AUTHOR'S NOTE: You don't know who the Elves of Dellos are? Surely, you've read "The Elfsong of Eternia!" What's that? It's not done? Well, it's a good thing this chapter only vaguely spoils what happens there instead of completely spoiling it! Don't worry, I'll finish that one as soon as I'm done with this fic. Promise. Enjoy! "W"
Chapter Five: "Destiny's Folly"
The Wind-Raider careened over the ocean and as it moved in for a landing, He-Man continued to fight the doubts that had been bubbling up in his mind as soon as he had taken to the air. For hours, he was silent with these doubts, blocking them, keeping them hidden. Battle-Cat, thankfully, slept most of the trip.
The Elven Kingdom of Dellos sat in the Harmony Sea, named so for its lack of warring kingdoms. He-Man and a few of his allies aided the Elves some years ago and as he told the Sorceress, they owed him one. As the Wind-Raider slowed down to a halt and then landed vertically, a small group of Elves came rushing towards him.
Before them all was an elderly Elf by the name of King Shorn. By his side was his son, Prince Lorn, who had long, dark hair. He-Man barely even noticed them as he unhooked the stasis capsule from the backseat of the Wind-Raider.
"Greetings He-Man of Grayskull," Shorn stated diplomatically. "What brings you to Dellos?"
"She needs your help."
The stasis capsule was placed before Shorn. Lorn bent down and waved his hands over it.
"Her life force was taken. I am shocked she is still even alive," Lorn said.
"The Sorceress of Grayskull did all she could," He-Man replied.
"Of that, I'm certain," Shorn said. "Get her out of this contraption and into the Luminous Tower."
He-Man pressed a few keys on the side of the stasis capsule and it opened up. As soon as it did, Lorn tossed a spell on her to keep Kathryn's vital signs stable. He then lifted her up and walked with the group of Elves down the path to the Palace. Shorn stayed behind.
"You must know that we will do all that we can. But understand, He-Man, that kind of injury is difficult to recover from." He then paused. "I saw that she was wearing an Engagement Ribbon. The Eternian sign of impending marriage. Are you her future husband? Or your alterego's?"
"Yes," He-Man answered with a bit of hesitation.
"Then you must think of her now, in these darkest hours. This attack was brutal on levels unseen by the eye."
"Will I be able to see her?"
"Not until we have completed our ritual."
He-Man nodded and then looked to Battle-Cat. "My companion is hungry and I did not have time to bring proper rations."
"You will be provided for during your stay."
Shorn then turned and started walking towards the Palace. He-Man and Battle-Cat followed.
"What a minute . . . what did you say?"
Man-At-Arms adjusted the small dial on his holo-projector. What Randor had just said was something that shocked even him. It couldn't have been right.
"I said remain where you are. All of you," Randor repeated.
"Sire, there is an army of Snake-Men on their way to Eternos!"
"I am well aware of that, Duncan. But bare in mind that this city has withstood the Horde, the Army of Darkness, Goblin, and Orcs! Having all of you here isn't going to make much of a difference."
Duncan flopped back into his chair in the uppermost chamber of Grayskull Tower. The afternoon sunlight drifted through the windows. The other two towers of the Great Towers were under the control of General Sssqueeze. It felt strange to be perfectly safe in the heart of an enemy camp.
"It's also fallen to Snake-Men once before, as well as Skeletor twice," She-Ra said then.
"All the more reason why I need you where you are. Duncan, She-Ra - there are more reasons to keep you there than to bring you back. If we fall, you'll be out there, ready to fight back. If we succeed, it will be all the more easier for you to take back the Great Towers. They'll be waiting for you to come here. It's exactly what they're expecting."
Duncan sighed and glanced at She-Ra.
"At least let me go, sire. There's no reason why I shouldn't, really."
"Except the reasons I just listed to Man-At-Arms. Besides, I'm sure He-Man will be here soon enough."
Duncan cleared his throat. "Actually, your highness, He-Man and Battle-Cat have been sent on a quest."
Randor perked an eyebrow. "Oh? What kind of quest?"
Duncan grunted a little. "A . . . confidential quest."
"Ah," Randor then said. "I see. Well, I stand by what I said. She-Ra, remain there with the others. Await news."
"Good luck, sire."
"Good luck."
Randor smiled. "To us all. Eternos out."
The hologram dissolved. Duncan looked to She-Ra. "He's making a mistake."
She-Ra sighed and nodded. "My father has all the right reasons, though."
"No. He-Man. He's making a mistake putting his personal life in front of his duty. It's so unlike him."
She-Ra nodded. "This event is so unlike the usual attack."
Duncan pulled out a bottle of brandy and poured himself a shot glass. He tossed it back. "I should have seen it coming. I should have known that Hiss was up to something. He was always changing alliances. Always wheeling and dealing. I should have suspected that something like this was happening."
"None of us could have known, Duncan."
Duncan shrugged. "We're paying for it now, aren't we?"
She-Ra stepped over to him. "We'll find Teela. We'll put everything back to how it was."
Duncan said nothing. He just fired back another drink.
Just one tower over, in Central Tower, Vipera and King Hiss entered into a room full of artifacts. Teela's eyes ran across all of them until they reached the one she was looking for. A ring. It sat alone on a pedestal. She picked it up and held it in the palm of her hand. The ring was that of a snake coiled around its body and then eating its own tail.
"The Serpent's Ring," Vipera said in Teela's voice. "Exactly what will transform this fleshy body into that of a Snake-Man's."
Vipera put it on Teela's left ring finger. Immediately, a small pulse of green energy ran across the human flesh.
"It will take time, of course," Hiss stated. "The transformation is slow."
"Of course."
Vipera looked at the ring and then up at King Hiss. King Hiss could see affection in her eyes and he stepped forward. Much to his own surprise, his human flesh mask was blushing.
"We should probably go soon," he suggested then. "The enchantment you put on the army may have quickened their pace, but Eternos will still be a hard city to conquer."
"You have the power of a goddess by your side. With me, you can do anything."
Away from Eternia, among the stars themselves, something moved at a speed far greater than that of light. A time/space field allowed them to move at such incredible speeds without disrupting the laws of physics. Their journey was not yet complete and wouldn't be for quite some time. But they were on their way.
The emissaries continued on their quest.
King Randor walked along the balcony, his eyes locked on the Royal Soldiers below. They stood ready, lasers charged, blades sharpened. Along with the Royal Soldiers were the Heroic Warriors themselves, also just as ready for battle.
"The army is moving at remarkable speeds, sire," Mekaneck reported. "I can see them already."
"Prepare yourselves, then."
Randor turned to Marlena, who stood next to him. A mandatory evacuation had been ordered for all citizens of Eternos. They were now safely on their way to North Eternos and West Eternos. The same applied to the scores of dignitaries who had been here for the engagement party.
"By the Ancients, Marlena . . . was it just last night?"
The queen nodded. "Unfortunately, yes. It's all happened so fast."
"The Snake-Men will be at our gates at any moment. But you still have a chance to get out of here."
Marlena shook her head. "No, Randor. This is my kingdom too, remember?"
Randor grabbed her hand. "Then let us protect it together."
There was a suddenly trembling, then. The army of 15,000 Snake-Men arrived in a blur and then came to a halt. Their speed had been greatly increased by Vipera's power. Randor pulled out his Honor Sword. Marlena, by his side, pulled out his short sword.
King Hiss and Vipera appeared hand-in-hand beside Snake-Face, Tung Lashor, and Rattlor. The Meteorbs growled and bowed when the pair walked before them.
"KING RANDOR!" shouted Hiss, his voice made louder thanks for magic. "SURRENDER THE CITY AND WE SHALL SHOW YOU MERCY!"
Randor turned to Marlena, then pointed to the Royal Lieutenant.
The sound of horns rang out triumphantly. King Hiss understood it. It was a sound of defiance. A sound of honor and valor and strength. The kingdoms of Man dared to stand against the will of the Snake-Men. Such an act would require a strike unlike any other . . .
"My mistress . . . a strategy."
"Speak it to me."
Two minutes later, all 15,000 Snake-Men vanished. Randor took one giant step back, and grabbed onto Marlena. He didn't know why he didn't expect this earlier. The Snake-Men suddenly reappeared . . . INSIDE THE CITY!
Ram-Man tossed himself into a number of the Snake-Men, sending them crashing into a wall. But as soon as he had, more were on-coming. Seven of them grabbed hold of Ram-Man and held him to the ground. One began to raise his axe when . . .
A beam of energy blasted right into him. Roboto moved in, weapons blazing hard. One had was a clamp and it grabbed hold of Snake-Men and tossed them aside as the other hand - a laser - fired harshly into the evening air, blasting away any on-coming attackers.
But the attackers soon began to outnumber Roboto. Ram-Man managed to stand next to his robotic friend and held pound Snake-Men away from them, but they were becoming too many. A sudden gust of wind blew through, suddenly. Sy-Klone's power to create hurricane force winds was in full swing as Snake-Men were blown clean away from Roboto and Ram-Man.
"Thanks for the save," Ram-Man thanked.
"No problem. Now, come on, we need to - "
Tung Lashor's tongue suddenly wrapped around Sy-Klone's waist and he was smashed onto the ground, whipped up into the air and then sent sailing through a wall. While his armor was enough to keep him from being seriously injured, Sy-Klone was unconscious.
"Yer gonna pay for that!" shouted Ram-Man, rushing towards Tung Lashor with Roboto by his side.
Tung Lashor made no reply. His tongue fired out, wrapped around Ram-Man's leg and sent him flying into Roboto. Portions of Roboto were suddenly damaged and Ram-Man was rendered unconscious. The pair were defeated.
Snake-Men began to move in when, suddenly Meckaneck and Man-E-Faces leapt in the way.
"Leave them alone!"
Tung Lashor's tongue flashed out once more, this time wrapping around Man-E-Faces' arm. Luckily, Man-E-Faces was in 'Robot' mode.
"I see that your power have been increased by Vipera," Man-E-Faces stated, tensing his arm against the strength of the tongue. "I have calculated just how much pressure you are currently placing on my arm and have rendered a calculation to counter it."
Man-E-Faces suddenly switched into 'Monster' mode and grabbed hold of the tongue. He pulled on it and yanked Tung Lashor forward. Tung Lashor went flying right into Man-E-Faces fist.
"Nicely done," Meckaneck told his companion. "Now, see if you can link up with Roboto and get him reactivated while I - "
"DO NOTHING!"
Snake-Face was suddenly in their path, his power increased as well. Before Meckaneck and Man-E-Faces could act, they were suddenly transformed into statues.
Stratos, Buzz-Off, Rokkon, and Stonedar were in the air. The few Talon Fighters and Wind-Raiders that had managed to get up in time were already destroyed as the Meteorbs flew across the skies over Eternos.
In their egg-like forms, Crocobite, Dinosorb, Gore-Illa, Orbear and Rhinorb were dangerous enough. They shot around fast, destroying anything in their path. Crocobite suddenly shot towards Buzz-Off. His head came out of the shell and his long teeth ripped right into Buzz-Off's wing.
Buzz-Off went tumbling down. Stratos dove to save him, but was suddenly clipped by Gore-Illa. Stratos started to loss altitude as his wings bled and his jetpack was damaged. The Avion rolled onto a balcony and stood up. Gore-Illa dove right for him.
Stratos launched a missile, but it had no effect on the creature. The comet transformed into a robotic gorilla and took Stratos down with two punches to the face and two kicks to the gut.
Rokkon and Stonedar tore across the skies still. They had so far been able to evade the Meteorbs, but with Stratos and Buzz-Off down, all five Meteorbs converged on the two Rock-Men. Rokkon and Stonedar went flying onto the ground, destroying two homes upon impact.
Rattlor, a revived Tung Lashor, and Snake-Face all made for the entrance to the Palace. As Royal Soldiers battled it out with Snake-Men, the last of the Heroic Warriors protected the doors into the Royal Palace. Snout Spout sent out wave after wave of water upon the Snake-Men warriors. Despite his best efforts, however, he wasn't fast enough to hold them all back.
Rio-Blast used every weapon he had, from all of his lasers to his missiles. He managed to take out some of the Snake-Men, but most of them managed to evade his blast. Rattlor himself leapt onto Rio-Blast. With his neck and mouth, he ripped off the missile launchers; with his clawed hands and feet, he snapped off the lasers. With his tail, Rio-Blast was rendered unconscious.
Snout Spout was immediately dispatched with as soon as Snake-Face caught up with him. The statue of Snout Spout was dripping water from his trunk.
Extendar's long limps were in action, punching and kicking. Snake-Men were falling all over the place. But one more, one glance at Snake-Face was all it took to turn Extendar into a statue.
Snake-Face made his way to the final champions, who were all standing in front of the doors themselves. Before anyone could gaze at him, however, a small tornado slammed into his chest. Snake-Face went spinning backwards and crashed into a number of in-coming Snake-Men.
Rotar joined Clamp Champ and Fisto. Tung Lashor moved in towards them. Fisto made to punch him, but his fist was caught up in the tongue. He was merely thrown out of the way; head-first into the wall. Clamp Champ got his clamp around Rattlor's waist, but was head-butted so fast and so hard, he was knocked unconscious.
It was a combination of Rattlor and Tung Lashor that took down Rotar. Tung Lashor held him in place long enough for Rattlor's tail to send him smashing through the doors. Weapons fire filled the chamber, but the Snake-Men moved fast. The lobby of the Palace was overrun with Snake-Men.
Eternos is crashing, the Sorceress' telepathic voice called out.
The man receiving the call took a deep breath. "What am I supposed to do about it?"
Teela's mind has been exchanged with that of a goddess called Vipera. Vipera is a force beyond my power. You must help if you can.
The man rubbed his bald scalp. "All right . . . all right . . . I'm in."
Prepare yourself for teleportation. When you reach your destination, you must get one of Teela's weapons.
"What is it?"
"Sire," the Royal Lieutenant addressed, "the first floor has been taken. The Snake-Men are entering all over the Palace."
"Our soldiers?" Marlena asked.
"They are being overrun, majesty. I have my orders and I must follow protocol. I must lock-down this room."
Randor glanced at Marlena. "All right. You must do what you must."
The Royal Lieutenant left the throne room. As soon as he did, huge clanks went to work. All doors were suddenly slammed shut and a second door - a thick metal one - slid into position behind it. The balcony entrances were sealed this way as well. The throne room was closed tighter than a drum and only the king and queen were left alone in it.
"I suppose you should've let Duncan come and help us," Queen Marlena said, holding her short sword tightly.
"It wouldn't have made any sort of difference, Marlena. Ancients . . . this battle hasn't even lasted two hours!"
Marlena smiled a little as the sound of action was heard from outside the sealed throne room. "There's still hope, you know?"
Randor grunted.
At that moment, all of the locked down doors seared open. The Meteorbs came barreling in, as did Tung Lashor, Snake-Face, Rattlor, King Hiss and Vipera.
"Teela!" gasped Marlena.
"No. It's not," Randor reminded her.
"Ah, King Randor. Pleasure to see you again," King Hiss mocked greeted.
"Get out of my Palace, Hiss! I tolerated you being here once, but I shall not again!"
Hiss smiled. His flesh then split apart, revealing the vipers beneath. "Your age has ended, old man. The time of Mankind on Eternia has lasted long enough. Let the Age of the Snake-Men begin!"
Randor lifted his blade, prepared to attack. King Hiss simply stepped out of the way and let Snake-Face do the work. Randor was a statue immediately. Marlena gasped as her husband became pure stone.
"All alone, aren't you, dear Marlena?" asked Hiss. "This poor queen. Nothing more than an alien on this world."
The Snake-Men elite snickered at King Hiss' tone.
"I may be an alien, Hiss, but this kingdom is mine as well. I will not let you conquer it without a fight from me."
"Ah, but I have other plans . . ."
Snake-Face strode forward and was about to do his work when, all of a sudden, a huge vine broke out from the floor. It arched up, formed a flower that looked like a sucker and pulled Snake-Face right in. At that moment, Moss Man came bounding in through the balcony.
"Sorry I'm late!" he apologized with a smile.
Before any of the other Snake-Men could act, Vipera reached out. Green energy hands wrapped around Moss Man and held him up from the ground.
"I shall kill you here, Moss Man," Vipera snarled in Teela's voice. "Then nature itself will bend to my will."
"NEVER!" shouted Moss Man, struggling with binds Vipera hand on him.
Marlena took her chance. She rushed forward, eyes closed hard, short-sword out. She hoped to inflict enough damage to Teela's body to force Vipera out. But she never made it to Vipera. Vipera forced an energy beam at Marlena and the queen crumbled to the ground.
Vipera spun around and burned away the Hungerlily Moss Man had asked to help. Snake-Face was free.
"Take care of the Moss Man," Vipera commanded.
Moss Man was a statue in an instant.
"Marlena now?"
"No," Vipera answered. She grabbed hold of Marlena by the arm and dragged her over to the balcony.
"You can not stop us!" shouted Marlena. "I will not stand by and let you conquer Eternos!"
Vipera slammed Marlena's face into the banister. "Yes, you will. You will stand by and watch this happen. Snake-Face! Here now!"
Snake-Face walked briskly over to Vipera. Vipera fired a bolt of green energy at Snake-Face.
"SUCH POWER!" yelled Snake-Face as his small snakes emerged from his facial orifices. "They don't even have to look at me for it to work!"
"Use it on the soldiers," Vipera commanded.
Marlena looked up and watched a silver white light passed over Eternos. Blood streaming from her nose, she watched with horror as each and every soldier was transformed into stone statues. Vipera then grabbed hold of Marlena's collar and made her face Teela's face.
"I am going to let you live. You will be my captive. I had a chance to peek into Teela's mind, you see, as we passed each other. I saw that she actually cared about you. She saw you as the mother she never had. Do you know how that made me feel? DO YOU!"
Marlena went sailing against the wall.
"SICK! DIRTY! TO HAVE THIS APE BODY WITH A MODERATE BRAIN TO LOOK UP TO YOU - AN ALIEN - AS A MOTHER . . . IT MADE ME WANT TO VOMIT!" Vipera stepped forward. "You are a pathetic creature, just like these Eternians. It is your love and compassion for each other that will be your undoing."
"Love . . . and hope . . . it will be what crushes you . . ." Marlena sputtered.
Vipera tossed the queen into the throne room. "I WILL SEE TO IT THAT EVERY HUMAN IS ELIMINATED! AND I WILL SEE TO IT THAT YOU ARE SITTING NEXT TO ME, LIKE A DIRTY FILTHY DOG, WATCHING IT HAPPEN! YOU FREAKISH ALIEN!"
"Hey!" came a sudden shout. "Watch who you're calling freakish, toots!"
A man appeared in one of the entrances. Marlena's eyes widened. It was none other than Detective Lubic himself.
"Lubic!" yelped Marlena.
"Yeah, yeah. As soon as I'm out and all that jazz . . ." Lubic replied, walking towards them, one hand behind his back. "You, Snake-Babe, let her go. Now."
"Another alien?" hissed Vipera.
"Oh yeah. And I've got a surprise for you." Lubic pulled out what was behind his back. The Sword of the Ancients itself. The runes were glowing bright red with power. "Seems this belongs to that there lady who's skin you're walking around in. I was told to give it to ya."
Lubic was suddenly thrown backwards, the Sword of Ancients wrenched from his hands. The blade went flying into Teela's hand. Vipera could feel that the fingers were familiar with it. As soon as she took it into her hand, the runes began to glow even stronger.
"Foolish weapon," Vipera suddenly said.
Small streaks of lightning run up and down the Sword of the Ancients then, extinguishing each and every rune. Marlena watched this happen with wide-eyed horror. The Sword of the Ancients had been instrumental in destroying both the Dark Could and the Spirit of Evil. And now . . .
As soon as the streaks of lightning were gone, a blue plume of fire engulfed the Sword of the Ancients and it was gone. Vipera took a deep breath and Marlena then saw that Teela's tongue was now forked and her fingers were longer, like claws.
"Take them both to the dungeons," Hiss commanded. "Then gather all of the statues in the courtyard."
"Mass execution?" asked Tung Lashor laughing as he carried Marlena off.
"No," Hiss replied, looking at Vipera. She was playing the Serpent's Ring. "Something much more . . . creative."
"Eternos has fallen," Duncan stated clearly within Grayskull Tower.
She-Ra took a deep breath. "It seems that Randor's strategy didn't quite work out like he wanted it to."
"Didn't it, She-Ra?" questioned Gwildor. "We're still here. There's still hope. I think that King Randor had us remain here just for that reason. To be able to fight back."
Duncan nodded in agreement. "Wouldn't surprise me."
"So just how do we do this?" SeaHawk asked.
Orko shrugged. "I dunno."
Duncan leaned forward and smiled at She-Ra and SeaHawk. "We start planning our own 'Great Rebellion.'"
He-Man stood underneath the moonlight, eyes out on the ocean. It splashed and crashed against the rocks below and sprayed a salty taste onto his face. It would have been peaceful safe for the horrible feeling He-Man had in his chest all afternoon and evening. Long, tense hours spent just wandering the island, thinking about Kathryn.
He hoped and prayed that she would live. That she would wake up and everything would be back to normal. He also agonized whether or not this was the right decision to come here. Not only was he so far away from Eternos and Grayskull, but he didn't even both to find out if there was anyone else that could do this too.
Finally . . . after walking nearly all of the paths of the island, He-Man and Battle-Cat ended up here, by the waters edge. The two of them didn't speak much, but Battle-Cat was a comforting companion for He-Man to at least know he was there.
"He-Man," Battle-Cat said suddenly.
He-Man stood up from the rock he was sitting on and watched as King Shorn walked over. He-Man was suddenly very aware of his surroundings. The water crashed gently, the moonlight and starlight helped shine the area. Small lanterns were also lit nearby.
He-Man took in a deep breath. This was it. This was what he had been waiting all day for. He arms were weak, his knees were shaking, his chest was tight. Soon enough, Shorn walked along the pavilion that He-Man had been sitting at.
"He-Man."
"Yes? What is it?" He-Man asked, feeling a well of anticipation in his body.
Shorn took in a deep breath. "Kathryn is alive and well. We have restored her life-force."
He-Man felt his entire body relax. He gasped and smiled and his blue eyes started to tear up with complete and total joy.
"Oh . . . oh, that's great. That's wonderful. Thank you, Shorn. Thank you!"
He-Man looked over to Battle-Cat. The tiger smiled from his perch. He-Man then looked back over at Shorn and was surprised that he didn't quite the same joy in Shorn face.
"Wait. Wha - what is it?" He-Man asked, feeling his joy start to melt away.
Shorn cleared his throat. "Kathryn is safe. But I'm sorry to say . . ."
"What?"
Shorn put his hand on He-Man's shoulder.
"I'm afraid the baby didn't make it."
TO
BE
CONTINUED!
LOOK FOR "MANIFEST DESTINY - BOOK TWO: ALLIANCE" COMING SOON!