Chapter Five
"Siege"
The fog was light, but it still drifted across the land. The jungle was far behind her, and she walked across a barren area filled with ruins. Towers and statues that had obviously served an important purpose now sat in crumbling heaps, lifting up from the barren gray dirt.
Teela's wings fluttered as she walked through this region, being pressed on as if called by a distant silent voice. Still naked, she still did not care whether anyone saw her or not. It was as though she had no cares in the world save finding what was pushing her onwards.
She neared the decimated remains of what must have been a huge structure. Pillars and statues littered the area and Teela was immediately drawn to it. She made it past a ring of old crumbled walls, and found herself face-to-face with two statues. They were both the same shape and form, but one was taller and wider than the other. Both were male, down on one knee with hands outstretched. For some reason, it made Teela think of He-Man and Adam.
Teela stepped forward and touched the smaller ones hand. She felt herself feel odd for a moment, as if a sort of electricity shot through her. She then turned to the other, larger and touched its hand. A second sort of electricity went through her and Teela felt strange.
Knowing that she was finished with this, Teela began to walk away . . . only to find that her abdomen felt kinda funny. She looked down and was shocked as she saw it grow. The growth of abdomen formed over her stomach. Teela braced herself as a sudden transformation occurred within her body.
She was suddenly very pregnant.
Slowly and tenderly, she rubbed her delicate over the soft flesh of her new belly. She had no idea how this had just happened, nor what it really meant. All she knew was that it was important.
***
Marlena pressed her hand across Teela's warm forehead. She vowed to herself that Teela would be protected during the siege. With the civilians in the emergency stronghold and the Royal Guard fighting off the incredible strength of the Snake Men. This left Marlena to safeguard the fallen body of Teela.
Her thoughts went to Duncan immediately. He had done everything possible during the aftermath of the Horde War to find Adora. Now, it was time that she repaid him in turn by protecting his daughter. She was armed with laser and a blade, well-prepared for the onslaught if the Snake Men broke through the walls and made it this far into the Palace.
That was a pretty big if.
"Damnation!" roared Randor. "The wall may just fall!"
The Snake Men loomed below, hissing and growling upwards. Spears and arrows mixed with laser beams shot up, firing at the Royal Guard. Randor gripped the wall as the Snake Men used a gigantic cannon to blast yet another Talon Fighter out of the sky.
"We must not fall," he muttered, "Eternos must be safe. Eternos must remain - "
But an explosion from above suddenly cut off the great king. The Snake Men were targeting some of the towers of Eternos, blasting them to bits. The chunks of the towers came crashing down upon the auxiliary vehicles. The readied airships were destroyed.
"They are seeing passed the wall," Randor said to his aide. "Commander, have our weapons trained to the center of their lines. We must scatter them."
"Yes, your majesty."
***
In the darkened halls of Castle Grayskull, the Heroic Warriors felt on the edge. War was brewing back at the home. Eternos was under attack, as it had been for the past three hours. And the men and women that had protected it for so long were stuck not protecting them. He-Man, Man-At-Arms and Moss Man were the only ones permitted outside of the throne room, but the Heroic Warriors were given food and drink and rest.
After tending to Man-At-Arms, He-Man entered into the throne room and hoped to offer some comfort to his colleagues. But no words came from his mouth, only a sound that was intended to be a word.
"He-Man," Stratos said then, approaching with Buzz-Off.
"Stratos, Buzz-Off. What is it?"
"According the digital reports Roboto has been picking up from the security grid at Eternos, the walls are in danger of being breached," Buzz-Off reported.
"With the aide of Avion and Insectia, the Snake Men flanks may be overturned," Stratos recommended. He-Man nodded and opened up the drawbridge.
"Go. And hurry."
The pair shot off into the air, heading north towards the Mystic Mountains. He-Man was shocked to find himself smiling at the irony. Up until two hundred years ago, the three races were in the middle of a war. But now . . . now the Avions, the Insectoids and the Men of Eternos were all at peace. Peace that was only threatened now, by the war between the Horde and the Snake Men.
Hopefully it would be enough. Hopefully.
***
"We're reaching the Eye of Zarkann," Stratos said to Buzz-Off as the two soared with great speeds above the clouds.
Buzz-Off nodded. "We'll meet here with our forces in two hours. I trust you've alerted Avion to be prepared?"
"Yes," Stratos replied. "I will have 300 hundreds soldiers ready and waiting when I arrive at Avion. What about yourself?"
"200 hundred Bees and Dex warriors at my command."
"Excellent. Then this will - "
Suddenly, something shot from the ground and snagged Stratos' foot. He was yanked down from the sky, pulled by some sort of long band. Buzz-Off came to a full stop and followed falling Stratos. It was then he saw what it was. The greatly extended tongue of Tung Lashor.
Stratos came crashing onto the ground, Tung Lashor standing victoriously above him. Buzz-Off pulled out his spear and charged towards the Snake Man. Yet even before Buzz-Off could even reach Tung Lashor, a green mist filled his vision.
Kobra Kahn.
Buzz-Off crashed onto the dirt floor of the Mystic Mountains.
Tung Lashor laughed. "Ha ha! Some warriors! And you said this would be difficult?"
Kobra Kahn snarled sheepishly. "Well, it always was with Skeletor."
The purple-colored Snake Man slapped Kobra Kahn's back. "Ha! Good thing he's not around then, eh? Probably mess this whole affair up!"
Kobra Kahn smiled, but was shocked to find that part of him didn't want to.
***
Randor smiled and pointed onward. Laser fire was unleashed from the walls of Eternos, striking the center lines of the Snake Men army. The scaly beasts and their vehicles exploded with each blast. Forces seemed to crumble and buckle against the power of Eternos.
"Ha ha! Victory is at hand!"
All seemed well now, Randor decided. The waves of attack from the Snake Men seemed to be faltering against the blasts and beams from the artillery of Eternos. Given a few more hours, and the battle could be over and won
"Second arm, secure the northern wall," he ordered, feeling his confidence restore.
And then he saw something. Among the rampant army of war-mongering reptiles, there stood out something odd. Something that wasn't a Man nor a Snake Man. It was a robot. And it was running towards the wall.
"What in the name of . . .? What is that?!"
He watched it as it ran faster, as if building up energy. Much to his surprise, the Snake Men were giving this robot a wide berth. In fact, the area of the wall the robot was heading towards had been cleared of Snake Warriors. Why? Why would that be?
"NO!" roared Randor as realization came upon him.
"Tick . . . tick . . ." said the robot named Blast-Attack. He ran right into the wall, and then - and then -
Fire and smoke exploded with stone and rock. The wall blew apart once, then was felled again by yet another explosion, which was followed by a third. Soldiers were tossed into the air from the explosion; the wall was now exposed. Eternos was left open for entry.
Randor immediately shouted for containment, but the Snake Men rushed in, weapons blazing. The Royal Guard clashed with the Snake Men, hoping to put an end to the violation upon the great city and the Palace.
But it was too late. The Snake Men were too many and moved in too swiftly. The interior of Eternos had been breached and overrun. Yet Randor did not yield. He pulled out the Royal Sword and walked forward, prepared to join his men in the battle against these creatures.
"Not so fast, king!" yelled out Snake-Face, leaping in front of him.
Randor raised his sword to attack the general, but he was too late. Red snakes shot out of Snake Face's eyes, mouth and nose. The magic swept over Randor, turning him (with the exception of the Sword) into a pure statue.
Back in the Palace, a state of panic was setting in. Marlena gripped the window as the Snake Men marched forward. Up the stairs they came, and over into the courtyard. Into the halls, taking every civilian as a prisoner. Marlena spun around and slammed the door shut.
She looked to Teela for a second and hoped that everything would be all right. That He-Man or Randor or Duncan would show up and take care of this.
"No," Marlena told herself as chaos began to overtake the hallway outside. She reached for her laser and preped herself. "I am the queen. These are my people. I took a vow to myself to protect Teela. I will not break it."
Just then, the power cut out. Marlena's heart skipped a beat. The machines around Teela's body flickered out.
"NO!"
Without these machines, Teela would most assuredly die! Marlena was about to run to the young woman's body, when the door busted open. She opened fire, disposing of the three that came to get the jump on her. But the, without warning, two long arm flew and grabbed Marlena.
Sssqueeze grabbed hold of the queen and held her as she struggled. "The Palace will not fall to you! Eternia will not fall!"
"Famous last words," Snake-Face said then, slinking in.
With that, Marlena became a statue.
***
Fires rose from around Snake Mountain and King Hiss sat on the edge of his seat, awaiting a report from Sssqueeze and Snake Face. The last one was promising - Blast-Attack taking down the northern wall. But there hadn't been any new news in the past three hours and now was the time to be getting concerned.
Just then, though, a small communicator device beeped.
"King Hiss here."
"King Hiss, this is Snake Face," reported the Snake Man. "I am standing in the throne room of Eternos Royal Palace."
"Then all has gone well?"
"Eternos has fallen with ease, sire."
"Excellent. Then we move on to phase two. Prepare the teleporter, Rattlor."
***
Hordak stood in his command center on the Golden Isles, preparing for the march on Snake Mountain that would destroy King Hiss' army one and for all.
"Sir, excuse me, but we have a GROWL problem," snarled Grizzlor.
"What is it? What is the problem?"
"Our scouts are detecting minimal Snake Men life-forms at Snake Mountain. Less than 2,000 now reside there, when our scouts reported as there being 10,000 more there."
"Where did the rest of them go?" growled Hordak.
"We're getting that information now, sir and . . . oh no . . ."
"WHAT? What is it?!"
"The 10,000 Snake Men have teleported to Etheria."
Hordak stepped back in shock. "Where? WHERE ON ETHERIA?!"
"Brightmoon, sir. And their forces greatly outnumber those of Brightmoon. If the Snake Men take Brightmoon, they will be within striking distance of the Fright Zone . . . even Doom Tower."
"I'm aware of that!" yelled Hordak. "A bold and well-played move. Sacrificing Snake Mountain, seizing Eternos. All the while knowing I'll build up my forces for an attack here. Cancel our attack plans. Prepare for a return to Etheria."