Disclaimer All the characters appearing in Gargoyles and Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles are copyright Buena Vista Television/The Walt Disney Company. No infringement of these copyrights is intended and nothing but the utmost respect for their creators is implied.
I've gotten a lot of help from Icicella. Although she doesn't know from any solid resources what some stuff is, she got the information regarding Blasnar discipline from the internet. This is unconfirmed information, and was vague, but we both enjoyed the concept, so we used it.
This story involves adult content. Mature readers only.

Previously, on Gargoyles:

Demona: "Point zero will be St. Damion's Cathedral."
"Hunter's Moon, Part III"

Colleen Callahan: "It looks as if there were two different blood types mixed together." "I was going on a hunch, but I checked that hallucinogen in the victims. It's the same stuff."
Brooklyn: *convulsing wildly*
Angela: "Brooklyn!"
"Seduction"

Owen: "A Succubus is a female demon who goes into men's dreams and rape them. Until a millennium ago, they were not only restricted to dreams, but could come into the mortal realm itself to carry out their deed. But the rift between their universe and ours was sealed."
Hel: "So you want Garm to find the base of the succubi and lead the Valkyries against them."
Odin: "That was the main idea."
Owen: "This doesn't make any sense, why would the succubi take up Blasnar practice?" "Even if we were able to destroy the succubi, it would only be the brood in Manhattan. Succubus Broods are known to work together on many occasions."
Hlathguth: "They are born from a being whose name is only mentioned by them and amongst themselves. We know him as 'the One.'"
Talnia: "We will follow the succubi back to its source in America, and take them out of the equation."
"The Succubi"

And now the continuation . . .

*****

Elisa Maza's feet were hurting, and she was getting dizzy. With Hlathguth's pendant around the watchdog Garm's neck, they teleported to different points in Manhattan every few minutes. Throughout it all, Elisa clung to the only thing she knew, Owen Burnett. They had followed the dog from point to point for hours.
Odin, the Norse god, was becoming impatient, "Shouldn't we get there soon?" he demanded.
"Hush, Father Lord," said Rota, "They'll hear you."
Elisa looked at the people walking by them, ignoring them, "Why don't they see us?" she whispered to Hlathguth.
"We aren't fully back in regular time, yet," the Valkyrie replied, "We haven't totally entered the entire light spectrum, mainly the visible spectrum. They can hear us, and touch us, but not see us."
Rota continually crept up behind people, tapping their shoulders or pinching them, and silently laughing every time they looked accusingly at the nearest visible person.
"So then how come I can see you?" asked Elisa.
"It's an effect of the pendant," Owen replied in his usual, dismal voice.
"Look!" Hrist exclaimed, pointing down an alley. This attracted a few looks from the surrounding humans, looking for the invisible owner of that voice.
Elisa swiveled to dodge a man walking by her and walked to Hrist. She glanced to where the Valkyrie pointed and gasped.
A woman was slumped against the wall, dry blood oozing from her mouth, her eyes as black as ebony, and a huge hole in her chest. About a foot above where her head was lolled to one side was a scorch mark on the brick wall.
The detective clutched a hand to her mouth, then turned away and began to throw up. Owen patted her back, kneeling down beside her.
"This is the work of a succubus," Mist noted grimly, "It's looks like an aura blast."
"No," said Sváva, "An aura blast wouldn't have made such an impact on the body. This looks like a pretty standard fireball."
"Superheated to vaporize anything in its path," Hlathguth agreed.
"There aren't any pieces of her," said Hrist.
Elisa wiped some vomit off her mouth with a tissue, "I think it's some form of particle weaponry."
Owen shook his blonde head, "I'm afraid I'll have to favour the Valkyries' assumptions, Detective," he said, "Particle weapons wouldn't have done more damage to her, and they wouldn't have that effect on her eyes."
Elisa coughed, covering her mouth with her tissue. She knelt down to examine her once again. Her eyes were fully opened, and at first Elisa thought she saw a pupil, but it was simply the light glinting off two totally black orbs in her eye sockets. She coughed.
"With all due respect, Lady Maza," said Sváva, "I thought you were in the line of fire regularly, hath you never seen a dead woman before?"
"Many times," said Elisa, getting to her feet, "but never like this. I'm a detective, not a mortician."
"Observe," said Rota, pointing to the ground. In the puddle of dried blood was a print made by a shoe, and nearby was an odd hoof-print, "She was not alone."
Elisa glanced at little splotches of blood going off in the other end of the alley, fading until the footprints were totally clean. A pair of hooves and a pair of human shoes walked side by side.
"Is that a succubus?" asked Elisa, pointing to the hooves.
Owen nodded, "Yes," he sniffed the shoe print first, then the hoof, "She didn't use any Blasnar on him."
"It adds up," Odin noted, "She used her other powers, and has appeared to have kidnapped this woman's companion."
"It depends on your definition of kidnap," said Owen, straightening his glasses.
"What powers?" asked Elisa, brushing her blue-black hair out of her eyes.
"The succubi have a form of hypnotism at their disposal," Owen replied, "They can induce the idea of pure trust into their victims, it just makes their job one step easier."
Garm sniffed the ground, then he growled, pointing towards the opposite side of the alley. The pendant flashed pink, and in a blurred eruption of light, the party disappeared again.

Goliath's eyes lit up like twin pools of light. He resisted the urge to growl and burst out of his stone skin as he noted the form in his arms. He moved his arm a little, sprinkling shard of stone to the courtyard below, and felt the sleeping gargoyle's neck. Brooklyn was alive, just sleeping.
Goliath flexed his wings and tail, quietly cascading stone around his battlement. The snarls from below indicated that the rest of his clan was awakening. Goliath jumped off the battlement, spreading his wings to alight softly on the stone floor.
Hudson looked at him quizzically. It wasn't every day that a gargoyle walks up to you half in and half out of his stone skin. Pieces of Brooklyn's shell were peeling off as well.
"Here," said Broadway, outstretching his arms. Goliath deposited his second in command into Broadway's waiting arms and shook the rest of his skin off.
Angela deflected a shard or two with a flap of her wing, "We can probably use the infirmary as a bed for him," she said, motioning for Broadway to follow her into the castle.
Goliath walked towards the castle, to see David Xanatos in his grey suit coming towards him, "Owen left," he said, "and Miss Maza went with him."
"What?" Goliath asked, "Together?"
"I believe I implied that," said Xanatos.
"Where'd they go?" asked Hudson, walking up to stand beside Goliath.
"I don't know," said Xanatos helplessly.
"I do."
Goliath glanced frantically around for the owner of the voice, who appeared from out behind his battlement, "Hello, Goliath," she greeted.
"Who are you?" the lavender gargoyle asked.
"My name is Hel, I am Death," she said, "Elisa is safe, for the time being. She is with Owen and Odin."
"Odin?" asked Lexington, "What's he doing in Manhattan?"
"Why are you here?" asked Hudson.
She sighed, "I am the only on who can get this message to you. I wasn't asked to, and I can't stay long. Elisa, Owen, and Odin and his Valkyries are searching out the root of the Blasnic Disciples."
"Alone?!" Goliath demanded.
"No," said Hel patiently, "She's in very capable hands. Odin will protect her, and so will the Valkyries. She is safe," she assured, "at the moment."
"What do you mean?" asked Xanatos.
"They haven't found the Blasnar headquarters," said Hel, "they know who they're looking for, but I don't think any of them realize just how venomous their sting can be."
"How can we follow?" asked Hudson.
Hel smiled, "My dog, Garm, is guiding this little party around Manhattan. He has a very distinctive scent," she glanced at Bronx, who was sitting on his haunches nearby, "I believe that your watchdog can find it fairly easily, or perhaps you'll find another form of information."
"Why don't you tell us where the headquarters are?" asked Lexington.
The Mistress of Death smiled lightly, "That wouldn't be any fun, now, would it? Gotta run." And in a burst of flame she disappeared.
All four glanced at Bronx, who was vigorously scratching his collar.

Elisa looked at the fiery sky still red from sunset, "Maybe I should call them," she said.
"No time, Detective," said Owen, "although I'd feel safer with them with me as well."
"The base lies ahead," said Hlathguth.
"Oh god," said Elisa, for before them was a place of great remembrance, great sadness, and great events. Before them stood St. Damion's Cathedral.

Eyes near to blindness watched from through the condemned, stained glass windows of the cathedral. Teens came to St. Damion's on dares or rebellion, which made this an excellent centre for feeding.
Ja'Hira brought Bruce forward, "I'm taking him below," she told Shaff, "I don't want him getting killed in the imminent crossfire." She made for the staircase, which descended into the basement of St. Damion's.
Shaff blinked his black eyes and returned to watching the party, "What does it look like to you?" he asked Afferial.
"An all out offensive," she said, "Do you think they'll wait for the gargoyles?" she asked, turning to Shaff.
"Not with Puck," he said, "he knows that we know they're there, and he knows that if he waits for Goliath, by the time he gets here, there'll be nothing left of them but a few cinders, and we'll have moved on."
"Is she taking the one you were able to transform?" asked Shaff.
"Not yet," said Afferial, "We have a few succubi feeding on him right now. We're not going to waste him, and I expect him to die sooner or later."

Hlathguth sifted through her pendants. She found one with a silk ribbon going through a wooden, spade shaped pendant with a hollowed out centre and a few holes drilled into it.
"Call him," she said to Elisa.
Elisa warily took the pendant and spoke into the holes, "Goliath. It's Elisa, come to St. Damion's Cathedral, and hurry, no time to explain."

Goliath perked up his ears, "Elisa?"
Hudson shot him a quizzical glance, "Goliath, are you all right?"
Goliath listened to silence for a moment, then his eyes narrowed, "Lexington, get Broadway and Angela. We have to leave. Hudson, come with me, you three catch up."
Goliath jumped off the battlement, and Hudson scooped Bronx up in his arms and followed with a flap, "Lad, where are we going?"
"To find Elisa," said Goliath, "she's in danger."
Hudson huffed and flapped again, "Boy," he said to Bronx ruefully, "grow some damn wings."
"I'll take him if you wish," Goliath offered.
Hudson glared at his clan leader, "I cin handle it meself, if y'don't mind."
Goliath cracked a small smile, "As you wish, my mentor."

Lexington spread his arms and caught the wind. He squinted into the distance, "I think I see them . . . no, that's a bird. There!" he pointed to the north. He turned to suit his new course.
Angela and Broadway followed with a flick of their wings.
"What's northward?" asked Angela.
"I don't know," said Lexington, "Goliath just told us to follow."
The three glided through the night in silence for a few minutes, "Look," said Broadway, "they're landing."
Lexington watched the pair of small blotches alight, then put on an extra burst of speed to catch up.

"They're here!" Shaff screeched, "How did they get them?" he demanded.
"Hlathguth!" Afferial swore, "Her and her necklaces."
"Damn her," Shaff sighed, "Well, might as well take the moment." He turned to the assembled race of demons, all in their black velvet cloaks, "Let's go."

Goliath hadn't even landed when the ranks of the succubi and incubi poured out of St. Damion's Cathedral. The Valkyries flicked their wrists to summon up shining axes, spears, and swords.
A succubus reared up in the opening the hovercraft had made and shot a flaming ball at them. Hlathguth raised her shield, and the fireball dissipated on contact. Goliath folded his wings across his back and dived at the succubus. She turned, and reared back to throw another flaming missile, but Goliath shouldered her hard. She flew back to hit with a crunch against a pillar.
Outside, the three younger gargoyles were just arriving, and they each picked out one of the demons and literally glided into them.
Afferial was Lexington's target.
She hopped back. Lex had to spread his wings again to keep from pile-driving into the dirt. Afferial snarled and lashed out with her flaming lance. Lexington ducked, and neatly swept her feet out from under her. He jumped at the fallen demon. She laid down on her back, curled up into a ball, and kicked out her legs at the moment the small gargoyle was in range. Her feet connected with his stomach hard, knocking him back. The little green creature rolled, then jumped up to his feet. Afferial charged with her lance extended. Lexington decided to use his advantages at that point. He took a big leap, so he was hovering a couple of metres above the ground, and, when Afferial was in the right position, skillfully back-flipped, the talons on his feet clashing painfully into her face. Then he landed to lunge at her. She countered with a roundhouse, and then raised her lance to strike him. It sizzled as he rolled away and it hit the damp ground. The flames abruptly vanished, and the grabbed the lance by the blade, shoving the butt onto his chest. Lex shouted out in pain and began kicking in vain to be free from the painful wood sticking into his chest. Afferial kicked him in the face, then a second time, then a third; he was dazed. The fourth blow to the face from her clawed feet rendered him senseless.
The succubus smiled, picked up the unconscious creature, and made back towards St. Damion's Cathedral.
A succubus lunged at Rota. She smiled winsomely, pulling a spear from behind her back. She loved seeing the look of hopeless terror on her enemy's face as she suddenly found Rota's spear sticking out her back.
An incubus jumped up on Elisa's back. She screamed, grabbing his arm, and twisting until his hand was the wrong way. He cried out, rolling off of her, and then rising up to make another charge. He found himself on the wrong side of Elisa's bullets.
Odin, his massive polar bearskin cloak swaying behind him, wielded a gargantuan ax, which he used to divide many of the succubi and incubi. He hacked his way over to Elisa, "Are you in need of any assistance, Lady Maza?" he asked, casually slicing the torso off of an oncoming incubus.
"I can handle myself fine, thank you," she said, kicking an incubus away with a neat roundhouse.
"You'd make a fine Valkyrie," Odin complimented.
Elisa nodded, "Thanks."
Hudson roared as he made a hawk dive onto a succubus who was about to jump Owen, "Ye'd better watch yer back there, lad," the old gargoyle noted as he beat his captive into unconsciousness with the hilt of his sword.
Owen wielded his stone fist with excellent precision against the demonic forces, "I'm watching it fine enough, thank you."
"Just observing," said Hudson, shrugging innocently. A succubus suddenly lunged at him to clamp onto his face like a vice. Hudson felt it suddenly go limp and was pulled off by Sváva's spear, "Keep your eyes on your own back," she suggested.
"I'm doin' just fine, lass," said Hudson, parrying off a lance with his sword. He deflected another swipe and lunged to impale the incubus on his sword. He smiled defiantly at Sváva.
She looked at him with hopeless eyes, "Congratulations." She then threw her spear. It went completely through one succubus, then caught another and went from that one into an incubus. She raised an eyebrow at Hudson.
"Ach, ye show off."
Broadway was making excellent use of his tail. Fighting alongside Angela and the Valkyrie Hrist, the three moved through their ranks devastating all the demonic prostitutes in their way.
He tripped an incubus with his tail. The incubus lurched upwards and leapt over him to begin ravaging Hrist. Angela grabbed him around the waist and heaved him into an oncoming succubus. The pair rolled away from them.
Hrist beheaded an incubus with her ax, "Battle!" she cried, "'Tis the best way to get the blood flowing, no?"
"One of em," said Broadway, smiling slyly at Angela.
The lavender gargoyle glared at him as she head-butted a succubus to the ground.
Bronx and Garm were ravaging the enemy forces. Garm went directly for the face and began to chew at it relentlessly. Bronx, on the other hand, would jump up and head-butt them with his hard, bony brow. That blow knocked most of the demons down, and they usually couldn't get up in time to keep from being trampled.
Ja'Hira appeared in the huge hole in the cathedral wall, "My people!" she cried, "to me!"
Every succubus and incubus turned from their battle to their leader. They scrambled back towards the cathedral, some on all fours.
"After them!" cried Odin. The Valkyries screamed out a battle-cry and charged the cathedral. But they were too late.
An incandescently blue, fiery pillar of light burst through the cathedral roof and into the sky, sending pieces of the rooftop over the surrounding area. There was another spherical burst of light that literally blew St. Damion's Cathedral apart from the inside. Goliath, Hudson, and Broadway turned their backs to the oncoming shrapnel and spread their wings to protect the party.
Broadway winced as stained glass stung into his back and wings. Elisa and the others ducked down to avoid pillars of former rafters flying over their heads.
Elisa squinted into the huge stream of light still issuing from what once was St. Damion's Cathedral. The vague figures and shadows of the succubi rushed up inside of it into the night sky. Finally, after a good minute, the figures disappeared and the pillar of light dispersed light a piece of paper that had just met an oncoming waterfall.
Then, there was silence.
Hudson turned as the faint sound of gasping sobs came from behind him.
Hrist knelt at the side of Mist, who had the broken point of a lance protruding from her ribs. The rest of the lance was clutched in the cold, dead fingers of a succubus a few metres away, who seemed to have misplaced
"You fought valiantly, sister mine," Hrist said, her voice broken by strangled sobs, "May thine passing not be in vain. Fare thee well, Mist."
And with that, the dead Valkyrie dissolved into the mist she was named after, and all that remained was a small cloud of fog over a puddle of blood. Garm sniffed at the puddle, and then let back his head and howled in sorrow.
The Valkyries bowed their heads in profound silence, and then Odin knelt beside Hrist, and scooped up some of Mist's blood into a small crystal bottle. He corked it, and then returned it to a pouch in his belt, "Thine memory shalt last as long as the mountains hold their stone within, and should one day they crumble, we will still remember thee, Mist."
The Valkyries silently grieved for their sister, as the snow began to fall on the ruins of St. Damion's Cathedral, and the ravaged bodies of the succubi and incubi around it.

The translocation of such massive proportions had drained the succubus and incubus sorcerers of their reserves. The energies needed had backlashed like a slingshot to obliterate St. Damion's Cathedral. Ja'Hira had hoped the backlash would be powerful enough to wipe out Odin's party, but they had been not. She wasn't overly disappointed at that. But no, what to do with this young one?
Lexington, the small, bald, green gargoyle had been struggling at his chains since he awoke. Even his tail was shackled. He was very relentless, and had hardly tired since his awakening.
Ja'Hira sized him up. His size hardly betrayed his age, but the succubi have an uncanny ability to tell certain things about people from their dark eyes. She guessed he was in his teen years, but had been probably a premature birth, that was why he was so small. His wing type was very useful, very comparable to an advanced version of a flying squirrel, as it had easy maneuverability and, with his build, good speed. His long tail indicated good balance, which could infer that he had excellent ground speed too. She could hardly guess at his intelligence. His constant struggling could suggest that he was too stupid to come up with anything useful, so he was simply keeping occupied, but then, he could be making her think that he was a dufus, and was coming up with an escape plan as he struggled. His fighting style with Afferial had reported tactical smarts, but then, it was unnatural for a gargoyle not to have tactical smarts.
Ja'Hira decided to make her debut at that point. She would have hypnotized him for better answers, but the gargoyle mind was much more complex than the human mind, and the succubi had not yet fully mastered the art of controlling a gargoyle's. If she had tried, she could have caused brain damage, and she didn't want him hurt; yet.
She opened the wooden door to the dungeon, "Hello," she said calmly.
"Who are you?" demanded Lexington, "Where am I?" he said, still pulling at the chains.
"You're wasting your time, hon," she said, pointing to the chains, "that's adamantine, even Goliath couldn't break out, much less you."
Lexington looked a bit offended for a moment.
"Sorry," Ja'Hira apologized, "My name is Ja'Hira, I belong to the Ninety-Second Brood."
"I would say it's nice to meet you, but I wouldn't want to lie."
"If this was an interrogation, it would be a breeze," said Ja'Hira, removing her hood.
Lex stared at the wings in her forehead, "What are you?"
Ja'Hira dropped her entire robe to the floor. She was dressed sparingly with what looked like a bathing suit without shoulder bands, and split down the middle to the belt, where stitches held the top together. She had a skirt that looked like wings folded across her pelvis, which covered a translucent, pink skirt. She didn't have any footwear, but had hooves instead. Probably the most complete piece of clothing on her was the yellow sash diagonally across her chest boasting a bright orange Beta symbol beside a knife of the same colour.
"I am a Succubus," she said.
Lexington thought a moment, then shook his head, "I don't know what that is."
Ja'Hira made a little glare at him with her dark eyes, "Meanwhile, you could identify a centaur at a single glance." She sighed, "It's sad that the better species are scarcely known about in the mortal world."
"Why are you doing this?" he asked.
"My dear, sweet little creature," she said, "Why do the lions hunt the gazelle?"
Lex shrugged, "To eat?"
"Why do they eat?"
"To stay alive?"
"Yes," said Ja'Hira, smiling, "But what's the point in their living. It doesn't accomplish much."
Lexington shrugged again, "Well, they breed."
"Exactly," said Ja'Hira, "Everything they do is not for their individual survival, but the prosperity of their race."
"You're killing people to breed?"
"You're missing the point, I'm afraid," said Ja'Hira, "Killing them is something we don't really want to do, it just happens anyway. We don't need them anymore, however."
"I'm lost."
She turned to look at him, "Shame," she said, "I am a succubus, my male counterpart is an incubus."
"Why don't you have kids with him?"
"Because he's my brother," she said, "We can't breed good children by ourselves. We need our master. He bears us in batches. But since we all came from him, we're all siblings."
"So why do you need humanity if you've got your master?" asked Lexington.
"He's dead," said Ja'Hira, "and with the release of energy caused by his death, we were able to reopen the celestial gates and enter the mortal plane once more."
"So you drug humans, screw them, and have kids?"
"It's a little more complicated than that," Ja'Hira explained, "We miss the One greatly, but we must move on. By giving them the blood of vampires and fae, we are able to transform humans into demons. We are demons too. And children can only be produced from the same species. The Blasnar discipline gave us the chance to accomplish that."
"That's not true," said Lexington, "A long time ago, human and gargoyle hybrids were born."
"Human and gargoyle are not as different as they may seem to you," she said, "They are both creatures of Order, while demons are creatures of Chaos."
"Oh," said Lex, nodding, "Those species." He then looked up at her with realization, his eyes wide.
A smile crept on to her dark lips, "Yes."
The door opened and Afferial entered, a swaddling bundle in her arms. She handed it to Ja'Hira. The succubus turned it and showed it to Lexington, "Behold, the Demonchild. The new generation."
Lexington stared in horror at the tiny, pale babe, horns coming from his head, and those black eyes, void of any substance whatsoever.

Goliath sat with his back against the fence in the ruins of St. Damion's Cathedral. Elisa was curled up in his lap, her hand on his shoulder, and her head in his chest. She was sleeping soundly, and by the way she slept like a log, it looked like she deserved it.
They had managed to hide away in the church steeple, which had detached, fallen, and now served as a spacious room.
Angela came back in with Broadway, "We've looked everywhere," she reported, "there's no sign of him."
"Are ye sure, lass?" asked Hudson.
"He isn't here," Broadway stated, rubbing a gouge on his arm, "he might have gotten away on his own, but he is no longer here."
"I'm going to assume that the succubi took him," said Goliath.
"Is that what we were fighting?" asked Broadway, sitting down beside his leader.
Goliath nodded.
"What were they?" asked Angela, sitting down beside Broadway.
Hudson groaned as he slid down the wall to sit beside Goliath, "The Succubi are demons from Hell," he explained.
Bronx laid down beside Hudson and snuggled up under his arm. He patted the horned head fondly.
"I thought that they weren't real," he admitted, "It's ironic, eh? I believe in lotsa stuff that it turns out dinna exist, an' when I finally don't, they turn out to be the real deal."
Odin walked over to Goliath and stood before him.
"You'll forgive me if I do not stand and bow, Lord," said Goliath, motioning to Elisa.
"Of course, Goliath," said Odin, nodding. He pointed Hrist, who was curled up in a little ball, lovingly holding the bottle of Mist's blood to her chest, "My Valkyries and I aren't taking Mist's death very well, I'm afraid."
"We don't expect you to, my friend," said Goliath.
Odin glanced at the assembled clan, "Did you not have another with you? He was small, green, and with not a strand of hair on his head."
"Yes," said Goliath, his eyes narrowing, "Lexington. We believe the succubi took him."
"Blasted concubines of Satan," Odin cursed them.
Broadway raised both eyebrows, "Now that is one I haven't heard before," he whispered to Angela.
Rota walked up, holding an antique looking battle-ax in her hand, "Father Lord," she said to Odin, "Hlathguth found this. It's Mist's ax." She diverted her eyes to Hrist for a moment, "We thought maybe you should give it to her."
Odin nodded, putting his ax on his belt and taking Mist's ax, "I will. Thank you."
She nodded, "Of course."
"Anything else?" he asked.
"Oh," said Rota, as if just remembering something. She pulled two torn, blood-stained rags from her girdle, "We found these on the bodies."
Odin examined them. One was an off-turquoise with a green fang and a red drop of blood embroidered into it. The other was a Dark, metallic blue, and stitched into it was an Omega symbol, within which was a pair of horns, "Damn," he swore.
"What is it?" asked Goliath.
Elisa sprung up, "Wha . . . What?"
"These are from two separate broods," he explained, "This means that there could be three, four, maybe even five broods working together."
Elisa pouted, "I'd hoped it was a bad dream."
"We have to find them before daybreak," said Odin, "They know that your clan is involved, and would like nothing better than to take you out of the equation."
"Where do we find them?" asked Hudson, "Ye canna just look 'em up in ee yellow pages."
"What's a yellow page?" asked Rota.
"A form of information for humans," explained Elisa, "we use it to find other organizations."
Rota nodded in approval, "An efficient means of information."
"To answer your question," said Odin to Hudson, "we'll need a piece of clothing, or a prized possession of the lost one. Mist is dead, and we miss her greatly, but we must move on; avenge her."
Broadway thought a moment, "I'll go get his laptop."

Lexington was feeling sick. He knew the implications of demon hybrids. Since they were born on earth, they couldn't be banished back to their realm. He knew that the only way to neutralize it was to kill it. But it was only a baby. He thought about Alexander, and how young he was. Alex was innocent, he didn't know what he was doing, and Lex didn't blame him for the magical mishaps that he could summon. This Demonchild didn't know either. He couldn't help who his parents were. It was different with purebreds, their consciousness was awakened before birth. At the moment of their existence, they knew exactly what they were doing.
Lexington didn't know Ja'Hira's plans for him, but he didn't want to hang around too long to find out. Pure adamantine is very hard to break out of, however, and the only thing clawing at them would do was dull his talons, and he liked his talons. He never even gave serious speculation to chewing himself out; that was just ridiculous.
So it was about the time when his teeth started to hurt from chewing on the chains that he did something he'd never done before. He sat down, looked up to the ceiling, and prayed.
"OK, God," he said, "bear with me, I'm an amateur. Look, I know I'm not exactly you're most promising worshipper, but I do believe that you are there." He gulped, "Uhh . . . I remember back in Scotland, how we were trained to be fearless, and we weren't allowed to be afraid of anything. But I am. I realize that you're busy, but . . . I could really use a little divine intervention."
He bowed his head, then snapped back quickly, "Amen." He said.

Broadway alighted with the beige laptop in his hand. Duct tape was all over it, showing signs of tampering by the gargoyle's little brother. He walked over to Sváva, "Here," he said.
"My thanks," she said, taking it. She looked it over, "What is this contraption."
"A human toy," said Hudson, "Lexington seems ta find amusement in it."
"I know it's not much, but it's the best I could do," said Broadway.
Sváva nodded and walked over to the assembled Valkyries around a ring of several necklaces, surrounded by home-made candles. They were actually balls of wax with wicks in the middle.
"I need a map," said Hlathguth.
Elisa pulled out a map of New York from her jacket and handed it to Hlathguth. She opened it and set it upon the necklaces in the circle. Then she detached a chunk of amethyst from a necklace pendant around her belt and set it on the centre of the map.
"Find me the owner of this," said Sváva, holding the computer over the map. The candles suddenly flared a lavender flame and the amethyst glowed a purple light.
A violet shot of lightning suddenly jumped out of the amethyst and crackled over the laptop computer, running through the keys and into the disk drives.
After a thorough search over the computer, the lightning collected at the bottom and shot back into the amethyst. Sváva withdrew the computer.
The amethyst in the centre of the map suddenly levitated and, still glowing, moved over the map. It stopped a moment over a symbol on the map.
Elisa glanced at where the stone floated, "That's St. Damion's; where we are."
The stone then moved away from the church, it's rays of violet light shining all over the map, then it stopped, alighted, and stopped glowing.
The candles made a burst of blinding light and went out, leaving only a sweet smelling wisp of smoke hanging in the air.
"That proves that Lex was abducted," said Broadway, "he may be quick, but he couldn't cover that much ground in such a short time."
Owen picked up the stone, "I know where that is," he said. Then he narrowed his eyes, scanning the map, "This makes sense. It's an abandoned subway. But it's in the centre of all of the rape locations."
"Why can't we use Garm to track them down?" asked Elisa, "And how do we know they just won't blow up the subway and leave like they did here?"
"That was translocation," Sváva explained, "It's a lot different than physical travel, and Garm isn't that good."
"And a translocation of that magnitude is like running all day, everyday for a month," said Rota, "It just tires you out. There were at least two broods here, probably more, and no matter how many sorcerers they have, the succubi can't do that again without at least a few days rest."
"That's not necessarily true," said Owen, "it still depends on how many broods we're talking about," he pushed his glasses up, "they could have sorcerers in waiting. Ones who build up their strength while the others are working, and once team A runs out of energy, they take up the torch."
"Plausible," Sváva considered, "Highly unlikely, though."
"I disagree."
"They call you the Trickster for a reason," Rota said coldly.
"We aren't getting anywhere arguing," said Goliath, getting to his feet, and helping Hudson to his, "let's get going to this subway. The sun isn't going to wait for us."

Lexington had kind of hoped that some divine intervention would have intervened by now, but he wasn't about to rush God. He had learned as a hatchling how to treat people who are in the position to grant you favours.
Ja'Hira opened the door and entered, absent of her cloak, and only with the wing-like skirt and scandalous top, "Good night, Lexington," she greeted. She sat down cross-legged in front of him, "How are you holding up?"
"Fine," he said, "I'm singing country songs in my head."
Ja'Hira leaned back laughing, "You're a funny little creature, Lex."
"Thanks so much," said Lexington, "you have no idea what it means coming from you."
Ja'Hira frowned a little, "Oh come now, Lex," she protested, "I'm not all that bad. Do you hate the fish for eating the bug?"
"I wouldn't compare humanity to a bug," said Lex, "and I wouldn't want to insult fishkind."
"Ooh," said Ja'Hira, narrowing her eyes with a small smile on her face, "Nasty. But really, Lex, this is my form of survival. You have your own, I have mine."
"Mine doesn't involve the decimation of an entire race," said Lex.
"Doesn't it?" the succubus asked, "Have you ever had tuna?"
"Yeah."
"Do you know how many dolphins drown from being caught in tuna nets?"
Lex tilted his head, "For one thing, that's by accident, for another, the dolphins aren't on the verge of extinction because of it."
"Three billion people, Lex," said Ja'Hira, "I think the world could stand to lose a few."
"Those are all people!" said Lex, "Who the hell are you to decide who goes and who stays? It's not your place! Are you so arrogant to think that what you're doing is right?"
"Not arrogant, Lex," said Ja'Hira, "Just right," she walked on her knees towards him, "The ends don't justify the means . . . for a few centuries. Human history, as well as your own, is full of bloody conflict, slaughter, genocide; you name it, you've done it. And for what? The secured illusion of knowing that your pathetic little lives are 'happy?' Meanwhile they live to satisfy the man upstairs. In a few decades, my people, and maybe even your own, will praise what I did here. Why? Because they will be happy, Lex. Humanity here knows that what they have now was achieved through hell's manifestation on Earth. But they don't care. They don't care that races were wiped out of existence for their contentment. Really, Lex, I thought you knew better."
He didn't have a witty comeback for that one.
Ja'Hira smiled, and rose, patting him on the head, "I'll be back to check in on you later," then she walked out the door.
But not before pausing and turning back, "Think about it, Lex. Humanity is a plague. You should know that better than most. We would be better off without them," she began to close the door, "I doubt Mother Nature will mourn them," the door clinked shut.

Elisa was green with envy. While Goliath could read writing at the end of a dark subway track, she couldn't see three feet in front of her. Hlathguth didn't want to use any of her amulets because she was afraid that succubus sorcerers would detect it.
Elisa glanced back occasionally to look at Hrist. The Valkyrie was walking slowly, at a steadied pace, behind the main party. She had her own flail at her belt, while she handled Mist's battle ax, turning it over in her hands.
"Shouldn't someone talk to her?" Elisa asked Rota.
The Valkyrie glanced over her shoulder at Hrist, then shook her head, "We don't like to express too much sympathy, Lady Maza," she explained, "That isn't what she wants. If we begin to console her she'll think we think less of her, that we've lost some respect for her."
Elisa frowned, "That doesn't seem good to me."
Rota put a hand on Elisa's shoulder, "We all grieve in different ways. Humans seem to find outlets in talk; society. We find it in violence. When we feel bad, we rip out someone's entrails. It's our way."
"That's interesting," said Elisa blandly, "The sight of entrails seldom does anything but sour my mood."
"Different people," Rota shrugged, "Different ways."
"I'm sure," Elisa agreed. She shivered, hugging herself for warmth.
At the head of the party, Owen accompanied the bearskin-garbed Odin and the massive, lavender Goliath.
"What do you suppose the succubi intend to do with Lexington?" asked Goliath.
"Never be confused by the minds of a demon;" Odin said philosophically, "That may be their intent."
Owen raised an eyebrow at the god and then turned to Goliath, "The succubi use a form of hypnotism to reduce their prey to helpless victims," he explained, "but the gargoyle mind is much more complex than the human. Last I heard, they hadn't quite unlocked its secrets."
"Will they kill him?" he demanded.
Owen shook his head, "Ritualistic sacrifice is messy. The succubi never got into it, the Blasnar did, but that was only for vampires and fae. If they'd wanted to kill him, they would've on the battlefield. I can't say really what they want with him. I might if I knew their grand plan, but I don't."
"There," said Angela, pointing at the end of a tunnel, where a faint light was pulsing from a hole in the ceiling.
"I saw it," said Hudson defensively.
Rota put a sarcastically sympathizing arm around the old gargoyle's shoulders, "Of course you did," she said. Hudson elbowed her away, and she fell on the floor cackling wildly.
Hlathguth leaned over to Elisa, "The humans used to call her the Maker of Mischief," she explained.
"That helps a lot," said Elisa gratefully. Then she turned, "What were you called?"
Hlathguth smiled, "The Wearer of Many Necklaces."
Since Rota had the darkest hair and skin, it was her who crept up around the hole to have a look, while the others stayed off a bit. After a little examination, they saw her hoist herself up so that just her neck and head were over the surface. Then she silently fell back down, backed off, and pulled out a barbed sling from her belt. She swung it a few times, then let it go towards the hole. There was a faint gurgle, and then Rota pulled the sling back, dragging a dead incubus with it. She motioned them to follow her, and then disappeared up the hole.
Goliath merely hopped to get up the opening, and it revealed a condemned subway station, complete with a cobweb-infested subway train. He reached down and hoisted Elisa up. She spit out the dust that sprung up as she landed on the floor, "This went down beyond repair a while ago, mostly thanks to the youth in the area," she explained, "The city stores junk trains here."
Goliath glanced at his surroundings. There were a few lights on in the subway cars, and even some up the stairs.
"If we locate their centre, we might be able to overthrow them," said Odin.
Sváva crept through an open door, neatly slitting the throat of a nearby succubus and lodging her ax in another's head, "This way," she whispered.
The unusual party followed her into the subway car.

Lexington had come to the conclusion that this was all trying to break him. He knew what loneliness could do to people. So he kept his mind occupied. First he thought about all the features he wanted on his webpage, which was in the works, but he got bored of that, so he went over the entire scripts of some memorable movies. He was actually surprised at how well he remembered them.
"What about the Danny I met at the beach?" he asked, raising his voice an octave.
"Well, I dunno," he responded to himself, taking on a tough, seventies "cool-guy" accent, "Maybe you should post a missing persons notice or something."
After he had gone through the entire soundtrack of Grease, he took to singing just normal songs. He tried keeping them up-beat and happy, as to not lower his already deteriorating disposition.
"It's the end of the world as we know it, it's the end of the world as we know it; and I feel fiiiiiiiiiine. Six o'clock! TVO! . . . something . . . something . . . . . . uhh . . . damn."
The door unlocked and Ja'Hira entered, "Hi Lex," she said happily, and she assumed the usual, cross-legged pose in front of him, "How are you."
"Just fine, thanks," he said, humming "Pretty Fly for a White Guy" by Offspring.
"That's very good," she said. Then she frowned, tilting her head, "You're not happy."
"I'm as joyful as a horny cat in mating season," he replied.
"No, not about now," she said, "I mean about everything. You don't think that you pull your weight in the clan."
All that mental strength he had been building up suddenly lost all its support and came crashing down like a weak bridge.
"Your clan doesn't matter anymore, Lex," she said, "They will be out of the equation."
Lex's eyes widened at her. She crawled towards him on her knees, "There was nothing I could do, Lexington," she protested, "the vampires got them and . . . they didn't leave any of them alive."
He couldn't believe this.
"Join my clan, Lexington," she said.
He turned to her with wide eyes, "What?"
"Join me," she repeated, "We're family here. I'll reward you, Lex. I can give you gifts you haven’t even imagined possible. I can make you stronger than Goliath, more charming than Brooklyn, more wise than Hudson . . . anything you want."
She leaned up to him, "Your wish is my command."
If you ever talk to Lexington, I'm afraid he'll reveal to you the sad truth, which I must admit I was tempted to gloss over. He did consider her offer. Maybe it was just for a split second, but he did consider her offer. I say now that I was disappointed, but let's all face it: anything your wildest dreams can come up with is a very attractive proposition.
Then he looked at her. Her dark lips, her black eyes, and the wings shuddering from her forehead, and he answered her offer.
Lexington lurched forward and grabbed Ja'Hira by the wing coming out of her forehead in his pincer-sharp teeth. Her blood filled his mouth, and she screamed, trying at first to pull away, but soon only to pry his jaws open to remove her wing. But he held on tight, ravaging back and forth and shifting his jaw to grind the wing into pulp.
Ja'Hira finally reared back, and punched him in the temple. He opened his mouth, and she fell back, clutching her crippled wing with rags of skin hanging from the bones.
Lexington spit out blood and pieces of skin. Ja'Hira stood up in front of him. He looked up, with blood gushing from his mouth, down his neck, and onto his chest. The succubus grabbed his ear and yanked it hard. So hard that for a minute, he could hear a thing from that side. He winced, but didn't cry out.
Her lip curled in disgust and she stormed out of the room, thrusting the door open and turning to the guard, "It is no longer of any use to us. Have it destroyed like the little pathetic insignificant animal it is." Then she took a glare at him with her jet-black eyes, and walked down the hallway.
Lexington turned away, licking blood from his chin and then spitting the bitter substance out, "Bitch."

"Have it destroyed like the little pathetic insignificant animal it is," the succubus said, then glanced in the room, turned, and stormed down the hallway.
"I know this is gonna sound really bad," said Broadway, "but I think she's talking about Lexington."
Angela glanced at him, "Nice," she said after a moment of silence.
"You know what I mean," he protested.
"No," she said mildly, shaking her head, "Why don't you explain it to me?"
Broadway made to say something but Rota put a hand on his shoulder, whispering, "She doesn’t mean it."
"Oh," he replied, "But he's the only one they'd be talking about."
"Shut up," said Rota, "That seems to be the best way to a successful relationship."
A Valkyrie threw an ax to rip through the incubus guarding the door, and they crept up to the door. Goliath tried as silently as he could to dismantle the wooden bar across the door, and then opened the door.
Lexington almost screamed when they appeared. Rota jumped over to him and clamped her hand over his mouth. She waited until he stopped being on the verge of hyperventilation, then she removed her hand.
"I knew you guys would come," he said in a whispered tone. Then he tugged at the chains, "This stuff is pure adamantine; I've been trying at it for hours."
He was a little embarrassed at the way Goliath tore the chains out of the wall. He then hung on for dear life to the closest thing, Rota.
"They're breeding," he gasped, "That's their plan. Their master is dead and they need children, so they're using the blood to turn humans into demons and procreate."
Owen and Rota exchanged horrified glances.
"Succubi have a twelve hour gestation period," said Rota, "and it takes only months for them to reach maturity." She turned to Goliath, "If we don't stop this here, in less than a year humanity will be overwhelmed."
"Yes," Odin agreed. He turned to his assembled Valkyries, "Attack with speed and fury. Leave none of the sluttish demons alive."
The Valkyries thrust their weapons into the air and screamed battle cries. Then, with their axes drawn, charged down the hall.

Ja'Hira turned to see an incubus split in two by the stampede of Valkyries. She turned and fled down the subway. Throwing her aura at the bars and chairs and throwing them in the warriors' way, she made much quicker going than her pursuers. She kicked open the subway door and ran alongside it until she reached the end, then she hopped down onto the track and continued to run, issuing orders to her guards, "Regroup at the Hive," she ordered, continuing to run, "We're under attack!"
She swerved to dive into a dark passageway dug out of the brick. She followed the uneven steps until she finally reached the huge cavern, lit by thousands of candles, and swarming with succubi, "Prepare for battle! The maidens of Odin have arrived, as well as Goliath and his clan. Protect the Demonchild at all costs," she commanded, "but make sure that none of them leave here alive."

Broadway found that the succubi were horrible fighters when they were in close quarters. Although they had a good build, they lacked physical strength, and were easily overcome. The incubi relied on their feet. They had longer claws than the succubi did, but in elbow-to-elbow combat, the majority of hits come from the fists. They didn't have enough room for kicking, and so they were quite simple to dispatch. A well-placed blow to the face could kill them, or even the standard breaking of the neck.
The succubi were a little more creative. They mostly threw aura blasts and fireballs. In close combat, fireballs can be deadly, as they are very hard to avoid, but after a few deflecting off Valkyrie shields, Broadway discovered a simple way to parry that attack. All the attacks were made within one or two feet, so when they gathered their aura, he simply grabbed their arm, twisted it the wrong way, and the rest was history.
He managed to be the first one out the subway train, and came to the station.
Sváva joined him, "Where'd they go now?"
Broadway knelt down, picking at the worn tiles. There were a trio of distinctive claw marks. Judging by the lack of dust, he assumed they were relatively early. He looked up, and pointed, "That way."
He stood and followed the claw marks alongside the car. After a few moments of examination, he realized that these would only be made if the bearer had been in quite a big hurry. He picked up the pace a little. At the end of the car, he spread his wings and hopped off to glide down the track, still following the tracks. It looked like his prey was gaining some friends. He suddenly came across a wide arc, and turned, only to bump into the wall and fall onto the tracks.
Sváva ran up beside him, "That looked like it hurt," she observed.
"It did," Broadway sat up, rubbing his spiny head. He looked up at the passage carved out of the side of the subway tunnel. He got up and went down the stairs. He and Sváva stopped at a large, black door.
The Valkyrie looked at him and nodded. He opened the door.
At least a hundred succubi soldiers stood on the lower level pointing countless spears and waiting fireballs directly at them. Broadway backed and closed the door again.
Sváva looked at him, "That doesn't look like my kind of welcome committee. Here," she reached into her pouch and pulled out a ball a little smaller than a tennis ball, it looked like there was a bright white light inside of it, but it didn't shine any light on Sváva, the door, or anything else in the room. It was as if it was trapped in the ball.
"Open the door," she commanded.
Broadway obeyed, and she hurled the ball into the crowd of succubi. The demons followed it with their eyes until it landed almost directly in the middle, and in a spurt of light, it sliced every succubus and incubus in a large radius in two.
"That'll cut down their ranks," said Sváva. She then put her arm around Broadway's shoulders, "Carry me."
"Yes, ma'am," he said, holding her by the waist. He then jumped off the upper catwalk they had emerged onto and glided down among the succubi. With Sváva hacking down at the demons and breaking their necks with well-placed kicks, and Broadway clawing at faces with his feet and picking succubi up with his tail to slam them down on top of others, they made a small dent in their ranks.
Then Goliath, Odin, and the Valkyries came bursting through the doorway. The Valkyries jumped off the ledge, axes swinging, to land in the succubi's ranks, while the gargoyles took to the air, Elisa in Goliath's arms.
A succubus fell jumped and hacked a large gouge in Goliath's wing. He cried out and fell.
Elisa rolled, drawing her gun, and rose to shoot the approaching succubi.
"Where's the leader?!" Hudson demanded, hacking away at an incubus with his sword.
"I don't know," Odin responded, "We must find her!"
The party battled their way slowly from the way they had entered towards the upper level on the other end and the dais where Afferial and Shaff stood, ready to defend themselves with their flaming lances, but not foolish enough to jump into the fray.
Suddenly, from the door behind the dais, there was a scream, and a succubus fell to the lower level with blood spurting from a wound in her neck.
Both forces turned and looked at the door, where three vampires stood in the doorway, armed to the fangs.
"Mind if we join the party?"