Chapter Five: "Back-to-Back Fighting"
"Halt in the name of Eternos, Grayskull, and the Elder!"
Snake-Face stopped in his tracks and lifted his hand for the army behind him to do so as well. The Snake-Men that stood so heavily armed came to a stop and began to hiss and snarl at the command. Snake-Face smiled at the figure that had caused so much trouble.
"He-Ro . . ." Snake-Face hissed.
"Snake-Face. I order your forces to stand down. You will not be aiding King Hiss at his battle at the Great Towers."
Snake-Face snarled. "And just how do you plan on stopping an entire army?"
"With a little back-up."
"And just where is it? I see no one but thee."
"Look again."
Seemingly from out of the sky came He-Man. Snake-Face never did a clear look at his attacker as he came upon him. He-Man's feet smashed into Snake-Face's head, sending him right to the ground. His heavy, stone-like body ripped up the grass.
The other Snake-Men just stood there, stunned at this new enemy. They regarded him, taking in the sight of He-Ro's new aide. And then . . . they attacked.
The first line came forward, mouths wide open, sharp teeth glistening, eyes full of violence. He-Man and He-Ro did not waver as they came under attack. For those first Snake-Men, both He-Man and He-Ro used fists, kicks, and non-lethal weapon attacks. Between these mighty of men, there was chance. None of these Snake-Men had special talents nor did they have a clear leader.
But then the second wave came against them . . . and the third. As soon as He-Man and He-Ro became overwhelmed, back up arrived.
Just as one of the Snake-Men was about to drive a sickle through He-Man's head, a blade blocked it. The Snake-Men stood in surprise, as it was a beautiful human female that wielded it.
"Don't mess with my family, viper," She-Ra threatened before decking him.
"I like your style, She-Ra!" shouted He-Ro, throwing one Snake-Man into a pair of them.
His foot then kicked one approaching him, sending it backward against one of its kin. He-Ro followed up by knocking three together. He then leapt up, flipped, knocked one to the ground, then sent a pair of fists right into a pairs guts. He-Ro spun around and slammed one in the face with the back of his fist. Then, he smashed his staff into two faces, prodded another in the belly, cracked the ribs of a fourth, and concluded with the smacking of three.
He-Man, on the other hand, was busy with eight that had him surrounded. His fist dealt with two. As he took out a third with an uppercut, his foot collided with a fifth's face. He flipped and took two others down. The final, he smashed his elbow into. As quickly as this wave was gone, another one went to fill the void. He-Man's Power Sword was out and spun, cutting each of the Snake-Men just enough to shed blood. They backed away.
Being a female didn't deter the Snake-Men from attacking She-Ra one bit. They can against her, violent and strong. A roundhouse kick to the face took down three. She ducked beneath another that wanted her head on the ground and punched hard him in the chest. She-Ra spun and knocked the legs out from underneath two others. While she came from that, she command her sword to transform to a lasso. The lasso went around the bellies of two her opponents and knocked them together.
At that moment, three new fighters entered the battle, all attacking the back of the lines.
With a tremendous roar came Battle-Beast. His huge limps crushed Snake-Men that scramble to kill this mighty creature. Battle-Beast didn't give them a chance. His long tail sent a dozen sailing into the air, ramming against others.
Came out right from under the shadow was the mightiest of tigers, Battle-Cat. The massive, red armored cat came flying into the air, smashing into a small group of Snake-Men that were headed towards the front lines. With ferocity only known to felines, Battle-Cat clamped his jaw onto a Snake-Men and tossed him aside before jumping and slamming down two others. These other Snake-Men were down for the count and Battle-Cat was moving once more, snarling at his enemies. At his prey.
Swift-Wind came tearing down from the skies, slamming into Snake-Men left and right. His wings flared out, striking out a number of Snake-Men before he took to the air once more. Once he did, his hooves struck the heads of Snake-Men, sending them scattered onto the ground.
As these six fought on, they all began to hear a strange whisper. Neither He-Ro, She-Ra, nor the animals knew who it was. But He-Man did. It was the Spirit of Grayskull. And it told him what to do. This battle needed to end. While a quarter of this army was indeed defeated, there was still too many of them to hold off in this way for much longer.
"Do you hear that?" asked He-Ro as he dealt with another Snake-Man.
"A whispering . . . coming from my sword . . ." She-Ra replied, pausing for a brief second.
At that moment, Battle-Beast, Battle-Cat, and Swift-Wind joined them.
"This battle needs to end!" He-Man declared.
"Agreed," He-Ro answered.
On an urge, She-Ra lifted her Sword of Protection. He-Man joined her and touched the Sword of Power to her blade. He-Ro brought the Staff of Power to the crossing of the two swords. As soon as he did, there was tremendous sound. Lightning flashed and crashed. Energy exploded.
The very power of Grayskull swirled around the meeting point. A roar like thunder echoed from these three. Their companions roared. The light grew brighter and brighter and began to take a shape. Visible only to He-Ro, He-Man, and She-Ra, the light began to take shape. A man, huge and bulky (King Grayskull/The Sprit of Grayskull). From this shape that formed at the touching of the weapons came a wave of white light that expanded outward.
It slammed against the Snake-Men and caused them all to collapse in heaps. The army had fallen. The light then began to dim and the visage vanished. The six of them fell to the ground, back into their regular forms and exhausted.
"Whoa . . ." sighed Adam.
"No kidding," Gray muttered.
"Wha-what was that?" asked Adora.
"The very core of the power of Grayskull," Gray answered. "I know it. King Grayskull's power that we all share. It was he who was whispering to us."
Adam shook his head. "No . . . no, it was the Spirit of Grayskull."
"Are you certain?"
"Very much so, Gray. I've never even heard of King Grayskull."
"I don't understand that. How can you have not heard of King Grayskull? Who is the Spirit of Grayskull?"
"Guys," Adora interrupted. "Ever think that maybe they're one and the same?"
A shiver passed between all of them. There was obviously something the Sorceress wasn't telling them about. Something incredibly important that - for some reason - wasn't permitted to speak about. Secrets that were kept by Sorceresses from Kodac Ungl to Teelana. But why? To what end?
"We need to go," Gray said then. "We're needed at the Great Towers."
Gray lifted his Power Staff. "BY THE MIGHT OF GRAYSKULL, MAGIC AND STRENGTH - TEMPERED BY HEART . . ."
Adam lifted his Sword of Power. "BY THE POWER OF GRAYSKULL . . ."
Adora lifted her Sword of Protection. "BY THE HONOR OF GRAYSKULL . . ."
". . . I STAND FOR PEACE!"
". . . I HAVE THE POWER!"
". . . I AM SHE-RA!"
A cascade of energy burst and crackled around them as the transformation of the heroes and their trustworthy companions ended.
They then rode east.
"WE NEED A WALL! NOW!"
Tail, a Cat and member of the defenders of the Light Hemisphere known as the Light Warriors, leapt up and avoided another explosion. Another one of King Hiss' bizarre weapons at work; one of those lightning producers. Tall and lanky, Tail flipped up and dug her claws into an approaching Snake-Man. The Snake-Man went down and she kicked another approaching one.
"Snowball - did you not hear me?!"
The completely blue man from the Ice Mountains snorted. "I'm working on it! Bare in mind, Tail, I'm in the middle of the Sands of Time!"
"Excuses! We need a wall!"
"She's not joking, Snowball," Stinger, another female, this one from Insectia. "Those Snake-Men broke through the main wall and we need a back-up."
Though it didn't exist in the current era, the Great Towers at this time had a huge stone wall surrounding it, from which the Light Warriors now attempted to count-attack. With one section already down, they needed one in a jiffy.
"SNOWBALL!" cried Tail.
"I'm working on it," he replied, hands flat and facing each other. In between, little blue dashes of energy flashed across. The occasional small flurry or hunk of ice appeared as a result. "I don't have enough moisture to - "
He was unable to finish as Talon, a golden feathered Avion, splashed a bucket of water onto him.
"Now you have moisture! Do it!"
Snowball's blue hand faced the broken portion of the wall. Two beams of blue light appeared and formed a huge block of ice that filled the busted area.
"That's the best I can do."
Talon nodded. "Good job. You've bought us some time. Horn!"
The older looking man in wild clothes came running over, a silver horn dangling from his neck. "Yes?"
"Sonics. Now. We need to push them away from the wall so can get reorganized."
As Horn ran to the top of the wall and let loose a ear piercing sonic scream from his horn, the Snake-Men pulled back. He gave the 'thumb's up' to Talon, who just simply nodded.
"Where is He-Ro?" he asked no one in particular.
"I'm sure he's on his way," Tail replied. "In the meantime, let's make sure he gets back before Hiss makes it through that nice block of ice Snowball got us."
King Hiss stood at the back of the army of Snake-Men that now clashed against the wall of the Great Towers. While his focus was mostly on the battle, his mind drifted to the army that should have been here by now. And just where was He-Ro? He should have been here, at this moment of great victory. His finest enemy, his greatest foe . . . he should have been dead at his feet right after he entered the first hall of the Central Tower.
Yet, according to his reports, He-Ro was not at the Great Towers. Nor had the Council of Elders done anything to counter-attack the forces of the Snake-Men. Just why was that? What were they waiting for?
"Master!" Tung Lashor suddenly exclaimed.
"What is it?"
"Something approaches from the west!"
King Hiss lifted up his telescope and took a few. He muttered a curse. He-Ro, riding forth with two companions. Riding fast . . . right towards the army . . .
"No," he muttered.
"Master, also . . . we have heard from the army that was to attack from the west. They have fallen."
King Hiss slammed his fist against his armrest. His Tyrantisaurus Rex shuffled as King Hiss almost had a conniption fit. He-Ro and his two companions were smashing into the middle lines of the Snake-Men army. And then . . .
A brilliant white light flared from the top of Central Tower. King Hiss could see the Council of Elders standing there with their apprentices, power flowing downward at the Snake-Men. Streams of lightning-like energy began to shot downward, throwing many of the Snake-Men to the ground. Flanks began to fall.
"Pull us back," King Hiss snarled. "Pull back from the wall and we'll regroup here."
Horns blew, drums thundered and echoed. The Snake-Men began to retreat.
After the Snake-Men withdrew from the wall and the Great Towers, He-Ro, He-Man, She-Ra, and their companions were allowed through the gate.
"Welcome back, He-Ro!" Talon shouted.
"Many thanks, Talon," He-Ro replied. "This is He-Man and She-Ra, friends of the Light Hemisphere."
"Ah. Good to meet you."
"The same," He-Man returned.
"Hello."
"You did a fine job of keeping things battened down here, Talon," He-Ro noted. "All of you did. Eternia thanks you, though I fear the battle is not over quite yet. King Hiss will likely gather his forces and strike once more. But that can not be our concern right now. Right now, I need to speak with the Council of Elders. Watch after our companions, will you?"
"Of course."
As they entered into the first hall of the Central Tower (which was filled with banners and flags, as well as soldiers and knights), He-Man turned to She-Ra.
"Reminds me of Stratos."
She-Ra smiled and nodded. "Same here. So many similarities, it's astounding."
"Ah! He-Ro!" an all-too familiar voice greeted them. Standing there, in front of the winding steps to the next level, was Hordak.