Rome, Like the old Greek and Norse gods.

“But there are other stars in this galaxy. Untold billions of them. And how many thousands and millions of galaxies are there beyond this one?

How many planets are there in the universe, where Life has sprung forth, and is struggling towards some unknown purpose?" She swallowed.

"I once thought of the Almighty as a general in the army, and God as one of his lieutenants. But now, with all the discoveries that have been made in cosmology in the last century, I think I was thinking too small. Now I think of Him or Her as a farmer in a vast field. Every world a seed She has planted. Every god a tiny little caretaker for that seed."

The silence in the building, broken only by the dull roar of the furnace, seemed suddenly very Loud. "And what are we?" Yasna asked in a small voice, almost as if she were afraid of what the answer might be.

"You?" Althea's voice was warm and soothing. Josh thought that if he could, he would wrap it around himself Like a blanket on a cold day.

“You are the harvest.”

Yasna blinked rapidly, and Josh thought he could see the telltale gleam of tears in her eyes. "Maybe. Then what are you?"

Althea grinned like a shark, pulling the sword-blade out of the forge.

It glowed red in the florescent light, and heat poured off of it in an almost visible wave. She set it on a flat block of stone on the workbench, placed there for that very purpose.

“Quick, Josh, the hilt.”

Moving swiftly, Josh took up the hilt and tang with another set of tongs. As Althea held the blade in place, he delicately slipped the tang inside the hollow at the base of the blade. A pair of quick raps with a mallet sealed the join, and the pommel, hilt, and guard were now fixed seamlessly to the blade itself. Working quickly, Josh lifted the now-complete sword and Lowered it carefully into a long, vertical tube at the edge of the workbench. A hot sizzle emerged as the glowing metal was doused and tempered. After a few minutes, he raised it again, and they all gathered close to inspect their handiwork.

Yasna eyed the sword. "Wow, that was quick. Why was there that hole in the blade?"

“That's the tough part," Josh said. "You can't make a sword all out of one piece of bronze. It just doesn't work. So the trick is to make it in two separate pieces. The blade," he said, his hand hovering over the long, tapered piece of metal, “and the hilt." He pointed at the other end.

“When you make the hilt, you need a spike of metal that extends up.

Swordsmiths call that the ‘tang.' And when you make the blade, you leave a hole in the base. Then, when you need to join them together, you heat the blade, and slide the tang in the hole. When the metal cools, it shrinks, binding the two parts together." His face colored as he realized he was describing an act which was almost sexual in its nature. Althea Looked at him, her eyes twinkling, and he could tell she could guess what he was thinking.

“So what do we do now?"

“We wait," Althea said.

“I hate waiting," Yasna sighed. She looked at the golden-haired succubus. "you never said what the succubi were. In your analogy."

“No, I never did, did I?" Althea smiled, though she was careful to keep her expression from becoming too inviting. Since her first night back in her physical form, this was the first time Yasna had given the slightest hint of relaxing in her presence, and she didn't want to scare her away. The woman was so twisted up in her own head where sex was concerned that Althea despaired of untangling the knot. Part of her lusted after Althea with the innocent passion of a schoolgirl. Another part railed against her own desires, seeing in her the epitome of all that was sinful and debased. And a third looked on, torn between the two, knowing intellectually that her love was not evil, but unable emotionally to come to terms with it.

“Think of me," she said, smiling slightly at the idea, "as the badass army ant, protecting the plant. This is the analogy all falls down a bit," she admitted.

“I don't think I've ever seen ants guarding a wheatfield, for instance. But that's what I am and what I do. I guard the harvest. I try to make sure you arent cut down before your time. I don't know what the Almighty has in store for you. But I think you are destined for greatness, no matter how badly God, or Allah, or Jehovah, has managed to stunt your growth."

“When was your first time?" Yasna asked. When Althea looked at her, her eyebrows raised in inquiry, she blushed, the hot blood coloring her dark skin alluringly. "Not that! The first time you had to face one of the demon-spawn."

Althea sighed. "Aleppo."

"In Syria?"