Chapter Seven
"Destiny's Way"
Orko weaved through the room, making sure everything was packed up in his trusty magical hat. Having said good bye to Yuckers and Uncle Montok, Orko felt more than ready to head back to Eternia with his two new friends - Rokkon and Stonedar.
Well, there was still one more person to say good bye to. Dree Ell waited in the Living Room, looking sadly at Orko with big, blue eyes.
"Oh, Orko, do you have to go?"
"I'm sorry, Dree Ell, but I need to get these two back to Eternia. Plus, I'm still the court jester. You never know what kind of depression has come over Eternos now that I've been gone for so long."
Dree Ell frowned. "Okay . . ."
"I'll miss you, Dree Ell! Come here!"
The two kissed strongly, then separated. "I'll see you soon, Orko!"
"Take care, Dree Ell."
Rokkon nodded, followed by Stonedar. "Madam."
"Ma'am."
A portal opened then, and Orko took one last, long look at his beautiful girlfriend before leaving Trolla for Eternia.
***
Burned, bruised, broken, and bloody, laid Teela's young body. Like a rag-doll thrown across a room, it was limp, tired and lifeless. He-Man fought every instinct to move go to her, lift her up in his arms and carry Teela off to Eternos or Grayskull or wherever she could receive the best care.
But instead, He-Man fought something else.
Skeletor.
Charged by the powers within the Great Towers, this pair was locked in a continuous battle with each other. Skeletor's lurched forward with his Chaos Staff, only to have it blocked by He-Man's Sword of Power. He-Man pushed back, sending Skeletor staggering backwards.
But Skeletor jumped up, throwing out a beam of power towards He-Man. He-Man deflected the blast and leapt up, kicking Skeletor in the chest. Skeletor recovered, barely missing a beat. He slammed his fist against He-Man's face, then thrusted his elbow in his gut.
He-Man, though, shifted backwards, kicking Skeletor in the shin. Then, he kneed Skeletor in the jaw, threw his fist against the top Skeletor's head, and sent the villain to the ground. Skeletor appeared beaten and He-Man turned around to get Teela out of there - but was struck down by an energy blast that was accompanied by a wild cackle.
"We're not through yet, hero!"
***
The battle raged on, continuing the war that began nearly two hours ago. What started as the Heroic Warriors against the combined forces of the Evil Warriors and the Snake Men, had became complicated when Hordak arrived with his Horde Elite Forces.
Beast-Man and Grizzlor were making scratching and biting each other like two wild animals.
Leech was getting smashed by Ram-Man and Whiplash, who then turned on each other. Mantenna blasted away Tung Lashor, but fell to Sssqueeze. Mer-Man strived to keep Catra from ripping him to shreds. Buzz-Off was at with Scorpia, dodging her tail.
And on and on.
But this did not compare to the ferocity of the battle that took place near the entrance of the Central Tower.
Switching his laser cannon into a blade, Hordak lunched at King Hiss. Hiss, though dodged it each time and snarled out to bite at Hordak. Hordak was fast, and backed away each time. He then jumped up into the air and kicked Hiss back.
Hiss stumbled, but fired out a snake, which wrapped around Hordak's neck, squeezing hard. "So easy . . ." Hiss said as Hordak struggled against the strangle hold.
"No . . . it's not . . ." gasped Hordak. His blade-hand extended and he slashed off Hiss's snake-arm.
"AHHHHHH!" shrieked Hiss, blood flowing from the wound. "You will pay for this!"
The snakes that formed Hiss upper body shot out and stretched, closing the distance between King Hiss and Hordak. They wrapped around King Hiss, the cold forms slithering and holding Hordak. Hordak's entire body was covered in the deadly snakes.
"Die! DIE!" Hiss yelled, snakes coiling around Hordak's body.
But, then, Hordak's body began to grow super-heated. King Hiss flew back, his snakes burnt from the grasp. He pulled back re-coiling his snakes to his form. Hordak staggered, exhausted from his trick. But he pulled out a dagger and lunched at Hiss.
Hiss moved out of the way, and caught Hordak's arm with a bite from his snake. The dagger flew from his hand, sliding to the dry ground. Hordak gasped, the poison seeping through his body.
"SHADOW WEAVER! I NEED YOU!"
The red cloaked witch blasted away Evil Lynn, sending her opponent to the ground. Shadow Weaver then fired a beam at King Hiss, imprisoning him within a cube of energy. She then moved over to Hordak and touched his wound. The poison vanished from his system.
"I need you to summon our troops! This situation is growing out of control!" Hordak ordered, regaining his strength.
Hiss pressed against the cube, and yelled out. "You'll never get away with this, Hordak!"
"You will be dealt with in due time, King Hiss."
Suddenly, a large, golden-lit portal shimmered open. Horde Troopers, all baring weapons, marched out towards the chaos that was the Heroic Warriors, Snake Men, Horde Elite, and Evil Warriors. They opened fire, stun beams striking down Beast-Man, Mer-Man, Stratos, Buzz-Off, Extendar, Sssqueeze, and Rattlor.
"You will stand down immediately or be fired upon."
The group was about to attack, but stopped when a second portal opened up, depositing another wave of Horde Troopers. They had no choice but to surrender.
Shadow Weaver grinned and turned to face King Hiss.
But the snake king was gone.
***
King Randor thundered through the throne room, not liking the reports he was hearing. Marlena followed him, trying to keep his temper down.
"Randor, we can try and assemble the troops, perhaps send in a wave of royal guards."
"Ultimately leaving Eternos without protect? No. Our best bet is to contact She-Ra and the Great Rebellion. They know how to deal with Hordak the best."
"And you don't? Didn't you fight him in the war?"
"Of course I did. But I was a different man, then. A younger one."
Marlena smiled and placed a hand on his cheek. "The same young heart beats within your chest, my husband. You can not tell me that you aren't willing to fight against Hordak and the Horde once more."
"Of course I am. By the Ancients! I shall! But I will need help! Quickly, where is Adam?"
Just then, there was thunderous crash of light. A portal opened right behind Randor and Marlena. The two, prepared for anything, drew weapons. Randor held the Royal Sword, while Marlena produced a dagger.
"Hiya!" greeted the voice from within the portal. Orko floated out, along with two figures that appeared to be some sort of stone-men.
"Orko . . .?" Randor stammered. "What are you doing here? Who are these people?"
Orko smiled. "Oh! This is Rokkon and Stonedar! My new friends! They wanted to know if they could stay here on Eternia for a while."
Marlena grumped. "Orko, I'm sorry, but we don't have time for this right now. The Horde is attacking again, and are out to claim an ancient power - "
"Excuse me," interrupted Rokkon. "Did you say the Horde?"
"Why, yes. Yes I did," Marlena replied.
"Why?" wondered Randor with a sly eye.
Stonedar hardened. "We have unfinished business with the Horde."
***
"Damn," He-Man muttered as he waded through the darkness. He battle with Skeletor had taken his out of the first hall and into a number of rooms, most of which had no light at all. This was one of them. He grasped his sword in uneasiness. This was wrong, he thought. He should be helping Teela, who was grievously injured.
"Are you scared, He-Man?" came a taunting voice.
"Skeletor?"
"Heh heh heh. Are you scared?"
"No, of course not. I'm not afraid of you. I never have been."
"I didn't mean for you, fool. I meant for your little girlfriend. Teela is quite harmed, I'm sure," Skeletor prattled on. He-Man felt a prang of guilt within his heart, and suddenly felt the need to get out of the room. But instead, he concentrated on finding Skeletor. He had to be moving, his voice kept changing direction. "That was a kill shot, He-Man. She got in the way. Again."
There. To the right.
"If she survives this one, which she may not, I suppose I'll have to - "
"QUIET!"
He-Man moved and swung hard, the room resounding with a loud CLANG. Skeletor presence was known, and he was well aware of it. He launched his Chaos Staff towards He-Man, but He-Man deflected it and struck at Skeletor once more.
Skeletor blocked the strike, swung around, but missed. He-Man struck the Chaos Staff with the Sword of Power once. Twice. Three times, causing Skeletor to shift forward. He slammed into He-Man. He-Man staggered back, but launched his foot at Skeletor.
He-Man then swung again, but was blocked again. He jabbed at Skeletor, but missed. Skeletor fired an energy beam at He-Man, hitting him in the leg. He-Man cried out in pain and fell to the ground in a heap. He tried to lift his sword, but it was kicked from his hand and clattered across the room.
Skeletor stood ready then, lifting his Chaos Staff. It glowed with power. "This is how it will end, He-Man. A fitting battle, and a good end."
He-Man braced himself as the Chaos Staff began to crash down upon -
"NO!" yelled Skeletor then, before crashing to the marble floor next to He-Man. A man stood behind him. Not just any man . . . Hordak!
"Fool," Hordak chided. He then began to glow like He-Man and Skeletor had earlier. "The power of the Central Tower belongs to the one who helped construct it!"
"What?" wondered He-Man.
"SILENCE!"
A sudden cocoon of energy wrapped around He-Man's body. Hordak snorted, smiled, and made for the stairs.
"Take a rest, He-Man, as I claim the rest of the power of Central Tower completely to myself!"
He-Man hung his head. He had failed. Teela was fatally injured. The Central Tower was in Hordak's hands. And if Hordak was here, than that meant most assuredly that his evil Horde army was here as well. With Hordak's claim on the Central Tower and its powers, then no one stood a chance.
Little did He-Man notice, though, the figure of King Hiss slipping through the shadows, towards the elevator lift.
***
Randor, Orko, Rokkon and Stonedar crept across a cliff as the Great Towers came into view. Randor remembered hearing stories and legends about the Towers, but he never expected to see them for himself. Part of him was happy that he had this chance. Part of him knew, though, just how, who and why they were raised.
Carefully hidden behind a rock, Randor and Orko gasped at the sight below. The Horde Troopers were lined up, weapons primed, in front of the Heroic Warriors, Evil Warriors and Snake Men. The three groups had their hands behind their heads, having surrendered.
"Damn it," cursed Randor. "Perhaps I should have brought Adam."
"King Randor! Look!" yelped Orko quietly, pointing further down the cliff. "It's Man-At-Arms!"
Indeed, Man-At-Arms stood there, frozen in statue form. The group carefully walked over and examined the capture hero. "Some sort of curse," Randor assumed. "Orko, is there anything you can do?"
"I can try," Orko replied, pulling out a sag of magic sand. Pouring some of the sand out on his hand, he whispered a spell, then huffed the sand at Man-At-Arms. As it fell upon the right hand man, the statue spell broke.
"What - !?" yelled Man-At-Arms, collapsing to the ground.
"Shhh, quiet," Randor hushed, helping up his old friend. "We have a situation to take care of," he continued, pointing to the Horde Troopers and the surrendered warriors.
Man-At-Arms fell silent, thinking. "Too bad there's no way he can disable the Horde Troopers long enough. Given any sort of major distraction or destruction, the Heroic Warriors, Evil Warriors and Snake Men would jump into action. But we don't have anything that can create that kind of damage that quickly . . ."
Rokkon smiled. "Leave that to us, sir," he said, throwing a hand on Man-At-Arms.
"And you are . . .?"
"No time for introductions," Randor hissed. "Go!"
Rokkon and Stonedar began to change suddenly, into two large boulders. Those boulders then, took off the ground, heading right for the Horde Troopers.
Then, the pair smashed down, sending mechanical parts, armor platting, weapons, dirt and dust flying into the air. Then they flew up again . . .
Landing in the same fashion, destroying Horde Troopers left and right.
And that's when all hell broke loose.
The Heroic Warriors, Evil Warriors and Snake Men surged forward, slamming right into the Horde Elite and the Troopers. The lines crumbled brilliantly as - for five minutes - the three forces united as one to rip through their mutual enemy.
***
Hordak reached the top, reeling the power from the Central Tower into himself. Ancient spells wrapped around him as what he created now empowered him. He destroyed a nearby Talon Fighter, just to prove to himself the awesome power that he now possessed. Hordak walked to the edge, hoping to see his forces ready and willing to make a second march on Eternia. Horde Prime would be so pleased.
"No!" he yelled, seeing the battle going on below.
"Yesssss."
King Hiss sprung into attack, wrapping his snakes around Hordak's body, lifting the warlord off the ground.
"The power will be mine, Hordak!"
The fierce glow from Hordak vanished, reappearing around King Hiss. He tossed Hordak to the ground, then, and prepared to blast him out of existence.
But Hordak whispered something once more, and again, the glow reappeared around him. King Hiss growled and ran at Hordak. The two rammed into each other, wrestling over the great power. The glow shifted in between them, power warping around them.
And then, suddenly, there was a strange pull. The power and the glow was tugged away from King Hiss and Hordak . . . and over to Skeletor.
"ETERNIA WILL BE MINE AND MINE ALONE!" he cried out, absorbing their power.
***
He-Man blacked out.
His strength and power spent, his eyes shut and darkness over came him. For what seemed like a long time the darkness was all that there was. Until, then, there was flash of light. The light flashed fast across his vision, intermixing with the darkness.
And then they both existed at the same time.
Stars.
He-Man saw stars. They flew past him and then -
A sphere. Blue and green. Eternia, with Etheria lingering behind it.
Eternia. Eternity. Forever.
Etheria. Ethereal. A ghost.
And then Eternia changed. Half the world turned dark.
The creation of the Light and Dark Hemispheres.
This was the past. He-Man . . . Prince Adam . . . was seeing the past.
The Ancients built Castle Grayskull, placing a lineage of Sorceresses in care of the great structure. The Ancients then built Snake Mountain, which needed no care - its power was evil and ran wild, as evil often did.
And then the Ancients vanished.
And then the Elders appeared, uniting the tribes of Eternia.
Zodak, then. What was he doing there?
A war. King Hiss, drawing power from the Snake Men and the Reptons.
Attacking from Snake Mountain.
A man. A warrior. A He-Ro, which whom the word was created from, drawing power from Castle Grayskull.
The Great Towers created by the Elders.
Hordak!?
King Hiss taking control of the Great Towers, as if chosen to. No resistance from the Elders or He-Ro.
Great destruction.
More war.
King Hiss banished.
The Great Towers sent away.
He-Ro vanishing.
Years passing.
Now.
He-Man heard a voice. Wispy, old, and male. "You were chosen by destiny. The Great Towers needs a powerful leader and defender. He-Man . . . Prince Adam. You are the one."
***
He-Man woke up on the floor. He was tired and weary, trying to remember a dream he had had. He staggered up, unable to do much else but realize that he must stop Skeletor, Hordak and King Hiss.
There was something else too, but he couldn't remember . . .
Lifting up the Sword of Power, He-Man pushed all other distractions out of his mind and headed up the stairs. Thunder and lightning cracked from the top, so that's where he headed. Pushing each foot up was like heaving boulders as Prince Adam. The Sword of Power felt heavy in his hands. But still, He-Man pressed on.
He arrived at the top, where Skeletor was glowing very brightly, power surging around him. Hordak and King Hiss stood next to him, held in energy cocoons.
"Skeletor!" He-Man yelled.
Skeletor spun around, Chaos Staff in hand. "He-Man! I shall kill you where you - "
"That power doesn't belong to you, Skeletor," He-Man told him. "It belongs to me. It is my destiny. I am the only one who can lay claim to it. For the power and protection of Eternia, only I can posses it!"
Skeletor snarled, and raised his Chaos Staff, ready to blast He-Man away. Right as he did, He-Man took a breath and -
"I HAVE THE POWER!"
Thunder rolled, lightning flashed. Skeletor yelled out in agony and loss as the power was ripped away from him, the glow fading from sight. He-Man lifted his sword, the power striking him.
Skeletor fell down, unconscious. The cocoons faded.
And He-Man stood victorious.
"This is not over yet, He-Man!" Hordak gagged, a jetpack appearing on his back. He shot into the sky. "RETREAT! PULL BACK!"
King Hiss darted over to Skeletor and lifted him up (he would still be useful). Then, jumping off the side, King Hiss (with Skeletor) landed and waded in the mot before meeting up with the Evil Warriors and Snake Men to signal a retreat as well.
He-Man smiled. He felt stronger, much stronger. He body rippled with new and invigorated power. This was his task as defender of Grayskull and Eternia - the safeguard of the Great Towers. A new responsibility that he held with great dignity and regard.
It looked like now that the forces of evil were withdrawing, so He-Man can go and -
"Teela," he whispered, realizing what it was he forgot. He turned around and dashed down the stairs. The shot . . . the wounds . . . the time since it had happened . . . would he be too late . . .?
"No," he muttered. "No, it can't be."
***
Man-At-Arms laughed as he fired a few more bolts from his laser cannon. It was cover fire, really. He and the others had been laying it since the Evil Warriors/Snake Men headed west and the Horde Troopers made for their escape portals.
Within moments, though, the portals closed. Shortly soon after, the weapons and power fire from the Evil Warriors and Snake Men allies ceased as a result of range.
The Heroic Warriors cheered the day won and the long battle -war - over with. Throwing a hand on Randor's shoulder, Duncan smiled widely.
"Come on. Let's go check it out!"
"Lead the way, old friend," Randor replied.
Duncan walked up the stairs, over the bridge, and through the open gates. It was like living history here. The Towers, raised and a part of life once more. Such glorious times they lived in. Stepping into the Central Tower, Duncan saw He-Man, hunched over, cradling something -
"No," whispered Duncan.
He-Man looked up, face red, tears budding in his eyes. In his stronger arms was the limp figure of Teela. Her face was puffy, splotchy and red. Her arms . . . legs . . . her neck was charged black. Her chest was so still . . .
"No!"
Duncan rushed over, wanting nothing more than to help his little girl. He felt for a pulse. Nothing. He pulled over his gloves. Nothing. Nothing nothing nothing . . .
"NO!"
He-Man looked up at him and shook his head. "She's gone, Duncan. I'm so . . . so . . ."
Duncan put his hand over his face, as both he and He-Man began to weep openly. They were too late. Too late to save her.
Teela, daughter of Duncan, was dead.
TO BE CONTINUED . . .
Look for "Masters of the Universe: The Crossroads of Destiny - Book Two: The War" coming soon!