Disclaimer - People and places discovered by George Lucas and Lucasfilm belong to them.  The story and concept belongs to the author - Dark Lady.

~~  The Game - Episode 5  ~~

The story of the enduring love between the Sith warrior, Khameir Sarin, and the Jedi Knight, Hanshara Sinn-Tau continues.  This love transcends all boundaries, the rivers of time and space, even the abyss of death.

Love Beckons

Time passed, and as Darth Maul became more powerful, his master found him ever more desirable in the way that age desires youth and beauty, and one power calls to another. Sidious closed his eyes to the extent of Maul's power, refusing to see him as the threat he had so quickly become in the short time since becoming his Apprentice. But his pupil has failed to challenge, thus refusing to undergo the trial necessary to take his title from him.

There was an evening when the two Sith dined together, after Darth Maul had knelt to his Master and kissed his ring, when Sidious had placed his hand in blessing on Maul's head and let his hand linger a little longer than usual. He caressed the Zabrak's cheek, drawing his hand gently down to the chin, tilting his pupil's head upward to look at him, and looking into the fiery golden eyes, respectful and submissive.

Maul looked at his master with a composed expression, knowing what was wanted but loving him as a father, not in the manner that his Master was proposing.

Sidious released him and carefully poured the fine wine opened an hour before. He handed Maul his crystal glass and asked for a report on the status of the cloning on Nurius III, looking through the window as he listened, sipping his own wine.

After dinner, the two men sat together, discussing matters of mutual interest, the abandoned temples of Korriban with their undeciphered script, Raith Sienar's latest proposal for a massive star destroyer and the price thereof, and Maul's interest in a new form of combat.

There was suddenly a lull in the animated and easy flowing conversation. Sidious leaned towards his pupil and took his hand. Earlier, Sidious had considered using a little of the golden liquid purchased from the perfumier on Iridonia. Wisely, he had desisted, and now felt irritated at the thought that he had so considered in a moment of weakness. Maul would either be seduced or not, take him as he was, or not. To pretend to be something else was unwise. He was glad he had not done so, perhaps leaving himself open to ridicule and derision in this delicate matter, although he was sure enough of Maul to know that this would not happen.

"You are a good Apprentice…." said Sidious, "loyal, faithful, resourceful, growing in power daily. The best of the Apprentices I have had. There is no doubt in my mind that you will take my place in due time." Sidious studied Maul's hand. He stroked the fingers, touched the claws and tested the sharpened edges against the ball of his thumb, turned the hand over. Maul looked on with interest and no little apprehension.

Still caressing, "your hands take life, dispense death in many forms, deliver pain and suffering. Have you considered that these hands might also dispense pleasure?" Maul had indeed so considered and pleasured Hanshara frequently with those same hands, but his Master knew nothing of Hanshara, and he remained silent.

Still holding Maul's hand, Sidious leaned closer and put his other hand on his thigh, touching him gently. "And could you use these hands on me Apprentice? To dispense much pleasure to one who loves you dearly?" He released the hand, and leaned back in his chair, taking another sip of wine, looking at Maul questioningly over the glass.

Maul waited thoughtfully for a while, needing time to find a soft reply for this man he so loved and revered. With head bowed, he knelt at the side of his Master, took his hand and kissed the palm of it, placing it against his heart. "Such is not in my nature Master. I am sorry to disappoint you in this, but I cannot."

Maul stood, leaning over him with his hand placed warmly on his arm.

"You have directed me to Malastare and there I shall be in three days. I look forward to my return when the work is completed." He left, quietly closing the door behind him.

Sidious banged the table with his clenched fist, swept the priceless crystal glass off the table, angrily watched it shatter into a thousand pieces against the hearth. Such a gentle and courteous rejection, but a rejection nonetheless.

He suddenly needed solace, company, and distraction. He summoned his concubines dressed in the manner that he liked, and fetched the whips and chains and strange devices he liked to use on them, but he was not satisfied.

Rejection was not something that Lord Sidious was accustomed to. It was not something he would allow himself to become accustomed to. 'Somehow', he vowed silently, 'Maul would pay, and suffer for this'.

Hair

She stands by the transparisteel window, looking at the planet Malastare, below the ship. It has been many months since she saw him last, she has longed to be here, to see his face, to feel his hand upon her cheek the Zabrak way. She has remembered the priestess, and she has her own female ways. Her hands are pressed to the window, her nose almost touching the glass, totally absorbed in watching the continents and seas turning under her gaze - she does not hear him enter the cabin…

~~~~~~~~~

Wonder of wonders, her hair is long….

and black….

like a river….

of dark heavy silk…..

His breathing quickens, his heart beats fast, and faster yet…

He does not say 'welcome', for he cannot speak. He stares at her hair, strides quickly to her and holds her still in front of him while he feasts his eyes on the flowing tresses. He buries his head in them as he holds her, then his hands, and pulls the silky hair around his face, sifts it through his clawed fingers, spreading it about her shoulders, then closes his eyes and lets the silkiness of it slowly fall and flow through his hands. He feels every strand as it brushes over his skin, slides away, feeling each tiny caress as it falls. He blows on it, watches it float as the strands part for his warm sweet breath.

He turns her round and pushes his fingers up the back of her neck, up through the hair, clutching it, winding it around his hand, pulling her head back with it. He is aroused as never before. He hisses in her ear, kisses her, bites her, growls softly.

With the back of his hand, he lifts the hair and lets it fall again, watching the glossy fullness of it flow like thick syrup, feeling a few tough strands catch against his claws, the strong fibres pulling and stretching.

Putting his hands around her back, he kisses her, pulling her tight against him to show her how much he wants her. Feeling such a strong response in him, she moulds her body to his, wanting, urging, pressing onto him, rubbing her face against his. She makes a little mewing sound in the back of her throat.

Again he slides his hands up the back of her neck, to the back of her head, pushing his fingers through the hair, clutching it, wrapping it tightly round his hands, then pulling her head back with it, kissing her frenziedly. The hair is driving him mad with desire. Now he is breathing hard, holding her head and her hair with both hands and mouthing her neck, her shoulders, her breasts, growling urgently in the back of his throat.

Pushing her roughly back against the bulkhead he tears at her garments with his left hand, holding her tightly by the hair with his right, urgently kissing whatever flesh he reveals.

She encourages him, returns the kisses with equal passion, tearing with equal force at his tunic and breeches, dropping the belt and sabre unheeding onto the floor. And when he can, he pushes himself into her, pulling her up round his hips as he does so, taking her weight with one arm and holding her to him with the other, but still holding her hair.

His face is buried in her hair, feeling it against his eyes, mouth, and cheeks. The scent of it is fresh with a hint of her own lovely musk, which itself has a hint of some flower. He is murmuring in his own tongue, the smell of her hair reminds him of his homeworld, he calls her 'rana-na-gaya' and he is barely coherent.

He pushes her hard against the bulkhead as he climaxes with her, then pauses while their breathing slows.

Hanshara looks sideways at Khameir from beneath hooded eyelids, smiling lasciviously. He returns the look with glittering eyes and an arrogant smile of his own, then holds her by her hair again and rams himself back into her, making her grunt with the impact. His movements are more vigorous this time as he holds her against the bulkhead. She returns every thrust he makes, biting his shoulder through his disarranged and open tunic, arms round his neck.

This time when he comes, he does not withdraw, he stays within her. They are both breathing hard from their exertions now, him still covering her against the wall like a Krayt dragon with its mate.

He looks down at her. "Are you finished yet woman?"

Another lascivious look. "Only if you are!" she purrs.

"Ha!" and he starts again, sliding himself in as deep as he can.

She tightens herself around him, and he gives a quick cry as he comes again in response to it, unbelieving at the sensation it gives him.

From somewhere beneath him, Hanshara gives a low soft-voiced laugh.

"So, games then!" he murmurs, still impaling her against the bulkhead.

Pressing her back he rests his forehead on the wall and slides one hand down her flank, to her hip, then forces his hand between them both, searching for the hair below her belly, searching for her intimate places. Finding the centre of her pleasure, he caresses and touches, strokes and teases, while she moans and writhes beneath him.

Feeling her (and him) start to quiver on the brink of release, he stops, waits, kisses her more, then he starts again, and stops again. She writhes, trying to evade his touch, his caresses, but he will have none of it, and holds her still in his powerful arms, enforcing her enjoyment.

He does this until she bites his shoulder, moaning deliciously, begging him to finish it, to put an end to this torture.

So he touches once again, so delicately, and thrusts once again, so hard, and she cries as she tenses, arcing her back against the wall, touching it only with her head and her heels, her body pulsing with her pleasure and his.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Stroking the back of her neck, holding her head in both hands, kissing her tenderly, brushing her lips with his, whispering…

"Are you finished now, woman?"

"Just for now Beloved."

"That gladdens my heart Tai Shan, because so am I."

He holds her close to his heart and touches her hair in wonder.

"For now."

~~~

He does not question why she grows it, this is an unexpected gift he accepts with delight. He does not and will not ask anything of her, or express to her a desire or whim, for his stern soul forbids such vanity. Moreover, he is Sith. Do Sith not take as they want, as they find?

Dreams of Iridonia

"Beloved, tell me about Iridonia" she said sleepily, nestling in the crook of his arm.

"To what purpose? It is many years since I was on my homeworld." He stretched lazily against her, touching her skin wherever he could, making little agreeable growls.

He slid his hand slowly to her breast and fondled her, then moved over her belly to the junction of her thighs. She caught his hand before its actions distracted her totally.

"Tell me about Iridonia."

"After."

"No. Before."

"I will tell you a story of Iridonia," began Khameir, "but while…" and he put his arms around her and pulled her closer.

"Now, many thousands of years ago, when Iridonia was young, and before so much was laid waste by war, the land was rich and verdant. Many herds roamed the plains, the forests covered the south, and there was water in abundance. Life was good."

Khameir showered her face with kisses and teased her mouth, tasting her. She loved the metallic tang of him, she opened her mouth for more. He obliged.

"The Zabrak peoples lived simply then, making their young more easily than they do now but even so, not many for they were never over fertile. They lived in low houses of stone, perhaps by a river, with a well and fountain in the garden. For then there was water in abundance."

Kissing her throat and shoulders he continued.

"Since forever, the Zabrak were warriors, priests, and scientists. We were also merchants and traders, artists and artisans. Others were farmers and hunters. Above all, we had the custom of Tai Shan. And that you know of Beloved." And he kissed the side of her neck where her scent was most seductive.

His hands roamed over her body and his eyes were closed. He gave a contented sigh and continued.

"Then from the stars came two visitors. The first was the goddess Nimith, with a chariot riding upon fire itself and a sword made of light. She wanted water and strange metals to replenish her starship. Now the water the Zabrak freely gave her, but the metals they knew nothing of. The goddess claimed them from the earth herself, teaching the Zabrak how they may also do this wondrous thing, and thus they started on the long road to the stars."

He moved to her breasts and kissed them avidly, circling the nipples with his tongue, stroking and playing until she thought he had forgotten the story. Taking his hand she kissed the palm. "And then…"

"Ah, yes. So Nimith became the teacher of the Zabrak, and many years passed as the people learned and prospered and made her their goddess. Then came the next visitor. He found peace and harmony on Iridonia, and acquainted himself with our goddess. To her horror and his distress, he found himself in the grip of Tai Shan, and was overcome with violent desire for her. He could not help himself, he waylaid her and forced himself on her."

Khameir pulled her under him, and took her head in his hands, kissing her face again, nibbling her ears. He slid his knees between hers and gently pushed her legs apart. She twisted away. He hissed at her.

"Just so my Tai Shan, but Nimith was not of a mind to do this at all, whereas you are, and she had a sword of light at her belt, and she used it, defending her virtue. You see, she was Sith and had promised to be chaste, and while she might have put aside for a time the doctrine of fear to make the people love her and worship her, this threat reminded her that she might use it again."

Hanshara found herself firmly held down and her legs forced apart again. Her hands were held at her side, the wrists gripped tightly, uncomfortably. She struggled a little. He held her and continued, his voice becoming harsher now.

"So the Jedi, for it was a Jedi my Tai Shan, made war with her. Together they used many weapons and strange devices, forgetting the Zabrak who cowered in great fear in the midst of all this commotion, Eventually, Nimith saw their fear, and, strangely for a Sith, tried to desist, but the Jedi would not, wishing above all to bend her to his will."

He held her shoulders and pushed himself roughly inside her, hurting her, and she drew in her breath sharply.

"Nimith tried to flee, but her ship needed more water, so the Jedi, the Jedi my Tai Shan, took the water from Iridonia, and from the Zabrak, and from Nimith the teacher, so she could not flee his attentions."

He started to move inside her, thrusting painfully and powerfully, eyes far away. Then he stopped, for although his natural inclination was towards violence and pain and the pleasure with it, there was no pleasure in inflicting pain upon her, so he desisted.

"So Nimith called truce, and gave him his desire. As she did, she killed him and hid his body, then hid all the weapons, the ships, the devices, (and some are rumoured to be most strange and wonderful!) and helped her people survive. For the water was not in abundance now, and life was hard."

Whispering to her, kissing her gently at first then more passionately, soothing and caressing now, he said…

"So, most precious of women, my Beloved, my Tai Shan above all, that is the story of Iridonia, and how the water was lost, and how we found our goddess."

~~~~~~~~~~~

Before she left him again, he held her head in his hands and kissed her well, very well indeed. Holding her tightly to him he said "Fly with me on my next mission, perhaps your Master will release you for a while. Such a mighty being can surely let me have you for a little longer?"

For a Sith will never ask, he will take. And if he cannot take, he must wait upon the bounty of another and greater. 

And she asked, and supreme being huffed a little, but the game was good even though she won again, and he remembered her generosity. He would be generous in return.

Perfect Spin

The balcony had no boundary, no wall. One misstep and he would fall into the abyss, many thousands of feet high above the city - even he would not survive that.

Maul stepped onto the ledge and stood feet slightly apart, braced against the wind, arms away from his body, hands spread. He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply of the city's air. Nostrils flared, his mouth opened a little and his upper lip curled back - he inhaled again.

Now he could smell the faint tang of fresh fruit from the city markets, the sharpness of clean oxygen and ozone from the atmosphere scrubbers, the underlying sour stench from the city's everlasting poverty.

He licked his lips, opened them more, tasted the air with his tongue. Now there was a little sweetness of incense from the city's many temples, and the dark hint of narcotics used in the pleasure dens.

The wind suddenly shifted, he changed his stance to balance upright and not fall, grinning with the excitement and pleasure of it, slowly raising a hand and spreading the fingers to gauge changes in moisture, density, speed.

A third time he breathed in the air, over the black tongue and palate, into the lungs, savouring it slowly like a wine of unknown provenance. Now there was a hint of spice and illicit glitterstim leavings, fungoid mustiness from the Nemoidian hive-home, fresh vegetation from the garden towers of the wealthy, suddenly reminding him of Iridonia.

He sighed - perhaps he would go back there soon.

"What to see?" his logical mind asked, telling him there was no room in his life for retrospection, for his home world.

"The twin moons rising luminous over the white capped southern mountains and Nimiths' sacred lake, the last of the great forest, the winged battle charger lurking in its once-vastness." his heart answered. Perhaps he would take his woman to see the lonely beauty and loveliness of it.

To the heavens then, the star-lit vastness of space, the gas-wisp filled deeps between uncharted systems. Eyes still closed he stepped nearer the edge, greater danger sharpening his senses, heightening awareness. He became aroused, allowed it, felt even more powerful.

He raced along the space lanes from Coruscant, tasting asteroid dust, feeling the great magnetic currents shift and dance between the twin suns of the double star system of Haibo. There was a spice runner from Kessel, the pilot lost, the StarNav system failed. He used the Force to repair the failed chip, re-route the photons. The drug was needed to corrupt the rich, to interrogate the suspect, to keep the poverty stricken in their hovels.

No thought Jedi could do this, this was his talent alone, his pleasure only. He could reach out with his mind to distant stars, see the furnaces of chaos and the implosion of destruction as something disappeared for all time, and as a new thing was created from its remnants.

He came back to Cinthara, a place he could visit now without heart stopping hurricanes of grief and torment.

The woman had given him much, so very much. Her very presence, the knowledge that she just was made him stronger, and able to do this.

The lethal Lights of Neguib beckoned, his spirit fell among them, feeling the battering of heavy x-rays, the subtle pulse of gamma, the flickering of electrons as they charged and discharged around him in the atmosphere high above the planet. This was where he had brought the woman for their first time, the strident green and blue light glowing against her body as he led her in the oldest dance of all.

Or had she led him? He could not remember. As if it mattered.

The dance they had made was beautiful, as was she. The dance was not perfect yet, that would come, but nearly so. Although Jedi, she was like him, a warrior with fierce spirit and heart of fire. And like called to like across the rivers of time and space, even the abyss of death.

He found a group of spinning photons, and spun a dervishes' dance with them, a whirling of pure power, and joy he was sure Sith were not meant to feel.

He drifted then among the Lights of Neguib, catching glowing molecules in his hands, slowing them, altering the direction of spin, changing the colour and watching them fly into new directions when he released them, filled with wonder like a child with a new toy.

The pulses of energy and sparks of matter caressed his black and red skin as he played, feather-light fingers against the soft delicacy of him, as he stretched cat-like, quivering with delicious anticipation.

His awareness heightened more and his body suddenly spasmed in ecstasy as he screamed, back arcing against the horizon, then released, he relaxed and curled back on himself, and stretched, spinning slowly, returning to the balcony.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Looking for his Apprentice, Sidious chanced upon the balcony and watched him stand motionless, outlined against the busy night of the city. Lord Maul was unmoving against the wind buffeting the tower, feet upon the very edge, arms outstretched as if casting himself upon the night. Then he raised his arms and screamed into the wind, a challenge to any who might oppose him.

Aware of Sidious' presence, Maul turned his head slowly and looked behind him at his Sith Master. Golden eyes blinked once as he saw Sidious stare at him waiting for him to step back. A shiver (a very tiny shiver) ran up Sidious' spine. A warning, a hint perhaps of a power soon stronger than his.

Wearing his softest boots and leaning into the treacherous wind, Maul was still balanced on the very edge. He slowly raised himself on the tips of his toes and somersaulted backwards, out of the wind into the protective lee of the wall. He turned gracefully and made obeiscence to his Master, greeting him, his mind and body still now but full of power and the grace it gave him.

Sidious placed his left hand in blessing on the smooth horned head bent before him, seeing the hot red aura surrounding Maul, feeling the power thrumming and surging within. He sent a mind-probe to Maul, but found no deception, or thought of challenge, no uneasy or restless spirit. Whatever he had been doing, his Apprentice was perfectly balanced, mind and body in total harmony with the Force.

"Come." said Sidious, momentarily reassured, "we will discuss Iridonia, and a legend thereof."

Signs and Portents

There was a place in her dreams, a place of dark and looming buildings, where ancient and evil spirits walked hallowed halls. A bottomless well echoed with the whispers of dead Sith Lords, and the gnawings of temple rats disturbed the eerie quiet…

Hanshara struggled awake, remembering pale sunlight filtering forever down an atrium high in a roof; the dust of centuries dancing over an altar called 'The Nameless Stone' where a lightsabre lay in solitary splendour as if it were a gift, and the light of a single candle flickered in a chill draught. The tall pillars marched away into the shadows, the gloom gathering beneath their corbelled arches and something suddenly skittered in the dark.

She sat up in bed, again with a struggle, and rubbed her eyes. The monitor in her sleeping quarters displayed the faint blue lights which indicated an uneventful flight. Elbows on her knees and head in her hands, she wondered what such a dream foretold, what it meant for her. The place in her dream - she had never seen it before, and its dark and gloomy atmosphere depressed her spirit.

Her light star-cruiser was directed towards her Master, she had been away for many weeks on a mission for him, and she hoped she might see her lover soon. Her body ached for him, so to still her feelings and perchance to divine the meaning of her dream, she washed and dressed, then meditated.

The faint hum of the hyperdrive disappeared from her consciousness and she immersed herself in total silence, enveloped herself in the Force. Recalling the dream, she pulled at the threads of light, looking for an answer to her question, where is this place?

And something buffeted the sides of the ship, the monitor flared startling greens and reds as a klaxon flared. Racing to the controls, and looking through the view-screen, she saw to her horror that she was being drawn towards a black hole, the swirling terror drawing her in, spinning the ship round, pulling it inexorably towards the event horizon.

~~~~~~~~~

Hanshara struggled awake, sat up in bed, and rubbed her eyes. The monitor in her sleeping quarters displayed the faint blue lights which indicated an uneventful flight. She stared at it, temporarily reassured by its familiarity, as the hyperdrive hummed quietly in the background and the ship sped on.

A dream within a dream then, a difficult thing to unravel without much thought and consideration. Perhaps a thing to discuss with her Master. Perhaps deep meditation was not appropriate for now, perhaps she should lose her mind in small mindless chores of a repetitive nature. 

She rose from her bed, washed and dressed, performed her mindless chores and tried to unravel the dream. A time or two she caught the smell of burning linen, and a sweet smell of roasting meat. And once she thought she heard the buzz of a lightsabre, faint and far away.

She refused to dwell upon it. With training and maintenance of the ship, in this way she passed the time until she rejoined her Master.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kneeling in front of her Master, she explained her mission, reported success as the glorious being paraded in an arrogant manner in front of her, the brilliance of him such that she must avert her eyes, shield them with her hand.

Supreme being touched her head with a claw as he reverted to his Toydarian form, and she felt a wave of warm approval flood her being.

"Rise daughter. Thou hast done well, I am pleased."

He was not often this pleased, she reflected, how would he bet today? What torments would he give her today to amuse himself, to make her face her fear that she might lose her Beloved?

She felt supreme being prick and pry at her mind, to know her thoughts. "Enough to make you fret, daughter, why, have you dreamed of him lately? Does he occupy your thoughts as he does your heart? Does he fill your mind as he does your body?" He sneered at her.

Supreme being was in a teasing mood, she saw. But her body ached for Khameir, nonetheless. Her Master tossed the cubes in the air, caught them, spun them, idly watched as a star freighter plied it's lumbering way between an asteroid belt and an unknown planet. He blew gently upon it, sending a raging wind of ions and hot gases sweeping towards the ship, creating a storm that sent it spinning slowly end-over-end.

Suddenly, "Perhaps you should join him for a while…" Her heart leapt for joy. A while, a whole 'while'. Not a fleeting moment, not a day or so, but a 'while'.

"Perhaps..." Said supreme being, looking sideways at her and tossing the cubes. "Shall we bet on this?" Her master spun a cube in front of her. It hung in the air, spinning. As it spun, her mind became enraptured, and as she stared in wonder at the cube, the black dots expanded, filled her consciousness, until suddenly, she saw the Great Maw.

The Great Maw - a series of black holes which disturbed the forces of gravity, pulled wildly at anything within their reach. The confluence of many gravity fields created a wild and turbulent space from which little could escape without being drawn over an event horizon into oblivion. Indeed, such was their power that some philosophers postulated that time itself became warped and twisted in their vicinity.

A wave of fear swept across her mind as she stared at the Maw. The fear was without reason, a primeval fear deep within her.

"Do you want to go for a spin, daughter?" and supreme being suddenly turned, and spitefully pushed her off her gaming stool, to fall into the horror beneath her. But as she fell, she grabbed his ankle, pulling him with her. The time had come to show her strength, not be bullied and have to wait upon his generosity. She found courage and resolution.

As they fell, Hanshara gritted her teeth, made her demands to the surprised Toydarian.

"Do not play with me, Master." She hissed at him.

"While I attend your small errands, play your game to amuse you, my body burns for my lover, and I want him.

I have been absent from him so I burn. I crave him. My body starves while you play these games and gamble my soul away."

Her voice became softer, but her tone more threatening, as she tightened her grip and they continued to fall.

"They tell me that the Maw disturbs time itself. Are we truly timeless now, or will the Maw stretch us to infinity, making us so thin that we are lost upon eternity and therefore become nothing?

Give me Khameir, then tell me what you want of me and I will do it, or I will lose my mind in this distortion of all that is clean and holy, and you will have no one, even if you do survive."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

To her great surprise, supreme being laughed. He snapped his claws and they were sat again at the gaming table, he on his chair, her on the stool. He leaned towards her in a conspiratorial manner.

"You threaten me? Perhaps I am greater than you think. Am I not the beginning and the end of all things?"

"But you are unsure of it!" She raised her head and looked directly at him, unflinching.

"True." He agreed, as he tossed the ever-present cubes. "A bargain then..." Supreme being's eyes glittered, and for a moment, his look was like that of a grinning fiend, a wild demon.

"You will swim in that, in return for your lover. You may have him for now, until his power grows too great for my liking. As we first agreed."

There was no hesitation from her, she would face the horror when she must, for love of Khameir.

"I agree Master. Now may I go to him?"

"Such impatience!" sighed supreme being. "Indeed you must starve! Yes. Go."

Filled with joy and anticipation, she made a most respectful bow, said 'Thankyou Master' in a heartfelt manner. And then she made a most deep obeisance, and remained prostrate for a time, such that supreme being was pleased and flattered. He became more generous as he saw her respect and gratitude, and appeared to her for a time in his natural form of light and beauty.

As she turned to go, a wisp of light touched her shoulder, and she turned back, wondering what he wanted of her. She would grant him anything for now, she would be generous in return for his gift.

"Daughter. You had a question, perhaps?"

And she thought about the dream, what its meaning and interpretation might be, told him of it.

His expression was serious.

"The place is a most holy place, daughter, although you may not think so when you see it. It is vastly ancient, and is the repository of a great power."

Supreme being sighed, and looked into the distance.

"It is but little used for now, perhaps that will change, When you go, if you go, tread carefully, for there are beings there who are vengeful, and will see you as having evil intent towards them, whatever your own thoughts are upon the matter."

"But where is it Master? The Maw I recognise, but the other place…"

"Aaah. A hidden world, hence I do not know it's name, but you will know it. It may be that they are connected. Now go, or your lover will grow impatient and even I would not face his wrath at such a time!"

End of part 5

~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~
© Dark Lady - 22 February  2001