A/N: As I think this chapter will show, this story is not winding down. :-)

The mists swirled in the evening light as the two villains stumbled along, hungry, tired, and irritable.

'You've had us lost for the last hour, Marzo,' snarled Hutch's voice in Marzo's head. Marzo reached up to adjust his ear plugs. 'Why should I believe you know where we are now?'

'I should just leave you to die in this miserable place,' Marzo retorted telepathically. A moment later Hutch stumbled out of the mists.

"Blast it," began Hutch, but his curse died on his tongue as for the first night in three he saw stars. He cautiously took out one of the ear plugs and waited, but he heard no cursed voices accusing him of random acts of hatred and violence.

Marzo stepped out of the mist and brushed off his doublet. He removed his ear plugs with a satisfied sigh. "It is good for you that I have once before tried to uncover the secrets of this valley. Otherwise we could be lost. I suggest we go to a nearby village and find out what has passed in our absence."

The two traveled in silence for a few moments. "Do you really think He-Man defeated Damien?" Hutch finally asked, his normal smile missing.

"What else could our diminished power mean?" Marzo asked rhetorically. "And if that's the case, I'm going into hiding until he's dead. I have all the time in the world."

"But He-Man doesn't," said an unfamiliar voice. The evil duo whirled, their hands raised defensively as a hulking figure stepped out from behind a tree.

"Jitsu?" Marzo asked uncertainly. He had heard of this warrior, who was considered to be Fisto's evil counterpart, but had never met the man. The large size of his hand, however, gave an easy clue as to who he was.

Jitsu put his oversized hand to his stomach and bowed mockingly. "In the flesh." He raised an eyebrow. "And you must be Marzo and Hutch, former noblemen and former temporary rulers of Snake Mountain. I've been looking for you."

Lyn snuggled in Keldor's arms, thankful that they could at least be together in this small way. It might be just a dream, but at least it was one she'd remember. Suddenly, however, a piercing beep cut through the comforting mist of love that surrounded them.

"What the Blazes is that?" Keldor asked irritably.

Lyn listened for a few seconds, then her eyes opened wide in fear. "It's Adam! The monitors!"

Before she could utter another word, Keldor withdrew from her and reached out to Adam's mind. Lost in the drug-induced haze Adam currently lived in, it was difficult to reach him, but eventually Keldor "found" him sitting cross-legged on the floor in an unfamiliar room. A glance around at the large, dark gray stones led Keldor to believe they were in a room in Grayskull.

Adam looked up as he sensed Keldor's presence. He looked confused. "What are you doing here?"

"Trying to find out why you are trying to get us both killed," snapped Keldor. "You've been making progress for the past three days."

"Progress?" Adam repeated dully. He motioned around. "I've been in here for what seems like an eternity. I can't get out." He blinked hard and yawned. "I'm tired of trying to get out. It's not worth the fight any more."

"It's not worth it?" asked Keldor, his voice tense. "You have a wife and son waiting for you, a kingdom that needs you, and, so help me, if you drag me into the afterlife before my time, I will annoy you for the rest of eternity."

Adam shook his head hard, as if trying to remember. "Family," he said softly. A small light entered his eyes. "Teela. Josiah." For a few seconds a familiar determination sent his jaw forward. "They have me on drugs."

"Yes, of course they do. Do you have any idea how injured you are?" Keldor asked irritably.

Adam sent him a baleful look and tightened his fists as he fought to keep his concentration. "Keldor, can you get a message to anyone?"

"Yes. Lyn and I can communicate via dreams. But I will only deliver your message if you continue to fight."

Adam's face grew unfocused for a moment. "He-Man's gone. No more fighting." He shook his head again, and drew a deep breath. He gazed up imploringly at Keldor. "Tell them to stop the drugs. Please. I can't-" He broke off and stared up at the ceiling. "Do you hear it?" he asked softly. "The music?"

Keldor began to get worried. "I will make sure they know. You just make sure you remember Teela and Josiah." Adam nodded in reply. Keldor turned in the dream chamber and began to pull away from Adam's mind. Suddenly he stopped and turned back. "But if this is a trick. I swear you will hear of my anger for all of the afterlife." With that last threat Keldor once again reached out for Lyn's mind.

Adam sighed in relief. He knew the coma was for his own benefit, to keep him from giving up because of the pain, but somehow it was making it harder to hold on. He couldn't explain it, but it took away his memories, his thoughts, and left him only in a haze where the light and music that continually beckoned were the only things he had to think about.

He hoped the pain would keep him focused. That was his last real thought for a while as a white light began to shimmer above him, and he started idly thinking again about the beautiful the music coming from it. He wondered what was making that music, and if he should go find out.

"He-Man dead," Hutch chortled, beside himself with glee as they stood talking. "I can scarcely believe it." He rubbed his hands in anticipation. "The throne is practically mine."

"With that 'hero' out of the way, no one can stop us," Marzo agreed, conveniently forgetting that he had planned to part ways with Hutch after they left the Valley of Echoes.

"No word has come from the palace yet," Jitsu pointed out. "And they still have men searching the ruins of Snake Mountain for He-Man's body."

"What about Adam?" Hutch asked sharply.

Jitsu grinned. "Not that that cowardly piece of trash matters, but he's on his deathbed, from all accounts. He probably won't last until morning."

"Then there truly is no better time than now," surmised Marzo with a dark chuckle.

Hutch threw an irritated glare at his fickle ally but decided he needed his help too much to push matters.

"We need a plan first," Hutch said thoughtfully. "Even without He-Man, there's still She-Ra to contend with. If only there were some way to get some of the townspeople on our side. We were so close to having them set against Adam."

"We have to stir people against Keldor. It's shouldn't be too hard to warp the hatred people hold toward Skeletor and Evil-Lyn to suspicion and fear," Marzo mused.

Hutch laughed. "The irony is delicious. Skeletor may destroy the royal family, not by attacking them but by doing the right thing."

The other men joined him in hearty laughter at that thought.

"It gets even better with the thought that some of his old 'minions' get a piece of Skeletor," added Jitsu. "I left because I was tired of the disrespect from him. Getting a shot a revenge against those two...." Jitsu pounded his massive fist into a nearby tree, causing it to splinter and tumble to the east with a loud cracking and creaking. "I can't wait."

"Taking your anger out on a poor defenseless tree, Jitsu?" asked a familiar deep voice. "You should be ashamed of yourself."

The three of them turned, stunned, as He-Man walked out of the mists and stood before them.

"It can't be him," gaped Hutch. "Unless...unless we never made it out of the Valley of Echoes."

Lyn flew out of Keldor's room and glanced into Adam's. The monitors were steady once more, but if she wasn't imagining things, his blood pressure was lower, his pulse slower, his breath even shallower. Teela was sleeping in an awkward position as she held onto Adam's hand, but Ramos wasn't there. Lyn rushed through the rooms into the hallway, cursing under her breath. "Where is he?"

She reached Ramos' office door and immediately threw the door open, not even bothering to knock. The old healer glared at her rude intrusion. Years of medical emergencies, however, had Ramos on his feet rather than expressing his annoyance at the interruption. He dropped Adam's medical records and stood. "Wha's wrong?"

"It's the drugs. They are keeping him from being able to fight this," Lyn said urgently.

"What on Eternia are you babblin' about?" Ramos asked irritably. "Keldor isn't on any drugs. I don't give drugs to people that aren't sick."

"Adam. Keldor is able to communicate with him through the magical link between them. He's told Keldor that the drugs are keeping him from focusing on his healing. You have to stop Adam's drugs or he won't be able to fight. The drugs are muddling his mind."

"Pshaw," Ramos scoffed. "I don't know what you're dreamin' about, missy, but those drugs are the only things keepin' Adam's body goin'. Having a six-inch gapin' hole in your abdomen isn't exactly somethin' your body deals well wit'."

"You don't understand. His mind is all that can save him now. His body is too far gone. It's only his mind and Keldor's magic keeping his body alive now. And that mind is muddled in a drug-induced hazed now!" Lyn's voice rose hysterically.

"Listen," Ramos said patiently, "I'm well aware that his body is too far gone, but the king and queen, and Princess Teela, deserve to hope for as long as they can. In spite of what you might think about mind over matter and such nonsense, there's just nothin' we can do. I thought at first there was a chance that Keldor's magic would save 'im, but- " Ramos shook his head, looking down at the charts before him. "He started fading during the night, and we almost lost him a bit ago. There's nothin' more I can do. It's only a matter of hours now." The old healer's voice sounded suspiciously thick.

"There is something you can do. You can remove those drugs NOW!" Lyn shrieked. "Because if he dies, so does Keldor."

"What's going on here?" Randor demanded. He had been able to hear Lyn's raised voice down the hall, and he eyed her suspiciously as he entered Ramos' office.

"Keldor has been able to communicate with Adam through their link. Adam says the medicine is making it hard for him to hold on. He needs to be able to fight and he can't." She turned to glare at the healer. "He's fading and if this doctor doesn't remove the drugs, Adam won't survive."

Randor gave her a dubious look. "Lyn, I know this has been difficult for you," he said in a gentle tone, "but surely you realize you've been hallucinating or dreaming."

Lyn forced herself to take a deep breath. "You have to listen to me. Keldor and I are mages. We can communicate via dreams. And Adam is linked to Keldor by magic. Their life forces are joined. Keldor spoke with Adam. And he came back and told me to tell you that Adam needs the pain to help him focus."

"Needs the pain?" Randor echoed doubtfully. "Lyn, perhaps you don't realize the severity of his injuries. We're not talking about the pain of a cut. There are pieces of his organs that are simply...gone. Even if he didn't go back into shock, any movement he made would result in bleeding so severe that he would lose the slim hope he has."

"They're dying, and you're just going to let them!?" Lyn shouted at both of the men. "It's Adam that asked you to do this, not me!"

"What's all the yelling about?" Teela asked, her eyes narrowed as she entered the room.

"Lyn thinks we need to pull Adam off the drugs," Ramos explained succinctly.

"And you don't?" Teela asked.

"He'll go back into shock and die," Ramos asserted.

Teela frowned and looked at Lyn. "Why would you think we need to stop the drugs?" Her mind tumbled, weary from the lack of sleep and worry. 'It sort of makes sense. Adam hates drugs.'

Lyn folded her arms over her chest. "Keldor is linked to Adam. It's Adam's will and Keldor's shared life force through this spell that keeps his body from already being in shock. But Adam can't remember clearly who he is fighting to rejoin with the drugs clouding his mind. He will not be able to focus on hanging on if you keep him on those drugs. They both will die."

Teela stared at Lyn for a long moment, while Lyn grew more and more worried and restless. Finally Teela turned to Ramos. "Bring him out of the coma."

"What? You can't seriously be listening to-" Randor began sharply.

"You do realize he could die if we do this, don't you?" Ramos asked harshly. "Or at the very least, slip into a coma we can't bring him out of."

"He could die if we don't do this," Teela countered. "We all know Adam shouldn't be alive, and the only reason he is alive is because of Keldor. So yes, I'm listening to Lyn." She finished with a firm look at Randor.

"I forbid it," Randor snapped.

Ramos shook his head. "I'm sorry, Your Majesty, but as Prince Adam's wife, Princess Teela has the final say."

Teela nodded sharply. "Let's do it." She turned on her heel to go to Adam's side, blinking back the tears burning in her eyes. She was going to be at his side whether he woke up or died.

Teela stroked Adam's arm, using the motion to soothe herself and him. Ramos had slowed the drugs gradually over the past six hours, and Adam was now off of them, except for a very strong pain killer that would still keep him mostly asleep. He had been moved into a different bed and strapped down to restrict his movements and prevent him from causing himself further injury. Teela swallowed hard as she looked from Adam's face to the monitors and back again, waiting for some sort of change.

"Oh, please don't let me have made the wrong choice," she whispered. The rest of Adam's family had been more receptive than Randor, but the entire group was now watching from the window, and Teela knew that they were as tense as she.

The beeping echoing Adam's heartbeat suddenly increased. Teela's eyes watered; it was the first time his heart rate had stopped its gradual slowing, much less picked up. Hope nearly choked her as Adam took an irregular breath. He was coming out of the coma.

"Adam," Teela said, trying to make her voice steady, "Adam, can you hear me?" She put her hand into his and squeezed.

Adam's eyes opened for a second, then squeezed them shut as if the lights hurt them. A groan escaped him. "Adam, I'm right here," Teela said, leaning close to him. "Please don't leave me. Please."

Adam didn't try to open his eyes again, but his breath tickled Teela's face as he whispered his response. "Not leaving." He squeezed her hand weakly, then lapsed into an uneasy slumber, his jaw clenched against the pain.

Teela reached up to stroke his face. "You're going to be okay," she said. She looked up as Ramos entered. "Isn't he?"

The old healer examined the print-outs of the past hour. "He came out of it well, and he doesn't seem to be going into shock." He shrugged. "His chances aren't any better, Princess, but they aren't any worse either."

Teela leaned over and planted a gentle kiss on Adam's forehead. For now, Ramos' noncommittal response would have to be enough.

Ramos focused his small flashlight into Keldor's right eye. With a satisfied grunt, he released the lid and turned to examine the other eye. Lyn ran her fingers over Keldor's palm as the healer once again checked Keldor's heart rate.

"He still seems ta be in his comatose state. I find nothin' wrong with him, but you are right," Ramos admitted. "Every time the prince takes turn for the worse or better, Keldor's body seems to mimic it."

Lyn bit down on her tongue. Saying, "I told you so," would not obtain better care for Keldor, and she couldn't expect someone who relied mostly on science to readily accept her explanations at first.

'Still though,' Lyn mused, 'one would think Adam's progressive improvement since being removed from the drugs, might have done something to add a little credibility to the benefits of listening to the mage's advice and explanations once and a while.'

"He seems better than yesterday," concluded Ramos grudgingly. "To the same degree that Prince Adam seems to have attained."

Lyn nodded, unable to completely hide her smirk as he walked out of the room. 'Maybe he's ready to hear my latest theory.' Lyn followed Ramos to Adam's treatment room. "I hope I'm not disturbing you, but I would like a moment of your time."

Ramos placed his clipboard to the side. "What can I do for you?" he asked in a carefully moderated tone.

"Magic, in its most basic form, is energy."

"Yes," Ramos acknowledged. "I have heard that before."

"The more energy expended for a healing spell to be sent or for strength to be magically shared, the less energy the spell has to do its work. In other words, the closer Keldor is to Adam, the more effective the healing link between them will be. I was wondering if perhaps they can be placed into a room together. I believe that it will promote healing if they are." Lyn held her breath as she waited for Ramos to answer.

"Hmph," Ramos grunted. "I'll have to speak to the royal family about this."

"Of course," Lyn acknowledged curtly.

"What do you mean, he's slipped into a coma?" Teela asked the next day, staring at Ramos with huge eyes.

Marlena grabbed Randor's hand tightly. Ramos had finally allowed them into the room that day to see Adam, though he still wouldn't allow anyone else in.

"It's his body's response to the condition it's in. It's protecting his mind from knowin'," Ramos explained. "I told you this was a risk we took in bringing him out of the drug-induced coma."

Randor bit back the urge to snap at Teela. She had made the best decision she could based on what she knew of Adam and the current situation. Truth be told, he had silently agreed with her decision after he had had a bit more time to reflect on it. But that knowledge didn't stop the urge to blame her. Only his love for her held his tongue.

Teela's knees gave way and she sat heavily in the chair beside Adam. She laid a hand on Adam's arm, which seemed to grow smaller every day. "Move Keldor in here."

"My lady," Ramos protested, "you don't know that it will make a difference. And it increases the risk of infection, especially if Lyn must do that blasted bathin' ritual of hers she insists on doin', because that means she'll be in here as well."

Marlena and Randor exchanged glances as Teela's head fell forward onto her chest and she took a deep, shuddering breath. "I don't know what else to do," she whispered, tears hanging on her eyelashes and then falling onto her lap.

"I know it's a risk, but I think we must do it," Randor said in support of Teela, his large hand coming down on her right shoulder. "Lyn explained it to me. I agree it's worth a try. Do as she says."

Ramos sighed heavily with a look on his face that somehow said all royalty were problematic children, but dutifully went to arrange for the two men to be put in the same room.

Carina

Neara squealed as Jonas chased her though his apartment in the furlough house he shared with his brother and sisters among the Truth Sworn.

"I've got you," he teased as he scooped the fleeing four-year-old up and tossed her over his shoulder. "No more stalling, you have a bath to take."

Neara pushed up on Jonas' back and wiggled down in his arms so she was face to face with him. "I don't need a bath right now."

"Oh really?" Jonas queried, his brow raised.

"Truth says so," she grinned back at her caretaker these last few months.

Jonas chuckled and shook his head. "Not going to work little girl." The Truth Sworn warrior turned toward the bathing chamber just as he heard a knock on his door.

"See?" asked Neara, waving her hands excitedly toward the door.

"I see that I will be giving you your bath instead of Jonas," said Sarah, Jonas' wife, as she strolled to her husband's side and took Neara from his arms.

"I don't wanna bath," whined Neara, as Jonas turned to answer his door. Neara's muted complaining could still be heard as he swung the door open to see Antaris, leader of the Truth Sworn.

"Brother. I bring you greetings, and wonder if you would walk with me for a while," Antaris said, his face a mask of peace.

"Of course," agreed Jonas. Silently, he pulled the door to his quarters closed, and they began to travel down the stairs toward the paths between the groves.

Once the scent of lenes fruit surrounded them and they were alone in the orchard, Antaris began. "I feel a need to go to Eternia. It is a leading from the Truth."

"Antaris, this is unusual. You are our leader. To go off world… Are you sure?" Jonas asked.

"I am. As you know, Keldor is the one we've been waiting for since the time the Horde first landed on our world. I have a feeling he will need us very soon."

"And you want me to go with you?" Jonas asked, though he was fairly sure of his answer.

"Yes. I feel that they will be in need of some more of the Waters for their cleansing rituals. Lyn and Keldor have been away for some time now, but the need is more than that. I have no clearer understanding of what we are to do when we arrive there, but I feel whatever we are being sent for is vital to us all here on Carina."

Jonas nodded. "Do you think it would be alright to bring Lyn and Keldor's children with us? They miss their parents. Micah especially. He's fallen for a pretty girl who helps the anas leaf harvesters in the marketplace, and is struggling...."

"Because his training as one who wishes to become a Truth Sworn means his choice is not his own," Antaris finished.

"Yes. I think he needs to talk to his Da about this. And the girls haven't been sleeping well of late."

"I think that perhaps they are meant to go with us," Antaris said after a moment's reflection. "I feel the affirmation of the Truth within me. When can you have them ready? "

"Tonight if necessary."

"No, let them sleep. I feel leaving in the morning may be better."

"I'll be ready," assured Jonas, though inwardly he wondered how they would find the way to Eternia.

Antaris nodded and the two men parted, each to prepare for a trip to another world--each to do what they could to ensure that their world would still have its liberator in whatever way the Truth allowed.

Eternia

Teela stood near the window as Keldor's bed was rolled into the large room. Lyn stood next to her, but Teela's eyes were on Adam and Keldor. Next to each other, it was even more obvious that they were closely linked somehow. Their chests rose and fell together, both were pale, and both of their jaws were clenched in spite of the additional painkillers Ramos had put Adam on a short while ago.

The healers went about hooking Keldor up to a few monitors that were mostly for show. Everyone understood that it was Adam they had to watch, but it seemed to make Ramos feel better that Keldor was monitored as well. The old healer entered the room and stopped short, watching the heart monitors beat in synchronized rhythm.

"Incredible," he muttered.

Lyn held back a smirk of triumph at the fact that he finally had to acknowledge she was right. But Ramos had eyes only for his two patients. He frowned over Adam's charts for a while, then peeled back the sheet and the bandages at Adam's side.

Teela swallowed hard against the now-familiar sight of the injury, but Lyn clapped a hand over her mouth. A huge chunk of Adam seemed to be missing, and the sight turned her stomach violently.

Teela, her eyes still on Adam, caught Lyn's reaction out of the side of her eye. "It's actually better," she said defensively. "It was bigger when they brought him in."

Simply because she could not stand the thought of that injury any longer, Lyn reached out and tried sending her magic through Adam. With a sharp intake of breath, she jerked her hand back as if it had been scalded.

"What is it?" Teela demanded.

"Adam is filled with traces of Damien's evil. It hurts to touch him." She held her hand tightly.

"Oh, Ancients, no," Teela moaned. "What will that do to him?" She shuddered, recalling the fever that had absorbed her when Damien's poison entered her during the fight.

"It could be what is exhausting him, and part of the reason Keldor and I are having such a hard time healing him," Lyn murmured thoughtfully. She swore mentally. 'If he had his sword, it would purge it from him.'

Ramos scowled again. "So it's like a poison?" he asked.

Lyn and Teela nodded together.

"Maybe we can remove it from his bloodstream somehow," Ramos mumbled to himself.

"It won't be in just his bloodstream," Lyn countered. "It's all through him."

Ramos stared at her, his face hard. "I'm open to other suggestions, young lady, if you have 'em."

"I can't strengthen Adam, but if Keldor is so closely linked to such evil it will weaken him. I think....." Lyn trailed off as she wandered out of the room, leaving Teela and Ramos shrugging at one another. Ramos continued tending to Adam's wound, but it was still uncovered when Lyn returned less than a moment later with a basin--the very basin she'd been using to give Keldor his purification ritual each day.

"Do you have a cloth I can dampen?" asked Lyn, sitting the basin on a table nearest Keldor's head. Ramos passed Lyn a cloth and she carefully placed her hand on the magelock that kept others from entry into the Waters held within.

"Stay back. I don't want any of this to come close to you," Lyn explained. She gently dragged the cloth across Keldor forehead and noticed him relax. Teela and Ramos gasped as they saw a green mist rising from Adam's wound.

"What the Blazes is that?" Ramos demanded.

"The poison," Lyn answered, hoping she could explain this right. "I can't use these Waters directly on Adam; they would kill him. But they are full of mystical powers, and that power can be sent through Keldor to Adam." She worried her lip with her teeth as she drew the cloth across Keldor's face again. "I only hope I have enough," she fretted. "This is all we have left."

Teela sat next to Adam and gently lifted his hand to her lips, kissing it gently. Tears fell slowly. "I wish I could help you, but I can't," she whispered to him. "Please keep fighting, Adam. Please." She looked to Lyn, not bothering to hide her tears. "I know how much you need those Waters. Thank you."

"It is Keldor's life on the line as well," Lyn reminded her softly. "These Waters will do him no good if he dies."