Horde Captive

When Adora came to, she was lying on a cold, damp floor. She opened her eyes and allowed them to adjust to the dim lighting. Sitting up, she saw that she was in what looked like a dungeon cell, about ten feet by six feet. She could guess what the covered hole in the corner was for. The door looked like it was solid steel, with a small barred window toward the top.

She was still wearing the long-sleeved white blouse and blue jumper she'd had on. Still, she felt a chill in here, and she wasn't sure if it was from the dampness, the fact that she was frightened-or both.

The young princess felt a huge wave of loneliness and despair wash over her. Pulling her knees up to her chest, she laid her head on them and started to cry. She wondered if her family was still safe. She knew that Adam had gone for help. Surely her father and his army would be here soon to rescue her.

Wherever "here" was.

The door banged open. Adora sat up straight and looked up as Hordak entered her cell. "Welcome to Etheria, Princess!" he hissed. "Or should I say-slave? Get up!"

Adora got to her feet.

"First rule-no whining or crying," he said as he slapped her across the face, knocking her back against the wall.

Adora managed to keep herself from rubbing her cheek where she'd been slapped, lest she be punished for that as well. It was occurring to her that right now the only way to survive was to obey commands from this tyrant.

"I demand absolute, unquestioning obedience, Princess," Hordak continued. "For now you are to do menial tasks. We'll see how well you do with that. This is my fortress, called the Fright Zone. I may let you roam this fortress freely, but be warned that each and every entrance is closely guarded against anyone trying to escape-and anyone trying to intrude. If you value your life you will stay in this fortress unless accompanied by one of my henchmen. Doors that are locked are off-limits to you unless your presence is requested."

"Yes sir," Adora whispered.

Hordak yanked at her long golden hair. "It's 'Yes, Mighty Hordak' or 'Yes, Mighty One' or something along those lines," he corrected.

"Yes, Mighty One," Adora quavered.

He yanked again at her hair so she was looking into his face. "At least I got one of you. Too bad I didn't get your brother…he'd make a fine Horde officer." He grinned maliciously. "I understand you're untouched. I was thinking about giving you to one of my men as a reward in six months' time, when we have our evaluations. The best soldier gets to enjoy a nice prize. And don't ever think that you're going back to Eternia. The fools have no idea how to get here, and I have the only gate-maker!"

He jerked at her hair and let go so she wound up falling to the floor. "I'll send Force Captain Catra here in a few minutes, she may have something for you to do," he said as he left the cell and slammed the door shut.

Adora curled up into a ball, her back against the wall. This couldn't be. She had to somehow find a way out of here. The idea of being pawed and who knew what else by one of Hordak's crew made her feel nauseous.

All she could do was hope that somehow her father or Duncan could locate Etheria and come and rescue her. She knew that her family cared very much for her and would do what they could to help her. Duncan was a genius; surely he could figure out how to get to Etheria.

A few months later, Adora was going about her duties around the Fright Zone. She was still wearing the same clothing she'd been wearing when she was abducted. At this point, she was free to roam around the Fright Zone as long as she was actually doing some work, whether it be cleaning or helping the Horde cook. Along the way she had also gleaned information about Etheria and its kingdoms and fiefdoms. She had also found out that there was a group calling themselves the Great Rebellion, whose aim was to free Etheria from Hordak's control.

The Fright Zone, true to its name, was a frightening place. Some of Hordak's men were the products of genetic manipulation. For example, there was Grizzlor, who was no more than a hairy beast of a man-and a simpleton. Catra, one of the force captains, had some feline DNA. Adora oftentimes found herself wondering if she'd be subject to any experimentation.

She was cleaning the dungeons that afternoon, a task she wasn't thrilled with, when she noticed one of the guards heading for the far wall. He didn't notice her, and she wanted to keep it that way, so she ducked into an empty cell and watched quietly.

He looked around, and, satisfied that there was no one watching him, he pressed on one of the bricks that made up the wall, and a door opened, making a hollow scraping sound on the hard floor. Adora peered out cautiously and made sure to look around on occasion, lest one of Hordak's minions catch her. She had enough bruises on her thin body and she didn't wish to add to her collection.

Adora left the dungeon area and set to work making sure there were no cobwebs around the bases of the torches that hung upon the wall-a pointless task, but then, to Hordak, pointless was more or less the point. The guard finally came down the corridor and as he passed her he patted her rear. "Hopefully I get a crack at you, girlie," he grinned.

The best thing to do was just ignore him, and that was what she did. Day in, day out, she had to put up with Hordesmen leering at her and making suggestive comments and gestures at her. She could only guess at what she'd be going through when she was awarded to one of them.

As soon as he'd gone down the corridor, Adora decided she would investigate that secret passageway. She pressed on the brick and the door opened.

It was even darker in here and it smelled of decomposition. Adora pulled on a lever next to the door and it closed, once again making the hollow scraping noise. A few torches in this passageway provided light. The girl made her way down the corridor, taking note of the chained skeletons and rotting corpses in some of the cells. Part of her wanted to just flee back into the main dungeon; the other part of her was curious, wondering why there was a secret dungeon-within-a-dungeon. Most likely it was reserved for those Hordak found particularly troublesome.

Finally, at the end, she saw two cells across from each other. In one cell was a rather handsome, dark-haired man with a beard. In the other was a pretty blonde woman with large blue eyes.

"Who are you?" Adora asked.

The man raised his head. "I am King Micah of the kingdom of Bright Moon, and that is my wife, Queen Angella," he replied weakly. "We've been here for the better part of a year. Hordak conquered our kingdom and imprisoned us. Who are you?"

"I'm Adora, Princess of Eternia. Hordak kidnapped me a few months ago," Adora replied. "Oh, I wish I had the keys to get you out!"

Queen Angella looked up weakly. "Adora…if you can…get out of this place. Go to the Whispering Woods. Our daughter, Princess Glimmer, is one of the rebel leaders. Let her know that we're here. She can send some rebels…."

Adora had heard of the Whispering Woods. It had a kind of shield through which only approved persons could enter, after a DNA scan. Hordak was frustrated because the Horde had been unable to penetrate the woods, which was a rebel safety zone. The woods were only about a mile or so away. "I promise you I will do what I can, Your Majesties," Adora said. "I'm trapped here myself. But I'll find some way."

"Thank you, Your Highness," Micah coughed.

"How will I get into the woods?" Adora asked.

"You won't be able to," said Micah. "Just bump into the shield, then wait. Some rebels will come to question you. Make sure you talk to our daughter-she has her hair dyed pink and she has her mother's big blue eyes. Tell her that her childhood nickname was Sunshine-no one outside our immediately family knows that."

Adora smiled a little at that. Her own parents had called her Little Miss Sunshine when she was a child due to her rather happy disposition, her golden hair, and her brilliant blue eyes. "I will do what I can," she said. "It may take a while. I'm taking a huge risk just by being in here."

"But at least we have hope," Angella murmured.

Adora brushed the tears from her eyes as she quickly but cautiously made her way back into the main dungeon area. There was always the chance that one of Hordak's men might be outside-and see that she had been in a forbidden area. She didn't want to imagine the consequences. She might be starved for a week, or beaten within an inch of her life. She felt that she was lucky she still had all her teeth, she'd been slapped around so much.

She was glad that she had someone to talk to…though doing so posed a risk to her health and safety. Seeing the plight of Bright Moon's king and queen made her more determined to somehow escape the Fright Zone and notify the rebels. That could just as easily have been her own parents in that dungeon.

It was now time for Hordak's announcement of the evaluation results. Adora, clad in her now-tattered jumper, stood next to his throne, which sat upon a dais that was about fifty feet high. "Let's see who gets first crack at this maiden," Hordak said with an evil chuckle. "Who gets to break in a high-and-mighty princess? My only regret is that her high-and-mighty father isn't here to witness this!"

Adora stood there stoically. She knew that after the first Hordesman had his way with her, she would be fair game for them all. Any children she bore would be raised to serve the Horde in whatever capacity was deemed fit-anything from soldier to prostitute. She could only imagine what her father would think of it…he would be absolutely enraged that his daughter was subjected to such abuse, his future grandchildren likely treated the same. She thought of Micah and Angella, still trapped in the secret dungeon-she wanted to help them so badly. For the last few months she'd managed to sneak in a few visits-as well as some morsels of food she'd managed to sneak. It was very risky because there was no set time where a Hordesman might decide to go in there and harass them. She counted herself lucky that she hadn't been caught so far. Who knew what Hordak would do to her-or to Micah and Angella.

"The winner is General Woods, who is currently at the outpost near Seaworthy," Hordak announced. "Well, Adora, you get to take a little trip to Seaworthy. Catra will take a transport and drive you there. Hope you fixed yourself up nice, Princess!"

Adora descended the steps of the dais, quickly but carefully. Waiting for her at the bottom was Catra, whose hair was dyed in a color somewhere between indigo and navy blue. She had green eyes and her make-up, which consisted primarily of navy blue eyeshadow, was caked on thickly. Her long red nails also served as claws. She even sounded like a cat whenever she spoke.

Next to her was the prison guard who had inadvertently showed her the secret dungeon; apparently he'd be going along for the ride. "Well, I'll still have a shot at you after Woods is done," he chuckled.

Catra took Adora by the upper arm. "Come on, you little wench," she hissed.

It was storming outside as Adora rode in the transport with Catra and the guard, and it was rather chilly outside. At least the transport was warm inside, though it did very little to calm Adora, who was shivering from fear and anticipation of pain and whatever else was to come. She wanted to cry but that would only give Catra and the guard more reason to poke fun at her and make her even more miserable.

The guard was making crude remarks and Catra was laughing in her howling voice at Adora's discomfort as she drove. Catra was bragging about her exploits with the Hordesman in question and wondering aloud if Adora would be able to take the treatment he would likely dish out. Suddenly there was a loud crashing noise-

-and a large tree landed on top of the transport, splitting it open. It missed Adora, but the guard was pinned under it, probably dead.

After gathering her wits about her, Adora climbed out of the ruined vehicle and into the cold rain. Catra was sprawled across the front bench, whether unconscious or dead Adora had no idea but at this point she didn't care, as it gave her the opportunity to make an escape.

She noticed the keys at the guard's belt, and her eyes widened. Adora quickly unfastened the belt and removed the key ring and put it in the pocket of her jumper. Those must be the keys to those cells in the secret dungeon!

She wanted to head into the woods, but with the lightning striking, she knew it wasn't safe to do so. Besides, her feet were bare.

Catra stirred slightly in the driver's compartment. Adora quickly ran down the road, towards the beach; the town was on the Growling Sea. She passed the turn-off to her left that would have taken her to the outpost, and once the beach loomed into view she went off to her right, where she saw buildings up in the distance, along the waterfront.

A ship was docked at the harbor. Adora's eyes went wide when she saw that the flag on the mast indicated pirates. She had to stay away from that ship. Who knew what they would do to her. Wasn't there any safety in this village?

She headed for the cluster of buildings. She had to find help, somehow find someone who could direct her to the rebels, or at least to Princess Glimmer. Of course the question kept sounding in her head, who could she trust?

Adora soon came upon what looked like a warehouse. She could hear voices coming from it. It was cold and damp out and she was starting to shiver even more; she needed to find someplace warm and dry.

Suddenly a strong hand clamped over her mouth and an arm wound around her waist. "Suppose you tell me what you're doing here, lass," said a masculine voice in her ear.