thomas.berubeg
Wandering the World
Great statues of red stone lined the throne room. Arms crossed and cowled heads bowed, they towered high above the cut stone path. The cool light of Sveltrons sun streaming through the high windows left distorted and flickering shadows from which functionaries and minor sithlings darted like minnows. Even with the light, the room remained dark.
At the end of the room a dias of black material was raised, and upon it was set a simple throne of the same red stone from which the statues were carved. A masked Sith Lord sat easily, surveying.
A pair Guards stood behind, faceless, their presence in the force nothing but a subtle ripple. Compared to the taut, seething, nexus of power that was the Sith Lord, they might as well have been as force sensitive as the Taung who stood before him.
Do you have it? The voice seemed to hiss from the statues themselves, coiling out from the shadowy corners of the room.
Lek. The Taungs spoke with a harsh, dry voice, almost like sand on stone. Mandoa, its language, had few soft tones and even fewer peaceful meanings.
Where.
Dayne Ogir
The Taung gestured and the throne rooms great doors opened. Two more faceless guards strode into the room, dragging a chained human behind them. His face was covered in Sith Tattooes and blood and tears.
Please, Master. I was just looking at it. Please!
Your soul hides no secrets from me.
Master! Someone had stolen it! I found it! I was bringing it to you! I swear.
Taung, You have pleased me. I will have need of your services in the future. My apprentice will take care of your payment. The Sith Lord gestured, and an armored figure stepped.from the shadows behind the throne. Black and yellow. Ritualistic imitations of sith tattoos adorned the armor itself, and red photoreceptors shone with a baleful light. The figure gestured, and strode out a small back door, without waiting to see if the Taung followed.
He did, as she knew he would.
The Sith Lord turned to the weeping human. In the eyes of the skeletal mask he wore a purple fire now burned.
Your intentions were bare to me the moment you petitioned me to teach you. I know you, Davon Taltho. I know you serve that pathetic mass of flesh that birthed you. Your Mother has always been jealous of true power, and has always sought to steal it from those more worthy. You were but a pawn.
No! I was to rule besides her! She will protect me
Sibilant laughter rippled and echoed around the room.
Darth Vila has no power here. Tell me, my young friend, did she deign tell you what it was she bid you steal?
An artifact of great power, the key to the Tomb of Xoxaan itself!
Though the mask on the Sith Lords face remained still, many of those in attendance could tell he was smiling, a predatory grin.
The tomb of Xoxaan has been lost for centuries.
Yes! Lost! No one knows where it is.
And yet your Mother Wishes its key. Why?
I dont know!
Why! The sith apprentices legs bent forwards at an unnatural angle, the brittle snaps echoing sharply throughout the room.
The human screamed.
Why. The voice was more insistent now. WHY!
Mother! MOTHER! Help! Davon lay in a heap on the ground. The Sith lord stood at the edge of the dais, and raised a finger towards the crying man.
The apprentice twitched, and waved his hands around his head, batting at invisible creatures, even as he was wracked with great sobs. Thank you, Mother! Thank you! The things he did... wait, mother! no! Please, mother! Dont punish me! I didnt tell him anything!
Didnt tell him what?
Anything!
What did you keep from him, my boy?
About your map! I didnt tell him about your map!
The sibilant laughter echoed throughout the throne room again. She has a map. The old whore has found a map! I thank you, Davon. You have done well by me, and for that, I will be merciful. Now, young Taltho, you will die! Lightning arced from the Siths raised hands into the body of the apprentice.
If the young man had screamed earlier, it was nothing compared to the ragged sounds pouring from his throat now. The lightning crawled over every inch of his body, squirming like worms into his mouth and over his torso and between his legs.
And then there was silence.
