Cost of a Crown (Book 3)
Two Heirs
Chapter Six: Attack on Malkyn
With much cursing, and swearing, and frustrated muttering of words that were very unbecoming of a King, Malkyn secured the newest addition to his throne into place.
An ingenious combination of magic and technology. It was very similar to the towers Tri-Klops set up all over the Dark Hemisphere (and parts of the Light Hemisphere) to ensure the cellular signal of their coms always worked. But while those were large and impossible to miss, this was a smaller, compact version of the same idea; and it was not meant to relay communications but rather magical power. Eternia's magical power. It was part of Phase 1.2 of Malkyn's Impossible Plan. Setting up the Power Relays in significant sites all across Eternia.
Of course, the Power Relays wouldn't do anything since all of Eternia's significant power was trapped by Grayskull. But that was a factor that would be addressed in Phase 77.3 of his Impossible Plan (a phase which Malkyn did not expect to reach within his lifetime). For Phase 1.2, all Malkyn had to do was make sure the Power Relays were placed at the correct sites across the planet, where they would lay dormant until the later phases of the plan.
It would probably take him his whole lifetime to get all the Relays set up in the correct locations. He could access Snake Mountain and Zalesia just fine. They were not only within his domain, but his homes as well. The Sea of Rakash, he could delegate setting up the Power Relay to Mer-Man to one of his heirs, Saw Tooth or Mer-Man II. The Valley of Dragons would be a bit of an expedition and he'd need a full team of four or more subordinates to cover him, but Malkyn could get that done too. All of those locations fell within the borders of his domain. All those locations rested firmly inside the Dark Hemisphere.
It was the sites on the Light side of the planet that posed the problem. Mainly because a lot of them required permission to access. Permission that Malkyn did not have.
Not just Castle Grayskull itself, but Zodak's mountain sanctuary, the Old Capital of Eternos, Stilia in the northern polar cap, the isolated and uninhabited southern polar cap. All of those we counted as part of the Light Hemisphere. King Adam's domain.
Malkyn supposed if he were a more impatient man, he could simply just sneak into a number of those places. The south pole, for example, was uninhabited. Who would object, or even know?
But Malkyn was not an impatient man, and the Impossible Plan was not meant to be achieved in one weekday afternoon. It was more important to make sure things were done right, rather than done fast. He called it the 'Impossible Plan' because it was just that. Impossible to achieve in one mortal lifetime. That was due in no small part to the fact that it would take more than one lifetime to earn the trust between the House of Adam and the House of Keldor.
Malkyn had Skeletor to thank for that.
And he did need the trust of the House of Adam. The whole Impossible Plan hinged on it. Because only the one who held control of Castle Grayskull could access the wellspring of Eternia's power that was trapped beneath it. Malkyn did not hold control of Castle Grayskull. But Adam did, and Prince Dare would after him.
In hindsight, Malkyn probably should have made more of an effort to befriend Dare on the beach that day. But he was so pissed off by the derogatory name 'Skeleteen' that he forgot how to think.
Standing from the throne, Malkyn took a step back to examine his work, making sure it was secure. Snake Mountain might be the easiest site to set up the Power Relay in, but it was also one of the most important. Snake Mountain used to be the site of Viper Tower during the Preternia Era. Viper Tower, Grayskull Tower, and Central Tower, the three pillars that held up the world (metaphorically) before they were sunk and Eternia's power sealed away and hoarded greedily by his ancestor. Snake Mountain, Castle Grayskull, and… wherever Central Tower used to be would be hit hardest if Phase 77.3 of his Impossible Plan was ever realized. The Power Relay had to be secure.
Satisfied with his work, Malkyn nodded to himself. He might be young, but he was a damn good sorcerer, and he did damn good work. If his mother didn't disapprove so vehemently of all his plans, she'd be proud of him too.
Speaking of all his plans, now that the Snake Mountain Power Relay was in place, he had a meeting with Ever Mean to get to.
Saw Tooth and Mer-Man II met up with him in the corridors on his way down to the greenhouses.
"Did you tell him?" They both choired in unison.
"Yes." Malkyn assured them, not even pausing in his step. He kept walking and they both fell into step behind him. "I told King Adam to get all Light Hemisphere boats out of the Sea of Rakash."
They rounded a corner and Misslie Toe was there rolling in the opposite direction. He rolled up faster when he saw King Malkyn coming down the corridor to him. "Did you mention the gas mining in the Burning Sands?"
"Yes." Malkyn nodded. "I made sure he knew that Light Hemisphere poaching the gas from the Burning Sands won't be tolerated."
Malkyn moved past Missile Toe and kept walking.
He stopped mid-step before he even got to the next turn in the corridor. The smell hit him like a brick wall. Malkyn flattened a hand over the nose cavity of his skull mask and wondered why he never installed a filter in it before.
Behind him, Saw Tooth and Mer-Man II also coughed wheezed. Missile Toe seemed unaffected by the stench.
Odar and his father Stinkor came around the corner at the same time. Walking shoulder to shoulder, a thick fog of foul, noxious air wafting around them.
"Did you talk about Palleezea?" Stinkor demanded.
Malkyn choked inside his skull-helmet and fought the instinct to vomit from the smell. He was not going to puke inside his own helmet!
"Don't have authority-" He managed to get out between heaves. "Adam knows-"
Then he turned around and fled the smell. Stinkor was a powerful soldier and Odar was very well trained. Their scent-based aerosol attacks were unmatched. But their inability to control of 'turn off' their scent made it near impossible to be in the same room with either of them for any amount of time, and both of them together, stinking up the same small space! People have passed out before.
Saw Tooth and Mer-Man II weren't far behind him; similarly fleeing Stinkor and Odar.
Only Missile Toe was left in the corridor with Stinkor and Odar.
"We still on to play LOW later?" Odar asked.
"Of course!" Missile Toe assured him. "We're almost Platinum rank."
Taking an alternate route from Snake Mountain down into Droom, Malkyn finally made it to the greenhouses.
Ever Mean was harvesting coca leaves when Malkyn found him in the greenhouse. He looked up from his work when Malkyn entered. "Ah, I thought we decided to reschedule the experiment."
"I was delayed." Malkyn explained. "But this experiment is important for the Dark Hemisphere, so I'm not gonna reschedule."
Ever Mean nodded. Animals needed their plants. Not everyone on Eternia was lucky enough to be able to survive on just water and sunlight like Ever Mean. He led Malkyn outside the greenhouse to some ground he had prepared for his King's experiment.
Three separate planting beds, dug out and filled in with good soil, tilled and ready to be planted. And a tray of peas selected from the healthiest ones from the previous harvest and divided into three groups of five.
"Great!" Malkyn clapped his hands then rubbed his palms together to get the blood flowing. "How do you plant a thing?"
King Malkyn grew up a Prince. He never had to plant and grow his own food in his life.
"Place the peas two and a half centimeters down in the soil and five centimeters apart." Ever Mean instructed.
Malkyn nodded. He picked up the first handful of five peas, planning them in the soil as Ever Mean instructed. He didn't do anything to them or alter the process in any way. Then he sprinkled water over them from the watering can. They were going to be his Control for this experiment. They probably wouldn't sprout at all. They weren't going to get enough light just out in the open in the Dark Hemisphere.
But that was the whole purpose of this experiment. To figure out a more efficient way to produce food for, not only their armies, but all the people who lived in the Dark Hemisphere. An entirely meat diet might work for the Snakemen, but the beings that made up that meat needed some vegetation in their diets. The Dark Hemisphere got such little sunlight that it was impossible for anything to grow outside of a greenhouse equipped with grow lamps.
For the second group of peas, Malkyn made a small cut on his thumb and made sure a small amount of blood dripped onto each pea as he planted it. Since all of Eternia's power was tied to the blood of Grayskull, it stood to reason that the blood of a descendent of King Grayskull could give plants energy that the sun could not. Or if not directly from his blodd, then maybe his blood would call to the power sealed beep in the heart of the planet and give life to the small crop. He similarly sprinkled them with water from the watering can as well.
The third group of peas, Malkyn didn't plant himself. He had Ever Mean plant the peas while he instead dripped the blood from his open thumb into the watering can. When they watered the newly planted peas, the soil got an equal dose of diluted Grayskull blood in water along with the peas. And they were planted by someone else and watered with a potion of water and Grayskull blood. If the third group managed to sprout, it would mean that not every crop would have to be directly planted by King Malkyn himself.
"Is that it?" Malkyn asked with all three beds were planted.
"That is it, my King." Ever Mean assured him. "It will be several days before we begin to see sprouts."
Malkyn was making notes on his EyePad, documenting his experiment, the factors he accounted for, and his control. "Let me know when they do."
He left, heading to the motor-pool to grab his skysled. There was another errand King Malkyn wanted to run before the day ended.
Beastman just happened to be walking by as Malkyn was leaving and noted the planting beds out in the open with no grow lamps. "New project?"
"King Malkyn is always exploring new was to enrich the Dark Hemisphere." Ever Mean confirmed.
With a wistful sigh, Beastman gave a bit of a nod. "Malkyn is what we all hoped Keldor would be."
…
On his skysled, Malkyn zoomed over the barren landscapes of the Dark Hemisphere, heading for Zalesia.
He unloaded another Power Relay off the skysled when he landed.
The Faceless One was always happy to have his grandson visit and he already had tea and cookies ready by the time Malkyn made his way inside the ruins.
"Oh. Um, I'm actually here on business." Malkyn had to inform his grandfather. He held up the Power Relay that he was planning to set up in Zalesia. "Can you show me the vault where you used to store to Ram Stone?"
"The Ram Stone was destroyed by He-Man." The Faceless One reminded him. "The Vault is empty now."
"I know." Malkyn nodded. He hefted the Power Relay in his arms. "But the Vault is the heart of Zalesia, it's the site around which all the magical energy in Zalesia flows."
The Faceless One's head tilted to one side. It was difficult to read his expression with the indistinct features of where his face used to be. But Malkyn got the distinct impression that his grandfather was studying him. Or perhaps studying the device he carried, a combination of science and sorcery.
"Your Impossible Plan." The Faceless One finally concluded with a sigh.
He led Malkyn through Zalesia. Past the library, down flights of dark stairs that Malkyn had to create a ball of witchlight to see by, through narrow corridors that he wasn't familiar with, and finally stopping in a deep chamber at the heart of the ruins. The chamber itself was very well lit compared to the corridors outside and Malkyn could see the pedestal where the Ram Stone used to rest.
Kneeling in front of the empty pedestal, Malkyn started setting up the Power Relay. Standing the device upright and anchoring it to the floor. Centering it at the focal point for all power in Zalesia.
When it was secure and done, Malkyn stood and took a step back to survey his work.
"Do you have another errand on your schedule, or can you sit a bit for tea?" The Faceless One finally asked. "I haven't seen you since your coronation."
His hands free now, Malkyn reached up and lifted his skull-helmet off his head. Long white hair came tumbling down around his shoulders, and Malkyn had to brush some of it out of his face, tucking it behind one pointed blue ear. "Tea would be great."
The Faceless One lead them back to the library where the tea and cookies were already cold. The Faceless One placed a warming spell on the pot to reheat the tea, while Malkyn sat down and took out his EyePad to make a few notes.
"How did your coronation go?" Asked the Faceless One as he poured the tea. "The last I heard, you were nervous and worried about what your father's supporters would think of your policy changes and leadership goals."
"Mother is still angry." Malkyn informed his grandfather. "She still wants me to kill everyone in Castle Grayskull for what He-Man did to Skeletor." He took a sip of the lukewarm tea. "Which is so weird to me, because everyone else I talk to who knew my father before he became Skeletor talks about them like they're two different people. Like, Skeletor was not Keldor, and Skeletor treated her like crap! So why's she so bent on getting revenge for him?"
The Faceless One set his own teacup down with a sigh. "Keldor and Skeletor both fell in battle. After so long, I cannot help but wonder if she's conflated the two in her mind."
Malkyn made a non-committal noise. He had no memories of either Keldor or Skeletor and so couldn't comment.
He blushed his hair out of his face again.
"You know, in ancient Zalesia, we sheered our hair short." The Faceless One informed him.
"Yeah, but then I'd have to keep cutting it and I just don't have the time for that." Malkyn informed him. "It's easier just to put it up in a ponytail."
The Faceless One tilted his head to the side. His hair was not up in a ponytail. It was loose and a little bit tangled from being inside the skull-helmet. "Would you like me to get you something to tie it with? I have some ribbon you can use to put it up in a ponytail."
"No… I don't wanna put too much stress on it and risk getting splits." Malkyn brushed off the offer.
"Uh-huh." The Faceless One refilled Malkyn's teacup for him. "You know, you can just say you like long hair. You don't have to try and explain or justify it."
"Right." Malkyn nodded. "Sorry, it just I have to explain and justify everything to Mother." He explained. "You should have seen the fit she threw when I added the green mohawk to my helmet."
"Evelyn is very demanding of you." The Faceless One agreed. He had other opinions of his daughter and how she chose to raise his grandson, but the Faceless One was not going to voice those opinions to Malkyn. They were things to be brought before Evelyn herself, not things her child should be burdened with.
"Yeah…" Malkyn agreed. He set his teacup down. "Ya know, Grandfather, I think if it weren't for you and your influence, I probably would be a very different person than the one I am."
The Faceless One agreed, though that was another opinion he'd never voice out loud. Perhaps it was a little vain to think, but knowing his daughter, and knowing the type of company she kept, the Faceless One was pretty sure he was the most positive influence in Malkyn's life. The Evil Warriors weren't as 'evil' as they used to be under Skeletor's leadership, but they bitter from all their past defeats. If Malkyn weren't the son of who he was the son of, and if he didn't have bigger plans that promised more, the Faceless One was sure Skeletor's old lieutenants would not be as willing to follow him.
Malkyn drained his teacup and stood. "I have to get going. If I'm gone from Snake Mountain too long, Mother will start looking for me."
He brushed his hair out of his face with his fingers and slid the skull-helmet back onto his head.
"I'd appreciate it if you visited more often." The Faceless One said by way of a good-bye. "Even if you don't have Impossible Plan related business in Zalesia."
"If I have the time." Malkyn promised.
…
The skysled zoomed over the Zalesian desert, kicking up a trail of sand. There was nothing around in all directions. Completely alone.
Malkyn sensed a crackle of power in the air, the static charge of a teleportation spell. That was the only warning he got before three bodies dropped down on top of him.
The skysled dipped in the air under the extra weight that was dropped down on it. Diving low enough to skirt the sands of the desert, skidding over the dunes until the nose of the skysled buried itself in a drift.
All four of them were thrown from the sled, as was the Havoc Staff. It stuck upright in the sand, the three newcomers between it and Malkyn.
Malkyn flailed a bit, trying to get his feet under him faster than his body could move. His vest was flipped up over his head and he barely managed to throw it back out of his face in time to see a disembodied limb flying towards him. Diving for the sand, Malkyn rolled down a dune to dodge the attack.
When he stood again, he was able to get a clearer view of his attackers.
Malkyn didn't know two of them. But he recognized Jitsu. He'd seen his picture in records and archives. Jitsu had been one of Skeletor's Evil Warriors, but he was trapped in another dimension by his rival among the Masters, Fisto. How he got back to Eternia was anyone's guess. Probably with the help of a powerful sorcerer since Jitsu didn't have the knowledge or skill to free himself.
The two Malkyn didn't know. One of them looked like a jigsaw of random robot parts snapped together. He had two torsos stacked on top of each other, four arms, six legs, and two heads. It might have been comical if the situation were different.
It was the third one that really concerned Malkyn. It wasn't the green skin, or the pointed ears, or the skull face that concerned him. Scareglow had a skull face. Malkyn himself wore a skull-helmet. Having a skull for a face in and of itself was not something to get concerned about. It was the air of powerful magic that wafted around the third attacker. He had the body of a warrior and he carried a sword, but he had the aura and feel of an adept sorcerer equal to Malkyn himself, maybe even more powerful.
Behind his helmet, he shifted his eyes to the Havoc Staff behind them. Malkyn did have some combat training. Trap Jaw and Tri-Klops made sure he could fight. But he was most formidable his sorcery. He could cast spells without it, but his sorcery was more powerful with it.
He didn't waste time or breath asking who they were or what they wanted. Brought his hands together, gathering his magic between his palms and shot it. Not at any of his attackers, but at the sand. Reducing the already fine sand particles into an even finer powder.
It was like they were standing on water. All three sinking into the sand up to their knees and struggling to pull themselves out.
Malkyn took advantage of their distraction to make a dash for his staff.
He fell just out of reach of it when something grabbed onto the hem of his vest.
Malkyn turned over to see one of those dismembered arms had grabbed his vest and yanked him off his feet. He tried to pull his vest free, but the grip was too strong. It wouldn't let Malkyn go.
Then it started dragging him back to the three attackers, using the hem of the vest as a leash.
Flailing a little against the drag, Malkyn struggled to reach one of the pockets in his vest to pull out the small knife he carried with him. He used it to cut the fabric, just before he was in reach of the green skull-faced one's hands.
Malkyn skittered backwards on his hands, scuttling like a crab on the sand.
"Slippery." Muttered the skull-face one. "Just like your father."
"What would you know about my father?" Malkyn snapped as he kicked sand up in the creature's face.
Reaching a hand out, Malkyn called to the Havoc Staff, willing it to come to him.
It shuttered where it was stuck in the sand, then freed itself and flew to Malkyn's open and outstretched palm.
Still on his back, Malkyn swung the Havoc Staff around to point it at his attackers.
Just in time for it to collide with the skull-faced one's scimitar.
The blade hooked under one of the spiral horns of the ram's skull and the attacker was able to twist the staff out of his hands. He caught it just as Malkyn let go. Then threw it behind him as if it didn't matter. As if he didn't care about the power of the Havoc Staff.
"Hold him." Skull-face commanded.
Two of those cybernetic hands closed around his arms and Malkyn was lifted up off the ground. He hovered in front of his attackers, trying to kick at them when they drew in range.
"Legs too!"
Two more arms closed around his legs, holding them in place and preventing him from fighting back or defending himself.
The scimitar was raked across his arm. Opening the skin in one long, deep cut. From the inside of his elbow all the way to the wrist.
Blood fountained from the open wound and splattered on the sand.
"Jitsu."
Jitsu stepped forward, placing his over-size armored hand under the trickle of blood. He coated his whole fist in the fresh warm blood.
Between the pain and the blood loss Malkyn was feeling woozy and lightheaded. His vision swam in and out. But even so, the analytical part of his mind couldn't help but wonder what kind of magical working needed that much blood?
Fist covered in blood, Jitsu planted his feet, as firm a stance as he could have in the loose sands of the Zalesian desert. Took a breath. And punched the air.
And the air cracked.
Like glass.
Spiderweb fractures opening up in mid-air as if the overcast horizon were a mirror. Jitsu punched again, hitting the same spot, the fractures growing wider. A few chips of sky and horizon fell away, showing something moving on the other side.
One third and final punch and the fabric of Eternia finally shattered and fell away. A hole in space, just large enough for a small person to crawl through.
Or float through.
Malkyn was pretty close to passing out. His vision was clouded and his hearing felt far away. But the thing that came through the break in space looked like a Trollan. Like a darker, edgier version of Orko. Tall green ears and green hands, a face shrouded in shadow, only the glowing yellow eyes visible. But while Orko wore red, this one was dressed head to hem in dusty purple.
Malkyn fell to the sand with a loud THUD when he was let go.
The three all took a knee, kneeling before the Trollan. "Master."
"You did well, Fisto, Moludok," a brief pause, "Demoman."
"What do you want done with him?" Demoman nodded to Malkyn, still bleeding out on the sand.
"Leave him." The Unnamed Trollan commanded. "He's lost too much blood to be useful anymore."
The Trollan cast a spell and he and his three minions vanished in a puff of light. The hole in the fabric of Eternia repaired itself, the shattered fragments rising up and sealing themselves back into place. The overcast horizon looking as complete and tangible as it had before.
Malkyn was left bleeding in the sand, almost unconscious.
He tried to call the Havoc Staff back to him. He wanted to use it to call his mother for help. He felt the smooth lacquer of the handle in his palm. He tried to send a call through the aether. But Malkyn passed out before he could be sure that it got through.
…