CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
"Judgement"
Adam walked into the Throne Room of Eternos and had a seat next to his father. As Adora walked in, she whispered something into his ear.
"I need to speak to you later," she told him.
"Alright."
Adora walked over next to Marlena's chair and looked out at the crowd of Defenders and guardsmen. She nodded to Randor. He stood up.
"Man-At-Arms, let them in."
The doors of the Throne Room opened and the Warriors of Eternia led in Hordak and King Hiss. Neither looked at their highest as they were brought to the center of the room. They were surrounded by scores of soldiers and royal Defenders.
"Warlord Hordak. King Hiss. You are here to stand trial for your crimes against Eternia and Etheria," Man-At-Arms proclaimed. "The evidence has been presented by Prince Adam and Princess Adora. The royal family stands against you.
"King Hiss, your judgement shall only be held on the accounts since your imprisonment. The following accounts are as following: conspiracy, subterfuge, assault, murder, attempt at mass murder, breaking royal commands, and kidnapping.
"Warlord Hordak," Man-At-Arms continued. "It will be noted that you will be judged as both a criminal and a warlord. The accounts against you are as following: murder, enslavement, kidnapping, kidnapping a member of the royal family, seizure of property belonging to the free citizens of Eternia, seizure of property belonging to the royal family, mass destruction, mass devastation, mass production of an army to be used against the order of Eternia, conspiracy, assault, and malice.
"The royal family consisting of Prince Adam, Princess Adora, Queen Marlena, and King Randor have therefore judged both Warlord Hordak and King Hiss as enemies of the free peoples of Eternia, as well as Etheria. Their judgement will be announced by King Randor himself."
Randor stood up. " By order of the royal family of Eternos and the ruling class of Eternos, I hereby sentence the both of you to teleportation using the recently reconstructed Diamond Ray of Disappearance. It is there you shall live the rest of your lives until you both end. You will be teleported tomorrow at sundown."
Man-At-Arms nodded. "This judgement is over. Take them to their prison cells for the rest of the night. Your elite members will be receiving a life-sentence. This trial has completed."
The court adjourned and Adam headed out towards the courtyard. Adora followed him. "What is it you wanted to talk to me about?" he asked. "I heard you had finally made contact with Granamyr and the others in that other realm. Is this about that?"
"Of sorts," she stated. "Adam, they told they were there because they discovered why there was so much fighting over the past 1,000 years. Granamyr claimed there was some sort of judgement and battle coming. He told me that you knew about this."
Adam paused. This was the moment he had feared for nearly six months. How could he tell her that every little battle that had been fought was just for kicks by some sort of alien experiments?
"I . . . it's . . . well . . ."
"ADAM! ADORA!" shouted Oroko, rushing over. "Man-At-Arms wants you guys in the lab in a jiffy! He said he's found something very important!"
Adam and Adora followed Oroko over to Man-At-Arms lab. Duncan sat a chair in front of a very large telescope.
"What is it, Duncan?" asked Adam.
"Good. You guys are here. Check this out."
He pressed a button his chair and a large screen clicked on. The image was of high orbit above Eternia. There was a strange energy cloud just sitting there.
"What is it?"
"I don't know," Duncan answered, fingering the telescope controls. "I came back here after the trial to check-up on this telescope I just worked up. I took one peek and there it was."
"Duncan," wondered Adora, "this green light. Does it mean what I think it means?"
"Yes. We're detecting life-forms in it."
Adam's eyes grew large and he stepped towards the door. "I . . . I've got to go . . ."
He ran out of the lab and back into the courtyard, where Cringer was playing with some ball. The green tiger looked up as his master held aloft the Sword of Power.
"BY THE POWER OF GRAYSKULL!" Adam shouted, energy enveloping him from the sword. "I HAVE THE POWER!"
He-Man appeared instead of Adam, and turned Cringer into Battle Cat. He-Man leapt onto Battle Cat's back and the two headed off towards Castle Grayskull.
***
Deep in the prison cells of Eternos, Hordak and King Hiss were placed back in their rooms, which were guarded by ten soldiers.
"Damn them," muttered Hordak. "DAMN THEM!"
"Oh shut up," King Hiss replied. "At least this way we can find a way back to Eternia. The realm isn't infinite, you know?"
Just then, each of the soldiers dropped to the ground. "What the - ?!" snorted Hordak.
Then, their cells opened up. King Hiss and Hordak walked out, stepping between the soldiers. "What is thissss?" asked Hiss.
"An act of vengeance," stated a cloaked man from the end of the corridor.
***
He-Man walked into Castle Grayskull and went straight for the throne room. "SORCERESS!" he shouted.
The feathered-gowned woman stood up from her throne. "He-Man?"
"We need to talk," he said simply.
"He-Man, you must know that it was never my intention to deceive you. I had no choice. I was sworn to keep the secrets of Grayskull."
"I'm well aware of that. Quite frankly, I'm tired of being mad at you, Sorceress. I don't have time to be mad at you. They've returned. The Zodak."
"Yes," she admitted. "Yes they have."
"I need to know. What's the difference in the Zodak that's sitting up in orbit and the man that I know of the same namesake."
"There is none. Zodac speaks for the Zodak. He is their voice."
"I see," he returned, feeling very uncomfortable. "Now, I betting there is no way to stop this judgement from coming together into some great war?"
"I do not believe so. It has been tried many times. But as long as there is evil on Eternia, there will be war."
"Which is why we need to cut down what is making that happen. Eldor told me that things were balanced somewhat when the Towers were gone. I'm thinking if we can banish the Towers again. This time, getting rid of them for good, it will cause the balance to become partially restored."
"It may work, He-Man. The Swords still exist."
He-Man nodded. "I'm reluctant to get rid of the swords until we know that Snake Mountain is no longer a threat."
"I agree. I'm afraid I am not the one that can banish the Towers, though."
"Who can?"
Just as she was about to answer, He-Man's communicator went off. He pulled it from its holster and opened up the comm-link.
"He-Man here."
"He-Man, this is Teela. We have a situation here back at Eternos."
"What is it?"
"Hordak and King Hiss. It looks like there was struggle, then . . . well, they lost. Both King Hiss and Hordak are dead."
"What?"
"Yes. Not only that, but father reports that this energy cloud is settling in at a lower orbit."
He-Man looked back at the Sorceress, then turned to the communicator once more. "Teela, I want all the Defenders assembled at the Main Hall of the Central Towers as soon as possible. Have my parents there, too. We have a lot to discuss."