...thank you." Then, taking his hand, she wasted not another moment, but stepped through the portal, her husband at her side, ready to face whatever may lay ahead.

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

...but even so, he quickly realized that his comrade in arms had strayed to the lounge area. And he knew damn well what for. Shaking his head with a sigh, Matt turned to head after him and direct him back, fully prepared for the image of Jasyn with a brandy bottle.

And he found his expectations totally correct.

"Allright, Jas, lay off the brandy. We've got a big day ahead of us...

...and you'd do well not to get drunk before it starts."

Jasyn took a swig from the brandy bottle, rolling his eyes.

"Awww, what does it matter? We'll have at least two Sith Sorcerors with us. At least one of them should be able to help my hangover."

Matt snorted. "Doubtful. They ought to let you be reminded of what happens when you drink too much."

Jasyn shrugged, and took another drink.

"Come on, will you? I don't know how long that portal stays open, but we better get going."

Jasyn's brow shot up. "Why?" he queried, suddenly leaning forward, his voice growing soft. "Terrin and Galen aren't in any hurry...we can just head in with them."

Matt frowned, but then shrugged conceding...

...and finding himself not all that surprised. He was no fool, he could easily read Terrin's hesitations regarding some of their new allies. So he decided to hang back, just to see what was going on...

...and to make sure they either made it through all together or not at all.

[ 08-15-2005 08:03 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Matt Stanza ]

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A smile came to her lips as Oni stuttered through, followed by Shayla and Erik, and then the hulking Panthar. That smile remained a moment or too longer as she waited for the others, then stretched into a grimace of concern.

Time ticked on. No one else came through.

"Wait for me," she said to the others, then after placing the sword in the belt of her thrimm she stepped back through the rift into the Dining Hall. There she found Terrin and Galen back by the eerily restored buffet, whispering to each other, with Matt towing a brandy-swigging Jasyn from the direction of the lounge.

The last remnants of her smile evaporated.

"We are waiting for you," she finally said, keeping her voice soft and low. She could not, however, keep back the note of consternation which filled it, nor could she keep away the shadows which flickered in the depths of her eyes.

[ 08-15-2005 08:22 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Graysith ]

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...but he did not let it go. "We're right behind you," he said, his blue eyes looking directly at Jharmeen even as he squeezed Galen's hand just a little bit more.

Now would be a good time for you to be able to read my mind, Galen. Turn that blasted invisibility thing back on...

[ 08-15-2005 08:43 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Terrin Danner ]

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"Ahh--" I stammered, my free hand straying toward the controls to the invisibility device...

...when I stopped.

Now it was my turn to squeeze Terrin's hand meaningfully. Though she had thrown in her life with the Sith, adopted them as her own people, married into them and become their Dark Lady; though we'd had our ups and downs--

OK, So she's tried to kill me on more than one occasion!

--she was my sister, after all. And as thus, deserved honesty, not another betrayal.

""Ahh--" I garbled, looking up to Terrin and trying to figure out how to say it. Then I sighed; no way but to just blurt it out, I suppose.

"We're not going with you, sorry sis," I finally said, looking her straight in the eye although for some odd reason I wanted to drop my face down to my toes.

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

"Look," Terrin said, sighing, "Sorry about the bluffing...old habits die hard," he admitted. "You know without my saying that I have some serious qualms about the possible risk this mission may pose to Galen. And there are some things we'd like to do," he continued. "Still, should you truly need us..."

He paused, once more glancing to Galen before returning his gaze to Jharmeen, "...don't hesitate to look for us and find us."

Falling silent then, Terrin said no more...

...and all the while sincerely hoped Jharmeen would understand.

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

Not as if we could help it. We called back through the portal: "Are you comming?"

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

A pregnant moment stretched between them, marred only by a distant inquiry as to whether or not she was coming...

"I shall soon be there," she called back through the Portal, then turned back to the others.

Another pause stretched to the borders of discomfort.

"You mean to seek out your daughter, do you not?"

The words sliced through the air as unexpected as a lightning bolt, bringing twin looks of surprise to the faces of Galen and Terrin. The Dark Lady of the Warriors allowed them another moment to collect themselves, one in which she too utilized to examine the facts--

Far, far too many and disparate facts. The game of galactic pinball played by too many evil entities, with the tiny JhinDarra as the key element. Her, seeking to destroy Galen, then her child; Darra being taken by Roan, taken to Kamino -- ahh yes, she knew what his plans had been for her there -- the rescue of the child, her final and apparent safety in the arms of her biological father even as the beginnings of Hell were starting to break loose among the Sith...

...her own swift removal of Darra from Tarnus, her own actions which followed, her thoughts, her beliefs, her admittance of who and what she was and what indeed she wanted.

A vision of white gnarl-trees in the mist floated in front of her eyes....

She blinked, her eyes suddenly bright.

"I wish you well, sister, but warn you to take a care. For in remaining behind you are placing yourself in danger; recall if you will that there are others here who would destroy you as quickly as they would destroy me--"

Now she raised a hand against the up-coming protest she read on her sister's face.

"Yes you have the invisibility device, but please remember:

"It was created by the Sith to use against non-Sith. Most certainly there would be someone who could penetrate it's protection; one with the All would be a certainty."

Now her eyes filled with a flash of pain, quickly followed by a flash of darkness. A deeper look read something similar in Galen's mink-brown pair.

She took a breath, steadying herself against that sudden, shared pain.

"Your daughter is here, in the Temple," she said suddenly.

"She has been--" She hung her head. "I took her to Kamino, had her artificially aged to approximately her early twenties. She--

"She believes I am her mother, and that ShaRhylla is her sister."

Now fury flooded the room; Graysith closed her eyes against so as to better concentrate on keeping her abilities from instinctively flaring out against it.

"I give you free leave to search this temple and find her, although what you will say to her when you do, and more importantly what you will say to the others here, I cannot imagine at this time. But I do know that if my daughter finds you, she will not be forgiving; she has much of her father in her."

Another pause. Another link into eternity.

"Once I have departed on my quest to save my beloved Phalomir, I cannot keep coming back to make certain you are safe. If you remain here, you are on your own devices. Remember there is only one of the servants who knows I live; all else feel I have been heinously slain.

"I do not have the time now to play politics and reveal myself; trust me though, I most certainly plan on doing so when the time is right for it. I-- I can only hope you will still be alive to join me in that celebration."

With that she nodded, turned on her heel, and disappeared into the Portal--

--which did not disappear, but remained open in her wake.

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

"Galen, I would die a thousand deaths if it would bring you and Darra safely together again," he started, "But this chance...

...do you still want to take it? Roan is out there, though in the Darker Realms, and the Master is out there...

...and for that matter both Aeylmaar and Aelvedaar are out there, let alone ShaRhylla. Every dark entity and their brother have been after you both, and I want you safely reunited...and damn it all, one way or another the two of you will be, I promise you that. But we may need help to keep the both of you safe and secure...

...and right now the only person I trust in the slightest with that is your sister..."

He paused at that, frowning, clearly not liking the things Jharmeen had admitted to doing to JhinDarra. "I hate the things that your sister has done to Darra...

but I also want what is best for you and Darra, and as it stands both of you are, at the moment, safely out of the hands of all those dark entities who have been out to get you both for far too long. Still, if you want to go and find Darra now, I'm with you...

...but by the same token, I believe waiting on this and going with the others may allow us time to figure out how to reunite you both, safely, later on."

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

Too much was focused on those unexpected words blurted out by Jharmeen.

"Your daughter is here...."

Little JhinDarra was here... no. Not "little" by any reach of the word; dear Khaandon but my daughter...

Our daughter!

...was nearly as old as I was.

My mouth dropped open, worked like an opee out of water. Nothing came out, no words could possibly squeeze past the growing lump in my throat, past the swelling heaviness in my heart, past the growing, smoldering fury, past the slowly cementing avowal that she would pay for this, oh yes she would pay for this....

I jerked, then with a toss of my head that sent my tear-wetted hair flinging about my face, I looked up to Terrin.

"I agree," I managed in a ratchetty whisper, then with before I could change my mind let gof of his hand and stomped toward and then through the Portal, following my sister like a Noghri on the hunt.

Cold fires burning in my breast.

[ 08-15-2005 10:43 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Galen ]

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...cause underneath the slick ability to reason his way through this situation he was honestly furious. Furious that Darra's age had been changed against her mother's desire, furious that every Tom, Dick, and Harry couldn't wouldn't just leave them alone for once...

...and mostly, furious that Galen was so hurt and upset.

Kriffing hell, but he needed something to throw...

Even as the thought occurred to him, Matt walked by, still dragging a drinking Jasyn along.

A thunderbolt exploded over Terrin's head, and before he could conciously think about what he was doing he jerked the brandy bottle out of Jasyn's hand and threw it. The glass smashed against the wall, the remainder of the bottle's contents splattering everywhere.

"Heee..." Jasyn started, but thought better of it after seeing the look in Terrin's eye.

"Get moving," he growled, then without another word entered the portal right behind Galen, his two employees following closely behind him.

[ 08-15-2005 10:51 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Terrin Danner ]

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"May we ask why we have come to such a place? It seems as though there is little of value, though over the years perhaps we are merely ignorant."

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

“I hope they hurry,” he said. “There is definitely something not right here, and it kind of sucks to be without anyone with the All or Sith magick.”

He turned back to the portal in time to see Jharmeen step through, followed in time by Galen and Terrin, both looking hot under the collar, followed then by Jasyn and Matt.

The strange pod creature said something which Panthar tuned out, then fell silent. Panthar stepped next to the weird thing and looked past it to Jharmeen.

“All right,” he said. “Family’s all together… well, almost. Which way do we go?”

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

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

But he remained silent until the last of the party had appeared in the dismal place he had sequestered himself in, and the Portal had disappeared into the non-ness from which it was drawn.

He stepped forward.

"At last, you have come," he said simply, then fell silent, his clawed hands hidden within the full sleeves of the richly ornate robes he wore.

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

“Aeylmaar, I presume. Listen, good to see you, but what is going on? Are you in trouble or what? Phal is, though, for sure, so let’s cut to the chase, all right?”

A strange feeling began to creep its way over Panthar, the electrical buzzing on his arms now feeling more like something trying to press its way into his skin. He rubbed his arms more and tried to shake it off. And why did he feel so jumpy all of a sudden?

“What were you needing to tell Phal and Gray?”

[ 08-15-2005 11:33 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Panthar Dantares ]

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Aeylmaar frowned in momentary puzzlement, then his eyes widened.

"Of course, you mean the Chosen Daughter; yes, I bring warning that there is to be an attempt on her life, one of the assassin's cult has been set out to dog her trail..."

He paused while the others came up to him, led by a slender female human with eyes the color of a stormy cloudbank beneath a red sunset, and hair the color of a red star's heart.

"It is good to see you unharmed, as am I. For the moment, at any rate."

He smiled, spreading his hands to either side of him.

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

"Aeylmaar, it is indeed good to see you well; I feared for your well-being, judging by the shortness of the message you sent to use when telling us where you were. We have been through much to come to you; tell me.

"Who is it that has put this assassin upon me?"

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

"It-- it was my Sire, the great Dark Lord Aelvedaar," he said to the floor, now unable to keep back the tears which suddenly welled up, blurring his vision. Silence crackled for long minutes through the dank miasma of the Temple before he raised his face to her again.

"But, it isn't him!" he said fiercely, jerking air into his lungs with an almost defiant sniff.

"Something is wrong, something has happened; he has changed, he is different, I don't know what, I cannot define precisely, there is no logic, no sense of it at all...

"But Lord Aelvedaar, my dear adoptive father..."

He trailed, his voice catching. Swallowing hard, he rushed on, stammering repeatedly in his urgency.

"I am at a loss to explain what has happened or how, but this I do know to my very heart and soul:

"It isn't him!"

[ 08-16-2005 12:00 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Aeylmaar ]

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We queried, now examining this "Aeyelmaar", who seemed to have been waiting for time for some time now.

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

...to mere human woman. Like funerary doves her hands raised to her face, covered it, pressed against flesh warmed by tears and pain and grief, rubbed it; then drew up, over the Glyph and finishd by entangling within her tendrils a moment, drawing through the length of her hair until free air was met and they fell limply against her skirts.

She swayed a moment, the oppressive sensations around her beating into her, against her, entering into her every pore, meeting the Beast within, which rose to its feet with a roar of recognition.

She sank to her knees.

"Wh- what are we to do, then?" she whispered to no one in particular, looking lost and alone on the cold stones beneath her.

"We need the strength of a Dark Sorcerer Lord; I do not have enough strength in the All to release my dear, dear Phalomir from his grasp..."

Her form seemed to grow smaller yet as she sank to one side on her hip, one hand supporting her awkward position, the other rising once more to cover her face.

What had she been thinking? Whatever possessed her to believe she could ever carry this off? That she had the wisdom, the strength, the ability, the raw power? How could she have been so arrogant as to believe she could defeat the Master; oh that she had remained in the Darker Realms, leaving her love at least safe with those others she had come to care so much for...

On and on the hideous emotions churned, roiling and bubbling within her, spurred by the inimical powers of the Temple of S'slan into a truly wretched despair close to being suicidal....

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

We continued watching her with caution, paying great detail to the readouts of the Onidorei in relation to her, before speaking a few last words. "We have faith in you, as you should in yourself."

[ 08-16-2005 12:37 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Onidorei ]

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Now, as Graysith sank to the ground in seeming despair, and the Onidorei spoke, Ragorian too felt a desire to speak.

"Indeed, milady, do not despair. All is not lost. I am sure there is another way."

"You had been hoping, I gather, to convince lord Aelvedaar to join our cause in defeating this "Master," I believe? While that may no longer be an option, perhaps a substitute may be found for his power."

"You say you need the strength of a Dark Sorcerer Lord? While I am no Dark Lord, my powers, having been honed for thousands of years, are something to consider, at least. And this Aeylmaar, is he not a Sorcerer as well? With the two of us working together, could we perhaps reach your requirement for magickal energy?"

"And as for strength in the All, I am at more of a loss. Is there anyone in your group who can use that All as well and could aid you? Do your sisters, Chosen or blood, possess any of that ability?"

"And if nothing else, we could attempt to somehow reclaim the Finger of R'lous. That object would give you enough power to combat the Master, would it not?"

Pausing and recalling an earlier conversation with ShaRhylla, Ragorian continued.

"I believe I know who took the Finger of R'lous, milady, though not how to find him. And if I am correct, the Finger may still be within our grasp."

"Please, my Lady Graysith, despair not. Your friends and loyal companions are around you. They...we...shall help you find a way through this problem."

[ 08-16-2005 12:52 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Blade of Chaos ]

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What in Hell's Seven Circles was this all about???

I blinked, then let Oni's words slide into my ears. There they began to niggle a warmth into my heart, a tiny one albeit, but one nevertheless, which began to flare and grow and melt away the icicles that had formed there.

Family... a loving bond...

Oh yeah. Like between mates, spouses, brother and sister, but the strongest of all being between mother and child.

Child.

Darra....

The warmth snuffed out, bowled into nonexistence by a glacial avalanche.

She had taken her, she had dared to play with her life as if it were nothing but a deck of sabaac cards....

The hatred grew. My vision dimmed, grew red, heated, hateful

I will kill her, so help me Khaandon; I've had enough of her, she killed Daddy, she interfered with me and my first love, she is threatening everything and everyone else I love, and now she has taken Darra....

The remainder of that unspoken inner avowal disappeared, the words and letters which formed it vanishing beneath a fresh onslaught of pure fury and rage and hate. It was as if I was caught up in the middle of a volcanic tsunami.

And I loved every minute of it.

But now was neither the time nor place to do anything about it, unfortunately. There were too many prying eyes, too many listening ears.

All I could do was stand there, rigid and cold, my hands fisted at my sides, all the furies of Hell screaming out from the gaze I was giving her.

And as for all those around me... well. Damn them all to Hell's Seventh Circle as well.

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[ 08-16-2005 01:03 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Graysith ]

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