Thank you to everyone that takes time to read and review. You are appreciated! Just so ya'll know: Adora won't be making an appearance in this story. :-( I love Adora/She-Ra but I just don't feel led to add her to the storyline this time around. Sorry! I hope you'll enjoy this anyway. On we go...
'Prince Adam,' the Sorceress' voice woke him up from a sound sleep, 'Teela is in grave danger! Skeletor is holding her prisoner in Snake Mountain; He-Man is needed!'
Adam sat bolt upright and climbed out of bed quickly, dressing as fast as he possibly could before looking at Cringer. "Sorry old pal," he told the frightened tiger, "but Teela is in trouble; He-Man and Battle Cat are needed to go save her."
Cringer nodded to his friend and tried to remain still as he watched him pull the Power Sword from the sheath on his back and call upon the power of Grayskull. He couldn't help cowering as Prince Adam became He-Man and pointed the sword in his direction and in a moment he felt the surge of power as he grew in size and stature and became Battle Cat with a mighty roar.
He-Man pushed open the window in Adam's room that led to the balcony and then leapt onto Battle Cat's back. "Come on Cat," he said, "to Snake Mountain!"
Battle Cat leapt out the window onto the balcony and then down to the palace courtyard where Man-at-Arms and the other Masters were already gathering.
"He-Man," Duncan said in relief, "thank goodness! Did the Sorceress contact you, too?"
"Yes, she did," He-Man said as he looked at those gathered. "Teela and Prince Adam are supposed to be married tomorrow and Skeletor has taken her prisoner; we have to get her back safely before the wedding."
"It would be terrible if they had to postpone the wedding because we could not get her back in time," Cyclone said.
He-Man exchanged a look with Man-at-Arms before replying. "There is something you all should know. The wedding cannot be postponed because Prince Adam and Teela are getting married tomorrow for a very specific reason; if they are not married before sunrise the day after tomorrow, Prince Adam is going to die."
There were exclamations of surprise and disbelief from the Masters and it took a moment for them to settle down enough for He-Man to continue.
"The Sorceress had a vision nearly a month ago and she told the royal family, Teela and Man-at-Arms that Prince Adam and Teela needed to be married before sunrise the day after the next full moons or Prince Adam would die," he explained. "Teela agreed to marry the prince and they have been trying to keep it as quiet as possible for just this reason; they were afraid Skeletor would try to stop the wedding so that Adam will die."
"Then we must do everything that we can to get her back posthaste," Stratos stated with a deep frown, "for we must not allow any harm to come to Eternia's heir."
The others all murmured in agreement.
"Then let's go," He-Man said as he nudged Battle Cat forward.
Those who could fly followed He-Man while those that could not hurried to the waiting windraiders and trailed after them as quickly as they could.
He-Man had everyone gather a short distance away from Snake Mountain. "Skeletor is going to expect us to try and rescue Teela," he told them all, "so we have to be on our guard. This is most likely a trap so everyone pair up and we'll move in."
Man-at-Arms gave the instructions as to who he wanted paired together. "Ram-Man and Stratos, Buzz-Off and Mekaneck, Cyclone and Roboto," he said quickly. "I'm going with He-Man."
They spread out as soon as they entered Snake Mountain and began searching for Teela. Within minutes, the sounds of fighting throughout the evil sorcerer's domain could be heard.
"I told you my father and the Masters would come for me," Teela's voice echoed through the halls. "You're in trouble now!"
"Silence girl," Skeletor's voice snapped at her. "I'll drop you right now if you don't be quiet!"
He-Man, Battle Cat and Man-at-Arms turned into the cavern the voices were coming from and He-Man's heart leapt into his throat at the sight that greeted him. Teela's wrists were shackled together and she was suspended over a drop of at least two hundred feet into a river of lava. He dismounted from Battle Cat and took a step towards the evil villain.
"He-Man," Skeletor greeted the hero casually, "nice of you to join us. As you can see, the future princess is a bit tied up at the moment or I'm sure she would be ready to leave this place."
"Let her go Skeletor," He-Man said in a low, dangerous voice.
"Really; you want me to let her go?" Skeletor asked. "Well, if you insist." He waved his wand and the chains holding Teela disappeared and she began to fall, her screams echoing through the caverns around them.
"Teela!" both He-Man and Man-at-Arms yelled at once, rushing forward. When they reached the edge of the abyss she'd fallen into, there was no sign of her and her screams had silenced.
"No," He-Man said softly, shaking his head in denial. "NO!" he shouted as he pulled his sword and went after Skeletor.
Skeletor cackled maniacally as he shot bolt after bolt of magic at He-Man, but the hero used his sword to deflect every one of them. "The cowardly prince of Eternia is done for!" he gloated as he backed up several steps while still shooting blasts at He-Man. "That little snipe Teela is dead and Prince Adam will be dead by sunup the day after tomorrow!"
"I'm going to kill you Skeletor," He-Man yelled as he continued to advance on the evil creature. "You're mine!"
"He-Man," Man-at-Arms' voice sounded frantically from behind him. "He-Man, stop! Stop now!"
He-Man refused to listen as he advanced on Skeletor and the villain realized too late the mistake he had made as he barely managed to pull his sword in time to stop the hero from lobbing off his head.
"Interesting," Skeletor said as he and He-Man continued their sword duel. "You're in love with her…"
He-Man refused to answer as he backed Skeletor into a corner and held his sword at his heart, gazing at him with a hatred he never knew he could feel.
"He-Man," Man-at-Arms said firmly as he placed a hand on his shoulder. "If you kill him out of anger then you are no better than him… Teela wouldn't want you to destroy who you are over this; let him go and let's go back to the palace to break the news to everyone else."
He-Man allowed the tip of his blade to barely pierce the skin above Skeletor's heart before he finally released the villain and took a step back. He was about to turn away when he suddenly turned around and punched Skeletor in the face and knocked him unconscious. Allowing the limp form to slide to the ground, He-Man turned and climbed onto Battle Cat's saddle, waiting for Duncan to climb up behind him before they headed out of Snake Mountain.
They found the other Masters gathered near the windraiders and Duncan climbed down solemnly as he looked at them.
"I'm sorry," he said softly, "we failed. Teela~" his voice broke and he dropped to his knees, eyes full of tears.
"Is right here," Teela's voice said as she stepped out from behind Stratos and Buzz-Off with a grin.
Man-at-Arms' head snapped up and he barely managed to catch his daughter as she launched herself into his arms. "Teela," he exclaimed in shock, "oh, Teela, my little girl…" He trailed off and just held her close to him for a moment, making sure she was real. "How did you survive?"
Teela released him and looked over at Stratos with a grateful smile. "Stratos caught me," she answered, "and kept me out of sight until we all got out of Snake Mountain." She looked over at He-Man and smiled tentatively. "Are you all right?"
He-Man had started when he heard Teela's voice and he watched in stunned amazement as she hugged her father, tears slipping down his cheeks in relief that she was alive and well. When she asked him if he was all right he took a deep breath and nodded his head. "Yes Teela," he replied with a small smile, "I'm fine; I'm glad that you are unharmed." He looked at the others, who were all giving him odd looks. "You need to get Teela back to the palace; I'm sure everyone knows she's missing by now and Prince Adam is going to be relieved that his bride is safe and sound. I'll see you all later on." With that, he and Battle Cat took off and disappeared.
Teela's eyes filled with tears as she watched him go, but she bit them back and took a deep breath turning to face the others with a small smile. "Come on," she said, "we need to head back."
Man-at-Arms murmured his agreement and he climbed into the windraider Teela had just gotten into. Ram-Man joined them and soon they were all on their way back to the palace.
Laraina opened her eyes and blinked blearily at the light streaming in through the windows before she climbed out of the bed and headed to the lavatory, barely noting that Teela was no longer in the bed.
Tierna stirred and groaned as her head throbbed. She opened her eyes and rubbed the grit out of them before sitting up and looking beside her at the now empty bed. A piece of paper on Teela's pillow caught her attention and she reached for it, yawning as she opened the note to read what it said. She had to refocus her eyes several times, but she realized with horror what it was saying and she screamed loudly and began sobbing hysterically.
Laraina rushed out into the room in a panic and looked at her cousin as if she'd lost her mind. "Tierna, what on Eternia has gotten into you?" she asked.
Tierna thrust the note at her still sobbing uncontrollably and shaking her head in disbelief.
Laraina read the note and her eyes widened just as there was a loud banging on the main door to their suite and a male voice called out to ask if they were okay. A moment later several guards burst into the door of the sleeping chambers ready to do battle.
"Are you all right? What's wrong?" one of the guards asked as he and the others looked around the room for signs of an obvious threat.
"Teela has been taken by Skeletor and he says he's going to kill her so that she can't marry Prince Adam and he will die," Laraina said as she thrust the note at him.
The guard took the note and read it quickly before ordering two of his men to stay and question the women further while he went to alert the king and Prince Adam.
He went to the suite the king and queen shared first, saluting the guards that stood outside of the suite and filling them in. The king's guard frowned slightly and knocked on the door of the suite, calling out to the royal couple.
"Your Majesties," he called as he banged on the door, "wake up! There is an emergency!"
A few moments later the king opened the door and looked tiredly at the guards standing before him. "What is it Zacharias?"
"Sire, I'm sorry to disturb you, but there's an emergency that requires your immediate attention. Captain Teela has been kidnapped by Skeletor; he plans to kill her so that the wedding will not take place and Prince Adam will die," he told the king before handing him the note that the other guard had brought.
Randor's eyes widened as he listened and then he read the note from Skeletor and crumpled it in his fist as he cursed softly. "Gather the Masters and Man-at-Arms in the courtyard and I'll be there in a few moments… and someone go fetch Prince Adam!"
He turned to go back into the suite so that he could dress while the guard who had delivered the news to Zacharias hurried to do as the king commanded.
By the time King Randor and his personal guards had gotten to the courtyard, Man-at-Arms and the Masters were returning from Snake Mountain with Teela. The king looked at them in surprise as they made their way over to him.
"Your Majesty," Man-at-Arms said as they approached the king. "What has you up so early this morning?"
"I was awakened by the guard this morning informing me that Teela had been kidnapped by Skeletor so that the wedding would not take place and Prince Adam would die," the king said raising an eyebrow at his old friend.
"Sire," Duncan said shifting uncomfortably, "I'm sorry I didn't alert you before we left; I was obviously not thinking clearly. My only concern was rescuing Teela and I apologize for not informing you immediately of the situation."
The king gave him a small understanding smile. "I forgive you," he said, "and I understand. If it had been Adam that had been taken I don't know that I would have kept a level head myself."
Duncan bowed his head in thanks and they both turned when they heard Adam's voice call across the courtyard.
"Teela," Adam called as he hurried over to where they were all gathered, "are you all right?"
Teela nodded her head as Adam came closer and took her into his arms to hug her. "I'm fine."
"What happened?" he asked, pulling back to look into her eyes.
Teela quickly told him and the king what had happened and then Adam hugged her once more.
"Thank the Elders you're safe," he said softly. It hadn't escaped his notice that Teela wasn't returning his hugs.
"Thank you all for bringing Teela home safely," King Randor said to all of the Masters gathered around. "I'm sure that you're all very tired after having been awakened so early this morning; go and get some much deserved rest my friends."
The Masters had been watching Adam and Teela, but turned their attention to the king when he addressed them and then thanked him as they went to rest.
