Dimensions

A/N: Hey guys! Sorry I don't know where the other authors have their story's or how to contact them. We can only hope they check the site and realize their stuff has gone missing. : o Anyway, hope you enjoy this chapter!
Feedback: Love it, crave it. Feel free to drop some crumbs my way. : )

~_~_~_~_~_~_~_ Part Three ~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~


"You were in my dreams," Riddick said slowly. He hadn't expected to encounter her here.

The beautiful woman nodded, the glow surrounding her brightening for a moment.

"Yes. I reached out to you."

"Who are you? What is this place?"

She smiled indulgently and suddenly appeared directly in front of him, in a blink of an eye.

"You know who I am in here," she said, touching his chest over his heart, "but my name is Natia. This place is...another dimension, you could say." At his blank look, she patted his chest and took his hand. Guiding him forward, she waved her hand at the vastness before them.

"Think of it as a galaxy parallel to your own, but on a different level. There are other dimensional levels, but yours and this one are close enough for transition between them. Only, this dimension has an altered content of energy. Here is controlled power, whereas your dimension has more raw potential," she said, and he nodded as he noticed the precision as far as he could see. He thought of his own space and the scattered stars, like a small child had thrown glitterdust into the air.

"Why did the Necros come here? What's this power they had?"

From the look on her face she knew who the Necros were, and a flicker of anger betrayed her state of mind along with the slight turning down of her mouth.

"The Necromongers were never meant to find this place. Portals were for those with natural control over energy, those who could harness their potential with will power. The first Lord Marshall was pushed to the edge of his mind by the losses he underwent, and finding this place simply made him worse. In his mind he saw his family and reached out. He didn't touch his family, but in his madness and grief he found something though he didn't know what. After failing to reach his family he returned, and only then discovered the power he managed to grasp. He was determined that in order to get to his loved ones he must have more power. Thus his crusade to either take others into the portal with him, or kill them...The energy he tapped into was never meant for the destruction he began to reign on your galaxy."

Silence enveloped them for a moment as they stared out into the twinkling lights. Riddick cleared his throat and looked down at the top of her head. Wavy light-brown hair swayed to the side when she shifted her stance.

"These people you say can harness the energy..." he began, not quite sure how to phrase his question. Turning to look up at him, she sighed and brushed his cheek with the back of her hand.

"Your father would be proud to see the man you've become. Strong, powerful, intelligent. You're his spitting image," she said softly, her eyes taking on a faraway look as she momentarily lost herself in memories.

Suddenly, jarringly, he thought he understood. Everything.

"Furyans."

She came back to him from her thoughts, a slight smile twitching her lips.

"The former Lord Marshall could not take you soul, your life-force, for a reason. We are the natural keepers of the energy. We cannot be forced to come or go, we do as we please. No one's sure how we came to be trusted with this power to bend energy to our will, but generations of our people had done so. We had a name for those who could master it, the Gliders. Your father, Selos, the son of Sehn the King, was a master before he was made King...Not long before we were invaded and many killed by Zhylaw the Last."

Looking up at his serious expression, feeling the weight of their people he carried within him, her expression lightened, and she lifted his hand to fold within her own.

"When you return, you will be far more powerful than any of the other Lord Marshall's. A piece of you will remain here, tying you to this dimension and giving you power in the other. The abilities of dimension Gliders will be yours. It will take courage, because the power can be dangerous to those unfamiliar, but you have bloodlines in a royal line of masters. None of the Lord Marshall's before you knew what they had, only that they had it. They tried to command it, but even when they had a modicum of control, it was a low level skill. You have the ability to command it completely."

"How will I know what to do?" Riddick asked.

"It will come to you naturally. Just let it flow. Another thing, Richard. Had the Lord Marshall's lived long enough, they would have eventually realized that they would live for a long time. Harnessing the energy brings longevity. No one knows exactly how it works, but it is said the energy constantly renews you, so wounds heal faster, you grow old slower. You'll feel invincible, but remember, even with this power you can be killed, just as you killed Zhylaw."

Riddick squeezed her fingers unconsciously as he absorbed her words, his mind in overdrive with all the information. A lot was resting on his abilities with this power. He looked down into her shining eyes and suddenly wanted to know if his hunches were right.

"How did you come to me?"

She squeezed his hand back, with a hidden strength.

"I sent a part of me through to find you. With our bond I found you the second time while you were in cryosleep, when the purest form of you was still aware. Your Furyan side. After that it became easy to fully appear to you. I knew you would come one day. Our people had prophecies as well, and yours was foretold. It is time for you to begin your destiny Richard, son of Selos and Natia Riddick. It is time for you to let go of the past and pave your own path for the future."

Leaning up she kissed his forehead. With beautiful smile, and one last caress to his cheek she turned, her form fading as the small nebula reappeared.

A breeze brushed his skin, and a sense of peace spread through his body from his head to his toes. A genuine smile transformed his face for the first time in a long time.

"Thank you, mother."

He almost imagined he heard her reply.

"I love you, my son."

*

Upon his return, Riddick found Vaako sitting in a chair, skimming over a data pad. When Vaako heard the door open, he looked up into brilliant eyes. Quickly standing at attention, he nodded as Riddick passed him to lounge at the dining table. Pouring some pale liquid into his goblet from a pitcher, he drank deeply, hungry and thirsty from the trip.

"Is all...well, my Lord?" Vaako asked hesitantly.

Riddick didn't answer, just ate until he was sated. Wiping his face with his hand, and wiping it off on the closest cloth, he leaned back in his chair. Vaako was still standing at attention, hovering over him. With a tilt of his head he gestured for Vaako to sit.

"Everything's good. How long was I gone?"

"Not long. A few hours," Vaako said, scanning the man across from him for signs that all was in fact, not well.

"Hmm. Anything interesting happen while I was gone?" Riddick asked as he gracefully stood and stretched.

"No, nothing to report Lord Marshall," Vaako said. He stared at Riddick, aware something had changed, just not entirely sure what. It was almost as if the bridled, burning anger and hatred Riddick seemed to carry on his back, was just, gone. Vaako only now realized that Riddick had been tightly strung, like a large feline ready to snap, claws slashing the unfortunates who ended up in the way. Whatever had happened, Riddick now seemed...at peace. But looking into Riddick's eyes, it was clear he had lost none of his fierce animalistic nature. He was still dangerous, but not explosively so.

"Come on, I feel like a walk," Riddick said as he grabbed his cloak, effortlessly swinging it into place over his shoulders, a quick snap fastening it.

Vaako walked by his side as they toured the fortress. It was well organized. The Guardian wouldn't have had it any other way. Vaako kept glancing at Riddick's profile, and finally asked what he'd wondered since becoming a Necromonger

"What was it like?" Riddick didn't break stride as his eyes glowed faintly in the low lights. Stepping into a side room, they looked out into the interstellar dust, in unstrained silence. Eventually Riddick turned and leaned back against the cold glass, arms folded as he studied his First. When Vaako returned his look, he leaned in close, smirking when Vaako's eyes slightly widened at the invasion of personal space. He put his lips close to his ear and breathed until a small shiver ran through the other man's body.

"Found secrets to the galaxy," he whispered, pulling back just enough to catch Vaako's expression vacillating between disbelief, and hinting at wonder.

Riddick indulgently allowed himself to openly stare into the hazel eyes, the color-bursts reflecting in his gold/green irises. Something Riddick didn't notice, or perhaps hadn't let himself notice, became more apparent the longer he stared.

He was attracted to the Necromonger. Not fascination, or intrigue at his character, though the more he got to know him the more he liked him. This was plain good, old-fashioned animal attraction. He could easily lean in and kiss Vaako's full lips open, make his pupils widen 'til only a ring of color was left. Could leave the man gasping for air.

Riddick had gotten many offers from other Necros, but his First was one of the few that hadn't offered anything beyond his professional services.

When Vaako flushed and looked away as he cleared his throat, Riddick knew what he was going to do. He was going to take his First as his own. Not quickly, not by force. No, he'd take his mind, his body, and then his soul, slow and sweet. Riddick wanted to make Vaako crave him as a man, not just obligation because he's the Lord Marshall.

Riddick's eyes narrowed in satisfaction, and he silently inhaled, nostrils flaring to take in Vaako's warm, heavy scent, thickened with musk. The heady aroma told him that he wouldn't have to put a whole lot of energy into seducing him when the time came. The attraction was mutual.