“I do not wish to be Dark Lord of the Warriors, lad,” he said. “ShaRhylla is already in line to take the throne, she needs only patience to achieve that loft. However, she needs much more than that to keep it, for she is not ready for the responsibility and sacrifice that comes with that station. So very few are. Her mother was not, learning only in recent years what it truly means to be a Dark Lady. ShaRhylla is still a child, in more ways than you know. Hormones and selfish rage drive her, but in time she will be worthy of the throne. I can promise you that I will support her fully when the time comes for her rightfully take her place.”

The Master sighed, his breath a low hiss.

I pondered, almost biting my lip with thought. "Could you put me inside the tower? Or is it somehow warded against the all?" I had a sneaking suspicion the later would somehow come to be the right answer to that question.

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

“The Tower is back?” he asked at length. “This does not bode well. The Tower is the heart of the darkness, I could feel it slip away. I did not feel its return, and what this means I do not know.”

He stroked his chin, deep in thought.

“But we can almost be sure that our doppelganger sits within it. I cannot be totally sure of how the Tower has come back, and what secrets it now holds, but when I was there it did not block the All. At least, not b y itself. When I held Graysith there, the darkness allowed me to deflect her All usage. Confuse it.”

The Master shrugged and exhaled deeply.

I considered. Aside from the apparent "doppleganger", I had never worked along powerfull all users, and began to wonder at just how much they could do. I remembered that weakling, Danner, being placed in my mind two years ago, and wondered if a form of that could be done to me as well.

"Is there some way to keep an essance of me, or some part of my soul in a Phylactery of sorts until this is over? So that way if I am to perish or be beyond saving I can still live on?"

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

The Master smiled.

“But if it is death you fear, and condemnation into the very place we invade, then take heart. I can offer you a gift, a guarantee that upon your death your soul shall meld back into the origins. It shall become one with the esoteric pool, safe from the horrors of the world in-between. Only I know how to do this.”

The Master sat back and clasped his hands together. He looked intently at Rykounagin, anticipation showing on his face.

As I inquired, I began to wonder what death truely was like. Painful perhaps? Or would it be a place of suffering that only allowed for silence. And what was the difference in dying in material as opposed to darker realms. Would not dying in the Darker Realms yield to yourself a shade as Roan kept, thus giving you a certain immortality?

Was that truely desirable?

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

“Very well,” he said. “If you seek survival in the material, then we shall find Thoran. There are two ways we may locate him, but I cannot allow you to enter one of the places. Which leaves only one, and I believe you know of this already. It is the Great Library on K’eel Doba, in the city where you would be killed on sight.

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

The Master made a slicing motion across his neck with his hand, then stuck out his tongue in mock death.

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

The Master waved his hand, a small portal opening to the side of him, barely larger than a fist. He looked through, into the room beyond, an eyebrow raising.

“It is... occupied,” he said softly. “Perhaps now would not be the best time to go there.”

He turned back to Rykounagin cheerily.

“But if remain quiet, we can wait, and by leaving this open we can both see when the room is vacant and allow some fresh air in.”

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

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

As the words of Shayla came wafting through the portal, the Master started and reflexively shut it.

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

“Here,” he whispered. “We are higher, and may look down.”

He would use love, just as you have already pointed out to me. Remember?

I watched with interest at what further developments would come.

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

The Master listened to Phalomir’s voice come through the portal. His eyebrow raised. He scowled when ShaRhylla’s words accepted his offer, then paused at Shayla’s words.

I do not trust this offer you give us. And even if I did... I am not so quick as to fall for it just to satisfy my own desire for revenge."

“Very good,” he said.

ShaRhylla’s comments back to Shayla was enough for him.

“Well, that just won’t do, now, will it?” he said to Rykounagin. The Master reached his hand through the small portal and aimed it at Phalomir. A brilliant discharge of dark red flew from his fingertips and struck Phalomir in the chest, sending the Dark Lord flying back into the inner wall of the Library. Phalomir bounced off the wall, an indentation left in the material. He hit the floor with great force and lay still, smoldering.

The Master pulled his hand back through, closing the portal.

“I believe we may need to wait a few moments before going to the Library. Do you know any card games?”

He glanced at Rykounagin, raising an eyebrow.

“Why so silent? Did you like the thought of begin given to her?”

Where is the command? Where is the kill command? My mind screamed, every fibre tensed, until after what seemed an eternity, my grip laxed and the blade vanished.

"Idiot! I snarled, pulling away from him, shaking my head as the magick which had forced me to do as I had done faded. "I am not bound to you! I am bound to the one you just attacked! Why would you do that?!"

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

“So,” he grinned. “It is true, then. The bond does exist.”

The Master began to laugh, building from a chuckle to a hysterical cackle.

“I had to be sure, lad!” he howled. “The fool believes he can simply pass on his bond with you! It was always his problem, and one he shares with you! He – haha! Never thinks things through!”

The Master regained his composure after a while, then wiped a tear away from his face.

"And be careful... I can be passed on... it just takes more than a word to do, but it can, so don't think that my 'co-operation' with you is totally and utterly willing."

I relaxed my arm, even though it hadn't moved even a fraction of an inch. "You're working with a walking avatar of death. If your son even suggests that he wants you dead, that's enough to ward my bonds, and trust me, right now killing you would be most satisfactory. Do not talk down to me, or to her in that manner again."

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

“Oh, lad, I should keep you around just to brighten my beleaguered spirit! But alas, we have work to do.”

The Master waved his hand, tearing a portal open once more. He waited, then widened it.

“It appears we may use the Library now without interruption.”

He stepped through the portal and turned to the Revealer. He paused, noticing the long number cycling in the mist of the Revealer. His eye twinkled, and a grin creased his face. He turned back to the portal where Rykounagin was beginning to enter.

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

The Master reeled, first at the sudden familiar rush of power he felt from a distant source, then again from the physical blast as both the library where he stood and the small ship on the other side of the portal rocked and bounced. When the shaking was over, he glanced about from narrowed eyes to see if the boy had suffered any new wounds.

“Our time draws short, my lad,” he said. “There is no more time for games, I am afraid. We must retrieve the Finger now. I take you to a place of secrecy, of which you must never speak of, even if you are able to discern its location.”

The Master pushed his way back through the portal, into the ship with Rykounagin, and closed the portal behind him. He immediately opened another, and stepped through it, beckoning for Rykounagin to follow.

Within the chamber he opened a small chest sitting on a table, and withdrew a small dark red orb. He then turned and waited.

(((Follow the Master to Middlespace, Thirdspace in this forum, thank you!)))