CHAPTER 2
***Disclaimer in one.
CHAPTER 2
Adam sat in his room studying the maps of Eternia that Hordak's scout troops had designed. He tried to memorize each line and detail, but his mind wandered. He couldn't help but remember the conversation he and his father had had just hours earlier.
"You see Adam," Hordak had said as he gazed out a window in the throne room. "Eternia is not unfamiliar to me. I was once stationed there and led many battles there myself."
Adam listened intently, despite his surprise to his father's confession, and said nothing as Hordak continued.
"Many years ago...about 22 I would say, I led the Horde on an assault against the Royal Palace of Eternia and it's puerile king, Randor," he explained hesitantly, grimacing as he said the king's name. "I won't bore you with unseemly details, but suffice it to say, the attack did not go as planned and we were forced to retreat."
Adam scowled at the thought of his father, whom he considered to be the greatest military genius of his time, running from battle. His father had always taught him to stay the course and fight until he was victorious, or until he fell in the battle himself. "Only cowards run from the fight" is what he had said on many occasions, too numerous to count.
His father had taught him everything he knew: how to fight, how to shield his mind from magic, how to see his enemy as nothing more than barrier standing between him and victory and most importantly of all, how to use another's fear and insecurities to his advantage.
Having been taught all this and having used this knowledge for the good of the Horde, he could not believe his father had ever retreated from a battle. The thought made him very angry but he respected his father too much to show it.
"Retreat?" he asked sourly, trying not to let the disdain in his mind fill his voice. "I don't understand sir. You have always told me to never retreat, never run in the face of the enemy."
Hordak looked at the floor while black storm clouds formed in the sky outside. He knew he had to explain this just the right way, he could tell his son was angry with him, despite his attempts to conceal it. Once Adam understood, they could focus on the assigned task at hand.
"The situation was different then Adam," he said slowly. "Plans went astray, the timing was not as it should have been, and I had men of much lower caliber working under me. What should have been an easy mission turned into disaster quickly. But there was another factor that left me no choice but to issue the retreat."
Adam looked at his father sternly. He wanted an explanation so as to dispel the demons in his head that were telling him his father, his icon, was a coward.
"You see Adam, while I was attacking the palace, the king, Randor, decided to launch a secret attack of his own," Hordak continued. "On me."
Adam's eyes narrowed but he said nothing. Hordak went on.
"In the midst of battle, one of my informants learned that Randor had dispatched his Man-At-Arms, a skilled and powerful killer, to my headquarters to destroy something that he knew would destroy me," he said. "In order to protect that, I fled, hoping that I would beat the assassin to it."
Adam folded his arms and leaned back. He was curious to learn what was so important that would cause his father to leave a battle against his convictions.
"So what was it that was so important that you risked losing the respect of your men and winning an important battle to save?" he questioned, trying not to sound indignant.
Hordak looked at him with fierce intensity, a mixture of fatherly guidance and stern, tutorial discipline.
"More than 'it,' my son," he said firmly. "But rather, 'who.' Randor had sent an assassin to kill my infant son, and I couldn't allow that to happen. I left the battle to save YOU from certain death. In order to do that, we had to flee from Eternia."
Now as Adam sat studying the plans and going over intelligence reports, his father's words rang out in his head over and over again.
He leaned back and rubbed his eyes as lightning flashed outside, the white light briefly highlighted Adam's rugged features. He contemplated what the story meant. Hordak had risked victory and respect to save him. By doing that, he was allowed to grow up and become the man his father hoped he would be. But to Adam, a victory over Etheria wasn't enough to repay him. He had to do more, something to amend his father's disgrace on Eternia. The thought of that alone made him ravenous.
The pen Adam held in his right hand snapped as he squeezed it with furious intensity. He didn't even notice the blood trickling between his fingers due to the cut he sustained from the pen's broken jagged edges.
Suddenly, he devised a new plan. One based on revenge and vile ambition. Details such as times, weapons, stations and strategies were quickly calculated and filed in his brilliant yet devious mind.
He grinned sadistically to himself. He was planning more than a mere assault on the castle known as Grayskull. He decided while he was on Eternia, he would pay a visit to the coward King Randor, who sent his underlings to do his dirty work and chose to kill the children of his enemies. He would make Randor and his whole family pay for his past mistake of ever daring to cross the Horde.
*******
"General Damas?" Evil-Lyn asked Skeletor dumbfoundedly. "As in the vicious, most evil, ruthless killer General Damas?"
The witch had to sit down as her master told her of the latest news from Horde Prime. Her heart beat faster and her cheeks burned red at the thought of such a powerful man coming to Eternia. Her purple eyes glistened with girlish joy as she smiled broadly at the idea.
Skeletor, however, was less than amused. The blue, skull faced monster crosses his arms and leaned back on his throne. His giant tiger, Panthor, lay lightly snoring next to him.
Skeletor knew Prime was becoming increasingly frustrated with him, but he hated, no DESPISED, the idea of one of Hordak's cronies coming in and taking over, even if it was only temporarily.
"Yes, well, don't get your hopes up too high Evil-Lyn," Skeletor grunted. "Damas is powerful but he has yet to take on the powers of Grayskull. I'm sure it will be an interesting lesson for him, then we shall see how high Prime regards him."
Evil-Lyn just smiled more. She looked at her nails and made a mental note to coat them with tova berries before Damas arrived.
"When is the General expected here?" she asked doefully, trying unsuccessfully not to seem too eager. "I'm sure he'll require much time to plan such an important mission."
Skeletor thought he was going to be nauseous over Evil-Lyn's giddiness. He sighed and stroked Panthor's back.
"You'd think that wouldn't you?" he said flatly. "But according to the latest communication I received, Damas should be here tomorrow night, if not the next day. His troops will arrive a few days later."
"A few days later?" Evil-Lyn questioned. She leaned back in her council seat and frowned. "His troops will not be arriving with him? That's quite odd, wouldn't you say?"
Skeletor was getting tired of answering questions about the matter and he gritted his exposed teeth.
"I have heard that he wishes to scout out the land himself before leading the attack," he growled. "If he doesn't trust the intelligence information I sent him, that's his problem. Let him roam the whole damn planet for all I care."
Evil-Lyn knew she was getting on her master's nerves and was enjoying every second of it. She wondered how far she could push it before Skeletor really got angry.
"Well, if I were in your shoes, which of course I could never be, I would be worried that Prime had such little confidence in me that he had to send someone ELSE to take care of business," she prodded. "Aren't you afraid Damas, the great and powerful General of Hordak's Army, will make you look like a fool?"
Red lights formed in Skeletor's empty eyesockets and he gripped the armrests of his throne.
"What do you mean by that, witch?" He seethed.
Evil-Lyn tried to repress her laughter and looked innocently at her master.
"Well, if Damas manages to succeed in one try where you, I mean we, have failed so many times, don't you think Prime would notice that?" she pressed. "What would happen if Damas took the power of Grayskull for himself? He would be more powerful than Prime...he would certainly be WAY more powerful than you. He could rule the universe."
Evil-Lyn dodged the laser blast from Skeletor's havoc staff and confidently smiled at her now very, very angry master.
Skeletor wasn't about to be upstaged or over-powered by anybody, especially not some young twerp who happened to get lucky a few times of Etheria. He certainly wasn't going to stand idly by and let this General march into Grayskull and take the power that he had coveted for so long.
"Even if he makes it around her," he responded. "I'll be there to make sure that I'm the only one who gets into Grayskull and gets the power of the elders."
Evil-Lyn tilted her head.
"Her?" she asked. "You mean the Sorceress?"
Skeletor chuckled a little at Evil-Lyn's naivety.
"No, foolish woman," he laughed. "I can handle the Sorceress. I mean that blasted warrior woman She-Ra."
***Disclaimer in one.
CHAPTER 2
Adam sat in his room studying the maps of Eternia that Hordak's scout troops had designed. He tried to memorize each line and detail, but his mind wandered. He couldn't help but remember the conversation he and his father had had just hours earlier.
"You see Adam," Hordak had said as he gazed out a window in the throne room. "Eternia is not unfamiliar to me. I was once stationed there and led many battles there myself."
Adam listened intently, despite his surprise to his father's confession, and said nothing as Hordak continued.
"Many years ago...about 22 I would say, I led the Horde on an assault against the Royal Palace of Eternia and it's puerile king, Randor," he explained hesitantly, grimacing as he said the king's name. "I won't bore you with unseemly details, but suffice it to say, the attack did not go as planned and we were forced to retreat."
Adam scowled at the thought of his father, whom he considered to be the greatest military genius of his time, running from battle. His father had always taught him to stay the course and fight until he was victorious, or until he fell in the battle himself. "Only cowards run from the fight" is what he had said on many occasions, too numerous to count.
His father had taught him everything he knew: how to fight, how to shield his mind from magic, how to see his enemy as nothing more than barrier standing between him and victory and most importantly of all, how to use another's fear and insecurities to his advantage.
Having been taught all this and having used this knowledge for the good of the Horde, he could not believe his father had ever retreated from a battle. The thought made him very angry but he respected his father too much to show it.
"Retreat?" he asked sourly, trying not to let the disdain in his mind fill his voice. "I don't understand sir. You have always told me to never retreat, never run in the face of the enemy."
Hordak looked at the floor while black storm clouds formed in the sky outside. He knew he had to explain this just the right way, he could tell his son was angry with him, despite his attempts to conceal it. Once Adam understood, they could focus on the assigned task at hand.
"The situation was different then Adam," he said slowly. "Plans went astray, the timing was not as it should have been, and I had men of much lower caliber working under me. What should have been an easy mission turned into disaster quickly. But there was another factor that left me no choice but to issue the retreat."
Adam looked at his father sternly. He wanted an explanation so as to dispel the demons in his head that were telling him his father, his icon, was a coward.
"You see Adam, while I was attacking the palace, the king, Randor, decided to launch a secret attack of his own," Hordak continued. "On me."
Adam's eyes narrowed but he said nothing. Hordak went on.
"In the midst of battle, one of my informants learned that Randor had dispatched his Man-At-Arms, a skilled and powerful killer, to my headquarters to destroy something that he knew would destroy me," he said. "In order to protect that, I fled, hoping that I would beat the assassin to it."
Adam folded his arms and leaned back. He was curious to learn what was so important that would cause his father to leave a battle against his convictions.
"So what was it that was so important that you risked losing the respect of your men and winning an important battle to save?" he questioned, trying not to sound indignant.
Hordak looked at him with fierce intensity, a mixture of fatherly guidance and stern, tutorial discipline.
"More than 'it,' my son," he said firmly. "But rather, 'who.' Randor had sent an assassin to kill my infant son, and I couldn't allow that to happen. I left the battle to save YOU from certain death. In order to do that, we had to flee from Eternia."
Now as Adam sat studying the plans and going over intelligence reports, his father's words rang out in his head over and over again.
He leaned back and rubbed his eyes as lightning flashed outside, the white light briefly highlighted Adam's rugged features. He contemplated what the story meant. Hordak had risked victory and respect to save him. By doing that, he was allowed to grow up and become the man his father hoped he would be. But to Adam, a victory over Etheria wasn't enough to repay him. He had to do more, something to amend his father's disgrace on Eternia. The thought of that alone made him ravenous.
The pen Adam held in his right hand snapped as he squeezed it with furious intensity. He didn't even notice the blood trickling between his fingers due to the cut he sustained from the pen's broken jagged edges.
Suddenly, he devised a new plan. One based on revenge and vile ambition. Details such as times, weapons, stations and strategies were quickly calculated and filed in his brilliant yet devious mind.
He grinned sadistically to himself. He was planning more than a mere assault on the castle known as Grayskull. He decided while he was on Eternia, he would pay a visit to the coward King Randor, who sent his underlings to do his dirty work and chose to kill the children of his enemies. He would make Randor and his whole family pay for his past mistake of ever daring to cross the Horde.
*******
"General Damas?" Evil-Lyn asked Skeletor dumbfoundedly. "As in the vicious, most evil, ruthless killer General Damas?"
The witch had to sit down as her master told her of the latest news from Horde Prime. Her heart beat faster and her cheeks burned red at the thought of such a powerful man coming to Eternia. Her purple eyes glistened with girlish joy as she smiled broadly at the idea.
Skeletor, however, was less than amused. The blue, skull faced monster crosses his arms and leaned back on his throne. His giant tiger, Panthor, lay lightly snoring next to him.
Skeletor knew Prime was becoming increasingly frustrated with him, but he hated, no DESPISED, the idea of one of Hordak's cronies coming in and taking over, even if it was only temporarily.
"Yes, well, don't get your hopes up too high Evil-Lyn," Skeletor grunted. "Damas is powerful but he has yet to take on the powers of Grayskull. I'm sure it will be an interesting lesson for him, then we shall see how high Prime regards him."
Evil-Lyn just smiled more. She looked at her nails and made a mental note to coat them with tova berries before Damas arrived.
"When is the General expected here?" she asked doefully, trying unsuccessfully not to seem too eager. "I'm sure he'll require much time to plan such an important mission."
Skeletor thought he was going to be nauseous over Evil-Lyn's giddiness. He sighed and stroked Panthor's back.
"You'd think that wouldn't you?" he said flatly. "But according to the latest communication I received, Damas should be here tomorrow night, if not the next day. His troops will arrive a few days later."
"A few days later?" Evil-Lyn questioned. She leaned back in her council seat and frowned. "His troops will not be arriving with him? That's quite odd, wouldn't you say?"
Skeletor was getting tired of answering questions about the matter and he gritted his exposed teeth.
"I have heard that he wishes to scout out the land himself before leading the attack," he growled. "If he doesn't trust the intelligence information I sent him, that's his problem. Let him roam the whole damn planet for all I care."
Evil-Lyn knew she was getting on her master's nerves and was enjoying every second of it. She wondered how far she could push it before Skeletor really got angry.
"Well, if I were in your shoes, which of course I could never be, I would be worried that Prime had such little confidence in me that he had to send someone ELSE to take care of business," she prodded. "Aren't you afraid Damas, the great and powerful General of Hordak's Army, will make you look like a fool?"
Red lights formed in Skeletor's empty eyesockets and he gripped the armrests of his throne.
"What do you mean by that, witch?" He seethed.
Evil-Lyn tried to repress her laughter and looked innocently at her master.
"Well, if Damas manages to succeed in one try where you, I mean we, have failed so many times, don't you think Prime would notice that?" she pressed. "What would happen if Damas took the power of Grayskull for himself? He would be more powerful than Prime...he would certainly be WAY more powerful than you. He could rule the universe."
Evil-Lyn dodged the laser blast from Skeletor's havoc staff and confidently smiled at her now very, very angry master.
Skeletor wasn't about to be upstaged or over-powered by anybody, especially not some young twerp who happened to get lucky a few times of Etheria. He certainly wasn't going to stand idly by and let this General march into Grayskull and take the power that he had coveted for so long.
"Even if he makes it around her," he responded. "I'll be there to make sure that I'm the only one who gets into Grayskull and gets the power of the elders."
Evil-Lyn tilted her head.
"Her?" she asked. "You mean the Sorceress?"
Skeletor chuckled a little at Evil-Lyn's naivety.
"No, foolish woman," he laughed. "I can handle the Sorceress. I mean that blasted warrior woman She-Ra."