Chapter Sixteen
Eternia's moons were high in the sky as King Randor, weary from lack of sleep stepped into the council room, flanked by a pair of guards who silently took their place behind the King.
The sound of chairs scraping backwards squealed in the air as the various council members stood respectfully, bowing their heads.
"Man-At-Arms, what news do we have?" he asked, taking his place at the head of the table and nodding to the council members to sit.
"We have had sightings of this Angorr, your highness. I've plotted it's route, as best we know it, on this map," he pushed a sheet of paper towards Randor who studied it, frowning.
"As you can see," Man-At-Arms continued, "it appears that the path this thing is taking is completely random. It doubles back on itself several times, and crosses its own path here, and here." Man-At-Arms poked at the map to illustrate his words.
"Is it lost, perhaps?" Randor asked.
Melaktha, sitting opposite Man-At-Arms with a collection of scrolls stacked in front of him, shook his head. "I don't think so, your highness," he said. "It is my belief that this creature is looking for something. Or someone."
"Who?" Randor asked, snapping his head up from the map to look at the royal archaeologist. "And what do you mean creature? Are we saying this thing isn't a machine?"
"Eyewitnesses have said it does indeed appear mechanical, but I've managed to find older texts in the scroll archives – accounts of legends and fables so old they pre-date even the oldest books – which suggest that the Angorr is a creature of its time."
"Don't talk in riddles with me, Melaktha, I'm too tired and time is too short. We have to find and destroy this thing before others are harmed."
Melaktha shot an uneasy look at Man-At-Arms, then at Teela who had so far remained silent. He spoke reluctantly.
"Your highness, the Angorr appears in only a few scattered accounts. Each time its appearance is wildly different, but its patterns and behaviours remain the same." He handed Randor a scroll, holding it carefully as he untied the string the held the fragile paper.
"What am I looking at here?" Randor asked irritably.
"This scroll describes drawing found in some caves in the far north. They were drawn around the time that the first Eternians walked the planet. The Angorr appeared to them as a beast made of stone, with sharp rocks covering it like armour, and great flames on its shoulders and in its eyes."
He handed Randor another scroll.
"This one, from the time of the first civilisations who had basic weapons made of wood and iron, describes a creature roaming the wilds and smashing through towns for a full cycle of the moons. They say it couldn't be stopped, and that it was covered in iron spikes and carried a colossal spear."
"What happened to it?" Randor said, reading the second scroll.
"The scrolls claim that the towns held a competition of sorts to find the strongest warrior they had. This warrior went to face the creature, and was, by all accounts, carried off into the mountains towards the same caves that the original drawings were found." He gestured to the other scrolls in his collection. "The accounts go on and on. It appears that this creature is as old as Eternia itself, serving as a defender of sorts – although a defender of what we cannot tell. The name Angorr means Protector in the ancient language… we can only assume they knew something we didn't."
Teela, who had been listening carefully, scoffed. "If it's a protector, then it isn't doing a very good job. It has so far killed a royal guard, six farmers who had tried to defend their village, and leaves a wake of destruction everywhere it goes."
"Our reports tell us that Skeletor himself has also sent wave after wave of Skelcon warriors after the creature, only to lost those as well." Man-At-Arms said.
"Well that's no big loss," Randor said bitterly. "Look, this history lesson is interesting and all, but what does it actually tell us about how we stop this thing?"
Melaktha was hesitant to answer. He sighed and looked his king square in the eye. "It would seem, sire, that we can't. Each time it emerges it has evolved equipped to face the very best of technology at the time. No accounts exist of the creature being defeated - even temporarily - exist. It appears that, whatever its agenda may be, it roams the planet until a warrior faces it in single combat, and then it defeats the warrior and returns to the deepest, oldest caves of the north. The warrior is never seen again."
"He-Man…" Randor said in a gasp. "It's searching for He-Man. It has to be."
"Then we must appeal to him to help us – maybe ask him to help lure the creature into an open space where we can use the full force of the Masters against it."
"You would kill an innocent creature?" Melaktha asked, shooting a sideways look at Teela who met his gaze with a look of angry determination.
"It's hardly innocent," she spat.
"I'm sorry but I'm inclined to disagree," Melaktha said forcefully. "I recently spoke to a menagerie owner in the western parish of Tranaar, and he said that the behaviour of this creature is to be expected. He said that this creature roaming loose is much like what would happen if one of his beasts were to escape. His view was that this creature is simply that – a creature. If you look past the weaponry, it is acting just as any other frightened animal would when suddenly thrust into the world. It is confused, and probably frightened."
"Be that as it may, it is dangerous and needs to be stopped." Teela said. "And these scrolls talk of stones and iron. We have weaponry so far advanced of that now. Even if it has learned to somehow evolve the same weaponry, it would be hopelessly outnumbered. There is no way it could match us in open combat."
"And if it does? And it takes He-Man as the scrolls suggest? What then? Your forces will be depleted, our greatest, most powerful ally lost, and Skeletor is free to swoop in."
Randor banged his hand on the table. "Enough!" he bellowed. "We must keep clear heads. What else do we know?"
"I have heard reports from spies around Snake Mountain that the Evil Warriors are working on something. Whether it is to do with the Angorr or not I can't say, but there is talk of Skeletor recruiting a new member into his ranks."
"Do we know who this member is?"
Man-At-Arms looked crestfallen. "I cannot say for certain, as Skeletor is known for his trickery and propaganda. I wouldn't be surprised if this was all a ruse designed to draw us into a trap… but the reports suggest that this new ally of his was once one of our own."
"Jarik?" Randor gasped.
Man-At-Arms nodded sadly. "This could all be some kind of plot that we aren't understanding right now, but yes."
"I knew I was right to turn him away! He is a traitor, just like they said!" Randor said, collapsing back into his chair.
"With all due respect your highness, what else would you have expected him to do? He gave his life to your service and you turned him away."
"That's no excuse!" Randor roared. "Skeletor has probably been grooming him for awhile now, just waiting for the Angorr to distract us so he could swoop."
"I never said it was an excuse, sire. Just a motivation. If these reports are true, then I have no reason to suspect this is anything over than opportunistic on his part." Man-At-Arms looked over to his adopted daughter for support. As captain of the guard she knew him best. "Teela?" he urged.
Teela nodded. "I'm sorry, sire, I have to agree. Perhaps it was wrong to have treated him the way we did. And now we are fighting a war on two fronts with two very dangerous enemies."
"So, what if Skeletor has turned him?" Randor asked. "What makes him so dangerous? He was a guard, nothing more."
"He was also a dedicated fighter who survived many many battles often against overwhelming odds, and a skilled pilot. Within our ranks his determination was legendary – no matter how great the foe, no matter what mission we sent him on, he would never fail us."
"And now Skeletor can use that against us…" Randor said, in a gasp of realisation. "Jarik knows everything about us. Our ranks, our tactics, and worst of all, he knows our city. He knows where everything is, where we are weakest, and where we are most vulnerable. He has already used this against us when he was able to get into the barracks, knock out a soldier and steal a Jet-Sled without once being seen by the guards. Who knows what he could do with Skeletor's army at his back?" Randor's expression was as hard as stone. "He has the greatest weapon of all… knowledge."
"He knows everything…" Man-At-Arms' words were barely a whisper and he felt the colour drain from his face as he remembered Prince Adam's words to him in the hanger. "Your highness, please excuse me, I have to go," he said, hurrying out of the door before the others had the chance to reply.
