Princes of Hell

Soularous took in a breath of air, "I missed this place. Aldous, I'll be outside." The demon lord stepped through the front door, his hair blowing in the wind, the thunder and lightning of the arcane storm being beautiful to him. "I guess before we start anything, we find Jynieth, and the rest of the family."

“I've honestly been worried about Jynieth and what's become of her,” Aldous admitted. “She seems to have fallen off the map. But how about we find Draken first? Your son will be the easiest to locate and he sounds in real trouble by what you told me. Gelt hurt him and this... Crimson Leach too, did you say? Let's see to his well being and deal with Gelt. Vulgar displays of power aren't my style, but I would not be averse to squashing that masked freak like a grape.”

“Ha! Now you're talking brother!” Soularous called back.

“After Gelt has been seen to, we track down Jynieth,” Aldous continued. “Maybe she'll be able to help me talk some sense into you about this god business. Last but not least, you can fight Incarious, under controlled conditions...”

“Fight him and destroy him!”

“Yeah, sure. Now I'll be right with you, Soul. Try not to destroy the city okay? I live here.”

“I would never do that, Aldous. I want to show the people my glory, that I have the blood of gods in me, and that I am not a threat. That I am worthy of their worship when I ascend to fix the world the gods have abandoned and---”

“Yeah, yeah,” Aldous said, going through the door into the next room.

“What is happening? What the hell did you do?” Aggie shouted, looking out a window at the near hurricane-force wind gusting down the street outside and the cracking of lightning in the sky.

“What did I do? Something I hope I won't regret, that's what,” Aldous said disgustedly, shaking his head at his brother's foolish antics. “I'll explain later when I get back.”

Among the fleeing pedestrians Aggie caught a glimpse of Sunder for a moment completely ignoring the inclement weather as he jogged off into the gloom with haste and determination. As Aldous's words registered, she turned back to him in surprise. “Get back from where?”

“A family outing,” Aldous answered, mysteriously. “It shouldn't take too long...”

With that, he walked out of the house and joined Soularous on the front steps of the great manor of the late Umeffaeh, seeing his demonic sibling had donned a set of magical blue armor and a sword. Aldous instead wore only his crimson robe embroidered with infernal runes in multicolored thread, having no need for anything warrior-like.

“...Where did you get that?” Aldous asked, confused seeing his brother now had fully kitted himself out..

"You like? This is the Armour of Souls and this is the ancient Sword of Blue. It makes me look all very regal and godlike, don’t you think?" Soularous smiled as he looked down at himself and then across the land. "We are coming for you, Jynieth, Draken. We are coming!"

“Let's get on with this,” Aldous said, not liking leaving Aggie all alone on the day of her father's funeral.

“The child will be fine,” Soularous said. “And like you say, this won't take too long. Not with our combined strength!”

“So much for the element of surprise,” Aldous gritted out, half angry, half embarrassed at such an unrestrained show of power that had no place in the modern world.

“Ha! As soon as Gelt hurt my son he knew I would be coming for him!”

With a loud laugh, Soularous summoned a whooshing wind that carried them smoothly and fast through the air toward old Dalen. The magical wind sheltered them in a bubble of solid air from the pelting rain and hail that pounded the ground below that was all lit up with blazing blue light from the Storms of Blue that extended out to where Draken lay licking his wounds in the rubble of the former kingdom. The grand display was a show of love from his father as much as it was a show of wrath. The broken land was now overrun by beastly demons of all shapes and sizes. They gibbered and danced about in excitement at the approach of the two mighty demon lords that were dominant over all of them like the leaders of a wolf pack.

“The lesser demons tell me Gelt lives in a sealed pass in the Alps,” Soularous said. “It is safe from anything, anything but us!”

“Let's not get too cocky,” Aldous said with a little caution in his voice. He flicked his wrist through the air and the storm broke faster than it had gathered. “And if you want to make the people believe you are ‘good’ perhaps you should NOT make them believe the End Times have come?” he suggested. “I already risked enough of my disguise pulling you here, I can’t afford to have my cover blown. Not now with Enanth breathing down my neck...”

As the storm dispersed, the pair of demon lords descended in unison from the storm-clouded sky and landed on the frozen ground in front of the great stone dwelling of the Red Wizard.

“Nice little hideaway he’s got here. Gods, it’s cold though, I could cut diamonds right now,” Aldous said offhandedly, pulling his robe shut as a frigid alpine wind blew, whipping at his robes and bare chest.

“I could cut out his heart!” Soularous said, gripping the hilt of his enchanted weapon.

“Well pull out that gaudy sword then,” Aldous told him, then looking up at Gelt's fortress, he put his fingers to the edges of his mouth and let out a loud whistle. “Candygram!”