5

She-Ra had been out for lord knows how long.

She woke up, aching, to an unwelcoming sight. Her mighty body still bound, she was in a small cell of brown stone seemingly upholstered with bone, and lit only by a pair of naked, flaming torches along the side wall. It was the moment she feared, always. The recurring nightmare she had.

The Princess of Power was now a prisoner of the Fright Zone.

The same chains that Catra had fastened on her in Bright Moon's valley now shackled her wrists and ankles to an iron 'X' against the wall of the cell. What in Etheria were they made from? And how could they disable her so much?

Worse still, She-Ra had been stripped of her costume, and was dressed – to her despair – in a skimpy leather outfit befitting a slave girl of the Horde.

The very tight, black, studded leather bustier barely contained the heaving bosom of the Princess, and a sleek thong also left little to the imagination. A pair of knee-high, lace-up boots adorned her legs. Looking down at her scantily clad body, she realised she'd been dressed for Hordak's pleasure like a doll.

The metal collar chaining her earlier had been replaced by a thinner one of matching leather, encrusted at the throat with a small Doom Crystal; fashioned in the shape of the Horde crest. The crystal glowed green constantly, with evil power to hold its captive wearer under its spell. It was to be She-Ra's slave collar, a symbol of her submission to the Horde.

A harness made of the same rigid leather was buckled around the head of the Princess of Power. A large, similarly studded panel gag covered most of her lower face, led with twin straps either side of her nose to a silver 'O' on her forehead; that in turn led to straps pressing down her long blonde mane, surrounding her head.

Her mouth and jaw ached after hours gagged by the contraption.

She-Ra felt helpless, exposed, and worse. The arousal she had felt in the aftermath of her kidnapping and restraint had grown inside her now. She was pure and chaste as a young Princess of the Realm should be – the Queen and her people had brought her up well - but the lust now inside her was immeasurable. It had been ever since she had been captured, like some malign but erotic spell had fallen over her. At this moment, be it even against her failing will, she needed to be taken.

Beside her, the door of the cell swung open and quickly slammed shut again. She-Ra looked up, her body shivering as she saw the imposing figure of the evil Lord of the Horde approach her.

"Mmmmppphhh!"

Hordak looked his humbled foe over, clearly enjoying what he saw and heard. Taking in the sight and sound of his gorgeous nemesis in bondage for a lingering moment, he stepped forward to unbuckle the harness from around his captive's head, pulling it free, and taking the gag from over her lips. She opened her mouth wide and tried to get some movement back in her jaw. Hordak gave She-Ra's cheek a firm caress as he tossed the bondage contraption aside.

"Well, I have to say you look delightful dressed and trussed up like that, slave." Hordak grinned.

"I'm not your slave." She-Ra countered quickly.

"Ahhh." Hordak pondered, stroking her hair. "Still in denial. Your will is strong, as is your body." Hordak drew a cold hand down She-Ra's arm. "That is good. It will make you even more useful to us when you join us." He teased a blonde lock between his thumb and forefinger.

"You overestimate your chances, Hordak." She-Ra countered, bravely, attempting a defiant smile. "I am your prisoner, yes..."

"I'm glad you noticed." Hordak grinned again, wider. She-Ra's face was stone.

"He-Man will come for me." She stated plainly.

Hordak burst into a fit of laughter, as if he was waiting for the subject to arise.

"Ah-ha. So you rely on your knuckle-headed brother after all, despite all your previous bravado and independence." The Horde Lord stepped back and cracked his knuckles together. "So be it. Shadow Weaver!"

She-Ra bristled as the spectral sorceress floated through the closed door - evidently already waiting in the wings – and hovered ominously before her, at her master's side.

"Show the slave what she is missing." Hordak grinned, taking another step back.

"Gladly, Master." The red shrouded creature conjured up a man-size viewing portal in the middle of the cell, giving She-Ra little choice but to look directly into it. Shadow Weaver's eyes disappeared into the void within her hood as she delved into concentration; a low throb of energy tangible in the room.

"Enjoy." Hordak cackled at his prisoner.

As She-Ra winced in her bonds and struggled to make anything out with her eyes, a dreadful vision gradually honed into view. Unmistakably, it was He-Man, his all-powerful, ripped body steeped in heavy bondage to rival She-Ra's own, and in the foul grips of a torturer in some kind of cave-like cell. He was stripped of his armour - naked except for his loincloth – with sets of familiar, glowing green chains wrapping his thighs and ankles, his wrists and biceps, and his torso and chest. Ropes of a green-soaked hue coiled his muscular neck and fed round his head into his mouth, acting as a gag. Sweat and drool dripped from his pained face as he struggled; less than helpless.

She-Ra's eyes began to well up once more. As the fist of his unseen captor swung into He-Man's face, knocking his head back and eliciting a pained grunt through the rope gag, the captive Princess could only turn away from the vision.

"How do like your mighty hero now?" roared Hordak, evidently enjoying himself.

"Stop it!" She screamed. Turning back gingerly she saw He-Man take another blow, this time into his trussed, ripped abdomen. The captive blonde beauty shook her head wildly as Hordak and Shadow Weaver looked on.

"I don't believe it… It's not true." She-Ra's voice quietened and she bowed her head, her eyes squeezed shut.

"Search in your heart, slave Princess." Shadow Weaver rasped. "I think you know the truth."

"No…" She-Ra sobbed, looking up again to see the magical vision had already – agonizingly - disappeared, with only a villainous pair of discomforting faces staring back at her.

"He is as helpless on Eternia as you are here." Shadow Weaver stated calmly.

"This is the key to both your downfalls." Hordak stepped in and prodded a finger at the crest at She-Ra's throat. "Damzelite. A deadly threat to you - slave – as well you know. It is also known as the Doom Crystal. I think you know why."

She-Ra swallowed hard, feeling the collar's presence more than ever.

"Doom Crystal? What have you done to me?"

"Dominated you." Shadow Weaver's voice was now a lower hiss. "We have found, after all this time, the very antidote to your magical powers." She-Ra couldn't believe what she was hearing. "It is a doom attributed and destined for you and your brother alone, my dear."

"Leave us, Shadow Weaver." Hordak interrupted and commanded; all of a sudden looking more serious than ever.

"As you wish, Master." Shadow Weaver dropped her spindly hands, a magical aura still surrounding them. As his minion left the cell, Hordak stepped closer to his bound beauty and stroked a finger between her legs.

"What are you doing?" She-Ra gasped, pulling herself away as much as she could against the stone wall. Hordak didn't stop, and after a moment moved his hands up to fondle and caress her breasts through the leather bustier. He drew a finger salaciously down her incredible cleavage, licking his lips.

"I've wanted you back in my command for a long time." He leaned in, planting a beastly kiss on her cheek. As his fingers lifted to trace the collar around She-Ra's neck, his other hand slid down her leg. The Princess, now quivering with lust, did her utmost to resist.

"Stop… you can't do this. I am a Princess of the realm."

"You are no longer a Princess. You are a slave. My slave." Hordak's scything remarks forced a shake of his captive's blonde head.

"I have powerful allies… the Great Rebellion will stop at nothing…"

Hordak laughed again, interrupting his lovely prisoner. He gripped her head by the hair and pulled it back to meet his gaze. As her voice wavered, he knew she was gripping at straws.

"The Great Rebellion will fall." His matter-fact-confidence was becoming convincing to the prisoner. "With you and He-Man my slaves, they do not stand a chance and you know it." He gripped She-Ra by the chin now, and stared into her entrancing eyes, clearly obsessed with her. She soon lowered her gaze in deference to him, making him smile.

"I shall deal with these so-called 'Great Rebels' when the time arrives. Now though, it is time to pledge your allegiance to the Horde."

"What? You know I won't…"

"I will have my Despara back." Hordak nodded. She-Ra twitched at the mention of the name she hadn't heard in years. She'd almost succeeded in shutting the memory of her formative years in the Horde's service completely from her mind. The mere voicing of the word: the name of her former, evil self; hurt She-Ra as much as any of the tortures that lay ahead possibly could.

"I won't." She-Ra's voice was becoming a lesser thing; by now a mere hush.

"I know you will." The Horde Leader's voice was steady, his expression remained serious. "While you slept, Shadow Weaver has poisoned and clouded your mind more than you yet know. And this is merely the beginning of your initiation. You will submit to me, O Princess of Power. And ever so willingly."

"Then why am I in chains?" She-Ra blurted out in defiance, rattling against the said constraints. "You won't truly defeat me. You're as foolish and over-confident as ever, Hordak."

Hordak didn't answer - but turned his back on his prisoner - silently moving to the corner of the cell and drawing one of the long, metallic pokers from the depths of the blazing bucket of flames sitting there.

She-Ra's eyes bulged as he approached with the silvery, sizzling rod. As he tipped it upwards towards her face, she saw the white hot, glowing Horde Crest design adorning the tip. A gasp emitted from between her lips as she began to work out what it was for.

"No…" She-Ra shook her head once more, the green crest of her collar glowing ever brighter. Hordak advanced, immune to her pleas.

"Please… no. I beg of you, Hordak."

The evil Lord said nothing, but smiled slightly. A short step away from her, he lowered the poker and prodded it firmly into She-Ra's side. His captive gave out a scream as the metal sizzled and smoked painfully off her flesh. The burning shot through the very soul of the chained heroine.

"Uhhhhh!" She yelled again, her super-powers truly now deserting her, erased by the power of the Doom Crystal. As Hordak pulled the poker away, he'd left his indelible mark on the torso of his captive. She was branded by the Horde.

"You fiend…" She-Ra hung limply in the chains, breathing heavily; hot tears rolling down her cheeks.

"Don't be sad, Slave. In time you will grow to obey me. To worship me. To love me."

"You don't know the meaning of the word!" She-Ra screamed, sobbing. She rattled at the chains again with her dwindling might.

"Your fate is inevitable." The evil Lord chided his prisoner. She-Ra stared hard at him as he made to leave the room. Somewhere inside her, there was the hellish thought of wanting him to stay.

Hordak turned back to her as he opened the cell door.

"First of all though, it is time for celebration." With that ambiguous remark, the door slammed shut, leaving She-Ra once again alone in her private prison – fearfully pondering her fate.