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Sitting up, I balanced my elbows on my knees and put my head in my hands. "Ohhhh man...Rose, you've probably healed him about ten times over. Fluffy sleeps a lot."

Rose had been trying diffrent healing techniques on Fluffy and he wasn't opening his eyes. Tikki was helping Ikkit to her feet, Bubba was sitting Toshi up, and Foxxy was slug over my lap. Looking about, I could not see Shalimar or Wynn anywhere.

"Rose, where Shal and Wynn?"

"After I healed them, they went in to that ship," Rose said, coming over and looking in my eyes.

"Stay here," I said, putting Foxxy into Rose's arms. "No matter what you hear, do not follow me."

"Dragon what's going on?" Rose said, as I stood shakily to my feet.

"Just stay put," I said, staggering to the ship.

While I was knocked out, I had dreamt that Corrigan had coerced Shalimar into joining his side by threatening me. I knew Shalimar was too smart to fall for the dream spell...but I still had a bad feeling. Cautiously, I stepped into the dark recesses of the Nerissa Altsoba.

"Dra-gon," Nissa's disembodied voice called out. "Run."

"Nissa, what's wrong?" I asked. "Why aren't your electrical systems working?"

"Get-out," Nissa said. "Be-fore she ki-lls you!"

"Who, Nissa?" I asked, switching over to nightvision as the interior of my ship got darker.

"Why me, mother dear," a familier voice purred. A dark form silently dropped from the ceiling and landed on the floor in front of me. Rising to her full height, she said, "Your darling daughter."

"Shalimar!" I said, taking a surprised step back. "You're--"

"All grown up," Shalimar said, taking a step towards me. "And my name isn't Shalimar anymore. It's Tynan."

"Tynan?" I asked, the name being familer but the reference being lost for the moment. "Why that?"

Twitching her tail, Shalimar said, "It's the name he gave me."

"He who?"

"He who bestowed the Mark on our family."

Realization hit me like a lightning bolt. "CORRIGAN?! CORRIGAN NAMED YOU!?"

"Lord Corrigan, mother," Shalimar said, her eyes flashing dangerously. "Lord Corrigan."

"Shal, where's Wynn?" I asked.

"Lord Corrigan wanted you first," Shalimar said, taking another step forward. "So he had Grandfather, Grandmother, and Father killed."

"I ask again, where is Wynn?"

"Then you had me and you were no longer important to him. Why have two when you can have ten?"

"Nissa? Where is Wynn?"

"She is ble-eding out on V-deck," Nissa replied.

"What did you do to Wynn?" I asked Shalimar.

"She got in my way," Shalimar said, vanishing with a giggle.

Swearing under my breath, I hurried down to V-Deck and saw that Wynn was bleeding from several small wounds--nothing serious thankfully. Picking her up on my back, I piggybacked Wynn out to where Rose could heal her again.

"Rose, can you watch the guardians and Wynn for a few days? ... I need to deal with something."