Chapter Two - "Exile"
Hordak perked an eyebrow, but the Horde was ushered out of their chairs. The entire group was taken to the top of the tower, where a view of the entire Fright Zone could be seen. He-Man and She-Ra both kept themselves close to Hordak, just in case he decided to try something. He did not, however.
It was a warm morning, but breezy. Spring was in full bloom and it would be summer soon. The barren ground of the Darklands stretched out far from the boarders of the Fright Zone. In distance, they could see the Whispering Woods. Below, the Fright Zone stood silent and empty, with various sections obliterated.
Queen Angella looked to Zed. "Do they have a lock?"
"Yes. In case anything goes wrong, we'll be teleported right out."
"Good." She then turned to Hordak. "Hordak? The time has come for your entire empire to crumble. Quite literally. Zed."
Zed nodded and pressed a button on his wrist communicator. "This is Lord Zed, Huntara. Detonate the underground charges."
At that moment, a horrendous rumbling echoed out through the Darklands. Doom Tower shook violently and everyone held on to whatever they could. Hordak rushed to the edge and looked down. His face conveyed no emotion, though he felt nothing but pure rage within him. Far below, massive underground explosions roared on. The very ground around Doom Tower - the entire Fright Zone! - began to shake, collapse, and then . . . a great hole opened up. All of the many structures of the Fright Zone fell into this breach in the ground, collapsing into a two mile opening.
After twenty minutes of quaking and shaking, the Fright Zone was gone. A chasm two miles deep now sat where the great fortress once did. Fifteen miles away was solid ground.
Hordak turned and faced his enemies and allies. "I am impressed, but this is still no exile."
She-Ra nodded. "True . . . however . . ."
Zed pressed a key and sent up another transmission.
Some twenty seconds later, the frozen lake that King Mercia had sent into space reappeared. It crashed violently into huge chunks into the chasm. Frosta, Mermista and a number of mages from both kingdoms honed their powers on the massive frozen chunks. Immediately, they melted, spreading out across the chasm.
Doom Tower now stood in the center of a fifteen-mile lake.
"Now you've give us a way out," Hordak said then. "Octavia could just swim across. This was a foolish idea!"
"We're not through yet, Hordak."
At the edge of the Darklands sat Perfuma, in deep meditation. Her power spread itself out, touching all of the seeds that had been laid out for thirty miles around the Fright Zone - what was once the Fright Zone now. Her power, after, reaching and touching with all the seeds, moved down in the barren ground and she felt the new underground water ways that had been blown open thanks to Zed. She then concentrated on the little big of sunshine that managed to break through those ugly clouds above.
After reaching out and touching all of this, she pushed a command out to the seeds. "GROW!"
She guided them to the water and into the vague sunlight. Her body was already drained, but she continued to use her powers for this endeavor. The ground rumbled, though, and she could watch as huge trees roared out of the ground . . .
Hordak stared in disbelief. For miles in all directions, trees were tearing through the ground and becoming full-grown. Not just any trees, though. He recognized the kind of trees they were and could sense the power they held through what was left of his magics. This was no ordinary forest that was suddenly appearing . . . this was a second Whispering Woods. Which meant, the Horde would indeed be trapped here.
As the last trees appeared at waters edge of the brand-new Fright Zone Lake, Hordak gritted his teeth. He spun around and looked at them all. Queen Angella was smirking, as was She-Ra.
"You chose exile, Hordak," Angella said with restrained joy in her voice.
"Your computers have been destroyed, as have all of your vehicles. You have no weapons, not artifacts, no magical relics - nothing," She-Ra informed Hordak. "Except yourselves. The Whispering Woods, as I'm sure you're well aware, halts any force of evil from entering into its lands. You can't even fly over it without a vine reaching out and swatting you away. Your day is through. The reign of the Horde IS OVER!"
With that, Zed pressed one last key on his wrist communicator. The leaders of Etheria, their soldiers, and the Great Rebellion members vanished in a stream of light and energy - teleported off of Doom Tower.
The Horde stood upon the top of Doom Tower, muttering to amongst themselves as to what to do. Hordak just stared out at what was his a week ago. Hordak . . . the fallen Elder. Hordak . . . the broken Emperor. Twenty years of war, twenty years of building, all wiped away in under an hour. But still, something within Hordak told him that this was not the end. That this was not the final battle. That he would once more rise to power.
Hordak turned around and faced the rest of the Horde. "All of you, conduct an inventory of Doom Tower. Search for any structural weak points in the foundation. There are vaults and chambers that they missed, I am sure of that. Take any Horde Troopers parts that you can find and gather them in a safe area. We will reconvene in four hours in the throne room."
"Wait just a moment!" cried Duke Dreer. "Just why should we follow you? You're powerless! You've led us to this ruin! I don't want to spend the rest of my life in exile listening to you! I - "
With uncanny speed, Hordak slid over to Dreer, grabbed both sides of his head, twisted and broke his neck. Then, Hordak heaved the body off the side of the Tower, sending the corpse of Duke Dreer into the water below.
"Does anyone else feel like questioning my orders?" snarled Hordak.
A glance went through the Horde, and then they all bowed to Hordak. Hordak smiled broadly.
"We are all loyal to only you, Lord Hordak," Shadow Weaver told him.
"We still have a lot of work to do," Angella said to the assembled Great Rebellion. The only ones not present were Perfuma and Bow. "So let's get a report."
"My people are currently destroying Octopus Cove. Another couple of days and it'll be wiped off the map," Mermista reported. "There will be a ceremony tomorrow for my father. It's quite private. However, I will be crowned at High Tide, and you are all invited."
"We will be there, certainly," Angella said, speaking for the entire group. "After that, however, I am going to be involved heavily in treaty negotiations. There has also been put into place a two-week memorial period to honor those that have fallen in battle. After the two weeks are up, we can all celebrate. This is good because it gives us a chance to start things off in an orderly fashion."
"Horror Hall remains an issue. I plan on asking some of the sorcerers that helped us out to aid me in dealing with it," Castaspella explained then.
"Cat Hill and Scorpion Valley are both areas of concern as well, mother," Glimmer stated. "I was thinking of taking some of us out there and spreading some welfare."
"Good idea, my daughter."
"Thank you."
"Well now, if that's it, there's one more thing I'd like to attend to before we break this meeting . . . "
Bow, sporting an eye patch, walked along the path that led from the edge of Brightmoon into the Whispering Woods. By his side was Glimmer, who hooked her arm with his. They didn't speak very much as they walked into the woods and to the hill that over a week ago, the entire Great Rebellion ate lunch at.
"I've been practicing," Bow told her suddenly.
She perked an eyebrow. "What's that?"
"The bow and arrow. I've been practicing. I'm no where near as good as I was, but I'm not as bad as I thought I would be."
"I'm betting we won't be needing those skills as much as we used to now that the Horde is in exile," Glimmer said.
"Maybe, maybe not. Something tells me we're not quite done fighting."
"What makes you think that?"
"Just a feelin' is all I got."
They walked up the path to the top of the hill. It was here the other members of the Great Rebellion were gathered: She-Ra, Flutterina, Mermista, Netossa, Sorrowful, Spinnerella, Castaspella, Frosta, Madame Razz, Broom, Kowl, SeaHawk, Peek-A-Blue and Queen Angella. They were all standing before a newly erected statue of a very beautiful woman - Double-Trouble.
As Bow and Glimmer joined the others, Queen Angella waved her hands outward. "This is where we have buried the woman we knew only as Double-Trouble. Most of you did not have the pleasure of knowing Double-Trouble before she passed away, but I think she would have fit in well here.
"She came to us some six months ago, spying for the Horde. But I saw a compassion in her eyes that told me that this was not the right role for her. I turned her around and she became a spy for us. If it were not for her, there would have been no victory. No end of the war. No peace."
At that, Perfuma tapped the ground. The entire hilltop was suddenly awash in roses.
"She was our sister," She-Ra said then. "The silent member of the Great Rebellion. Let her name be placed on our shield."
She-Ra held up the Shield of the Great Rebellion. Double-Trouble's name appeared on it.
"Let us remember her as she would have wanted us to," Angella stated. "With beauty and compassion."