Ra-Gadol and Jahi strolled down the dark mountain path.

They’d followed the trail of smoke, stretching up into the clouds above, to a sprawling camp. Each tent was made from the pelt of a fearsome beast, and the hut in the middle of the camp was made from the shell of a mighty tarrasque, with sharp spines jutting out all over.

The various demons in the camp looked up at them as they approached, some of them with bits of dried meat hanging from their tusks as they chewed.

Jahi whispered to her son, “You have a plan?”

Ra-Gadol turned and kissed his mother on the cheek, his nose lingering near her ear for a moment. “Have a little faith in me,” he whispered back.

Just as he drew near the outskirts of the camp, a demon who resembled a woman with ram-like horns and wings like a bat approached him. She wore armor made from elephant hide and the bones of various animals. “So,” she said, “the disgraced prince has come to us. I am Captain Senka. What news do you have for us, your highness?”

“That depends entirely on how much you already know.” Ra-Gadol clasped his hands together in front of his chest. “Have you already heard about the tragedy at Sygin’s Mouth?”

Captain Senka’s friendly expression fell and her shoulders sank. “Lady Natalia was… she was a dear friend of mine…”

Each demon in the camp removed the cap from his head and held it over his heart for a moment of mourning.

Ra-Gadol held his hand over his own heart. “By all accounts, she was a great woman. One after Sygin’s own heart, I hear.”

Captain Senka gave the demon prince a skeptical look. “I doubt you came here to mourn her loss with us.”

The prince shook his head. “No. In my exile I’ve found that news can be somewhat difficult to come by. I was just wondering what my father intends to do to avenge Lady Natalia’s death.” Ra-Gadol did his best to hide his grin when he saw their countenance fall even further. As he suspected, Malkira still wasn’t addressing the problem this King Ozz posed. “Has he said anything about it? Announced a plan?”

Murmuring and grumbling among the soldiers in the camp told Ra-Gadol he had a foothold here. Then again, even the fact that they’d greeted him, a banished prince, rather than driving him away told him as much.

Captain Senka clenched her fists at her sides and cast her eyes down at the ground. “Umm… no. There’s no plan yet.”

Ra-Gadol’s heart soared. He was about to say more when one of the warriors called out, “The king’s lost his mind!”

Another demon warrior smacked him in the chest. “What are you? An idiot? You can’t talk about King Malkira that way!”

“What’s he going to do about it?” the first one snapped back. He spread his arms wide, as if inviting his companion to strike him. “He didn’t take vengeance for Lord Raum or Lady Natalia, and he’s ignoring the angel king of Tir Shazelle. Clearly he doesn’t give a damn about anything that’s going on anymore! What’s one insubordinate warrior?”

They were already as furious as Ra-Gadol needed them to be. He needed only capitalize on their fury. Outwardly, he gave the most sympathetic look he could, but inwardly he felt like dancing. “Are you sure there’s no plan? I thought he wasn’t going to deal with Emet’s Rebellion, but I was mistaken. His forces arrived just after I’d slain that golem.”

Another demon, a giant with blue skin and spike-like horns on his head, stood and spat on the ground. “He acts to protect his wealth, not to avenge his loyal subjects. The king has betrayed us all, and shown all the world he doesn’t give two shits what happens to us! The Hell with the king!”

“The Hell with him!” a boar-headed demon chimed in.

A wolf-like demon socked that one in the jaw. “Treason!” he shouted, just before a pitch-black shape appeared, slit his throat, then vanished as he fell on the ground choking and bleeding.

Ra-Gadol scratched his chin, pretending to contemplate their complaints for the first time. “I see… this is truly terrible! We can’t have a king who won’t raise a hand to defend his people.” The demon prince scanned each of their faces, reading their disgruntled moods. He had to know how far he could go with them. Were they as ready to betray his father as he was? “Had he avenged Lord Raum back when the angel king took back Brook Hold, wouldn’t you think Natalia would still be alive today? Along with everyone who fought beside her?”

A murmur of agreement.

In the shadows Ra-Gadol saw sudden movement. His heart leapt, and he reached for his sword, until he realized it was just the nodding head of a dreila.

Ra-Gadol returned his attention to the warriors before him. “Well, perhaps it’s time we stopped waiting for my father to act and took matters into our own hands. I’ve been formulating a plan for a while now, one which will rid us of the angel king once and for all. Give us justice for what happened to Lord Raum and Lady Natalia.” The demon prince drew his sword from its scabbard and held it high. “With this blade I slew Emet and put down his foolish rebellion. It shall also taste the blood of King Ozz before we are through. What say you, my friends? Will you join me in my quest to avenge our fallen comrades?”

Again, there was agreement from the crowd, but one warrior said, “Just us? We’re nowhere near numerous enough to go to war with King Ozz.”

Ra-Gadol rolled his eyes. “You will be but the first of many warriors I recruit to this cause. Together, we will travel from one camp to the next, gathering our forces until we have an army large enough for my plan to work.” His arm grew tired from holding his sword aloft and began to droop, but he thrust it into the air once more. “Follow me, brothers and sisters in Sygin! We will slay your enemies and crush the weak. We will take vengeance upon those who have wronged us, and bring glory to our Dark Mother. Neither humans nor angels shall stand in our way.” The crowd of demons looked on at Ra-Gadol with awe. Pride swelled from deep within him.

“We will dash their children’s heads against rocks,” Ra-Gadol continued, “rape their women, chop off the fingers and toes of our prisoners. Their widows will wail, their orphans weep. Spare only those who swear their allegiance to Sygin and denounce the other gods. Upon those who refuse, we will heap hot embers upon their heads. Their bodies shall fill the fields around our cities, and whenever future generations wonder if there is any hope for our future, they will need only to peer over the city walls to see the bloody plains sprawled out in every direction!”

The demons threw their fists into the air and cheered in unison.

At the sound of their applause, a warm, soothing feeling arose in the demon prince’s chest. The last time he’d felt this good was when he was a boy and he’d found a lost cougar cub.

Before his father had forced him to drown it.

But, now, the approval and love of these warriors was overwhelming. A grin assumed its place upon his face, flashing his white, pointed teeth. He looked back over his shoulder at his mother, who stared at him with pride in her eyes.