At the mouth of knowledge

Catra's tail twitched as she stood in the hall, it had been nearly three days since the Prince arrived and nobody has seen him leave his room. "What are you doing?" She looked up at Scorpia who was fumbling with the communications pad in her pincers.

The Horde captain embarrassed slid the pad into her uniform pocket "I was just checking on the team I sent out to get Zed a get-well gift was coming along." The scorpion Princess nervously looked away "They got intercepted by some rebels."

Catra groaned wondering what Scorpia was trying to give the Prince that got the attention of the Princess Alliance "You used your own men to get him a gift?" She voiced her irritation "Why would you give a gift to a person who is too uppity to show up to the party we planned?" That whole party was a waste of time and resources and as Hordaks she felt that she had the right to be furious at him.

"It wasn't his fault that he didn't show up." Scorpia tried to comfort her with a smile

"That is correct he said he wasn't feeling well and then he almost exploded." Entarpa explained as she typed away at the door controls "Sent me flying right out into the wall."

Catra wasn't sure she wanted to know what the purple haired girl meant by 'exploded.' More to prevent Entarpa from spouting unintelligible techno jargon, then any other negative implication.

"Hey Entrapta? You think I have enough time to make a get-well card for him before you get the door opened." Scorpion asked curious.

"Most likely not." The purple haired inventor said not turning back to look at her "I'm almost done."

"Oh?" The taller female frowned slightly

"What if he's dead?" Catra thought out loud "Like he really couldn't handle the gravity and just keeled over in there."

Entarpta scratched her chin "I don't know? I don't think I borrowed the circuitry from the vital monitors in this area? At least I don't remember borrowing them." The purple haired girl most likely did because all the security systems in this hall appeared to be down. A potential security risk, if it wasn't so deep within the Fright Zone.

"Well what if he got murdered?" Catra's fur stood up slightly, her mind already creating images of the potential crime scene.

"Well that would be in poor taste? Hord Prime would punish Hordak for letting that happen." Scorpia answered "Then Hordak would probably punish you three times as hard."

That made the feline girl bristle, internally hoping that the Prince was just a really deep sleeper.

"Open sesame!" Entrapa smiled as the door slid open.

"Whoa, his bed is worse than mine." Catra said jumping on damaged mattress, staring curiously at the tears.

"I guess even raised in space, boys can't take care of their stuff." Scorpia giggled.

"Speaking of 'boys', it seems that the Prince isn't here." Entrapta stated looking at the room from the doorway.

Catra's ears perked up and smiled "Let's go through his stuff!" She shouted as she leapt off the bed and began to open up one of the storage containers.

"That's probably not the best idea." Scorpia advised.

"He's not here, that means he's missing." Catra looked up at her "That means we need clues in order to figure out where he went, unless you want to be out of your jobs and in a cell for the rest of your life."

Entrapa of a shocked expression on her face scampered into the room and began to waste herself up to investigate the air vents.

Giving a hesitant nod Scorpia, agreed with the other two, but just continue to watch Catra carefully.

The feline captain eyes narrowed as she tossed out books, empty bottles, and tattered remains of some uniforms "Why is his uniform blue, it feels fancier to?" She held up in intact uniform investigating it within a jealous eye.

"Well that that's because he's a part of the Horde's elite forces, only Hordak and Hord Prime outrank them." Scorpia explained then rifled in the container and pulled out a medal between her pincers "They tend to have specialized outfits for combat situations, but judging by how these medals seem to be for noncombat achievements he might not have one."

"The Prince is a wimp?" Entarap poked her head out of an air vent confused.

Catra was more surprised that the horde had awards for things that were combat related. She shifted through the mass of contents in the crate before pulling out would seem to be a children's book with the title 'The Tale of The Dreaming Machine'. She was starting the Prince wasn't as extraordinary as his title and position presents.

"What if he got kidnapped?" The purple haired engineers voice echoed from within the walls.

Catra shivered to taking in her environment differently. The seeming bits of trash within this container, the destroyed bed and the nonfunctioning sensors outside seemed like substantial evidence to Entarpa's claim. Even though it would have been impossible for anybody in the rebellion to know about the Prince's presence. She had known from personal experience that in the Evil Horde climbing the ranks is a lot faster when you remove the person above you. Yet, was there anyone in the Fright Zone that would benefit from Zed being out of the picture? Not Hordak, sense he was supposedly a higher rank than the High Prince.

"That would be rather difficult." Scorpia asserted confidently, the thought of treason from anyone else in the Horde not crossing her mind.

Catra then turned to look out into the hallway, immediately catching the site of a familiar but unwelcome to figure. "What you want, old hag?" She sneered.

The sky was alive with the whistles and caws of harpies, Zed the listened with interest as the feathered woman swooped and circled above him and Bow. Zed assumed the sounds that the harpies were making where their original forms of communication, and their stilted primal form of speech was an adaptation they learn to communicate with the other civilizations on the planet. He was so impressed by the diversity of sapient lifeforms that inhabited Eternia, a part of him like to believe that was evidence for the story of King Jared. That having a single planetary ruler during the early parts of the planet's history might have made the different races disinclined to commit genocide on each other.

The Horde Prince stopped his musings and looked ahead of him to Bow. The young man taking the reins of Arrow once again, the blue horse was waiting for them loyally at the base of harpy's nest. After the events of the night before Bow had seemed normal, yet now he had grown distant his posture rigid.

"Bow?" His brow furrowed, when the other boy didn't answer "Mo ghile mear, are you okay?" Zed hesitantly touched Bow's shoulder.

"Hu?" Bow jumped, making Arrow snort. "Sorry I'm just lost in thought." He turned to look to Zed.

"I was too?" The Horde Prince replied unsure how to start a conversation with the other teen.

Bow was quick to fill in where Zed lacked "Zed, do you have any friends?"

"What?" Zed was somewhat confused by the question "No, I don't think I have any."

"Side effects of wandering the world?" Bow glanced back at him.

Zed decided he would be as honest as he could. Even though Bow was for all and since the purposes an enemy that he was using, he felt that he should the least show as much respect as he could. "No, it's more of a family thing." Every relation he had was centered more around his father and uncle than him, whether from someone trying to get to them or somebody that they had ordered to interact with him.

"So, you're on this adventure to get away from your family? So, you're actually a runaway?"

Bow's line of questioning made Zed to feel uncomfortable. It hadn't even been a matter a few days ago that Hordack had been informed of his rebellious nature, and now he was accused of being a runaway. "How about you? What are your friends like? you must really care about them since you left them a letter." He asked wanting the subject to no longer be on him.

"Oh, my friend great." Bow seemed to perk up "Adora, Princess Glimmer, pretty much all the princesses are the best."

Zed tilted his head unconvinced. The tone of the other boys voice reminded him of underlings that which schmooze up to his tutors, speaking nothing but platitudes about understanding the reasons for their achievements. "but what are they like? Besides being 'great' and 'the best' who are they to you?"

"Well, mm…" Surprised Bow actually took a moment to think about what to say. "Okay, so Adora, I haven't known her for a long time but she's got a big heart and doesn't know what. She has a hard time forgetting promises she makes but, she always apologizes for them, even when she doesn't multiple times." He shook his head realizing that wasn't a good to say about her. "We also do some sparring together. Though she's a really sore loser, even going as far as turning into a murder machine to ensure that I don't beat her." He gripped the reins thinking of the one time he had actually had a chance of overpowering Adora in hand-to-hand combat. Only for the blonde ponytailed girl ran for the sword of protection to use against him.

"Murder machine?" Zed questioned concerned, but also with sympathy. He could relate with what was supposed to be a simple training exercise turning deadly, because of another entities pride.

"This also Glimmer, we've been friends for as long as I can remember." Bow continued cheerfully, but there was still a hint of irritation in his voice "We pretty much do everything together, though she does get a little cranky when I try to reach out and make new friends." He remembered her most recent episode when she had apparently 'misinterpreted' his desire to go with Perfuma to the prom. "She also gets cranky when she has some Princessly obligation where she goes off of all the other girls, and when I ask if there's a way, I can join her, she leaves me alone." He felt an angry fire in his veins at being the push out of Glimmers room, the two girls not even having the courtesy to open the door again to bid him goodbye. "Every. Single. Time. even when she promises that she'll find a way for the next time. I'm always left alone." Bow then got quiet feeling anger fled his veins, he was somewhat grateful that Zed hadn't met his other two friends so he wouldn't have to apologize for what he said. It all was almost cathartic to him to talk about the things that bothered him so much about his friends, even though he knew that it was wrong.

A silence grew between the two boys, as awkward as it made both feel they appreciated it. Neither of them a sure how to properly put their thoughts into words.

"Zed, I'm sorry." Bow spoke up first to shoulder slumping.

"Why?"

"No wait, s-sorry wasn't the right word. Thank you."

"I'm still confused." Zed shook his head.

"You see, this quest finding Wisdom's Light is one of the main factors that I'm even here today the way I am." Bow looked back slightly embarrassed "Ever since I was young, other than wanting to be the hero that sent the Horde away. I really wanted to find Jared's Crown."

"I don't understand." Zed couldn't comprehend why Bow would be telling Zed, this especially since they hadn't even found the artifact. At this point if anybody needed to be giving thinks it would be him and not Bow.

"You see, I never had anybody who would go on this quest with me. Everyone said it was too dangerous to attempt alone, so I never tried. When I asked Glimmer, she threatened to end our friendship if I ever actually tried to find it. Of course, I'm sure she didn't mean it! It just made me too scared to try."

Zed didn't understand why, Bow was trying to defend Princesses Glimmers character. If the crown of Jared was as powerful that it might have the potential of defeating the horde it was her failure as a potential leader for not seizing an opportunity to find it.

"So, I was shocked and then super thrilled that you wanted to find the crown too." Bow continued his story "in a way just you asking gave me the courage to do it."

Zed was speechless, his face felt hot and was grateful that the other teen didn't turned to look at him at that moment. Somehow, knowing that his presence was beneficial as Bow was to the Horde Prince, calmed to part of him. "The harpies are turning away, we must be getting close." He responded absently watching the dread harpies returning to their mountain.

The wind began to pick up and Bow pulled out his technology scanner, as they rode closer to in outcropping of unnatural almost man-made mountains in the distance. As they follow the signal to the rectangular mountains with high steep cliffs the wind only grew stronger.

As they approached the base of the mountain, indented into the rocks was a door. Much like the ones in the First Ones ruins in the Whispering Woods, it lay into the mountain without any signs of damage to the rock around it. The language of the First Ones etched into the door similar to the etchings on the entrance to the Crystal Castle.

Zed, shifted slightly recognizing the symbols on the entranceway. On the Velvet Glove and scholars throughout the Horde there was a theory, that the First Ones whose technology the Horde so desperately desire to obtain were nothing but in off branch of another ancient race, simply called the Ancient Ones. Gazing upon the symbols arcing across the doorway proved that theory to be true, while he had studied many writings of the antediluvian spacefaring race without a cipher, he was unable to determine what the door said.

"Halt!" A disembodied voice rang out as a blast of wind swirled around them "You seek Crown of Knowledge! Speak warriors!" The voice was genderless, and inpatient.

"Yes, we do!" Bow answered back dismounting from Arrow, Zed following shortly after him.

The window lashed down at them from the top of the mountains, the entity that was speaking to them showing its displeasure. "Before you can face the trails within, you must answer one question. Fail, and you must give up and never return."

The two boys looked at each other, neither of them expecting that there would be some type of test before they could reach the crown.

"I am a serpent with a head that swallows the sea, I can live forever long until my body is devoured. What am I?" The voice called down it's question without out a warning.

Zed had no clue what type of creature the voice was referring to. Surely, it had to be something metaphorical because such size and attributes that came to his head could've referred to gigantic reptiles across multiple dimensions. All of them he wasn't sure the voice was asking about.

"You're a candle!" Bow shouted up to the top of the mountain.

The sheer amount of confidence in the other teens a voice made Zed to jump. In that moment he felt that the young man who had let them so far had just thrown away his chances of getting his hands on the First One's artifact.

Only for the door to suddenly open up, the direction of the wind seeming to change as it tried to pull them in to the darkened opening.

"How did you know that was the right answer?" The Horde Prince called to Bow.

Bow grabbed his weapons as well bag of potentially useful equipment before turning to the other young man and saying. "You're saying you didn't know? That's a children's riddle." He laughed.

Slightly fighting against the suction of the wind the do allow made their way across the threshold, in to the darkness below door sealed tight behind them. Zed and Bow were both quick to activate sources of light, in order for them to investigate the cave that they were now trapped in.

The walls of the cave where a blueish black with no signs of being tampered with, and the floor nothing more than a powdery dirt. A second inspection of the door showed that there was no mechanism from the inside in which to open it. They ventured deeper into the cave and came across a narrow fork with two identical doors.

"I'm getting so much interference on my scanner, seems like the walls are made out of First One's tech or something." Bow sighed at the scanner he was using a light source "I can't figure out which door leads where?"

Zed looked at the two doors, then got an idea "Turn the scanner off, I'm also going to turn my light off to."

"You're kidding, do you understand how dark it gets in caves without lights." Bow cringed at the red head's suggestion.

Zed rolled his eyes "Just humor me." He then turned light from his multitool off.

Bow reluctantly turned off the scanner letting the cave tunnel to fall into pitch blackness. He instantly moved to one of the cave walls for support.

For Zed it wasn't as dark, his eye's could still see the residual energy from the glowing devices. He moved between the two identical doors looking for any light or signal to tell them apart.

"What are you doing?" Bow whispered in the darkness, though where wasn't a need to do so.

Zed, stared at Bow utterly unsure what to say to him. If he were to be truthful in this moment there would only be negative consequences, instead he let his eyes drift to Bows chest plate. In the light he hadn't noticed it but, the red heart symbol gave off the slightest glow of energy. Puzzled he moved closer to the other teen, his finger lightly tracing the heart symbol trying to send some type of mechanism under the armor.

"uh, Z-Zed?" Bow gave a nervous giggle, slightly confused by Zed's behavior.

The Horde Prince looked up to Bow's face "Lights leaking through this door." He answered pulling back his hand before picking one of the doors and opening it.

Thankfully the room on the other side was well lit, the same as the tunnel they came in the room was massive with only one door across the room. Venturing closer the to realize that the floor of the room was cut in half by a massive black gorge.

Disappointed by his choice Zed moved to turn back, hoping he could go back and pick the other door. Yet. Turning back only revealed that the door they had come through had disappeared, leaving only seamless cave wall. It was starting to be calm clear that there was something unnatural about the tunnels they were in.

"Look!" Zed turned back at the sound of Bow's cheerful voice. "It appears that there's some sort of invisible bridge across!" Bow smile to him as he demonstrated by throwing some of the dirt from the floor into the dark void, several pieces of dirt stopping in seeming to hang in midair.

Arms outstretched Bow's began to move across the invisible surface, taking a handful of dirt with him to help determine the next area in the invisible bridge.

Zed, wasn't so inclined to trust the stability of Bow's plan. Instead he backed up to the cave wall behind him and then ran at the gorge with all his might, using his multi tool he triggered a long narrow piece of metal to extend from the cylinder. With a great breath he used the metal extension to vault himself across the gorge, landing on the other side safely, but winded.

He sat up and looked at Bow who was staring at him with wide eyes "I'll wait over here for you to cross, mo ghile mear!" He shouted retracting the metal extension with a laugh.

Bow shook his head and briefly puffed out his cheeks before shouting back "You jerk!" His rebuttal echoed against the wall before eventually the two young men began to both to laugh hysterically.

"Bow!"Bow!" Princess Glimmer screamed into the wind as towns and farms flew by below her "I can't believe that he got to Darkedge so quickly, why would he go to Darkadge at all!" She looked at Adora with watery eyes. Glimmer couldn't understand out of all the places her friend would go it would be the one place, even as children everybody told them to never venture.

"I can't believe that his folks would be okay with him going after the crown." Adora answered incredulously.

"They're not okay with him going after the crown, they find it cute that he is going off on an adventure with another boy. That's how they got together." Glimmer gave a huff

The blonde teen shrugged confused "Why is that cute?"

Glimmer opened her mouth as if she was going to explain, but seeing the line of trees coming up over the horizon she said "That's the border forest to Darkedge." She shifted on Swift Wind back nervously "We should fly higher."

"Why?"

" Brightmoon! Brightmoon! Brightmoon!" answered Adora's question as the shrill scream of harpies filled the air. A cloud of harpies hurtling towards Swift Wind and the two girls at a startling velocity.

The princesses and their seeds screamed as they swirled and swerved around the feathered women. The winged horse propelling itself across the line of trees hoping to lose the enraged flock. The cloud of harpies we oriented themselves and continued to give chase through the air above the barren land of Darkedge.

With the shrill scream of "Angella!" The harpy swooped down and knocked glimmer off the back pain the rainbow -colored horse. Making the glittering haired girl into a freefall towards the ground.

"Glimmer!" Adora screamed and fear as she steered Swift wind into a nosedive after her friend "By the honor of-" before she could activate the sort of power a harpy swiped the blade out of her hands.

With the choice between the sword of protection and her friend, she chose the latter and continued the nosedive after Glimmer. Adora gritted her teeth as the wind whipped around her as the rainbow -colored horse tried to fall faster than the princess.

Swooping in just in time to catch Glimmer "Of!" Adora hugged her tightly as she fell onto her lap "I got you!" She said reassuringly before encouraging Swift Wind upwards "They still got my sword! After them!"

Together they chased after the harpies. Who were dropping in picking up the sword of protection, like hawks playing with a drowning fish. With tremendous velocity they chased after the flock of harpies, Adora flinging herself off her steed and gripping on to the hilt of the sword.

With a startled shriek the harpies released the sword, and flew off in various directions.

In a quick and tactical move Adora, manage to land back onto Swift Wind. The magical horse groaning and wavering slightly at the second impact.

"Yeah! You all runaway!" Glimmer shouted up to the harpies as they spiraled upwards into the sky or darted away from them at shocking speeds.

Adora let out a chair pumping her fist and waving the sword about in victory. As she did, she caught the glint of something green out of the blade's reflection. Swiveling your head around to see of the source of the green light, she saw something like heat waves rippling towards them from over the horizon.

The impact rattled the horse and its two writers to the bone. Their eyes felt like they were going to follow their socket as their stomachs began to feel like jelly. The blonde-haired warrior recognized it immediately as a Hord sonic cannon blast, the knowledge conjuring up snapshots of images and sounds she could not coherently process.

The sound of an infant Catra's yowling, the green light of a distanced charge sonic cannon, and the crying of a young child. Was it her cry? Somehow deep down she knew that wasn't the case.

"Brace yourselves!" Swift Wind called to the girls as he began to spiral down unable to maintain flight, crashing and tumbling down into the dusty ground of Darkedge.

In the cloud of dust the trio tried to make a steady recovery. While Glimmer cough, Adora a door shakily got to her feet her mind still trying to process the memory. Then helped the princess to her feet, as she watched the heavily clouded skies for any signs that the harpies might return.

"Well, hello pretty lady!" The sound of Swift Wind's overeager voice made the two girls rapidly turn their heads to the talking horse.

A few feet away from where they had crashed stood a strange blue mare, staring at Swift Wind with great concern as he approached her. With an agitated snort the horse looked away from him and at Adora , before narrowing her eyes in what must've been the horse equivalent of offense.

"She's giving us the silent treatment, but I think she wants to show us something." Swift Wind said with a big grin.

The mare gave a soft whine before jerking her for them to follow after her. With little else in the way of finding their friends to two princesses and their steed followed the blue mare across the dusty terrain. Leading them straight to the door with First One's writing in the edge of the strangely shaped mountain.

Glimmer looked at the door and then asked "What does it say?"

Adora huffed, her ability to read first one's writing was as sporadic as her capabilities to be She-Ra most times, but she narrowed her eyes and looked at the symbols. "The chambers of Runefaust: The Crown of Knowledge."

At her words a violent wind storm started threatening to send the two girls falling on their backs "Who dares speaks the name of the sacred gift of the First Ones!" A disembodied voice hissed on the swirling air.

"I did, I'm sorry!" Adora shouted using her sword to help buffer against the wind.

"You seek not the artifact within. Begone!" The voice boomed as a gust of air attempted to shove them back.

"We're here to find her friend! They came here seeking the crow, we would like him back alive please." Glimmer tried explaining to the voice.

The wind still becoming nothing more than a serpent like breeze along their ankles "Solve this riddle and I will let you proceed, and allow you to retrieve who you seek." The voice hissed "Answer incorrectly and you will have to pray that fate is kind to him."

"What is the riddle!" Glimmer shouted desperate to save Bow.

"Alive as you but without breath, as cold in my life as in my death; never a thirst though I always drink, dressed in a mail but never a clink. What am I?"

The two princesses stared at each other for a brief moment, unsure if the next thing that came out of their mouth would have to be the answer to the riddle.

"Are you?" Glimmer stopped herself not wanting to just throw way their chance.

"You are a…" Adora trailed off, on Etheria of that riddle could be answered with anything and seeing the desperate look on glimmers face she didn't want to get it wrong.

Shifting nervously the constant feeling of wind tingling around her feet making Glimmer only more anxious "Fish! You are a fish!" She shouted.

The breeze suddenly went still as the door slid open, revealing a rectangular hall the brake lining the walls reminiscent of an ancient castle. Shallow pools of water seeped up between uneven bricks in the halls floor.

The two princesses looked at each other and then glanced back at their steed.

"Don't worry about me I got this little lady here to keep me company." Swift wind encouraged the two before indicating to the blue mare.

Arrow gave an exaggerated eye roll before turning her flank to him and trotting off.

"A comeback!" The winged horse called to the mare, laughter tinted his plea.

After watching Swift Wind go off to chase the other horse Glimmer looked up to Adora "Let's go find Bow." She said determination and worry painting her features.

Adora nodded in response her blue eyes shining as she took glimmer by the hand as they ventured into the cave together.