Chapter Three
"Chaos at Eternos"
The word 'hero' had never before been used in such a terrible manner than Miro had two hours earlier. It was night now and the siege on Eternos was growing worse for those in the city. It only seemed to get worse when the Heroic Warriors were released upon those that entered the Second Gate.
These 'heroes' who once preserved life with great amounts of honor were suddenly raining death upon any that neared them. They gave into their dark and evil natures that had been brought out by the Spirit of Evil. The Heroic Warriors code of honor specifically stated that 'Life is to be kept at all cost, and Death brought only as a last resort.'
The first part was now forgotten.
Roboto blasted away Orcs with his laser beams, sending seared and broken body parts onto the stone streets. Stratos picked up Goblins and simply dropped them onto nearby buildings, snapping them apart. Sy-Klone got a hold of some blades and just spun around, slicing and dicing the enemies that came towards him. Rotar bore himself into the legs of entering Ilkorts.
Rotar wasn't the only one attacking the Ilkorts in such a manner - Ram-Man was leaping forward and breaking their legs. Rio-Blast and his cybernetic weapons shot up Ogres. Snout Spout blasted a bunch of Ogres into wall with a bone-crushing force of water. Moss Man strangled Orcs with wild vines.
Clamp Champ sent his twin clamps around a few Goblin guts, slicing them. Fisto, whose face was still ripped up and recovering from the battle earlier with the Great Rebellion, was breaking everyone's bones as an enemy came even near him. Buzz-Off was chopping into Belats left and right. Some of the Belats were lifted up and thrown away by Extendar.
Man-E-Faces would change from Man to Monster and would tear into a terrible rage and rip an Orc up limb-by-limb. And then he would go from Monster to Robot and would damage them in the most lethal way. Mekaneck worked along side them, slamming his club into whatever many enemies came to him.
These warriors were no longer Heroes. This was their trial by fire into the forays of evil and darkness. These hours would never leave as they took the lives of their foes in the black of night.
***
Dawn came across Eternia, this ninth day since the quest began. He-Man had never been more tired than he had in his entire life. The sleep he had received between these meetings had been very little. And now with reports that the force field had fallen coming through on the comm-lines, he knew he wouldn't be getting anymore until this conflict was over.
He soared over the Evergreen Forest, towards his destination. He-Man spotted the arranged place of his visit and landed.
"He-Man!" came the voice of the living tree.
He-Man fell onto one knee, bowing in respect to Skytree, oldest of all things on Eternia. "Skytree, I have come seeking the Ancients."
"Ancients?" wondered Skytree, his branches moving about in thought. "Ah, yes. The Ancients. They should be here somewhere."
"Here we are," a voice announced. It was a beautiful, lyrical voice. He-Man turned around and saw a woman dressed a beautiful sky blue gown walking out of the forest. Two children ran in front of her.
"Good and Evil at your service," said the one child. He was wearing a white outfit, and He-Man assumed he was Good. The other boy, the one He-Man assumed was Evil, was wearing just black.
"They're children?" he asked with a gasp.
"But they're older than most of the other Ancients. Curious, isn't it? I am Unity, He-Man," the woman greeted. "You should have come to me first. I am the Mother. That sword you carry is mine."
"Then you may have it."
He-Man was prepared to hand it to her, but she lifted her hand. "No. Not yet, at least. The battle has yet to play out. When it comes, mayhaps I shall take up the blade once more."
Suddenly, the two children changed. Good became like glowing water and flowed into rune. Evil became like smoke and shifted into his rune.
"I only have one last Ancient to find and gather," He-Man told her after Good and Evil finished entering the Sword of the Ancients. "And that's Master."
She smirked. "My husband, of sorts."
"Of sorts?"
Unity stepped towards He-Man. "We brought mainstream sorcery to Eternia, He-Man. He took up the roles of representing certain aspects of the planet and of the universe. We studied these aspects until we became these aspects. We are far from deities, Rising Son. We're just very old. We know things. Many, many things."
He-Man felt very uncomfortable all of a sudden. "How do you mean?"
"I'll let the Master of the Ancients explain that to you, Rising Son. But I can tell you this - the way we shaped Eternia has been a very traditional thing. However far away you go from Eternia, your destiny lies here on this planet. And trust me, your travels will take you very far from here."
With that, she splashed into a blue light and went into her rune.
***
The clouds were no long gray. They had indeed gone completely black, making the day seem more like night. It was an ominous black, like that a terrible storm. But there was no thunder nor lightning nor rain. The animals stopped carrying on and moved with such silence - as if the slightest sound would attract their natural enemy.
Teela found it unsettling but said nothing, just as the others said nothing. They were on the move again, hoping for an even more secure location like an abandoned house or an inn to stay at. She-Ra was close to giving birth, though her water hadn't broken yet nor had she had more than two or three Braxton-Hicks contractions.
Marlena and SeaHawk were ahead of them, sharing the Sky Chariot and scouting for a good place to make theirs for the next few hours. The Zactons were all around, beeping and whirring at each other.
"Has there been any word from He-Man?" asked She-Ra.
"Not yet," Teela replied, riding next to her. "Are you nervous?"
She-Ra smirked. "All things considered? I'd rather be kissing Hordak right now."
"Oh Ancients! That's disgusting!" Teela remarked immediately. Swift-Wind and Battle-Cat both laughed.
She-Ra giggled a little. "I can't wait to be back to normal, to be honest. Although I am going to miss having someone so close to me. I need to lose all this weight though."
Teela perked an eyebrow. "Really? Actually, She-Ra, other than the belly, it doesn't look like you've gained much weight anywhere else."
"Probably not, but it feels like it at least," She-Ra considered. Teela nodded, hoping to understand a little. "But what about you? Do you ever plan on having kids some day?"
"Me? Yeah. Eventually. Not in a big hurry right now, though. Need to find the right guy and all that."
"Have you found him yet?"
"He-Man, you mean? I would hope so, really. But . . . I don't know. It's kinda weird with him, though. He can be a little too . . . heroic for me. Does that make sense? It's like, I don't know, I don't want to be rescued every twenty minutes for me to really like him."
"You basically want what's behind that heroism, then?"
"Yes. I've seen him with his guard down and that's when I love him the most."
She-Ra nodded. "It's very understand for me. We champions of Grayskull have a lot of responsibility and it's hard to let down that guard of ours. This, heh, this is most vulnerable I've ever been."
"Really? In your whole life?"
"Yeah."
"How long have you been a champion of Grayskull? How long has He-Man?" asked Teela.
She-Ra frowned a little. "I'm afraid I can't tell you that, Teela. It's kind of a secret."
"Oh. Okay."
They both looked forward, and could still hear the Air Chariot soaring about. "Hey," said She-Ra then, "have you thought about Prince Adam at all?"
Teela looked startled. "Adam? Really?"
"Yeah. Seems like a nice guy to me. Not really my type, but I think you and him would be great together."
Teela thought about it, obviously caught off guard. "I . . . no. I mean, I thought I did for a little while. But I was just projecting my feelings for He-Man onto him. No. He's too much like a brother."
She-Ra smirked. "Whatever you say."
***
The noon came and the First Level of Eternos had been abandoned. The Heroic Warriors had fallen back hours ago. Despite their newfound bloodlust, the enemies' numbers were too many. The morning had come, but the sun seemed nowhere to be found. The clouds were heavy - heavier than imaginable. This would be the day . . . the day that the fate of Eternia would be decided.
Chanting filled the air, drums thundered, and weapons fired upon the besieged city of Eternos.
King Miro stood in the heart of the Palace, gazing out upon the death and destruction that overtook the city he once and was now forced to command.
"This is madness," he told Rokkon, who stood slightly behind. "Madness pure and true."
"I know, sire," Rokkon replied.
"Anything about Zodac?"
"Not yet."
Miro closed his eyes. "This is a day I never thought would come. I do fear Eternos will far before moonrise."
Rokkon said nothing.
And then . . . there was a noise.
It was a loud, proud noise that came from the hills to the north of the great city and its Palace. It was a sound of power and strength. It was a horn.
Miro and Rokkon rushed to the balcony and looked to the north. "I never thought I'd see this sight," Miro told Rokkon in a tone of amazement.
Trolls, bearing the banners of Darksmoke and at least 20,000 strong, stood upon the hills. Their spears glistened in the dimmest beams of sun that managed to poke through the black clouds. Swords were listed and the Trolls roared in a battle cry.
And then . . . they charged.
Immediately, they collided with the Goblins, the Orcs, the Reptons, and all the other dark races that had taken arms against Eternos. Blood spattered the ground, along with body-parts of the enemy.
General Tartaran turned to King Hiss, then, knowing this was the moment to act or all would be lost. "This is madness, Hiss! Darksmoke stands against us now!" Tartaran yelled, hand on the hilt of his blade.
"If Darksmoke stands against us, then we have no hope of winning this," Monteeg added, part of Tartaran 's plan.
"Quiet you!" snapped King Hiss. "We have the Trolls outnumbered, anyway. The rabble is nothing compared to our mighty forces!"
There was a sudden roar from above. Shadow Wing took an immediate defensive position as Granamyr himself soared over the horizon. Behind Granamyr were thirty other dragons of various shapes, sizes and colors.
"HOW DO YOU EXPECT US TO STAND AGAINST THAT!?!" thundered Tartaran. He pulled out his sword. "You've led us to our doom!"
"Put that sword down," cracked Baron Grod of the Ogres. "You and your traitorous spirit could cost us what remains of a victory!"
"King Hiss is the one that started this! It is he who we should blame!" snarled Haramesh, master of the Ilkorts.
"Blame yourself, weakling!" Batros yelled.
"Weakling!? WEAKLING!?!?" Haramesh lurched forward, long fingers reaching for Batros.
"Keep off of him!" yelled Subternias, leaping onto Haramesh.
A fight broke out now, between these great leaders, very quickly, the army followed suit.
Meanwhile, Granamyr flew towards Eternos, the other dragons in tow. A few them split off to deal with the army below, but the others made for the city itself. This seemed strange in King Miro's eyes, as there were more enemies below than above. A strange and very disturbing realization came to them old king then. One that scared him to the bone.
"Oh no," he muttered.
Granamyr landed on the wall and pointed towards the Palace. "ETERNOS WILL BE OURS! THE TRUE LEADERS OF ETERNIA, THE DRAGONS, WILL POSSESS IT'S CAPITAL!"
The dragons under Granamyr's command unleashed fireballs against both Eternos and evil troops in the city. King Miro stood with wide-eyed disbelief at what was happening. Granamyr, the Trolls and dragons didn't come here to save Eternos.
They came to take for themselves.
And it was at that moment - as the army of darkness began to battle with itself . . . as the dragons besieged the City of Eternos . . . as madness and fear completely overtook the Heroic Warriors and the Royal Guard - it was at that moment that chaos completely erupted.
