final chapter...finally

The Choice-part 8

*8*

Kowl points to a clearing in the valley below with several stone pillars jutting up. "Down there is where the oracle will appear."

Swiftwind circles the area before coming down for a landing at the edge of the clearing.

Sea Hawk looks at Kowl. "You said this Oracle has a price."

"In this case it would require a-"

"Sacrifice of one life to save another-if the legends are true..."

Kowl nods at Hordak. "According to Lighthope the legends are indeed true. The rumor that no one ever returned from the Valley of the Lost apparently started because those seeking the Oracle's help could never accept the price in the end and wandered the valley in shame for the rest of their days."

Hordak steps forward. "I will do it. I have made many mistakes in my life and as you saw thanks to Catra my time as head of the Horde on Etheria has come to an end."

Sea Hawk turns to Hordak. "And just because of that you are going to agree to-"

"-I agree to end my life if it means saving Adora. What is one washed up old Horde leader compared to the one with the power of She-Ra? I want to think had I realized who she was all along that I would have seen the error of my ways. Perhaps it takes something this drastic for a man that would kidnap an infant princess-in order to make a kingdom pay for defying the Horde-change his ways."

Kowl nods solemnly. "There must have been something good lurking in you deep down inside all along in order to come to love that child as a daughter. Love is after all the greatest act of goodness."

"True." Sea Hawk pauses thinking as he looks down at She-Ra in his arms. "Despite what Catra thinks you are in a unique position within the Horde. Convince Horde Prime that she was mistaken or delusional and power hungry and you could help to take down the Horde from inside. If this oracle can save her-consider also what you told us back in the Fright Zone as we sneaked out. She-Ra...Adora might not recover her memories due to her injuries and its you she remembers now. She wouldn't trust me or any of the other rebels. You should let me make the sacrifice."

"Sea Hawk has a valid point." Kowl states. "I was fully prepared to offer myself when Lighthope told me of this place. You both would be important to the rebellion as where I am not so much. It would be best to let me do it."

Swiftwind scoffs at the idea. "You are important too Kowl. Long have I been companion to Adora. I have been with her when she felt she had no real friends. I fought proudly by her side when she became She-Ra as Swiftwind and would gladly make the sacrifice to save her."

"No I'm not the only one she remembers." Hordak looks around at them all. "Spirit...Swiftwind you are the only other she trusts should her memory not be restored. It is you she will need not me. The damage has been done-this is the one situation in which Horde Prime would not overlook or even consider giving me a second chance. We have no time to argue amongst ourselves." He steps over to Sea Hawk who still sits atop Swiftwind holding She-Ra. "Give her to me please."

Sea Hawk glances at Kowl and Swiftwind who turns his head to look back before nodding and handing She-Ra down to Hordak. He climbs down off the Pegacorn as Hordak approaches the circle of stones.

Hordak stops and look back at the others. "You all clearly love Adora. Take good care of her." He looks down as she stirs finally after all this time.

She-Ra looks up at Hordak confused. "What is going on? Where are we?"

"At the Oracle in the Valley of the Lost-the only one who can save you. I want you to listen to me carefully...Adora. If you remember everything when this is over-then I hope you will forgive me. I didn't know your secret-I would like to think things could have been different if I had. Above all else please remember that deep down I always loved you as if you were my own daughter."

"What do you mean?"

Rather than frighten her with the details and risk her possible refusal to cooperate-Hordak steps inside the circle of stones.

The oracle appears in a flash of light and towers over the surrounding stone pillars. "Who dares enter this sacred place?"

Hordak speaks up. "I seek the power of the Oracle to save She-to save the life of the one I came to love as a daughter."

"You know the price for what you seek?"

"I do and I accept."

He-Man and BattleCat arrive. They look at the others who stand watching Hordak inside the circle with She-Ra.

The Oracle gazes down at Hordak. "That one as evil as you have been could find it within themselves to love their greatest adversary inspires hope. I will accept your sacrifice and grant that which you seek." The Oracle holds out one hand over the pair within the circle. "So let it be done."

The others shield their eyes from the intense light that emanates from the circle.

When it fades away the Oracle is gone.

He-Man and Sea Hawk look at each other before rushing to She-Ra. They find her still in Hordak's arms as he has collapsed to his knees.

Sea Hawk is the first to find him voice. "He really did it. I heard what he said but a part of me still expected him to..."

"...Turn back to his evil ways?" Kowl flutters above them. "I must admit a part of me thought the same." He looks down at the villain that has so plagued the rebellion. "Is he really...gone?"

He-Man feels for a pulse. "He is."

As BattleCat and Swiftwind approach She-Ra awakens. She looks around at everyone before focusing on Hordak. So much in her mind is still fuzzy but it is quickly coming back to her. "He saved me?"

Swiftwind nods. "A part of him was good after all. Take heart in that and make his sacrifice good for something by stopping the Horde."

She-Ra nods slightly as a tear slides down her cheek.

He-Man helps She-Ra up. "We should get you back to the Rebel camp. You should rest."

"Not yet." She-Ra looks down at Hordak. "We can't just leave him here like this. The Horde would only dispose of him as traitor. Many rebels may not like him taken back either despite his act of kindness."

Sea Hawk nods in agreement. "Then we will bury him nearby-in tribute to his great act of love."

the original just featured Hordak-Swiftwind-and Sea Hawk going at the end not He-Man BattleCat and Kowl. Kowl was an intended change when the typing was started in 2003. i think He-Man needed to be there with his sister if it came to the worst-cause frankly i wasn't sure of the outcome of the story until i got to this chapter. i'm a BattleCat fanatic so after adding He-Man i couldn't leave him out. had i written the whole thing before posting it with the addition of He-Man i probably would have cut out the rebels cause they overcomplicate the story-at least i think so. i wrote Kowl's line because of a continuity error in the series where it gets stated no one ever returned from the Valley of the Lost and later Madame Razz-Broom-and Kowl go into it anyway and come back for the rest of the episodes. i ended it there instead of going back to the other rebels-it just seemed right to leave it where it was-they were a means to the end only and in the end it was about a choice that Hordak had to make and its why I cut the ending with Sea Hawk's final line that sums up what the story was about. at any rate its done after more than 10 years-it was nerve wracking-again because of circumstances i don't want to talk about-and i'm not doing any sequels because of it. part of me isn't happy with this because i don't think Hordak is the type of villain who has a conscious that would eat at him to do the right thing in that situation-but the story is what it is and i have no desire to change it. the best parts for me came from Kowl who said "Love is after all the greatest act of goodness." & the Oracle who said "That one as evil as you have been could find it within themselves to love their greatest adversary inspires hope." and the overall feel of the ending that happened after that-despite my feelings of the story as a whole-is something I don't want to muck with and lose. if you enjoyed it-i thank you for bearing with me through the extended delay of writers block and health issues that kept it from being finished in a timely fashion.

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