Chapter 5 Awakenings in an evil heart
"Master Hordack, squaaawk, the port city of Lyme and their shipyards have been taken, the rebels have been routed. The city of Brightmoon is surrounded on all sides by our forces. Commanding General Onyx, squawk, has left Commander Black and Grizzlor in charge of the siege."
"Excellent." Hordack snorted, laughing in wicked delight. "Adora has done spectacularly, exceeding my fondest expectations. Those two buffoons she left in charge shouldn't be able to screw things up, all they need do is wait for the people of Brightmoon to starve." His throne room was designed to intimidate, to inspire fear and respect in those who served him. He would recline on an evil looking throne, decorated in the bones of various humanoids from other planets conquered by the horde and seem to loom threateningly above those seeking an audience. Right now he loomed over Vultak, one of his more repulsive minions.
Standing slightly over five feet, Vultak was a gray, bald mass of sinews and tendons. Extremely lithe and slim, alluding to his speed and hidden prowess, his eyes gleamed red and massive leathery wings sprouted from his back granting him the ability to fly. He also had another talent, one implanted by Modulok in one of the GMOEN labs. He could transform himself into shadow. This was done by employing an implanted microchip located in his cerebral cortex Vultak could push himself out of phaze with this reality leaving him only a blurred shadow- the perfect spy. He wore a black fur tunic with the red Horde bat emblem emblazoned across his chest, his ears were pointy and he spoke with an annoying squawk. One of the side affects of the DNA splicing of humanoid and carrion bird.
"What of the whispering woods?" Hordack commanded.
"Three patrols ride their boundaries constantly. Squaaaawk- a trench has been dug on the northern side stretching from Grenvale to the beaches."
"And the mines?"
"They have been laid out, ten feet behind the trenches as you ordered."
Hordack snorted gleefully. His face splitting into a happy grin, one made all the more repulsive by the fact such an expression bared his incisors, making him appear the epitome of viciousness. The spy continued
"It seems the rebels have abandoned the woods. It now merely serves as a shelter for the weak refugees fleeing the Black Guard." Hordack, overcome by an emotion that could only be described as joy, stood, stretching his arms high above his head, laughing in unmitigated mirth. He performed a small pirouette and the stunned spy could only stare in ill concealed shock. Hordacks eyes glowed evilly as he descended from his throne two steps at a time.
"Adora has done it! She has driven a wedge between Mystacor and Brightmoon! With less than three months in command she has taken twelve villages and three cities."
"Mighty one, I would humbly suggest that while her victories are indeed impressive, the two major cities have yet to fall." Hordacks smile dropped slightly.
"It matters little, the refugee overload will do for me what my magic and forces could not."
"Sir?" The spy questioned, confusion etched across his hideous features.
"The siege of Brightmoon, you idiot! It may last long but in the end I will have their winged queen in chains at my feet." Bowing low Vultak inched slowly backward, away from his master, fearful of incurring his wrath.
"Where is Adora now?" Hordack demanded imperiously.
"She heads to Blackmoor, my lord, she expected to have taken the kingdoms outlying towns and main city of Thoroon by the time I got here to make my report."
Hordack strolled over to the large window overlooking the fright zone while speaking over his shoulder to his minion. "Blackmoor will then have fallen by the time you return to her. Tell her I don't expect to have my orders countermanded again. Since she will not abide Imp, she will utilize you to keep me informed.
"As you will, milord. Squaawk, Any instructions for the war?"
"Yes. Tell her when she is through with Blackmoor I want her and the Black Guard to ride for Rendwoll. She is to see to its fortifications. The Peacock People will be after it now that they have a new Holy woman. They will wish to see her enthroned within the city in the Ivory Citidel. They must not get that tower! Rendwoll can not fall to the rebellion. Make that extremely clear to her, Vultak."
"Yes Master Hordack." The winged monstrosity groveled, bowing low as he backed out of the room.
Hordack, lost in thought, paid scant heed to his departure. Thrilled by all Adora was accomplishing, he was leaving Brightmoon and Mystacor in her capable hands; he was carrying out his own plans against the Empress of Ice Mountain. The seeds of dissent were sown and war was now inevitable. However, those plans were being delayed as he learned of the new threat emerging from the crumbling rebellion. A new holy woman for the Peacock people troubled him.
It was Peekablu, a woman he took prisoner three years ago. If he had but known what she was becoming he would have killed her right then and there. If her people ever again gained control of their citadel, they could drive the Horde back into the Fright Zone, forcing a stalemate that could last decades; completely loosing the hold the Horde had on this continent.
Even now a force squad, led by Catra, was assisting in reinforcing Rendwoll. His spies had only recently discovered the peacock people's holy woman, the bird people were gathering in Mystacor; he knew they would be after their ancient home, for though the citadel stood silent now, as it had since the occupation began, with their holy woman controlling it, the silence would not remain.
He already had his best assassin seeking the bird woman. He seldom employed the unique skills of Double Trouble or DT as she preferred to be known, she was a favorite of his brother, Horde Prime but he viewed this matter with enough urgency to warrant her intervention and she had been recalled to Etheria from where ever in the galaxy she was now.
Twenty years ago he had the Peacock holy woman killed, driving the native bird people from their home. Now a new goddess was risen and he would beware. Many ancient treasures of the bird folk were even now on Horde World, decorating the manses of his brother, Horde-Prime.
Horde Prime.
His happiness dimmed as the shadow of memory fell over him. He felt his abdominal muscles contract as a frission of suppressed terror and envy washed over his body. Horde Prime was the only force in the galaxy that could cause fear to rise up in Hordack's black heart. Yet, now, his brothers spector was fought back in his minds eye by the image of a woman. A blonde clad in black, a mighty war leader and skilled general and tactician. Hordack paced abruptly to the balcony outside his throne room. His thoughts allowing him no rest as he pondered this latest development.
As far as his cybernetic eyes could see Hordack beheld the crimson lights and dark gray- black hues of fear and death hanging in twilit clouds over the miles of industrial waste that was the fright zone. The Horde fortress was alive with the activity of his minions, his slaves and his robots. It gave him a deep, satisfying rush of gratification knowing all the activity below was the result of the fear he inspired and the power which he wielded. Yet, he thought to himself, Adora held much power as well. What was this strange power Adora had over him, conquering his greatest fear with her image?
For as long as he could remember Hordack lived in fear of his brother and the torment he could cause. Hordack was not always a Cybernetic freak. He and his brother were both born to the ruling house of Hordeworld. Unfortunately for Hordack, he was born seven years after his brother, the Heir.
He spent his life receiving the same training as his brother but he was not treated as a brother by any stretch of the imagination. As a child, Hordack quickly learned to hide his emotions- indeed, act as if he had none; he was little more than a toy for his brother, one he could play with and dismantle and recreate as often as he wished. Prime delighted in death, in blood, in killing and hurting and he took sadistic pleasure in the cries of others. He killed often and without remorse, many of their tutors were tortured under his malevolent hand as his taste for blood- letting and manslaughter where indulged and catered to after all, he was the heir to an evil empire.
Prime delighted in tormenting him, in causing him pain. His arm bones had to be replaced when he was ten due to the excessive amount of breakage; his eye and heart followed soon after. He lost the eye when Prime decided he wanted to see what would happen if he poured a chemical meant to strengthen and toughen skin in them. Hordack shuddered at the memory. He would never forget the burning agony. He wished only to die. They wouldn't let him of course. He was the 'just in case' heir. Both he and Prime were mortal and should Prime succumb to mortality for any reason Hordack would take his place.
He hated remembering his childhood. But he seemed unable to stop the influx of memories. For some reason, since Adora returned of her own free will, he often found himself replaying images of his life in his mind. When his fears or other emotions became too strong to conquer on his own he would see an image of her standing in front of him, defending him, comforting him. When she killed Leech, avenging those children a strange door in his heart opened and he found himself unable to close it entirely. A bittersweet smile twisted his lips and a strange hunger burned in his eyes. He knew, without question, if Adora had been there when he was a child she would have avenged him as well.
The memories continued.
His heart was replaced when he and Prime were sparring in their hand to hand combat training and his brother purposefully snapped one of his ribs, pushing it through his left ventricle and lung. The doctors saved the lung but the heart had to be replaced. The torture was allowed because Prime was the Heir. He could do anything he wanted to Hordack short of killing him. And he did. Prime didn't only experiment on Hordack, he was often altering himself. Viewing his humanoid body as weakness, he replaced his skeleton with Infinitium. A strange metal, utterly unbreakable and charged with dark energies
When Hordack was twelve he befriended a Kedelvrian Glaarg. It was a small golden quadruped, the size of a wild pig with a long trunk for a nose and short golden fur.
He kept it secret, sneaking out in the evenings to be with it. For hours in the moonlight the child he had been cavorted with the small, friendly creature full of energy and mischief with the long, furry golden snout; he called the thing Wilda, for it was a wild creature and free. He would wrestle it to the ground and it would thrash around with his arm in its mouth but always so careful to leave the skin unbroken; and in their mock combat the years of emotional abuse and physical torture would melt away and his carefree laughter would be heard echoing on the wind. For a child who never knew love and instead knew only pain and fear it was a magical time. One which he treasured. For the first time in his life Hordack felt love. He would sneak her food and play till dawn with his golden friend. For three years he kept his secret and his life became more than a test of endurance. He lived to be with the creature, sometimes merely holding her, crying piteously into her fur and she would lap away his tears with her rough tongue.
When he was with her his hurts seemed to melt away and heal- not merely the hurts of his body but the scars on his soul.
He learned, years later it was a survival technique of Kedelvrian Glaargs to emit waves of magical energy promoting peace and joy in any living being within their range of projection. They also had healing properties, particularly in the tear ducts and salivary glands which was probably why one was found on Horde World. She probably escaped off a merchants space vessel to be sold to scientists or healers. Whatever the reason he was immensely gladdened she came to him.
One evening he joined his brother for dinner- the brothers lived in their own maximum security compound; Prime saw the parents twice a year as they inspected the heir and Hordack never beheld the face of either parent- Hordack entered the dining room to behold a sickening sight. Wilda, dead in the center of the table, her body steaming and seasoned with an array of delectable spices. Her eyeballs lying by her feet and small red fruit in her eye sockets. His stunned gaze flew to his brothers face, who was watching him with a vicious smile of cruel pleasure and sadistic gloating. It took all of Hordack's will to hold back the torrent of hate and anguish threatening to spew from his mouth. Instead he smiled.
A sick and twisted smile. And then he laughed. He laughed, a revolting sound, killing what was left of his soul and causing his heart to shrivel in his chest in horror- for how could he laugh at the dead body of the only creature he ever loved. Despite his best efforts a tear leaked from the corner of one eye. He snorted a few times in mock mirth.
"What's the matter brother," Prime whispered, his smile fading a little at his brothers inexplicable reaction, "does dinner amuse you?" Hordack snorted again before answering.
"Yes, it pleases me fine," his voice was harsh and gravelly, "eat my brother. Eat, for then I will be heir and you will be dead." Prime raised dark eyebrows in speculation.
"A threat? From you?"
"No threat, simply fact." Hordack snorted again to hold back a sob. "Kedelvrian Glaarg have a bacteria within them that renders them indigestible to humanoids. The bacteria multiplies in the colon and kills within twenty four hours. There is no cure." His Brother turned pale, for there was one thing above all else that Horde Prime feared and that was his own mortality. With an angry hiss he turned, leaving the room. Hordack waited until he left, then slowly moved to stand beside Wilda. The only creature in the universe to ever show the lonely little boy any kind of affection. The hurt inside him was made all the more unbearable because he knew if he ever showed any affection for anything it would happen again.
That day a little boy, full of hurt and fear and an unendurable emotional ache vowed never to love, never to suffer this hurt, this pain, this torment again.
He never had.
Four years later an exceptionally lovely courtesan at the Heirs palace showed particular attention to Hordack. He took her to his bed many times, for he was not one to enjoy his brothers castoffs.
"So little brother, you seem to have found a pet you can sneak more than food to, one that seems to favor you in spite of your low standing." Primes voice dripped with derision. Hordack smiled a slow smile that stretched over his then handsome features.
"I guess a beautiful woman such as she prefers laying with a man, rather than a man made monster. No matter how powerful he is."
Hordack awoke the next morning gazing at his own head. During the night His brother had him altered. His brain was transferred to a Skull of indestructible Eurideum and Infinitium, that same mysterious metal making up the skeletal structure of his brother. His body, no longer that of a normal man was a cold blue color, eerily resembling that of a drowned corpse. This new body was a construct of science and magic, large and muscular and nothing like the body he was born with. His arm could transform into any kind of weapon and he learned, as the years passed, how to harness the black energies inside of him and transform his entire body The metal of his skull he later learned was a great source of power, magnifying the evil inside him, magnifying his innate abilities tenfold.
His brother took the woman Hordack had been with as his bride but Hordack could care less. Hordack got a commission in the Horde Army soon after that and studied under many sorcerers and enchanters before becoming a master himself. He became consumed with the desire to change his body, to return some portion of humanity back to his form, ashamed of what he looked like he spent the majority of the beginning of his career covering his body with Horde armor. His research however could avail him nothing. He was denied access to the facilities of Hordeworld and that was where he was changed and probably it was there he would need to go if ever he was to be human again.
Women fled from him in fear, small children wept at the sight of him. He was cursed with a form so hideous it was not to be borne. His body still had all the urges and desires of a normal man but he was anything but normal. His pride would not allow him to force a woman to pleasure him, not after having experienced the joys of the flesh with so many willing women at the palace compound he grew up on. He devoted himself instead to war and conquest, pouring all his sexual frustration into his battles. He surrounded himself with beautiful women and half women because he enjoyed looking at them. He learned years ago to ignore his urges but he enjoyed the more human aspect such feelings roused in him.
Adora was different however. He did not see her as a woman to be desired. She was the one thing in his life he ever allowed himself to cherish. Oh it didn't start out that way. He kidnapped the baby because it would hurt his enemy with every intention of raising the child to be as evil and twisted as he himself was. He delighted in his triumph as he watched frantic despair color the face of Eternia's Sorceress and Man at Arms.
But when he went through the portal that led him to Etheria He was without an army and forced to make do on his own for three months without benefit of any aid for himself or the baby. And during that three months Hordack discovered a marvelous thing. The baby did not fear him. Indeed she depended on him entirely for her survival. But most of all she cried every time he put her down. He held the child in his arms for three months, even as he slept as he waited for his armies to arrive on Etheria. When his army finally arrived the babe was entrenched in his heart.
He raised her. He gave her quarters near his own and though his intentions had been to twist and mold her into an image as cruel as his own he found he could not harm her. It didn't stop him from conquering Etheria or exercising his own brand of torment on the populace. Adora was his. The only thing he cared for. He tried keeping her pure, clean from the taint of his evil.
She was the only living being in an entire Universe that did not shrink from him in fear but rather greeted him with a joyful smile and a tender embrace, he could not harm the child who gazed at him with eyes reminding him of a golden Kedelvrian Glaarg. He raised her to be strong and cunning, pushing her to the limit but kept her isolated from the others. He did not want her spoiled by the destruction he had wrought. When she was eleven years old and her questions began probing deeper and her observations became keener, more perceptive, he acquired the ambitious aid of Light Spinner, an extremely greedy sorceress of immense powers hungry for more. With his aid she was transformed, thus gifted with immense power as her inner core was unlocked and the evil in her heart was released but all that was good inside her utterly destroyed. She cast a spell on Adora, making her believe the Horde served the forces of Good and so Adora served him with unswerving loyalty for years.
Adora was top in her class, she even came out on top when sparring with him, due to her innate acrobatics. She was gifted with a speed and stamina of unsurpassed skill. And in all the years she grew, her devotion never wavered. Until her brother came for her, bearing on his person a sword of white magic which cut through the veil of darkness covering Adora's mind and turned her against him.
Seeing her leave Etheria with Prince Adam, filled him with rage and despair in equal measure. She was leaving him. In his mind he saw the baby she once was, laughing up at him as she gripped his cold blue finger and his only thought was to get her back.
No matter the cost.
When Skeletor betrayed him his fury knew no bounds. He turned his mind and lust for vengeance and blood toward Brightmoon and the rebellion. She-Ra defeated him there. His hatred of her could not be quenched, he only hated Horde Prime more than he hated her. And yet… she saved his life on quite a few occasions. She even cried for him once and when she had for the smallest fraction of a second, as he awakened from his enchanted sleep, he felt he knew her and wanted to offer comfort. Later he convinced himself she merely reminded him of Adora. His Adora as she used to be, when she looked to him to address her hurts.
He loved Adora. He loved her in his secret heart and never would anyone know of it, Her safety depended on that. But he did love her and saying that to himself caused all the shadowy specters of memory to flee before the gilded beauty of his Golden General of Night time and starlight.
"Master Hordack, squaaawk, the port city of Lyme and their shipyards have been taken, the rebels have been routed. The city of Brightmoon is surrounded on all sides by our forces. Commanding General Onyx, squawk, has left Commander Black and Grizzlor in charge of the siege."
"Excellent." Hordack snorted, laughing in wicked delight. "Adora has done spectacularly, exceeding my fondest expectations. Those two buffoons she left in charge shouldn't be able to screw things up, all they need do is wait for the people of Brightmoon to starve." His throne room was designed to intimidate, to inspire fear and respect in those who served him. He would recline on an evil looking throne, decorated in the bones of various humanoids from other planets conquered by the horde and seem to loom threateningly above those seeking an audience. Right now he loomed over Vultak, one of his more repulsive minions.
Standing slightly over five feet, Vultak was a gray, bald mass of sinews and tendons. Extremely lithe and slim, alluding to his speed and hidden prowess, his eyes gleamed red and massive leathery wings sprouted from his back granting him the ability to fly. He also had another talent, one implanted by Modulok in one of the GMOEN labs. He could transform himself into shadow. This was done by employing an implanted microchip located in his cerebral cortex Vultak could push himself out of phaze with this reality leaving him only a blurred shadow- the perfect spy. He wore a black fur tunic with the red Horde bat emblem emblazoned across his chest, his ears were pointy and he spoke with an annoying squawk. One of the side affects of the DNA splicing of humanoid and carrion bird.
"What of the whispering woods?" Hordack commanded.
"Three patrols ride their boundaries constantly. Squaaaawk- a trench has been dug on the northern side stretching from Grenvale to the beaches."
"And the mines?"
"They have been laid out, ten feet behind the trenches as you ordered."
Hordack snorted gleefully. His face splitting into a happy grin, one made all the more repulsive by the fact such an expression bared his incisors, making him appear the epitome of viciousness. The spy continued
"It seems the rebels have abandoned the woods. It now merely serves as a shelter for the weak refugees fleeing the Black Guard." Hordack, overcome by an emotion that could only be described as joy, stood, stretching his arms high above his head, laughing in unmitigated mirth. He performed a small pirouette and the stunned spy could only stare in ill concealed shock. Hordacks eyes glowed evilly as he descended from his throne two steps at a time.
"Adora has done it! She has driven a wedge between Mystacor and Brightmoon! With less than three months in command she has taken twelve villages and three cities."
"Mighty one, I would humbly suggest that while her victories are indeed impressive, the two major cities have yet to fall." Hordacks smile dropped slightly.
"It matters little, the refugee overload will do for me what my magic and forces could not."
"Sir?" The spy questioned, confusion etched across his hideous features.
"The siege of Brightmoon, you idiot! It may last long but in the end I will have their winged queen in chains at my feet." Bowing low Vultak inched slowly backward, away from his master, fearful of incurring his wrath.
"Where is Adora now?" Hordack demanded imperiously.
"She heads to Blackmoor, my lord, she expected to have taken the kingdoms outlying towns and main city of Thoroon by the time I got here to make my report."
Hordack strolled over to the large window overlooking the fright zone while speaking over his shoulder to his minion. "Blackmoor will then have fallen by the time you return to her. Tell her I don't expect to have my orders countermanded again. Since she will not abide Imp, she will utilize you to keep me informed.
"As you will, milord. Squaawk, Any instructions for the war?"
"Yes. Tell her when she is through with Blackmoor I want her and the Black Guard to ride for Rendwoll. She is to see to its fortifications. The Peacock People will be after it now that they have a new Holy woman. They will wish to see her enthroned within the city in the Ivory Citidel. They must not get that tower! Rendwoll can not fall to the rebellion. Make that extremely clear to her, Vultak."
"Yes Master Hordack." The winged monstrosity groveled, bowing low as he backed out of the room.
Hordack, lost in thought, paid scant heed to his departure. Thrilled by all Adora was accomplishing, he was leaving Brightmoon and Mystacor in her capable hands; he was carrying out his own plans against the Empress of Ice Mountain. The seeds of dissent were sown and war was now inevitable. However, those plans were being delayed as he learned of the new threat emerging from the crumbling rebellion. A new holy woman for the Peacock people troubled him.
It was Peekablu, a woman he took prisoner three years ago. If he had but known what she was becoming he would have killed her right then and there. If her people ever again gained control of their citadel, they could drive the Horde back into the Fright Zone, forcing a stalemate that could last decades; completely loosing the hold the Horde had on this continent.
Even now a force squad, led by Catra, was assisting in reinforcing Rendwoll. His spies had only recently discovered the peacock people's holy woman, the bird people were gathering in Mystacor; he knew they would be after their ancient home, for though the citadel stood silent now, as it had since the occupation began, with their holy woman controlling it, the silence would not remain.
He already had his best assassin seeking the bird woman. He seldom employed the unique skills of Double Trouble or DT as she preferred to be known, she was a favorite of his brother, Horde Prime but he viewed this matter with enough urgency to warrant her intervention and she had been recalled to Etheria from where ever in the galaxy she was now.
Twenty years ago he had the Peacock holy woman killed, driving the native bird people from their home. Now a new goddess was risen and he would beware. Many ancient treasures of the bird folk were even now on Horde World, decorating the manses of his brother, Horde-Prime.
Horde Prime.
His happiness dimmed as the shadow of memory fell over him. He felt his abdominal muscles contract as a frission of suppressed terror and envy washed over his body. Horde Prime was the only force in the galaxy that could cause fear to rise up in Hordack's black heart. Yet, now, his brothers spector was fought back in his minds eye by the image of a woman. A blonde clad in black, a mighty war leader and skilled general and tactician. Hordack paced abruptly to the balcony outside his throne room. His thoughts allowing him no rest as he pondered this latest development.
As far as his cybernetic eyes could see Hordack beheld the crimson lights and dark gray- black hues of fear and death hanging in twilit clouds over the miles of industrial waste that was the fright zone. The Horde fortress was alive with the activity of his minions, his slaves and his robots. It gave him a deep, satisfying rush of gratification knowing all the activity below was the result of the fear he inspired and the power which he wielded. Yet, he thought to himself, Adora held much power as well. What was this strange power Adora had over him, conquering his greatest fear with her image?
For as long as he could remember Hordack lived in fear of his brother and the torment he could cause. Hordack was not always a Cybernetic freak. He and his brother were both born to the ruling house of Hordeworld. Unfortunately for Hordack, he was born seven years after his brother, the Heir.
He spent his life receiving the same training as his brother but he was not treated as a brother by any stretch of the imagination. As a child, Hordack quickly learned to hide his emotions- indeed, act as if he had none; he was little more than a toy for his brother, one he could play with and dismantle and recreate as often as he wished. Prime delighted in death, in blood, in killing and hurting and he took sadistic pleasure in the cries of others. He killed often and without remorse, many of their tutors were tortured under his malevolent hand as his taste for blood- letting and manslaughter where indulged and catered to after all, he was the heir to an evil empire.
Prime delighted in tormenting him, in causing him pain. His arm bones had to be replaced when he was ten due to the excessive amount of breakage; his eye and heart followed soon after. He lost the eye when Prime decided he wanted to see what would happen if he poured a chemical meant to strengthen and toughen skin in them. Hordack shuddered at the memory. He would never forget the burning agony. He wished only to die. They wouldn't let him of course. He was the 'just in case' heir. Both he and Prime were mortal and should Prime succumb to mortality for any reason Hordack would take his place.
He hated remembering his childhood. But he seemed unable to stop the influx of memories. For some reason, since Adora returned of her own free will, he often found himself replaying images of his life in his mind. When his fears or other emotions became too strong to conquer on his own he would see an image of her standing in front of him, defending him, comforting him. When she killed Leech, avenging those children a strange door in his heart opened and he found himself unable to close it entirely. A bittersweet smile twisted his lips and a strange hunger burned in his eyes. He knew, without question, if Adora had been there when he was a child she would have avenged him as well.
The memories continued.
His heart was replaced when he and Prime were sparring in their hand to hand combat training and his brother purposefully snapped one of his ribs, pushing it through his left ventricle and lung. The doctors saved the lung but the heart had to be replaced. The torture was allowed because Prime was the Heir. He could do anything he wanted to Hordack short of killing him. And he did. Prime didn't only experiment on Hordack, he was often altering himself. Viewing his humanoid body as weakness, he replaced his skeleton with Infinitium. A strange metal, utterly unbreakable and charged with dark energies
When Hordack was twelve he befriended a Kedelvrian Glaarg. It was a small golden quadruped, the size of a wild pig with a long trunk for a nose and short golden fur.
He kept it secret, sneaking out in the evenings to be with it. For hours in the moonlight the child he had been cavorted with the small, friendly creature full of energy and mischief with the long, furry golden snout; he called the thing Wilda, for it was a wild creature and free. He would wrestle it to the ground and it would thrash around with his arm in its mouth but always so careful to leave the skin unbroken; and in their mock combat the years of emotional abuse and physical torture would melt away and his carefree laughter would be heard echoing on the wind. For a child who never knew love and instead knew only pain and fear it was a magical time. One which he treasured. For the first time in his life Hordack felt love. He would sneak her food and play till dawn with his golden friend. For three years he kept his secret and his life became more than a test of endurance. He lived to be with the creature, sometimes merely holding her, crying piteously into her fur and she would lap away his tears with her rough tongue.
When he was with her his hurts seemed to melt away and heal- not merely the hurts of his body but the scars on his soul.
He learned, years later it was a survival technique of Kedelvrian Glaargs to emit waves of magical energy promoting peace and joy in any living being within their range of projection. They also had healing properties, particularly in the tear ducts and salivary glands which was probably why one was found on Horde World. She probably escaped off a merchants space vessel to be sold to scientists or healers. Whatever the reason he was immensely gladdened she came to him.
One evening he joined his brother for dinner- the brothers lived in their own maximum security compound; Prime saw the parents twice a year as they inspected the heir and Hordack never beheld the face of either parent- Hordack entered the dining room to behold a sickening sight. Wilda, dead in the center of the table, her body steaming and seasoned with an array of delectable spices. Her eyeballs lying by her feet and small red fruit in her eye sockets. His stunned gaze flew to his brothers face, who was watching him with a vicious smile of cruel pleasure and sadistic gloating. It took all of Hordack's will to hold back the torrent of hate and anguish threatening to spew from his mouth. Instead he smiled.
A sick and twisted smile. And then he laughed. He laughed, a revolting sound, killing what was left of his soul and causing his heart to shrivel in his chest in horror- for how could he laugh at the dead body of the only creature he ever loved. Despite his best efforts a tear leaked from the corner of one eye. He snorted a few times in mock mirth.
"What's the matter brother," Prime whispered, his smile fading a little at his brothers inexplicable reaction, "does dinner amuse you?" Hordack snorted again before answering.
"Yes, it pleases me fine," his voice was harsh and gravelly, "eat my brother. Eat, for then I will be heir and you will be dead." Prime raised dark eyebrows in speculation.
"A threat? From you?"
"No threat, simply fact." Hordack snorted again to hold back a sob. "Kedelvrian Glaarg have a bacteria within them that renders them indigestible to humanoids. The bacteria multiplies in the colon and kills within twenty four hours. There is no cure." His Brother turned pale, for there was one thing above all else that Horde Prime feared and that was his own mortality. With an angry hiss he turned, leaving the room. Hordack waited until he left, then slowly moved to stand beside Wilda. The only creature in the universe to ever show the lonely little boy any kind of affection. The hurt inside him was made all the more unbearable because he knew if he ever showed any affection for anything it would happen again.
That day a little boy, full of hurt and fear and an unendurable emotional ache vowed never to love, never to suffer this hurt, this pain, this torment again.
He never had.
Four years later an exceptionally lovely courtesan at the Heirs palace showed particular attention to Hordack. He took her to his bed many times, for he was not one to enjoy his brothers castoffs.
"So little brother, you seem to have found a pet you can sneak more than food to, one that seems to favor you in spite of your low standing." Primes voice dripped with derision. Hordack smiled a slow smile that stretched over his then handsome features.
"I guess a beautiful woman such as she prefers laying with a man, rather than a man made monster. No matter how powerful he is."
Hordack awoke the next morning gazing at his own head. During the night His brother had him altered. His brain was transferred to a Skull of indestructible Eurideum and Infinitium, that same mysterious metal making up the skeletal structure of his brother. His body, no longer that of a normal man was a cold blue color, eerily resembling that of a drowned corpse. This new body was a construct of science and magic, large and muscular and nothing like the body he was born with. His arm could transform into any kind of weapon and he learned, as the years passed, how to harness the black energies inside of him and transform his entire body The metal of his skull he later learned was a great source of power, magnifying the evil inside him, magnifying his innate abilities tenfold.
His brother took the woman Hordack had been with as his bride but Hordack could care less. Hordack got a commission in the Horde Army soon after that and studied under many sorcerers and enchanters before becoming a master himself. He became consumed with the desire to change his body, to return some portion of humanity back to his form, ashamed of what he looked like he spent the majority of the beginning of his career covering his body with Horde armor. His research however could avail him nothing. He was denied access to the facilities of Hordeworld and that was where he was changed and probably it was there he would need to go if ever he was to be human again.
Women fled from him in fear, small children wept at the sight of him. He was cursed with a form so hideous it was not to be borne. His body still had all the urges and desires of a normal man but he was anything but normal. His pride would not allow him to force a woman to pleasure him, not after having experienced the joys of the flesh with so many willing women at the palace compound he grew up on. He devoted himself instead to war and conquest, pouring all his sexual frustration into his battles. He surrounded himself with beautiful women and half women because he enjoyed looking at them. He learned years ago to ignore his urges but he enjoyed the more human aspect such feelings roused in him.
Adora was different however. He did not see her as a woman to be desired. She was the one thing in his life he ever allowed himself to cherish. Oh it didn't start out that way. He kidnapped the baby because it would hurt his enemy with every intention of raising the child to be as evil and twisted as he himself was. He delighted in his triumph as he watched frantic despair color the face of Eternia's Sorceress and Man at Arms.
But when he went through the portal that led him to Etheria He was without an army and forced to make do on his own for three months without benefit of any aid for himself or the baby. And during that three months Hordack discovered a marvelous thing. The baby did not fear him. Indeed she depended on him entirely for her survival. But most of all she cried every time he put her down. He held the child in his arms for three months, even as he slept as he waited for his armies to arrive on Etheria. When his army finally arrived the babe was entrenched in his heart.
He raised her. He gave her quarters near his own and though his intentions had been to twist and mold her into an image as cruel as his own he found he could not harm her. It didn't stop him from conquering Etheria or exercising his own brand of torment on the populace. Adora was his. The only thing he cared for. He tried keeping her pure, clean from the taint of his evil.
She was the only living being in an entire Universe that did not shrink from him in fear but rather greeted him with a joyful smile and a tender embrace, he could not harm the child who gazed at him with eyes reminding him of a golden Kedelvrian Glaarg. He raised her to be strong and cunning, pushing her to the limit but kept her isolated from the others. He did not want her spoiled by the destruction he had wrought. When she was eleven years old and her questions began probing deeper and her observations became keener, more perceptive, he acquired the ambitious aid of Light Spinner, an extremely greedy sorceress of immense powers hungry for more. With his aid she was transformed, thus gifted with immense power as her inner core was unlocked and the evil in her heart was released but all that was good inside her utterly destroyed. She cast a spell on Adora, making her believe the Horde served the forces of Good and so Adora served him with unswerving loyalty for years.
Adora was top in her class, she even came out on top when sparring with him, due to her innate acrobatics. She was gifted with a speed and stamina of unsurpassed skill. And in all the years she grew, her devotion never wavered. Until her brother came for her, bearing on his person a sword of white magic which cut through the veil of darkness covering Adora's mind and turned her against him.
Seeing her leave Etheria with Prince Adam, filled him with rage and despair in equal measure. She was leaving him. In his mind he saw the baby she once was, laughing up at him as she gripped his cold blue finger and his only thought was to get her back.
No matter the cost.
When Skeletor betrayed him his fury knew no bounds. He turned his mind and lust for vengeance and blood toward Brightmoon and the rebellion. She-Ra defeated him there. His hatred of her could not be quenched, he only hated Horde Prime more than he hated her. And yet… she saved his life on quite a few occasions. She even cried for him once and when she had for the smallest fraction of a second, as he awakened from his enchanted sleep, he felt he knew her and wanted to offer comfort. Later he convinced himself she merely reminded him of Adora. His Adora as she used to be, when she looked to him to address her hurts.
He loved Adora. He loved her in his secret heart and never would anyone know of it, Her safety depended on that. But he did love her and saying that to himself caused all the shadowy specters of memory to flee before the gilded beauty of his Golden General of Night time and starlight.