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[/b] Something Brooklyn had come to learn during his time in the demon world was the fact that one needed to use all the force of their being to safeguard themselves from total annihilation at the hands of those more powerful than themself. While the mortal world made it easy for others to get ahead by using silky words, here one needed to back up every word spoken with the power, plain and simple. Demons didn't work on the faith that things would get better in order to survive the harsh reality of Hell, instead they relied on the strength of body, mind, and will. If you couldn't defeat an enemy than you were dead. There was nothing else to be said. That was why demons who could cleave apart thousands were looked upon with great respect and gained the title of demon lord.\n\nYet that measure of strength alone wouldn't endear many to stand with you in times of war. For that you had to show that you possessed the ability to conquer another's will, to make them submit to your desires until their heads bowed at your mere presence, in order to gain such level of fealty. Especially amongst demons such as the red arremer. That was why they followed the one known as Astaroth without question. The greater demon lord had been alive for thousands upon thousands of years and had, in turn, carved his name upon the lands of Hell so deep that many shuddered at the mere mention of his name. Of course, there were those who sought to challenge him, but these upstarts were young fools who didn't have the good sense needed to live, and thus quickly found themselves torn apart by the red arremer for their slight against the demon lord.\n\nBrooklyn...didn't know what to think about the large brusque demon who bore two faces, yet there was a deep level of respect hammered into his psyche upon seeing the raw power the greater demon possessed after he raised a large army of demons who sought to step upon his lands.\n\nThe destruction Astaroth wrought was, in a simple word, frightening.\n\nEven in Hell the power of this greater demon was so grandiose that the land would never be worth anything to anyone for centuries to come, that was the wrath upon which the two faced demon unleashed after rising from his throne to settle the matter at hand.\n\nYet Brooklyn knew that he would never be able to garner such power, at least not naturally.\n\nWithout that level of power he would not be able to gain the respect of his brethren to possibly tear away their loyalty towards Astaroth, and there was no doubt in his mind that this was what Brooklyn sought more than anything else in all of Hell. Of course only the rust colored gargoyle knew that. No one else did, not even Firebrand, the most powerful red arremer and his mate did so. And the reason for that was simple...\n\nBrooklyn wanted to protect his brethren.\n\nThis was something that Astaroth had no such compulsion to do.\n\nWith this in mind the earthborn demon spent many a night looking to the darkness of the demon world for answers as he sought to figure out ways for which he could grow strong enough to gain the respect and loyalty of the entire red arremer clan. It had taken a number of beatings from the others during his time training with the red skinned, black winged demons before Brooklyn came to realize that wit would not get him very far amongst those that sought to physically dominate him. Many a times he had found himself laid onto his back after another older red arremer had knocked him onto his tail, his attempts to mentally subdue the other demon in question having come up short once he realized that didn't have the same compulsions and fears that mortals did when it came to fighting. However even though he lost to the others there was no malice or contempt felt between him and his brethren when they defeated him.\n\nFights between red arremer were meant to be lessons, not conquests.\n\nHere disputes and concerns were meant to be handled with fists, not words, and for that Brooklyn found coming to understand and respect the demons which were his brethren more than the humans who he had been conditioned to defend.\n\nHowever, that didn't change the fact that Brooklyn wanted enough power to protect the lot of them.\n\nLiving amongst these demons and seeing them for who and what they were made Brooklyn feel pain every time one of his kin were lost to death. A dark whisper within his mind told him that this was life in Hell. That there was no changing what was to be. But that just wasn't good enough for him.\n\nHis brothers were his clan, and this clan belonged to him more so than they did the king for which they all served.\n\nHe would not lose them!\n\nPerhaps these feelings were due in part to the fact that he was earthborn - a term that many still threw out to egg him into a good scrap - and thus had feelings and thoughts that contradicted being the demon that he was now. His mate surely didn't understand what it meant to want to protect the clan from the curse of death. Firebrand, like all of the red arremer, were forged by the fires hell. Their pride was their bread and butter, blood was the water they drunk from, and nothing would ever change that. Yet Brooklyn would be damned before he causally sat back and allowed his brethren to die like dogs at their hands of their own sense of honor.\n\nYet the rust colored gargoyle was sure that the other wouldn't allow himself to be coddled like some kind of hatchling, no matter how grave the situation for which the other found himself within. Actually, Brooklyn was sure that Firebrand would show him just how much he would not accept such a happening with fang and claw if he so much as attempted to utter such a stupid comment.\n\nSo the question then became: how does one gain the power to protect a group that didn't want to be protected?\n\nFor a long time this answer escaped Brooklyn.\n\nHe knew that he would never naturally become powerful enough to protect them with only his meager strength - his own abilities were, in truth, stunted compared to those who had been born within Hell - yet there had to be a way.\n\nIronically the earthborn demon found his the solution to his problem in the form of a blast of lightning to the face.\n\nThe attack had come from one sorcerer a part of a group who he and Firebrand had been ordered to find and eliminate by order of their king after the lot had gained the greater demon's ire. Too few for the double faced demon to rip apart, yet numerous enough that their antics made him growl at the mere thought of their existence, Astaroth sent his most powerful off together to deal with the upstarts. Firebrand cackled with glee at the thought of going to cause some much warranted chaos while Brooklyn snorted at the stupidity of those who sought to challenge the monster that was their king. The left within the dead of night, their wings taking them to the blackened sky as they began the hunt for the foolish ones.\n\nIt was easy enough for the pair to track the sorcerers down, what with their manacles seeming to have a natural hunger for those who sought to bring harm to the red arremer. Stalking the group proved to be amusing for both Brooklyn and Firebrand as the demonic duo worked to pick off those who strayed too far from the group one by one by one, however when it came time to take on the twenty plus group of magic wielders things quickly turned from fun to annoying.\n\nWhen they fell upon the group from the branches of the deadwood trees surrounding their camp the fallen souls seemed to waiting for them as they had worked in time with one another to limit both demon's abilities, in particular Firebrand's flame breath, with magic seals in a strange effort to trap the pair. What their plan had been for them afterwards Brooklyn didn't know but thankfully the rust colored gargoyle had been able to deduce the fact that something was wrong rather quickly once he noted the way the lot seemed to keep in step with one another forming some kind of closed circuit with their bodies. Pulling up and then hurling one of the deadwood trees into the center of the lot managed to scatter the sorcerers, and thus break their power sealing ring. Once the cherry skinned demon's powers had return to him Firebrand wasted no time incinerating the lot with a well placed roar of liquid flame. Well most of them anyway. Those that had been lucky enough to survive the blast quickly began to hurtle spells at the then swiftly moving demons. A well aimed spell flew through the air at Firebrand and without thought Brooklyn found himself being electrocuted by the magic bolt of lightning as he took the hit for his mate. Thankfully the rust colored gargoyle was able to shake off the effects of the attack, though not without his white locks of hair having puffed up like a piece of popcorn for his troubles.\n\nFirebrand would have cackled mirthfully at the other's slightly charred form but the incensed demon was too busy biting off the head of the one who had cast the spell. Blood flew like champagne throughout the air as the enraged demon sought revenge for Brooklyn and the earthborn demon could help but smirk in amusement at the sentiment right before he punched his fist through the chest of a mage who had grabbed by the neck.\n\nOnce the mated pair were sure that the group of magic casters were dead the two demons came together to survey one another. Sliding their hands over and across the battered flesh of the other Firebrand and Brooklyn spent several minutes reaffirming the fact that the other was alive and well before turning to pick through the belongings of the sorcerers. It was during this moment of pillaging that Brooklyn found a black book with Bahphomet's head upon it. Calling out for the older demon to show him his find Brooklyn got a big surprise when the book disintegrated within hands after he attempted to open it.\n\nConfusion overcame him as he looked to his mate who was shaking his head in amusement.\n\nFirebrand told the earthborn demon that the book had not found him to be worthy of it or its knowledge and had thus chosen to destroy itself rather than allow him to see its secrets.\n\nIt took the entire flight back to the castle for Brooklyn to understand what exactly had just happened, what with him having never seen such sentience in an inanimate object before up above in the human world. Once they made their report to King Astaroth Firebrand directed him to some of the more knowledgeable red arremer who told him what they could of the power of demon magic.\n\nIt had taken time but in the end this was what Brooklyn had surmised from his short lessons with his brethren.\n\nMagic, while a powerful force to humans, was to demons not so much a tool as it was an extension of one's being. Where humans tried to control the forces of the world through manipulation of ritualistic fetishes and arcane spellcraft, the magic of the demon world had to choose an individual to channel their energies through. The body of the demon then became the fetish while the mind transformed into the conduit that channeled the magic into taking shape.\n\nUpon finding this out Brooklyn found himself slowly becoming obsessed with knowing more about the chaotic power that filled the land of Hell. The others, even with their experience, weren't able to tell himself much though. After all, magic was not something that the red arremer clan had cultivated for themselves, with the exception of their fiery breath, which was honestly more of a byproduct of the natural heat which pulsed throughout their beings rather than being something that could be called arcane.\n\nUndeterred by this setback Brooklyn sought to gain permission from the king to use his library in order to further his studied, but soon found that to be out of the question as Astaroth turned out to be quite possessive when it came to his arcane journals. Annoyed by the roadblocks before him Brooklyn had no choice but to seek outside sources of information for what he so desperately wanted. Asking for the time off to go search for the information he needed came easily enough after arranging for Firebrand to be caught up in a drinking game with their brethren. Astaroth, wise in his knowledge of red arremer clan, knew that Brooklyn and Firebrand worked best paired together, and so if the elder was too drunk to be useful to him than it would be better to send the rust colored gargoyle off to get him out of his hair rather than have the earthborn demon around the castle pestering him for knowledge he would rather not give.\n\nBrooklyn barely took time enough to bow his head in thanks to his king before he took off from the castle towards the nearest demon village within the surrounding territory.\n\nIt took time for him to find a kernel of information on the subject of magic and magical libraries since apparently every demon who possessed a catalogue of tomes was just as possessive as Astaroth over the wisdom they kept within them, however, Brooklyn's determination was too great to allow him to be deterred from his goal. Though as days passed without him coming any closer to what he needed to know Brooklyn found himself growing more and more irate until soon he was literally growling out words rather than full sentences. When his patience finally did indeed snap though he reached into the feral tendencies lurking down within him and began to strong-armed the information he sought from out of other demons. It was during the moment when he held up a sorcerer by the neck, his eyes glowing white hot in annoyance as he shook the other down for the information he wanted, that Brooklyn finally learned what he needed to know.\n\nApparently there was an ancient library hidden deep underground on a continent which lurked the corpses of many undead demons.\n\nIt seemed that the building in question had been sunk into the red earth by a greater demon lord rather than allow it to be taken by his enemies during the time of some unimportant war that barely anyone wanted to remember anymore. Finding the location of the lost library was easy enough, yet trekking his way through the depths of a tunnel system carved out by zombies dragons proved to be something of a challenge. Both notoriously territorial and lethal to a fault, the skeletal creatures did not take kindly to any other demon's presence within their domain, yet the rust colored gargoyle was unfettered by the thought of his possible demise.\n\nHe had to succeed.\n\nThere was no other option in this matter.\n\nA day of playing hide and don't seek finally ended with Brooklyn standing before a large blackstone building nestled quietly within the depths of the underground catacombs. Sealed from the outside like a national bank safe the earthborn demon spent several hours trying everything he could think of to get into the treasure trove of knowledge which seemed to taunt him for his ineptitude, much to his annoyance. Fortune finally decided to smile upon him and crack open a path into the inner sanctum after he had punched the stone wall hard enough to cause his knuckles to bleed out. Slipping into the darkness of the unknown, Brooklyn neither saw nor sensed the pale golden eyes that watched him curiously from atop the ceiling of the darkened cave.\n\nInside of the sunken obelisk Brooklyn found traps galore littering the cold hallways of the shadowed interior. It was his keen sense of observation and quick wit that allowed him to dodge poison tipped arrows, boiling pits of acid, and snapping webs of concentrated magic until he finally got to a large half open doorway that seemed to bay him entry. Making his way into the interior of the room a panting Brooklyn found himself cackling in triumph as he looked over the numerous tomes which lay on towering shelves illuminated by green lanterns filled with liquid magic. He passed out before he could even touch one book though.\n\nHow long he remained unconscious Brooklyn didn't know but upon waking up and realizing where he wearily dragged himself up from off the ground over to a shelf which bore the skull of a former demon. Paying no mind to the empty eyes which seemed to gaze upon him curiously, Brooklyn reached out for a purple tome which seemed to call out to him.\n\nPulling the hardbound book from its home on the shelf the earthborn demon gasped when a surged of magic began to surround his body. Moments of stillness overcame him as he felt the energy swirling around his form before finally settling across his flesh. Once he was sure that he wasn't going to be destroyed by some unforeseen trap Brooklyn turned the book over and then looked to the front. Unimpressive was the first impression that overcame him as he noted the bloody pentagram encircled by a simple circle, however the more he studied the design the more he noted unseen words crawling across the cover. Ancient and powerful, the demonic alphabet spun around the cover until they formed a statement that made him raise an eyeridge.\n\n\"Fear not, for he shall always be by your side.\"\n\nWhatever that meant Brooklyn couldn't be sure but just as quickly as they appeared the text faded away. Unsure but too sleepy to concern himself with random statements Brooklyn plopped himself down onto the stood which materialized next to him. Opening the text the rust colored gargoyle turned to the first page and then began to read. Or rather, he found himself being read to as the blank pages within the tome began to fill up with knowledge simple enough for him to discern the meaning of.\n\n= = = = = = \n[b]2. [/b] Demons were weird.\n\nThis was the phrase that kept swirling throughout Brooklyn's mind as he read through the various books stacked within the ancient library; from their biology, to their physiology, to their sexual make up, everything about demons was just so...alien. To say the least.\n\nHowever, despite this, the earthborn demon couldn't help but find a great amount of fascination overcoming him as he studied the denizens of Hell. The tomes for which he read through seemed to go out of their way to explain the history of those called the nightmarish land home, yet to learn that so many of them had once been elder spirits of the earth who had fallen to anger, rage, and despair filled Brooklyn with a sense of awe, the likes of which kept him stuffing his beak within the pages of the various texts which called out to him. Of course all of this information was a foot note compared to the what the the rust colored gargoyle truly desired to know.\n\nApparently most demons were born from the spiritual energy which filtered throughout the land of Hell which then mixed with heavy concentrated thoughts and emotions such as hate, fear, anger, passion, greed, lust, despair, and so on and so forth. Once they gained enough 'weight' to them they then could take on an expression of willpower which then would give them a semblance of sentience. Yet the size, strength, and ability of each type of demon depended on the level of concentration for which said energy gathered together. A good number of demons in the past seemed to have been born during the times when the spiritual energy of the land was most dense, however, after millenia of warring between one another the level of energy needed to creature such powerful entities had waned to the point where the last demon of some great note to be born into the world was the demon Lucifer. The demon lord of red fur and molten flame was over several thousands of years old according to one book and, at one time, possessed the ability to raise entire continents with but a single wave of his hand, however, in the centuries passed his powers had waned to the point where such a feat was nearly impossible to him.\n\nIt was because of the lack of spiritual energy within Hell that many demons created tools and other fetishes for which they could use to amplify their natural strength and abilities, and why those mortals who would often try and take possession of these fetishes would find themselves becoming demonic in both their nature and attitudes soon afterwards.\n\nReading this and then looking to the manacles which he bore onto his wrists, Brooklyn wondered if this was why he often felt so 'angry' and 'volatile' than he had been before. While he was often very hard-pressed to show such emotions in the past for fear of being stigmatized by humans, now once he reached that limit it became easy enough for him to reach deep into his core and summon forth a level of feral rage, the likes of which both increased his physical abilities to an almost frightening degree, but which often bore the effect of eroding the mental controls he had formerly placed upon himself. Though 'thankfully' his brethren were very good at teaching him how to restrain his baser emotions while at the same time allowing him to tap into his demonic abilities. The phantom punches to the stomach he often felt being a good reminded as to why it was best to learn to channel one's expression of anger and ferocity towards some meaningful task, less you be beaten and left bleeding against the ground by an older demon who didn't have a lot of patience.\n\nReturning to his studies Brooklyn found that human souls were a great source of energy for demons, what with them being concentrated forms of spiritual matter in and of themselves. While not inherently powerful, the raw energy a human soul could produce when devoured could empower a demon for decades on end, so long as the demon didn't go overboard with usage of his native magical abilities. However there was a catch to this. It seemed that human souls quickly became saturated in extreme environments and thus needed to be kept stored within vacuums in order to preserve their beneficial properties. This was one of the reasons why Faustian bargains were made back in the centuries past, as by offering one's soul to a demon the demon could wrap their energy around the human's soul, preventing it from being tainted by other powers while at the same time drawing it directly to the demon once the human in question died.\n\nThe manner by which a soul could be consumed varied from book to book, with some detailing how to absorb a soul within oneself and slowly deplete its natural energy before fulling consuming it. Others...well, they actually made Brooklyn raise an eye in surprise. Who knew that one could actually cook spiritual matter and then 'season' it?\n\nHours of reading later led the earthborn demon through a number of different books, most of which proved to not be that useful or interesting to the rust colored gargoyle, but all the same he kept what he learned from the well-worn pages locked away for further use later on.\n\nIt was sometimes after he had woken up from having passed out across the floor, again, that Brooklyn came across a book that told him exactly what he needed to know with regards to the history and biology of the red arremer clan. The thick black tome spoke of the very first imp which rose up from out of an egg made of molten rock buried deep within a volcano to the far east and how it had clawed its way out into the chaotic world to bring fear and terror to those who would look down upon it. Though small compared to many other demons, the black winged creature proved to be lethal when enraged, its powers growing more and more with every opponent that it overcame. Finally, the creature caught the attention of the first king of Hell and soon became the 'armor' for which the king would use when conquering the twisted fiends of this realm.\n\nOf course, the king didn't gain such favor simply by simply defeating the snarling creature in combat. No. It seemed that the monstrous dual faced creature worked long and hard to 'tame' the green skinned imp through...a number of different means that Brooklyn's eyes pop open in surprise. The earthborn demon didn't think that his brethren could bend in such a way, but then again he thought that it might be sorta fun to try a couple of the techniques the king had used with his mate once he finished his lessons here.\n\nMoving on, Brooklyn read through the tome until finally he got to the subject which interested him the most.\n\nHours after his dark eyes raced across the words within the pages the rust colored gargoyle found himself eager to test his new knowledge.\n\nTurning his head away from the book Brooklyn steadied his breathing until he was able to count every pulse of his heartbeat one by one by one. Once he thought himself ready he slowly increased the beats by speeding up his inhalation and exhalation of air until soon a sweltering heat began to burn within his chest. When he felt that the heat was hot enough to scald his insides Brooklyn opened his beak, flattened his tongue, and then forced the heat up and out of his throat.\n\nThe colorful flame which plumed from out of his maw, while very small, was so bright and colorful that the earthborn demon quickly found himself gaping in awe. This break in concentrated caused him to loose control over the fire, yet this small setback was meaningless to the rust colored gargoyle as he realized what it was that he had just accomplished.\n\nHe had breathed fire.\n\nA feat for which he had thought impossible up until now.\n\nThe elation which coursed through Brooklyn was so great that had he not been as hardened by his time with his brethren he was sure that he would have pumped his fist into the air in jubilation, however, he was much more reserved than that, though not by much as his tail beat back against the solid ground underneath himself. Looking back to the tome and then rereading the pages which had helped him in his endeavor, the earthborn demon carefully studied the words again and then again repeated the exercise once he felt himself ready.\n\nFor a second time he breathed gout of liquid flame into the air, though this time he held onto it for as long as he could before the air within his lungs died down, killing the flame. Brooklyn gasped a cough as his body fought desperately to keep from passing out.\n\nA chuckle broke free from the figure watching him from up above at his foolishness.\n\nOnce he was able to breath normally once again that Brooklyn was like a man possessed as he worked to control the strength, size, and longevity of his fiery breath. It took time, how much the rust colored gargoyle didn't know, yet once he was satisfied with his new ability the earthborn demon was able to breathe out a stream of fire long enough to touch the flat of the ceiling which stood a modest twenty feet above him.\nThankfully the blackstone material was able to negate the heat so Brooklyn didn't have to worry about accidentally setting his library aflame. A sense of black irony coursed through him as he thought about the absurdity of possibly trapping himself within a fiery inferno made of his own creation. However in looking around at the books set upon the myriad of shelves around him Brooklyn quickly found himself looking into ways to negate the effects of the fire which he now controlled. After all, with the luck he had it would be a perfect end for him to die in such a manner.\n\nSeveral tomes of reading later soon found the rust colored gargoyle coming across both a solution to his previous inquiry and a new form of magic by way of a process called word whispering. It was apparently the true form of the spell-casting for which human mages used to invoke change upon the world, yet possessed a level of nuance for which very few mortals could execute as the words needed to be whispered were of a tongue that humans just could not physical pronounce with their limited verbal control.\n\nSleep found him before he could fully get into nitty gritty of how to implement a magic which could freeze the air around oneself but being curled around the book which bore the secret he so earnestly wished to obtain Brooklyn woke up with barely a tired grumble before he was once again nose deep within the text.\n\nOf course, as luck would have it, attempting to use the new form of magic didn't work the first time he tried to utilize it, what with his natural heat keeping the ice from condensing into a usable form. Yet Brooklyn was undeterred by the set back and instead worked to control the flow of heat within him to the point where, three days later, the fire within was cooled to the point where the rust colored gargoyle could create small crystals of ice around himself with a few simple mental commands. The chill made him shudder in an almost visceral manner as his body seemed to outright reject the effects of being so close to such cold, yet Brooklyn's joy at mastering this style of magic made it so that he mentally pushed aside the discomfort with barely a thought of concern. Working with the small crystals like with the same passion as a glassblower molding sand, the earthborn demon was able to commanded the frost to cover his fist and arms up to the point where he looked as though he were wearing gauntlets made of blue diamonds. Getting up from off of the floor to test the icy armaments against a nearby wall Brooklyn found himself gaping in awe as he punched a hole straight through the blackstone.\n\nThe sight of the fist shaped impression cast within the wall brought with it a feral sense of joy to the earthborn demon, however, the library didn't seem to share his sense of triumph as the building shook violently seconds after the assault.\n\nBrooklyn gaped and lost concentration over the spell shattering the ice from around his hands as the upheaval of the floor overtook his being. Moments later the rust colored gargoyle found himself being assaulted with a number of books which seemed to literally jump off the shelves towards him.\n\nSwallowed up by several dozen colorful books he missed the cackling that came from the watchful form hiding within the shadows as the other demon looked upon him with unrepentant amusement. Growling in annoyance Brooklyn worked to pull himself up from out of the mass of tomes while apologizing bemusedly to the somewhat sentient building. Once free from the stack of books the rust colored gargoyle grumbled and then set about putting each and every tome back into place as a form of penance for his transgression. The demonic library seemed to accept this form of an apology for soon a familiar calm returned to the building.\n\nThe hole however remained.\n\nIt was in placing the tomes back on the shelves that Brooklyn stumbled over a journal which gave instruction on how to channel raw electrical energy into one's hand. Fascination overcame him as he soon found himselff beak deep within the pages of the leather bound tome, his efforts to place the other books back into place momentarily set aside in favor of gaining a newfound ability. It was by this time that Firebrand realized that he was becoming bored with waiting around for the other demon to finally take notice of him. Slowing easing himself from out of the shadows the black winged demon stalked up behind his mate and then looked over the taller male's muscular shoulder to see what the white haired arremer found so fascinating.\n\nBrooklyn was so enraptured with the book held in between his hands that he didn't even feel the heat of the shorter demon billowing against his back. Eyes focused forward as he read over the effects of drawing out electrical energy from within his core, the only telltale sign that the earthborn demon was somewhat aware of the presence behind him was the brush of his tail against the cleft in between Firebrand's legs.\n\nFor minutes on end the room was bathed within the quiet whisper of pages being turned as the two demons read from the magical tome, yet for all the study that the two did the rust colored gargoyle was able to absorb ten times as much knowledge as Firebrand was. By the time Brooklyn had closed the book the pair were so distant in their understanding over what they had just learned that Firebrand might as well have not bothered to try and read anything at all. Brooklyn on the other hand had drunk in the knowledge with such fervor that in holding out his hand to call forth the power he so desired the rust colored gargoyle found a burst of yellow lightning forming within his palm so large that the room tinted with an amber hue.\n\nA devious smirk crossed the rust colored gargoyle's face as he lifted up both hands and then spreading them out together by his sides. Closing his eyes and then whispering in near silence, Brooklyn summoned forth twin spheres of writhing electrical energy so powerful that the charge running throughout his body made his white locks of hair poof up slightly. Raising his arms up towards the ceiling he calmed his breathing and then focused his thoughts in an effort to channel his magic skyward. Like hissing vipers reaching out for prey the supernatural lightning roared forward hitting the top of the room and then bounced back down towards him like a rubber ball.\n\nNow Brooklyn was sure that he could have easily caught the charging thunder shooting down towards him, stopping it from actually harming him without incidence, however, Firebrand was not so sure of this and on instinct the black winged imp shoved his mate out of the way of the supposed danger without telling the other of what he was planning. Caught completely off-guard the earthborn demon fell forward onto the blackstone floor just as a painful yowl of filled the air of the library. Brooklyn turned around just in time to see his mate light up like a Christmas tree right before his dark eyes narrowed into pinpricks as he watched the cherry skinned demon sway back and forth.\n\nFirebrand fell forward unconscious just as Brooklyn let out an ear splitting wail of terror.\n\n= = = = =\n[b]3.[/b] To say that Brooklyn panicked after seeing his mate twitching on the blackstone floor of the library the two of them were within would have been a dire understatement. The younger demon held the slightly charred red arremer close as he frantically called out to the other. The cherry skinned gargoyle growled quietly before letting his pale gold orbs flutter open, his focus slowly coming to rest upon the younger male. Brooklyn didn't think as he leaned down nuzzle the other, his voice a quiet whisper as he let out instinctual croons in order to tell his mate how sorry he was.\n\nFirebrand let out a pained chuckle before he reached up to rub his hand through the younger demon's white locks of hair. It took Brooklyn several minutes to calm down but once he no longer felt frantic over the older demon's fate he pulled back to stare into the other's eyes. The impish smirk on Firebrand's face made a smile tug at Brooklyn's lips. Now usually seeing his mate gaze up at him in such a way would have Brooklyn growing hard in between his legs, but in scanning over the shorter male the earthborn demon found whatever arousal that might have bloomed within him dying a quick death.\n\nThe cherry skin of his mate was severely charred in certain places from the magical thunder Firebrand had attempted to protect him from; the burnt smell of cooked flesh twisted Brooklyn's stomach making his snout wrinkle in distaste. Leaning down to roll his tongue over a particularly darkened patch of skin the earthborn demon pulled back sharply when the older male hissed and twitched within his embrace. Turning to stare the cherry skinned gargoyle Brooklyn felt a burning sense of determination overcome his mind as he watched the red arremer wince up at him. Allowing Firebrand to raise up on his own the younger demon scanned the room until his eyes set themselves upon a brown tome nestled within a nearby shelf.\n\nMoving the red arremer to the side the rust colored gargoyle picked himself up and then marched over to the book. Snatching it down from the shelf and then throwing the book open the Brooklyn wasted no time as he began to read the first page of the book, even as his body unconsciously found its way back to Firebrand's side. Plopping himself down onto the cold floor the young demon read the words within with a furious yet controlled pace as he sought for the words he subconsciously knew where waiting for him. Firebrand made no attempt to try and read the book as he watched how quickly the younger demon flipped through the pages of the text, instead he checked himself over to see how much mobility he had left within his body from the magical shock to his system.\n\nSurprisingly the cherry skinned gargoyle found that he was better than he thought, though the wounds that stuck out on his body seemed to contradict this fact. Once he was sure that he was well enough Firebrand folded his legs underneath himself and then stretched his wings as he prepared himself to wait for his younger mate to finish his studies. It was an hour into the wait that he found himself dozing off slightly, the steady sound of Brooklyn flipping through the well worn pages of the book and muttering incoherently to himself sending him into the black abyss of dreamless slumber.\n\nHow many hours passed Brooklyn would never be able to tell, yet once the younger demon felt himself confident in his studies he slammed the book shut, rousing Firebrand from his light doze, and then turned to his mate.\n\nThe cherry skinned demon raised an eye as he watched the rust colored gargoyle close his eyes, raise a hand, and then began chanting aloud. When a green plume of energy blossomed within the earthborn demon's palm and then began to radiate outward Firebrand patted himself on the back as he stopped himself from instinctively leaping away from his mate as he normally would seeing magic flow from a mage's hand. However, that didn't stop him from growling out loud at the other when he felt the energy begin to swirl around him. The warmth he felt from the spell calmed Firebrand's instincts enough to allow him to sit still as his mate continued chanting his strange spell. As the seconds ticked by the cherry skinned demon found himself feeling more and more awkward as his body began to feel...lighter. It was a twitch of his fingers that made him look down. What he found brought with it a surprise to the red arremer.\n\nThe wounds underneath the charred skin were finely knitted themselves while the burnt flesh flecked off and fell to the ground.\n\nThe older red arremer couldn't stop the purr from leaving his throat as he found his insides being healed by Brooklyn's spell, the pain of earlier which he felt deep within his bones was slowly fading away while at the same time a new strength began to invigorate him. Stretching his wings to allow them the full advantage of the healing aura Firebrand growled in pleasure as the old wounds which pained him to this day were eased. It was only after he could feel that the enchantment could do no more for him that the older demon turned to tell his younger lover that he could stop, yet Brooklyn...seemed to be almost lost in the throes of his spell as he continued chanting.\n\nBrooklyn barely cracked an eye when the red arremer snapping his fingers in front of his face, however the younger demon was forced break off from his casting when a strong arm grabbed him around the waist. His focus fully snapped back into place when his mate pulled him close and then forced his maw open with his tongue. The rust colored gargoyle gasped as he found himself pushed down onto the ground, Firebrand wasted little time in showing his appreciation of his younger lover's devotion as he reached down to stroke his little mage's twitching sex.\n\nThe next few hours were filled with the two demons expressing their love for each other in the most base way possible, not that either minded in the least.\n\nBy the time they were through Brooklyn had to use his newfound healing spell on himself as his backside was thoroughly worked over to the point where he thought that he could actually feel a kink in his tail. For his part Firebrand had utterly exhausted himself using Brooklyn's body to store his essence within and now the older demon was busy slumbering off to the side of the room nearest the back wall, his black wings curled around himself. The pair had pretty much christened the entire library with their marks as they mated furiously with one another until they finally ran out of steam. The rust colored gargoyle looked over his shoulder at the slumbering red arremer, a small smirk drawing upon his lips, before he turned away to limp over to a nearby bookshelf. Apparently his healing spell wasn't powerful enough to completely restore him, but that made sense, seeing as he had recently learned how to channel his newfound powers. Grabbing a thick black book, the earthborn demon hobbled back over to Firebrand and then settled himself onto the floor to begin reading.\n\nSeveral hours passed by without notice and before long Brooklyn found himself waking up curled around the older demon. Firebrand warbled out a few quiet words as he lifted his wing from around the other to allow him up. Brooklyn yawned and then moved his face up to nuzzle the older male. The two slowly exchanged breath and tongue again and before long Brooklyn found himself rolling around onto his back to spread his legs once again. Firebrand didn't bother to say anything as he felt his body growing aroused by the display of open submission by his mate.\n\nThree days later the older demon left the library to go and give his report on the other to King Astaroth. Brooklyn was thankful for the red arremer patience as was quite adamant about not leaving the library until he read through every secret hidden within the pages of the numerous books within the blackstone sanctum. As if listening to his prayers the demon gods seemed to prevent any trouble from happening with his brethren which would force the earthborn demon to return to the keep so he was able to keep up his studies for several months before something...interesting happened.\n\nWhile researching through an ancient text which had been written by Lucifer himself Brooklyn stumbled over a forgotten truth regarding the red arremer clan. Apparently the winged demons were given the power to take on a 'pure white form meant to terrify death' by the elder demon lord during his stint to conquer the human world. What this form was supposed to be the rust colored gargoyle wasn't sure, but it seemed that the power was given in order to increase the might of demon lord's forces against the 'holy knight who was the shield of the mortal goddess'. Again, he had no idea who these alluded to, but in his studies Brooklyn found that there was a way to tap into the power of this pale white form though the process needed a lot of energy to activate itself. It seemed that Lucifer didn't want the red arremer using this power at will, less they attempt to overtake him with it. Demons were notorious for being usurpers no matter how loyal they might be, after all. Gathering the materials to make a sigil bearing Lucifer's emblem, Brooklyn attempted to utilize the power within the underground area where the library was nestled but was halted by Firebrand after the demon learned of what he was doing.\n\nThe pair got into a heated altercation over the subject matter, with the older demon arguing the merits of such a process verses the possibility of the younger demon getting himself killed, while Brooklyn waved the concerns aside after point out that there was nothing in the text to suggest that the process was at all fatal. At worse...nothing would happen. However, Firebrand, still unconvinced, forced his way onto the sigil next to Brooklyn, his pale gold eyes filled with conviction even as his mouth remained firmly turned down in disapproval. The mage gargoyle didn't say anything and instead cast the spell of invocation causing the room to illuminate with a white glow once he was prepared.\n\nThe show of light and energy which cast itself across the blackstone library was one that caused both Brooklyn and Firebrand to shield their eyes, yet once it was over...both demons were quite underwhelmed with the results. Their bodies were still their natural coloration, something the book Brooklyn had said would instantly change, and they felt no more powerful that when the spell was cast. To say that the earthborn demon was disappointed was an understatement. Stepping away from the sigil over to the book to see what he had done wrong brought with it a scream from the rust colored gargoyle's throat. Firebrand raced to his mate's side without thought, however the older demon found himself also warbling out a scream of his own.\n\nBoth demons grunted and then arched down to hold themselves against the ground as their bodies were racked by incredible pain. Feeling as though they were being torn apart from the inside out Brooklyn attempted to cast his healing spell but was unable to concentrate as the agony was just too great for his mind to focus. Seconds into everything though their suffering ceased making both demons gasp in exhaustion before they suddenly yelped together as an unfamiliar pressure tore throughout their beings.\n\nBrooklyn had just enough time to blink before he found his eyes going fuzzy. Or at least he thought they were going fuzzy as a white film began to overtake his vision. Lifting a hand to his face the earthborn demon watched as his rust colored skin slowly grew paler and paler until he was soon as white as fresh fallen snow. Turning to look over at his mate the mage gargoyle noted that Firebrand was having the same revelation, what with the older demon's body becoming whiter until he was soon the same shade white as Brooklyn was, if a little darker. Reaching up to scratch his head in confusion at what was going on, Brooklyn was taken aback as he noted dark clumps of hair falling down from his head. Pulling his hand down the earthborn demon found that he was holding tufts of dark blue within his palm. Since there was no mirror within the room he couldn't actually see what his hair looked like, but in turning to ask his mate if what was happening to him was real Brooklyn found himself aghast to learn that, yes, his hair did now look like a dark flame.\n\nThe changes that overcame them from that point on became internal as the two demons could feel their bones and muscles growing more dense and tightly packed; the energy of the spell, while not making them bulk out with new muscle, did work to concentrate the strength that the pair held. Curling a hand into a fist and then punching at the air Brooklyn noted that his punch came almost twice as fast as what he normally could throw, this brought about a pleased smile from the fledgling mage. While knowing better than to try and hit the library again the younger demon couldn't deny an eagerness to test out the strength he now bore. Turning his head to look to Firebrand he saw that the older demon was thinking the exact same think as he watched the devious smirk cross over the red arremer's face.\n\nLittle was said as the two raised their fists and then dove for one another.\n\nTime passed by like water flowing down a rushing waterfall as the two demons traded punches and kicks with one another throughout the library. As expected, their attacks were much stronger than before, with both of them pushing each other back more than they had during their usual sparring exercises, yet their bodies seemed to recover much quicker despite the blows to the chest and torso that they inflicted upon another another. Neither used their fire breath attack as they thought that such an idea would be a very bad idea considering the delicacy of the area and the contents within, yet both Brooklyn and Firebrand could feel that the flickering flames within were desperate to escape from their chests in an effort to sear the world all that existed around them.\n\nOnce they finally ran out of steam the two demons were left panting and sweating as they laid on the ground together, their bodies slowly reverting back to their original coloration. Firebrand found himself cackling as he reached out to draw the younger demon closer to himself, his tongue laving across Brooklyn's throat before he spoke his appreciation to his mate for the newfound power he had gifted them both with. The mage gargoyle's tail wagged joyfully even as drifted off to sleep, his mind silently pleased by the older male's words.\n\nIt was another two months into his studies when things changed for the two demons.\n\nBrooklyn had just about read through the entire library's vast wealth of knowledge when he got to a set of books which were bound with brass locks. Thankfully he was able to slip his claw into the holes to unlock the tomes in order to unseal their knowledge, however what he found within were words that made him uncomfortable, and that was something to say, given that he had long since gotten over his disgust with ending the lives of others.\n\nYet what he read...shook him to his core.\n\nInside of the texts Brooklyn found the words of eldritch creatures having been slathered onto the worn pages. Their thoughts and ideas were, above all, disturbing, if not quite profound in changing the way of his thinking. The spells he found hidden inside of the books were all made for the subversion of others, either through mental, physical, spiritual, or sexual means. The earthborn demon read over spells which could draw out the spiritual energy of another being in order to devour it, to mind controlling enchantments which could be put onto another's body in order to drag them down into a constant chasm of submission, to enchantment which would fill another mind with wordless whispers, the likes of which would drive their victim's mind into the abyss of madness. Brooklyn got through three books before he found himself slamming the last tome shut.\n\nEven if he were a demon he could never think to do such a thing to another, after all, the only reason he was here at all was to learn what he would need to know in order to protect the lives of those he called his brethren.\n\nSetting the book back into place the mage gargoyle found himself no longer interested in whatever knowledge existed within the rest of the grimoire within the library. Stretching, Brooklyn smiled as he listened to the familiar sound of his mate's flapping wings coming closer and closer to his location. Going over to greet the cherry skinned demon the earthborn demon found himself being frozen into place as he found his body suddenly overtaken by an unrelenting force. Firebrand set himself down a few feet from his younger lover just in time to cock and eye ridge in confusion at seeing the younger male gasping like a fish out of water. Both demons were taken by surprise when several black tentacles erupted from out of Brooklyn to assault Firebrand. The red arremer barked in surprise but was helpless to do anything more than struggle when the black tentacles wrapped tightly around his body and then began to drag him towards the paralyzed mage gargoyle.\n\nIt was when Brooklyn's muzzle was forced open and a slimy black tentacle reached out from his maw that both began to fearfully panic. The younger demon fought to try and snap his maw shut but the appendage which slipped from him refused to be denied. Like a sneaking snake the writhing limb reached around to caress Firebrand's tightly clenched jaw as if attempting to perversely caress it. The older demon kept his mouth tightly shut in attempt to deny the thing access but soon found his jaws forced open when one of the slimy tentacles holding him slunk up to begin choking him, his involuntary gasp was all that was needed as the appendage in front of him slipped down into his esophagus on down into his chest. What the thing was attempting to do both demons weren't sure but soon its objective became painfully obvious when Firebrand began to struggle in earnest as he felt something being pulled out from his chest.\n\nBrooklyn watched in abject terror as he watched the black-crimson flame of his mate's soul being drawn from the older demon's maw into the front of his face. The sparkling flame seemed confused as it pulled towards the red arremer's direction by the black tentacle, but before it could attempt to return to it's host's body the fire was forced down the earthborn demon's throat. Brooklyn gasped when the burning heat of the flame touched the spark within his own chest, his internal temperature heating up to twice what was normal for him before the paralysis he was held underneath dispelled itself. The mage gargoyle reached a hand down for his lower chest just as a burning sensation, the likes of which he had never felt before, overcame him. A hellish scream tore through the library as Brooklyn's body suddenly contorted and then began to expand upon itself.\n\nMuscles bulked upon the earthborn demon's form as he grew both outwards and upwards all at once. Clenching his mouth in agony, Brooklyn tried to fight against the pain surging through him, however the fire within was not to be denied. The twin flames which burned inside of him needed fuel in order to keep themselves burning as they merged together, and as a result the forced his body to become the perfect furnace to keep themselves alive. Brooklyn clawed at the ground as he tried to resist what was happening to him, yet the fruitless action only served to dig deep furrows into the blackstone for his troubles. Tail lashing against the ground as he knelt down, Brooklyn shut his eyes just in time to miss how his rust colored skin began to turn jet black. The coloration spread like wet ink across his entire being as he continued to expand in size and shape. When the first pulse of new power rumbled through him the mage gargoyle's moans of pain subsided into warbles of pleasure as his sex began to thicken in between his legs. Balls doubling in size as his length drew out from his sheath, Brooklyn found himself was very tempted to reach down and stroke himself off but resisted on principal.\n\nWhen the changes finally began to taper off some minutes later Brooklyn gasped and groaned in relief. Opening his eyes to look down at himself the earthborn demon found that the entire world now glittered with a red light, though this might have been because his eyes were now liquid rubies within his skull. Pulling himself up so that he could look over himself, the young demon spent several seconds feeling over himself to try and make sense of what he now was before turning his head to look at his mate. What he saw made him screech in unabashed fear.\n\nStone.\n\nThat was what had become of Firebrand now as he looked forward into nothingness.\n\nThe older demon didn't think as he reached out for his mate, his much more massive hands encompassing all of the red arremer's arm as he tried to will the power within himself to return to the other male. However nothing came from his frantic internal chanting. Instead the now petrified demon remained looking forward, his emotions captured perfectly within the stone. Brooklyn pulled back in panic and sorrow before he turned and rushed over to the bookcase to try and find some book that could undo what he had unconsciously done. However without thinking his tail swept behind him knocking into the statue that was now Firebrand.\n\nIt was the sound of shattering stone that chilled Brooklyn to the bone.\n\nSlowly turning around to look behind himself the much black demon found his crimson eyes widening into abject horror as noted the pile of rubble that was now the red arremer.\n\nBrooklyn's world spun around him as he tepidly stepped back over to what was left of Firebrand. Kneeling down next to the smashed stone Brooklyn grasped at two pieces of his mate in futile attempt to put them back together, only to squeak in disbelief as the small stones were accidentally crushed within his palms, subsequently turning into dust.\n\nIt was someone shaking him that drew Brooklyn's attention away from the nightmare that had become his reality.\n\nBlinking the younger demon gasped in surprise as he looked up into the pale gold eyes of his lover staring down at him worriedly.\n\nBrooklyn didn't think as he jumped up from the ground to tackle the other.\n\nFirebrand was not sure what to do about the suddenly display of emotion but in listening to the other's frantic words of apology the red arremer choose to merely reach up to stroke the other's white locks in a show of patient affection. It took time but once Brooklyn was more in control over himself he pulled away from his mate and then shook his head in embarrassment. Firebrand merely remained where he was on the ground as he looked up at the other in confusion. Brooklyn, unable to say anything, merely reached out to offer the other a hand up. The older demon took the hand and then hoisted himself up to stand next to the taller male.\n\nThe earthborn demon didn't say anything as he released the other and then began to head for the exit of the library. Firebrand quietly followed after his mate, the red arremer quite confused as to what had spooked the rust colored gargoyle so bad. Behind them the book which Brooklyn had been reading remained upon the ground, the middle of the book opened to reveal the face of a creature that was nothing more than a gaping maw with a blood colored tongue. Once the pair were no longer within the building the tome slammed itself shut, black tentacles writhing from the underside to march the text back to the shelf it had been sitting on before it was rudely taken from its home.\n\n== = = = = =\n[b]4.[/b] It had been a couple of days since Brooklyn had returned to the red arremer castle and even though the young demon was more than a little happy to be back home in bed with his mate there was something...off within the earthbound demon that kept him from fully enjoying the experience of being back where he belonged.\n\nAnalyzing the feelings revealed a sense of strange anxiousness pressing against his mind, yet nothing Brooklyn did seemed to alleviate this pressure which gnawed at him relentlessly.\n\nWell, that wasn't exactly true, as there one thing in particular which seemed to have a very good effect at chasing away all thoughts and worries from his mind.\n\nTurning to look down at the sleeping demon slumbering next to him Brooklyn found a devious smirk crawling across his face as he looked down at Firebrand's quietly breathing form. The elder demon had been more than a little happy to have his younger mate back where he belonged and sought to show Brooklyn why it was a good thing indeed for him to stay exactly where he was now several times over, a feat for which the rust colored gargoyle was more than a little happy to remember as he flexed his recently used anal muscles just a touch. The feeling of the older demon's essence seeping out from his body made Brooklyn purr in pleasure, yet even though the thought of another round under the slightly scratchy sheets made his seeping sex twitch in approval the sight of Firebrand's snoozing face made him decide otherwise.\n\nThere would definitely be time for them to play around later on, but for now though the younger demon wanted to try and figure out exactly what it was that seemed to be tugging along the end of his senses.\n\nAt first Brooklyn had thought that maybe the feeling had something to do with how he thought the others might view him, as magic was not something that the older demons were particularly accustomed to, however, when using his powers defeat a younger red arremer who had been trying to pick a fight with him the others mere blinked and then moved along about their business. The younger demon hadn't been all that impressed and soon enough he and Brooklyn had been sparing together outside within the courtyard. A few hours later the pair were drinking together within the main hall, their bruised bodies quietly being healed by Brooklyn's magic, though only Firebrand knew this.\n\nWith such a fear out of his mind the next thing Brooklyn felt that he might have had to worry about was how his lord and master might view him now that he knew the secrets of the arcane. His concerns were quickly swept aside though after coming to note the lack of magical spells which would signify his trespassing across another mage's sanctuary. In one of the books he had read Brooklyn had learned that those demons and sorcerers who possessed high levels of magic often created fine runic lines within their homes which acted as barriers against unwelcomed 'guests'. Oddly enough Astaroth had not placed such wards across the red arremer castle, and so that either meant that the greater demon lord didn't have any interest in creating these wards because of the 'guard' he kept around, or...he didn't have as much magical power as Brooklyn had once thought. Either way Brooklyn planned to rectify this situation within the coming months, with or without Astaroth's permission.\n\nWith those two major concerns out of the way the rust colored demon didn't know what exactly it could have been that was triggering his sense of flight or fight.\n\nSitting up and then pulling himself back against the stone wall behind the bed, Brooklyn closed his eyes as he tried to search deep inside of his psyche for something that could lead him to the reason why he was so...frustrated.\n\nThe deep void within his mind was like a black tar pit dragging Brooklyn down further and further into himself, however, instead of fighting or struggling the rust colored gargoyle allowed himself to be dragged deep into the abyss until light bloomed within his dark eyes. Blinking the young demon found himself surrounded by the visage of his castle home having erupted within flames. A cry of fear eased out of Brooklyn's maw as his heart wrenched at the thought of his home having been destroyed yet no sound came from his lips. Voiceless as he was at the moment the earthborn demon could only watch in abject horror as the stone walls of the fortress came down before his eyes like crashing titans.\n\nThe screeching sound of something crying out in their death throes caught Brooklyn's attention.\n\nTurning his head, the rust colored gargoyle watched as his brethren fell from the sky one by one by one. Their forms were blossoming with red ichor which fell like flower petals from their bodies as they crashed to the broken ground beneath them. Brooklyn was forced to watch the red arremer fall from grace in silent horror as his body seemed to be frozen in place by a visceral paralysis. Trying to reach out to his brethren with his magic proved useless as his inner powers seemed to have evaporated like mist in the desert from within himself. It was only when he saw the visage of his own mate falling from the sky that Brooklyn realized the Hell that he was truly in.\n\nThe elder demon spun as he plummeted towards the ground, his ebony wings tearing free from his body like old scab wounds as Firebrand, all the while, let out barking calls of pain and agony. Brooklyn fought against the binding force which held him down, yet his body would not give, not even when the elder demon crashed down mere feet in front of him to lay like a crumpled down before his feet. Rage, fear, pain, and grief overcame Brooklyn as he tried to fight to get to his mate, however, all of his rampant emotions were silenced when something hard, cold, and holy pierced through his chest. Looking down, the rust colored gargoyle found the pointed tip of a silver spear having sliced through his chest, dark black smoking rising into his nose as his blood literally turned to ash within his veins.\n\nUnable to say anything, despite the feeling of Death's claws reaching out to strangle him, Brooklyn found just enough energy to turn his head to look to the direction where the weapon had come from. Dark eyes narrowed in raw hate as the hazy visage of a short creature wearing armor stood not that far behind him right before the world faded to black.\n\nBrooklyn came back into himself with a gasp.\n\nLooking down at himself the younger demon found that, as expected, there was no spear lancing through his chest, nor any ashen blood anywhere on his being. The latter point was something for which he was greatly thankful for as the power of holy weapons were like acid to demons, their power to disintegrate a demon from inside out a deep seated fear which warned burned deeply into every demon's mind. Releasing a breath that he didn't even know that he had been holding onto, Brooklyn found himself to be shaking rather heavily as his fearful mind tried to make sense of what it was he had just experienced. His tomes had spoken of astral projection, but this didn't feel like such a thing. This felt more...tangible. Like an old memory of something which had happened before...and yet the fact that he was sitting there right now proved that it could not have happened.\n\n\"A premonition, then?\" he whispered while reaching a hand up to rub across his pectorals down to his abdomen.\n\nIf it was, he surmised, then it meant that he and his brethren were in a grave amount of danger.\n\n\"Perhaps...I should speed up my plan for warding the castle.\" he chuckled nervously while griping his claws hard enough into his palm to make his blood leak out from the holes. Firebrand was aroused from his sleep by the scent of fresh blood.\n\nSeveral days later as he was working to carve a crest bearing his name spelled in the demon alphabet into the wall of the main hall where the others ate and drank Brooklyn found himself summoned to the king's throne room. Cursing, the young demon stopped what he was doing to see to whatever it was that his lord needed, though as he walked down the hall towards where Astaroth awaited the rust colored gargoyle's mind was ever on the task he had set for himself.\n\n\"You summoned me, sire?\" Brooklyn asked as he knelt down in respect towards the dual faced demon.\n\nLord Astaroth's two faces smiled as they looked down at the much younger earthborn demon. \"Indeed I have,\" the topmost head spoke while the lower watched him with great amusement. \"I have an assignment for which I want you and Firebrand to see to.\"\n\n\"What is the assignment, sire?\"\n\n\"While you were away a treasure of mine was stolen by a demon from the frozen continent to the south. I wish for you both to retrieve this item for me. Once you have seen that my treasure is safe I want you to see that the upstart is disposed of for his troubles.\" a growl left both demon's mouths as the spoke with great 'fondness' for the thief.\n\nA great sense of honor filled Brooklyn's corrupted soul as he processed the order for which his lord and master had just bestowed upon him, and so without hesitation Brooklyn replied with, \"It shall be done, but what was this treasure, and just who was this thief that found himself to be so bold as to steal from this castle?\"\n\n\"The artifact in question was a bejeweled staff which bore a fragment of my power within it.\" the rust colored gargoyle had remembered seeing this tool before several times, yet it had always remained locked away within a glass case within the depths of the castle. So then, how did the thief... Astaroth continued before Brooklyn could finish his thought. \"The thief in question was an upstart white hippogriff who snuck in here while I slept.\"\n\nPure rage filled Brooklyn as he heard these words. Eyes glowing white with hate the younger demon recalled his fight with a hippogriff nearly a year ago after he fell into this world from the mortal realm. The fear of death still whispered within his mind as he remembered how he had to fight to the death against the territorial demon whose home he had accidentally found himself stumbling into. It took Brooklyn a moment to compose himself but once he was no longer as angry as he was before the earthborn demon looked up at his master and then nodded slow and carefully.\n\n\"Good.\" with that the young demon found himself dismissed from the presence of the greater demon.\n\nStanding up onto his two feet, Brooklyn bowed before Astaroth and then turned on his heel to go and find his mate. The older demon, having heard about the summons, had chosen to wait outside of their room for his younger mate's return. The two demons gave each other knowing looks before walking down the hallway of the castle together towards the upper floor aviary. Brooklyn said nothing as he kept in step with his mate but it was easy enough for Firebrand to tell that there was something on the younger demon's mind, however, it wasn't business to inquire as to what troubled the other, so long as it didn't hamper their duty or the slightly taller gargoyle's health. Getting to the outer area of the castle where the other red arremer were busy flying about Brooklyn and Firebrand spread their wings and then darted up into the crimson sky to head on about their away.\n\nBefore they were too far away from the castle though, Brooklyn turned too look back at his home, a sense of worry very clearly on his beaked face.\n\n= = = = = \n[b]5.[/b] Flying through the skies to the colder lands of the south Brooklyn found himself sparing a glance over to Firebrand every now and again. The older demon was completely focused on the task at hand and seemed not to notice his concerned gaze, this was something of a blessing in disguise as Brooklyn knew that his mate would have berated him for attempting to worry over him, however the rust colored gargoyle couldn't fight the feelings welling within his blackened soul. His fears were made even worse as he recalled the vision which had been plagued him for several days prior, and now for Astaroth to lose his scepter as he had... The lost of the sacred artifact may have seemed trivial to those who did not understand the importance of the sacred rod, however the rust colored gargoyle knew the terrible truth.\n\nAstaroth was now quite vulnerable.\n\nThe magical rob carried within it more than a bit of the greater demon lord's power, it carried a bit of the king's essence inside of it as well. While Brooklyn was sure that the dual faced demon was strong enough to handle most other demons should they attempt to strike at the castle, if another demon lord were to challenge him Astaroth might not be able to use his full power to defend himself. And if he lost a battle to another demon...then it meant that the entire red arremer clan would fall underneath a new demon lord's rule. That was what happened before in the past after Lucifer had given dominion over the gargoyle race to his trusted general during the days when he had been crowned as king of Hell.\n\nThe demon lord who had served as a general for Lucifer had been rewarded for his aid in helping to conquer the human world after the second race's fall from power with command of the land where the red arremer castle lay, and rulership over the red arremer clan itself. The black winged demons hadn't cared much for the new general, as they viewed him as a being weaker than Lucifer, however, they were loyal to the red furred demon and thus followed the general without much argument. Centuries passed with the new demon in charge of the red arremer before he was challenged by an upstart demon looking to make a name for himself. The two fought in a bloody battle for hours without end before the demon general used the power within the black sword forged from one of his own bones to literally erase the other demon from existence.\n\nNo could deny that the demon general was powerful, as the scar made from a single swing of his blade had created a bottomless chasm within one of the deadland continents to the east, and yet because he had revealed his greatest weapon his downfall was almost certainly set in stone. One night while he slumbered a rouge demon came into the castle and had stolen away the sacred black sword from its place within the demon general's treasure trove. The next day when the general had awakened to find himself being challenged by a rival of his who had made no illusion about wanting to take over the general's position as ruler over his piece of the demon realm. The two fought and though they were seemed to have come to a standstill for several days eventually the demon general's defeat was handed to him by way of his head being decapitated from his body.\n\nOnce the general laid defeated the new demon lord took control over the red arremer clan and then began a bloody siege throughout the demon world which lasted for several years. Eventually however, the demon lord was assassinated by a young demon whose clan had been murdered during the demon lord's attempt at world conquest. The younger demon, not wanting anything to do with the demon lord's territory or the red arremer, had left for parts unknown after that never to be seen again. Rumor spoke to fact that he was last sense with a massive black sword within his possession, however no one knew whether this was the same blade belonging to the former demon general. In truth it mattered little whether the young demon had the blade or not as the lost of a ruler over the red arremer created a power vacuum within Hell. Without a master the red arremer began to terrorize the various continents of Hell without recourse, their inherent nature to cause strife made them into some of the demon world's worst fiends, the likes of whom carved several bloody patches throughout the land which, to this day had yet to be forgotten. Because Lucifer had suffered a mortal wound after being dethroned from the world topside by the Fae and their new lord the demon king was in no shape to wrestle the red arremer back under his control and so for centuries the black winged demons went upon a hellish rampage...until finally Astaroth came forth to bring them under control.\n\nAt the time the red arremer had created a hierarchy amongst themselves which was lead by one with the title of Fireband who acted as their king. This demon, clad within green armor and wielding intense might, had fought Astaroth to a standstill time and again until finally the dual faced demon had used the power of his staff to smite the other demon. Once they witnessed the defeat of their leader the red arremer turned to Astaroth for leadership, something for which the demon lord was all too happy to take for himself. It had been millennia since the greater demon lord had come to claim dominion over the red arremer and the castle for which they had called home, and while time had seen many bloody wars enacted throughout the demon world Astaroth remained his position of power.\n\nBut now that could all change.\n\nBrooklyn shivered not from the subzero level of cold that swept across his body as he and Firebrand entered into the heart of the frozen wasteland but at the thought about what would happen if another demon lord were to try and challenge his king right now.\n\nWould the next demon lord be reasonable as Astaroth, or would he be a typical tyrant? Would he use the red arremer as his pawns to try and conquer all of Hell, or would he see them destroyed for the threat that they could present to his control? Was the one responsible for the theft even allied with a greater demon lord, or was this all a plan dreamt up by a young usurper who had grand ideals?\n\nThere were just so many questions that had no answers to themselves, however, Brooklyn was not one for sitting by and idly waiting for events to transpire against his will. It was with this in mind that the rust colored gargoyle came to realize that he and Firebrand had no idea where the thief was. Astaroth had given them a general direction to follow by telling him of the type of demon they were searching for, yet that wasn't really much help in the actual search itself. Realizing that the time they spent looking might give whoever was behind all of the this the chance to strike out against his king Brooklyn decided to try something.\n\nBarking out for Firebrand to follow him the younger demon made his way down towards a mountain where the tear freezing winds weren't blowing as badly and then set about working on a little magic he had recalled during his studies. The older demon cocked an eye as he watched his younger mate work over the ground with his claws, the rust colored gargoyle whispering underneath his breath all the while. Once Brooklyn was sure that he had carved the runes he needed into the snow packed ground he then began to focus his thoughts on what he desired. Firebrand watched in quiet awe as streams of yellow energy trailed around the taller demon's body on down towards the ground with barely an audible hiss. When the pale ribbons of magic touched the runes they began to set the carvings alight causing the entire area around them to glow with a opal radiance.\n\nFirebrand growled when the image of a hippogriff took shape in front of Brooklyn.\n\nThe phantom demon looked this way and that as though he were searching for something before the figure shrunk down into an orange sized ball which floated cautiously before the earthborn demon's face.\n\n\"He was a fool for not knowing that the scepter could be tracked with magic, however, that will work in our favor as this will lead us to him.\" Brooklyn said coldly.\n\nFirebrand let out a cackle of laughter as he patted the younger demon onto the back in congratulations for his brilliance.\n\n\"Let's hurry.\" Brooklyn smiled non-pulsed as he waved his hand out to send the orb off. The yellow sphere zoomed to the east before either of them could blink.\n\nThe demon gargoyles flew like rockets through the frozen tundra as they chased after the magic ball of energy. Over and across the wasteland of the south Brooklyn caught sight of the numerous structures which littered the landscape, most them were settlements which were barely of any note to the two demons, however, there was something about the way they were arranged that prodded against the back of Brooklyn's head.\n\n\"They look almost like...camps. Military camps!\" Brooklyn hissed as two and two suddenly came together in startling certainty.\n\nTurning to look back at the orb floating in front of him the young demon willed his magic to move the sphere much more quickly. It took nearly an hour of flying through a storm of ice and snow before the pair finally got to where they needed to be. Seated within a empty forest was a frozen structure obscured by the biting snow falling down upon their heads. While hard to spot from the air it was easy enough for Firebrand and Brooklyn to find as they dropped down from the sky directly in front of the unfamiliar place. The older demon barked at his mate in confusion when the pair failed to spot an entrance into the structure, even though the yellow orb was merrily floating above the head of the building.\n\n\"I guess this is what is meant by being specific when casting spells.\" The rust colored gargoyle murmured to himself as he realized that his magic had indeed led them to where they needed to be...but not exactly to whom they needed to find. \"The hippogriff had to gotten in here somehow, let's search for an entrance.\"\n\nIt took them a minute of searching before they finally found a door which could give them entrance into the unexplored structure. Sadly there was no handle for which they could use to open the door which meant that the barrier was probably sealed with a special kind of spell meant to allow only those who knew its incantation inside. Had he not been so concerned with the camps he had seen Brooklyn knew that he would have tried to use his powers to guess at the secret behind the incantation, however, his fear ate away at his more rationale mind and so without thought he stabbed his claws through the stone of the door and then began to pull. Seeing his mate struggling Firebrand stepped beside the younger demon and then mimicked his actions.\n\nTogether the two demons grunted and huffed as they pulled back at the stubborn barrier which sought to bar them entrance. It took several seconds but with a groaning creak the stoned cracked at the unseen seams before finally coming loose. Firebrand and Brooklyn chuckled as they lobbed the now broken door over to the side. The resounding crash muffled the hurried steps of the pair as they walked down the stairwell which lead deep into the unknown.\n\nFollowing the pathway after summoning the small yellow orb to him the two demons found themselves deep within a strange aqueduct. Looking around at the dilapidated structure Brooklyn guessed that the facility had been used in days prior when Hell was much more...orderly than it was now. Had time not been at his back urging him onward the rust colored gargoyle was sure that he would have liked to study the place more thoroughly in an attempt to learn its history, however, he was there on a mission and that took precedence over his idle curiosity of the past.\n\nThe first demon to attack them came as something of a mild surprise to both Brooklyn and Firebrand as a large sentient mound of goo lowered itself down from the ceiling to spit muck at them. Trained as they were the pair easily sidestepped the bio-projectile which thus allowed the goop hit the ground next to them with a splash. Looking to see that the substance melting stone both Firebrand and Brooklyn looked to one another and then nodded.\n\nA cascade shot out from the older demon's mouth before the next shot of crude could be spat out from the goo creature's orifice. The smell of burning rubber filled the area within the aqueduct as the monster was burnt alive and only once Firebrand was sure that the demon was well and thoroughly cooked did he cut the stream of flames off. Watching as the creature fell to the ground in a very dead heap Brooklyn wondered what other surprises were in wait for them...right before a quiet noise pressed against his ears. Turning the younger demon watched as several other goo creatures began to fill the space within the area that he and his mate were in. Snarling, Brooklyn didn't waste any time as he opened his own mouth to spit a stream of flames at the horde before him.\n\nFrom that point on it became something of a game of survival for the demons as they blew through several throngs of monsters and other demons which seemed to have been waiting on them. Because of their combined training the gargoyles were able to cut down the ensemble with relative ease with a few flashes of claws and bites to the jugulars, however, as they continued to race throughout the underground pathway Brooklyn began to notice something.\n\nThe other monsters....they were stalling them instead of outright fighting for their lives.\n\nThe creatures seemed to know they stood no chance against the battle honed duo and yet they fought on stubbornly.\n\nRealizing what was going on Brooklyn roared for Firebrand to stop fighting and instead pile drive their way through the lot after the yellow sphere floating in front of them. Firebrand wanted to complain and was on his way to making his frustration known to his mate before he watched the younger male drop to the ground to race forward on all fours. Grunting in annoyance the older demon followed after the other without really thinking about it. The pair dodged several traps made of spikes and exploding projectiles with relative ease as they zoomed this way and that through the inner depths of the in silent aqueduct. It took several minutes but finally the yellow sphere lead the two demons to the hippogriff, and as Brooklyn surmised the creature was right in the process of handing the scepter over to a larger demon who looked reminiscent of a gargoyle himself only much taller than Brooklyn and bearing midnight black skin and bright blue feathered wings.\n\nBefore anything could be said Firebrand let out a ear shrieking screech and then launched a cascade of fire at both demons. The blue winged gargoyle, seeing the attack, jumped out of the way right as his hands were about to touch Astaroth's scepter. The hippogriff wasn't so lucky as it was instantly roasted alive by the older demon's flames. It was only when the ash settled to the ground along with the staff that Firebrand ceased his fiery funnel of death to growl heatedly at the now flying demon.\n\n\"Who are you?\" Brooklyn asked while glaring up at the other, his mate's anger radiating through his being even as he fought to keep himself in check.\n\n\"Hehe, why not ask you friend? He and I have a very close relationship with one another.\" Brooklyn turned his head to look at his mate in question. That was a mistake.\n\nThe other demon swooped down to grab the scepter and then flew up towards the ceiling. A well placed punch tore a hole through the stone and without pause the blue winged demon slipped through to the outside world. Not giving his fuck up more than a second worth of thought Brooklyn unclasped his wings from around his shoulders and took off after the other. Firebrand was hot on his heels.\n\nThe three demons came out together admist the snowy tundra just as a heavy snowfall was dying down around them.\n\n\"You're persistent, I'll give you that.\" the blue winged demon said as he tossed the scepter up into his hand and then brandished it at the pair of snarling demons in front of him. \"But you're fighting for the wrong master. Spartura is going to be running things around here soon enough, so why not submit yourself to his rule and save yourselves the trouble of dying today?\"\n\n\"I'd tell you to go to Hell but we're already there.\" Firebrand spoke making Brooklyn gape in surprise. \"There's no chance that I would betray my master for your piss guzzling, boot licking, bitch of a master!!\" Firebrand roared.\n\nTo say that Brooklyn was taken aback would have been an understatement as the younger demon had never heard his mate speak with such hatred in all the years he had been living with him there within the demon world. Turning to look at the other demon the rust colored gargoyle was now very curious as to the history between the pair, however before he could think to ask what exactly had gone on between the two the other demon let out an ear shrieking howl and then dove at the older red arremer.\n\nFirebrand was ready and held himself firm even as the other demon charged into him. The pair fell like angels onto the white snow, their bodies a tangle of limbs as they sought to end each other in the most painful way imaginable. Watching as his mate and the other demon wrestled against one another, blood flying from both of their bodies as they tore and bit into one another, Brooklyn wasn't sure what he should do in this situation, that was until he noticed the the other demon wasn't holding the scepter any longer. Turning his head, the younger demon found the golden artifact winking up at him from atop a mound of packed snow. Diving down to grasp the relic the earthborn demon let out a painful gasp when a flow of power surged through his body with the force of an electrical current.\n\nFirebrand and the blue winged demon fought for minutes on end before the sounds of other demons began to approach the lot of them.\n\n\"Looks like my backups arrived! Good thing I was smart enough to call for them, unlike you who came out here with only one other demon. Hehe!!\" the bloody demon chuckled right before he received a fist to the face throwing him backwards. \"Damn you!!\" the other demon swore.\n\nFirebrand opened his mouth to let out a gust of flame at the blue winged demon but the other recovered and jumped into the sky before the fire could lick across his body. \"Sorry that we won't be able to settle our grudge today but have a good death all the same!\" a hearty bellow of laughter followed after the demon as he flew about his way leaving Firebrand to watch as an orgy of demons swooped down upon him. The red arremer screeched as he laid into the first winged harpy he could get his claws on. Tearing the female's head from her shoulders the cherry skinned gargoyle let himself slip into a murderous but controlled haze as he fought against the horde which surrounded him.\n\nClaws, fangs, blood, feather, skin, and other assorted body parts spilled across the air as the battle honed warrior fought for his life, however for all of his battle prowess his body was already at something of a limit and so after a dozen or so of his enemies had fallen to his claws Firebrand found himself getting beaten to the ground. With his body now a mass of scars with the white of his bones able to be seen from where a well-placed talon had serrated his flesh, the red arremer tried to open his mouth to let loose his flames yet all that came out was a flew sparking flickers of heat. It was just as a number of bloodsoaked claws were about to pierce his back that a funnel of purple flames rolled across the air above Firebrand roasting the demons who had been holding him down. Those who had managed to survive being barbecued alive immediately scattered from around Firebrand, the lot quite confused as they wondered exactly what had just attacked them.\n\nFirebrand was also curious about this strange phenomenon as he lifted his face from the snow just in time to see another blast of purple spray out above him. Those demons around him took to the sky to get out of the way of the next attack which gave their attacker the time needed to step over to the downed demon. Firebrand cawed in surprise when he looked to see the pale form of his mate stare down at him carefully. When a hand reached down for him the cherry skinned demon didn't know what he should do, yet his confusion was quickly dismissed as a familiar green energy overcame him body. Instantly the wounds that had been carved across his form healed themselves, the blood drying up to then flake away into the air, as Brooklyn poured his magic into his mate. Once the healing power had fully restored Firebrand back to full health the demon thought that his mate was going to stop there but instead felt a rush of power swept inside of him causing the older demon to gasp and then hiss in surprise.\n\nWhite instantly began to dance across Firebrand's flesh eating up the cherry red of his skin as Brooklyn forced his mate to take on the form which the younger demon now sported. Snapping his wings back behind himself as he felt a familiar strength flow into every square inch of his being Firebrand didn't resist when the earthborn demon grabbed his wrist and then helped him to stand to his feet. When the pair were eye to eye with one another they shared a silent moment with one another before turning to regard the demons who were now primed to attack them again. Crouching down Brooklyn took on the more submissive position while Firebrand spread his arms and wings out, the last thing the rushing demons saw was the older demon opening his mouth to allow flames of bright indigo to rush out from his maw at the same time flickers of purple rolled out from around Brooklyn's beak.\n\n= = = = = =\nArt: http://www.furaffinity.net/user/beezlebumawoken/\nhttp://www.furaffinity.net/user/komiku/\nhttp://www.furaffinity.net/user/ziggie13\nCharacters: Capcom & Greg Wiessman\n", "description_bbcode_parsed": "1. Something Brooklyn had come to learn during his time in the demon world was the fact that one needed to use all the force of their being to safeguard themselves from total annihilation at the hands of those more powerful than themself. While the mortal world made it easy for others to get ahead by using silky words, here one needed to back up every word spoken with the power, plain and simple. Demons didn't work on the faith that things would get better in order to survive the harsh reality of Hell, instead they relied on the strength of body, mind, and will. If you couldn't defeat an enemy than you were dead. There was nothing else to be said. That was why demons who could cleave apart thousands were looked upon with great respect and gained the title of demon lord.

Yet that measure of strength alone wouldn't endear many to stand with you in times of war. For that you had to show that you possessed the ability to conquer another's will, to make them submit to your desires until their heads bowed at your mere presence, in order to gain such level of fealty. Especially amongst demons such as the red arremer. That was why they followed the one known as Astaroth without question. The greater demon lord had been alive for thousands upon thousands of years and had, in turn, carved his name upon the lands of Hell so deep that many shuddered at the mere mention of his name. Of course, there were those who sought to challenge him, but these upstarts were young fools who didn't have the good sense needed to live, and thus quickly found themselves torn apart by the red arremer for their slight against the demon lord.

Brooklyn...didn't know what to think about the large brusque demon who bore two faces, yet there was a deep level of respect hammered into his psyche upon seeing the raw power the greater demon possessed after he raised a large army of demons who sought to step upon his lands.

The destruction Astaroth wrought was, in a simple word, frightening.

Even in Hell the power of this greater demon was so grandiose that the land would never be worth anything to anyone for centuries to come, that was the wrath upon which the two faced demon unleashed after rising from his throne to settle the matter at hand.

Yet Brooklyn knew that he would never be able to garner such power, at least not naturally.

Without that level of power he would not be able to gain the respect of his brethren to possibly tear away their loyalty towards Astaroth, and there was no doubt in his mind that this was what Brooklyn sought more than anything else in all of Hell. Of course only the rust colored gargoyle knew that. No one else did, not even Firebrand, the most powerful red arremer and his mate did so. And the reason for that was simple...

Brooklyn wanted to protect his brethren.

This was something that Astaroth had no such compulsion to do.

With this in mind the earthborn demon spent many a night looking to the darkness of the demon world for answers as he sought to figure out ways for which he could grow strong enough to gain the respect and loyalty of the entire red arremer clan. It had taken a number of beatings from the others during his time training with the red skinned, black winged demons before Brooklyn came to realize that wit would not get him very far amongst those that sought to physically dominate him. Many a times he had found himself laid onto his back after another older red arremer had knocked him onto his tail, his attempts to mentally subdue the other demon in question having come up short once he realized that didn't have the same compulsions and fears that mortals did when it came to fighting. However even though he lost to the others there was no malice or contempt felt between him and his brethren when they defeated him.

Fights between red arremer were meant to be lessons, not conquests.

Here disputes and concerns were meant to be handled with fists, not words, and for that Brooklyn found coming to understand and respect the demons which were his brethren more than the humans who he had been conditioned to defend.

However, that didn't change the fact that Brooklyn wanted enough power to protect the lot of them.

Living amongst these demons and seeing them for who and what they were made Brooklyn feel pain every time one of his kin were lost to death. A dark whisper within his mind told him that this was life in Hell. That there was no changing what was to be. But that just wasn't good enough for him.

His brothers were his clan, and this clan belonged to him more so than they did the king for which they all served.

He would not lose them!

Perhaps these feelings were due in part to the fact that he was earthborn - a term that many still threw out to egg him into a good scrap - and thus had feelings and thoughts that contradicted being the demon that he was now. His mate surely didn't understand what it meant to want to protect the clan from the curse of death. Firebrand, like all of the red arremer, were forged by the fires hell. Their pride was their bread and butter, blood was the water they drunk from, and nothing would ever change that. Yet Brooklyn would be damned before he causally sat back and allowed his brethren to die like dogs at their hands of their own sense of honor.

Yet the rust colored gargoyle was sure that the other wouldn't allow himself to be coddled like some kind of hatchling, no matter how grave the situation for which the other found himself within. Actually, Brooklyn was sure that Firebrand would show him just how much he would not accept such a happening with fang and claw if he so much as attempted to utter such a stupid comment.

So the question then became: how does one gain the power to protect a group that didn't want to be protected?

For a long time this answer escaped Brooklyn.

He knew that he would never naturally become powerful enough to protect them with only his meager strength - his own abilities were, in truth, stunted compared to those who had been born within Hell - yet there had to be a way.

Ironically the earthborn demon found his the solution to his problem in the form of a blast of lightning to the face.

The attack had come from one sorcerer a part of a group who he and Firebrand had been ordered to find and eliminate by order of their king after the lot had gained the greater demon's ire. Too few for the double faced demon to rip apart, yet numerous enough that their antics made him growl at the mere thought of their existence, Astaroth sent his most powerful off together to deal with the upstarts. Firebrand cackled with glee at the thought of going to cause some much warranted chaos while Brooklyn snorted at the stupidity of those who sought to challenge the monster that was their king. The left within the dead of night, their wings taking them to the blackened sky as they began the hunt for the foolish ones.

It was easy enough for the pair to track the sorcerers down, what with their manacles seeming to have a natural hunger for those who sought to bring harm to the red arremer. Stalking the group proved to be amusing for both Brooklyn and Firebrand as the demonic duo worked to pick off those who strayed too far from the group one by one by one, however when it came time to take on the twenty plus group of magic wielders things quickly turned from fun to annoying.

When they fell upon the group from the branches of the deadwood trees surrounding their camp the fallen souls seemed to waiting for them as they had worked in time with one another to limit both demon's abilities, in particular Firebrand's flame breath, with magic seals in a strange effort to trap the pair. What their plan had been for them afterwards Brooklyn didn't know but thankfully the rust colored gargoyle had been able to deduce the fact that something was wrong rather quickly once he noted the way the lot seemed to keep in step with one another forming some kind of closed circuit with their bodies. Pulling up and then hurling one of the deadwood trees into the center of the lot managed to scatter the sorcerers, and thus break their power sealing ring. Once the cherry skinned demon's powers had return to him Firebrand wasted no time incinerating the lot with a well placed roar of liquid flame. Well most of them anyway. Those that had been lucky enough to survive the blast quickly began to hurtle spells at the then swiftly moving demons. A well aimed spell flew through the air at Firebrand and without thought Brooklyn found himself being electrocuted by the magic bolt of lightning as he took the hit for his mate. Thankfully the rust colored gargoyle was able to shake off the effects of the attack, though not without his white locks of hair having puffed up like a piece of popcorn for his troubles.

Firebrand would have cackled mirthfully at the other's slightly charred form but the incensed demon was too busy biting off the head of the one who had cast the spell. Blood flew like champagne throughout the air as the enraged demon sought revenge for Brooklyn and the earthborn demon could help but smirk in amusement at the sentiment right before he punched his fist through the chest of a mage who had grabbed by the neck.

Once the mated pair were sure that the group of magic casters were dead the two demons came together to survey one another. Sliding their hands over and across the battered flesh of the other Firebrand and Brooklyn spent several minutes reaffirming the fact that the other was alive and well before turning to pick through the belongings of the sorcerers. It was during this moment of pillaging that Brooklyn found a black book with Bahphomet's head upon it. Calling out for the older demon to show him his find Brooklyn got a big surprise when the book disintegrated within hands after he attempted to open it.

Confusion overcame him as he looked to his mate who was shaking his head in amusement.

Firebrand told the earthborn demon that the book had not found him to be worthy of it or its knowledge and had thus chosen to destroy itself rather than allow him to see its secrets.

It took the entire flight back to the castle for Brooklyn to understand what exactly had just happened, what with him having never seen such sentience in an inanimate object before up above in the human world. Once they made their report to King Astaroth Firebrand directed him to some of the more knowledgeable red arremer who told him what they could of the power of demon magic.

It had taken time but in the end this was what Brooklyn had surmised from his short lessons with his brethren.

Magic, while a powerful force to humans, was to demons not so much a tool as it was an extension of one's being. Where humans tried to control the forces of the world through manipulation of ritualistic fetishes and arcane spellcraft, the magic of the demon world had to choose an individual to channel their energies through. The body of the demon then became the fetish while the mind transformed into the conduit that channeled the magic into taking shape.

Upon finding this out Brooklyn found himself slowly becoming obsessed with knowing more about the chaotic power that filled the land of Hell. The others, even with their experience, weren't able to tell himself much though. After all, magic was not something that the red arremer clan had cultivated for themselves, with the exception of their fiery breath, which was honestly more of a byproduct of the natural heat which pulsed throughout their beings rather than being something that could be called arcane.

Undeterred by this setback Brooklyn sought to gain permission from the king to use his library in order to further his studied, but soon found that to be out of the question as Astaroth turned out to be quite possessive when it came to his arcane journals. Annoyed by the roadblocks before him Brooklyn had no choice but to seek outside sources of information for what he so desperately wanted. Asking for the time off to go search for the information he needed came easily enough after arranging for Firebrand to be caught up in a drinking game with their brethren. Astaroth, wise in his knowledge of red arremer clan, knew that Brooklyn and Firebrand worked best paired together, and so if the elder was too drunk to be useful to him than it would be better to send the rust colored gargoyle off to get him out of his hair rather than have the earthborn demon around the castle pestering him for knowledge he would rather not give.

Brooklyn barely took time enough to bow his head in thanks to his king before he took off from the castle towards the nearest demon village within the surrounding territory.

It took time for him to find a kernel of information on the subject of magic and magical libraries since apparently every demon who possessed a catalogue of tomes was just as possessive as Astaroth over the wisdom they kept within them, however, Brooklyn's determination was too great to allow him to be deterred from his goal. Though as days passed without him coming any closer to what he needed to know Brooklyn found himself growing more and more irate until soon he was literally growling out words rather than full sentences. When his patience finally did indeed snap though he reached into the feral tendencies lurking down within him and began to strong-armed the information he sought from out of other demons. It was during the moment when he held up a sorcerer by the neck, his eyes glowing white hot in annoyance as he shook the other down for the information he wanted, that Brooklyn finally learned what he needed to know.

Apparently there was an ancient library hidden deep underground on a continent which lurked the corpses of many undead demons.

It seemed that the building in question had been sunk into the red earth by a greater demon lord rather than allow it to be taken by his enemies during the time of some unimportant war that barely anyone wanted to remember anymore. Finding the location of the lost library was easy enough, yet trekking his way through the depths of a tunnel system carved out by zombies dragons proved to be something of a challenge. Both notoriously territorial and lethal to a fault, the skeletal creatures did not take kindly to any other demon's presence within their domain, yet the rust colored gargoyle was unfettered by the thought of his possible demise.

He had to succeed.

There was no other option in this matter.

A day of playing hide and don't seek finally ended with Brooklyn standing before a large blackstone building nestled quietly within the depths of the underground catacombs. Sealed from the outside like a national bank safe the earthborn demon spent several hours trying everything he could think of to get into the treasure trove of knowledge which seemed to taunt him for his ineptitude, much to his annoyance. Fortune finally decided to smile upon him and crack open a path into the inner sanctum after he had punched the stone wall hard enough to cause his knuckles to bleed out. Slipping into the darkness of the unknown, Brooklyn neither saw nor sensed the pale golden eyes that watched him curiously from atop the ceiling of the darkened cave.

Inside of the sunken obelisk Brooklyn found traps galore littering the cold hallways of the shadowed interior. It was his keen sense of observation and quick wit that allowed him to dodge poison tipped arrows, boiling pits of acid, and snapping webs of concentrated magic until he finally got to a large half open doorway that seemed to bay him entry. Making his way into the interior of the room a panting Brooklyn found himself cackling in triumph as he looked over the numerous tomes which lay on towering shelves illuminated by green lanterns filled with liquid magic. He passed out before he could even touch one book though.

How long he remained unconscious Brooklyn didn't know but upon waking up and realizing where he wearily dragged himself up from off the ground over to a shelf which bore the skull of a former demon. Paying no mind to the empty eyes which seemed to gaze upon him curiously, Brooklyn reached out for a purple tome which seemed to call out to him.

Pulling the hardbound book from its home on the shelf the earthborn demon gasped when a surged of magic began to surround his body. Moments of stillness overcame him as he felt the energy swirling around his form before finally settling across his flesh. Once he was sure that he wasn't going to be destroyed by some unforeseen trap Brooklyn turned the book over and then looked to the front. Unimpressive was the first impression that overcame him as he noted the bloody pentagram encircled by a simple circle, however the more he studied the design the more he noted unseen words crawling across the cover. Ancient and powerful, the demonic alphabet spun around the cover until they formed a statement that made him raise an eyeridge.

"Fear not, for he shall always be by your side."

Whatever that meant Brooklyn couldn't be sure but just as quickly as they appeared the text faded away. Unsure but too sleepy to concern himself with random statements Brooklyn plopped himself down onto the stood which materialized next to him. Opening the text the rust colored gargoyle turned to the first page and then began to read. Or rather, he found himself being read to as the blank pages within the tome began to fill up with knowledge simple enough for him to discern the meaning of.

= = = = = =
2. Demons were weird.

This was the phrase that kept swirling throughout Brooklyn's mind as he read through the various books stacked within the ancient library; from their biology, to their physiology, to their sexual make up, everything about demons was just so...alien. To say the least.

However, despite this, the earthborn demon couldn't help but find a great amount of fascination overcoming him as he studied the denizens of Hell. The tomes for which he read through seemed to go out of their way to explain the history of those called the nightmarish land home, yet to learn that so many of them had once been elder spirits of the earth who had fallen to anger, rage, and despair filled Brooklyn with a sense of awe, the likes of which kept him stuffing his beak within the pages of the various texts which called out to him. Of course all of this information was a foot note compared to the what the the rust colored gargoyle truly desired to know.

Apparently most demons were born from the spiritual energy which filtered throughout the land of Hell which then mixed with heavy concentrated thoughts and emotions such as hate, fear, anger, passion, greed, lust, despair, and so on and so forth. Once they gained enough 'weight' to them they then could take on an expression of willpower which then would give them a semblance of sentience. Yet the size, strength, and ability of each type of demon depended on the level of concentration for which said energy gathered together. A good number of demons in the past seemed to have been born during the times when the spiritual energy of the land was most dense, however, after millenia of warring between one another the level of energy needed to creature such powerful entities had waned to the point where the last demon of some great note to be born into the world was the demon Lucifer. The demon lord of red fur and molten flame was over several thousands of years old according to one book and, at one time, possessed the ability to raise entire continents with but a single wave of his hand, however, in the centuries passed his powers had waned to the point where such a feat was nearly impossible to him.

It was because of the lack of spiritual energy within Hell that many demons created tools and other fetishes for which they could use to amplify their natural strength and abilities, and why those mortals who would often try and take possession of these fetishes would find themselves becoming demonic in both their nature and attitudes soon afterwards.

Reading this and then looking to the manacles which he bore onto his wrists, Brooklyn wondered if this was why he often felt so 'angry' and 'volatile' than he had been before. While he was often very hard-pressed to show such emotions in the past for fear of being stigmatized by humans, now once he reached that limit it became easy enough for him to reach deep into his core and summon forth a level of feral rage, the likes of which both increased his physical abilities to an almost frightening degree, but which often bore the effect of eroding the mental controls he had formerly placed upon himself. Though 'thankfully' his brethren were very good at teaching him how to restrain his baser emotions while at the same time allowing him to tap into his demonic abilities. The phantom punches to the stomach he often felt being a good reminded as to why it was best to learn to channel one's expression of anger and ferocity towards some meaningful task, less you be beaten and left bleeding against the ground by an older demon who didn't have a lot of patience.

Returning to his studies Brooklyn found that human souls were a great source of energy for demons, what with them being concentrated forms of spiritual matter in and of themselves. While not inherently powerful, the raw energy a human soul could produce when devoured could empower a demon for decades on end, so long as the demon didn't go overboard with usage of his native magical abilities. However there was a catch to this. It seemed that human souls quickly became saturated in extreme environments and thus needed to be kept stored within vacuums in order to preserve their beneficial properties. This was one of the reasons why Faustian bargains were made back in the centuries past, as by offering one's soul to a demon the demon could wrap their energy around the human's soul, preventing it from being tainted by other powers while at the same time drawing it directly to the demon once the human in question died.

The manner by which a soul could be consumed varied from book to book, with some detailing how to absorb a soul within oneself and slowly deplete its natural energy before fulling consuming it. Others...well, they actually made Brooklyn raise an eye in surprise. Who knew that one could actually cook spiritual matter and then 'season' it?

Hours of reading later led the earthborn demon through a number of different books, most of which proved to not be that useful or interesting to the rust colored gargoyle, but all the same he kept what he learned from the well-worn pages locked away for further use later on.

It was sometimes after he had woken up from having passed out across the floor, again, that Brooklyn came across a book that told him exactly what he needed to know with regards to the history and biology of the red arremer clan. The thick black tome spoke of the very first imp which rose up from out of an egg made of molten rock buried deep within a volcano to the far east and how it had clawed its way out into the chaotic world to bring fear and terror to those who would look down upon it. Though small compared to many other demons, the black winged creature proved to be lethal when enraged, its powers growing more and more with every opponent that it overcame. Finally, the creature caught the attention of the first king of Hell and soon became the 'armor' for which the king would use when conquering the twisted fiends of this realm.

Of course, the king didn't gain such favor simply by simply defeating the snarling creature in combat. No. It seemed that the monstrous dual faced creature worked long and hard to 'tame' the green skinned imp through...a number of different means that Brooklyn's eyes pop open in surprise. The earthborn demon didn't think that his brethren could bend in such a way, but then again he thought that it might be sorta fun to try a couple of the techniques the king had used with his mate once he finished his lessons here.

Moving on, Brooklyn read through the tome until finally he got to the subject which interested him the most.

Hours after his dark eyes raced across the words within the pages the rust colored gargoyle found himself eager to test his new knowledge.

Turning his head away from the book Brooklyn steadied his breathing until he was able to count every pulse of his heartbeat one by one by one. Once he thought himself ready he slowly increased the beats by speeding up his inhalation and exhalation of air until soon a sweltering heat began to burn within his chest. When he felt that the heat was hot enough to scald his insides Brooklyn opened his beak, flattened his tongue, and then forced the heat up and out of his throat.

The colorful flame which plumed from out of his maw, while very small, was so bright and colorful that the earthborn demon quickly found himself gaping in awe. This break in concentrated caused him to loose control over the fire, yet this small setback was meaningless to the rust colored gargoyle as he realized what it was that he had just accomplished.

He had breathed fire.

A feat for which he had thought impossible up until now.

The elation which coursed through Brooklyn was so great that had he not been as hardened by his time with his brethren he was sure that he would have pumped his fist into the air in jubilation, however, he was much more reserved than that, though not by much as his tail beat back against the solid ground underneath himself. Looking back to the tome and then rereading the pages which had helped him in his endeavor, the earthborn demon carefully studied the words again and then again repeated the exercise once he felt himself ready.

For a second time he breathed gout of liquid flame into the air, though this time he held onto it for as long as he could before the air within his lungs died down, killing the flame. Brooklyn gasped a cough as his body fought desperately to keep from passing out.

A chuckle broke free from the figure watching him from up above at his foolishness.

Once he was able to breath normally once again that Brooklyn was like a man possessed as he worked to control the strength, size, and longevity of his fiery breath. It took time, how much the rust colored gargoyle didn't know, yet once he was satisfied with his new ability the earthborn demon was able to breathe out a stream of fire long enough to touch the flat of the ceiling which stood a modest twenty feet above him.
Thankfully the blackstone material was able to negate the heat so Brooklyn didn't have to worry about accidentally setting his library aflame. A sense of black irony coursed through him as he thought about the absurdity of possibly trapping himself within a fiery inferno made of his own creation. However in looking around at the books set upon the myriad of shelves around him Brooklyn quickly found himself looking into ways to negate the effects of the fire which he now controlled. After all, with the luck he had it would be a perfect end for him to die in such a manner.

Several tomes of reading later soon found the rust colored gargoyle coming across both a solution to his previous inquiry and a new form of magic by way of a process called word whispering. It was apparently the true form of the spell-casting for which human mages used to invoke change upon the world, yet possessed a level of nuance for which very few mortals could execute as the words needed to be whispered were of a tongue that humans just could not physical pronounce with their limited verbal control.

Sleep found him before he could fully get into nitty gritty of how to implement a magic which could freeze the air around oneself but being curled around the book which bore the secret he so earnestly wished to obtain Brooklyn woke up with barely a tired grumble before he was once again nose deep within the text.

Of course, as luck would have it, attempting to use the new form of magic didn't work the first time he tried to utilize it, what with his natural heat keeping the ice from condensing into a usable form. Yet Brooklyn was undeterred by the set back and instead worked to control the flow of heat within him to the point where, three days later, the fire within was cooled to the point where the rust colored gargoyle could create small crystals of ice around himself with a few simple mental commands. The chill made him shudder in an almost visceral manner as his body seemed to outright reject the effects of being so close to such cold, yet Brooklyn's joy at mastering this style of magic made it so that he mentally pushed aside the discomfort with barely a thought of concern. Working with the small crystals like with the same passion as a glassblower molding sand, the earthborn demon was able to commanded the frost to cover his fist and arms up to the point where he looked as though he were wearing gauntlets made of blue diamonds. Getting up from off of the floor to test the icy armaments against a nearby wall Brooklyn found himself gaping in awe as he punched a hole straight through the blackstone.

The sight of the fist shaped impression cast within the wall brought with it a feral sense of joy to the earthborn demon, however, the library didn't seem to share his sense of triumph as the building shook violently seconds after the assault.

Brooklyn gaped and lost concentration over the spell shattering the ice from around his hands as the upheaval of the floor overtook his being. Moments later the rust colored gargoyle found himself being assaulted with a number of books which seemed to literally jump off the shelves towards him.

Swallowed up by several dozen colorful books he missed the cackling that came from the watchful form hiding within the shadows as the other demon looked upon him with unrepentant amusement. Growling in annoyance Brooklyn worked to pull himself up from out of the mass of tomes while apologizing bemusedly to the somewhat sentient building. Once free from the stack of books the rust colored gargoyle grumbled and then set about putting each and every tome back into place as a form of penance for his transgression. The demonic library seemed to accept this form of an apology for soon a familiar calm returned to the building.

The hole however remained.

It was in placing the tomes back on the shelves that Brooklyn stumbled over a journal which gave instruction on how to channel raw electrical energy into one's hand. Fascination overcame him as he soon found himselff beak deep within the pages of the leather bound tome, his efforts to place the other books back into place momentarily set aside in favor of gaining a newfound ability. It was by this time that Firebrand realized that he was becoming bored with waiting around for the other demon to finally take notice of him. Slowing easing himself from out of the shadows the black winged demon stalked up behind his mate and then looked over the taller male's muscular shoulder to see what the white haired arremer found so fascinating.

Brooklyn was so enraptured with the book held in between his hands that he didn't even feel the heat of the shorter demon billowing against his back. Eyes focused forward as he read over the effects of drawing out electrical energy from within his core, the only telltale sign that the earthborn demon was somewhat aware of the presence behind him was the brush of his tail against the cleft in between Firebrand's legs.

For minutes on end the room was bathed within the quiet whisper of pages being turned as the two demons read from the magical tome, yet for all the study that the two did the rust colored gargoyle was able to absorb ten times as much knowledge as Firebrand was. By the time Brooklyn had closed the book the pair were so distant in their understanding over what they had just learned that Firebrand might as well have not bothered to try and read anything at all. Brooklyn on the other hand had drunk in the knowledge with such fervor that in holding out his hand to call forth the power he so desired the rust colored gargoyle found a burst of yellow lightning forming within his palm so large that the room tinted with an amber hue.

A devious smirk crossed the rust colored gargoyle's face as he lifted up both hands and then spreading them out together by his sides. Closing his eyes and then whispering in near silence, Brooklyn summoned forth twin spheres of writhing electrical energy so powerful that the charge running throughout his body made his white locks of hair poof up slightly. Raising his arms up towards the ceiling he calmed his breathing and then focused his thoughts in an effort to channel his magic skyward. Like hissing vipers reaching out for prey the supernatural lightning roared forward hitting the top of the room and then bounced back down towards him like a rubber ball.

Now Brooklyn was sure that he could have easily caught the charging thunder shooting down towards him, stopping it from actually harming him without incidence, however, Firebrand was not so sure of this and on instinct the black winged imp shoved his mate out of the way of the supposed danger without telling the other of what he was planning. Caught completely off-guard the earthborn demon fell forward onto the blackstone floor just as a painful yowl of filled the air of the library. Brooklyn turned around just in time to see his mate light up like a Christmas tree right before his dark eyes narrowed into pinpricks as he watched the cherry skinned demon sway back and forth.

Firebrand fell forward unconscious just as Brooklyn let out an ear splitting wail of terror.

= = = = =
3. To say that Brooklyn panicked after seeing his mate twitching on the blackstone floor of the library the two of them were within would have been a dire understatement. The younger demon held the slightly charred red arremer close as he frantically called out to the other. The cherry skinned gargoyle growled quietly before letting his pale gold orbs flutter open, his focus slowly coming to rest upon the younger male. Brooklyn didn't think as he leaned down nuzzle the other, his voice a quiet whisper as he let out instinctual croons in order to tell his mate how sorry he was.

Firebrand let out a pained chuckle before he reached up to rub his hand through the younger demon's white locks of hair. It took Brooklyn several minutes to calm down but once he no longer felt frantic over the older demon's fate he pulled back to stare into the other's eyes. The impish smirk on Firebrand's face made a smile tug at Brooklyn's lips. Now usually seeing his mate gaze up at him in such a way would have Brooklyn growing hard in between his legs, but in scanning over the shorter male the earthborn demon found whatever arousal that might have bloomed within him dying a quick death.

The cherry skin of his mate was severely charred in certain places from the magical thunder Firebrand had attempted to protect him from; the burnt smell of cooked flesh twisted Brooklyn's stomach making his snout wrinkle in distaste. Leaning down to roll his tongue over a particularly darkened patch of skin the earthborn demon pulled back sharply when the older male hissed and twitched within his embrace. Turning to stare the cherry skinned gargoyle Brooklyn felt a burning sense of determination overcome his mind as he watched the red arremer wince up at him. Allowing Firebrand to raise up on his own the younger demon scanned the room until his eyes set themselves upon a brown tome nestled within a nearby shelf.

Moving the red arremer to the side the rust colored gargoyle picked himself up and then marched over to the book. Snatching it down from the shelf and then throwing the book open the Brooklyn wasted no time as he began to read the first page of the book, even as his body unconsciously found its way back to Firebrand's side. Plopping himself down onto the cold floor the young demon read the words within with a furious yet controlled pace as he sought for the words he subconsciously knew where waiting for him. Firebrand made no attempt to try and read the book as he watched how quickly the younger demon flipped through the pages of the text, instead he checked himself over to see how much mobility he had left within his body from the magical shock to his system.

Surprisingly the cherry skinned gargoyle found that he was better than he thought, though the wounds that stuck out on his body seemed to contradict this fact. Once he was sure that he was well enough Firebrand folded his legs underneath himself and then stretched his wings as he prepared himself to wait for his younger mate to finish his studies. It was an hour into the wait that he found himself dozing off slightly, the steady sound of Brooklyn flipping through the well worn pages of the book and muttering incoherently to himself sending him into the black abyss of dreamless slumber.

How many hours passed Brooklyn would never be able to tell, yet once the younger demon felt himself confident in his studies he slammed the book shut, rousing Firebrand from his light doze, and then turned to his mate.

The cherry skinned demon raised an eye as he watched the rust colored gargoyle close his eyes, raise a hand, and then began chanting aloud. When a green plume of energy blossomed within the earthborn demon's palm and then began to radiate outward Firebrand patted himself on the back as he stopped himself from instinctively leaping away from his mate as he normally would seeing magic flow from a mage's hand. However, that didn't stop him from growling out loud at the other when he felt the energy begin to swirl around him. The warmth he felt from the spell calmed Firebrand's instincts enough to allow him to sit still as his mate continued chanting his strange spell. As the seconds ticked by the cherry skinned demon found himself feeling more and more awkward as his body began to feel...lighter. It was a twitch of his fingers that made him look down. What he found brought with it a surprise to the red arremer.

The wounds underneath the charred skin were finely knitted themselves while the burnt flesh flecked off and fell to the ground.

The older red arremer couldn't stop the purr from leaving his throat as he found his insides being healed by Brooklyn's spell, the pain of earlier which he felt deep within his bones was slowly fading away while at the same time a new strength began to invigorate him. Stretching his wings to allow them the full advantage of the healing aura Firebrand growled in pleasure as the old wounds which pained him to this day were eased. It was only after he could feel that the enchantment could do no more for him that the older demon turned to tell his younger lover that he could stop, yet Brooklyn...seemed to be almost lost in the throes of his spell as he continued chanting.

Brooklyn barely cracked an eye when the red arremer snapping his fingers in front of his face, however the younger demon was forced break off from his casting when a strong arm grabbed him around the waist. His focus fully snapped back into place when his mate pulled him close and then forced his maw open with his tongue. The rust colored gargoyle gasped as he found himself pushed down onto the ground, Firebrand wasted little time in showing his appreciation of his younger lover's devotion as he reached down to stroke his little mage's twitching sex.

The next few hours were filled with the two demons expressing their love for each other in the most base way possible, not that either minded in the least.

By the time they were through Brooklyn had to use his newfound healing spell on himself as his backside was thoroughly worked over to the point where he thought that he could actually feel a kink in his tail. For his part Firebrand had utterly exhausted himself using Brooklyn's body to store his essence within and now the older demon was busy slumbering off to the side of the room nearest the back wall, his black wings curled around himself. The pair had pretty much christened the entire library with their marks as they mated furiously with one another until they finally ran out of steam. The rust colored gargoyle looked over his shoulder at the slumbering red arremer, a small smirk drawing upon his lips, before he turned away to limp over to a nearby bookshelf. Apparently his healing spell wasn't powerful enough to completely restore him, but that made sense, seeing as he had recently learned how to channel his newfound powers. Grabbing a thick black book, the earthborn demon hobbled back over to Firebrand and then settled himself onto the floor to begin reading.

Several hours passed by without notice and before long Brooklyn found himself waking up curled around the older demon. Firebrand warbled out a few quiet words as he lifted his wing from around the other to allow him up. Brooklyn yawned and then moved his face up to nuzzle the older male. The two slowly exchanged breath and tongue again and before long Brooklyn found himself rolling around onto his back to spread his legs once again. Firebrand didn't bother to say anything as he felt his body growing aroused by the display of open submission by his mate.

Three days later the older demon left the library to go and give his report on the other to King Astaroth. Brooklyn was thankful for the red arremer patience as was quite adamant about not leaving the library until he read through every secret hidden within the pages of the numerous books within the blackstone sanctum. As if listening to his prayers the demon gods seemed to prevent any trouble from happening with his brethren which would force the earthborn demon to return to the keep so he was able to keep up his studies for several months before something...interesting happened.

While researching through an ancient text which had been written by Lucifer himself Brooklyn stumbled over a forgotten truth regarding the red arremer clan. Apparently the winged demons were given the power to take on a 'pure white form meant to terrify death' by the elder demon lord during his stint to conquer the human world. What this form was supposed to be the rust colored gargoyle wasn't sure, but it seemed that the power was given in order to increase the might of demon lord's forces against the 'holy knight who was the shield of the mortal goddess'. Again, he had no idea who these alluded to, but in his studies Brooklyn found that there was a way to tap into the power of this pale white form though the process needed a lot of energy to activate itself. It seemed that Lucifer didn't want the red arremer using this power at will, less they attempt to overtake him with it. Demons were notorious for being usurpers no matter how loyal they might be, after all. Gathering the materials to make a sigil bearing Lucifer's emblem, Brooklyn attempted to utilize the power within the underground area where the library was nestled but was halted by Firebrand after the demon learned of what he was doing.

The pair got into a heated altercation over the subject matter, with the older demon arguing the merits of such a process verses the possibility of the younger demon getting himself killed, while Brooklyn waved the concerns aside after point out that there was nothing in the text to suggest that the process was at all fatal. At worse...nothing would happen. However, Firebrand, still unconvinced, forced his way onto the sigil next to Brooklyn, his pale gold eyes filled with conviction even as his mouth remained firmly turned down in disapproval. The mage gargoyle didn't say anything and instead cast the spell of invocation causing the room to illuminate with a white glow once he was prepared.

The show of light and energy which cast itself across the blackstone library was one that caused both Brooklyn and Firebrand to shield their eyes, yet once it was over...both demons were quite underwhelmed with the results. Their bodies were still their natural coloration, something the book Brooklyn had said would instantly change, and they felt no more powerful that when the spell was cast. To say that the earthborn demon was disappointed was an understatement. Stepping away from the sigil over to the book to see what he had done wrong brought with it a scream from the rust colored gargoyle's throat. Firebrand raced to his mate's side without thought, however the older demon found himself also warbling out a scream of his own.

Both demons grunted and then arched down to hold themselves against the ground as their bodies were racked by incredible pain. Feeling as though they were being torn apart from the inside out Brooklyn attempted to cast his healing spell but was unable to concentrate as the agony was just too great for his mind to focus. Seconds into everything though their suffering ceased making both demons gasp in exhaustion before they suddenly yelped together as an unfamiliar pressure tore throughout their beings.

Brooklyn had just enough time to blink before he found his eyes going fuzzy. Or at least he thought they were going fuzzy as a white film began to overtake his vision. Lifting a hand to his face the earthborn demon watched as his rust colored skin slowly grew paler and paler until he was soon as white as fresh fallen snow. Turning to look over at his mate the mage gargoyle noted that Firebrand was having the same revelation, what with the older demon's body becoming whiter until he was soon the same shade white as Brooklyn was, if a little darker. Reaching up to scratch his head in confusion at what was going on, Brooklyn was taken aback as he noted dark clumps of hair falling down from his head. Pulling his hand down the earthborn demon found that he was holding tufts of dark blue within his palm. Since there was no mirror within the room he couldn't actually see what his hair looked like, but in turning to ask his mate if what was happening to him was real Brooklyn found himself aghast to learn that, yes, his hair did now look like a dark flame.

The changes that overcame them from that point on became internal as the two demons could feel their bones and muscles growing more dense and tightly packed; the energy of the spell, while not making them bulk out with new muscle, did work to concentrate the strength that the pair held. Curling a hand into a fist and then punching at the air Brooklyn noted that his punch came almost twice as fast as what he normally could throw, this brought about a pleased smile from the fledgling mage. While knowing better than to try and hit the library again the younger demon couldn't deny an eagerness to test out the strength he now bore. Turning his head to look to Firebrand he saw that the older demon was thinking the exact same think as he watched the devious smirk cross over the red arremer's face.

Little was said as the two raised their fists and then dove for one another.

Time passed by like water flowing down a rushing waterfall as the two demons traded punches and kicks with one another throughout the library. As expected, their attacks were much stronger than before, with both of them pushing each other back more than they had during their usual sparring exercises, yet their bodies seemed to recover much quicker despite the blows to the chest and torso that they inflicted upon another another. Neither used their fire breath attack as they thought that such an idea would be a very bad idea considering the delicacy of the area and the contents within, yet both Brooklyn and Firebrand could feel that the flickering flames within were desperate to escape from their chests in an effort to sear the world all that existed around them.

Once they finally ran out of steam the two demons were left panting and sweating as they laid on the ground together, their bodies slowly reverting back to their original coloration. Firebrand found himself cackling as he reached out to draw the younger demon closer to himself, his tongue laving across Brooklyn's throat before he spoke his appreciation to his mate for the newfound power he had gifted them both with. The mage gargoyle's tail wagged joyfully even as drifted off to sleep, his mind silently pleased by the older male's words.

It was another two months into his studies when things changed for the two demons.

Brooklyn had just about read through the entire library's vast wealth of knowledge when he got to a set of books which were bound with brass locks. Thankfully he was able to slip his claw into the holes to unlock the tomes in order to unseal their knowledge, however what he found within were words that made him uncomfortable, and that was something to say, given that he had long since gotten over his disgust with ending the lives of others.

Yet what he read...shook him to his core.

Inside of the texts Brooklyn found the words of eldritch creatures having been slathered onto the worn pages. Their thoughts and ideas were, above all, disturbing, if not quite profound in changing the way of his thinking. The spells he found hidden inside of the books were all made for the subversion of others, either through mental, physical, spiritual, or sexual means. The earthborn demon read over spells which could draw out the spiritual energy of another being in order to devour it, to mind controlling enchantments which could be put onto another's body in order to drag them down into a constant chasm of submission, to enchantment which would fill another mind with wordless whispers, the likes of which would drive their victim's mind into the abyss of madness. Brooklyn got through three books before he found himself slamming the last tome shut.

Even if he were a demon he could never think to do such a thing to another, after all, the only reason he was here at all was to learn what he would need to know in order to protect the lives of those he called his brethren.

Setting the book back into place the mage gargoyle found himself no longer interested in whatever knowledge existed within the rest of the grimoire within the library. Stretching, Brooklyn smiled as he listened to the familiar sound of his mate's flapping wings coming closer and closer to his location. Going over to greet the cherry skinned demon the earthborn demon found himself being frozen into place as he found his body suddenly overtaken by an unrelenting force. Firebrand set himself down a few feet from his younger lover just in time to cock and eye ridge in confusion at seeing the younger male gasping like a fish out of water. Both demons were taken by surprise when several black tentacles erupted from out of Brooklyn to assault Firebrand. The red arremer barked in surprise but was helpless to do anything more than struggle when the black tentacles wrapped tightly around his body and then began to drag him towards the paralyzed mage gargoyle.

It was when Brooklyn's muzzle was forced open and a slimy black tentacle reached out from his maw that both began to fearfully panic. The younger demon fought to try and snap his maw shut but the appendage which slipped from him refused to be denied. Like a sneaking snake the writhing limb reached around to caress Firebrand's tightly clenched jaw as if attempting to perversely caress it. The older demon kept his mouth tightly shut in attempt to deny the thing access but soon found his jaws forced open when one of the slimy tentacles holding him slunk up to begin choking him, his involuntary gasp was all that was needed as the appendage in front of him slipped down into his esophagus on down into his chest. What the thing was attempting to do both demons weren't sure but soon its objective became painfully obvious when Firebrand began to struggle in earnest as he felt something being pulled out from his chest.

Brooklyn watched in abject terror as he watched the black-crimson flame of his mate's soul being drawn from the older demon's maw into the front of his face. The sparkling flame seemed confused as it pulled towards the red arremer's direction by the black tentacle, but before it could attempt to return to it's host's body the fire was forced down the earthborn demon's throat. Brooklyn gasped when the burning heat of the flame touched the spark within his own chest, his internal temperature heating up to twice what was normal for him before the paralysis he was held underneath dispelled itself. The mage gargoyle reached a hand down for his lower chest just as a burning sensation, the likes of which he had never felt before, overcame him. A hellish scream tore through the library as Brooklyn's body suddenly contorted and then began to expand upon itself.

Muscles bulked upon the earthborn demon's form as he grew both outwards and upwards all at once. Clenching his mouth in agony, Brooklyn tried to fight against the pain surging through him, however the fire within was not to be denied. The twin flames which burned inside of him needed fuel in order to keep themselves burning as they merged together, and as a result the forced his body to become the perfect furnace to keep themselves alive. Brooklyn clawed at the ground as he tried to resist what was happening to him, yet the fruitless action only served to dig deep furrows into the blackstone for his troubles. Tail lashing against the ground as he knelt down, Brooklyn shut his eyes just in time to miss how his rust colored skin began to turn jet black. The coloration spread like wet ink across his entire being as he continued to expand in size and shape. When the first pulse of new power rumbled through him the mage gargoyle's moans of pain subsided into warbles of pleasure as his sex began to thicken in between his legs. Balls doubling in size as his length drew out from his sheath, Brooklyn found himself was very tempted to reach down and stroke himself off but resisted on principal.

When the changes finally began to taper off some minutes later Brooklyn gasped and groaned in relief. Opening his eyes to look down at himself the earthborn demon found that the entire world now glittered with a red light, though this might have been because his eyes were now liquid rubies within his skull. Pulling himself up so that he could look over himself, the young demon spent several seconds feeling over himself to try and make sense of what he now was before turning his head to look at his mate. What he saw made him screech in unabashed fear.

Stone.

That was what had become of Firebrand now as he looked forward into nothingness.

The older demon didn't think as he reached out for his mate, his much more massive hands encompassing all of the red arremer's arm as he tried to will the power within himself to return to the other male. However nothing came from his frantic internal chanting. Instead the now petrified demon remained looking forward, his emotions captured perfectly within the stone. Brooklyn pulled back in panic and sorrow before he turned and rushed over to the bookcase to try and find some book that could undo what he had unconsciously done. However without thinking his tail swept behind him knocking into the statue that was now Firebrand.

It was the sound of shattering stone that chilled Brooklyn to the bone.

Slowly turning around to look behind himself the much black demon found his crimson eyes widening into abject horror as noted the pile of rubble that was now the red arremer.

Brooklyn's world spun around him as he tepidly stepped back over to what was left of Firebrand. Kneeling down next to the smashed stone Brooklyn grasped at two pieces of his mate in futile attempt to put them back together, only to squeak in disbelief as the small stones were accidentally crushed within his palms, subsequently turning into dust.

It was someone shaking him that drew Brooklyn's attention away from the nightmare that had become his reality.

Blinking the younger demon gasped in surprise as he looked up into the pale gold eyes of his lover staring down at him worriedly.

Brooklyn didn't think as he jumped up from the ground to tackle the other.

Firebrand was not sure what to do about the suddenly display of emotion but in listening to the other's frantic words of apology the red arremer choose to merely reach up to stroke the other's white locks in a show of patient affection. It took time but once Brooklyn was more in control over himself he pulled away from his mate and then shook his head in embarrassment. Firebrand merely remained where he was on the ground as he looked up at the other in confusion. Brooklyn, unable to say anything, merely reached out to offer the other a hand up. The older demon took the hand and then hoisted himself up to stand next to the taller male.

The earthborn demon didn't say anything as he released the other and then began to head for the exit of the library. Firebrand quietly followed after his mate, the red arremer quite confused as to what had spooked the rust colored gargoyle so bad. Behind them the book which Brooklyn had been reading remained upon the ground, the middle of the book opened to reveal the face of a creature that was nothing more than a gaping maw with a blood colored tongue. Once the pair were no longer within the building the tome slammed itself shut, black tentacles writhing from the underside to march the text back to the shelf it had been sitting on before it was rudely taken from its home.

== = = = = =
4. It had been a couple of days since Brooklyn had returned to the red arremer castle and even though the young demon was more than a little happy to be back home in bed with his mate there was something...off within the earthbound demon that kept him from fully enjoying the experience of being back where he belonged.

Analyzing the feelings revealed a sense of strange anxiousness pressing against his mind, yet nothing Brooklyn did seemed to alleviate this pressure which gnawed at him relentlessly.

Well, that wasn't exactly true, as there one thing in particular which seemed to have a very good effect at chasing away all thoughts and worries from his mind.

Turning to look down at the sleeping demon slumbering next to him Brooklyn found a devious smirk crawling across his face as he looked down at Firebrand's quietly breathing form. The elder demon had been more than a little happy to have his younger mate back where he belonged and sought to show Brooklyn why it was a good thing indeed for him to stay exactly where he was now several times over, a feat for which the rust colored gargoyle was more than a little happy to remember as he flexed his recently used anal muscles just a touch. The feeling of the older demon's essence seeping out from his body made Brooklyn purr in pleasure, yet even though the thought of another round under the slightly scratchy sheets made his seeping sex twitch in approval the sight of Firebrand's snoozing face made him decide otherwise.

There would definitely be time for them to play around later on, but for now though the younger demon wanted to try and figure out exactly what it was that seemed to be tugging along the end of his senses.

At first Brooklyn had thought that maybe the feeling had something to do with how he thought the others might view him, as magic was not something that the older demons were particularly accustomed to, however, when using his powers defeat a younger red arremer who had been trying to pick a fight with him the others mere blinked and then moved along about their business. The younger demon hadn't been all that impressed and soon enough he and Brooklyn had been sparing together outside within the courtyard. A few hours later the pair were drinking together within the main hall, their bruised bodies quietly being healed by Brooklyn's magic, though only Firebrand knew this.

With such a fear out of his mind the next thing Brooklyn felt that he might have had to worry about was how his lord and master might view him now that he knew the secrets of the arcane. His concerns were quickly swept aside though after coming to note the lack of magical spells which would signify his trespassing across another mage's sanctuary. In one of the books he had read Brooklyn had learned that those demons and sorcerers who possessed high levels of magic often created fine runic lines within their homes which acted as barriers against unwelcomed 'guests'. Oddly enough Astaroth had not placed such wards across the red arremer castle, and so that either meant that the greater demon lord didn't have any interest in creating these wards because of the 'guard' he kept around, or...he didn't have as much magical power as Brooklyn had once thought. Either way Brooklyn planned to rectify this situation within the coming months, with or without Astaroth's permission.

With those two major concerns out of the way the rust colored demon didn't know what exactly it could have been that was triggering his sense of flight or fight.

Sitting up and then pulling himself back against the stone wall behind the bed, Brooklyn closed his eyes as he tried to search deep inside of his psyche for something that could lead him to the reason why he was so...frustrated.

The deep void within his mind was like a black tar pit dragging Brooklyn down further and further into himself, however, instead of fighting or struggling the rust colored gargoyle allowed himself to be dragged deep into the abyss until light bloomed within his dark eyes. Blinking the young demon found himself surrounded by the visage of his castle home having erupted within flames. A cry of fear eased out of Brooklyn's maw as his heart wrenched at the thought of his home having been destroyed yet no sound came from his lips. Voiceless as he was at the moment the earthborn demon could only watch in abject horror as the stone walls of the fortress came down before his eyes like crashing titans.

The screeching sound of something crying out in their death throes caught Brooklyn's attention.

Turning his head, the rust colored gargoyle watched as his brethren fell from the sky one by one by one. Their forms were blossoming with red ichor which fell like flower petals from their bodies as they crashed to the broken ground beneath them. Brooklyn was forced to watch the red arremer fall from grace in silent horror as his body seemed to be frozen in place by a visceral paralysis. Trying to reach out to his brethren with his magic proved useless as his inner powers seemed to have evaporated like mist in the desert from within himself. It was only when he saw the visage of his own mate falling from the sky that Brooklyn realized the Hell that he was truly in.

The elder demon spun as he plummeted towards the ground, his ebony wings tearing free from his body like old scab wounds as Firebrand, all the while, let out barking calls of pain and agony. Brooklyn fought against the binding force which held him down, yet his body would not give, not even when the elder demon crashed down mere feet in front of him to lay like a crumpled down before his feet. Rage, fear, pain, and grief overcame Brooklyn as he tried to fight to get to his mate, however, all of his rampant emotions were silenced when something hard, cold, and holy pierced through his chest. Looking down, the rust colored gargoyle found the pointed tip of a silver spear having sliced through his chest, dark black smoking rising into his nose as his blood literally turned to ash within his veins.

Unable to say anything, despite the feeling of Death's claws reaching out to strangle him, Brooklyn found just enough energy to turn his head to look to the direction where the weapon had come from. Dark eyes narrowed in raw hate as the hazy visage of a short creature wearing armor stood not that far behind him right before the world faded to black.

Brooklyn came back into himself with a gasp.

Looking down at himself the younger demon found that, as expected, there was no spear lancing through his chest, nor any ashen blood anywhere on his being. The latter point was something for which he was greatly thankful for as the power of holy weapons were like acid to demons, their power to disintegrate a demon from inside out a deep seated fear which warned burned deeply into every demon's mind. Releasing a breath that he didn't even know that he had been holding onto, Brooklyn found himself to be shaking rather heavily as his fearful mind tried to make sense of what it was he had just experienced. His tomes had spoken of astral projection, but this didn't feel like such a thing. This felt more...tangible. Like an old memory of something which had happened before...and yet the fact that he was sitting there right now proved that it could not have happened.

"A premonition, then?" he whispered while reaching a hand up to rub across his pectorals down to his abdomen.

If it was, he surmised, then it meant that he and his brethren were in a grave amount of danger.

"Perhaps...I should speed up my plan for warding the castle." he chuckled nervously while griping his claws hard enough into his palm to make his blood leak out from the holes. Firebrand was aroused from his sleep by the scent of fresh blood.

Several days later as he was working to carve a crest bearing his name spelled in the demon alphabet into the wall of the main hall where the others ate and drank Brooklyn found himself summoned to the king's throne room. Cursing, the young demon stopped what he was doing to see to whatever it was that his lord needed, though as he walked down the hall towards where Astaroth awaited the rust colored gargoyle's mind was ever on the task he had set for himself.

"You summoned me, sire?" Brooklyn asked as he knelt down in respect towards the dual faced demon.

Lord Astaroth's two faces smiled as they looked down at the much younger earthborn demon. "Indeed I have," the topmost head spoke while the lower watched him with great amusement. "I have an assignment for which I want you and Firebrand to see to."

"What is the assignment, sire?"

"While you were away a treasure of mine was stolen by a demon from the frozen continent to the south. I wish for you both to retrieve this item for me. Once you have seen that my treasure is safe I want you to see that the upstart is disposed of for his troubles." a growl left both demon's mouths as the spoke with great 'fondness' for the thief.

A great sense of honor filled Brooklyn's corrupted soul as he processed the order for which his lord and master had just bestowed upon him, and so without hesitation Brooklyn replied with, "It shall be done, but what was this treasure, and just who was this thief that found himself to be so bold as to steal from this castle?"

"The artifact in question was a bejeweled staff which bore a fragment of my power within it." the rust colored gargoyle had remembered seeing this tool before several times, yet it had always remained locked away within a glass case within the depths of the castle. So then, how did the thief... Astaroth continued before Brooklyn could finish his thought. "The thief in question was an upstart white hippogriff who snuck in here while I slept."

Pure rage filled Brooklyn as he heard these words. Eyes glowing white with hate the younger demon recalled his fight with a hippogriff nearly a year ago after he fell into this world from the mortal realm. The fear of death still whispered within his mind as he remembered how he had to fight to the death against the territorial demon whose home he had accidentally found himself stumbling into. It took Brooklyn a moment to compose himself but once he was no longer as angry as he was before the earthborn demon looked up at his master and then nodded slow and carefully.

"Good." with that the young demon found himself dismissed from the presence of the greater demon.

Standing up onto his two feet, Brooklyn bowed before Astaroth and then turned on his heel to go and find his mate. The older demon, having heard about the summons, had chosen to wait outside of their room for his younger mate's return. The two demons gave each other knowing looks before walking down the hallway of the castle together towards the upper floor aviary. Brooklyn said nothing as he kept in step with his mate but it was easy enough for Firebrand to tell that there was something on the younger demon's mind, however, it wasn't business to inquire as to what troubled the other, so long as it didn't hamper their duty or the slightly taller gargoyle's health. Getting to the outer area of the castle where the other red arremer were busy flying about Brooklyn and Firebrand spread their wings and then darted up into the crimson sky to head on about their away.

Before they were too far away from the castle though, Brooklyn turned too look back at his home, a sense of worry very clearly on his beaked face.

= = = = =
5. Flying through the skies to the colder lands of the south Brooklyn found himself sparing a glance over to Firebrand every now and again. The older demon was completely focused on the task at hand and seemed not to notice his concerned gaze, this was something of a blessing in disguise as Brooklyn knew that his mate would have berated him for attempting to worry over him, however the rust colored gargoyle couldn't fight the feelings welling within his blackened soul. His fears were made even worse as he recalled the vision which had been plagued him for several days prior, and now for Astaroth to lose his scepter as he had... The lost of the sacred artifact may have seemed trivial to those who did not understand the importance of the sacred rod, however the rust colored gargoyle knew the terrible truth.

Astaroth was now quite vulnerable.

The magical rob carried within it more than a bit of the greater demon lord's power, it carried a bit of the king's essence inside of it as well. While Brooklyn was sure that the dual faced demon was strong enough to handle most other demons should they attempt to strike at the castle, if another demon lord were to challenge him Astaroth might not be able to use his full power to defend himself. And if he lost a battle to another demon...then it meant that the entire red arremer clan would fall underneath a new demon lord's rule. That was what happened before in the past after Lucifer had given dominion over the gargoyle race to his trusted general during the days when he had been crowned as king of Hell.

The demon lord who had served as a general for Lucifer had been rewarded for his aid in helping to conquer the human world after the second race's fall from power with command of the land where the red arremer castle lay, and rulership over the red arremer clan itself. The black winged demons hadn't cared much for the new general, as they viewed him as a being weaker than Lucifer, however, they were loyal to the red furred demon and thus followed the general without much argument. Centuries passed with the new demon in charge of the red arremer before he was challenged by an upstart demon looking to make a name for himself. The two fought in a bloody battle for hours without end before the demon general used the power within the black sword forged from one of his own bones to literally erase the other demon from existence.

No could deny that the demon general was powerful, as the scar made from a single swing of his blade had created a bottomless chasm within one of the deadland continents to the east, and yet because he had revealed his greatest weapon his downfall was almost certainly set in stone. One night while he slumbered a rouge demon came into the castle and had stolen away the sacred black sword from its place within the demon general's treasure trove. The next day when the general had awakened to find himself being challenged by a rival of his who had made no illusion about wanting to take over the general's position as ruler over his piece of the demon realm. The two fought and though they were seemed to have come to a standstill for several days eventually the demon general's defeat was handed to him by way of his head being decapitated from his body.

Once the general laid defeated the new demon lord took control over the red arremer clan and then began a bloody siege throughout the demon world which lasted for several years. Eventually however, the demon lord was assassinated by a young demon whose clan had been murdered during the demon lord's attempt at world conquest. The younger demon, not wanting anything to do with the demon lord's territory or the red arremer, had left for parts unknown after that never to be seen again. Rumor spoke to fact that he was last sense with a massive black sword within his possession, however no one knew whether this was the same blade belonging to the former demon general. In truth it mattered little whether the young demon had the blade or not as the lost of a ruler over the red arremer created a power vacuum within Hell. Without a master the red arremer began to terrorize the various continents of Hell without recourse, their inherent nature to cause strife made them into some of the demon world's worst fiends, the likes of whom carved several bloody patches throughout the land which, to this day had yet to be forgotten. Because Lucifer had suffered a mortal wound after being dethroned from the world topside by the Fae and their new lord the demon king was in no shape to wrestle the red arremer back under his control and so for centuries the black winged demons went upon a hellish rampage...until finally Astaroth came forth to bring them under control.

At the time the red arremer had created a hierarchy amongst themselves which was lead by one with the title of Fireband who acted as their king. This demon, clad within green armor and wielding intense might, had fought Astaroth to a standstill time and again until finally the dual faced demon had used the power of his staff to smite the other demon. Once they witnessed the defeat of their leader the red arremer turned to Astaroth for leadership, something for which the demon lord was all too happy to take for himself. It had been millennia since the greater demon lord had come to claim dominion over the red arremer and the castle for which they had called home, and while time had seen many bloody wars enacted throughout the demon world Astaroth remained his position of power.

But now that could all change.

Brooklyn shivered not from the subzero level of cold that swept across his body as he and Firebrand entered into the heart of the frozen wasteland but at the thought about what would happen if another demon lord were to try and challenge his king right now.

Would the next demon lord be reasonable as Astaroth, or would he be a typical tyrant? Would he use the red arremer as his pawns to try and conquer all of Hell, or would he see them destroyed for the threat that they could present to his control? Was the one responsible for the theft even allied with a greater demon lord, or was this all a plan dreamt up by a young usurper who had grand ideals?

There were just so many questions that had no answers to themselves, however, Brooklyn was not one for sitting by and idly waiting for events to transpire against his will. It was with this in mind that the rust colored gargoyle came to realize that he and Firebrand had no idea where the thief was. Astaroth had given them a general direction to follow by telling him of the type of demon they were searching for, yet that wasn't really much help in the actual search itself. Realizing that the time they spent looking might give whoever was behind all of the this the chance to strike out against his king Brooklyn decided to try something.

Barking out for Firebrand to follow him the younger demon made his way down towards a mountain where the tear freezing winds weren't blowing as badly and then set about working on a little magic he had recalled during his studies. The older demon cocked an eye as he watched his younger mate work over the ground with his claws, the rust colored gargoyle whispering underneath his breath all the while. Once Brooklyn was sure that he had carved the runes he needed into the snow packed ground he then began to focus his thoughts on what he desired. Firebrand watched in quiet awe as streams of yellow energy trailed around the taller demon's body on down towards the ground with barely an audible hiss. When the pale ribbons of magic touched the runes they began to set the carvings alight causing the entire area around them to glow with a opal radiance.

Firebrand growled when the image of a hippogriff took shape in front of Brooklyn.

The phantom demon looked this way and that as though he were searching for something before the figure shrunk down into an orange sized ball which floated cautiously before the earthborn demon's face.

"He was a fool for not knowing that the scepter could be tracked with magic, however, that will work in our favor as this will lead us to him." Brooklyn said coldly.

Firebrand let out a cackle of laughter as he patted the younger demon onto the back in congratulations for his brilliance.

"Let's hurry." Brooklyn smiled non-pulsed as he waved his hand out to send the orb off. The yellow sphere zoomed to the east before either of them could blink.

The demon gargoyles flew like rockets through the frozen tundra as they chased after the magic ball of energy. Over and across the wasteland of the south Brooklyn caught sight of the numerous structures which littered the landscape, most them were settlements which were barely of any note to the two demons, however, there was something about the way they were arranged that prodded against the back of Brooklyn's head.

"They look almost like...camps. Military camps!" Brooklyn hissed as two and two suddenly came together in startling certainty.

Turning to look back at the orb floating in front of him the young demon willed his magic to move the sphere much more quickly. It took nearly an hour of flying through a storm of ice and snow before the pair finally got to where they needed to be. Seated within a empty forest was a frozen structure obscured by the biting snow falling down upon their heads. While hard to spot from the air it was easy enough for Firebrand and Brooklyn to find as they dropped down from the sky directly in front of the unfamiliar place. The older demon barked at his mate in confusion when the pair failed to spot an entrance into the structure, even though the yellow orb was merrily floating above the head of the building.

"I guess this is what is meant by being specific when casting spells." The rust colored gargoyle murmured to himself as he realized that his magic had indeed led them to where they needed to be...but not exactly to whom they needed to find. "The hippogriff had to gotten in here somehow, let's search for an entrance."

It took them a minute of searching before they finally found a door which could give them entrance into the unexplored structure. Sadly there was no handle for which they could use to open the door which meant that the barrier was probably sealed with a special kind of spell meant to allow only those who knew its incantation inside. Had he not been so concerned with the camps he had seen Brooklyn knew that he would have tried to use his powers to guess at the secret behind the incantation, however, his fear ate away at his more rationale mind and so without thought he stabbed his claws through the stone of the door and then began to pull. Seeing his mate struggling Firebrand stepped beside the younger demon and then mimicked his actions.

Together the two demons grunted and huffed as they pulled back at the stubborn barrier which sought to bar them entrance. It took several seconds but with a groaning creak the stoned cracked at the unseen seams before finally coming loose. Firebrand and Brooklyn chuckled as they lobbed the now broken door over to the side. The resounding crash muffled the hurried steps of the pair as they walked down the stairwell which lead deep into the unknown.

Following the pathway after summoning the small yellow orb to him the two demons found themselves deep within a strange aqueduct. Looking around at the dilapidated structure Brooklyn guessed that the facility had been used in days prior when Hell was much more...orderly than it was now. Had time not been at his back urging him onward the rust colored gargoyle was sure that he would have liked to study the place more thoroughly in an attempt to learn its history, however, he was there on a mission and that took precedence over his idle curiosity of the past.

The first demon to attack them came as something of a mild surprise to both Brooklyn and Firebrand as a large sentient mound of goo lowered itself down from the ceiling to spit muck at them. Trained as they were the pair easily sidestepped the bio-projectile which thus allowed the goop hit the ground next to them with a splash. Looking to see that the substance melting stone both Firebrand and Brooklyn looked to one another and then nodded.

A cascade shot out from the older demon's mouth before the next shot of crude could be spat out from the goo creature's orifice. The smell of burning rubber filled the area within the aqueduct as the monster was burnt alive and only once Firebrand was sure that the demon was well and thoroughly cooked did he cut the stream of flames off. Watching as the creature fell to the ground in a very dead heap Brooklyn wondered what other surprises were in wait for them...right before a quiet noise pressed against his ears. Turning the younger demon watched as several other goo creatures began to fill the space within the area that he and his mate were in. Snarling, Brooklyn didn't waste any time as he opened his own mouth to spit a stream of flames at the horde before him.

From that point on it became something of a game of survival for the demons as they blew through several throngs of monsters and other demons which seemed to have been waiting on them. Because of their combined training the gargoyles were able to cut down the ensemble with relative ease with a few flashes of claws and bites to the jugulars, however, as they continued to race throughout the underground pathway Brooklyn began to notice something.

The other monsters....they were stalling them instead of outright fighting for their lives.

The creatures seemed to know they stood no chance against the battle honed duo and yet they fought on stubbornly.

Realizing what was going on Brooklyn roared for Firebrand to stop fighting and instead pile drive their way through the lot after the yellow sphere floating in front of them. Firebrand wanted to complain and was on his way to making his frustration known to his mate before he watched the younger male drop to the ground to race forward on all fours. Grunting in annoyance the older demon followed after the other without really thinking about it. The pair dodged several traps made of spikes and exploding projectiles with relative ease as they zoomed this way and that through the inner depths of the in silent aqueduct. It took several minutes but finally the yellow sphere lead the two demons to the hippogriff, and as Brooklyn surmised the creature was right in the process of handing the scepter over to a larger demon who looked reminiscent of a gargoyle himself only much taller than Brooklyn and bearing midnight black skin and bright blue feathered wings.

Before anything could be said Firebrand let out a ear shrieking screech and then launched a cascade of fire at both demons. The blue winged gargoyle, seeing the attack, jumped out of the way right as his hands were about to touch Astaroth's scepter. The hippogriff wasn't so lucky as it was instantly roasted alive by the older demon's flames. It was only when the ash settled to the ground along with the staff that Firebrand ceased his fiery funnel of death to growl heatedly at the now flying demon.

"Who are you?" Brooklyn asked while glaring up at the other, his mate's anger radiating through his being even as he fought to keep himself in check.

"Hehe, why not ask you friend? He and I have a very close relationship with one another." Brooklyn turned his head to look at his mate in question. That was a mistake.

The other demon swooped down to grab the scepter and then flew up towards the ceiling. A well placed punch tore a hole through the stone and without pause the blue winged demon slipped through to the outside world. Not giving his fuck up more than a second worth of thought Brooklyn unclasped his wings from around his shoulders and took off after the other. Firebrand was hot on his heels.

The three demons came out together admist the snowy tundra just as a heavy snowfall was dying down around them.

"You're persistent, I'll give you that." the blue winged demon said as he tossed the scepter up into his hand and then brandished it at the pair of snarling demons in front of him. "But you're fighting for the wrong master. Spartura is going to be running things around here soon enough, so why not submit yourself to his rule and save yourselves the trouble of dying today?"

"I'd tell you to go to Hell but we're already there." Firebrand spoke making Brooklyn gape in surprise. "There's no chance that I would betray my master for your piss guzzling, boot licking, bitch of a master!!" Firebrand roared.

To say that Brooklyn was taken aback would have been an understatement as the younger demon had never heard his mate speak with such hatred in all the years he had been living with him there within the demon world. Turning to look at the other demon the rust colored gargoyle was now very curious as to the history between the pair, however before he could think to ask what exactly had gone on between the two the other demon let out an ear shrieking howl and then dove at the older red arremer.

Firebrand was ready and held himself firm even as the other demon charged into him. The pair fell like angels onto the white snow, their bodies a tangle of limbs as they sought to end each other in the most painful way imaginable. Watching as his mate and the other demon wrestled against one another, blood flying from both of their bodies as they tore and bit into one another, Brooklyn wasn't sure what he should do in this situation, that was until he noticed the the other demon wasn't holding the scepter any longer. Turning his head, the younger demon found the golden artifact winking up at him from atop a mound of packed snow. Diving down to grasp the relic the earthborn demon let out a painful gasp when a flow of power surged through his body with the force of an electrical current.

Firebrand and the blue winged demon fought for minutes on end before the sounds of other demons began to approach the lot of them.

"Looks like my backups arrived! Good thing I was smart enough to call for them, unlike you who came out here with only one other demon. Hehe!!" the bloody demon chuckled right before he received a fist to the face throwing him backwards. "Damn you!!" the other demon swore.

Firebrand opened his mouth to let out a gust of flame at the blue winged demon but the other recovered and jumped into the sky before the fire could lick across his body. "Sorry that we won't be able to settle our grudge today but have a good death all the same!" a hearty bellow of laughter followed after the demon as he flew about his way leaving Firebrand to watch as an orgy of demons swooped down upon him. The red arremer screeched as he laid into the first winged harpy he could get his claws on. Tearing the female's head from her shoulders the cherry skinned gargoyle let himself slip into a murderous but controlled haze as he fought against the horde which surrounded him.

Claws, fangs, blood, feather, skin, and other assorted body parts spilled across the air as the battle honed warrior fought for his life, however for all of his battle prowess his body was already at something of a limit and so after a dozen or so of his enemies had fallen to his claws Firebrand found himself getting beaten to the ground. With his body now a mass of scars with the white of his bones able to be seen from where a well-placed talon had serrated his flesh, the red arremer tried to open his mouth to let loose his flames yet all that came out was a flew sparking flickers of heat. It was just as a number of bloodsoaked claws were about to pierce his back that a funnel of purple flames rolled across the air above Firebrand roasting the demons who had been holding him down. Those who had managed to survive being barbecued alive immediately scattered from around Firebrand, the lot quite confused as they wondered exactly what had just attacked them.

Firebrand was also curious about this strange phenomenon as he lifted his face from the snow just in time to see another blast of purple spray out above him. Those demons around him took to the sky to get out of the way of the next attack which gave their attacker the time needed to step over to the downed demon. Firebrand cawed in surprise when he looked to see the pale form of his mate stare down at him carefully. When a hand reached down for him the cherry skinned demon didn't know what he should do, yet his confusion was quickly dismissed as a familiar green energy overcame him body. Instantly the wounds that had been carved across his form healed themselves, the blood drying up to then flake away into the air, as Brooklyn poured his magic into his mate. Once the healing power had fully restored Firebrand back to full health the demon thought that his mate was going to stop there but instead felt a rush of power swept inside of him causing the older demon to gasp and then hiss in surprise.

White instantly began to dance across Firebrand's flesh eating up the cherry red of his skin as Brooklyn forced his mate to take on the form which the younger demon now sported. Snapping his wings back behind himself as he felt a familiar strength flow into every square inch of his being Firebrand didn't resist when the earthborn demon grabbed his wrist and then helped him to stand to his feet. When the pair were eye to eye with one another they shared a silent moment with one another before turning to regard the demons who were now primed to attack them again. Crouching down Brooklyn took on the more submissive position while Firebrand spread his arms and wings out, the last thing the rushing demons saw was the older demon opening his mouth to allow flames of bright indigo to rush out from his maw at the same time flickers of purple rolled out from around Brooklyn's beak.

= = = = = =
Art: http://www.furaffinity.net/user/beezlebumawoken/
http://www.furaffinity.net/user/komiku/
http://www.furaffinity.net/user/ziggie13
Characters: Capcom & Greg Wiessman
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