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.
Also, I've gotten a few mails regarding the Valkyries. To answer them, yes, the Valkyries are present in Norse myth, and the names used here are their actual names (I only had a few leading roles, it would get confusing otherwise).
This story involves adult content. Mature readers only.

Previously, on Gargoyles:

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."
"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."
"The Succubi"

Rota: "Succubi have a twelve hour gestation period, and it takes only months for them to reach maturity." "If we don't stop this here, in less than a year humanity will be overwhelmed."
Ja'Hira: "Join me," "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."
Lexington: *bites Ja'Hira's wing* "They're breeding," "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."
Alarnis: "Mind if we join the party?"
"Demonchild"

And now the conclusion . . .

*****

Ja'Hira clutched the demon babe to her chest. She had to put as much distance between her, the Vampires, and the Valkyries as possible. She threw her cape on as she clawed her way up the ladder towards the surface. Wrapping her leg around the ladder to ensure she wouldn't fall, and holding the baby in one hand, she used her free one to push the sewer plate off of the street. She peeped out and then climbed onto the street surface with as little people noticing her as possible. Finally, she reached the safety of an alley.
Ja'Hira stopped and gasped against the wall. Finally, after her pulse calmed down, she decided to think a little. Her priority was to protect the Demonchild. She glanced down at the pale baby. She'd have to get him into seclusion quickly. She couldn't stay in the open. A baby reaching the age of thirteen in months isn't exactly conspicuous. Not to mention the wings coming out of her head.
Two bases in one night, she thought, this must be some kind of record.
All of the forces at the Hall were dead. There was one alternative, though. A desecrated church practically on the other side of the city. There were Catacombs beneath it. If she could reach them, she could have the Demonchild smuggled to a more secured location. More to the point, out of the city. She might be able to run from the gargoyles, they seemed to be roosting in Manhattan.
Bruce was being kept at the catacombs, so the Spawner that Afferial had dragged in could be replaced. He was probably dead by now. The vampires could be dissuaded if they were encouraged to believe that they would no longer be harassed by Blasnic disciples. And they wouldn't be, they didn't really need that anymore. They had another vat of fae and vampire blood in the catacombs.
The Valkyries, however, were another matter. Odin was tenacious, so he wouldn't be stopped if she left. He'd follow her. So she had to outmaneuver him. But that would be very hard. She had sighted Garm, the hellhound, with them, which meant that she could be sniffed out from practically a continent away.
It had been a mistake to move so many broods to Manhattan, but now she would rectify the situation. She would spread the broods out, making sure that each one left Manhattan noisily, except her. Odin and his Valkyries were tactical geniuses, but when it came to simple logic, they weren't exactly academic miracles. Odin would be gullible enough to follow one of the other broods, but hers would quietly leave, with Bruce and the Demonchild, and set up a secured base somewhere else. Somewhere safe. There, they would feed Bruce the Blasnar blood, and then her sisters would breed with him, and her brothers would teach their children the way of the succubi, and after their army had amassed, and it would only take a year or two, they would attack.
Those humans who would not submit to be Spawners would be slaughtered in ritualistic cremations. The major powers would be attacked first; Russia, America, England. And then they would move on to the countries which posed less of a threat. In less than a year, the succubi would have total control over the entire globe. Then Ja'Hira would manifest her gods on Earth, and Oberon would be powerless to stop her. He would be forced to recall his children to Avalon.
And after all the death, carnage, and sex, the Succubi would have pure and undeniable dominance. And they would have Ja'Hira to thank. She would be raised to unequalled status. She smiled to herself. Funny how things work out that way.

Thruth was still talking to Lexington, and Lexington was still weeping on the dais. Goliath hated the feeling of decaying bodies beneath his feet, and so had Elisa, so he was carrying her. Owen and most of the Valkyries were examining the bodies for anything useful, while the rest of the Valkyries had left the stinking hall with Hudson, Angela and Broadway. Garm was feeding off of the previously examined bodies, and the Valkyries reprimanded him if he ate off of one they hadn't checked. Bronx followed Garm around, but didn't eat anything.
"How many sashes is that, Trickster?" asked Odin.
"Six," said Owen, "and we're hardly done."
"That's bad," said Odin.
"What's that mean?" asked Elisa.
"That there are six succubus broods working together," he said, "Probably more."
"How many succubi is that?" asked Goliath.
Odin thought a moment, "There's usually about fifty succubi in a batch. And there's much more than that here."
"What about incubi?" Elisa inquired.
"When I say succubi, I mean both," said Odin, "Forgive me, but I've been doing it for centuries. It's like saying mankind. You know I'm talking about women too."
"Oh."
Thruth came up to Odin, "Lex told me everything," she reported, "Ja'Hira told him that the One is dead, and the energy it took to kill him was used to open the Mystic Rift again."
"That's the gateway from there to here?" asked Elisa.
Odin nodded, "There used to be a perpetual Mystic Rift from there to here. We managed to seal it. The amount of energy it takes to make another only happened once, and that was when a cluster of suns went Super Nova at the same time."
"But then how did they open the Mystic Rift?" Goliath persisted.
"It's a mockery," Thruth explained, "It's only a one way ticket."
"So there's no way to send them home . . ." Elisa concluded.
"Not quite," said Thruth, "We can construct a one way portal back to their lands. If we do it right, we could make an astral vacuum that would suck every succubus and incubus on the planet into our portal."
Odin nodded, "Yes," he said, thinking to himself. Then he turned to Elisa, "Lady Maza, would you have access to a large amount of amethyst?"
Elisa blinked, "What kind of amounts are we talking about."
"Large amounts," said Thruth, "Just tell us where the nearest museum is."

Afferial threw up one last time and then kicked the grate off of the sewage tube. She had been wading on all fours through the things that people flush down their toilets for about half an hour. She fell into the murky pond of goop, gasping and gulping fresh, undiluted air. Then she waded through the waist-deep pond until she finally came ashore. She glanced back at the sewer. Someone had flushed a Rolex down the toilet. She tossed her stinking cloak off back into the pond, hopped the fence, and went for a walk. Being wet to the bone with pee and walking around with a cut-off bathing suit isn't the most fond feeling she had ever encountered, so Afferial went to get rid of the stench at the nearest resource: the Hudson.
She had crept out onto the pier and dived into the cold water. The succubi's native home is inexorably hot, and they are comfortable in heat. They had adapted to heat, but still, ice cold water is so relaxing. They seemed to have an unnatural tolerability for cold, too. She floated on her back with her wing-like skirt tight around her for a while. Afterwards, she couldn't be entirely sure if she had fallen asleep. It was beautiful, though.
Unlike most demons, succubi had a profound respect for beauty, and had always strove to make themselves more beautiful. And the calm of the river, the lights of the city, the stars in the sky, and the lapping of waves up against her body was one of the most lovely situations she had ever encountered. So, she stayed, lying on her back, and thought.
If Ja'Hira had survived the attack, which is most likely unless the vampires caught her on the way out, she would go to the catacombs underneath a church on the opposite side of the Brooklyn bridge. Afferial would meet her there. And if Ja'Hira didn't make it, Afferial would give the Spawner that Ja'Hira had brought in and breed with him. The Demonchild, if it was still alive, was of her blood. She wanted to make sure that the next one would be. If the first Demonchild to live to maturity was hers, she could very well secure a position in the new dominion her people would make. She glanced at the buildings. Humanity had tainted this planet enough. Now she would remove the dents that humanity had made. Purge the corruption; restore the beauty.
Her people would roam free along the planes of the Mother Realm, and she wanted to make sure she had a strong influence on their roaming.
She dunked her head under the water one last time, then swam towards the other side of the river, as the second snowfall of winter began.

Naturally, Hlathguth had been asked to carry out the deed. It wasn't really that hard. She had to go along the ceiling and glance in the skylights. Elisa had given her a vague idea, so she knew the relative area she was looking in.
She finally saw it. It was very pretty. Conveniently below a skylight, it was, to put it simply, a chunk of purple rock about the size of the average man's torso.
She drew her flail and smashed the skylight. Then, she jumped down. Any human would have died, but Hlathguth was a Valkyrie. She then used her flail to smash the display case. An alarm went off at that. She then drew her glowing sword an cut the rock lengthwise, to keep it longer, and took a purse out of her boot. The purse was of average size, but when she stretched it out and shoved the rock into it, it slipped in easily.
"Thanks, Perseus," she muttered, slipping the purse back into her boot and then hauling herself back out the skylight with the harpoon Rota had lent her.
By the time the police got there, she was several rooftops away.

Ja'Hira pulled her cloak tight around her in the gently falling snow. She cradled the Demonchild within her robe, keeping it close to her for warmth. She was afraid that maybe some of the human weakness had remained in the Spawner, and if that trait had been passed on to the Demonchild, he could catch cold.
So she used her body-warmth to keep him warm, while quietly stealing away towards the other side of town. She hoped that the blood from the cab driver had been cleaned off her hind claws by now; she didn't want any unsuspected followers pursuing her. She had just needed him to inconspicuously cross the Brooklyn Bridge.
Finally she arrived at the church, St. Julianna's. She had to wait a bit for a window of opportunity to open to allow her to enter the church without being noticed, and then she went down the winding stairway to the dark catacombs below.
An unexpected sight met her eyes, "Afferial!"
The green-haired succubus turned in surprise, "Ja'Hira!" she exclaimed, "Did it survive?"
Ja'Hira revealed her bundle.
Afferial ran up and hugged her, "You're brilliant," she commented, "Oh," she said, as if on an afterthought, "I'm pregnant again."
"Congratulations," said Ja'Hira, "when are you due?"
"Noonish," Afferial replied.
"Good," Ja'Hira glanced behind Afferial to see some succubi preparing an altar, "What's going on?"
Afferial turned to look at the altar and then at Ja'Hira, "We're performing some rituals that might de-sterilize the incubi. They want to have some part in the fun too."
"Where's Shaff?" asked Ja'Hira.
"Dead, most likely."
"Shame."
"Yes."

Hlathguth had once again instituted her pink amulet to get them to St. Julianna's. It didn't have the run-down look that St. Damion's did (or a large hole carved out by a hovercraft either) but you could tell that it hadn't been used, at least for masses, for quite a while.
From the outside, it appeared that it was completely uninhabited, but a quick glance through the windows told them otherwise.
Rota hopped off of the garbage cans they had piled up to make her report, "Apparently the other experiences have made them wary. They've tightened security in the entrance. We're outnumbered. I don't think that there's any danger involved in that, but if we make an attack, at least one of them is bound to flee from us."
"And warn their master," said Thruth, carving the final touches onto the obsidian hilt.
Hlathguth sighed, "I'm done," she announced doftly, showing off the fine blade of pure amethyst, "Anyone want this?" she asked, holding out the few chunks of rock which were left over.
"Ooh, yes," said Rota, snatching them from her hand, "These would make some really nice rings."
"Do you still have the vertebrate?" Hlathguth asked.
"Yes," said Rota, reaching into her satchel. She produced the bone fragment, which was still dripping pieces of meat and nerves.
Hlathguth laid the blade on the ground. Thruth then put the hilt down behind the blade, a few centimetres away from it, and then Rota placed the bone a few centimetres behind the hilt.
Hlathguth got out a wooden pendant with a cork in it. She removed the cork, and tapped a few drops of rust-coloured powder into her hand. Then she sprinkled the powder over the pieces of the dagger. The blade suddenly rushed up and with a loud click, connected, sending small fragments of amethyst and obsidian scattering in all directions. Then the vertebrate suddenly gleamed bright red, turned into what looked like a ruby, and connected with the hilt, sending fragments of obsidian coupled with this new stone flying away.
The red stone glowed, and then the amethyst blade glowed. Hlathguth put it in her boot, "All set," she said, corking the bottle and dusting her hands off.
"Why don't we just stab an icubus now?" asked Angela.
"Ja'Hira may have cast incantations on herself to make the astral vortex think that she isn't a succubus," Owen explained, "if we stab her, we'll kill her, and we can't have her remain of Earth."
"How do we know that all the succubi haven't had the same spell cast on them?" asked Broadway.
Owen shook his head, "It takes quite a lot of energy," he explained, pushing the bridge of his glasses up his nose, "They would never be able to cast the entire brood."
Odin stroked his snowy white beard thoughtfully, "I believe I have a plan."

The blue-white haired incubus leaned on his lance, "So," he asked his companion, "Get any good ones recently?"
The purple-white haired incubus looked up from his sitting position, "Nah," he responded, "human sex isn't what it used to be. Now you can buy it."
"Yeah," the pale incubus nodded in agreement, "it kinda takes the fun out of it. There's no passion."
The incubus who was sitting nodded wistfully, "Ah, passion. We hardly knew ye."
"Well, it's not that bad, Karul," said the first one, sitting down beside his brother, "It's a lot easier to get fed when there's whores roaming the street."
"I don't know, Hokin," said Karul, "Lust was really something I liked, and now it's all gone."
"Well," said Hokin, "Once Ja'Hira's done, we'll have plenty of food."
Karul stood up and stretched his arms, "So, are you gonna go for Afferial's fertility thing?"
Hokin nodded, "Yeah," he said, "I like the idea of a kid."
"It won't last too long," said Karul, "they grow up so fast."
"Well, at least they grow up," said Hokin, "we never did. We were born adults," he got up too, "It seems like we were missing something."
"Ah well," said Hokin, "we'll be up to our knees in little tykes soon enough."
"Yeah."
A stained glass window shattered and a dark haired Valkyrie landed lightly on her feet, baring her ax fearsomely.
Karul snarled and lunged at the Valkyrie, his lance pointed forward.
With a quick duck and a swipe, the Valkyrie sliced the lance in half.
Karul glanced at his broken lance once, then turned and ran. He grabbed Hokin's bare arm, "Come on," he said, running towards the door. Hokin threw his lance at the Valkyrie and ran for the doors.
A succubus screamed and fell from the doorway, her chest bleeding heavily from the blow of a flail. A blonde Valkyrie hopped in the door and bashed another succubus in the side of the head with her flail. Then the massive, lavender gargoyle and his kin came gliding in, clawing at the succubi with their deadly talons.
"Let's go!" said Karul, running for a window.
The wings around their hips came alive and they hopped up to smash through the windows, vigorously flapping their wings, and flew off into the night.

Odin drew his ax from the spine of a succubus, "Well, that's it," he announced.
"Except for the two that got away," said Rota, pointing out the window.
"I thought that those wings were fake," said Lexington.
"Oh," said Hlathguth, "Didn't we tell you they're not?"
"Not that I recall."
"Well, they aren't."
"Kinda figured."
"Sorry."
"So how do we get in?" asked Elisa, looking around at the dust-collecting pews, webbed altar, and dirt-clogged choir loft upstairs.
"Ee boys 'av already handled that, lass," said Hudson.
Garm and Bronx were noisily sniffing and whimpering as they scratched one of the pews.
Sváva walked over and knelt down feeling where they were sniffing, "There's a trap door," she announced.
"How do you open it?" asked Broadway.
Elisa squatted beside Sváva, "Feel around for a panel or something."
Sváva got up and kicked out the trap door.
Elisa glanced at the door in the floor and back at Sváva, "Or kick it."
"Sometimes the simplest solutions work best, Lady Maza," said Sváva apologetically.
Rota shoved Shaff forward, "Put him down first."
"But what if he gets away?" Sváva protested.

Shaff fell about ten feet, and after a few moments of silence, Rota hauled him back up on her harpoon.
"I think I dislocated my shoulder," said Shaff.
"Life 'twas never meant to be fair, lad," said Hudson, and then hopped down into the door. He landed on a moist stone floor, "Watch it," he called up, "tis slippery down 'ere."
Rota hopped down, staggered a bit, and fell. Elisa, Owen, and Sváva followed, and all three had the same fate. Most of the Valkyries did. The gargoyles, who had claws, however, did not.
Hlathguth guided them with the light of a clear quartz amulet. Elisa walked alongside the Valkyrie, slipped a little, and regained her footing. She glanced back, "Hrist still doesn't look that good," she noted.
"It hasn't even been a night," said Hlathguth, "how long would it take you to mourn for your sibling, Lady Maza?"
"Yeah, I know," said Elisa, "but don't you think someone should talk to her?"
Hlathguth shifted uneasily, "I hate to sound cold-hearted, Lady Maza, but we are a little busy."
"Yeah, I guess s-"
"Shh!" Hlathguth stopped suddenly. She pointed ahead, "There."
"What?" asked Elisa, staring into the darkness.
Hlathguth slowly moved the amulet back and forth. The light glinted off countless black orbs in the darkness which appeared to be suspended in mid-air just outside the light radius.
"What are those?" asked Elisa, drawing her gun.
The orbs began to move towards them. Elisa pointed her gun at them. She knew exactly what they were.
"What are you waiting for, Lady Maza?" Hlathguth asked, "you can't possibly not hit at least one."
Elisa shrugged, and fired a few shots. She was pleased to hear three screams and thuds as her shots found their targets.
The Succubi burst from the shadows screaming and spitting.
Hlathguth grabbed a bright red amulet from her belt and held it up, "Rise up!" she shouted.
Immediately, a wall of crimson fire sprang up to the ceiling of the cave, reducing the first rank of succubi to piles of ashes. Every succubus or incubus who so much as touched the wall suffered the same fate, and so they stood a few feet behind the wall, snarling and spitting.
Hlathguth waved her hand and the wall dissipated.
"Charge!" Odin shouted.
The Valkyries thrust their weapons into the air screaming battle hymns and charged at the waves of succubi.
The succubi merely thrust their lances forward. Hlathguth ducked and swept a long arc with her ax, slicing off the lances. Bronx and Garm leapt up, grabbed the lances from their owners, and then mauled them.
The gargoyles climbed up onto the ceiling and crawled over until they were directly overtop of the succubi. Then they fell onto them, punching, kicking, and biting.
In a few minutes, all that remained of the succubi were the forces retreating back to the shadows.
"After them!" Odin commanded, and they ran to follow the fleeing demons.
Hlathguth peered ahead, "It's a dead end!" she shouted.
The succubi ran head on into the wall, and began pounding, systematically looking back to see their pursuers coming continually closer, and then screaming for the wall to open.
The stone wall creaked and groaned, and finally swung inward, allowing the succubi access to the corridors behind it. They began to close the massive stone wall behind them.
"Stop them!" Odin shouted, "Don't let them escape!"
Rota reared up and threw her ax. It noisily cut through the air and lodged itself in the door. A succubus tried to pry it loose with her lance until Rota pushed open the door, retrieved her ax, and dispatched the bothersome succubus.
She pushed the door until it was completely opened. It was dark beyond a few paces, and all that could be heard was the echoing skittering of claws. Hlathguth and Owen joined Rota.
"Here," said Hlathguth, putting forward the light amulet. It revealed a large stairway descending into the ground.
"Come on," said Rota, and ran down the stairs with Hlathguth and Owen on her heels.
Hlathguth stopped at the bottom to see what awaited her: darkness. Complete and utter darkness. Even her amulet's light radius only extended a few inches.
Rota joined her, breathing audibly. She glanced around, "Can't you turn that thing up?" she asked.
"Shh," Hlathguth hushed her.
Goliath, Odin, Lexington and Hrist joined the trio at the base of the steps.
"I can't see a thing," said Lexington, his eyes gleaming with cat-like light.
The seven stood in silence, huddled together in the small sphere of light from Hlathguth's amulet.
"What have you come for?" a voice which was very familiar asked them, "Haven't you figured it out yet? I've already beaten you." The voice echoed around them so they couldn't identify her location in the room, which sounded enormous.
There was a shuddering spark which ignited into a ball of light about a dozen metres from them. It illuminated Afferial, holding her child. Then from the shadows behind her Ja'Hira emerged, "With the birth of this child, I won."
"You will not win!" Goliath shouted defiantly, "It was folly for you to come to this realm!"
"It was folly for you to try to stop me, Goliath," said Ja'Hira. She turned to Odin, "And you, Norse All-Father, I didn't think you stupid enough to bring your whores after me. But I'm not always right. Did Oberon send you?"
"That he did," Odin replied.
"I didn't know he was scared of me," she said.
"Ha!" Odin laughed, "He doesn't even know your name! The succubi were never a threat to him. He just wants to set an example for others like you. You're his pawn. He's using you."
Ja'Hira's brow furrowed in contempt. She suddenly reared back and tossed a flaming skull of a tiger at Odin. He ducked and it dissolved when it hit the stone wall, "You're death will be slow, All-Father." She flicked her hand and an iron gate fell, blocking the stairwell.
Suddenly there were countless flares of fire and light and the entire cavern was illuminated.
Only inches in front of Hlathguth was a cliff, sharply ending to disappear into a chasm with an invisible bottom. Ja'Hira was standing on rafters across the chasm, and her cohorts were in the carved out chunks of the earthen walls.
Hlathguth crouched down, pulling the amethyst dagger from her boot.
Elisa and Broadway arrived at the thick iron gate blocking their entrance. Broadway began clawing at the gate.
"Goliath!" Elisa shouted, "Are you all right?"
"For now," he replied.
Ja'Hira reared back again, "But not for long," she lurched forward, sending another flaming skull at the gate. It went through it without incident and crashed into the stairs.
"Get back!" Odin commanded Elisa and Broadway.
Another fireball to the stairs sent the pair back up.
Hlathguth screamed as she stood up, baring the purple blade of the dagger. The light glinted off the pommel and the blade, cascading across the cavern walls.
Ja'Hira screamed.
Hlathguth threw the dagger. Ja'Hira grabbed a lance and deflected it, sending it skittering across the rafters.
An incubus jumped down to retireve it.
"Don't touch it!" Ja'Hira commanded, "You'll send us all back!"
Afferial jumped and spread her wings to hover a few feet above the rafters. She began flapping her way to the opposite wall, clutching the babe protectively to her chest.
The succubi jumped out of their little caves and began to make their way to the small party, their lances flaring purple flame.
Rota reached behind her and withdrew a gleaming, steel crossbow. She took careful aim, and let loose an arrow.
Afferial screamed, looking helplessly at the arrow sticking through the arm of her wing. She tried to flap once, a pitiful flap, but then lost her balance, and, still holding the baby, fell screaming down to the invisible depths below.
"No!" Ja'Hira screamed.
Hrist turned to Lexington, "Get me over there," she commanded.
Lex nodded, and then hopped off to hover a few feet over the cliff. Hrist grabbed onto his legs, and he began flapping over to the rafters.
Odin cleaved through the first incubus to get too close.
Owen deflected a lance thrust with his stone fist and then grabbed the succubus's wing, broke it over his knee, and then pushed her off the cliff.
Goliath simply grabbed an incubus, bashed him against the wall, and threw him down the chasm.
Hrist fell onto the rafters a few feet away from the dagger. She crawled over to it and grabbed it. Lexington alighted behind her. Hrist stood up, the dagger gripped tightly in her hand. Ja'Hira stood stock still, awaiting their next move.
Hrist glanced at the dagger, then flipped it around in her hand, and clutched the pommel with her free one.
Hlathguth glanced over, her eyes going wide as she realized what Hrist was doing, "Hrist! No!!" she screeched.
Hrist plunged the dagger into her chest.
Time seemed to freeze.
The pommel glittered and gleamed, and then sent red lightning all over her body. It crawled over her like thousands of tiny little insects. Then she screamed, and out of her mouth and eyes shot streams of purple energy, she remained like this only for a moment, and then her body exploded into billions of tiny glowing spheres which circulated around at random like fireflies around a lamp. Then they all slowed, and rushed together to meet at the centre. In a gleam of white light and energy, a swirling vortex of cosmic, swirling energy.
The succubi in the room screamed and shouted, and her suddenly shot, as if from a sling, into the portal, disappearing in flashes of lightning which discharged across the room. After a few moments, succubi even came shooting in through the walls, sifting through them like ghosts and then flashing into the vortex. At incomprehensible speeds, they flashed through the wall like white wraiths and haunts too meet their fate in the portal.
After a few minutes, all the succubi had gone through the portal . . . except one.
Ja'Hira remained, her cloak billowing and her hair cascading in the astral winds of the vortex. She turned to see the portal on the rafter in front of her, and then turned again to see Lexington on the rafters behind her.
"The offer still stands," she shouted over the howl of the portal, "Save me and I'll grant you everything."
"The offer is still neglected, Ja'Hira," Lexington shouted back, "I don't need you."
The only succubus on the planet scowled at him, "You think you've won, don't you?" she asked, "Well, you haven't. Look at this feeble race. The superiors? Ha! By next century they'll have torn themselves apart. Their skies will be black with the smoke from the burning bodies; their waters will be red and stagnant with their blood and toxins; their cities will be buried under the snow of nuclear winter; their nations will be plutonic ashes. And out of those ashes I will arise again, and I will take what remains of this dead and pathetic planet and transform it into the paradise that humanity strove for through war. I could save this world!"
Lexington stared at her, "The world doesn't need your salvation." Then he reached down, grabbed the rafter, and hoisted it up.
Ja'Hira fell back into the vortex. With her entrance the vortex slammed shut, releasing a flash of astral energy.
The cavern began to tremble.
"It's gonna collapse!" shouted Rota, "Lex, get over here!"
Lexington jumped off the remainder of the rafter and glided over to the cliff. The Gargoyles clawing at the gate, they managed to break through and ran up the stairs.
Lexington glanced back once to see the ceiling of the cavern collapse.
"Let's go!" shouted Thruth, and they ran from the catacombs and back up into the church, and finally exiting the desecrated building as it sunk into the earth.

Talnia waved over the cauldron and the image of the sunken church dissipated. She turned to Alarnis, "You see? I told you they could handle them well enough. We let them do the dirty work and don't lose any of our ranks."
Alarnis smiled, "I love it when you say the word 'dirty.'"
Talnia smiled and crept into his arms, "Well," she concluded, "It looks like this is the demon war which never occurred. One little battle that only cost us two men."
The vampire hugged her close, "Yes," he agreed, "Now we only have to wait for Lord OnLyon to tell us when we'll attack."
Talnia moaned, "I rather liked the moonlit little feedings," she said. Then she turned so that her back was against his chest, and his hands over her stomach, "No matter. The succubi and the Blasnar are completely out of the equation."
They glanced at eachother and said in unison, "We are immortal."

Goliath shook Odin's hand, "It was good to work with you," he said.
"Yes," Odin replied, "Well, at least I got you back before sunrise."
"Good fortune be with you."
"Same to you."
Meanwhile, beneath the battlement, Rota and Owen were conversing.
"I'm sorry about Hrist," said Owen sympathetically.
Rota shrugged, "I guess it's better this way. Hrist decided to go, and now she can be with Mist. That's all she was really going for, I think." Rota turned and glanced at the reddening horizon, "She just saved the world," she turned to the lights of the city, "and they're never going to even notice."
"I'll miss you," said Owen.
Rota smiled slyly, "Y'know, Trickster, if you're ever feeling back to your old self and manage to escape this tight-ass form of yours, you think we could make some mischief together?"
Owen smiled, "Always, Rota."
"You know where to find me," Rota hugged him and kissed him lightly on the cheek, "I'll miss you too, Puck," she turned and walked away to the courtyard where the Valkyries were gathered, turning once and calling, "Stay in the practice, Trickster!"
He waved.
Thruth and Lexington sat on the battlements, their legs dangling over the side.
Thruth smiled, "I wonder what would happen if I dropped my shoe," she contemplated.
Lex managed a little laugh.
The Valkyrie turned to him, "You know, Lex," she said, "You just saved the world tonight. Congratulations, you're a hero."
Lex shrugged, "I was born to protect. I had to do it," he said. He looked at the horizon and sighed, "She promised me anything I wanted," he said longingly.
Thruth sighed too, "It's not really that great, Lex," she said, following his gaze to the glittering sea, "It's warm, round and yellow. When it's out, the sky gets lighter and you can't see the stars anymore. You get bored of it after a while," she patted his knee, "Trust me, Lex. You're a smart little guy. Ja'Hira couldn't have given you anything you can't get yourself."
Lex sniffed a little chuckle, "Like the sun?"
Thruth turned and stood up, "You'd be surpsrised," she said, walking to the courtyard, "See you around."

Hrist pushed her hair out of the way from her face. She was walking through a forest. There wasn't any trail she was following, just wandering. Everything was so beautiful, all the colours vibrant, all the textures more accented; everything was increased.
"Hrist!"
The Valkyrie turned to see Mist climbing over a hill.
"Mist!" said Hrist, jumping up and running over, "Where've you been? I was looking all over for you."
Mist shrugged, "I've been hanging. Look who I found." Hrist glanced over to see a Valkyrie in a chain mail dress following Mist, "You remember Brynhild, don't you?"
"How could I forget?" Hrist asked, turning to Brynhild, "How've you been? It's been years."
"I'm OK," the Valkyrie replied, "Hey, there's a great view from over the cannon, you guys wanna check it out?"
"Sure," Hrist replied.
The trio began walking in the direction Brynhild had indicated.
"How do we get over the cannon?" asked Hrist.
Brynhild thought a moment, "You can fly a helicopter, can't you?"
"No."
"It's easy."