Chapter One: Prevention

Present Day . . .

The snow hit hard against his face, causing his eyes to squint harshly against the cold. King Adam held his sword in his hand, and thought hard about saying those words. Those magic, incredible words that would allow him to become the strongest man in the universe. His lips parted as if by instinct, tongue readied to speak.

But he brought his lips to a close. A sudden doubt struck his mind and King Adam remained silent. The sudden doubt has not been the first to strike him since that day beneath the Sands of Time. Since Adam learned that He-Man was nothing more than the result of a grand manipulation by the Zodak. The doubt stung him hard, and it felt like something inside Adam had died. He was practically forced to become He-Man after that, but - much to everyone's surprise - Adam had not become He-Man since then.

And even now, about face great danger and battle, Adam has chosen not to speak the words of Grayskull.

Instead, he takes the role of his father. He speaks not the words of transformation, but of authority.

"Lodar! Icer! Batros!" Adam shouted out from the front lines. "By the authority placed in my by the line of succession, I hereby order you on the behalf of Eternos - TO STAND DOWN!"

Adam stood in shadow of the shattered city of Eternos and the Royal Palace. The Royal Guard, Captained by Teela, stood by him. Before them were the combined forces of Icer, Batros and Lodar. With these three villains were a number of Kobloids and Bat-People, in service of Batros and Lodar.

"We were succumbed to one empire, to which you defeated!" Icer replied, his blue skin causing him to stand out from the others. "We have our independence from the Horde and we won't trade that in to you!"

"You will be crushed beneath our heels, allowing for a new age of Eternian rule!" Lodar yelled, shaking his staff in the air. His violet armor was that of a warrior, but it looked tarnished and old.

"We've stood around too long and let you beat us back too many times!" shouted Batros, still wearing his old Horde uniform. The Bat-People had given him sovereignty after the First Horde War ended and Batros soon became their ruler.

"A new age of Eternian rule?" questioned Adam. "Really? And just what does this 'new age' promise to bring? Winter year-round? The skies filled with Bats? Slavery? Tell me, how long until the three of you start turning on yourselves?"

"Bold move," whispered Teela.

"It worked once or twice on Primus," Adam whispered back.

"Our alliance in none of your concern!" shouted Lodar.

"It isn't? Really? Well, let me tell you what my concerns are, Lodar. Right now, my concerns are that of Eternia. This planet is recovering from one of the most devastating wars ever to occur. Entire races and peoples are missing. Right now, it's just you people, the Avions the Mer-Men, the Insectiods, and us. Cities and villages have fallen and soldiers are buried.

"My concern is to make sure that this NEVER happens again. And that starts now. We could both throw our armies at each other, watch them battle it out for a few hours, see people get killed, and then both go back to our respective homes and plan for the next time. OR - we could just sit down and figure out a new way of doing things. A way that doesn't include death and destruction. A peace treaty."

Batros grumbled. "You would never honor a peace treaty!"

"Ask Evil Lynn about that, Batros. I offered her one two months ago and it's remained intact since then. This isn't a 'let's beat each other up' world anymore. I'm not going to let it be. If you want to fight though, I'm sure my men are up to it. But let me tell ask you this - are you really up to it?"

Batros flinched and turned to Icer, who himself was looking doubtful. Lodar's staff was down and he turned to the pair. They started talking.

Adam himself looked to Teela. "I hope this works."

When he turned back to the trio and their armies, they were just finishing up their group discussion.

"How can we discuss this so-called treaty?"

Adam smiled. "Next week, there is to be a meeting with the other kingdoms, villages and the remaining races. We're going to decide the specifications then on an expanded treaty. You are more than welcome to join in on this meeting."

"How can we trust your word?" asked Icer.

"Tell you what," Adam promised, stepping forward, "show up, bring some guards. We'll all lay out a treaty. If you don't like the treaty, then you can send your army after us. How's that?"

Lodar, Icer and Batros all turned to each other and talked a little more. Adam fingered the blade of his Power Sword, somewhat happy that he didn't have to say 'By the power of Grayskull . . .'

A sort of tension filled the cold, snowy air as they made a final decision. Adam concentrated on the matter at hand and watched the trio discuss hard the ramifications of Adam's proposal. After a little while, the three of them turned to King Adam.

"What day next week?"

King Adam smiled.

By the time She-Ra arrived at Darksmoke, news of the Batros, Icer, and Lodar's attempted war had just reached her. Luckily, the most recent report from Man-At-Arms on her communicator was that the situation had been diffused.

"Well, looks like another war avoided," she said to Swift-Wind.

"Sure looks like it, She-Ra," Swift-Wind replied, the pegacorn setting down on the mountain. The two had been traveling for hours upon hours, hoping to reach the stronghold of Granamyr. Upon finally reaching the kingdom of Dragons and Trolls, She-Ra quickly realized just how much a futile mission this was. Entire structures had been left laying wide open and abandoned.

Including, She-Ra observed, Granamyr's home.

Hopping off of Swift-Wind, She-Ra walked towards the large doors and pushed them open with ease. Not locked. She was surprised. From all the stories Adam's told her, she would have expected Granamyr to lock the doors before . . . well, vanishing.

As she walked along the empty corridors, She-Ra felt the emptiness of her footfalls resonating throughout the mighty stone structure. This place had long since been abandoned, making it apparent that Granamyr and his people - his fellow Dragons and the Trolls of Darksmoke - left it right as the Horde was arriving on Eternia for their second invasion.

Which was, of course, right after Etheria fell.

Logically, it would seem that the other races - Widgets, Cat-People, Bears, and Elves - had all left at the same the Dragons and Trolls did. But where to? And why?

Ah, now those were the lucky questions. The why seemed fairly obvious - to flee the Horde invasion, but there could have been more to it than just that. Because, if that was the case, then why leave the Avions, Insectoids and Humans? Not to mention, apparently, the Bats, Kobloids, Goblins, and Mer-Men? Now, that . . . that didn't make any sense to She-Ra.

The where was a lot trickier. The easiest answer would be to another planet, or to another dimension. But according the confiscated sensor logs left by the Horde after their recent defeat, there was no indication of a ship leaving the planet or a massive dimensional portal.

And Shadow Weaver would keep up on these sorts of things.

The only clue that She-Ra could gather was that the Sorceress was somehow involved. Teela had said that after He-Man left, the Sorceress just remained in Grayskull and didn't come to the aide of Eternia as it was battered and beaten by Hordak and the Horde. Plus, she had indicated that she knew what was happening, but was not willing to give up any more information.

"Empty," said She-Ra to herself. After walking the entire length of the fortress, she had finally reached the throne room of Granamyr. All of the treasures and trophies were gone, just as Granamyr himself was.

With her search finished, She-Ra walked out to join Swift-Wind. The moons were rising of the horizon and She-Ra felt suddenly quite weary. Looking at Swift-Wind, she could tell the same thing.

"Let's get some rest," she recommended.

"Okay. Fine by me."

The pegacorn laid down onto his legs, wings folding up behind him. She-Ra pulled off her cape and lain it on the ground, then laid down onto it. As she and Swift-Wind laid underneath the stars, she looked to her old friend.

"I missed you, Swift-Wind."

Swift-Wind shook his head. "And I, you, She-Ra."

"Do you think Etheria will be free?"

"I hope so," Swift-Wind answered. "I want to see my mate and child again."

She-Ra nodded, suddenly remembering that Swift-Wind had had a child on Unicorn Island. "I promise you, you will."

And then the pair fell asleep beneath the twinkling lights of the heavens above.

Far beyond the Eternian/Etherian solar system, near the edge of the galaxy - a lone ship sends out sensor beams, touching the twin planets. An office turns to his leader, and bowed.

"Just as expected, sir. Hordak has sealed all Etheria up with his energy oil, but we are reading some life-signs. They're in status."

"Light-Hope?" came a voice like thunder and stone scratching against marble. "What of Light-Hope?"

"Sensor read-outs indicate that Light-Hope has merged itself with the oil in an attempt to free Etheria."

"Will it work?" said the voice.

"Given enough time, yes."

"What of Eternia?"

"Scans report that Hordak has been taken into custody."

The voice fell silent. For long moments, the officer waited for a response. Finally, after tense minutes, the voice spoke again. "Our opposition?"

"They're closer to Eternia than we are. We approximate nearly one week of them."

"And our forces?"

"Ten days at the earliest."

The voice fell silent once more. When it spoke, there was a tone of anxiousness. "They shall fall . . . won't they? They shall fall . . ."

The officer nodded. "Of course, my master. They will all fall to you, Horde Prime."