Shadow Weaver closed her eyes and placed both her hands on a giant crystal. She focused on its enormous power and began to charge herself with its energy. It felt really refreshing for her degraded body. Suddenly she heard a loud cry.
Shadow Weaver flinched and groaned with rage. Whoever that was, he was about to taste her anger for interrupting her ritual. She burst out of her chamber and followed the sound which, to her surprise, turned out to be a cry of a baby…coming from Lord Hordak's throne room?!
Lord Hordak was sitting on his throne with, as always, grumpy face. In front of him, in a safe distance, two guards were standing. One of them was holding a small bundle..in a rather incorrect way.
"Shadow Weaver" Hordak greeted her "Good that you came. I was about to send for you. "
"My Lord" She bowed "Was your mission successful? " she asked trying to avoid the loud cry of a baby held by one of the guards "Did you find the Firsts' temple? "
"No. It went horrible…again. That loud annoying creature is the only thing that I brought with me. "
The baby wailed even louder and Hordak had clearly enough of it.
"Take it to the other orphans…or whatever. Quickly!"
The guards immediately headed to the door, clearly delighted to get rid of the burden, when Shadow Weaver called them back.
"Lord Hordak" she pointed at the infant "Can't you feel it?! This one is different…special. She has great power. "
"Then make special use of it. " He said massaging his temples "AND GET IT OUT OF HERE ALREADY! "
The guard pushed the wailing bundle into her arms. 'Thanks' to Hordak's voice infant started to cry even more than before. She unwrapped 'its' face. It was a beautiful blond girl. The woman stroked her cheek.
"Oh don't worry, little one. We are gonna make a great thing together. "
The baby looked at her with her watery, curious eyes and calmed down.
Shadow Weaver left the room but instead of taking the baby to the infirmary she headed to her chamber. When she was sure that nobody can see her, she placed the baby at a table and unwrapped the bundle to examine her. She seemed like a healthy, normal child. The woman noticed a small inscription on the Edge of the blanket. It was perhaps the name of the child.
"Well then, Adora. " Shadow Weaver wiped the tears from the child's face "You may look normal but there's something much greater hidden inside you. " She chuckled "We just need to get it out of you, my dear. "
She started walking around the room putting out various magic tools and as soon as she moved away from the table, the cry renewed.
Shadow Weaver didn't pay much attention to it, tho.
"So many possibilities" she whispered to herself "So many things to do with such a great amount of power! "
She opened the spell book and nearly immediately found the right thing.
"It will transfer the Energy from the object to the prepared crystal. " She read out loud "Chances that the living object will die: 87,6%. Well...I'm sure that Hordak will understand the death of yours. Besides, there are many other orphans in storage so one less shouldn't be problematic."
She started drawing a magic symbol on Adora's belly. Suddenly the infant grabbed her finger with its chubby palm and cooed.
"Focus! " Shadow Weaver scolded herself and continued drawing.
The baby seemed confused but didn't protest.
"So much power...will be mine." She finished and raised her arms preparing for the spell "It will hurt but only for a second, I promise."
At first, the infant seemed unaffected but a second after it started screaming from pain.
Shadow Weaver was ready to pull out the whole Energy from that child…but she couldn't.
Adora's cry was drilling her soul. The baby curled up from pain and her scream became even more miserable. Shadow Weaver felt like her heart was about to shatter into million pieces. The witch just…just couldn't hurt such an Innocent creature…how could someone do that…but the power…
"Oh screw the power! " the witch broke the spell "Damn it! " she fell on her knees and covered her face with shaking hands "I can't…"
She stood up and picked the screaming baby up.
"Shhh" she bounced her gently "It's all right. You're safe now. "
It took the witch a while to calm her down but eventually, Adora fell asleep with her tiny fists clenched on the witch's cloak.
Shadow Weaver breathed a sigh of relief.
Then without any warning, Hordak's face appeared on a big screen on the wall.
"My lord? "
"What are the research results? About the child? "
"Emm…" she glanced at the sleeping baby "It turned out to be useless, after all. "
"Then you wasted my time! "
"I'm sorry my lord. "
"Put it to the other orphans. Maybe it'll become at least a good soldier. " he snarled and hang up.
"Don't worry" the witch leaned in and stroked her chubby cheek "I'll take care of you, Adora. "