CHAPTER ELEVEN

"Into the Depths"

The sun rode high as He-Man charged towards Castle Grayskull. Battle Cat had been lounging around Eternos all afternoon and the great beast within was just dying for a chance to go out and about. He-Man granted him that wish when he decided to head on off to Castle Grayskull.

The great drawbridge opened and He-Man and Battle Cat strode in, their eyes scanning the great throne room. The Soceress sat upon her throne and stood up when He-Man arrived.

"Soceress," He-Man greeted. "I must speak with you."

The Soceress stepped down from her throne and stood before the great warrior.

"What is it?"

"The caverns beneath Snake Mountain. I am going there as a form of peace between - "

She paused and looked curiously at him. "Why?" she asked.

"As a bargaining chip between Evil Lynn and myself. It's part of a temporary peace that I intend to continue on with."

"He-Man, I am not certain if this is a wise course of action for you."

"Why?"

She did not answer and began to walk across the large room. The Soceress reached a small table and poured herself a drink of water. He-Man found this odd for some reason. He had NEVER - EVER -seen the Soceress eat or drink anything before.

"There are reasons."

"King Hiss is down there. Whatever is up, he's involved."

"Do not bother with it, He-Man."

"I will, Soceress!" He-Man engaged, feeling his rage begin to bubble. "I will . . ."

She looked him in the eyes. "Then do so as Adam, heir to the throne of Eternos."

"Why?" he questioned once again. The Soceress folded her arms and looked away from him. A strange, chilly breeze blew through the Castle walls. "There's something down there, isn't there? Something you don't want me to know about?"

The Soceress slowly turned around. "What is down there, Adam, is a truth that should never have been thought of."

He-Man's eyes widened. He called her Adam while he was in his He-Man form. It was quite unordinary.

"What truth is this?"

"A truth that I dare not say here. I have been sworn to speak of it. What you learn, you must learn on your own. And not as He-Man. Take your sword for the journey and become He-Man for battle. But for the truth you will undoubtedly find, you must remain Adam."

"How is that important?"

"You will know it when you reach it, my Prince. Now, go there if you must. But I will warn at this moment that what you will find down there will shake everything you've known or every wondered. Your vision of Eternia and even Etheria will be forever skewed. I worry that it will not radically alter all that has come before and all that will occur in these forth coming days."

He-Man looked at her longingly. "You know something, don't you?"

"I . . . He-Man . . . Adam . . . what I know would bring you to your knees. You must find what you must find on your own."

He sighed and nodded. "Yes, my Soceress. And when I find it, I will return to Castle Grayskull."

"That, of which, I have no doubt of."

***

As dawn broke the next day, a small convoy journeyed through the air to Snake Mountain. When they were within two miles, the convey landed onto the dark ground.

"I will return," Adam told Adora. "In the meantime . . ."

"Yes," Adora said. "Keep everything running. Find our parents. And work on that treaty."

"That's right. Do whatever you can. We need to establish peace on Eternia," Adam told her.

"I know. Just don't get too cozy down there. You never know when He-Man is going to be needed again."

"Right."

Teela walked over to him and kissed him on the lips. "Come back to me, hero," she whispered.

"I will, Teela. Don't you worry."

"I love you."

"I love you too."

And so, Adam, Roboto, Ram Man, and Snout Sprout marched the rest of the way to Snake Mountain. As soon as they reached the base of the large, black tower - Blade, Beast Man, Tri-Klops, Jitsu, and Saurod greeted them.

"Welcome, warriors of Eternia!" shouted Tri-Klops.

Evil Lynn then walked out of the secret door. "There is no need for blindfolds. I trust you enough not to peek. We have nothing to hide."

"Right. Of course."

The whole gang walked into the great, dark tower. Adam felt a chill creep down his back and he had to fight instinct not to grab his sword. The corridor they walked through was lit with large fires and smelled of ash and smoke.

After walking for what seemed like hours in silence, they finally reached a long and winding set of stairs. They followed Evil Lynn down these dark stairs. Every once and a while, the line of warriors of good and evil would end up on a landing. On these landings would be closed doors. Evil Lynn would retrieve a set of keys and un-lock them, revealing - of course - another set of stairs.

"How much longer?" asked Ram Man, growing impatient.

"Three more doors worth, bucket head," said Blade, his hand on his hilt.

"Bucket head? Why I outta . . ."

Adam lifted his hand. "That's enough! We're the guests here, remember?"

"Adam is correct, my comrades," said Roboto. "We are here on good graces."

"How are you holding up, Roboto?" asked Snout Sprout.

"Luckily, Gwildor and Man-At-Arms were successful in repairing all of my systems."

The conversation soon dwindled and the group continued their walk down the stairs. Finally, after reaching the final doorway, they all found themselves in a large cave far beneath the surface. All around them were more corridors. Evil Lynn pointed them down a final one.

"This way."

"Hey, check out these rocks," Ram Man observed as they began to march down the corridor.

"What is it?" asked Adam.

"Well, all of those others looked like they've opened for a number of years. But this one looks like it's only been two or three years."

"That's because King Hiss just recently opened this corridor up," Evil Lynn explained. "He claimed it had been sealed for many years. Even before the age he when commanded Snake Mountain."

The corridor began to slop then, taking them all farther down underneath the surface level. Deeper and deeper still. Finally, they reached a dead-end. Evil Lynn lifted her staff and lit it up even more so.

Before them all was a large, round, faded-gold door. Adam pressed her hands against it. There were symbols on it. All sorts of strange symbols.

"Incredible," he said. "Roboto, are you getting this?"

"I have just initiated my recording systems, as per your request."

"Look there!" Adam pointed out. "There's Grayskull! And Zoar!"

"Hey, over here Adam," said Ram Man. "Here's Snake Mountain."

"And the Great Towers, Adam," observed Snout Sprout.

"If you are all finished," Evil Lynn wondered impatiently. "My cohorts and I have a long walk back to my throne room."

"Well, since we have this recorded, then I suppose we are," Adam started, "but I would - "

"Finished. Good."

She pulled out one last key and inserted it into a small opening in the center of the door. Evil Lynn then turned the key. There was the sound of large metal clamps opening and then the sound of chains being pulled. The great faded gold door opened, revealing a pitch-black tunnel beyond.

Adam opened up a pack on his back and retrieved torches. He pressed the on-switch on his and waved immediately within. There was a landing and a large set of stairs flowing directly from it.

"Okay. Let's move."

"Have a good time, gentlemen. Don't get lost," Evil Lynn laughed as they all entered. With those last words, the door slammed shut. Metal was heard clanking again.

Then there was complete silence. Adam upped the luminance on his power-torch and led the others down the stairs. As they passed the first couple of steps, they soon realized that these steps were inside a very large, open cavern.

"This is wonderful," Ram Man said sarcastically.

"Sensors are not detecting much of anything, King Adam."

"There's probably not much to detect," retorted Snout Sprout.

"Let's just keep moving."

And so they. Darkness nipped at their every step. If not for their torches, the foursome would have fallen to their death already. They could guess at both the depth and what was at the bottom of the dark abyss beneath them.

After nearly two hours of walking carefully down these steps, they arrived on a landing.

"Okay, so now what?" asked Ram Man.

Adam swung around his torch. It shined on what looked like a ledge on the wall that slowly descended downward. The ledge was only three feet wide, but looked fairly stable.

"I guess we go this way."

"Nothing like a good guess, I suppose," Snout Sprout followed.

So, the band of warriors began to walk down the ledge. It was dangerous, most definitely. It was lot less stable than previous realized. It would often times change width, causing the heroes to press themselves against the wall to make their way down it. There were more than enough close calls.

The ledge scaled the great walls of the caverns and it was very surprising that they were still in the same chamber they had begun their travel down the long stairs in.

As the ledge ramp neared the ground, a strange cold crept across them all. Finally, then, they reached the cavern floor. It was slimy and slick underneath their boots.

"Ah, man, this is almost as bad as when Hordak ordered me to the Slime Pit!" Ram Man exclaimed. "Ha! But those guys wasted it on me. I still had my helmet on."

Adam tried to muster a grin, but he couldn't. Something was drawing his attention forward. He stepped forth and saw what it was that called him. In the middle of the chamber was a large, circular hole. He couldn't seem to tell what was inside.

"What is it?"

"I don't know. I . . ."

"Wait!" ordered Roboto. "My audio sensors are detecting a noise!"

"Ssssssssssssssssssssssss . . ." a ominous sound filled the chamber.

"What is that?"

"Sounds like a snake."

As if on cue, a gigantic viper shout from the hole and made straight for the gang. Snout Sprout was thrown backwards, taking the brunt of its assault.

Adam reached for his sword, but was smacked away by the snake's body. It was making for Roboto.

Just as it was about to reach the robotic warrior, Ram Man bashed his head into the snake's side. The snake hissed and swung back. Roboto and Snout Sprout opened fire on that large reptile.

"Look! A tunnel!" shouted Ram Man, pointing to a small doorway that led away from the chamber.

"Go! Run!" Adam ordered.

The four shot for the doorway, the snake almost literally nipping a their heels. They ran into, but the snake was following.

"Oh no you don't!" Ram Man yelled at it. He smashed against the wall of the tunnel. Rocks tumbled down from the ceiling and blocked the snake from the warriors.

As the others coughed from the dust, Snout Sprout looked forward. The tunnel was small and only grew deeper and deeper into Eternia.

"Well," he said to the others, "looks like we're stuck between a rock and hard place."