***DISCLAIMER IN 1, BLAH BLAH BLAH *****Thanks for all the feedback so far (LadyNiko, I'd be lost without your input.) Enjoy this next chap and as always I appreciate any and all reviews I get. Thanks!

CHAPTER 13: THE EYE OF THE STORM

Adacan was beginning to wish he had never left his room.

There he was, on the ground in front of possibly the scariest looking place he had ever seen, talking to the weirdest person, or thing, he had ever met, his mother had disappeared and he was starting to wonder if she had ever been there at all and to top it off, the storm had kicked up so much there was no way he would make it back to the palace before it would start pouring.

Not to mention the fact that it was getting close to dawn, which meant he would have been out all night. He was sure by now his father had the Royal Guard scouring all of Eternia for him.

Sheepishly, he looked up to the cloaked stranger, who started to pull her hood back over her face.

"You have no idea how mad my dad is going to be at me when I get home." he said dryly, trying not to show any fear. "I better get going, it's been...different."

He started to stand up but the winds knocked him down again. He grunted as his rear hit the ground.

"On second thought, maybe I'll wait until the wind dies down."

The advisor nodded. He wasn't sure, but he thought he saw her smile a little. He also noticed she didn't speak much. Just that one time so far. He wondered who or what she was. He tried to make small talk in an effort to push the tense fear to the back of his mind.

"So, um, do you live here? This is Castle Grayskull isn't it? Are you the one who keeps calling me here? he asked quickly.

The advisor shook her head "no" and then "yes" and then "no" again. She still didn't speak. Adacan worried about the warning his father had given him. He knew if he was found at Grayskull, his father would never let him leave the palace again for the rest of his life.

"Oh yeah, I'm going to be in A LOT of trouble," he scowled. "I'll be grounded forever."

In the distance, a soft rumbling sound seemed to get closer and closer. At first, Adacan thought it was thunder and it alarmed him slightly. Storms never bothered him before, in fact he found them relaxing in a strange way, but this approaching storm made him very uneasy, as if it were bringing something else along with it.

"This storm is going to be pretty bad," he said casually as he turned his head back to the advisor. "I should really try to get home.."

He tried to stand again, but again the winds knocked him down. The young prince was becoming frustrated by his current predicament. He looked up as the stranger approached him. He wasn't too comfortable with this, whoever it was, being so close to him, but something told him he wasn't in any danger.

The advisor reached out her hand and touched the very visible gray streak in the child's hair. She tilted her head to the side questioningly.

Adacan was a little confused and put off by the action.

"That?" he said as if answering a question. "I've had that since I was little. I don't know why it's like that."

The rumbling started to get a little louder and closer. He looked around. It started to sound as if the sky itself was falling. He still couldn't see anything but storm clouds, but nonetheless, he was fast becoming nervous about the situation.

He turned back to find the stranger gone.

"Where'd she go?" he asked himself. "Geez, she's weird."

He looked up at the top of the castle and saw her white cloak blowing in the wind on the top of a tower. She was looking intently on something out in the forest.

He saw his chance to get out of there without offending anyone.

"Well, she did say I shouldn't be here..." he muttered under his breath.

This time, he was able to fight the winds, and managed to stand up and position himself against a rock. He looked down into the abyss around him and decided it would be a very good idea to get off the cliff and back to the forest where he could find shelter in the trees.

Clinging to the rock, he pushed against the winds and tried to balance himself enough where he could walk upright. His hair flew wildly around him, his jacket flapped in the wind. He was scared, but would rather die than show it.

He pushed himself forward, and with each step, he was almost knocked back down. The unforgiving winds just thrashed harder and harder around him. He looked up and saw he was almost there and a sense of relief started to wash over him.

He was about 10 feet to land when the lightning bolt struck the ground in front of him, sending him flying backwards before he fell hard on the stone bridge.

The bolt didn't hit him but the force of the impact did. He lay of the ground looking up at the sky for a few minutes. His vision was fuzzy and his ears were ringing. He felt himself start to slip into unconsciousness and tried to fight it. Despite his efforts, he started to drift off and as he lay there, he swore he could hear someone calling him.

"Mom?" he whispered breathlessly. He passed out before he heard the answer.

******

Jerry paced back and forth at the palace. He grunted, growled and snorted; vocalizing his discontent about something in the only other way he could without flat out saying it.

Orko floated up to him nonchalantly and stopped before him.

"What's the matter Jerry?" he squeaked. " Scared of the storm?"

Jerry ignored the magician and kept pacing.

"I'm not scared of the storm you dolt," he growled. "Something's wrong with the kid and I can't figure out what it is. I've got to get out of here and go find him."

The dog walked over to the window and looked outside. Lightning lit up the sky, the winds ripped through the trees, there were already several branches on the palace courtyard and thunder boomed so loudly the rottweiler thought his ears would explode.

"He's out there, and he's in trouble..I can feel it," he grunted. "I can't just sit here."

Orko floated up next to him and held his arms up.

"What can you do in this storm?" he asked annoyingly. "Besides, Man-At-Arms and Adora are out looking for him, not to mention all of the guards. I'm sure they'll find him."

Jerry barked fiercely at the Trollan and turned leave.

"I'm not going to just sit here like SOME people," he snapped. "I'm going to go look too." He trotted about ten feet stopped and turned to look at Orko. "He's your best friend's son..aren't you coming?"

Orko shrunk back against the wall, hung his head down, then conceded. As Jerry trotted down the hall, the court magician followed him, slowly.

*******

He-Man reached Grayskull first, followed by Man-At-Arms and She-Ra who was leading Swiftwind behind her.

The jawbridge was down and there were huge, black scorch marks on the ground in front of it. Man-At-Arms cocked his eyebrow and reached for his mace.

"We had better be careful," he instructed the twins. "Something doesn't feel right."

He-Man noticed it too, there was something absent from Grayskull, but he couldn't tell what. His eyes narrowed suspiciously as the fierce winds blew his hair into his face. She-Ra held her arms over her head so that she could see.

Man-At-Arms started walking towards the doorway. Holding his mace tightly in one hand and using the other to steady himself. If something was wrong, he was going to be ready for it. He didn't know what the term "old man" meant.

The twins walked alongside him over the bridge and into the castle. The winds in the halls always sounded like screams and moans making the dark castle that much more eerie.

Other than that, it was silent, dead silent. More than hear a pin drop silent, it was like a tomb. Lifeless.

He-Man shuddered, the last time it had felt like that was when the Sorceress was dying. Instantly, he became concerned for Teela's safety.

"Come on," he sped his pace. "We've got to hurry."

The three started to run through the corridors and hallways until they reached the throne room. They weren't sure what they would find, but swords were drawn, maces were in hands and they were ready for anything that came their way.

Well, almost anything.

They stopped dead in their tracks when they saw the advisor sitting on the stairs cradling the limp prince's body.

He-Man dropped his sword in shock and ran to them, practically ripping the advisor's arms off as he grabbed his son away from her.

"Adacan!" he shouted and looked at the cloaked figure angrily. "What happened to him?!?"

The advisor didn't answer him and this infuriated him more.

"Answer me!" he commanded, his eyes wide with anger.

The advisor just stood and walked towards Man-At-Arms and She-Ra. He-Man looked down at his son and gritted his teeth. He rocked the boy in his arms and stroked his hair.

"This is not happening," he thought madly to himself. "I won't let this happen again."

As if his sheer willpower sparked it, the boy turned his head and let out a little sigh. As he took a few deep breaths, the color seemed to come back to his cheeks. He opened his eyes slightly and them closed them again. He- Man breathed a heavy sigh of relief as Man-At-Arms approached him and knelt down beside the two.

"He'll be fine," he said reassuringly as he checked the child's pulse and other vitals. "I don't know what happened but it looks like he was just knocked out...let him rest."

Man-At-Arms looked around the throne room for his daughter and his eyebrows furrowed. "Where's Teela?" he muttered to himself loud enough for He-Man to hear.

Behind them Swiftwind whinnied loudly and reared up. They both turned to look and saw She-Ra with her sword drawn, in a defensive stance in front of her horse. The advisor stood motionless, with her arm extended out to them.

"Back off I said!" She-Ra yelled at the cloaked figure.

He-Man set his son down on the floor gently and stood up. Man-At-Arms walked over to the stranger and crossed his arms. He-Man put his hand on his teacher's shoulder and tried to calm everyone.

"That's Teela's advisor," he said flatly. "They are sent by the Universal Counsel. I don't think it will cause any trouble. It had better not anyway."

Man-At-Arms stared intently on the advisor's head, he could only see a shadow over its face. It's silence and demeanor made him very wary of its intentions.

"Where's Teela then?" he asked sternly.

The advisor just stood still and didn't speak.

"Answer him!" She-Ra commanded, ready to knock the stranger down and get some answers her way.

He-Man put his arm up to calm his sister and opened his mouth to say something when he was cut off by a very loud, deep, intruding voice.

"I'm afraid she's the quiet type most of the time."

The three spun around to see a huge man in a red cloak standing by the throne.

"Zodac," Man-At-Arms muttered. "I should've known."

The titan smiled as he walked down the steps, almost bouncing happily, and held his hand out to his old compatriot.

"Duncan, you old tinkerer, how the hells are you? It's been too long!" Zodac beamed at the reunion.

Man-At-Arms had a slightly different reaction and stared at the titan coldly.

"Apparently not long enough," he retaliated.

Zodac's smile dropped a little and he pulled his hand back. Looking around at the confused people standing among them, he decided not to waste anytime.

"Still mad about the little sand snake incident I see," he chuckled. "You never could take a joke."

Man-At-Arms rolled his eyes and looked at He-Man.

"This is Zodac, he's a watcher for the Counsel. We worked together before, years ago, and we've had a few differences in our past," he explained apathetically.

Zodac slapped him on the back, almost knocking Man-At-Arms over, and laughed heartily.

"The only difference we had is that you were never any fun," he retorted. "You were too damn serious all the time..obviously you still are."

He-Man cleared his throat and tried to direct attention to the matter at hand.

"This is very sweet and all, but where's Teela?" he asked point blankly. "We need to see her right away."

Zodac, smile faded to a frown and he glared at the advisor.

"You couldn't even open your trap to tell them what was going on," he seethed. "Gods, woman you are impossible."

The three warriors looked at each other. At least now they knew what the advisor was.

He turned his back and walked back towards the stairs. As he sat down, he flipped his robe out and some of it partly landed on Adacan's sleeping body.

He-Man narrowed his eyes as Zodac looked at the boy.

"What the blazes happened to him?" he shook his head. "No matter, anyway. Teela is in a 'meeting' with the counsel so I'm afraid at the moment, she is a bit indisposed."

He pointed to the advisor and snapped his fingers, beckoning her to his side like she was a pet. However, without a word, she obeyed and walked over to him.

"It could be awhile," Zodac continued. "She's in a spot of trouble and it could be sometime before the counsel figures out what exactly to do about it. Until then, she.." Points his thumb to the advisor. "Is sort of, in charge here. Unless I'm around of course."

Man-At-Arms' and He-Man's faces read the same half angry, half worried expressions.

"What kind of trouble?" they both asked at the same time.

Zodac looked at both of them for a second, and then focused his attention on He-Man. He stared so hard that She-Ra raised an eyebrow and walked over to her brother's side.

"Let's just say some rules of procedure have been broken," he said never averting his stare from He-Man. "I don't think I will or need to elaborate. But I will say the counsel has already conducted the trial so she's waiting for their decision."

Man-At-Arms narrowed his eyes suspiciously. He could feel the anger radiating within him. Next to him, He-Man cheeks burned with fury.

"What decision?" Man-At-Arms said through gritted teeth. "Why is she on trial with the counsel?"

Zodac stood up, towering over the four other adults, and looked down at Man- At-Arms.

"You of all people should know what rules are in place for the sitting Sorceress, Duncan. There are constraints of the position that those chosen to be the guardian of this mystic place..." he looked at He-Man again, who was slowly starting to get the picture. "Cannot allow themselves to give into. Teela gave in to some of those constraints and thusly, broke the rules." He waved his hand nonchalantly. "However, the fault is not entirely hers, I admitted my mistakes, such as they were, to the counsel, in her defense." He-man looked at him confusedly. "And that should bear some weight on their decision."

He sat back down.

"Besides, the worst that could happen is that she could be found guilty and sentenced to an eternity of hard labor within the Counsel hallways," he said smugly. "The members do like the floors and statues to shine."

That broke the camel's back and Man-At-Arms lunged at the titan, but he was not alone, and He-Man got to Zodac first, grabbing him by the collar.

"Bring her back here or so help me I'll.." He yelled furiously. She-Ra knew that this particular course of action wasn't going to get them anywhere and she put her hand on her brother's arm.

"Down boy," she soothed. "This won't help."

He released Zodac, who now appeared unsympathetic to the hero's anger.

"If I were you," he said straightening his collar. "I wouldn't do that again. I may be forbidden from killing people but I'm not forbidden from making them suffer greatly."

This time the advisor put her hand on Zodac's mighty arm and shook her head "no." He brushed her off and then pointed a finger at her. His black eyes flashed.

"You stay out of this," he commanded. "I don't need your advice."

The advisor nodded and stood down.

"Now, I believe we have more pressing matters to concern ourselves with for the time being," Zodac said walking upstairs to the tower. He stopped, turned and looked at the angry group below. He-Man was kneeling by his son again.

Zodac rolled his eyes.

"Will you come on, he'll be perfectly fine!" he roared. "We've got work to do!"

The advisor followed, her head down, as did a thoroughly unimpressed She-Ra and a still steaming Man-At-Arms. He-Man remained for a few minutes and watched his son sleep.

"I'm sorry," he whispered as he touched his son's hair, picking out gray strands and rubbing them between his fingers.

The boy didn't open his eyes, but he turned his head as if he were caught up in a dream. He started mumbling something that He-Man couldn't make out. He knelt closer to hear what Adacan was saying.

"I found.. Mom for you.. Dad.." He muttered.

A tear formed in He-Man's left eye but before he could shed it, there was a thunderous boom and the whole castle shook.

"Get up here now!!!!!!!!" He could hear Zodac scream.

As he sprinted up the stairs to the roof of the tower, Adacan's words rang through the warrior's head. But there was no time for him to concentrate on what it meant. The group was standing near the edge, looking down in front of the castle.

The winds were gone. There was still lightning but no thunder. The sky was deep red, the shade of blood. Eternia sat in corpse-like quiet, in anticipation for what could very well be the final battle.

He-Man approached the group and looked out onto the horizon. Below them, the trees were parting as if something very big was forcing its way to the castle. They focused intently as time seemed to drag out.

No one moved. Not even to breathe, as the part in the trees got closer and wider. A foul stench floated in the air, Man-At-Arms recognized it as the stench of death.

Zodac looked at the advisor.

"We've got to close the door," he hissed at her. "Stay here and DON'T do anything!"

Zodac waved his robe in front of his and disappeared. Suddenly, the jawbridge turned red and started to close. At the same time, He-Man, She-Ra and Man-At-Arms were consumed in a flash of light and transported down to the bridge. When the light faded, they found themselves standing next to Zodac in front of Grayskull.

The advisor looked down on them from the tower. He-Man looked up at her, feeling her cold stare right through him. Zodac observed the warrior and read his mind.

"She can't fight," he said flatly. "She's of no use other than to observe. If she becomes involved, she will face the consequences of her actions, as Teela is right now."

He-Man flinched. He worried about Teela, he wanted to be sure she was alright and hadn't been harmed. He hated the idea of her being on trial for anything and he wished with every fiber of his being that he could help her. Zodac caught those thoughts too.

"You can't help her," he said, trying to keep the warrior's attention focused. "This is a trial she has to face on her own. Believe me, she's not the first to go through this either."

Zodac looked up at the advisor who was still staring at the group. Using telepathy, he tried to talk her out of what he knew she was considering to do.

"You know your place," he told her. "If you interfere, the deal is off and it's all over."

From her perch the advisor nodded. Zodac looked back out onto the horizon.

"He's almost here," he said anxiously. "I can't fight beside you but I can defend Grayskull. You will have to cover each other's backs."

Man-At-Arms grew angry but remained quiet. He wanted Teela there with them, he knew if nothing else, she was a warrior and would be essential in this battle. He knew Zodac's only loyalty lied with the Counsel and that if one of them were dying in front of him, he wouldn't life a finger to help.

He looked at the tower and wondered if the same was true about the advisor.

He-Man sensed Man-At-Arms discontent and grew more concerned. He leaned over to She-Ra and nudged her arm.

"Whatever happens to me," he whispered to his worried sister. "If this gets out of hand, go get Adacan and get out of here."

She-Ra opened her mouth to protest but then closed it as she looked into her brother's pleading eyes.

"I promise," she whispered and returned her attention to the forest.

Ahead of them, the trees on the outskirts of the forest started to part and the rumbling became so loud that all of Eternia seemed to shake.

The groups watched in paralyzed horror as rows and rows of the most horrendous demons and monsters know to man started to appear. This wasn't going to be a battle between them and scores of robot troopers and evil minions like they were used to in the past.

This was going to be a battle between them and the army from the inner circle of the hells.

And as He-Man's mind tried to come to terms with what he was about to face off with, a pair of red glowing eyes met his gray ones. Skeletor cackled insanely as he strode to the front lines on Panthor's back.

His scaly blue muscles tightened and he sneered.

"Tonight, He-Man," he seethed, "I'm going to reunite you with your princess."