Epilogue

Nordor, in orbit of Denebria . . .

"Give me one good reason not to fire you out of the airlock," Flogg grumped. "Our attack failed. You claim to have lost the power that had helped you get us down there. And He-Man is still around, leading those meddling fools."

Skeletor snarled. Had this been Snake Mountain, he would have blasted Flogg into a wall. But he was playing by new rules now. He still had He-Man to deal with him. And despite his losing the power of Grayskull, he still had the chance to overthrown Flogg after Primus fell.

"You need me," he said at last.

"How so?"

"I know He-Man more than anyone else, Flogg. Let me stand beside you, and you shall know victory not only over He-Man, but Primus! You'll be king of Tri-Solar System! No, the whole galaxy! A rival of Horde Prime, even!"

Critta squeezed Skeletor's shoulder. "I like the way he thinks, boss," Critta said, smiling hotly at Skeletor. He looked her over, his time here not nearly as bad as he had initially thought.

"Fine. You shall remain here, Skeletor. But remember one thing! You serve me! You take orders FROM ME! As long as you are in this system, you will follow MY orders! Understood?"

Skeletor bowed a little, hating Flogg as much as his Orc heart could. "Understood . . . my master."

Snake Mountain, Eternia . . .

Evil-Lynn smiled as King Hiss entered into the throne room. She leaned forward a bit in her throne, the rest of the Evil Warriors suddenly a bit uneasy.

"Temper, boys," Evil-Lynn advised. "Hello, King Hiss. What brings you to my humble abode?"

Hiss smiled that vile smile. "The time of Skeletor has ended on Eternia. I assumed since he was now off-world, you and I may return to the deal we once had."

"Share Snake Mountain again?" she asked with a perk of her eyebrow.

"My forces are greater in number this time, Evil-Lynn. We share the same fortress and merely act independently of each other."

"No double-crossing," Evil-Lynn asked playfully.

"Not even a little bit."

"Hmmm." She stood up out of the throne and walked across the room. She pulled a bottle of wine and two glasses from a small cabinet. "Sounds like a plan, then."

She handed him a glass. "A toast, then?" he asked.

"Yes," she replied. "To a new alliance between old enemies."

Hiss drank to that, knowing full well that in a matter of time, he would be strong enough to take Snake Mountain for his own. But until that time and when it became viable to, he would wait. He waited hundreds of years in the Void . . . what's another few months?

Eternos, Eternia . . .

"She-Ra!"

The heroine of Etheria turned on her heel as she crossed the courtyard. Teela was running top speed over to her. She-Ra gave her a smile and stopped.

"What's up, Teela?" she asked.

"I was surprised to see you here," Teela said. "I thought you were going back to Etheria."

"I'm heading back now, actually," She-Ra replied, pointing over to Gwildor. Gwildor was engrossed in setting the calculations for Etheria. "I was just getting some research materials for my future stay here."

"Ah . . . okay," Teela responded. She-Ra could tell immediately that there was something the young Captain wasn't saying. And she knew exactly what it was. "I haven't heard from them."

"What? Oh. Um. Ah, yeah," Teela attempted to cover. "Thanks."

She gave Teela a warm smile. "I miss them too."

Teela returned the smile. "Yeah."

As Gwildor opened the portal to Etheria, She-Ra put a friendly hand on Teela's shoulder. "We'll see them again."

Teela perked her eyebrow a bit. "Yeah?"

She-Ra nodded and started to the portal. "Count on it."

With that, She-Ra was gone. Teela wouldn't see her again for five years.

That night, the Captain of the Royal Guard looked up at the stars from the courtyard. Beside her, Cringer slumbered quietly, purring as he dreamt of happy memories.

"You two be careful up there," she whispered. "And I'll see you when you get back."

The Starship Eternia, Primus orbit . . .

Flipshot and Hydron worked at the computers as He-Man looked out the front windows. Below them sat Primus, a rather beautiful world that He-Man was now starting to get used to. It's almost home, he thought as he gazed upon it.

His eyes moved up, and he looked upon the mass of stars that hung in the black void of space. Clear across time/space was his family and friends. But until he returned to them, he had to make new friends . . . something he was already doing.

"I miss you," he whispered. "But I'll be back."

With that, He-Man turned and walked over to the navigational computers. Along with Flipshot and Hydron was Mara and Caz. Caz had begged He-Man for the past three days to be allowed on board. He-Man had finally relented.

"Where to now, He-Man?" asked Caz.

"Huh?" asked He-Man, looking down upon his new friend.

"Where do you want to go now?"

He-Man thought for a moment and looked towards the horizon. He then smiled, eyes locked onto the suns as they became to climb above Primus. He pressed the navigational controls that had been showed to him and made up his mind.

"Caz, my friend . . ."

"Yeah?"

"Let's go chase the suns."

THE END . . . FOR NOW!

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

And thus ends "The Books of Destiny" series. For those of you that hung with me from "The Crossroads of Destiny," and through "Prophecy & Change," "Just Another Day," and "Liberty and Valor" and then watched while I bookended this with "Manifest Destiny," I thank you deeply. For all those that are just now joining us, then I hope you take the time and check out the rest of my stories if you enjoyed this one.

This is but one phase in my massive, overall He-Man saga. Want to know where to go next? Chronologically, "Roots" by Brimstone and myself is next up. There are a few continuity glitches, but nothing that can't be smoothed over. It's already available here at some new stories coming down the line this summer, concentrating on He-Man's new life and new adventures in the Tri-Solar System! What then? Well, I'll be revamping my first fanfic "The Final Adventure" into a much longer, totally up-to-date epic.

Want to know what happens to Teela, She-Ra, Hordak and the gang? Then I recommend the massive co-op "The Final Adventure: The Shroud of the Horde," also available here on as to how Keldor became Skeletor? Or how Marlena and Randor fell in love? Want to know the origin of Teela? Wondering about the Horde War on Eternia? Head on over to my "Preludes and Beginnings" series, now completed on as well!

Plus, discover the origin of He-Man and the Heroic Warriors in my on going "He-Man: Year One" stories that will continue throughout the rest of this year.

As always, this fanfic was a labor of love. I had a blast writing it. Special thanks goes out to Classic Cowboy and Fusion Blaster, who helped me with some big decisions with the story, as well as aiding me when the ol' Writer's Block came slamming down!

See you next time! Remember . . . the saga isn't over yet! Take care! Thanks!

thew40

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