Chapter One: "Clues of the Past"
Shadow Weaver went to work immediately, knowing her role in the task at hand. Some 72 hours after the 48 deadline and the plan was finalized. As she made for the entrance of Horror Hall, she recalled just who had joined Hordak at Doom Tower.
It had been quite the who's who of the Horde. Catra, Dylamug, Entrapa, False Face, Grizzlor, Leech, Mantenna, Modulok, Multi-Bot, Octavia, Scorpia, Duke Dreer, Vultak, Professor Tempest, Admiral Scurvey, and herself had gathered the evening after Hordak made his furious decree.
"We will all have different roles and different budgets," Catra told them.
"I have a copy of our current statistics as far as Horde Troopers, vehicles, weapons, deployments, and money goes," Manteena issued, handing each one of them a pad of printouts.
A holographic map of Etheria then appeared above the table they were all seated at. The next 48 hours were filled with arguments, shouts, laughs, plans, sighs, fists hitting tables, cursing, cheering, and in the end, when that last hour was reached (Hordak had entered precisely 48 hours after the meeting commenced; the plan was at long last had its finishing touch exactly 30 second before he walked through the door), there was a feeling of both weariness and pride.
It was good plan. Hordak spent the next five hours by himself, looking over it, searching for flaws and adjustments. Part of Shadow Weaver started to believe that it was all just a rouse concocted by Hordak so that he had something huge to be let out his frustrations upon. Of course, when Hordak gathered them all in his throne room, it was revealed that this was not so.
"I have examined the plan," Hordak told them. "And it will be executed immediately. Six months from now . . . Etheria shall be ours."
The plan was deeply detailed, a combination of the many forces that drove Hordak's invading engine. Many of the Horde were going to be working together in the plans ultimate execution, but Shadow Weaver was not among them. She was given a singular task: to find a way to break into the Whispering Woods to allow for a massive strike force to enter.
Once in her greatest study in Horror Hall, Shadow Weaver went to work. Her gnarled, dry fingers strode through pages of dozens of books, searching for just the right spell or combination of spells that would break the defenses of the Whispering Woods.
During the course of her search, Shadow Weaver stumbled upon a very ancient book in the back of her library. It was covered in dust and even Shadow Weaver herself could not remember where it had come from. Upon further examination, she found that the book itself was locked.
Shadow Weaver had a feeling this book was what she was looking for. She floated over to a series of shelves and found a small box that had been leftover from her childhood - one of the few things, in fact, from that time of her dark and evil life.
She opened the box and discovered it was full of keys. Collecting keys had been her hobby when she was a little girl. With a small incantation, the keys all floated out and hovered right before her. Her yellow eyes scanned each one, selecting only the oldest of the keys to come forward.
Twenty remained floating and the others flew back into the box. Each of these twenty tried to lock. The fifth one did it and the book was unsealed. The keys went back to the box.
Shadow Weaver took the now opened book to her desk and opened it. Her yellow eyes widened as she took in the information contained within. It was greatly going to work to her advantage.
Nine hours later, Shadow Weaver arrived in Hordak's throne room, the book in her hands.
"Yes, Shadow Weaver?" Hordak asked of her.
"I have made a startling discovery, Lord Hordak," Shadow Weaver proclaimed.
"Don't keep it to yourself, Weaver," Hordak said, which was followed promptly by a snort. "Tell me what you have to say."
"This text is far more ancient than any other I own and it contains information surely lost except to a select few. Hordak . . . there is something about this world that not even I was aware of. This book taught me to search for a great source of power. And I have found it."
"What is it?"
"Long ago, a great force to Etheria from Eternia. This force was called Light-Hope and it made its home on the top of Skydancer Mountain, in a place called the Crystal Castle. The Crystal Castle is pure good and it would be impossible for even you or I to breach it."
Hordak's eyes widened. "I . . . am aware of Light-Hope."
"You do?"
"Yes, from my time with the Elders. But I did not know that he was now on Etheria. From what I understand, Light-Hope would be a challenge even for Horde Prime himself to destroy!"
Shadow Weaver drew a breath. "I learned as much, yes. However, what I discovered was that Light-Hope remained in slumber for many years after his arrival. He was gathering great power. The more I was told this, the more my magical senses up-dated me. Light-Hope only recently awoke, you see, when Princess Adora arrived on Etheria."
"Her great destiny . . ." muttered Hordak. Those were the words spoken to him by the Oracle of the Truth before he and Keldor tried to kidnap Adora and Adam.
Shadow Weaver ignored him and continued on. "The book then spoke of a second being like Light-Hope that left Eternia at the same time."
"A second being?"
"Yes. And unlike Light-Hope, this was an entity of pure evil. It has made its home not among the clouds upon the highest mountain, but deep below the surface, in the great underground. Dark-Hope is its name and it has yet to awaken. He exists in an underground tower called the Black Palace."
"The power of Dark-Hope would be enough to break the barrier of the Whispering Woods and allow us to enter?" Hordak then asked eagerly.
"Yes, Hordak!"
Hordak slammed his fist against the arm of his throne in a burst of energy. "Prepare a small scouting party, then! In two days, you and I will enter the underground in search of Dark-Hope - the key to at last defeating the Great Rebellion!"
Kathryn, daughter of Roman and currently Prince Adam's girlfriend, looked nervously out the front window as the three Sky Sleds and a Wind-Raider landed in the front yard. She turned to her trio of younger siblings - Benjamin, Alice, and Olivia - and gave the kind of look their mother (if she were still alive) would give: stern, caring, and tough.
"You kids better be on your best behavior tonight," she warned. "These are very important guests."
Roman, her father, scoffed. "Ah, they'll be just fine, darlin,'" the old farmer said.
"I'll believe it when I see it, Da," she replied.
There was a sudden knock on the door. Benjamin, youngest of the four kids, ran over and opened it up. He smiled at the three that stood on the porch - King Randor, Queen Marlena, and Prince Adam.
"Hello and welcome to our lovely house," he said, having had that forced into his head by Kathryn all afternoon.
"Hello there," Randor greeted, waving at the youngster that stood just beyond the screen door.
"Can we come in or are we stuck outside for dinner?" joked Marlena.
"Let them in, Benny!" scolded Olivia impatiently from the left side of the door.
Marlena glanced over at Randor, smiling. Randor returned to smile. Benjamin opened the door and Randor took it.
As soon as they entered, they were greeted by all of Roman's family.
"King Randor, pleasure to meet ya,'" Roman said, taking the King's hand, the great expanse of his gut not putting Randor off a bit.
"Just call me Randor, sir, and it is a pleasure to meet you too," Randor replied, shaking Roman's mighty hand.
"I'll try my best," Roman returned sheepishly before turning to Marlena. "Your majesty, ma'am."
"So nice to meet you, Roman. Adam's told us so much about you."
"Good things, I'm hopin,'" Roman answer with his broad smile.
"Of course, Mr. Roman," Adam said and briefly shook Roman's hand.
The other introductions were made, of course, and as Roman, the children and the king and queen sat down at the table, Adam slipped over to Kathryn in the kitchen/dining room. He planted a quick kiss on the cheek before taking a look at what she had made.
"It looks delicious, sweetie," Adam told her.
"Well, I hope it tastes as good as it looks, then," she replied, tension and nervousness in her voice.
He rubbed her shoulder. "Don't be nervous, honey. You're going to be just fine."
"I just hope I don't accidentally poison them or something," she grumbled, putting the final touches on a dish in front of her.
"Um, I wouldn't say that too loudly. There are three guards outside and they tend take that sorta stuff seriously."
She offered him a thin smile and allowed his hand to come around her waist in a small half hug. As soon as they broke, Benjamin came walking over.
"Adam, where's Cringer?"
Adam grinned. "He's back at the Palace, sleeping."
"Oh. Okay."
"Next time I'll bring him, okay buddy?"
"Okay!"
Adam smiled at Kathryn, who seemed to relax just a little bit more at the sight of him giving him that amazing smile.
Dinner was a smash hit. Borak Beef, mashed potatoes, white lily beans, Jajune sticks, shrewberries, and lime gelatin covered all plates. Kathryn internally maintained both her glee and relief at the fact the royal family were neither hating it nor rolling on the floor dying. King Randor, in fact, was on his third helping.
Roman and Randor were chatting about the current growing season. A rather mild winter had rolled away a few weeks ago and the crops were starting to come in quite nicely. While they engaged in the topic, the others found little interest in it - which ultimately meant that Marlena had to bring up funny stories about Adam's childhood. While Adam turned pink in the face due to the overwhelming embarrassment, the kids were getting a huge kick out of it.
The evening rounded with Marlena, Randor, and Roman sitting out on the porch, the kids inside playing a card game, and Adam and Kathryn walking around the farm.
"A good boy y'all raised," Roman stated bluntly. "I'm all honored to have him here, to be honest. He's a good and worthy man for Kathryn."
"Well, I could easily say the same for Kathryn. She's very responsible and very considerate and respectful," Randor told him.
"Aye. I wanted her to be a good person and she is. I am very proud of my Kathy girl."
Meanwhile, Adam and Kathryn were concluding their evening stroll. They were just coming around the barn when Adam felt a vague tingling sensation in his mind.
"Sorceress?" he asked quietly.
Adam! she cried out telepathically. You must come to Castle Grayskull!
"What's going on?"
Kathryn looked at him with that silent and intense curiosity that she gave him whenever something like this happened.
I can not explain it now, was her reply. You must come immediately!
"My sword is back at the Palace."
I will contact Orko and ask him to bring to Castle Grayskull, the Sorceress answered.
"Gotcha. I'll be there shortly," he returned, and inwardly smiled when he saw his parents and the soldiers heading back to the Wind-Raider and Sky-Sleds.
"Gotta go?" Kathryn asked.
"Yeah. I'm sorry."
"No, it's okay. I understand," she told him, offering Adam that wonderfully supportive smile of hers. He suddenly felt very lucky to have her.
"Follow my lead."
Adam and Kathryn met up with Roman, Randor, Marlena, and the guards.
"Thank you for such a lovely dinner, Kathryn," said Marlena, taking Kathryn's hand into hers for a brief moment.
"Thanks! I really appreciate that. I was really nervous."
Randor smiled. "Understandable, but unneeded. It was one of the finest meals I've had in a while."
Randor and Marlena then said good bye to Roman.
"Hey, father, would you mind leaving one of those Sky-Sleds behind?" asked Adam. "I think I'll catch up to you guys later."
"All right, son."
With that, the Wind-Raider and two Sky-Sleds were off into the early night sky. The third soldier was riding with Randor and Marlena, allowing Adam accessing to the third Sky-Sleds. Once Roman went inside and his parents and their entourage was out of sight, Adam turned to Kathryn.
"I love you," he told her, arms holding her close to him.
"I love you too," she replied.
The two kissed and with a quick 'good night,' Adam blasted off towards the north.
