Author's Note: As per usual, these characters don't belong to me, I'm just writing about them. Wish I was getting paid, but I'm unfortunately not. Life sucks that way, don't it? Anyways, this is a story I've been meaning to work on for quite a while, but never got around to. And then I started to write it, then stopped, and now I'm back to working on it.
Also as per usual, it is in the same continuity as (deep breath) Preludes and Beginnings, The Crossroads of Destiny, Prophecy Change, Just Another Day, Roots, The Final Adventure, A Winter's Heart, and The Shroud of the Horde (not to mention a host of other fanfics coming down the line). It's really not necessary to read these other fanfics because it actually takes place before the "Destiny Series" and after Preludes and Beginnings. The timeframe for this story is between the first and second seasons of the Classic MOTU series.
Chapter One: Assassination Attempt
The Sorceress awoke suddenly as a terrible sound filled the walls of Castle Grayskull. Her mind reached out and touched Grayskull, and immediately felt its power being tapped into. For a moment, it was as if Adam had changed into He-Man.
Her telepathy reached out and scanned Adam's mind and found that he hadn't changed into He-Man. There was no transformation, no use of the Power Sword nor access to Grayskull. The Sorceress stood up and made for the throne room. Once there, she sat upon the throne and soaked in all of the information available.
The power tap was brief, if not sudden, and was out of her reach. Already, though, the power of Grayskull was being recovered. Whatever had happened was already corrected. The power tap was gone and the power was already back to normal.
What could have done that? Skeletor wasn't capable of doing something on that scale, nor were any of the other enemies of Eternia and Grayskull. The Sorceress sat for long moments in deep thought and concentration, and hoped to sort out this puzzle . . .
"So . . . just what exactly were you two trying to accomplish here?" He-Man asked.
Trap-Jaw clanged his metallic jaw the hero and fired a beam of energy from his robotic hand. He-Man leapt out of the path of the beam and rolled to his feet. As another blast sailed his way - He-Man deflected it with his sword - he couldn't help but wonder why Mer-Man and Trap-Jaw would try to break off on their own and take down Castle Grayskull by themselves.
Luckily, He-Man had seen the pair before they even entered the Evergreen Forest, which loomed behind them. Back-up was well on its way, so He-Man pretty much held them at bay while Man-At-Arms and Teela arrived. This would be great if they could capture the two villains.
After Trap-Jaw fired a third beam, He-Man jumped up and kicked him in the gut. Trap-Jaw staggered back, allowing He-Man to face down Mer-Man. The undersea warlord pulled out his trident and used it to deflect He-Man's blade.
"Not bad," He-Man said.
"We'll get you yet!" Mer-Man proclaimed. "We may have failed at getting to Castle Grayskull, but you would be a fine prisoner for Skeletor!"
Twin energy blasts struck down, knocking Mer-Man square on his butt. He-Man spun around and watched as Teela and Man-At-Arms arrived on a pair of Sky Sleds. Trap-Jaw struggled to put on a new weapon on his arm as the two of them moved towards him.
"Damn this old rusty arm," cursed Trap-Jaw. He finally managed to get the laser gun on when there came a shout.
"LOOK OUT, TRAP-JAW!"
Mer-Man, thrown by He-Man, smashed right into Trap-Jaw. The laser gun fell off and struck the ground. Teela, He-Man and Man-At-Arms surrounded the pair.
"Like I said - what exactly were you two trying to accomplish here?"
"Let's get out of here!" shouted Mer-Man, running towards the waiting Spydor. The large mechanical monster scurried off then, after collect Mer-Man and Trap-Jaw.
Once they were pretty much out of sight, Teela sighed and leaned against her staff. "Well, He-Man, I guess you didn't need us after all."
He-Man laughed and put his hand on her shoulder. Teela smiled. "I guess not, Teela. But still, it was good to see you."
"Same here."
Man-At-Arms, meanwhile, was making his way over to the fallen arm-weapon. "This could be valuable to us. It'll provide a good look at just how Trap-Jaw mechanical arm works. I - "
Much to He-Man and Teela's curiosity, Man-At-Arms stopped mid-sentence. "What is it, father?" asked Teela.
The old warrior stood up and looked into the Evergreen Forest. Something was in there, moving about. It was faint and if he wasn't right next to it, he wouldn't have heard it. There was a sudden noise and a vague movement - and Man-At-Arms leapt into action.
"GET DOWN!" he declared.
A sudden barrage of arrows fired from the depths of the forest, slicing through the air and heading right towards He-Man and Teela. The two leapt out of the way, the arrows flying right into the ground.
For a brief second, two figures appeared in the forest. They were running deep into its heart, making for the northwest. Without a word, He-Man, Man-At-Arms, and Teela followed. The pair of would-be assassin archers seemed to blend in with the trees and the plants and the shadows as the leapt over streams, rocks, and logs.
"Keep moving!" shouted He-Man, jumping over a large fallen tree.
It was strange, chasing these two figures. As they moved fluidly and quickly through the woods, it looked almost as if their shape was changing. At one point, they seemed tall - as tall as a house - and then, just passing under the shadow of a tree, they looked smaller as if young children. Most of the time, though, they remained the average height of a man.
After nearly three minutes of chasing, the two assassins split up and headed in two different directions. He-Man pointed Teela and Man-At-Arms after the one that headed southwest while he chased the one going northwest.
After about fifty seconds, the assassin He-Man was chasing leapt over a stream, and He-Man leapt from his place. He-Man hoped to collide with the assassin as soon at the archer landed on the ground, but (much to his shock) the assassin leapt again - off the air! He-Man touched the ground on the other side of the stream, and the assassin landed about fifteen feet ahead, hitting the ground running.
He-Man was more than impressed with the assassin's speed, and his strange abilities. Whoever this was, he was very good at this and was more than obviously knew some sorcery. He-Man had to respect that, but he couldn't let the assassin get away with trying to kill him without an explanation.
As He-Man closed in on the assassin he swung his Power Sword against a nearby tree. Only about eight feet ahead, the assassin was well within the range of the tree's collapse. But shockingly, as the tree began to fall, the assassin leapt up and placed his hand on the falling tree. The tree moved then, back to its original place and merged with its previous location, the cut that He-Man made vanishing.
The assassin, who was running ON the tree, jumped off and threw his hands out, a sparkle of light coming from his fingers.
"Petrificusis!"
The sparkle of light flared brightly and He-Man suddenly found himself completely still. His body was immobile and he collapsed, paralyzed.
The assassin jumped from the tree and landed squarely before He-Man. His face was covered by his red-hooded cloak, which flowed down past his knees.
"I should kill you right now," the assassin stated. "But I have sworn my life not to."
With that, the assassin ran and quickly vanished from sight.
He-Man laid there, in the shadow of the trees for a few long moments, thinking about all this. What were these assassins? How powerful were they that they could jump off the wind like it was the earth and move on, heal and fix an entire tree mid-fall? How were they able to change their size or perception of their size? Who were they and who were they working for?
As feeling began to enter him again and the holding spell wore off, Man-At-Arms and Teela approached.
"What happened?" he asked, his first words after coming out of it.
"We're not sure," replied Man-At-Arms. "The assassin leapt behind a group of rocks, flashed a light in our eyes and were gone."
"It looks like you didn't fare very well yourself," Teela observed, helping He-Man up.
"No, I didn't. I sliced through this tree so it would fall upon the assassin I was chasing, but he jumped on it mid-fall, repaired the slice, healed it and then placed a freeze spell on me and left."
"Curious," said Man-At-Arms, rubbing his chin. "Come on. Let's check arrows. Maybe they can help us determine who it was who attacked you."
The trio made for the edge of the forest once more, and a few minutes later, arrived at the field. As Man-At-Arms collected the arrows and Trap-Jaw's robotic arm, the three of them all received a telepathic message from the Sorceress.
He-Man, Man-At-Arms, Teela! Come to Castle Grayskull quickly, I must speak with you! Sorceress pleaded.
"She sounded worried," Teela observed.
"I noticed as well. We better go," He-Man said, sharing a Sky Sled with Teela.
After gathering up all the arrows and the arm, the two Sky Sleds left the area and headed northeast to Castle Grayskull.
A few minutes later, the Sky Sleds were entering the heart of the Evergreen Forest and came upon Castle Grayskull. Even after all this time, it was still more than impressive. It was located in a strangely beautiful but barren area of the Evergreen Forest, and stuck out high above the chasm that surrounded the Castle.
The Sky Sleds landed on the bridge in front of the chasm and as they got off, the drawbridge opened, allowing them entrance. He-Man led them inside, through the main corridor, the foyer and into the throne room, where sat the Sorceress.
"I thank you for your quick arrival," Sorceress said. "I am concerned. Two days ago, I sensed an outside energy tapping into Grayskull's power. It was brief and lasted for only a moment and then was over and the power was restored."
"Have you had any luck figuring out what happened?"
"No, I have not," replied Sorceress. "I was going to ask you if you had sensed anything as well, He-Man?"
"No. Everything with the Sword of Power has remained nominal," He-Man answered. "But, maybe unrelated, but we were just about assassinated by two archers that possessed incredible sorcery."
Sorceress nodded. "As I saw. Let me see the arrows."
Man-At-Arms opened the pack he had placed them in and gave them to Sorceress. A curious expression appeared her face and she held one of the arrows. She ran her fingers over the wood, across the arrowhead, and through the quill.
"Odd," she remarked.
"What is it?" asked Teela. "Do you know who the assassins were?"
"Elves," Sorceress replied, handing the arrow back to Man-At-Arms.
"Elves? Really?" questioned He-Man. "That doesn't make any sense. All of the Elves we've encountered don't have anything against me. At least, not that I know of."
"Aren't most of the Elves on Eternia nomadic and usually stay with their own kind, and rather not deal with the other peoples of the world?" Man-At-Arms asked.
"The Elves of Eternia, yes. But these arrows did not belong to any of the Elves on Eternia," Sorceress answered. "These belong to the lost kingdom of the Elves. The Elves of the island kingdom of Dellos. Those Elves vanished nearly 1,000 years ago, though."
Man-At-Arms folded his arms. "So what you're saying is that Elves from a vanished kingdom tried to assassinate us today? Why?"
"I do not know, but I can not help but feel there is a connection to the power tap."
"It might be a good idea to consult some of our resources at Eternos," He-Man said then. "Prince Adam would hate to hear me say this, but I believe a clue to the solution of our problem lies in the history books."
Man-At-Arms smiled, enjoying that extra touch to keep He-Man's secret identity just that. "Good idea. Sorceress, let us know if there are any more power taps."
"I will. Good journey."
The Sorceress walked them out of the Castle, then stood outside for a moment, soaking in the fresh air. Something within the Sorceress stirred then as part of her realized the implications given forth here.
Change . . . change was in the wind . . .