Twelve

Castle Grayskull

Greylands, Eternia

7 June 2017

"Will you please stop pouting? It's getting annoying, and it's unseemly for you."

They were now in the tower opposite of where the Sorceress' private chambers were located. This tower was a small library packed with many bookcases. Yet this was tiny compared to the main library deep in the aft bowels of the castle.

"What do you expect? You tell me I have died, and that the castle has me trapped it this non-corporeal state until my physical form is repaired. Then you tell me the castle cannot restore me fully. It'll take someone with a 'refined touch' to do it," Teela'Na said, sourly summarizing the events to date.

"Your physical body died. You are still quite alive, but in a different state of existence. Our current state is not compatible with the reality we inhabit," the man Teela'Na now knew as Dannon, her late husband, replied.

"Kodec told me we are beings of energy once the mortal shell is stripped away. I don't know how she found out, maybe while protecting the magic and knowledge stored within, and to aid those requiring assistance as much as she was able, or allowed.

Now things had changed. Now she was less the Guardian of Grayskull and more a guardian for the galaxy. Was this what the Elders eventually saw as history unfolded? Or was some other force at work here that had yet to reveal itself? Before now, Teela'Na had always been in control. She followed where the powers of Grayskull, the magical power of the galaxy, pointed. Grayskull had become a nexus for that power with the establishment of the Elders and the consignment of King Grayskull's power in his namesake castle.

The galaxy had changed, and it was the Sorceress who had to change with it. And she was afraid. Afraid to let go of the past Dannon represented. Afraid to face the uncertain future laid out before her.

The being, which had once been called Dannon, perked up. "That's it. You are very close to the truth. Well, one or two of them, but it's a start. Now take the next step."

A portal of the purest light materialized where the door to the library should be. This was the road from this world into the next.

The time had arrived.

Teela'Na bolted from her chair. "Dannon, please don't go. Stay just a little longer," she pleaded.

"I have been here for over thirty years. I have stayed too long as it is," he replied gently. He placed his hands on the woman's trembling shoulders and moved her aside.

"All right. Then I'm coming with you."

Dannon stopped at the threshold of the portal of light. "You can't come with me. We will not see each other again, my love. Remember me always and know that I will always love you."

Teela'Na tried to make her mouth work, but could not. Her lips trembled and her voice was caught in her throat. Tears flowed freely down her cheeks. "I will always love you," she cried. She doubted she could ever love anyone ever again.

Dannon walked to Teela'Na in three leisurely strides, and enfolded her in a last loving embrace. "You have new friends who care about you." He broke the fierce embrace and stared deep into his wife's crystal blue eyes. "You will find love again. I promise. You may even find it in a most unexpected place."

Teela'Na tried to stop him, but Dannon kept pushing his wife away. She changed tactics as Dannon stepped into the pool of white light, and dove through after him, screaming, "NNNNOOOOOOOOO!"

Teela'Na broke through the white void almost instantly. Instead of being in some beautiful land on a higher plane of existence, as many fables told, she found herself falling toward the Pool of Power and her physical form floating within. The error of her way was realized moments before she collided with said physical form, and Teela'Na's world went pitch black once more.

Fertile Plains

Kodec set out with her companions at first light. They traveled southwest looking for signs of a group headed away from the Evergreen forest. Unfortunately, the steady rain from the day before had wiped away any tracks that had been made in the tall grass. The humidity began to set in as the sun rose toward noon. Off towardsthe west they could see the gathering clouds of another storm approaching. Kodec explained that they had arrived in the middle of the spring rainy season. That knowledge elicited a few groans. A few groans resounded as she made that announcement.

It was just past noon with the storm clods slowly moving in when Kodec stopped suddenly. Just after noon, with the storm clouds slowly approaching, Kodec stopped in her tracks, staring off into the distance. Frost and the others grew nervous standing out in the open for anyone to see while Kodec stared at something only she could see.

"I have to return to Grayskull," Kodec said suddenly.

"What's happened?" Frost asked, looking around cautiously.

"We are not about to be attacked. It seems what I have been waiting for has finally happened. Figures I would be kilometers away when it happened," Kodec replied, almost irritated.

"When what happened?" Frost demanded. "Have the Snake Men attacked? What?"

Kodec sighed, impatient to return to the castle. "The Sorceress has been released from the Pool of Power where her body was being repaired."

Private Johnson looked unconvinced. "How do you know that?"

"I was the guardian of the castle before the present Sorceress. I am still in tune with the castle. Since the Sorceress is a creature of magic like myself, I could feel her being returned to your companions." Kodec had to fight to keep her temper in check. She wasn't used to being questioned this way. A wave of her hand, an alteration in the flow of magical power to condense in one spot, and a glowing oval portal blossomed before them.

The shifting colors and the hum emanating from the dimensional gate mesmerized the privates.

"We can come back after the Sorceress has been attended to," Kodec said, gesturing to the portal she had created.

Frost backed away. "No thanks. I'm staying." Kodec fixed him with her best 'I dare you to defy me' stare, but the corporal refused to back down. "I'm not leaving Adrian out here alone. Go do what you feel you need to do. I'm going to do what I feel I need to do."

"You don't know these lands. The place I had in mind to go next can be dangerous. Traveling the countryside alone is not wise," Kodec explained with unusual civility, even for her.

"So draw me a map. I'll find my way. If you insist on someone going with me, ask Anyssa if she wants to help search." Frost ordered Johnson and Horwitz to return. Both protested loudly, but Frost shut them up, and shut them down.

Kodec developed a grudging respect for this dark-skinned human from the planet Earth. "Why are you doing this? Staying behind, I mean," she asked after a sullen Johnson and Horwitz stepped through the portal.

Frost's answer was simple. "Because he'd do it for me."

Kodec nodded, and then resumed her typical demeanor. "Stay here, and try not to do anything stupid."

Frost arched an eyebrow, saying after the portal disappeared, "In the middle of nowhere?"

Castle Grayskull

Kodec stepped from the meadow into a throne room full of activity. Her eyes drifted immediately to the spot near the giant viewing screen where prospective candidates were literally dropped into the pool of power where their acceptability to be the new Sorceress of Grayskull took place. An entire rectangular section of stones were gone where one stone, the one the candidate stood upon, would usually drop into the bowels of the castle. Blinding white light poured from the gap forcing the spectators to shield their eyes and still turn away.

The light began to dim as the missing section of floor slid smoothly back into place. Upon that makeshift platform lay the Sorceress. Lieutenant Garber detailed two people to wrap the woman in her blankets and take her up to her private chambers in the left tower.

Kodec found Anyssa and passed along Frost's request to join him in his continued search for Adrian Cobretti. She quickly agreed, and took off to collect her gear. Lieutenant Garber decided to have a few other things sent along with her.

While the pair gathered equipment, Kodec followed the pair carrying the Sorceress up to her private chambers. She opened the heavy wooden door, which swung easily inward, and the detail entered chambers very few peoplehad ever seen.

The small window set in the left wall towardsthe front of the castle, emitted very little light to see by. A gesture from Kodec ignited torches set in sconces around the room. On the opposite wall ten feet fromthe window was an angled overhang mounted above an elaborately carved Ironwood chair with deep red cushions. The only other piece of furniture in the room was the ornate bed. Carved from a block of stone, the sleeping area was sloped so that the sleeper remained centered, evenif all the bedding was removed. A winged headboardresembling a hawk or a falcon rose up over the head of the bed. The outside edge at the foot end was rimmed with teeth, the tallest at the bed's corners measuring nearly sixteen inches tall. Centered between the tall teeth was a large, oval-shaped, ruby that measuredtwelve inches across at its long ends. The ruby glowed faintly with a life of its own, though no one knew what its purpose was.

Kodec thanked the pair for moving the Sorceress, and gently shooed them away. She sat on the side of the bed at the Sorceress' right hand, and placed the fingertips of her hand to the slumbering woman's face. After a few moments of concentration, Kodec let out a relieved sigh. She hadn't even realized she had been holding her breath. The moment didn't last long, for Kodec sensed an unwanted presence, and steeled her nerve suppressing the shudder of distaste that went down her back.

"So Te lynia lives again."

Kodec didn't have to look to know who it was. She could clearly picture the tall, white-haired woman with aseverely pale complexion. "You have no business here, Moria Vadorian."

"Oh? And who is going to make me leave, Kodec Ungor? You?" Moria walked toward the bed, the whisper of hervelvet skirts the only sound she made. "We both know that the crusty old dragon in Darksmoke Mountain has the power to correct whattheydid to her, but lacks the refined control to do so successfully."You have admitted the same about yourself. By process of elimination, I'd say that this would leave only me.

"No, Moria. I will not have you holding this over our heads later. Especially over hers," Kodec said evenly, gesturing to her comatose friend.

"Do you truly believe I would stoop that low?" When Kodec turned, Moria raised a slender hand, quickly adding, "Do not answer that. Your lack of trust wounds me."

Kodec nearly laughed. "Trust you? I'd sooner trust Horde Prime."

"There is no need to be insulting," Moria snapped, indignant.

Kodec sighed wearily. She really was limited in her resources, and Moria knew it. "Very well. The Sorceress' life is too important to waste timearguing with the likes of you," Kodec replied, heading for the door. "There is a matter I must attend to first." She pictured the almost gleeful look on the pale woman's face in her mind. "Don't do anything until I get back. You may have the 'refined control' to do the work, but you still need the strength of another to complete the task the first time. We both know that."

"Oh, very well," Moria sighed, outwardly dejected.

Fertile Plains

"You didn't have to stay, Jake," Frost replied. An uncomfortable silence had fallen between the two since Kodec departed fifteen minutes before.

"I know. But you are a Jarhead, I'm a ground-pounder, and Adrian is an Air-baby. Hell of a combination. We may be from difference services, but we've put those rivalries aside when it counts. I'd say this is one of those times," Jake explained at length, an unusual event for him.

Frost narrowed his eyes and gazed harder at the man. "Okay. Who are you, and what have you done with the real Jake Rockwell?"

"Hey, just because I act like an insufferable jerk sometimes doesn't mean I don't have deep thoughts from time to time." Jake thought on that a moment, added, "I kill brain cells every time I have deep thoughts so I keep it to a minimum."

"That I believe," Frost replied with a smile.

"I was just thinking about the Sorceress. Dying like that in Adrian's arms isn't something I'd wish on anyone," Jake said soberly. "Now she's alive again? That's just a little bit more than this Army puke's simple mind can handle."

Frost grunted agreement. "I hope he's all right. The more I think about Anyssa's description of the effects of this mind sifter thing, the more I worry about him."

Jake checked his watch for the tenth time in three minutes. "Thirty minutes. What are they doing? Having lunch?"

Frost was about to remind him that patience was a virtue when the portal materialized twenty feet away.

"Ask and thou shall receive," Jake replied, grinning.

They had been sitting in the tall grass to be as inconspicuous as possible. No one and nothing passed through the area. There was nothing but mile after mile of tall grass to be seen. Frost couldn't be sure, but he thought he saw a splash of dark green to the southwest, on the horizon. He speculated it was another forest. That was the direction they had been heading when Kodec stopped their journey to return to Castle Grayskull.

Over a minute passed before a lone figure stepped through the portal, and afterward, it dissolved immediately. Anyssa pulled back the hood with one hand while dropping items hanging from the left shoulder with the other. She heaved a grateful sigh once all the items she carried were unloaded.

Lieutenant Garber hadsent along two laser rifles as well as Frost's sniper rifle. Spare energy cells were stored in a bulging satchel with ammo for the sniper rifle, as well as some other odds and ends. There were also a container of food rations, enough to last them a week.

Anyssa carried her bow, quiver, and razor-sharp short swords slung across her back. The bow and quiver were repositioned outside the cloak while the swords remained hidden beneath. Frost was startled to see she wore tight breeches, soft boots, and a loose-fitting tunic. When he inquired about it, she answered that it was Kodec's stringent recommendation she cover the rather revealing metal garb her people wore. Traveling the lands without drawing too much attention was a must these days.

"Oh, by the way," Anyssa said as they began the long march to the southwest. "Since no one thought to ask, your cranky friend's name is Kodec Ungor. An old friend of the Sorceress, or so she claims."

"Well, we can't confirm or deny that at the moment, can we?" Frost said. "Did you see the Sorceress?"
Anyssa nodded. "She looked healthy enough to me. And quite alive, though she was either in a coma or a deep sleep."

"That's something, at least," Frost replied. Jake remained unusually quite.

"Oh, and Kodec gave me this," Anyssa said, digging around in the satchel she wore under the cloak. She produced a folded piece of parchment. The map indicated several small villages between them and the Prasinus Forest to the southwest. "Kodec said to enter the forest near the northern tip of the River of Prosperity."

"There's a village there that isn't on the map?" Jake suggested.

Anyssa nodded. "Kodec didn't say as much, but that's the impression I got."

"She knows were Adrian is," Frost said, frustration creeping into his voice. He hated it when people felt they had to divulge less information than was necessary.

Anyssa caught the man's change in tone. "Don't be too quick to judge her. She may only suspect where he is. We'll know more if someone in the villages ahead of us says something."

"Well, we'll never find out standing her jawing about it," Jake said, starting off in a southwesterly direction.

Frost and Anyssa trailed behind keeping watch for trouble. The storm was rapidly moving in so they had to hasten their pace to make the first village before it hit.

The trio just made it. Stiff winds plucked at their capes and slammed them from the west forcing them to lean forward to make any progress. Jake spotted a combination tavern and inn like the one they hadstayed in the previous night. The roiling gray masses overhead unleashed their burden as they entered the inn slightly less rundown than the last one.

There were few patrons in the main hall, indicating that while the owner did a fair amount of business, it wasn't well traveled. The breaking storm darkened the skies to the point that more candles and torches had to be lit to dispel the growing gloom. Securing rooms took all of a few seconds, and then the trio took seats in a corner from which they could monitor the action.

The owner, a rotund woman in her late forties, shuffled from behind the bar to personally deliver the drinks Anyssa ordered. Anyssa paid for them with a few copper coins from the purse Kodec had given herprior to leaving Grayskull. The warrior woman proved to be a sound interrogator, also. She flashed several gold crowns, and explained the owner could have them in exchange for information.

The portly woman milled it over in her head, eyes repeatedly straying to the main entrance as if she expected someone of importance at any moment. Another long look at the coins lying in Anyssa's hand made thewoman's mind up. She plopped herself down in a wooden chair, wiping her hands on the apron tied at the waist. Anyssa laid the coins on the scarred tabletop inches from herself. The message conveyed was plain. Payment would only come if the information were worthwhile.

The innkeeper, Fleya, spoke of rumors of an attack by outlanders – offworlders – on the palace. Speculations ran wild from the freeing of slaves to the slaying of King Hiss and his top commanders. Frost was curious as to how such rumors could travel so far in such a short amount of time. Fleya swore she could hear faint sounds of the battle two nights ago, which tracked with reports from travelers passing through the day after the attack.

She also said there were persistent whisperings that the Sorceress of Grayskull had finally returned. This seemed to give her hope that He-man would also be returning soon along with his companions. Anyssa wasn't really interested in this information, but Jake and Frost were trying to hide their eagerness for whatever they could find out.

Frost asked if anyone had seen a group of maybe three to four people passing through. One of them a human possiblydressed in armor. Fleya thought for a moment on that. The longer the silence stretched, the lower Frost's hopes sank.

The innkeeper shook her head at first, and then stopped. "Wait. I did hear from one of the local hunters that he spotted a group north of the village a ways. He said there was a man dressed in some sort of strange clothing like armor. Three Quaedians accompanied him. They were coming from the direction of the Evergreen Forest, so I was told."

The companions regarded one another with silent, knowing looks. This had to be it.

"Did the hunter say where this group was headed?" Anyssa asked.

Fleya shook her head. "But there can be only on place for them to go. Their village lies in Prasinus Forest several kilometers past the River of Prosperity."

Anyssa slid the coins across the table to the woman, and thanked her for her time. She added that if anyone should ask about her and her companions, they were headed south toward Pelleezia. Fleya looked skeptical. Anyssa sighed dramatically as if she was being robbed, fished out another gold crown. Fleya stood, but did not depart. Her memory was evidently not ascloudy as her guests would have liked. Anyssa fished out several silver coins and handed them over. She caught the innkeeper's hand and squeezed roughly. Fleya got the point in a hurry, and scurried away.

"Well, that was interesting," Jake commented, sipping his ale.

"Yes," Anyssa agreed. "Quaedians don't usually venture so far from their lands. Must have been a scouting party."

Frost frowned into his mug. "I'm getting the distinct impression more people know about our being here than would generally be healthy."

"That's why we'll press on in the morning. We should make the Quaedian village by evening."

"You know where it is?" Jake asked. "I mean even without Fleya's directions?"

Anyssa nodded. "Don't worry. They won't harm Adrian. I do wonder what prompted them to take him away to their village, though."

Each retreated to private thoughts to ponder the question. There was more going on here than met the eye, almost as if they were blundering into something without realizing it. Well, hopefully tomorrow would start yielding more answers instead of more questions.

Darksmoke Mountain

A new generation windraider tore through the skies, heading northward. It hadleft Palace Eternia at first light with one occupant. Several serpent guards hadtried to stop the pilot from leaving, and were rewarded with multiple nasty bruises for performing their duty. Teela hated to have to rough them up, but they had left her with no choice. She doubted her explanation of performing an aerial search for the missing captives and their liberators would hold up for long. Not if someone saw her speeding away north instead of east.

Teela milled over her conversation with her mother many times. It was hard to believe she was still alive, though not it probably didn't matter. Hiss' poison would have done its grislywork by now. She just couldn't stop thinking about her mother's answer about her new friends and what they could offer. Hope. That concept was so alien to Eternia and the other subjugated worlds of the Horde Empire no one really knew what it meant. Teela knew. She'd been secretly working toward it in the two years since He-Man's fall. The last thing she needed was for these Earth people to come blundering in and ruin things. Then again, they already appeared to do more in a few months than she had accomplished in two years.

That's why she was racing north at the windraider's top speed. She had to talk to someone. Someone she could trust. There was only one being she could talk to, which was why she was flying toward Darksmoke Mountain. She had considered the Oracle of the Crystal Sea, buried deep in the heart of the Crystal Mountains at the western coast of the northern continent. She had quickly onthe basis that the Oracle would not be able to answer some of the questions she had about her mother's new friends, or the role the Sorceress now played in the unfolding events.

The Ice Mountains, where a certain wise old dragon made his home, dominated the extreme northern portion of the northern continent. It was the dividing line where the north polar cap began.

The vast Sands of Mystery Desert gave way to the Ice Mountains. Teela turned toward the east where her destination lay near the coast. Though she had dressed warm for the trip, it was still freezing at this time of the year. Fortunately, there wasn't a storm in sight to hinder the flight; starting the engines after they cooled down might be a problem, but she had prepared for that.

Another hour passed before Darksmoke Mountain materialized ahead. The peak resembled a slender-necked volcano, which Teela suspected it once had been long ago. Now, it served as the home for the oldest, wisest, and most powerful dragon which hadever lived. A purple dome capped the throat of the long-dead volcano to keep the temperature inside tolerable. A narrow ice bridge arched away from the giant double doors set in the southern face of the mountain. It joined with another peak whose top had been lopped off to create a flat surface almost two hundred meters away.

Teela brought the windraider in for a landing facing into the stiff westerly wind. Thrusters in the undercarriage engaged as the main drives shut down. Despite the winds, Teela brought the ship down squarely on the ice pad with a lot of help from the onboard computer. She shut down all systems and climbed out of the open cockpit. Footing on the platform, and especially the bridge, were borderline treacherous, but Teela negotiated both with the use of her extendable battle staff.

The great doors to the mountain retreat were more impressive up close than they were from a distance. On her first trip here, He-Man had been hard-pressed to open those doors. Since then, they were much easier to open due to a little magic, and some good old-fashioned grease on the hinges. Teela shoved the right-hand door inward with hardly any effort. The interior remained much the same over the years. Tapestries, a couple of shields, and few odd weapons adorned the walls of the circular chamber. The floor along the wall was littered with piles of gems of every sort, some as big as a fist, chests overflowing with gold and silver coins, jewelry, and the odd pouch of platinum.

Just the kinds of stuff one would expect to find in a dragon's lair.

Though the dome above was not translucent, there was plenty of light to see, and Teela was never able to discover where the light came from. A hole twenty feet across dominated the center of the chamber. This led into the bowels of the extinct volcano. A place no human had ever ventured.

Out of that hole rose a sight any normal person would have immediately fled in fear from. Standing a full thirty feet high from the haunches up, the oldest and wisest of the dragons levitated up to sit on the edge of the pit. Yellow eyes regarded its visitor dispassionately. It was just as likely to eat her in one swallow as greet her warmly. When it smiled, one never knew if it was a predator-prey thing, or simple courtesy. Dragons were extremely complex creatures, and their mood swings, according to legend, tended to have deadly consequences.

Teela never quite got used to the sight of Granamyr. Red scales gleamed in the light that seemed to come from everywhere. A paler red section of scales ran from under the chin, down the chest and belly to the tail. The oddest feature of all was the great horned helmet. Of all the odd denizens of Eternia Teela had ever met, this was the oddest. A dragon wearing a helmet? Most people would have laughed, had they not seen it for themselves.

"Greetings, Teela," Granamyr said cordially. "I had not expected to see you again so soon."

"I know," Teela replied, fidgeting. "There has been a…a development. My mother has returned."

Granamyr did not look surprised, though it would have been hard to tell if he had been. "I know. She is in the company of humans from a planet called Earth."

Teela nodded. That correlated with the intelligence reports she managed to sneak peeks at from time to time. "Why come back now? She's been killed by King Hiss, or soon will be."

"You are mistaken. The Sorceress' physical form did cease to function," the old dragon admitted. That hit Teela like a hammer blow to the stomach. Granamyr saw the stricken look, and quickly continued. "However, now that the magical blocks arelowered, I sense she has been revived by the castle's power. However, the ailment we spoke on before has not been cured. That is beyond the castle's abilities."

Teela brightened a little bit despite her resentment toward her mother. "If the CastleGrayskull can't do it, who can?"

"That is already being done. The help comes from a most surprising source." It was a rare event when this ancient being, which had seen just about everything, was surprised. "I hope this comforts you despite your resentment."

"She lied to me, Granamyr!" Teela burst out. "She took away knowledge of who my mother really was. I know, you have explained the reasons why, and I probably would have done the same if it had been me in her place, but I still can't let go. The man I knew as my father died before he could tell me. Though he once told me I would find out from my mother herself, I had hoped that would change. It didn't. Now, he's dead, and I don't know who to trust anymore."

"These are dangerous times, Teela. We need all the allies we can get. You must put the past behind youif you are to ever come to terms with your mother. This has hurt her as much as it has you."

"I guess I'm still not ready to face it." Teela didn't really feel better, but it did feel good to talk about it. Granamyr was always a good being to come to for that, and he did not just show polite interest.

Granamyr sank slowly into the pit as the warrior woman turned to leave. He knew had knownshe would seek him out once the Sorceress returned to Eternia, and he'd been right. His head almost disappeared below the lip when Teela stopped to ask one last question.

"What are they, Granamyr? What are these people to us?"

The dragon rose until his head cleared the pit's lip. "Do you mean the Sorceress' new friends?"

"I mean the role she has been forced into. What are these ancient battle suits – these Guardians, as you call them – to us?" Teela was struggling once again to wrap her brain around this issue. One they had discussed several times in the past few months.

"They can do what He-Man and She-ra are forbidden to do. They can take the fight to the Horde. They can fight this war the way wars are fought. A stalemate is no longer an option. And many people will die before it is over," Granamyr explained at length, calmly, almost coldly.

"You still haven't answered my question," Teela said, her back still turned to him. "What are they to us? Tell me! Why should I care what happens to them?"

Seeing no other way to extricate himself from this, Granamyr finally gave her the answer, though it may not be the one she wanted to hear. "They are our last, best hope for victory over the Horde."

That revelation shook Teela to the core. Victory? Over the Horde? Was it really possible, she said to herself. Teela thanked Granamyr for his time, and left to ponder what he told her. Twice in two days, Teela's world had been turned inside out, and upside down. She dared not consider what tomorrow might bring. But one thing was for certain. Her mother was still alive. That alone was enough to keep her going so she could question the Sorceress about why she had done what she did. And, more importantly, find out if what Granamyr said was true about her actions hurting her more they did Teela.

Only time would tell.

Sands of Time Desert

Evil-Lyn left Palace Eternia at the earliest opportunity. She needed to have a short talk with her mother about what was going on, and find out why Moria was so interested in these Earthers. Evil-Lyn stepped through the time/space portal into Moria's realm hidden beneath the Sands of Time Desert. As the glow from the portal faded, Evil-Lyn called out to her mother, but received no response.

Odd, Evil-Lyn thought, She hardly ever leaves here anymore.

Moria's offspring methodically searched the vast underground complex, magical senses alert for anything. Nothing happened. And Evil-Lyn found absolutely no trace of Moria. Not even so much as a note could be found, not that Moria would have left one. It was vexing. How could one have a 'discussion' when one half of the party was not present? Evil-Lyn walked into the library where the magical pool lay. Its surface was assmooth as glass. The eerie torchlight reflected Evil-Lyn's frustrated image back at her as she leaned on the stone rim.

"Where on Eternia have you gone, mother?" Evil-Lyn said to herself.

She recoiled as the pool flared to life. The picture in those strangely calm waters resolved into an image Evil-Lyn knew all too well. From the look of it, it had to be the private chambers of the Sorceress. Evil-Lyn had heard about it, but had never seen it for herself. In the image, Moria was bent over the side of an elaborate bed with a sweeping falcon at the head and teeth at the foot. Evil-Lyn recognized Kodec Ungor by a description her mother hadonce made. The worst of it was the dawning realization that the Sorceress appeared to be alive. And Moria was treating her!

"What are you doing!" Evil-Lyn nearly screamed at the pool, knowing her mother would not be able to hear her.

Moria was indeed using her magic to cure the genetic ailment the Sorceress had been stricken with. Kodec Ungor was providing her own considerable magical strength so Moria could complete the task the first time, lest it didn'ttake and they wouldbe forced to do it all over again.

The more she watched the more Evil-Lyn fumed over the images. Of all the questionable things Moria had done in her long life, Evil-Lyn would never have suspected her capable of betrayal. The communion broke, as Moria straightened, tired, but satisfied. Kodec grudgingly looked pleased. Their body language made it clear there was no love lost between them. Moria said something to Kodec, who grunted something in return. Moria sighed, shook her head, and set to the task of opening a time/space portal. Normally, it would have been a simple thing, but it was clear Moria had barely enough strength left to properly form the portal. She did manage it, however, and Evil-Lyn could hear the distinctive hum in the outer chamber. Hastily, she dispelled the imagery in the pool and turned to face the library entrance, arms folded beneath her breasts.

It wasn't but a few moments before a haggard and worn Moria Vadorian walked into the library. She pulled up short, surprised to see her daughter standing there. She was so tired Moria did not immediately register Evil-Lyn's demeanor.

"Have a rough time?" Evil-Lyn snarled. "Must have been a long day – wherever you were."

A warning bell sounded through the fog in Moria's brain. "My affairs are none of your concern."

"They are when you start helping our enemies."

The fog dissipated completely as realization set in. Evil-Lyn had seen her in the pool. She knew where she had been and probably guessed what she was doing.

"You think me a traitor?" Moria said, her voice calm while anger was quietly welling within her. Evil-Lyn suddenly found it hard to meet her mother's gaze. "Look at me, Moritënia," she commanded, though her voice was still soft "You think I would betray you? "

"I saw you helping Kodec Ungor. Why heal the Sorceress? That's one less enemy to worry about."

"She may be your enemy, but she is not mine. What I did, I did for my own reasons, as I always do. And I found out something interesting," Moria replied evenly. Tired as she was, the Ancient Queen was finding it difficult to keep her temper in check, even towards her own child. "It appears that things have changed regarding the stewardship of Castle Grayskull. The rumors of this mystic armor are true."

Evil-Lyn snorted derisively, "Myths and legends, that's all."

"Those myths and legends nearly tore you apart, remember?" Moria said, waving a hand at the pool.

Images flared to life below the glassy surface. The rescue of the Sorceress replayed in full before them. Evil-Lyn shuddered involuntarily as the black creature wearing its skeleton in the outside dropped like a cat from the rafters. It hissed like a feline, and had the reflexes faster than anything she had ever seen. Moria paused the replay when it got to the point where the Earther reverted to human form with the battle suit encasing him. This was after the embarrassment of having globe on her staff shattered by the warrior woman they rescued.

"Do you honestly still believe it to be myth?" Moria invited. "While I was healing the Sorceress I discovered she is now more powerful than ever before. Even without her own armor augmenting her abilities, the Sorceress is probably more powerful than you realize. She may even be a match for King Hiss."

Now things were getting ridiculous. "Oh, please," Lyn exclaimed, exasperated. "Even inside Grayskull, that little bird has never been much of a threat to anyone."

"As I said," Moria replied evenly, "things have changed, my daughter. I can vaguely remember back to the time before the coming of the Horde to our galaxy. There are stories within the power that I wield that tell of an age full of life and hope. And I can even recall of these armored warriors who kept the peace."

"What does that mean to us?" Evil-Lyn demanded. "Why should we care?"

"Because the time will come when we are forced to choose sides in the coming war. And it will come. It's only a matter of time."

"You still haven't answered my question," Evil-Lyn spat, her tone finally grating on the last shreds of her mother's nerves.

The Ancient woman whirled on her daughter as her tone grew dark and almost unfeeling. "Because theirs is a power, that, once fully realized, can save this galaxy -" Moria took Lyn's chin in her hand, her amethyst eyes blazing as she fixed her with a stare Evil-Lyn could not have looked away from even had she been given the option. "- or destroy it."