. "Take us back. Take us back!" I then yelled, glancing over my shoulder towards the master, looking down at her. "This is not a place you need to be!"

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

Which was, as a matter of fact, the case.

Bug-eyed entities held out elongated, scrawny arms, reaching out with fingers ghostly pale to touch her, caress her. Their slobbering and fleshy lips hung ponderously upon faces the purple-black of night, shining with drool and mucus, eager to fasten upon her skin. From roiling clouds of oiled smoke there came a blacker image, one with eyes shining deathly red, one whose own sensual lips now smiled and beckoned to her.

"My own Dark Rose," it hissed, the whisper sibilant against the horrific slurps and thickly moist sounds surrounding her, eating at her, seeking entrance once more into her very soul. That soul had once been ripe for it, had indeed welcomed such...

...but had since been altered, bent along a different path, a path which carried it yet farther from such things by the entry of Rykounagin and something akin to love into her life.

She struggled harder... then suddenly fell limp. Her head hung loosely, her hair trailing down in a flaming waterfall to the ground, her arms dangling limply at her side, her eyes seeing only madness through her tears.

[ 04-19-2006 01:00 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by ShaRhylla ]

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

The Master’s hand flashed outward, sending a shock wave of great power through the dark air. It slammed into Rykounigan’s body, sending him flying through the air towards the far wall. The wall opened immediately, allowing him unimpeded passage through it. Wall after wall opened, until suddenly Rykounigan was flying into the darkness outside of the Dark Hall. Here and there demons stopped their jabbering and squabbling to watch the stranger flying above them, eager to see where he would land.

“And now,” said the Master to himself, walking to the limp ShaRhylla. “Roan’s failure is complete.”

He reached her, and knelt. He placed a dark hand upon her forehead and searched within her.

“What life have you known?” he asked, reaching into her mind with his thoughts. “To be denied the simple life of a child, and to be thrust into adulthood. That is a crime against you, my dear, and one not easily rectified. Yet there are many trials ahead, and you mustn’t be distracted.”

The Master found the defenses set in place by Garysith, meant to both hold back the memories of her time with Entaris and to protect her from her own internal savagery. He wrapped his powers around them, and fed the power of the Dark Hall into those defenses, strengthening them, and also bending them slightly to suit his own wishes. He could not control her emotions, but he could block the madness of her conflicts and savagery, and bring peace to her thoughts.

“What is once claimed by the Darker Realms is always claimed by the Darker Realms, my child. You belong to us, and no other shall have you. Your soul, your dark heart, your love, they all belong to the Realms. You shall love none other.”

The Master reached further into her mind. The pull of Entaris was strong, and the powers of the darkness within the Master relished in this memory. Since his disappearance, Entaris left a large hole in the order of the Realm, one the Master was all too willing to fill pro temp, but even he yearned for the return of the Darkest Lord.

But that was not the purpose of this. He slipped further, finding the conflict within her, the seed of the madness he felt coursing through her.