Welcome back everyone. I haven't done this in a while but I mentally cast Paul Telfer as the voice of adult Balor and Leelee Sobieski as adult Brigid. Enjoy and review.
Masks
Balor held a mask in his hand. Tonight was Sigruplaw Night, when enchantresses and meet on mountains to hold revels with demons! It was this night, that people wore masks so they might seem like one of the enchantresses or demons. It was hard to believe something like this was celebrated!
The mask Balor held seemed like a komrev's face almost. In fact it bore a startling resemblance to that of Crinan who had been dead for the past eight years. Crinan had killed Gruadh, would have killed others, had nearly killed Balor… Balor had killed Crinan in self-defense.
"That is quite the mask you've got!" Balor looked at Kat standing in his doorway. They had become good friends in ten years, just as Kit had become good friends with Brigid. Kat was holding a mask in his right hand. Balor couldn't get a good look at it because the face of it was facing Kat's leg.
"What's yours look like?"
Kat held up the mask. Frighteningly, it bore an exact resemblance to the face of the late Mumm-Ra. "Want to trade?"
Balor looked at his own mask and then looked at Kat's. "I think I'll stick with the one I've got."
()
Gard knelt in his guest room praying. In his centuries of life he had never prayed before and now he was praying to Kruakh, the Storm Spirit.
Kruach was the Chieftain of the Spirits. It was he who created the wind, lightning and thunder! It was he who ruled the sky! It was he who brought law, order and justice into the world! Kruach was the greatest of the spirits.
As he kneeled in prayer, Gard thought of what he was praying for. He was praying for the pain to be taken away. Either the pain would be taken away via healing or by his dying.
Opening his eyes, Gard's good eye looked around. Was he doing the right thing by praying for the pain in his head to be taken away? It could have gone one of two ways: life or death.
()
Indra and Grune both looked at Thundera. In the ten years, Grune had poisoned Indra's mind. Indra had become vulnerable to Grune's suggestions because of the revelation that one of his grandchildren was a grey-skin. He was confused and Grune's ambition had caused the saber-tooth to put thoughts in the witch doctor's mind.
"They will all be there: the ThunderCats, the grandson of Wodanaz, the Lizards, everyone! All for us to turn into zombies! Extend our power! Show them that we are a force to be reckoned with!"
Indra nodded. "Yes…" He was still as confused as he had been ten years ago. His grey-skinned granddaughter was friends with the grandson of Wodanaz… How was it possible? Ten years, later and he still couldn't understand it.
"We will control one of the greatest nations on Third Earth!"
"Yes…"
"And if you want we can use our zombie army to aid Alaksandu!"
"Yes…"
Grune smiled as he looked at Indra. He had sloppily painted his white body black with the blood of his own kind, today. One could still see spots of white on Indra's body. The skull that had been turned into a mask wasn't even on Indra's head. He was so confused that he barely even there. This made him perfect for Grune to manipulate.
()
Pwyll's ambition to have Balor be Chieftain of Evabon had not decreased in any way. His determination to get Balor on the throne caused him to turn to various leaders of other races. Today, he was trying to convince Lion-O to aid Ekoto in his fight against Alaksandu.
"If Alaksandu wins the civil war, whose to say he won't turn his gaze to other places. He might march on Thundera." Pwyll watched as Lion-O rested his right leg on his left knee. "If you don't act now your people could be under threat!"
"If we get involved it won't be a civil war anymore, other nations will be taking sides and I don't want ten years of peace to end just like that!" Lion-O was unfortunately a better politician than Pwyll could ever hope to be. War was something he tried to avoid every time. Lion-O stood up and walked over to Pwyll. "But please, stay for the celebrations!"
Pwyll shook his head. It was foolish to hold celebrations on Sigruplaw Night! Anyone with knowledge of what happened on this night knew that! Revelries held on this night were doomed to tragedy!
Taking the mask in Lion-O's hands, Pwyll looked at it. How it looked like the late Slithe! With less than a thought, Pwyll broke it. He then tossed the pieces aside and walked away.
As he left the throne room, which was smaller than it had been in Claudus' reign, Pwyll saw Cheetara appear from the corner of his left eye. He looked at her for a moment, Tygra coming into view soon after her.
They both stared at him. There was no trust in their eyes. Why should there have been? They already suspected his ambitions to make Balor Chieftain of Evabon, a position Balor didn't want.
"Should have held onto your ambition, Tygra. Would have made you better company!" And with that Pwyll left the palace. Evabon cities were more to his liking. Half-ruined cities with much vegetation! No one would even suspect him in a city like that with his ambitions!
()
As he preferred, Zuvowang wanted to celebrate not amongst those at the feast but with the citizens. Taking a sip of wine, Zuvowang held it up his cup and looked at all those around him.
"It is good wine!" He took another sip. Zuvowang liked good wine but not to the point of being an alcoholic. "Now where is everybody? Does the great shaman Balor not want any of this delicious stuff? Where is Brigid? Where are the ThunderCats, the heroes of Third Earth?"
"One of us is here, you old wrestler!" Panthro came running threw the crowd. At fifty-seven he was still as big as he had been ten years ago. He wasn't going to let age slow him down! Panthro held out his left robotic hand. Sure enough, Zuvowang grasped it with his left hand made off granite. "I still don't know how you only lost your one hand!"
"Well, Donalbain was only fast enough to get one!"
The two both laughed. Panthro took up a cup of wine and held it up. "May Alaksandu meet the same end as him!"
"Aye, and may Kruakh bless this rebuilt Thundera!"
()
Coming down from his room, Balor saw Kit talking to Brigid. They were talking about Alaksandu. Neither of them had any respect for him, and only a bit for Ekoto.
"Talking about someone I know?" Balor obviously did. He hadn't been involved in the civil war, no fighting from him.
"Oh, of course not just an annoyance." Commented Brigid. It was true. To many races, Alaksandu was viewed as something of an annoyance.
"But really what do we have to choose from? One is a bloody beast that fights for his people the other is a traitorous coward who fights for himself! In a case like this it is a lesser of two evils we have to choose." The lesser of two evils was Ekoto. A good person but a flawed one! "And being a pacifist I have no intention of getting involved in the fighting."
"And since this is a civil war we're talking about, Thundera can't don anything." Commented Kat.
"Nor any other nation." Added Kit.
War was a gloomy subject. There must have been something better they could discuss. It was at this point the Thunderan fool Feste and his Evabon counterpart Toukhstone appeared on the scene.
"What's this, Toukhstone?"
"People discussing war, Feste!"
"A gloomy subject, Toukhstone!"
"Oh, yes indeed, Feste!"
Feste took a ball from his pocket and threw it to Toukhstone. Toukhstone took the ball and threw it to Balor. Catching it, Balor was surprised to see the ball turn into a flower. Feste then walked to Kat and put a hand on the boy's shoulder. "I say, my friend, there seems to be something in your ear!"
"What?"
Feste then pulled a coin from behind Kat's ear. "That is what you get for not washing behind your ears! Toukhstone, why don't you see what you can get out of his sister's ears!" Toukhstone took a bound and was soon next to Kit. The Evabon fool's eyes widened when he couldn't find her ears. "They are tied up, Toukhstone!" Toukhstone attempted to untie Kit's ears but only found his finger tied. "You sure do live up to your job as a fool, Toukhstone!"
