Vortex Quest B. 05

== VORTEX QUEST 5-15 ==

== THE ROAD AHEAD ==

There were only two options now.

Either their quest was over and they were about to speak to the Voice again *or* there was a secret vortex somewhere in the abyss and they had to act faster than ever.

Xane wasn't sure which sounded scarier. Thinking about the future was surreal.

The pantheon waited in a chamber of the defiled sanctuary, an altar of angelic gold plates sullied by bowls of fresh blood and tusks arranged in patterns of worship to King Pwen'Gllach.

Amidst them was a radiant orb, steaming pleasant, pink incense. If the heavens spoke, it was generally through one of those. And the Common Exoteric Conjunction was about to happen, like it did every few weeks, or rather Ringcycles -- when the veil between planes was just a little thinner.

If they were going to hear from the Voice it would be now.

The demigods were still naked but Goro had started making new thongs for himself and Chay. Xane's motes had settled into playful circles under the ceiling, chasing the shrunken chakram Marcus made orbit there.

Pressed together, Xane and Marcus had a few fingers in each other's holes, drifting from nap to nap.

A pulse from the orb. A sharp breeze from nowhere. Agitation among the butterflies.

Chay shot to his feet.

Marcus stirred. "You think this is-"

[Hear me, chosen ones!]

===***===

A stadium of clouds in the light of the golden hour. Rank upon rank of bright, smoke-like beings with large, frail wings, cheering in hymns as their joy colored the air.

The four men found themselves on an ornate platform of smooth stone, lit by shining colors of a sunset with no sun to be seen.

They were back, though not in a sandy battle pit.

On a ridiculously lavish pedestal, bubbles of cumulous clouds congealed into the shape of a massive Buddha-like figure, as the angelic anthems reached a crescendo.

The demigods rose and scrambled to stand close together before the titanic, glorious figure. Behind it, seen through a break in the arena walls, stretched a cloud domain of silver and pearls and pillars of marble.

[You have succeeded, our champions,] said the being.

"Oh," Chay made.

[Humankind is safe from incursion once more, and this has bought us time to muster our forces. Few threats will breach your world or celestion for eons to come.]

"Thanks," Chay said. "So, it's over?"

Xane felt like he should be saying something, not let Chay be everyone's speaker, but he couldn't recall any of the questions he'd wanted to bring up with the sky fucker. And he should probably not call him the sky fucker.

[It *is* over,] the divine being said. [Your journey may end on your terms. The gates to our realm,] he gave a light gesture behind himself, [are open to you if you choose to enter. A rare present for living mortals.]

The crowd sang and hummed of glory and honor and unending benevolence, pouring a sensation of light and honey into their words.

[You may return to earth, as well. Time has passed there, but we can make your temporary disappearance a thing of little matter in the minds of all around you. We can take even *your* memory, if you have seen more than you can bare. You shall live protected from what little supernatural activity your realm offers.]

The choir chanted and somehow in their voices lay the sounds of rustling leaves and tweeting birds and the murmur of reverent humans.

[Or you remain in the abyss. Giving in to temptation but electing your fate knowingly. A hunt for exaltation in a world of demons.]

A buzz came from the choir, hymns of strength and splendor in primitive battles, the heavy rhythm of instinct and chasing vain highs.

[What will your fate be, chosen ones?]

Chay had a hand on his chin, staring at the ground ahead, deep in thought. Xane looked left and right at the frowning Goro and confused, even fearful Marcus.

The shortest demigod weakly raised his hand. "Uh, do we have to pick, like, *now*? Can we, maybe, mess around a bit first?"

[The Nephilim, although their allegiance is no longer with us, retain the ability to repent and seek return. They will know how to reach us, if your decision changes.]

Xane got three amazed glances and tried not to grin too hard.

[Then it is your decision to return to the abyss -- for now -- Xane, bearer of the thaum-magic?]

"I guess so. Everyone on board?"

"Yes," Marcus and grabbed Xane's hand.

Goro nodded with a grunt. Chay took a scary long second to join with a nod of his own.

[I must revoke the divine artefacts bestowed upon you now, though you will retain the strength you have gathered and the immaterial gifts you carry.]

Chay's fan summoned itself and flew off like a kite into the choir. Marcus' ring jumped off his middle finger and flew to a box a radiant being was holding ready. Goro's tattoo simply withdrew itself into nothing.

Xane's butterflies burst into a shower of sparks. That sucked. That *really* fucking sucked. He had enjoyed being the rainbow and butterfly wizard and the power that came with having spells ready.

Pie emerged from Chay's toe ring, raced up his leg and back and sat on the leader's shoulder.

Xane could have sworn the choir melodically awed in the middle of their song.

"You're not leaving us," Chay said to her. "Are you?"

She rubbed her face on his cheek.

"Guess not. You just wanted to say hi."

[Then good luck in the abyss. I will return you there. Perhaps for now, perhaps forever.]

Marcus waved. "Bye, sky daddy. Take ca-"

===***===

The demigods reappeared in the chamber of the defiled altar.

Their aegises flashed white one last time and slipped off their dicks like they had never been attached at all, the short urethra tube slipping out with barely a sensation and the flat ring around the package dropping over cock and balls like it had been way too big all along. The packages were back to their original size.

Three men sighed with a lifetime of relief. Marcus screeched with joy.

It took them a mere few heartbeats to get fully erect.

With his heart racing, Xane jerked off.

Feeling his dick felt so right but so wrong, too. It was weird. It was like a brand new discovery.

"Man, I remember it bigger," he said between heavy breaths. "Much bigger."

"Same," Goro said, totally focused on his rod, one hand one his balls.

Just a few seconds later, Xane cummed a decent cumshot. Noting spectacular.

The sensation of approaching penile orgasm was alien. Fantastic, obviously, but quite foreign after what seemed like a lifetime of getting his ass wrecked.

But it was so good and so right. Here it came. Right there, so... short-lived.

After a shockingly quick second, Xane was done, the orgasm passed.

Chay stared at his own dick where a string of jizz still hung from the head. "Well that was... fucking underwhelming."

"Like... a sneeze," Xane mumbled.

"Right?" Marcus said. "That's it? That's one percent of sitting on an arm. I'm just as horny as before."

"That part is expected," Chay said. "It's the abyss after all."

"Expected by you, maybe," Marcus said. "I figured I'd get relief from the constant sex-brain if I got to jerk off."

"How about you, big G?" Xane asked.

Goro huffed. "Sex?"

The four collided, their erections now slapping on each other's abs.

"Dude," Marcus said. "I can't remember who I owe the most blowjobs. Any pointers?"

Chay pushed them into a square. "I think we've saved each other's asses often enough that everyone owes everyone."

Goro was first to take Chay's entire shaft in his mouth, continuing to be the expert cocksucker. He pulled Xane's face into his crotch and the wizard sucked berserker dick.

He'd never have expected to fulfill the fantasies of thirsty campus fags but here he was, trying to give his weight lifting buddy a prime suckjob. Earth and its concerns seemed farther away than ever.

Marcus went to town on Xane's crotch and it was easily the best blowjob he had ever gotten. Certainly the most enthusiastic one.

Orgasm came fast and fairly strong and was over just as quickly.

"This pales in comparison," Goro claimed.

Chay seemed downright angry. "Agreed. Shit. I'm addicted to anal. I figured once we're out of the cock cages... How did Diego become a top?"

"Time for anal?" Xane asked.

"Rock paper scissor," Chay said. He and Xane won first top.

Finally fucking Marcus' ass felt kind of good, in the sense that it was revenge for all the teasing. But his dick didn't feel like much. The horniness injected by the abyss easily outdid the edge from fucking ass. When orgasm came, which it did quickly, Xane barely felt a blimp.

"This is better," Goro said, getting doggy-style pounded by Chay while jerking off.

"Okay," Xane said. "Scoot closer, you two. I'm trying something."

Now pounding Marcus right next to the other couple, Xane used his free spell -- the only magic he commanded now -- to create a Xane-Chay mage-dick and had each top fuck himself as they fucked their friends.

Okay, now *this* was pretty good.

Then the switched. Xane and Chay kneeling next to each other, getting fucked by Marcus and Goro with a mage-double-dick pounding the tops.

Still, it wasn't as good as it could have been and they knew it.

Minutes later, they were back to their fisting square, on all fours, punching the insides of the man in front. Only this time the other hand was busy jerking off.

They still carried the open signature on their ballsacks and had fun surprise-crushing each other's nuts.

Cumshots had dried up by this point, but Xane finally felt like penile orgasms were adding to his pleasure. He would need about five hundred more, all at the same time, to add up to a single fist punch, but at last, enough of an abyssal-mega-gasm experience to make a slight dent into the overwhelming horniness.

"I guess," Goro said as he got ripped through with pleasure, "this isn't gonna be too different. But now we're looking at-" he let out a roar-grunt from an elbow-deep punch, "-looking at cocks dangling underneath."

"I'll try," Xane said, "to be more of a top. I like ass more than dick, I swear. I just need to get used to it again."

Chay let out an unhinged orgasm-power laugh. "Right, I'm still an umbralist, you know. I can tell how much pleasure you're getting from your dick. Let's be real." He pulled his fist back and the square collapsed. His breath was heavy. He cuddled himself between Goro and Xane.

They had all gone semi-soft. They could continue to jerk off regardless but it felt actively unsatisfying now.

"I'm wondering," the leader said, eyes on the aegises scattered on the floor, "if we'll get sick of our hard-ons being a distraction."

Xane gave the devices a mage-hand shove away. "As a matter of principle. They're never coming back on again."

Marcus clapped his hands together. "So, uh, what do we do now? I mean, is there a job office? Do we check which lord takes applications? Just see if the Aelves got anything?"

Chay hummed lightly. "We could try to get a third curse on us to regain immunity from curse-overload. We'll need at least *some* income, to buy nectar on the road if nothing else. And probably a hideout, even just a cave, unless we start working for the sanctuary here. We could try to find the Long Shadow and take revenge. Or maybe work with him, who knows? Long term, we promised Diego we'd visit. Even longer term, maybe we become Devils ourselves?"

"And short term," Xane said, "we gotta check if the Nephilim jizzed out new nectar cause that one's free. Who's coming?"

Goro sat up first. "Yes, nectar. Then I want a tall glass of Grrgrrng."

Chay chuckled. "We'll have to find a new hangout spot. Hm, unless that abomination bar takes demigods. We can at least ask. We don't have a single obol, though."

Goro shrugged. "Maybe they need a dishwasher or something."

Marcus laid down with a groan. "Did I go from being a barista to a demonslaying, worldsaving god just to turn into a bartender in hell? Uh, now that I say that, sounds kinda fun. Gotta appreciate ironic twists."

Xane got up and habitually tried to put an illusion of a good-looking semi hard-on over his aegis, just to realize he had a flesh-and blood one where the cage was once been.

He created an illusion of a tiny, rainbow colored butterfly, for nostalgia's sake.

In the seconds it took Chay to pick up their discarded aegises, which they would give to Gallant for his collection, Xane and Goro had both jerked each other off to a pathetic orgasm without even getting fully hard.

Xane dismissed his fake mote and summoned his mage-dick, getting anally ravaged as they walked out of the chamber.

Much more satisfying.

=== END OF BOOK FIVE ===

The mission is complete, the story is concluded. But we can't leave the boys like this.

Look forward to a bonus adventure aka the longest epilogue ever.