The Deathtrap Dungeon
By Richard Taylor
Fabian didn't know how long he had been running but it felt like he had been in this underground maze forever. Fabian cursed himself for accepting the challenge of walking this cursed maze. Suddenly there was a noisy crash coming from the bend in front of him. Fabian quickly stopped in his tracks; he knew the maze contained Goblins, Orcs and Trolls alongside other deadly creatures that he wanted to stay away from them as much as possible. Holding his breath Fabian slowly crept towards the corner and carefully peeked around it. In the centre of the corridor stood three ugly Orcs each were carrying a death sword. Near the Orcs Fabian saw a door partly hidden behind vine and roots that grew out of the walls and roof of the corridor. Fabian patiently waited for the Orcs to begin walking away from the door. Praying to the gods of Eternia Fabian ran towards the door and hoped that it wasn't locked. The Orcs span around as they heard the rushing footsteps of Fabian but they were too late to stop Fabian before he got through the door.
Fabian quickly locked the door behalf him. The Orcs pounded on the door but the door wouldn't budge. After catching his breath Fabian turned to examine the room he had entered. The room was bare except for a set of steps that led upwards. Ignoring the snarls of the Orcs Fabian slowly made his way to the steps. After making sure that there was no traps that he could see Fabian carefully made his way up the steps. As he reached the middle of the steps they suddenly gave way and Fabian was sent falling in to a pit of sharp spears.
Count Marzo was pleased with this latest test of his maze. Ever since he had discovered it buried under the ruins of an ancient fortress he had begun to prepare it for the ultimate challenge, his enemy He-man. The time drawing near when he would no longer use the peasants in the maze, soon the most powerful man in the universe would finally meet his fate at the hands of Count Marzo.
"How far did this peasant get?" asked Marzo.
"About quarter of the way." replied one of Marzo's servants.
"Good, good," said Marzo. "Even though He-man has several times the strength of these mere peasants, he will still get no further than quarter of the way through my maze. All I need to do is bate the trap and wait for that muscle bound fool to fall in to it."
The sky above the city of Eternos was a brilliant clear blue without a cloud to be seen. Queen Marlena and King Randor were making their way to the city market in search for a suitable gift for Teela's birthday. Count Marzo had slipped in to the city disguised as a simple villager, he spotted both the king and queen and after checking where the royal guards were watching the royal couple Count Marzo started to follow them at a distance until he found the right time to spring his trap.
Queen Marlena walked up to a market stall that was selling all manner of statuettes.
"Teela would love something like this." said Marlena as she held up a statuette of a horse galloping through a field.
"I agree," replied Randor. "However I believe that Teela would prefer something more exotic," Randor turned to the stall owner. "Tell me kind sir, do you have any of these statuettes that are unique? Cost is no object."
The stall owner looked up at the king and queen and shook his head.
"I wish that I had," he said. "All I have are these statuettes you see here."
"Will you be around for long?" asked Marlena.
"I'll be around until the market closes or I sell all of my stock." replied the stall owner.
"Good we shall continue looking around the market," said Marlena. "If we do not find anything else then we shall return and purchase some of your statuettes."
The stall owner smiled and watched as the king and queen left his stall. Standing nearby Count Marzo had heard the whole conversation and it gave him an idea about how to capture the king and queen. Quickly Count Marzo found a corner of the market where he wouldn't be spotted and using his century's old magic Count Marzo made a stall out of thin air. As the dazzling light from his magic began to fade small horse like statuettes started to appear on the shelves of the stall.
"Now all I have to do is wait for the king and queen to come to Me." laughed Count Marzo to himself as he entered the stall.
A couple of hours passed as Marzo waited for the king and queen to stumble on to his stall. In the distance Marzo caught sight of the royal couple heading his way.
"We are in luck," said Marlena as she spotted Marzo's stall. "There is another stall that sells those horse statuettes."
Marzo waited patiently as the king and queen made their way over to his stall. Marlena could see all kinds of exotic horse statuettes.
"I'm glad you like my statuettes," said Marzo. "I have travelled from one corner of Eternia to the other to gather such a fine collection to sell. This is my personal favourite." Marzo then held up a statuette of a horse with the hind of a fish's tail inside the horse Marlena could see a small glow.
"It is beautiful." said Marlena as she turned to show the statuette to King Randor.
"It is made out of the finest Ice stone," explained Marzo as King Randor took the statuette from Marlena. "As you can see it was crafted by the finest artist in the ice region in the north."
As Randor and Marlena stared at the statuette the small glowing stone inside pulsed brighter. Randor and Marlena found themselves unable to tear their gaze away from the glowing stone, suddenly their bodies began to slow down and their limbs started to grow heavy. Marzo watched with a smile. Once the royal couple's bodyguards realized that something was wrong they leaped in to action. As the first two guards raced to help the king and queen Count Marzo waved his hands over two of his statuettes. Instantly Marzo's magic transformed the statuettes in to large demonic horses with dark knights riding their backs. The horses leaped from Marzo's stall and attacked the guards. As the guards battled with Marzo's knights Marzo looked around for the other guards. He saw them pushing their way through the crowd that had gathered. Marzo once again raised his arms and he along with the king and queen along with the stall were engulfed in a tornado of flames and vanished leaving the crowd of onlookers stunned.
Prince Adam along with several of the Heroic Warriors were in the great hall of the royal palace preparing for the huge party they were going to have in honour of Teela's birthday. Teela had been away on training practice with a squad of her Royal Guards so this was the perfect moment to set up the party.
"Teela will be over the moon when she sees what we've done for her." said Adam as he handed some decorations to Stratos to fly to the top of the room.
"She sure will," replied Man-At-Arms as he set the table for his daughter's presents. "This party will go down in history-"
Man-At-Arms stopped mid sentence as he saw a couple of the royal guards entered the room.
"What is wrong?" said Adam sensing that there was something wrong.
The guard closest to Adam stepped forward and was about to speak when a ball of fire suddenly flew through the window and landed in the centre of the room. Everyone watched in stunned amazement as a face formed in the flames. Adam recognized the face as that of Count Marzo.
The guards instantly raced between Adam and the flames. Suddenly two streams of fire shot out of Marzo's eyes and struck the guards. The guards screamed in pain as the flames engulfed them and sent them flying across the room and crashing in to a wall. Snout Spout immediately raced in to action, raising his hose-like trunk Snout Spout sprayed a jet of water over the guards putting out the flames.
"I'm impressed, I applaud your skill my elephant headed friend," laughed Marzo. Snout Spout ignored Marzo's taunts and continued giving the guards medical aid. The flame head of Marzo turned back to Adam. "I do hope that they haven't ruined my surprise for you?"
"What are you on about?" snapped Adam more concerned about the two guards than the magician.
"The fact I have kidnapped both of your parents," Adam's head snapped around as soon as Marzo's words reached him. "Do not worry; they are still alive, though that depends on how quickly you do this one task for me.
I know that you and He-man are good friends, so it should be easy for you to deliver a message to him. Tell He-man to be at the ruins of the fortress of Sardath before the sun sets. If he is not there by then the king and queen shall take his place in the little adventure I have planned."
Suddenly Marzo's face vanished from the flames, the ball of fire then flared brightly and vanished leaving a room full of stunned Heroic Warriors and a horrified Prince Adam behind.
The king and queen opened their eyes to find themselves in a circular stone room, the room strangely contained six large wooden doors. As King Randor got to his feet and decided to inspect the doors to see if they were locked Count Marzo suddenly appeared and along side Marzo stood the form of Marzo's bodyguard Chimera.
"I am pleased that my spell is wareing off, I hope you are feeling no side effects." said Marzo.
"Marzo," snarled King Randor. "How dare you keep the royal couple as prisoners."
Marzo made a show of his hurt feelings before answering.
"You are mistaken," said Marzo. "You are not prisoners. You can leave this room at any time. If you don't believe me just open one of the doors, you'll find they are all unlocked."
Randor was sceptical about Marzo's claims but decided to try the doors himself. Randor pushed past Marzo who raised a hand to stop Chimera from attacking and walked over to the nearest of the six door.
"But I don't think you will like what is on the other side." said Marzo as Randor reached for the door's handle.
Randor glanced back at Marzo and turned to the door and pulled it open. Behind the door Randor could see a long corridor carved out of the stone. Randor carefully took a step forward and was suddenly yanked off his feet backwards. Looking up Randor saw that it was Chimera who had pulled him back.
"You said we were free to go!" snapped Randor quickly getting to his feet.
"Indeed I did," replied Marzo. "However if you had continued through that door then all I have worked for would be over prematurely."
Confused at Marzo's words Randor followed Marzo's pointed finger back to the door he had just tried to walk through. In the doorway at about where his head would be were a set of twin spinning blades. Randor then realized that if it wasn't for Chimera dragging him from the door he would have been killed in an instant.
"There is only one true way out of this room," explained Marzo. "Behind the other doors are traps more deadly than this one."
"Why are you doing this?" snapped Queen Marlena.
Marzo reluctantly turned to the queen.
"Why you ask," hissed Marzo. "For over a thousand years I have watched as my family's bloodline was denied what was rightfully theirs. The throne of Eternia rightfully belongs to my bloodline not one of common stock. I vowed that I would use my immortal life to bring my bloodline to what is rightfully theirs. But I have been denied each time by you and your ancestors and that meddling muscle-bound barbarian He-man."
"There has never been legitimate proof that your ancestors were ever in line for the throne of Eternia." said Randor.
"Of cause there is," cried Marzo. "I am that proof. And now that I have you and soon I shall have He-man there will only be one person in my way, Prince Adam. He will not be able to withstand my demands for him to hand over the throne to me."
"It is true your immortality has driven you insane." said Randor.
Marzo smiled at Randor.
"I have never been saner," said Marzo. "And soon all of Eternia shall know who the true ruler of the planet is. Anyway we are getting off the subject. You are the prize in a little game I have in store for He-man, you would be advised to stay in this room and wait to see if He-man can rescue you, though it is very doubtful. Or you can attempt to escape yourselves, again it'll be very doubtful that you shall survive long."
Marzo then waved his hand in the air and he and Chimera vanished in a shower of flames.
"You cannot go alone," said Man-At-Arms as he and Prince Adam entered the vehicle bay of the royal palace. "Marzo will surely have some sort of trap waiting for you."
"I understand," replied Adam. "But Marzo has gone too far this time. His insane quest to take over the throne has pushed him over the edge, I cannot risk him harming my parents if I don't show up alone."
Adam then reached behind his back and withdrew the Sword of Power and held it above his head.
"BY THE POWER OF GRAYSKULL........" cried Adam, instantly a burst of magical energy shot from the sword and washed over the prince. "I HAVE THE POWER!!!!!!"
Once the magic had faded Prince Adam was gone and in his place was He-man the champion of Eternia.
"What is the fastest vehicle we have?" asked He-man.
"I have just finished up gradeding the Lazer Bolt," said Man-At-Arms. "It should get you to Sardath well before sunset."
"Thanks old friend." said He-man as he walked over to the waiting Lazer Bolt.
"You know with the king and queen in the hands of Marzo the people of Eternos will be wondering where Adam has gone." said Man-At-Arms.
"You'll have to make up something," said He-man. "I know tell them that due to the current events it is believed that it would be wisest for Adam to be in Castle Grayskull until Count Marzo has been captured and the king and queen safely brought home."
Man-At-Arms nodded and watched as He-man strapped himself in to the Lazer Bolt. He-man started up the Lazer Bolt and roared out of the vehicle bay towards the ruins of Sardath.
The sun was just beginning to set as the Lazer Bolt sped in to the ruins of Sardath. He-man stopped the Lazer Bolt and was unstrapping himself when Count Marzo and Chimera suddenly appeared in a set of flames.
"I'm glad you made it," said Marzo he then turned to look at the setting sun. "And with seconds to spare."
Trying hard to keep his anger under control He-man walked up to Marzo.
"Enough small talk," hissed He-man. "Where are the king and queen?"
Feeling that his master was being threatened Chimera stepped in between He-man and Marzo. He-man had fought Chimera many times before and won but the huge bodyguard refused to step out of the way until Marzo placed a hand on his massive shoulder.
"It is ok," said Marzo. "He will not do anything to me, not while I have the queen and king prisoner in my maze."
Chimera reluctantly nodded his head and stepped out of He-man's way.
"The king and queen are in the heart of my maze," explained Marzo. "I assure you that they are unharmed, however I cannot say how long that will last, only you can determine that."
"What do you want?" asked He-man through clenched teeth.
"Not much," replied Marzo. "All I ask is that you walk my maze. If you get that far you will find the king and queen."
Marzo then pointed at a huge wooden door that looked hundreds if not thousands of years old.
"All you need to do is walk through that door."
Seeing as he had no option He-man turned and walked up to the door. Even though it was old the door was strong and heavy. He-man had to use all of his incredible strength to push the door open. Once the door was open enough He-man stepped in to the darkness beyond. Using the little light from the doorway He-man looked at his surroundings, he was standing in a large corridor that looked like it had been carved from the rock centuries ago. Along each wall were small alcoves that had once held torches which people would have been able to see by. As He-man stepped further in to the corridor the door behind him suddenly slammed shut the noise echoing through the darkness and leaving He-man in total darkness. He-man drew the Sword of Power and held it in to the darkness.
"BY THE POWER OF GRAYSKULL!!!" called out He-man.
Instantly the Sword of Power began to glow in He-man's hand, soon the glow was bright enough for He-man to see his way. The corridor seemed to go on forever; He-man could hear the faint sound of running water. He-man walked towards the sound and after a few minutes he found himself standing at the bank of a underground river. The river was too wide for him to jump across and He-man suspected that the river was also too deep for him to wade through. With no option He-man began to walk the river bank in search of something that would help him get across the river. As He-man was just about to turn to search the other way he spotted what look to him like a bridge that spanned the river. As he got closer he saw that it was in fact an old rope bridge. Making sure that the bridge was able to safely take his weight He-man slowly stepped on to the bridge. The bridge swayed and creaked with every step He-man took but it remained firm under his feet. As He-man neared the centre of the bridge he heard a screeching scream echo through the darkness. Quickly reading his sword He-man heard the sound of flapping wings. As the glow from the Sword of Power cut through the dark He-man saw two sets of glowing red eyes. Suddenly a giant bat shot out of the darkness and flew towards He-man. He-man raised his sword just in time to deflect a blow from the bat's razor sharp teeth. He-man quickly span around as the bat flew in to the darkness again. He-man listened to the flaps of the bat's wings as it circled around for another attack. The bat shot towards He-man again causing him to almost lose his balance, quickly grabbing the rope handle of the bridge and swung off the bridge and back on to it behind the bat. Raising his sword He-man aimed it at the bat as it swung around, concentrating He-man fired a bolt of energy from the tip of the sword. The bolt struck the bat and it let out a piercing scream before it fell stunned in to the river. As the water carried the bat away He-man returned to crossing the bridge. Once he was on the other side of the bridge He-man saw a huge wooden gate. It was as old as the door that he had entered Count Marzo's maze through and it looked just as strong. Carefully He-man ran his fingers over the stone wall next to the gate in search for a hidden latch or handle that he could use to open the gate. Suddenly he heard a clicking sound and then the gate began to rumble and lift off the ground. Ducking under the rising gate and in to another corridor. He-man was surprised by what he saw, were the last corridor was pitch black this one was bathed in light from the many torches that lined the walls. In the distance He-man could see wooden doors lining the walls. Quickly He-man walked up to the first door, he grasped the door handle and found it looked, He-man was about to turn and try another door when he heard the sounds of moaning coming from the other side. He-man quickly raised the Sword of Power and brought it crashing down on the door's lock. With a spark the lock shattered and the door swung open. As soon as the door had opened He-man was hit by the overwhelming stench of decay and death. Holding his breath He-man stepped in to the room. It was littered in debris and He-man had to be careful where he stepped. In the centre of the room was a large man tied to what looked like a cross, he was battered and bloody with vermin nipping at them making them worse.
"Please help me." said the man weakly as he lifted his head up.
He-man raced over to the man and with his sword chased off the vermin. He-man then cut the man down from the cross and helped him out of the room.
"T-T-Thank you," said the man as He-man sat him down and let him get some fresh air. "I've been trapped in that room for weeks. I thought I was going to die in there."
"How did you end up being trapped in there?" asked He-man as he gulped down the air in the corridor.
"I was in search of my missing family," said the man. "When I was captured by Count Marzo's men. He gave me the chance to rescue them if only I walked his maze, I got half way before I was ambushed by a band of Orcs and ended locked in that cursed room. What about you? What happened for you to be walking the maze?"
"Much of the same thing," replied He-man. "Count Marzo has kidnapped the king and queen of Eternos. He has set me the challenge of finding them in this maze."
"Then it seems we have a common goal," said the man as he pushed himself off the ground. "I believe that it would be wisest if we work together, that way we can save both the king and queen as well as my family," the man then held out his hand to He-man. "My name is Thaymor."
"I'm He-man." he replied shaking Thaymor's hand.
As the name sank in a wide grin appeared on Thaymor's face.
"With the champion of Eternia here not even Count Marzo's cursed Deathtrap Dungeon will be a match." said Thaymor.
"I hope you are right." said He-man as they began to walk through the maze.
King Randor carefully crept up to one of the six doors, slowly he reached out for handle. They had tried four of the other doors each of those contained a trap of some kind. Randor could hear Queen Marlena hold her breath in anticipation of what awaited them behind the door. Slowly Randor pulled the door open, behind the door was an empty corridor. Randor knew from the other doors that appearances were deceptive. Randor removed his cloak and threw it in to the corridor in the attempt to set off any traps that Count Marzo may have set for them. After a few seconds of waiting Randor slowly stepped in to the corridor. Again nothing happened, Randor turned back to Queen Marlena.
"I think we've found the safe corridor." said Marlena as she walked up to her husband.
"Yes," replied Randor. "But I'm sure that Marzo will have other surprises in store for us."
Thaymor and He-man entered a small room full of weapons, in one corner of the room lay a body of another unfortunate victim of Marzo's maze. He-man turned to Thaymor and could see tears welling up in his eyes.
"That is my brother," said Thaymor his voice dripping with anger. He then walked over to one of the racks of weapons and grabbed a large broadsword. "I swear I shall make Marzo pay for this!"
"And I'll aid you in bringing Marzo to justice." vowed He-man.
As the two men turned to leave the room they heard a scratching sound coming from behind them. Slowly the two warriors turned, the body of Thaymor's brother was moving.
"Bryar!!" cried Thaymor as he raced over to his brother. "You're alive!!"
Bryar stared up at Thaymor with blank staring eyes.
"What has Marzo done to you?" asked Thaymor as Bryar reached out with a bloody hand.
Suddenly Bryar lashed out at Thaymor, He-man quickly leaped in to action and grabbed Bryar's hand before it could make contact with Thaymor's face. Thaymor staggered backwards stunned as He-man lifted the snarling Bryar off the ground. Bryar kicked at He-man forcing him to throw Bryar to the ground. Bryar wasn't even fazed as he hit the ground, with a snarl of rage and got to his feet and charged at He-man. Without the time to draw his sword and grabbed Bryar by the front of his bloody shirt and lifted him off the ground and in one quick movement He-man slammed Bryar in to a rack of weapons. Bryar let out an ear shattering scream as several spears impaled themselves through his body.
Shaking himself from his stunned state Thaymor stared at his brother struggling to free himself from the weapons rack, and then he turned to He-man.
"That is not my brother!" said Thaymor pointing to the still screaming Bryar. "What is that thing?"
"It's the effects of a very powerful and evil spell," explained He-man as he raised his sword to the struggling Bryar. "It reanimates dead bodies turning them in to mindless zombies that only have one instinct, to kill anything still alive. There's unfortunately no way to kill a zombie but I can lift the curse and allow Bryar to die." He-man turned to Thaymor waiting for his permission to end Bryar's agony.
"Do what ever you need to do He-man," said Thaymor. "End the suffering of my brother."
He-man turned back to Bryar, the blade of the Sword of Power began to glow with bright blue energy. He-man tried to ignore Bryar's snarls as the beam of energy shot out from the blade and struck Bryar in the chest. The magical energy from the Sword of Power raced through the body of Bryar. Thaymor turned to his brother and saw that he was no longer screaming Bryar was looking like he had finally found peace, Thaymor even caught a glimpse of happiness in his brother's dead eyes just before they closed for ever.
It seemed like they had been walking for hours constantly turning one corner after another. King Randor had managed to find a long piece of wood that he could use as a weapon if they came across any of Count Marzo's minions. As the royal couple turned a corner they saw a large gate blocking the way. Randor instantly began searching for anything that wound allow them to get pass the gate. As Randor searched Queen Marlena heard the faint sounds of crying coming from one of the corridors they had passed, leaving Randor to his search Marlena slowly made her way down the corridor towards the sounds of crying.
Thaymor and He-man had been walking in silence, He-man suspected that Thaymor was silently mourning the death of his brother. He-man decided to respect Thaymor's silence. As the two warriors reached the end of the corridor they came upon a fork in the corridor.
"You've been this way before," said He-man turning to Thaymor. "Which way did you go?"
Thaymor looked at both corridors as if remembering what he had come across before.
"I chose the west corridor," said Thaymor pointing down a barely lit corridor. "I chose that one because if anyone was waiting down there I would be able to use the darkness to cover my movements."
"A wise choice," said He-man. "What did you come across?"
"Nothing much," said Thaymor. "It wasn't until I got through the darkness that I ran in to trouble."
"What kind of trouble?" asked He-man.
"I ran in to the Orcs that captured Me." replied Thaymor.
He-man studied each of the corridors weighing the advantages and disadvantages of each of them, while the east corridor was brightly lit what lay down it was an unknown, the west corridor on the other hand was the one Thaymor had already been down so he knew the dangers but those dangers had ultimately led to Thaymor being captured and ending up in the room where He-man had found him under attack from rats.
"We'll take the west corridor." said He-man.
As the two warriors began to make their way towards the west corridor a terrible scream echoed from the east corridor. He-man span around as he heard the whistle of an arrow flying through the air, with lightning like speed his hand shot out and snatched the arrow out of the air just inches from Thaymor's face.
Twenty Orcs came screaming from the second corridor their weapons ready to strike down the two warriors. He-man quickly brought his sword up to defend himself from the Orcs attack. Thaymor did exactly the same, soon the stone corridor's soon rang with the sound of battle.
Queen Marlena followed the sounds of crying to a large wooden door. Set in the middle of the door was a small hatch. Slowly Marlena reached out and opened the hatch. Sat on a rotten bed in the corner of the room was a small child, tears were streaming down her face as her bright blue eyes stared at something in front of her. Marlena moved her head slightly and saw what was frightening the child. Three goblin children were sat on the dirt covered floor, each held a small dagger in its hand and they were poking them in to the dead body of a woman. Marlena guessed that was the child's mother.
Marlena tried the door but it was firmly locked turning she called out to King Randor. Hearing his wife call his name Randor stopped in his search for a way to open the gate and came racing to Marlena.
"What is wrong?" asked Randor. "What have you found?"
"Look in there," said Marlena pointing to the hatch. Randor instantly did as Marlena requested and saw what she had seen. "We have to rescue that little girl."
Randor quickly searched for a large rock with which he could smash the lock of the door. Marlena watched helpless as the Goblin children gave up on their poking of the mother's corpse and turned to the crying girl. Marlena called out trying to distract the Goblins from the girl. One turned to the door and seeing Marlena's face hissed and spat at the door before joining the advance on the crying child. Marlena bent down and snatched a handful of stones from the ground and then threw them at the Goblins. Her aim was off due to the hatch being small and most of the stones missed their intended targets, however a few did manage to strike the Goblins distracting them as they bounced off their long warty pointed ears.
"Marlena stand back!" called out Randor as he carried a large rock towards the door.
Marlena stepped back as Randor lifted the rock over his head and brought it crashing down on the door's lock. The lock shattered and the door swung open. Marlena raced in to the room past the stunned Goblins and snatched the child from the bed, Randor quickly followed and tipped the bed over as the Goblins threw their small daggers at Marlena. The daggers thudded in to the bed, Randor lifted the bed off the ground and pushed it in to the Goblins. The Goblins hissed in anger as Randor slammed the bed and the Goblins in to the corner of the room, once he was sure that the Goblins were trapped behind the bed he quickly raced out of the room and slammed the door shut.
"Strong little creatures," said Randor. "We had better get going before they find a way to escape."
The stone walls rang with the sounds of metal striking metal. He-man and Thaymor were covered in blood, thankfully very little belonged to the two valiant warriors. He-man brought his sword up to block a blow from an Orc's mace. The mace shattered against the sword and the Orc stared in amazement. He-man's arm shot out and grabbed the Orc by its leather armour, the Orc let out a yelp of surprise as He-man yanked it off the ground and threw it in to a crowd of Orc's. The Orcs crashed to the ground in a tangle of arms and legs. Before the Orcs could recover He-man swung his sword up and a bolt of magical energy raced along the blade and struck the rocky roof of the corridor. A pile of rocks fell from the roof and buried the Orcs.
He-man turned to see Thaymor battling valiantly against the last seven Orcs. Thaymor was holding back the attacks when He-man spotted one of the smaller Orcs pull a crossbow from its armour and aim it towards Thaymor's back. Quickly racing towards the Orc He-man leaped through the air. The Orc shot the bolt from the crossbow just as He-man flew through the air, the bolt struck He-man in the shoulder and he crashed to the ground. The Orc dropped its crossbow and reached for its short sword. Ignoring the pain in his shoulder He-man kicked out at the Orc. He-man struck the Orc in the chest, the impact sent the Orc flying through the air and crashing in to the wall. Getting to his feet He-man grabbed the nearest Orc and knocked it out with a punch. Thaymor had killed three Orcs and now there was only two left. Gritting his teeth against the pain in his left shoulder He-man grabbed one of the Orcs off Thaymor and threw it across the corridor. Thaymor swung his sword up to block a strike from the final Orc, the Orc snarled as it tried to force Thaymor up against the wall. Thaymor stuck his foot out and the Orc tripped and knocked itself out against the stone wall, once he was sure that the Orc wasn't getting up he turned to see He-man battling with the last Orc.
The Orc had pushed itself off the wall and snarled at He-man and charged. He-man stood his ground as the Orc raced towards him, waiting until the Orc was close enough He-man dropped to his back and lifted his legs in to the air, catching the Orc on his feet He-man lifted the Orc off the ground and threw it through the air. He-man quickly leaped to his feet and suddenly felt a wave of dizziness wash over him. Thaymor saw He-man stagger slightly and then saw the Orc get to its feet and grab a weapon of its fallen comrades. The Orc read itself to throw the weapon at the defenceless He-man when Thaymor raised his sword and threw it at the Orc. The Orc let out a scream as the sword thudded in to its back. The Orc dropped the weapon as it fell to its knees and then with a last gasp of breath the Orc fell face down on to the ground.
Thaymor then raced over to He-man. Sweat was pouring down He-man's head as he struggled to stay on his feet. He-man took as step forward and stumbled and almost fell when Thaymor caught him.
"What's wrong?" asked Thaymor as he helped steady He-man.
"I-I-I'm not sure," said He-man weakly. He then reached up to the bolt sticking out of his left shoulder. "Help me pull this out."
Thaymor was hesitant for a movement and then reached out and grabbed hold of the bolt. He-man braced himself against the pain as Thaymor pulled as hard as he could and tore the bolt from He-man's shoulder.
"Now hand it to me," said He-man once he got his breath back. Thaymor handed the bloody bolt to He-man. He-man examined the bolts pointed head in his shaking hand before turning to Thaymor. "This bolt is covered in poison."
"What are you going to do?" asked Thaymor.
He-man pointed to his sword that he had dropped.
"The Sword of Power had the ability to combat this poison and heal Me." said He-man.
Thaymor bent down and picked up the sword, he was about to hand it to He-man when the sound of more Orcs echoed down the second corridor.
"I think this will have to wait." said Thaymor as he grabbed hold of He-man and helped him in to the first corridor.
King Randor, Queen Marlena and the little girl who they had rescued from Goblin children quickly returned to the gate. Randor continued his search for a way past the gate as Marlena sat the girl down.
"Are you alright? Have you been hurt?" asked Marlena as she moved some hair from the girl's face.
The girl looked up with her bright blue eyes, Marlena could see that the girl's eyes were full of tears. The girl then slowly shook her head.
"Do you have a name?" asked Marlena. "Can you speak?"
The girl nodded her head. Marlena waited patiently for the girl to speak.
"M-M-My name is Rachel," said the girl in a voice so soft that Marlena almost couldn't hear. Rachel then glanced back towards the room she had been trapped in then she turned back to Marlena. "My mom isn't coming with us is she?"
Marlena looked in to Rachel's eyes and shook her head.
"I'm afraid she isn't." said Marlena sadly.
Rachel looked like she was about to cry when she glanced from Marlena to Randor over by the gate.
"Are you here to rescue me?" asked Rachel hopefully.
Randor stopped in his search and turned to Rachel.
"Yes we are little one." Randor turned back to the gate and pressed his hand on what looked like it was a loose stone.
The stone began to move, Randor began to push the stone harder and it slowly sank in to the wall. Suddenly there was a sound of a click and the ground began to rumble as the gate began to lift in to the roof of the corridor.
"I don't think we should wait around too long." said Randor once the gate had fully disappeared in to the roof of the corridor.
Queen Marlena turned to Rachel.
"Its time to go home little one." said Marlena extending her hand to the little girl.
The girl quickly grabbed Marlena's hand and the two raced through the gate with Randor guarding them from behind.
Thaymor was struggling as he carried both his sword and the Sword of Power in one hand while he tried to help the weakened He-man over the rocky ground of the corridor they had been chased down by Orcs. Despite wanting to stop and catch his breath the grunting and snarls of the Orcs following them urged him on. Thaymor spared a second to glance over at He-man. The champion of Eternia was pale and sweat was constantly pouring down his face. The poison was racing through his body, Thaymor didn't know much longer He-man would last but the one thing he did know was that he wasn't going to allow He-man to die in the cursed maze of Count Marzo. Suddenly Thaymor's foot slipped on one of the many stones that littered the ground. Both Thaymor and He-man came crashing to the ground.
Instantly the sound of the Orcs got closer and closer. Thaymor knew that they would soon overwhelmed with the vile beasts. Thaymor raced over to He-man and quickly helped him to his feet and then snatched up the two swords that had fallen to the ground. Glancing over his shoulder Thaymor made sure that the Orcs weren't close enough to capture them until they made it to the end of the corridor where there was an underground forest that they could hide in.
As Thaymor carried He-man around the corner he caught a glimpse of the trees that made up the underground forest. With a sudden surge of hope Thaymor pushed on towards the forest. As Thaymor and He-man neared the edge of the forest he was struck from behind. Once again both He-man and Thaymor crashed to the ground. Thaymor threw off the heavy weight that was on his back and saw that it was a Orc tracker that had attacked them. Thaymor quickly reached out for the swords that had fallen to the ground. Through blurred eyes He-man watched helplessly as Thaymor grabbed the Sword of Power.
"N-No you can't use the Sword of Power in battle." He-man tried to call out.
Knowing that the Sword of Power could only used in battle by himself He-man tried to get up but the pointed had left him too weakened to stand up.
Thaymor readied himself as the Orc leaped up and pulled two deadly daggers from his belt and prepared to charge in to combat. Thaymor lifted the Sword of Power ready to deflect the Orc's blow when the sword began to grow hot in his hands. The Orc swung its daggers down towards Thaymor and Thaymor swung the Sword of Power upwards. The three blades rang through the corridor as the struck each other, suddenly there was a blinding flash of light and both Thaymor and the Orc were thrown through the air. As Thaymor crashed to the ground the Sword of Power continued to grow so hot that Thaymor was forced to drop the sword.
The Orc pushed itself off the ground and desperately searched for the daggers that it had dropped. Thaymor saw one of the daggers seconds before the Orc did. Quickly Thaymor scrambled to his feet and leaped towards the dagger. The Orc saw the dagger as well and leaped for it. Both warriors grabbed hold of the dagger at the same time. The two struggled over the dagger and tripped on a rock. The Orc let out a startled yelp as it hit the ground and the dagger plunged in to its chest.
Panting Thaymor rolled off the dead Orc and slowly got to his feet. Turning Thaymor saw He-man slowly crawling towards the Sword of Power. Thaymor quickly raced over to the sword and picked it up He was surprised that the sword was now cool to the touch. Thaymor handed the sword over to He-man who sat back almost too weak to hold the sword. Slowly He-man lifted the sword in to the air.
"By the power...." said He-man his voice getting with each word."........OF GRAYSKULL!!!!!" The Sword of Power erupted with the magic of Grayskull. He-man was lifted of the ground and engulfed in the magical power that poured from the sword's blade. The light became so bright that Thaymor was forced to cover his eyes. Suddenly He-man's voice echoed out of the light. "I HAVE THE POWER!!!!!"
The magic of Grayskull quickly vanished as quickly as it had appeared. Thaymor slowly uncovered his eyes and looked over towards He-man.
The champion of Eternia was once again healthy the poison that was racing through his body was now completely destroyed by the magic of Grayskull.
To Be Continued……………………….