Chapter Six
Zodak sat cross-legged atop his perch in the Mystic Mountains, deep in meditation.
You do not approve, he said telepathically to The Sorceress of Grayskull.
No, Zodak, replied The Sorceress telepathically. I do not.
It does not bother you … that she is a soldier?
Of COURSE it bothers me, The Sorceress replied. What mother DOESN'T worry about her children?
I fail to see the difference between being a soldier … and completing this assignment, said Zodak. Does each not involve a degree of … RISK?
There IS a difference, said The Sorceress. As a soldier, she spends countless hours drilling, practicing, and training to encounter situations that she hopes she'll never have to face. In that regard, I have every confidence in her abilities and training. The Sorceress paused. THIS, on the other hand, is unlike any situation she has ever faced before. She is neither trained nor equipped to complete the task that you have assigned to her.
You seem to see nothing wrong with assisting her.
When it comes down to a matter such as this, a matter of literal life and death … I will do everything in my power to assist her, to keep her alive, said The Sorceress.
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This must be the Crystal Caverns, Teela thought as she entered the chamber. The entire chamber was made out of crystal. Shards embedded in the walls and ceiling glistened.
All at once, Teela was greeted with the sight of a giant beetle blocking her path. A pair of shimmering, opalescent wings covered his back as he snapped a set of giant pincers in front of him.
Without warning, the beetle began to slowly beat its wings and make a low humming sound. They beat rhythmically, hypnotically, their opalescent patterns twinkling in the light.
Entranced, Teela's jaw slackened as her face suddenly took on a blank expression.
"Teela…" said The Spirit of Grayskull, calling to her. "Teela, are you all right?"
"So … beautiful," Teela replied thickly, falling under the beetle's spell as it began to creep ever closer to her. "Can't take my … eyes off it."
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"My Lady," said The Spirit of Grayskull to The Sorceress. "Teela has been hypnotized."
"I know … I can see that," said The Sorceress as she gazed at the scene in her Great Mirror, her eyebrows furrowed in concern. "Let me try something…"
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"Teela," said The Spirit. "TEELA!" he cried, trying to rouse her from her trance. The beetle crept ever closer to her, snapping its pincers and beating its wings in a hypnotic rhythm.
Teela blinked her eyes as she was suddenly jerked awake. "Huh?" she grunted.
"My Lady is speaking," said The Spirit. " 'Teela, this is The Sorceress…' " said The Sorceress, her words being relayed by the Spirit.
"Sorceress…"
" 'I want you to do something'," said The Sorceress via The Spirit. " 'Close your eyes…' "
Teela closed her eyes. " 'Close them tightly,' " The Sorceress continued. "And focus on my voice…"
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"Nothing else matters to you now," said The Sorceress softly, her feminine voice now loud and clear in Teela's imagination. "Nothing matters … except the sound of my voice."
"I can't see anything," said Teela. Her world was now cloaked in darkness.
"You don't NEED to see," said The Sorceress.
"How can I FIGHT what I can't SEE?"
"Wield The Power of Grayskull, Teela," said The Sorceress. "It is enough for you to know that the creature is out there … and that it poses a threat. Let IT do the fighting FOR you."
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"I can't do this," Teela said nervously, her eyes still closed. The creature was now a mere few feet from Teela, well within striking distance of her.
"Yes, you CAN," The Sorceress said softly. "Believe in The Power of Grayskull, Teela." The Sorceress paused. "Even more importantly, believe in YOURSELF."
"I'll try…" said Teela.
"Do not 'try', Teela," The Sorceress cautioned. "Banish all doubt from your mind. Just DO it."
Teela held out her right arm and made a fist. She then commanded, "POWER OF GRAYSKULL, DESTROY THE CREATURE!" A blue energy beam shot out of her arm and hit the beetle. The beetle then burst into a ball of light and disappeared.
"Open your eyes," The Spirit of Grayskull commanded.
Teela opened her eyes. The room was bare … as if the beetle had never existed.
"What now?" Teela asked.
"According to My Lady, the key is located at the other end of the chamber," said The Spirit of Grayskull. "There should be a mosaic of a dragon's head on the floor over there."
Teela began walking towards the other end of the chamber. Once there, she looked down at her feet. A red tile mosaic of a dragon's head was embedded in the floor underneath, just as The Spirit had described. How does she KNOW all this? Teela wondered. The eye of the dragon was encrusted with a large red jewel.
"My Lady is speaking," said The Spirit of Grayskull. " 'Step on the eye of the Dragon,' " he said, relaying The Sorceress's instructions.
Teela stepped on the jewel that was encrusted in the dragon's eye. A hidden panel suddenly opened in the wall before Teela, revealing a crystal pedestal. Sitting on the pedestal was a large silver necklace inscribed with the head of a dragon.
Just to one side of the pedestal, a hidden door opened in the wall -- a door leading to The Temple of the Dragon itself.
"Before you lies the key," said The Spirit of Grayskull. "The key … to the Temple of the Dragon."
Teela took the key from the pedestal and placed it around her neck. Where's SKELETOR in all of this? she wondered.
"Spirit..." said Teela.
"Yes, Teela," The Spirit replied.
"Does Skeletor have the necklace?" Teela inquired.
"No, Teela," The Spirit replied.
"Has he been in The Temple recently?"
"No, Teela."
"Is he in the caves?"
"No, Teela."
What the…? "Is he APPROACHING the caves?"
"No, Teela."
Teela sorted all of this out in her mind. He doesn't have the necklace … he's not in the caves … not even APPROACHING the caves. It was then that realization struck her. Zodak LIED to me! He deceived me! Another question then formed in her mind. The ninja. The She-demon. The hypno-bug. What's the POINT of all this?
Teela walked through the hidden door that led to the Temple of the Dragon. Gotta keep moving, she thought.
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"My Lady," said The Spirit of Grayskull to The Sorceress.
"Yes, Spirit," The Sorceress replied as she stood before her Great Mirror.
"I was wondering if it would be too much trouble to inform Teela that she can engage her powers … MENTALLY?"
The Sorceress smiled broadly. He's sick of hearing her, she thought. "Patience, Spirit," she said finally. "This is the most progress she's made in MONTHS. I have no intention of disrupting it."
"As you wish, My Lady," said The Spirit deferentially.
She reminds me a little of She-Ra … and the way she controls The Sword of Protection, The Sorceress thought. "I will tell her … when the time comes."