Burning Vengence

II

The palace of Lucifer stood as tall as the highest mountain, lit by fires coming from the surrounding pits, and was black as the darkest night. The tortured high pitch screams were the only sounds in Hell, yet seemed to be emanating from the palace.
Asmodeus stagnantly walked up the steps with a sense of dread building in his chest. Of all the eons of his life, nothing had ever made him feel like this. A howl cut through the screams like a knife through hot butter, chilling him to the bone.
The doors opened as he walked up to them, revealing a long hallway filled with doors, only one slightly open, orange light spilling out. Creeping forward, Asmodeus held his breath, emitting no sound, not even a heart beat since he was dead, as he approached.
The door creaked as it opened, the sound deafening in the silence, making it clear that someone had just entered the room. Asmodeus pauses, for in front of a grand fireplace fit for a king in the Elizabethan era, sat one chair, made of mahogany, lined with bone, with cushions that wreathed too and fro, faces pushing against it attempting to escape.
The man who sat in the chair, stood and turned around slowly, half a smirk upon his face. He spoke with a voice of velvet, deep and soft yet commanding,
" Asmodeus, we have much to discuss, now come and give your Uncle Lucifer a hug."

* * * * * * * *
The fireplace roared in the background, filling the silence between the two men. Lucifer, with his arms wide open, a warm smile on his face, waiting to be embraced. And Asmodeus, standing pensive, alert, weary, waiting for any sign to bolt. Lucifer took a step forward, causing Asmodeus to take a pensive step backwards. Upon seeing this, Lucifer spoke,
"Nephew, I mean you no harm. Quite the opposite in fact. I'm trying to help you. You killed yourself. The ultimate act of selfishness... but considering where you were being held prisoner, I understand why you did it."
"Lucifer, you're not imprisoned here. You can leave any time you want. I couldn't. I had to die to get out of there. The freezing cold, the isolation, nothing compares to the torture that 3 centuries of that wasteland. You have the souls of the damned. The souls that go to Helheim, the corrupted beings of Alfheim, and the beings of Muspelheim. Your so called "prison" consists of three realms that you can visit. The souls of millions of beings. I had a circle of fucking ice.  ICE! Nothing wanted to come near me because I reeked of death, and smoke! I reek of HELL!" Asmodeus exclaimed.
Lucifer looked at him with an expression of boredom mixed with patience, and then walked over to a cupboard and pulled out a bottle of whiskey and two glasses. He sighed as he poured the brown liquid in the obsidian glasses, and spoke has he handed one to Asmodeus.
"Nephew, me leaving would incur the wrath of my father, which is not a pleasant thing. Now-"
"I am not your nephew. Your father is my father. You're my brother." Asmodeus cut him off.
"Alright then... brother. Now as I was saying, You put yourself here. I was forced to be here. Contrary to popular belief, I don't keep anyone here. Their guilt is what keeps them here. You, dear brother, are not guilty of anything. Yet you are here because of the curse our father punished you with. You can turn around and walk out, the disappearing pathway was my way to get you to see me.
Asmodeus stared at Lucifer, drink in hand, contemplating what was just spoken. If nothing was keeping him here then he could just walk out... but was the curse broken? How could he be sure that when he got back to the land of the living he wouldn't be yanked back to Antartica again? He unconsciously rubbed the stubble on his face, and sat down on the sofa that moved to be behind him.
"The curse... is it truly broken? If I return will I be imprisoned again?" His voice quivered when he asked the question.
"No... that curse was tied to your life force. The spunk that kept you alive and on the plain of the living, yet with the gift Father gave you... it'd be impossible to snuff out... unless...." Lucifer's voice trailed off as he began to think. His brother is a creature of hell and of the mortal plain...
"What if we took the life force that kept you bound to the living, that source of power for the curse... and turned it to something of Hell. Something that can help you enact your vengeance. Power like no other, that will only amplify your own. What if you became a Knight of Hell."
Asmodeus look up at the delighted form of his elder brother. The idea seemed to make him glow with joy, something out of place in the realm of torture, pain and suffering. Yet it was the only sound idea. Convert from something half of the mortal realm, and become something truly immortal. Something that the others wouldn't be able to hurt.
Asmodeus stood up, his eyes flaring to the color of glowing embers, and spoke,
"Let's do it."

**********

"There are three trials to becoming a Knight of Hell. First you must go to the land Helheim, and retrive the bridge keepers heart. Then you must travel to Hell and bring back the wings of Satan. And your third task will be to slay the Giant Porphyrion and bring me back his head." Cain spoke with a heavy russian accent. He stood with his hands behind his back, the first blade hung loosely in his grasp. Cain turned and looked at Asmodeus and clenched his fists together.
"You will have 1 week for these trials. If you die here in the Underworld you truly die. Also take this, this blade has been forged with Asgardian steel tempered in the blood of a thousand tortured souls and quenched in the river of Styx. The blade has no name and only a true Knight of Hell can wield her." Cain aimed the point of the blade down and sunk it into the dead rock hard earth., and turned back around and resumed watching the tortured souls scream in agony. "Tell me why you are on this quest. Is it for love? If it is you're wasting your time. Love doesn't exist."
"Vengeance. My family betrayed me. Tortured me. And I'm going to kill those who were involved." Asmodeus snarled and his eyes flared, the Hounds of Hell howling causing stalactites falling from the pitch black roof impaling souls.
Cain slowly turned to face Asmodeus and Lucifer a remorseful look on his face. "My brother Abel was under the influence of Satan when I killed him. I made a deal with Lucifer. My soul in Hell for Abel's in Heaven. Satan agreed and I killed Abel. Worst fuckin deal I've ever made. I've been looking for away to kill him ever since. But a deal is a deal, and if broken, I resume walking the earth for eternity and Abel's soul falls into Hell. I know your pain."
Cain wiped away the single tear that had fallen from his eye and cleared his throat. "The blade must choose you. Pick her up."
Asmodeus knelt down and wrapped his hands around the leather hilt of the short sword. And pressed his forehead against the pommel and whispered, "Help me achieve my vengeance. I know the cost, and I accept it." Asmodeus slowly stood up pulling the blade with him, the shrieking of metal against rock echoed in the underworld. He held the blade aloft in the air after freeing it from its earthly sheath, the blade emitting a soft glow in the near darkness.
"Each Knight gets their own weapon. That weapon can transform into anything the Knight wants it to be. You have started the path of the Knight and the only way out is death. You're trials shall commence tomorrow. If they're completed you will have power unlike any creature dead or alive." Cain spoke in a barely concealed tired tone. "Now begone."