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Sebastet finally walked into the front room through the stained-glass doors that lead to the garden and paused to assess both men. She was dressed in her usual attire of fighting leathers, though they could have seemed little more than pure temptation to anything interested. Her tail swished behind her in annoyance at the interruption but knew there was little choice in it by this point.

She gave a nod to them both and tossed her black braid over her shoulder then shifted her hand to smooth down the fur along her belly before moving on into the room, though she knew exactly who to address first.

"Grann. About time you got here. Everyone's been trying to keep that granddaughter of yours busy. Luckily I've got an Incubus whose perfect at that. He finally convinced her that she could mess around in the garden as much as she likes. I don't know who you had hanging around her but you need to get rid of them. I'd love to talk more but I've got a problem brewing that needs taken care of soon," she stated to him simply but with a hint of an annoyed growl.

Then she turned her attention to the other guest, "As for you, Khan... And yes, I know who, and what, you are, so don't bother trying to pretend. As for you, stop scaring the maids. The guys can handle it better. If I get one more hysterical female in my office, I'm taking it out of your hide. Literally. If you want to be useful, I've apparently got an entire island of Hunters you can go wreak havoc on. As long as I get my people back from them, I don't care what happens to them. Otherwise, I'd suggest Darkness Abounds or the Demon Realm as perfect places for your personality," she told him simply, her glare over the frightened maids showing that she'd use her claws on his hide and have no problem with it.

She looked back at Grann and motioned to his things, "Have one of the maids take your stuff up to a room and get settled in then go see if you can find Alice. I think she's in the garden right now. At least she smiles out there instead of walking around here like the dead. Zombies belong in Darkness abounds. Not my castle," she added to him then gave herself a bit of a shake.

She ignored the looks she got for that shake and moved on as if she hadn't induced instant lust in anyone's eyes, "Now I've got to find out if my librarian's eaten anyone so I can get hold of a map and try to plan something kind of an attack strategy while also trying to make sure the castle is secure so no one gets kidnapped again," she finished with a frustrated and annoyed growl that showed her state all too clearly as she turned and headed for the garden doors again.

Ash instantly moved to one side as Dev laid Dancer carefully on one of the stretchers then knelt beside his best friend, hating that he'd waited so long to go after him. The Incubus simply placed a hand on the tiger's shoulder and raised his eyes to address the room, "Whoever's going to the demon realm needs to speak up now. Dancer needs more attention than Desha can give him here," he made the statement clearly in the shocked silence of the room.

Dev looked up at Snow, clearly torn between staying here with her and asking her to go with him to the demon realm. At least there, she'd be able to see sunlight again with no problems.

Desha gave a nod as he kept channeling energy into his son to keep him alive, "I'll be going, of course. Dev and Snow if they wish to as well," he stated calmly, his silver hair managing to hide most of him from view as he kept his focus on his son.

Cain looked to Xondra, "If you'd care to come to the library after you've cleaned up a bit, we can have that talk I spoke of before we left," he offered to her then gave her a respectful nod before heading off to his rooms to change and clean up, making sure to give her plenty of distance so that he wouldn't get pinched again.

Wind simply kept himself in Aten's arms, letting his lover take care of his hurts for now. He knew he'd heal up with no problems but wanted to wait to shift to his human form until he and Aten were alone. So he made no protest when the naga simply picked him up and carried him off to their room.

Blade, however, wasn't quite so reserved. She shifted to her human form and jumped Anube the instant she had the chance to, wrapping her legs around his waist and kissing him passionately as she gave off a rolling growl that warned him that they needed a room fast or she was going to wind up embarrassing everyone present.

Sebastet shook her head over Blade's display and gestured for Anube to carry his mate off to their room then looked over at Ash, "Take them and return as soon as you can. I have a few other things to take care of here so I'll see you when you return," she told him simply then cast a long silent look at Dancer before heading out into the garden.

Dancer and the twins were, after all, her godchildren and Dancer's condition was hitting her pretty hard though she made sure not to show it too much...

((Exit Sebastet, Wind and Aten, Anube and Blade, and Cain. That leaves Ash, Yamille, Desha, Dancer, Dev, Snow, and Xondra.))

Ash gave Xondra a nod of respect as she left with no flirtation to it, one of the highest honors he could give her. Then he and the others with him disappeared in a swirl of flames and the scent of brimstone...

((The rest of us exit now))

From the stained glass doors at the back of the room that led out into the garden, Sebastet entered and moved over to find out why she'd been summoned. Normally, she greeted people wearing a full cloak. She also wore one when she left the castle. Unlike Lio, Sebastet wasn't as comfortable around others when they could see her.

But tonight, she was staying in the castle so it didn't matter. Besides, the castle was her home and she was trying to be a bit more open.

Her black hair was in a braid at her back that fell to the back of her knees and she had her sword hidden by the braid at her back, her daggers were as well-hidden as usual. She was wearing her usual leather, but in a more traditional Hylarr cut and style: haltertop, short-shorts, gloves, and boots; all made in a pattern that matched her stripes and coloration perfectly. In short, it looked like she wasn't wearing anything at all. She was waiting to see what Lio's reaction to the outfit was going to be. He was really liking the leathersmith and his work...

But with the way that Borias made her leather, it meant that her boots were unusually quiet when she walked. So it didn't really surprise her when the poor male jumped a bit when she spoke from near the fireplace.

"I got a message from Cain that you needed to see me? I'm Sebastet," she said simply, her voice carrying an ever-present hint of a purr to it that most males found enticing, though it was unintentional on her part. It was part of being Hylarr. Lio usually sounded like he was growling a bit when he spoke. She liked it so she hadn't said anything about it to him.

Sebastet shook her head slightly when he gave his apology, "There's nothing to apologize for," she told him softly then considered what he was trying to say, the message he was trying to deliver.

"Soldiers? I don't know about any soldiers... We had a massive Hunter attack a little while back, but took care of that one thanks to some help from a friend. Other than that, I haven't received any reports on soldiers," she explained to him, her tone showing her confusion.

In all honesty, 'soldiers' could mean so many things. They were mainly used to dealing with poachers, the odd gang of idiots, and the Hunters that the Church trained. She had heard that a few wealthy families were training up their own Hunters, but with the world the way it was now... The super-volcanoes erupting put a lid on alot of things, as did the volcanic winter that followed. The Church had released the Hunters it had been training in secret and turned them loose on the other races that came to light during the volcanic winter. A couple of thousand years later and the Church was still training and sending the Hunters out.

It had become the new way of life here. The village reported strange newcomers whenever they came into the port, but they did miss the ones that landed elsewhere on the island. So it was possible that she had a new... infestation... to deal with on the island.

Usually, that was no problem for her. But her usual helpers for that were either living in a different realm entirely, or were dealing with their own issues from the last attack the Church sent against them... There were a few that she worried about alot and Lio was doing his best to help her with her nightmares, but there was only so much he could do.

She shook her head slightly to refocus and tilted her head at Ray, "If you could give me a few more details, I might be able to figure this one out easier. I get alot of reports and even more threatening hate-mail," she added, her voice carrying a wry tone over the hate-mail. Who knew people could write so much hate on paper? Hell, who knew that the written-letter-mail-system would kick back in so successfully...

Ash was sitting in the front room tonight, enjoying the fire in the fireplace while sitting in one of the plush chairs in front of the large stone structure with his back to the room. Here, he was almost invisible and mostly left alone.

He rubbed at his neck and frowned slightly, able to feel a tightening of his skin that told him that he'd have to feed his demonic needs soon. At least he had a little time to find a partner that wouldn't get clingy. He was very careful with his partners these days. And he had a feeling that Lareth knew just how few partners he had these days.

In a way, he was only feeding his needs enough to stay alive, though not anything past that. He certainly wasn't taking on anything more permanent. He was even trying to avoid the elf Lareth had sent over, Arqden. For him, it was better safe than sorry... For her, she wanted to avoid entanglements even more than he did for different reasons.

He gave a soft sigh and leaned back in the chair, closing his dark eyes as the firelight enhanced the golden tint of his skin and brought out the redder highlights of his black hair. He was undeniably gorgeous, a specimen of manhood that exuded sensual and sexual allure that was as unconscious for him as it was unavoidable. He did his best to keep it all toned down, but he couldn't hide it completely.

He was a full-blood Incubus, after all. And one of the oldest still alive. He was also one of Lareth's best assassins. He still made trips home to do the final training on all new assassins. And Lareth let him do it his own way these days. Tamlin had finally been a success and finished his full training, despite fighting Ash the entire way on it. So Lareth had been forced to accept Ash's methods.

Still, Ash was under enough pressure as Lareth's official representative here, adding to it the stresses of losing his Mate was almost too much most days. But he pushed through it all. He was loyal to his king and served no matter what happened to him.

For now, he rested, putting off finding a partner for as long as he could...