SIX
"Sorceress," Adam put his hand on her shoulder. "Is it possible that the Spirit of Grayskull managed to hold Skeletor back, even without you inside?"
The Sorceress eyes fell to the ground. She couldn't remember ever being this weak. "No. It could have held back anyone but Skeletor. His power is too great." Her voice was wispy and sounded far away.
Adam's jaw tightened. "We have to get inside Castle Grayskull. I have to retrieve the Sword of Power." The Sorceress just nodded.
Mekaneck slid through the bushes to the clearing where the heroes waited. "Your majesty, Skeletor has left just a handful of troglodytes guarding the fort—Man-at-Arms and Ram-Man are inside."
"Are they alive?" Teela asked, the desperation clear in her voice.
"It looks like they have hurt your father Teela, but he is alive. Ram-Man may be dead. I didn't see him move at all."
Stratos clapped a fist into his left hand. "We've got to free them now."
"No," Adam said. Stratos shot him an angry look. Adam lifted his hand, signaling for him to calm down. "I want to free them too Stratos, but we can't risk Skeletor seeing us before we have the Sword of Power. Without He-Man, we don't stand a chance."
"No way," Stratos shouted.
"Keep your voice down." Teela grabbed him. "Adam's right. We need every bit of surprise we can use against Skeletor. There's nothing we can do for them now, and if we did, they would be too weak to help us fight." She let Stratos go and turned back to the group. "Adam, there is secret door behind Castle Grayskull that is invisible to all eyes but those of the Sorceress. It will open for her. If we try to go in through the drawbridge, Skeletor will know."
"All right—we go in the back door," Adam agreed. "Orko," he called. Orko floated down from a tree where Adam had asked him to look out for trouble. It also kept the exhaustless trouble-seeker occupied while they made their decisions. "Orko, you're going to stay here."
"But Adam, I'm the only one here who still has all their power…"
"Exactly. When Skeletor finds out that we're inside Castle Grayskull with him, he may use Man-at-Arms as a hostage. You have to make sure that doesn't happen."
Teela stared at Adam incredulously. "You're going to leave Orko here to free my father?"
"Yes, Orko and Stratos."
"All right!" Stratos cheered as quietly as he could. "I wouldn't want to have to fight inside an old castle anyway. This will give me a chance to spread my wings." He chuckled at his own joke.
Inside Castle Grayskull, Skeletor stood before a simple wooden door marked with an emblem designed to look like the Sword of Power. Inside, the room was no bigger than a small closet and held only a simple stone column with the Sword of Power thrust into it. But for all his power, Skeletor could not enter.
"Evil-Lyn!" he screamed. She was already beside him, anticipating his need. "You wiped out Man-at-Arm's barrier. I pried Castle Grayskull's drawbridge open with my power. Now this simple door blocks my way."
"Lord Skeletor, I believe that no power will be able to open this door. The inscription reads that the door will open only for the guardian of Grayskull. That would be either King Adam or the Sorceress," she said calmly. Skeletor hated when it was pointed out to him that he had missed the obvious. "There are two ways in though. We can either kill the Sorceress or find your missing half of the Sword of Power."
"Yes," Skeletor hissed. "I choose both. And our missing Sorceress should be here soon. What of my old sword? Where is it?"
"Your sword was split in two so that only one Sword of Power remained. But your power could unite the swords again."
"Evil-Lyn," Skeletor paused, "just tell me where?"
"One half is in the armory, where they keep the weapons of yesterday's glory."
"And the other half?"
"I do not know, Master." She locked eyes with Skeletor confidently. He struck her with an open hand, knocking her to the ground.
"Ten years, Evil-Lyn. You have had ten years to find out the sword's location. You are a failure." He looked down at her, enjoying the sight of the blood falling from her split lip. "I forgive you," he said, mocking her pain, then leaving the door to find the armory.
Behind Castle Grayskull, four heroes pushed through the heavy undergrowth that provided a natural defense against just this kind of invasion. So crucial were the plants to Grayskull's defense, that the castle magically protected them from fire and other natural disasters. The heroes stood in the small space between the wild jungle and the deadly moat where no plant dared to grow.
"This feels wrong," Mekaneck said. "This is the way Skeletor would try to get in. Heroes go in through the front."
"Only the Sorceress can find the door, Mekaneck. Skeletor wouldn't know where to focus his power if he tried to get in this way," Teela told him. "This entrance was designed for us."
"Well, I don't have to like it—and you're right—I don't see a door." Mekaneck was actually amazed that the door was invisible even to his enhanced vision.
"Sorceress?" Adam helped to carry her to the edge of the moat.
"There." She pointed her finger, and as she did, the door materialized before them. Even then, it looked impenetrable, thick stone covered with spikes. "Open," the Sorceress whispered.
The door slowly obeyed her, opening soundlessly despite the fact that it had gone unused for so long. The Sorceress sighed, and slumped further into Adam's arms.
"There's the door, but I doubt anyone but Teela could jump across the moat," Mekaneck observed.
"The bridge," the Sorceress gasped, "is invisible. Just have faith, and it will be there under your feet." Her eyes rolled back in her head. She was barely conscious now.
Teela brushed the Sorceress' shoulder assuringly with the tips of her fingers, and then walked across the moat with apparently nothing supporting her, denied even the sound of her boots clicking on the ground beneath her. She smiled back at them from inside Castle Grayskull and gestured with her arm that they should follow quickly. Adam lifted the Sorceress in his arms and carefully placed his foot where Teela had shown the bridge to be. He almost fell into the water. There was nothing there. "You can't test it, Adam," she told him. "The bridge senses your faith. You have to trust wholeheartedly that the bridge is there."
Adam's jaw clenched with determination. His heart betrayed his real fear, but the bridge held. He walked across quickly, not stopping to look behind him until he was safely on the other side.
"All right, Mekaneck, come on," Teela said.
Mekaneck's scanners were at full power, but he couldn't see any sign of a bridge. He knew he could never have faith in a bridge that his enhanced senses couldn't detect, so he had to do something drastic. He shut them off.
Now blind, he marched across the bridge confidently, his foot feeling something solid beneath him. He was halfway across when he felt his right foot catch on something. Blindly, he pulled away. He heard voices calling him, but with his sensors off, he couldn't hear anything but a mumble inside the helmet.
Searing pain suddenly washed over his body with volcanic force as something sliced open his left calf. And then he was falling.
He felt something slam against him, knocking him into the air and breaking several ribs. Then he roughly landed on his shoulder and felt the solid ground beneath him. Wasting no time, he switched his sensors back on in time to see Teela get up next to him. She had saved his life. F she hadn't acted so quickly, he would have fallen to his death in the Grayskull moat.
Standing on the invisible bridge was the creature who had sliced open his leg with a hideous claw and nearly killed him--Mer-Man.
"Even the beasts of the moat obey the ruler of the ocean, Sorceress," he gurgled. He stood sideways on the bridge, so that his back wouldn't be exposed to any of his enemies. In his hand was the wicked trident he used to command the ocean's creatures.
Teela joined him on the bridge, her serpent staff in hand. Something in Mer-man's throat clicked menacingly. He raised the trident, seemingly commanding the moat to bubble as its creatures started a feeding frenzy below the bridge. Then, he brought the trident crashing down on Teela's head like a club. She dodged to the side, but felt the power of the blow as it brushed passed her. Mer-Man had been training with the trident for years, and he had the strength of a great ocean shark. He kept it moving, allowing Teela no time to rest and counterattack. She dodged deftly. Jumping over his trident, blocking his thrust with her own staff, or crouching under a wild swing. Adam watched in awe of her quick movements. He loved her all the more for her independence. He saw her strategy. Mer-Man kept attacking her even as she backed up and lead him onto the solid ground so that the dangerous water was no longer under them. Mer-Man had entered his own feeding frenzy now. His mind was clouded with bloodlust.
He stabbed. Teela grabbed the trident as it thrust passed her. Mer-Man prepared to yank the trident back and pull Teela with it, finally impaling her on his sharp teeth. She knew he would try that. She only meant to slow him down for the second it took Mekaneck to slam his power club into Mer-Man' head. The fish man stumbled, fell to his knees. Defeated, his muscles jerked violently, flopping him into the air and then back into the moat where the water could slowly heal him.
"That was close," Mekaneck sighed. He tried to limp back to the bridge, the arm he had landed on hanging limply at his side, but Teela stopped him with a hand on his uninjured shoulder.
"You fought well, Mekaneck. We'll continue alone though. Guard our back."
Mekaneck nodded thoughtfully. "I guess I'll just stay here and make sure that Mer-Man doesn't try to come back and do something," he said. Teela smiled at him and moved back across the bridge. She gave him one last look, then shut the door. The secret entrance vanished immediately.
Inside, Adam put the Sorceress down. Once the door was shut, there was no light, just overwhelming blackness. "You did good out there, Teela," Adam said. "Mer-Man is one of Skeletor's mightiest warriors."
"It was too hard," she whispered into the darkness. "What are we going to do when we face the rest of them? For all my training, he might have beaten me."
"Teela, even when I was He-Man, I felt like each battle was hard. Grayskull gave me just enough power to win, and sometimes I really felt that it wasn't enough. No one wants to do this. It has to be done."
"Adam, Teela," the Sorceress called them. "My power is coming back to me. Skeletor is in the armory trying to find his broken weapon. Evil-Lyn is with him. Beast Man is here too—at the drawbridge."
"Sorceress, is that all of them?" Adam asked her.
"Yes. Skeletor is overconfident. He believes that you would never face him without the Sword of Power or an Eternian army at your back. Your courage will be his downfall."
Adam took a deep breath. He wondered himself if he had the courage to pull this off. Beast Man was a savage killer. Evil-Lyn was merciless and almost as powerful as Skeletor himself. The Sorceress needed time to recover. Skeletor would get his sword and be even more unstoppable. With one half in his hand he could find the second half that the Sorceress had hidden.
"We have to wait until you get your power back to stop Skeletor, Sorceress," Adam told her. "Only you might be able to challenge him."
"No. Once Skeletor has his half of the Sword of Power, the chamber will open for him and he'll have He-Man's sword as well. Then nothing I can do will stop him. You must go now."
Adam placed her gently against the wall and took his new war ax out of the straps on his back. "Follow the hall. It will take you behind the throne room, into the audience chamber."
"The audience chamber is right inside the drawbridge. That's where Beast Man is," Teela reminded her.
"I know," she said sadly. She reached out and softly touched Teela's hair. "I'm sorry."
"None of this is your fault. Rest the blame where it belongs—Skeletor."
"Let's go." Adam pulled Teela away from her mother. "We don't have any time. Skeletor must be stopped now."
Teela concentrated her power on the serpent staff and whispered a silent word of magic. The eyes of the staff lit brightly, lighting the way for the Sorceress' two champions.
The hall they traveled was small, just big enough for them to walk through single file. Mekaneck would have hated this, Adam thought. He was claustrophobic. The though made him smile. He hoped he would see Mekaneck and Man-at-Arms and the rest of his friends again soon.
"Here," Teela stopped him. "This is the end of the hall. There must be a way out." She felt along the wall, looking for a secret switch.
"Maybe there is no switch," Adam suggested. "Everything else is magic in Castle Grayskull. Why would this be different?"
"You're right." Teela prepared to cast some new magic, but Adam stopped her by placing his hand on the serpent staff she used to focus her power. She looked at him, confused.
His voice was calm now, no longer nervous. "Teela, whatever happens… You have to know… I mean, I want you to hear me say it now. I love you. I have loved since I was capable of loving." Her eyes shyly looked away for a moment, but she found the strength meet his gaze in the soft red glow of the magic. "I understand there's more to it than that though. I know you are like me, bound by your duty with so many depending on you."
"I'm sorry," she whispered.
"No, don't apologize. I think I love you more for it. You are so independent and strong—and beautiful." He leaned forward and kissed her the way he had always wanted to. She gave into him completely, releasing herself into the short time they had alone together before the uncertainties of the future opened before them like a chasm.
The kiss broke. They hugged each other tightly, each trying to pass on the their strength to the other, praying for the other's safety.
Then Teela stepped back and tapped the wall with her staff, her mouth opening in a silent command. The command traveled through the walls, recognized Teela, and silently opened the wall to her left.
Teela remembered what the Sorceress had said about Beast Man. She rushed out of the hall, appearing in the throne room behind the seat where the Sorceress usually sat to magically watch the events in the world outside of Castle Grayskull.
Adam followed her, moving in slow motion in comparison. He hadn't been here in a long time. The room was much smaller than his own audience chamber in the Eternal Palace. His chamber was decorated with tapestries and flags, and the furniture was the finest in the land. All of this was absent in Castle Grayskull. The room was simple stone, with no carpet and no decoration. They were standing on a dais, looking down a few steps onto a large room where people entered when the drawbridge was down, as it was now.
The Sorceress' chair was magnificent, wrought of a soft metal that Adam had seen no where else on Eternia. Behind the throne, next to where they had exited the secret passage, was a giant crystal hanging on the wall. In that crystal, the Sorceress could see anywhere on Eternia, maybe even beyond.
"No Beast Man," Teela said, noting the monster's absence. "The Sorceress said he would he here. That makes me more nervous than having to fight him now."
"I agree," Adam conceded, "but I'd rather not have to fight him at all."
"Yeah, maybe he heard we were coming and ran away," she joked.
The two of them walked quietly along the wall to the door that would take them to the stairs. Skeletor was downstairs, in the armory. The Sword of Power was upstairs.
Beast Man chose that moment to lumber in through the drawbridge. He wasn't used to castles and buildings. He wanted to be outside. Staying inside too long made him sick.
He sniffed the air. The beast men of Sahar-iah had senses beyond those of humans. They were creatures of the jungle that relied on those senses to survive. Beast Man's senses had been heightened beyond even that of his people. He smelled something immediately, the mustiness from the released air of the secret passage and the smell of humans. Then he saw them, rushing for a side door.
Beast Man roared, an animal growl that startled the heroes who had been trying to sneak past him to the door before he noticed them. He hunched over and extended his claws menacingly, saliva dripped from his sharp fangs.
Teela didn't wait for Beast Man to make the first move. It took a moment for her to concentrate her energy into physical movement, but she was already prepared. Adam watched her seem to glide across the floor and strike Beast Man with her open palm right between his glaring eyes.
Beast Man was thrown back—only his enhanced agility saved him from falling dangerously. He was startled to feel his own blood running out of a gash on his face and stinging his eyes. He howled, a long and furious howl.
Teela darted forward again, determined to finish the fight. Beast Man was just as fast, and ready this time. His long arm darted out, knocking the serpent staff out of her hand and leaving long gashes across Teela's face. He tried to grab her, to pull her close so that he could maul the cursed human who had hurt him. Teela was nearly caught in her terror. Beast Man was in an animalistic fury, snarling ferociously and lashing out at her madly. Teela had been fighting Skeletor's warriors since she was fourteen though. She searched inside of her for the calm she needed to finish the fight.
Beast Man slashed her shoulder. She spun away before he could grab her. He lunged with both hands. Her right leg shot up, catching him in the jaw and knocking him to the ground. Beast Man rolled to his feet and leaped savagely at the female warrior. She brought the heals of her hands together and then shot her palms outwards while slipping between Beast Man's claws. She connected with his forehead, heard the sickening crunch of Beast Man's skull, and watched him fall to the ground.
She looked down at her enemy with remorse. She knew how Skeletor's magic worked. Beast Man wasn't entirely to blame for his actions. "Is he dead?" Adam asked from the door.
"No," Teela told him. Beast Man was twitching on the ground. He might survive. If they defeated Skeletor in time, she would come up and heal Beast Man and release him from Skeletor's magic.
With a booming a clap like thunder, the door to the stairs flew open. Lyn floated in, the heels of her high leather boots a foot off the ground, her cape blowing furiously behind her. In her hand was her favorite wand, with its crystal top. Her white hair was pinned at the top of her head and held in place by a warrior helmet decorated with jewels along an ornament shaped like an open fan.
"You're mine now," she said, exulting in the excitement of the coming battle.
Teela rolled across the floor and grabbed her serpent staff. In her youth, she would never have been a match for Evil-Lyn, now she had just a small chance of defeating Skeletor's most powerful minion. Her own victory wasn't her first concern though. Beast Man was down. Evil-Lyn was right in front of her. That left just Skeletor. Adam could get the Sword of Power. Surely she could hold Evil-Lyn off long enough for that, even if it meant her death.
"Adam!" she screamed. "Go!"
Adam looked Teela. He loved her. He didn't want to leave her to battle Evil-Lyn alone. Their eyes locked and he understood. There was nothing he could do against the witch. He had to get the Sword of Power.
Adam darted the last few feet to the door and went through, slamming it shut behind him and racing up the stairs.
Lyn just smiled. The crystal on her wand glowed, she shut her eyes, and sent the image of Adam's escape to her master.
"Face me, Evil-Lyn," Teela challenged her.
Lyn's eyes opened slowly, sizing up her opponent. "Yes," she said. "But before we fight, there are a few things you should know. First, your father is not dead. I'm not going to kill him until I've skinned you alive and then made your fleshless body rip itself apart in pain. Then, once I've allowed you to die, I will let your father gaze into my crystal and experience everything you went through himself. He will be horrified, but he'll watch. Then, only then, will I sacrifice him to the darkest powers."
"You'll do none of it. I'll kill you today!" Teela shouted.
"Will you? I know it means nothing to me to be cursed as a kinslayer, but what about you?"
"What?" Teela dropped her defensive stance, confused.
"You don't know, do you? Then let me tell you. I am your sister. Your father is my father. The Sorceress is my mother, same as you, but she threw me away—gave me to the dark powers she upset with her forbidden love affair. Skeletor saved me. I would have died—he didn't care about that though. He waited to see if I would fight for survival myself—to see if I had the magic power that was my birthright. All he wanted was to use me as a weapon against my mother. And all along, that was fine with me."
Teela was taken aback, stunned. She pleaded, "Evil-Lyn, no one knew. You know that. I'm sure there's more to this than Skeletor has told you."
"I'm sure there is too. But I'm also sure that the Sorceress knew and did nothing. You grew up with a family in a royal palace. I grew up surrounded by creatures who saw me as a play toy. It certainly didn't help matters that I was a girl. Those years of my life were more torturous than anything I could put you through, but I'll try, I promise you that." She raised her free hand, shooting purple lightning in an arc that raced across the space between the two sisters and left a black mark on the space Teela had been standing.
Teela's speed had barely saved her life. "I see you have grown more powerful, Sister," Lyn spat. "You can't dodge lightning forever." More shot from her fingertips. Teela moved again. Lyn was right, she couldn't dodge forever. She had to rely on the Sorceress' other training. Another bolt flew through the air. This time, Teela concentrated her power in the serpent staff. The lightning struck, but Teela's magical shield held against the simple spell.
"Very good," Lyn cheered. "I am pleased to see that killing you won't be just child's play for me. I know. Let's have a race. We'll see if I can kill you before Skeletor kills King Adam. You see, I sent him a little message right away to let him know that the King was coming." She laughed maniacally.
Teela looked at the door Adam had just disappeared through. He didn't know that he was walking into a trap.
Skeletor was stalking through the ancient dungeons when Lyn sent him the pictures of Adam's escape. The dungeon in Castle Grayskull was small, and its bars were ineffectual for holding prisoners, except that anyone trapped in the dungeon by the Sorceress was held in a catatonic state, without even the will to escape. It smelled like death. Enemies of Castle Grayskull had wasted away and died here in the ancient history of the castle.
Beyond the dark dungeon was another ancient door that held the weapons of ages long past in perfect preservation. That was Skeletor's goal now. Then, Lyn assaulted his mind with images of his arch enemy. Skeletor was much angrier at her than Lyn guessed he would be. Adam was too close to the sword, and Lyn had stopped to settle a personal vendetta instead of capturing Grayskull's champion while she had the chance. He would square accounts with her later. Adam had to be stopped immediately.
Skeletor looked around, remembered something Lyn had told him when he had escaped from Limbo. The dungeon was bare, just a few bones—it took Skeletor just a minute of searching to find what he was looking for. Upon first inspection, it appeared to be just a pile of scrap metal, but Skeletor recognized his own handiwork. He had used his magic to graft these pieces onto flesh and created the henchman Trap-Jaw. He would live again.
Skeletor raised his Havoc Staff and spat horrible arcane words that seemed to crack like glass breaking in the stillness of the dungeon. The pile of forgotten metal lifted into the air, swirling around the energies of Skeletor's magic. Tiny pieces of dead flesh from all over the dungeon joined the spell to reawaken Skeletor's master of machinery. His body was black iron. One arm was a hand that could be used to do the complicated technical work Skeletor needed. The other hand was missing. In its place, Trap-Jaw could attach a variety of weapons. For now, he had to make do with the weapon he had been using when the Sorceress defeated him, a long sharp hook. His head was a rusted helmet and a sharp rusted metal jaw that could chew through metal, which he ate for sustenance. His eyes were human though, sick yellow eyes that stared out of dead greenish skin. Skeletor admired his creation for just a moment. He was getting weak now. He needed the sword. He waved his hand, sending Trap-Jaw through the corridors of black magic to intercept the young King before he could find the Sword of Power.
Then he swiftly crossed the dungeon, no longer pounding his staff—he was dragging it behind him. He paid the price for his black magic, further decomposing his own body in exchange for the unholy power.
He came to the armory, leaning against the door, his hand blindly groping for the knob. The door was heavy. He dropped his Havoc Staff and put his whole weight behind the door. It slowly swung inward, revealing its ancient treasure, a room of weapons.
The weapons were old. They had been imbued with power by one of Castle Grayskull's first Sorceresses and used by humans to defeat the snake men. Just a scratch could kill one of Eternia's former dominant race. They remained here in case they were ever needed again.
Skeletor ignored them. There would be time enough to explore the secrets of Castle Grayskull once it was his. Sitting in the corner, not even hung on the wall, was half of his old sword. His sword had been just half of the original Sword of Power as it was. Only with the swords together, would Grayskull give itself to a male ruler. Now, he had just a fourth of the celestial weapon. He snatched it from the corner. It was a broken weapon, useless in combat, but Skeletor could already feel his power flooding back to him. The sword made it possible for Skeletor to turn the trickle of his normal power into a tidal wave.
He held the sword up, inspected it. Then his eyes glowed with fierce red power and his bottom jaw detached from his face, hanging only by a thin tendon in the back. Putrid air welled up from Skeletor's perpetually dying body and wrapped itself around the sword. It was transformed. The weapon's hilt was now a ram's head, matching Skeletor's Havoc Staff. The blade was like shiny new steel, but so much more powerful.
The mad conqueror stalked out of the armory. He knew where the other half of his sword was now. This sword acted like a compass, pulling him to it. He stopped.
His Havoc Staff was gone. Who? He didn't give it a second thought. With the sword complete and Adam dead, it wouldn't matter anyway.
Adam rushed up the stairs to Grayskull's upper floor. He skipped steps, careening recklessly towards the sword. Without it, Teela was dead, he was dead, his friends, his people…
The door to the hall from the stairs was smashed. No doubt Skeletor had gotten impatient with the lock. All the better, Adam thought. What would he have done if the door had still been locked?
Then he was standing in the Hall of Secrets, where all of Castle Grayskull's lore was kept. Each door lead to a different mystery. Even he, as He-Man, had not been privy to what lay behind most of the doors. He ignored them now. He raced down the hall. Unlike the other places in Grayskull, this hall was wide and long, his steps echoed across the stone walls. He was almost there when he saw a shadow detach itself from the wall and become real. Trap-Jaw appeared before him.
Trap-Jaw would have stopped even He-Man. He was a deadly opponent.
Adam pulled out his new ax and held it in front of him threateningly. "Back away, Trap-Jaw," he warned.
Trap-Jaw's mind had been shattered by his awakening. He had only one thought, which he voiced now. "Kill," he screeched with a voice like scraping metal.
Adam ran forward, trying to bring the full force of his ax down on Trap-Jaw before the evil henchman could attack. Trap-Jaw's hook arm had far more reach than the King's. It shot forward with inhuman speed and sliced Adam's left tricep open. The right arm carried the blow through, but not with enough power, it glanced off Trap-Jaw's heavy metal body, just gashing the unfeeling surface.
Trap-Jaw's other hand reached out, trying to grab the King's right arm. Adam jerked back just in time, just keeping his balance. He circled around Trap-Jaw cautiously. The henchman watched him move, but did not leave his place in front of the door.
How do I beat him? Adam thought. What would Man-at-Arms do? Adam wanted to run, to find a better place to fight, but time was precious. He had to stop Trap-Jaw here. Trap-Jaw lunged forward, slicing through the air with his heavy hook. Adam dodged left, watched the arm slowly retract.
Blood poured down his arm freely. He knew he would be dizzy with its loss soon. He put himself in front of Trap-Jaw and waited. The hook shot out again, just as Adam had hoped. He lifted his left arm and used its flesh as a shield. The hook dug in, catching bone. The pain was all but unbearable. Adam's right arm brought the ax down on the sensitive joint where Trap-Jaw attached his tools. Wire and metal snapped at the pressure from the heavy ax. It had been sharpened using laser beam technology by Man-at-Arms and given to the King as a gift. It bore the iron cross of He-Man on one side and the star of Randor on the other.
Adam fell to the ground, nearly blacking out from the pain. The hook had stuck in his arm. He pulled at it, but couldn't get it free—the pain was too much. "Kill," screeched Trap-Jaw, stepping closer and raising an iron leg to stomp the human.
Adam kicked with both legs at Trap-Jaw's standing foot. He fell with an enormous, booming crash. Now they were both on the ground. Trap-Jaw's metal body was heavy and slow. Adam was up first. He brought the ax down on Trap-Jaw's neck. The King was in so much pain that the blow wasn't powerful enough to sever the henchman's head, but it did drop him back to the ground. The King fell against the wall, dropped his ax beside him, desperate now to get the weight of the hook out of his arm. It seemed to be ripping more flesh with every move he made. The hook finally gave, taking more skin and muscle with it. Adam's left arm hung at his side—dead.
Trap-Jaw was up just in time for Adam to slam him back to the ground. This time the King's fury drove the ax through Trap-Jaw's helmet where it stayed, stuck, when Trap-Jaw fell to the floor. Trap-Jaw was a creature of magic. He wasn't dead, but his brain couldn't control the body any longer. It writhed on the ground at Adam's feet. He turned away from it.
In front of him now was the simple door marked with the symbol of a sword. Adam prayed silently that the door would open for him.
It did. The Sword of Power stood in its stone prison, waiting for him. He gripped the broadsword's hilt, long lines jutting out and turning at odd angles. He pulled, and the sword was free.
Adam stepped into the hall, dizzy with loss of blood, and nearly blacking out from the pain in his arm. He lifted the Sword of Power and spoke the words. "By the power of Grayskull, I have the power."
And he did. The power rushed into him. He felt it, but it felt different somehow. He was used to his whole body changing. That didn't happen this time. But the power did heal him, as it had never had to before. He felt a fire in his left arm that was tissue reattaching and muscle growing where it had been torn out. Then, his clothes melted away and were replaced by the vest of Grayskull's champion, four straps that crossed his torso and met in an iron cross on his chest. His traveling pants and greaves were replaced with barbaric hide shorts, and his fine leather boots with thick hide hunting boots. He looked down at himself. He really hadn't changed. He still looked like Adam. Or had he always looked like He-Man?
Trap-Jaw broke his concentration. The fiend had somehow survived and wrenched the ax out of his head. He was now lunging at He-Man, screaming, "Kill!".
He-Man couldn't help but smile. How difficult this had all been just moments ago. He pulled back his right fist and let it fly.
Trap-Jaw crumbled to the ground, broken.