Chapter 2: Two Bounties; One Head
It was hard to imagine how Adora had not noticed Saurod until now. He didn't exactly blend in with the crowd being that he was a large lizard like humanoid decked out in copper colored battle armor and a foreboding breath mask. The Saurian Warrior stared at Adora in silence a moment. He seemed momentarily confused and surprised that she had recognized him. Adora found herself wishing she had remained silent. Perhaps then he would not have seen her. Now Saurod was sizing up Adora as though trying to decide if she would offer him any challenge. Jasper took this opportunity to slink away into a far dark corner behind the bar where he hoped he would go unnoticed.
"I know you don't I?" Saurod said finally. "Yes, you are Randor's young one, Adora. I can smell it in your blood."
"And you're one of Skeletor's cronies. What does the old bonehead want on Etheria this time?"
Saurod let out a low growl that made Adora loose some of her courage.
"Nothing at the moment as far as I know. I am here on my own without his knowledge. Not that it's any of his business what I do."
Saurod, like most Saurian Warriors, was a hunter and a mercenary. Adora had encountered him before on Eternia where he currently resided using his skills in service to Skeletor. That is, when he felt it was worth his time, or when Skeletor paid him enough. Saurod offered his loyalty to no one. He would just as soon turn on Skeletor if the money or challenge were large enough. In truth he had grown to despise Skeletor and had lowered his standards a bit to provide ample excuse to go against him.
"Recent events on Eternia have left Skeletor in a particularly sour mood. I felt it best to get away for a while."
"So why Etheria?" Adora asked. She wanted to keep him talking. For the moment he did not appear to be hostile, but he most likely regarded her as an enemy, or at least the offspring of an opponent. She wasn't sure whether Saurod's code of honor would grant her immunity or not. Best to keep him calm for now, at least until Sea Hawk appeared so she'd have backup.
"Money and sport," Saurod said taking sip of his ale. Since he did not bother to remove his mask first he wound up with a fair deal dripping off the sides of his face but did not seem to care. "I'm here to hunt."
"You're type of hunting usually involves creatures other than game animals," Adora snapped, forgetting for a moment her desire not to agitate him. Luckily, Saurod did not become angered by this. Instead he actually chuckled lightly.
"True. But you can hardly fault me for that. It is Saurian nature to seek prey that offers the highest challenge. And there happens to be a prize on this world that will not only offer me the thrill of a good hunt, but also allow me to line my pockets nicely for a successful capture."
Adora scowled and found herself wishing she kept her sword sheathed at her waist instead of across her back. That way she could have slowly slipped it out unnoticed. If she made a move for it now, Saurod would know instantly want she was up to.
"I have a feeling I know what prey you're talking about."
Saurod laughed with his sinister sounding reptilian chuckle. "I believe you know her. The warrior woman She-Ra!"
Adora could feel her pulse quicken and her breathing became heavy. Calm down, she thought to herself. He doesn't know his target is right in front of him.
"You're actually foolish enough to go after She-Ra single handedly?"
Saurod took another swig of his drink, once again getting more on him than in his mouth. Seeing his mug was nearly empty as a result, he reached over the bar and grabbed the bottle. Normally Jasper would not have allowed even a Hordesman to do this so it was a sign of just how menacing Saurod appeared that the old barkeep said and did nothing
"The challenge that she will pose is enough alone to make it well worth any possible risk to myself," Saurod said at last before taking a large gulp of ale straight from the bottle. This proved to be a bit of a mistake however as the outrageous proof caught up with him. Even Saurian Warriors, the very inventors of the drink, consumed it slowly as a safety precaution.
Saurod gulped hard and turned his head letting out a cough that was accompanied by a small spark of his energy breath. The spark landed on a nearby table and ignited some spilled liquor staring a small fire. Jasper finally pulled himself out of his corner and rushed over to extinguish it. Saurod turned back to Adora completely ignoring the commotion he had caused.
"What did you mean enough alone?" Adora said shifting her eyes momentarily towards the door hoping that Sea Hawk would walk through it right then. Where was he?
"You heard me mention lining my pockets," Saurod replied taking another drink, though this time much smaller and slower. "Hordak has put a rather large bounty on your friend's head. So large in fact that I'll have my work cut out for me holding off the other hunters who will undoubtedly be after her as well."
Here Saurod tilted his head and his eyes narrowed inside the shadows of his mask. Adora took a half step backwards ready to draw her sword if need be.
"As a matter of fact," he sneered, "Hordak's placed a rather large sum on your head as well."
That did it. Adora jumped backwards and reached behind her back as quickly as she could to draw out the Sword of Protection. Adora moved swiftly but somehow Saurod was even faster. She only had the sword halfway drawn before the Saurian had clamped his hand around her throat. Adora could feel his claws, hard and sharp as steal digging into her neck. He had skillfully grabbed her in such a way that his claws pushed into the skin but did not draw blood. If she moved a muscle, however, he would slash open her windpipe before she could take another breath.
"Don't even try it," he snarled. "I have no desire to destroy you in this fashion. It is beneath a hunter of my class. Sheath your sword."
"I suggest you get your hand off her if you want to keep it!"
Saurod turned his head in surprise though his grip on Adora did not loosen. Standing in the doorway was the rouge pirate captain Sea Hawk. In his hand he was holding his photon cutlass. A powerful laser sword he had inherited from his father. The blade of pure energy was already glowing red meaning that is was at full power and thus capable of slicing through anything. The look on Sea Hawk's face left no doubt that he was prepared to use it to its full potential.
Saurod looked back and forth between Hawk and Adora ascertaining the situation. Hawk was ready to fly at him and slice the Saurian to bits. Adora had not moved a muscle since he had grabbed her. She still was gripping her sword with it half drawn from its sheath. But if either of them made a move he could easily kill Adora before anything happened. Finally he said, "Put your swords away, both of you. I'll release her only when I am confidant I will not be attacked afterwards."
Hawk was clearly in no mood to compromise and took a menacing step forward. Saurod answered by lifting Adora up so her feet were no longer touching the ground. Not only did this put her at a further disadvantage but it showed off how strong Saurod was. Adora was thin and didn't weigh a lot. Nevertheless, not just anyone could hold her off the ground with one hand and show no signs of strain.
Hawk paused unsure of what to do. Around his neck the magic locket he wore began to glow brighter and brighter. Adora and he had been given the locket some time ago and each wore a half of it. Whenever one of them would be in danger the other's locket would glow brightly alerting them to the peril. Judging by how intense the glow was Adora's life was hanging by a thread.
Adora gave in first. She slowly pushed her sword back down and then held her hands out away from her body in submission. Hawk hesitated further until she turned her eyes and made a gesture to lower his weapon. Slowly and reluctantly Hawk deactivated the cutlass' blade. Satisfied, Saurod released his grip and let Adora fall rather roughly to the floor. Wasting no time she scrambled up and ran to Sea Hawk's side.
"I seized you in self defense," Saurod growled turning back to the bar. "If I wanted your head little one, I would have already removed it from your neck. As you've just shown, someone like you offers me no contest. I only go after prey that fit my need for a challenge. Now run along."
"How dare you speak to her like that!" Sea Hawk bellowed. He moved to activate his sword again but Adora grabbed his arm.
"No, forget it. Let's just go."
Sea Hawk turned to her but his eyes clearly showed he had no intention of simply letting the matter slide.
"He has no quarrel with us. Better to leave it that way."
Sea Hawk was obviously still reluctant to comply, but deep down he knew Adora was smarter than him and she probably knew what was for the best. Giving Saurod one last dirty look, he turned and began following her out.
"Nice timing by the way," Adora whispered with a smile.
"What are you even doing in here by yourself?" Hawk asked. "You know how rough this place can get.
"I was looking for you of course. Hawk, we have to talk. There's something I have to tell you. Something I should have told you a long time ago."
Adora now had Sea Hawk's full attention. Which would probably explain why he didn't notice the platoon of Horde Troopers entering the bar until he ran headlong into them and was knocked flat on his back.
The robotic soldier glared down at him in disgust. "Watch where you're going you… rebel!"
"It's that pirate Sea Hawk and the traitor Adora!" Instantly the troopers had their weapons out and trained on the pair. Adora quickly drew her sword only to have it shot out of her hand by a laser blast.
This is not my day! Adora thought backing away from the advancing trooper. Sea Hawk jumped to his feet and activated his photon cutlass only to be grabbed from behind by two more troops. Every time he broke free from one another would seize him before he could make a move to help Adora.
But then suddenly the air was filled with laser fire. It was not from the Horde Troopers however. In fact it was hard to tell exactly where it was coming from, as blasts seemed to be flying in every direction. Not a shot was wasted though. Every single blast had connected with one of the troopers and they all fell over in a dead heap. The two rebels looked around but none of the other bar patrons had a weapon drawn. Most, in fact, were also looking around for the source of the fire.
"What in Etheria just happened?" Adora gaped.
"Let's not wait around to find out!" Sea Hawk shouted. Before Adora could react he had grabbed her around the waist, flung her over his shoulder, and burst out the door. Outside he found a line of hover bikes, presumably belonging to the troopers. Quickly he set Adora down on the back of one, jumped on in front of her and hit the ignition.
"Hawk, wait! My sword!"
"No time!" Sea Hawk shouted and gunned the bike up and out of town.
"No, Hawk you don't understand…" Adora tried to protest but was forced to grab on to Hawk's shoulders and hang on tightly less she be blown right off the bike. Adora was so preoccupied with the loss of her magic sword that she failed to notice the bike they were riding was unlike any other she had seen. She didn't notice that it had been completely rebuilt and customized, clearly by someone with a serious "need for speed". She did not even see the words "Road Queen" emblazed in silver lettering on the side.
Back in the "Shady Pub" Saurod slowly picked up the bottle of ale, got up from the bar and walked over to the table where the young woman in the black coat sat.
"Pretty impressive shooting," he said. "Reflecting the shots off multiple surfaces so as to hide their source."
The woman slowly turned and spoke in a soft but firm voice, "I'm impressed myself that you were able to figure out it was me."
"Well you did bounce one of the shots off my helmet," the Saurian chuckled. "Besides I can sense the heat from your gun barrel. Didn't miss a shot did you?"
"I never miss," the strange woman grinned. "As you would have learned if you hadn't released Adora when you did. I'm guessing you didn't hear that the reward on her is for alive only."
"A fellow hunter I see. Well, I care nothing about her. I'm only interested in the bounty on She-Ra. Which is dead or alive."
The young woman stood up and faced Saurod head on. A strange feeling came over him. Though this little female was small in build -she only came up to his chest- he was nevertheless somehow intimidated by her stare.
"Word of advice," she said. "Stay away from both of them. Adora and She-Ra are both mine for the taking. And anyone who tries to take them from me… well." She pointed to the remains of the Horde Troopers. "It's not wise to steal from the Road Queen!"
Before Saurod could react she snatched the bottle of Saurian ale out of his hand and took a long hard drink without even flinching. Then without a word she turned and walked away pausing to pick up the Sword Of Protection from where it had fallen. As she reached the door she glanced down to see that one of the robots was still functioning despite having a smoking hole in its chest. Frowning, she plunged the sword down through the trooper's head then withdrew it, tucked the weapon into her coat and stepped out leaving a gawking crowd staring in disbelief.
