A Triad Challenge

A little fantasy/sci-fi story.

   There was once three brothers. Aldos, the eldest and the most fair, governed the realm of men and everything that men associated themselves with; wisdom, intelligence and government. He gifted the men with stout strength, hearts of great courage and intelligence beyond that of any creature living on the earth.
   The middle brother was Ghevvi, who, like his elder brother, was associated with men. But rather than the men themselves, Ghevvi was tied with the crafts of men; woodworking, smithing, and the arts above all else. He gave men the ability to shape wood and stone and metal and ideas into material things. But he kept his best kept secrets to himself, unlike Aldos, who shared everything he knew and owned with the men.
    The youngest brother was named Hemlin. Unlock Ghevvi and Aldos, Hemlin had no one sphere of governance. He ruled dreams, death, the future. And unlike his brothers, he shared nothing with the men, being aloof and indifferent to them, a mysterious figure even to his two elder brothers.
    One day, Aldos and Ghevvi grew bored and so began to talk about a challenge.
    "I say we shall all each create something that reflects our spheres - an army!" Aldos said. "And challenge the others' army in battle. That way, we will see which of us is superior after all."
    "I heartily agree," Ghevvi said eagerly. "And I will match your challenge."
    Enigmatic Hemlin merely took the challenge in glum silence.
    So Aldos stole away to the realms of men and issued forth words of great inspiration and hope. The men loved him, their lord, and so armed themselves and prepared for battle, issuing from their cities in great streams, clutching spear, shield and donning helms the shape of hawks or horses. Ghevvi retreated to his own home, deep in the largest mountain of the world, named the Finger, and there, set fire to his deep forges. He smelted steels and metals the world have never seen before, creating huge shells of armor. Once his army was forged, he breathed life into his automatons, creating an army of living armor. Hemlin merely wandered the realms for a while until the challenge was to be met in the flesh.
    Aldos and Ghevvi's armies marched to a highland field, a sea of sweeping grass. They waited there, high and powerful amongst their soldiers, until dawn came. With the light of the day, came Hemlin, alone and solitary. The two other brothers laughed, scoffing at the foolishness of their youngest brother and so set about their battle, sending men against golem. Hemlin watched as the two armies were butchering each other before showing his hand: from the ground sprang the corpses and the skeletons of the long deceased, still clutching their rotten weapons and armor from ages past, augmented by the newly deceased men of Aldos' mortal army. Hemlin's army surged forth in a decaying wave, overcoming both man and golem.
    Men felt pain and died, golems broke down and withered, but the dead felt no pain, no emotion, nor suffered from any intelligence other than to destroy and consume. The men of Aldos were all killed and mostly devoured and then joined Hemlin's ranks of the dead. Ghevvi's golems, while mighty, did not hold against the tide of death long. The two brothers were shocked that they had lost, blindsighted by their youngest brother.
    "There will always be dead," Hemlin explained. "Men die and ingots deplete and even the strongest of metals can be dented. But there will always be death."
    And with that, Hemlin stole once again into the darkness.