Xaphan used his nails to climb up the tree settling on a tree limb directlybelow the one of Rene's, he sighed, deejected and allowed his eyes to close, "We were good together until that arguement and disagreement... you and I... it was a shame... for a relationship to die so young, ironic really, for Ezeah to die only to remind me of all of this... I wish I could bring Ezeah back... Death's a fool though, he plays his game so he has no chance of losing, there is no joy in a game like that."

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

Sumnor stood, offering his hand to Abadon, he had grown to accept him as one of them since he had seen the vampire feel remorse for Ezeah, Abadon took his forearm and grasped, Sumnor returning the sign, an Old Blood tradition which Abadon respected, "You are one of us, there's no doubt about that, you are welcome to *censored*ist us and we will *censored*ist you, we cl*censored* you as a friend and i will do my best to protect you, but don't get into too much shi.t, yeah?"

Abadon laughed, his eyes weary, becuase he had not fed in a while the vampire bonuses of strength were beginning to wear off, he would not die for a good while but he would need to feed, "I am happy to be accepted into the fold, and happy to have my first friends, I have lead an extremely secluded life so far, not caring for consequences or regulations, or traditions."

"I know that by the way you picked two fights with Old Bloods, one of which can control her own blood, and the other who is an expert flit fighter... not to brag,"  Sumnor nodded at him and they both sat, Abadon reoving his jacket, not being affected by the cold as he had grown completely accustonmed to it.

Dryac nodded as Xyen spoke, he kenw it already but he left it to the other lycan, as Xyen was wise and would have his opinion respected, and Dryac doubted that Abadon and Reiyn respected him yet, "Xyen's right... and I kinda know a way we can do it... we need to lure them itno attacking us, make them open a window, before hand we need to slow someone's heartbeat until it's almost a trace, and lob them through the window, the energy surge caused by the window should jolt their heart back into rythm, then they can stand up and et voila."

Niele smiled, poking Dryac in the ribs gently, "I knew that I loved you for something else other than your looks and charm, there's actually some decent brains in there too."

Xyen nodded. "It may not be that easy though." The Lycan smiled slightly at Dryac, before running a hand through his hair, looking at Abadon. He could sense the need to feed, seeing as he had spent so much time around their kind.

"Hunt." He said, nodding at Abadon. "It would do you good. And currently I think we should all rest. We needn't rush into anything yet." The Lycan watched Niele and Dryac, his mind pondering the future of the two.

Reiyn glanced sideways, before closing his eyes and settling himself to sleep. While he was here, he could not think too much. He was all too aware of Sumnors ability, and as such, filled his head with the pain and loss brought about by Ezeah's death.

~~~

Rene listened silently, not replying immediately to Xaphans words. When she did, her voice remained unchanged; It was soft and quiet. "We we're young. Too young. You said it yourself."

She placed a hand on the back of her neck, closing her eyes as she allowed memories to wash over here. She had been foolhardy as a younger vampire, rash and stubborn. Her mind turned to her son, whose life was no longer burning. At these thoughts, the female could only understand Xaphans pain more.

She inhaled slowly, then, strangely enough, began to sing, an emotional note of an unkonwn language. Her voice shimmered as it portrayed the loss and pain of losing someone dear. It was not often she opened her voice in such a way, but she felt she needed to. Come tomorrow, she would return to being Rene, but for tonight. She said everyones goodbyes in song, to the bright perosnality of the red headed Ezeah.

Xaphan opened his eyes, looking up and watching Rene as she sang, the emotion shown on his face-readable, it was torn between misery at his youngest and closest friend dying, and happiness to hear his ex-mate and mother of his now-dead-son singing, he used to love listeneing to her, it ws the highlights of his life, he then did what Rene had done and lay back, allowing his mind to open up and think of what it wanted to.

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

Dryac nodded, "I know it's not oging be be totally easy, but I know a guy in this city we're going to be headed to, he's a doctor for humans, also works on concoctions for people like us, of the un-dead variety, helps us get through things we wouldn't normally, I've got no doubt he's got an elixir to slow down one of our heartbeats, and have you ever read the energy off one of those portals? it's immense."

Sumnor stretched his neck around, doing a slight probe into Reiyn's mind, nothing detectable by anyone or anything, just enough to read what was on the surface, he got purely innocent thoughts, he was dangerously tempted to force himself in deeper, but restrained from doing so, as Reiyn would notice and if his mis-trust was mis-placed, then it would cause a lot of trouble.

Abadon nodded,  standing and stretching, flitting to a nearby forest, stopping short a few metres of a bunch of lumber jacks, two of which ran at him with axes due to his savage appearance, what with the blood and so on, "Just what I like, food that moves."  His voice had grown weaker, as his throat was dry, he leapt grabbing one humand and hurling him into the side of a wood-chipper breaking his spine, he ducked under the axe that the other swung, threw a heavy left followed by a right, and broke his neck, draining the body of blood before duping it into the wood chipper and doing the same to the second carca.ss.

Abadon got back before long, wiping the blood from his teeth, lips and chin, "Much better... those villagers actually attacked me, and don't worry, I got rid of any evidence, I drained the blood so it'll just look like someone's thrown up, I wont tell you exactly what I did to them mind, if you all want to keep your last meal inside you."

Xyen closed his eyes for a moment, before glancing over at the mouth of the cave, noting th change in sky colour. Yet again, the sun was finding it's way west, setting over the horizon and throwing the sky into a blaze of orange.

Smiling to himself at the beauty of the world, he blinked at the strangly surreal sound as a female voice reached his ears. She was singing, and the Lycan felt the breath catch in his throat. It was a stunning sound, full of emotion... A perfect voice, merging with the beauty of the sunset; And Xyen listened to the notes. He couldn't tell what was being said, it was a strange language, but he could tell immediately it was a song of leaving. A song of farewell.

"I didn't know Rene sang..." Reiyn said out of nowhere, his eyes on the cave door. He recognised the voice, but never had he known that she had such a side.

Xyen's eyebrows raised. Rene?... The Rene he knew??... He found it hard to believe... Rene being who she was, but saying that... Perhaps he really didn't know all that much about the female Old Blood. He then turned his head to Dryac as the Lycan spoke. "It's sounds like a good idea. Afterall, it's the only one we have." He replied.

~~~

Stepping out of the veil, Feala walked into a huge bedchamber, the walls built of thick brick. The huge arched window had a view of the sea, the waves crashing into the rock below. She had appeared into a castle far older than Xaphans, thousands of miles away from the group. Using her ability however, she could always keep an eye on them.

She strolled over, and sat on a couch by the window, wearing nothing but a thin, black silk robe. Her eyes were focused on the waves, as she thought over what they'd do next. Of course, she wouldn't make a move without Ragnafat's saying so.

Ragnafat stepped in after Feale, stretching his hand and causing the air pockets in all ten knuckles in the one hand to pop and make a clicking noise, followed by doing the same with the other. "You look beautiful, Feala." Ragnafat took out a small gl*censored* globe from his pocket and ran a finger over it a few times, checking the curent time before returning it to his pocket.

He then sat down on the couch next to Feala, "In this modern world... the only beings with power are ones like us, who have enough natural abilities to take that power... and even then it is fleeting for most people, as they do not have the strength to keep that power, as a stronger being comes along, but not with us, I cannot feel any beings of strength greater than ours in this realm, therefore we are the penultimate."

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

Sumnor stretched his neck once again, clicking it, he hated sitting or even sleeping for too long, buthe just wanted to do it now, he didn't particularly care about the stiffness, they were mourning, and he didn't want to do anything else at this moment in time, "So who in the group can best survive that for long enough? I'd volunteer but I've got a personal stake, maybe not the best choice, and neither is my Father, or Niele and Dryac, I'd say Abadon and Xyen."

Dryac looked up, nodding, "He's right, neither of us are the right choice..." He lifted the side of his shirt, revealing a long, deep lookin, dark scar down his right side, "He took his pound of flesh and I wanna take mine... So I wouldn't bother pulling them back over here, I'd just stay and go savage, probably end up dead."

Niele winced when she saw the scar, she has seen it in the apst but not in the recent few centuries due to her not seeing either of them in that time, she reached out and placed a hand accross part of the scar, attempting to feel the pain Dryac must have felt when Ragnafat inflicted the wound.

Xyen listened to Sumnor and Dryac, then ran a hand through his hair, closing his eyes as he thought over their words. He didn't mind the idea, not really, but somehow, he didn't think it would work. As much as he was willing to put himself in that situation, he wasn't sure he was... Well, dangerous enough.

Afterall, he'd already seen Feala's ability in action, and thanks to his personality, he wasn't the kind to always listen to his instincts unless it truly mattered. Much of the time, he was logical thinker and fighter, which was both his strength and his weakness; Telling the group this as he thought through it. It was too much of a risk.

"I believe Abadon would have more of a chance in there than I would, and having just fed, he'll be at the peak of his power. It is probably the safest choice, if he has no objections, naturally." Xyen said with a grim smile.

Reiyn, who had noticed the lack of his name in Sumnors list, made no comment. He wasn't fussed, as far as he was concerned, it would just make his own situation more complicated. Looking towards the mouth of the cave, the dark haired Vampire watched as the sky melted from its blazing orange to a deep, twilight purple; The rock that was the mouth of the cavern also changing colour, from an orange tinted gray, to a darker, almost black tone.

~~~

Feala turned around as Ragnafat spoke, her eyes retaining its earlier fire. "My Lord is just as beautiful, if not, more so." She replied with a slight smile, before turning back to face the sea outside the window. Far in the distance, the Necromancer spotted a dark smudge just on the horizon, sluggishly moving towards the weathered walls of the castle.

"A storm is coming..." She mumbled to herself, looking away from the window as Ragnafat sat beside her. She watched him with apt attention as he spoke, then closed her eyes and smiled. "Indeed, my Lord. Your power is absoloute. But the greatest mistake anyone can make is to underestimate. Afterall, I do not know this Sumnor nor why you want him dead."

She opened her dark violet eyes and focused them back towards the oncoming storm cloud.
"So, my Lord. What do you wish to do now?"

Ragnafat remained sat, his chin lay in his hands, thinking of the next step when Feala spoke, "To be more beautiful or even just as beautiful than pure beauty is an impossibility, therefore one I leave to you, as you succeed in your attempts to reach that goal so well." Ragnafat looked out at the on-coming storm as Feala mentioned it.

"Well, what I want to do? More of a who... but I wish to kill Sumnor as he forced me to unleash my full power in my demonic form, the power that forced me to the land of the dead, even though I wasn't dead, it was only when you summoned me that I was allowed back into this realm. And to be in the realm of the dead for so long is saddening, therefore I wish to get my revenge on him, his family, and all of his friends,"

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

Sumnor stretched again, "I'm sure he'll be happy to go in, in the short time I've known him I know one thing mainly, he's an animal, a force to be reckoned with, he get's in there he can drag them out within seconds, but the problem is protecting him when he get's them out if he's on his own... we need someone else that can go beserk..."

Dryaflinched slightly as Niele lay her ahnd on his side, mroe from the suddenness of it all than anything else, he leant over, kissing her before wrapping an arm around her again, "It's okay my love, it is a well healed wound and the memory is well faded, i can hardly remember the pain I felt, but the reminder of the sight is always there, just sitting on my side, I would find a way to get rid of it, but I need it until Ragnafat lays dead."

Niele smiled, leaning her head on the chest of Dryac, "I know... I still feel sorry for you though, having to feel so much paion at one time, it's not right, you and father sure threw yourselves around a lot."  Dryac chuckled, "We still do love, we just don't get to show our skills as often, a lot less worthy enemies left, so we don't tend to bother, Ragnafat on the other hand... this is an opportunity."

Abadon remained sat, listening intently to every word uttered in the cave before speaking, "I'll be more than happy to go in and get them out here, give me a cahnce to actually grab and pull a demon, something i aint had the opportunity to do in my vast life."

Feala kept her eyes on the storm, pausing once Ragnafat had finished speaking, then looking over at him. "I see..." She replied. It explained why he had called from the depths of the Land of the Dead.

She looked back out of the window. "I should call on Reiyn. Perhaps their discussions may give us some clue as to their next move..." She grinned coldly. "Who knows?... I may be able to have some fun~"


Feala waved a hand, a black butterfly appearing on her finger, before she opened a small portal and allowed it to slip through. It would rely it's message to Reiyn. Afterall, it was about time he left the guise he currently took.

~~~

Xyen nodded. "Very well. Well set out tomorrow. But for now, I suggest we rest."

Reiyn listened silently, only opening his eyes to a sound only he could hear. It was the whispering of death. Feala... He glanced quickly sideways, spotting the black butterfly which dissapeared as soon as it came.

He stood up, then looked at the grup in the cave. "I need space. All this depression does not sit well with me."

He walked outside, looking over at Xaphan and Rene, positioned on the tree not too far away. Well... No point ignoring his calling. He flitted, leaving the wood and his so called friends far, far behind, a cold, calculating smile making its way onto his lips.

((Time Skip for the group))

Sumnor awoke in the early ours of the morning, standing and stretching before lighting a fire and going out to hunt, coming back a few minutes later, a deer slung over each shoulder, he dropped them and began to skin and prepare them, planning on getting breakfast ready for the group.

Dryac awoke at roughly th same time as Sumnor, sitting at the fire and watching as his friend prepared the two deer, "You were always good at preparing for a large group Sumnor, I still think you should be a leader of a group, you're suitable for that kind of role." "I'm done leading after what happened last time Dryac... I couldn't re-live that, Xyen is a much better leader than I, I make reckless decisions that endanger the lives of the group."

Niele awoke, stretching, tottering over to Dryac and Sumnor and sitting in between them, hugging Sumnor, "Good morning Father."  She then hugged Dryac, "Morning Dryac."  The two hugged the female vampire back, before settling, Sumnor still commencing preperations forwhen the others stirred, Sumnor had always gotten his friends to awake early, leaves them alert for days.

At the very first signs of pale morning sunlight, Rene opened her eyes and yawned, the light falling onto her face and illuminating the silver of her hair. After a minute or two, she looked up towards the gently rolling clouds that barely covered the pale blue behind, her thoughts skimming over the previous nights events. She sat there for some time, until distant noises from the groups overnight camp caused her to glance over her shoulder at the cavern.

Well. They'd probably be moving on again soon... Standing up, Rene brushed herself off, focusing her eyes for a second on the form of Xaphan beneath her. Sighing quietly, she allowed herself to fall from the tree, landing with no noise whatsoever before looking once more at the cavern.

She stretched, then flitted, having no location set in stone. She could hunt for herself, despite Sumnors good intentions, and that's precisely what she'd do. She could catch up to them all later anyway, but for now... She wanted to be alone.

~~~

Keeping his eyes closed, Xyen listened to the banter between Sumnor and Dryac, a slight smile creeping onto his features. He didn't particularly agree with either of them. Sumnor was indeed, a good leader, and he spoke in response to Sumnor's comment without opening his eyes.

"I actually prefer not to lead, and havn't done so for many years." He opened his eyes, a small chuckle in his throat. "I believe this particular group doesn't follow the set rules anyway. Afterall, Rene and Reiyn are hardly the types to follow after someone. They tend to take care of themselves, as do I."

He laughed quietly, then glanced around the cave, the morning light reflecting of the jagged gray stone. He raised an eyebrow at the absence of Reiyn, but as.sumed it was nothing. Reiyn could dissapear for days on end without any notice, and usually did if he felt he needed to. Ah well... If they left before he returned, he'd be able to find them.

~~~

Feala smiled, then stood from the couch, walking over to the huge bedchamber door. She had watched Reiyn leave through a portal that pas.sed through the Realm of the Dead, and as such, knew that he was almost upon the castle.

Walking out of the door, she made her way to the castles huge entrance hall, walking a number of hallways. The castle was built of dark stone, and fires burned in torch brackets all along the walls with very few windows. The entrance hall was huge, a great staircase right at the back, opposite the black metal doors. There were hanging skulls and full skeletons all around the place, and blades and axes coating the walls alongside dark tapestries that illustrated the most gruesome wars.

The great, black steel doors opened before Feala got to them, and she paused in the centre of the hall as Reiyn entered, immediately focusing on the silk robed Necromancer.

"It's about time. What took you so long to return?"

"I have urgent news. You may want to deal with them earlier then you had planned."

Feala raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

"They're plannig on finding a way into the Realm of the Dead."

The females face darkened at these words, and her eyes narrowed dangerously. "That's not possible."

"They're planning on it anyway." Reiyn put a hand on the back of his neck. "Naturally... You won't be able to escape them or hide from them if they do."

"That's fine. We'll just have to deal with them beforehand then, won't we?"

Ragnafat stepped out from the shadows, he was in dark black metal armour, a long katana type blade made of pure purple metal in a sheath on his belt. He walked over, a heavy ex
pression on his face,"Sumnor and his merry band of vampires and lycans dies, the sooner the better, we hunt today, give them the fight that they want."

With the rage that was beginning to build up insideRagnafat, his armour began to convulse, the armour moving to suit his emotions, angry patterns forming, along with delicate ones whenever he would look at Feala, the armour feeling the love he felt for her, he raised a hand, snapping it shut causing a slight pulse of energy to erupt from the gaunlet he wore, "Who wants to travel instantly with me? and who wants to walk all the way?"

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

Sumnor found a fallen tree, using swords he could form from psychic energy to carve plates, he dished out large pieces of deer meat to everyone that was there, Xaphan, who had awoken not long ago, Xyen, Dryac, Niele and Sumnor himself, "We may as well eat, the day of reckoning is almost upon us, whenever we figure out a way to find Ragnafat that is, whether we stand strong or perish is entirely up to us, but let's not do it on an empty stomach, eh?"

Dryac laughed, an ex
pression of relief spreading on his features as he realised that Sumnor was back to usual, "I agree my friend, let's eat heartily and die well, like men of honour, we fight and die together, if there was ever a better way to die I would rather not know about it."

Niele smiled, leaning her head on the shoulder of Dryac, "Don't you go dying on me bub, otherwise I'll just follow you and give you hell in the after-life." "I'm making no promises but I will try to stay alive."

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

Abadon flitted a little while before Sumnor started giving the meat out, even though he had grown accustomed to the company of the others, he still liked being on his own to hunt, seeing his methods too barbaric for the others to see.

He went back to the lumbre camp that he had visited the day before, realising only now that he had caught a familiar scent, one of a human he had failed to catch long ago, "Get out here, you don't want me hunting you witht he mood I'm in right now."

The human stepped out, he was a shadow of the former man he used to be, at leas 90 years of age, and with a human that doesn't look too good, "I have been looking for you for some time now, I want you to kill me, put me out of my misery."  Abadon felt something he had never felt before, he actually felt pity for this old human fool, he allowed his animalistic side tot ake control, his body luncging, catching and draining the old man within seconds, taking a few bites of meat while he was there, before flitting back to the group, carrying a now burdened mind with him.

Both Feala and Reiyn turned to look at Ragnafat as the Demon stepped from the shadows. Reiyn bowed, as he always did when the Lord appeared, and Feala glanced at him with a smile.

"I, naturally, will be accompanying you." The necromancer replied, looking from Ragnafat to Reiyn, an eyebrow raised. The dark hiared male nodded, then straightened himself up.

"I will also. It's about time they knew who I truly am and who I work for."

Feala chuckled. It was about time, indeed.

~~~

Accepting the meat from Sumnor gratefully, Xyen sat with his back against the cave wall, thinking over just how they were going to go about finding this so called person who could help them get into the Realm of the Dead.

~(Sorry. Crap post... But I have to go for a bit. Dx)~

Ragnafat lifted his hands, the ring finger of his left hand missing, soemthing that had happened in his human lifetime, although he could not remember anything about his past life as a mortal. He placed a hand on the shoulders of Feala and Reiyn, before allowing the power from the armour to convulse and make them appear a few feet outside the cave, the bright flash of purple light dissapearing as they stood on the cold muddy ground, it had obviously been raining recently.

He looked down at Feala who was now on his left side, a sinister smile across his lips, "Do you wish to hae the honour of getting their attentions? I doubt I could grab it quite so elegantly as you surely could." He then looked over to Reiyn on his opposite side, "You'd better get ready as well."