Chapter Five

Dawn had broken. He-Man, Battle Cat, and Lysia (now Penelope again) were huddled together asleep.

All at once, the morning air was broken by the sound of thundering hoofbeats. Atrius -- wearing a heavy-duty blaster rifle slung on his back -- and his crew of would-be "robbers" reined their horses to a stop, dismounted, drew their swords, and marched towards the trio.

Battle Cat, ever on the alert, sprung to his feet and let out a roar (thereby having the effect of both waking Lysia and causing Atrius and his crew to stop dead in their tracks.)

"Nice, Kitty," said one of Atrius's henchmen nervously.

"GET THE BLASTER!" cried another henchmen. Atrius reached for the blaster rifle behind his back, but his hand grasped nothing but thin air.

"Lose something, Atrius?" said a feminine voice from behind the group.

Atrius and his crew turned around. Standing fifteen feet away from them (in all her feathered finery) was none other than The Sorceress of Grayskull, aiming Atrius's missing blaster rifle back at him.

"On your way, lady," Atrius growled. "This doesn't concern you."

"Oh, actually, it does," The Sorceress replied. "He-Man and Battle Cat are both friends of mine." The Sorceress paused. "I wouldn't want any harm to come to them."

"You know how to use that thing?" Atrius sneered.

The Sorceress looked down at the rifle. "It's just as well," she said as she lay the rifle down on the ground in front of her. "I don't normally use these things anyway."

This woman's crazy, Atrius thought.

It was at that moment that The Sorceress noticed Penelope a.k.a. Lysia kneeling behind Atrius and his crew, trying to rouse He-Man from his magic-induced slumber.

"It's over, Penelope," The Sorceress cried. "Or should I say … LYSIA?"

"LYSIA?" Battle Cat growled in confusion.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Lysia huffed.

The Sorceress crossed her arms. "She's not as she appears," she said. "She's a warlord." The Sorceress paused. "A warlord … named Lysia." The Sorceress paused again. "A warlord … intent on conquering the kingdom of Hamaneel … just as she's already conquered Slepik, Mykonos, Beria, and Belchik."

"This is CRAZY!" Lysia shrieked.

"She has a base camp a few miles east of here," The Sorceress continued. "She rode back there last night to plan today's … operation."

"I was WONDERING where you went," said Battle Cat to Lysia.

"You're not seriously BELIEVING any of this, are you?" Lysia protested.

"She has fifteen more men stationed back at her base," said The Sorceress. "Why else would they be there … if not as part of a scouting party?" The Sorceress paused. "The men you see standing before you … are mercenaries. Mercenaries … working for Lysia. Mercenaries … with orders to kill He-Man … and make it look like a botched robbery."

Lysia turned white as a sheet. Where is she GETTING all this? she wondered.

"It seems He-Man has been disrupting her operations," The Sorceress continued. "She knew she couldn't take on 'the most powerful man in the universe' directly … and have any chance of winning." The Sorceress paused. "She felt a need to … even the odds, as it were." The Sorceress paused again. "She crashed the wedding at Hamaneel and laced He-Man's wine with a potion. A potion … that would render him paralyzed … from head to toe."

Lysia stared at The Sorceress, jaw agape. This is crazy, she thought. "Where are you GETTING all this?" she asked, finally verbalizing her thoughts.

"THAT … is a trade secret," The Sorceress replied.

"I never saw you ONCE before today!"

"I wouldn't be doing my job … if you did," The Sorceress replied with a smile. "I still have one question…"

'"WHAT?" Lysia snapped.

"What did He-Man do … to Berylla?" The Sorceress inquired.

"What did he do?" Lysia let out a snort. "It's more like what he DIDN'T do." Lysia paused. "He wasn't there … when we needed him. He wasn't there…" Lysia paused again. "…When Tellus attacked us."

"We" … "Us", noted The Sorceress silently. Berylla must be her hometown. I'm assuming this … "Tellus" … must be a warlord of some sort.

"If He-Man … the so-called 'Guardian of Eternia' … doesn't think enough of us to leave Eternos," Lysia ranted on. "If he doesn't think enough of us … to protect us…" Lysia paused. "…Then … so help me … I WILL." Lysia paused again. Enough talk, she thought. "Soldiers, SEIZE HER!" she commanded.

Atrius and his crew advanced towards The Sorceress. Before they could take another step, The Sorceress stretched out her right arm and fired a series of energy blasts, strafing the ground ahead of them. Before they could react, she fired energy blasts into the right shoulders of Atrius and two henchmen -- causing them to drop their swords, grab their arms, and scream in pain.

The Sorceress lowered her arm. "Anyone else?" she taunted.

Atrius glared at The Sorceress, his face contorted in pain. "Who ARE you?" he cried, clutching his pain-wracked arm tightly.

The Sorceress folded her arms across her chest once more. "I … am The Sorceress … of Grayskull," she announced.

"What're you waiting for?" Lysia barked. "FINISH HER!"

Atrius stared at Lysia as if she had suddenly grown another head on her shoulders. "Are you CRAZY?" he exclaimed. "You want US … to fight a SORCERESS?"

Lysia screamed in frustration. "Must I do EVERYTHING myself?" she ejaculated. With that, she marched over to He-Man, grabbed the strap of his harness, and pulled a knife out of a hidden sheath on her belt. Before she could make the first cut, the knife suddenly disappeared from her hand.

Lysia turned around. The Sorceress of Grayskull held up the missing knife in her right hand.

"It's over, Lysia," said The Sorceress. "You lose."

"This time … Sorceress," growled Lysia, spitting out the word "Sorceress." She then turned towards her men and commanded, "Soldiers, RETREAT!"

"Lysia!" The Sorceress called after the retreating Lysia.

Lysia turned around. "What did you give him?" The Sorceress inquired, "him" meaning He-Man.

"It wears off after 36 hours," Lysia replied. With that, she turned back around and sprinted towards her horse.

As Lysia and her henchmen rode away, The Sorceress raced towards He-Man's side. She knelt down beside him, cradled his head in her arm, and checked his pulse by touching the side of his neck. Pulse is strong, she thought.

"Will he be all right?" asked Battle Cat with a note of worry in his voice.

"He's alive," The Sorceress replied flatly. "Let's get him back to Grayskull."