Madelene leaned back in her chair and sighed, her head was reeling from trying to process what Kwyn had told them, monumental pieces of information about Adora's life on Etheria that Brendor was enthralled by, she looked at Thad and his face was a mix of confusion and concern. She couldn't help but wonder what happened in the leadup to Adora returning Etheria to this universe, which she would like to hear from her when the time was right, she hoped that right now Adora was resting.
"My daughter brought an entire world back all by herself and took out Horde Prime! Incredible! Now we'll have the upper hand with our fight with Eternos", Brendor said proudly.
Madelene looked at Brendor as she leaned in, concentrating on his face trying to figure out whether he was being serious or not. She had to agree he had a point though, Horde Prime, the most unshakable being in this universe was defeated by Adora. Her concern lay in more that this was all Brendor could see and yet she wasn't at all surprised.
"Did we listen to the same story?"
Brendor maintained his proud smug look, "Of course! She sounds more than capable of helping me take back Eternos".
"Unbelievable, you can't possibly think Adora is in any shape to fight right now! Who would she be fighting for exactly?"
Brendor's smug smile was replaced with annoyance, "She would be fighting for us, her family"
Madelene had now lost all her patience for Brendor's disregard for Adora, "She knows nothing about us or this place you want her to fight for. Our daughter is a stranger to us and all you can think about is taking back Eternos!".
"I'm with mum on this". Thad said in a soft voice.
Brendor narrowed his eyes at him, "What did you say?"
Thad wasn't intimidated and stared right back at him, "Do you want me to remind you of what your last futile attack on Eternos cost us?"
Madelene pinched the bridge of her nose as she contemplated breaking up yet another argument. Her thoughts were interrupted by loud voices coming from outside.
"Hey! Put me down!". Paw voice echoed through the empty halls. A Darksmoke guard brought both him and Kobra into the room holding Paw by the collar of his shirt.
"I found these two sneaking around outside the castle".
Madelene signals the guard to let them go, they gently let Paw down before bowing and leaving the room. "Boys this isn't a good time for a visit".
"Oh it's ok, mum told us to come here and wait for her". Paw says as he straightens up his shirt.
"Oh yeah, she said she might need your help". Kobra adds.
Madelene folds her arms, "Great what has she done now".
Meanwhile…Kittrina could still hear the loud voices of Belthor and his guards as they pursued them, the best thing about living in Vine Jungle was it certainly lived up to its name. The dense terrain made it easy for Kittrina and Carnivus to zig-zag out of the way of arrows, some of them lodging in nearby trees and the rest ricocheting off the horse's hinds.
Carnivus pointed ahead and Kittrina could see the dark grey outline of Darksmoke through the thick greenery. She looked behind to see how close their pursuers were, they had lost a few guards but she could see Belthor's red eyes staring straight at her as he came thundering past his guards on a large purple jaguar.
"You fool give me that bow!". He snatched the bow from the guard and kicked their horse, causing it to rear up and drop the guard into the nearby bush. Belthor loaded an arrow and pulled back on the bow.
"Carnivus!". Kittrina yelled. Carnivus moves as the arrow past through his thick greying mane taking out a small bundle of his hair and lodging it in a tree, he lets out a roar.
"That's what you get for not cutting your hair down as I told you to". Kittrina said sarcastically.
"Yes. Because being chased through the jungle by a gaunt megalomaniac was high on the list of things I was supposed to be doing today". Carnivus snapped.
As they break through the last of the foliage, the horses rear up in protest and come to an immediate stop, the broken tree trunks making a loud crack as they snapped and splintered against the horse's chests. Kittrina got off her horse and could see that the barrier of tree trunks seemed to stretch for miles.
"Since when have these been here?". Carnivus asked as he jumped off the horse.
Kittrina's ears twitch to the sound of loud creaking, looking up she can see the dark grey branches swaying unnaturally. Before she could answer she could hear Carnivus growling behind her she turned to see Belthor standing there shaking his head.
"See, now all of this could have been avoided, but you insisted on running". Belthor said confidently as he approached them pointing at the guards to surround them.
Kittrina smirked and shrugged her shoulders, "I guess we should have known better"
Belthor frowned, "I think that is the most sensible thing you have said",
He motions for the guards to move in, "Arrest them we will take them back to Eternos, see if we can't strike a little bargain".
The guards forced Kittrina to her knees without any trouble. Carnivus protested a little by grabbing one guard and throwing him over into the cold snow. The remaining guards wrestled with him a little more before Belthor lost his patience, "Would you get that thing under control!".
"Just sit down so I can think!", Kittrina whispered.
Carnivus looked at her as one guard tried to untangle themselves from his mane. Carnivus sighed and plopped himself down in defeat bringing the guard crashing down with him.
Kittrina growled to herself, she thought they could at least get to Darksmoke before Belthor got anywhere near them, she hoped her son had gotten to Madelene in time.
"A bargain for what exactly Belthor?". Kittrina said as calmly as she could, she had to try and distract him a little more.
Belthor stood over Kittrina smirking, "Well since you'll be coming with me it won't hurt to let you in on what a thieving little cub you have, he took something from Mara's ship. I know he has it and I want it back".
Kittrina and Carnivus look at one another and start giggling. Belthor clenches his fists, "What's so funny?"
"If you're talking about missing tech, good luck", Kittrina snorted.
"Even a smart man like you should know that as, what was the term he used darling?". Carnivus looked at Kittrina.
"Scavengers, I believe it was, anything you think my son has would be well and truly dismantled by now". Kittrina said mockingly.
"Sir!". The guard that Carnivus threw into the snow came hurtling back over the trunk barrier, his armour, and helmet looked as if it was almost torn from their body.
"There...there's….something in there", The guard points frantically wide-eyed.
Belthor slaps the guard in the back of the head before walking over the line of broken trunks, "There is nothing here except trees!". Belthor shouted into the forest his voice seemingly echoing back.
Kittrina slowly raised her head, the strange creaking she heard before was back, this time though it sounded much closer the sound made her uneasy and some of her hairs stood up.
"Silly Belthor, you should know I'm not just a tree". The voice sounded like it was coming from every direction, the branches bending and swaying with every word. Before anyone could react, the loud strange creaking revealed itself and a torrent of twisted and deformed branches quickly crawled over the barrier, passing around Kittrina and Carnivus and easily entangling the guards and Belthor.
"Go…Now…", the voice trailed off.
Kittrina nodded, not entirely sure who she was supposed to be thanking for the sudden intervention. She makes light work of removing her bindings and starts to undo Carnivus'
"What was that?". Carnivus said as he shook his wrists out.
"I've learnt not to question what goes on in this forest, just accept it". Kittrina drags Carnivus to his feet, she turns and watches as Belthor and the others struggle to get out of the branches as she starts running she can hear Belthor screaming,
"What do you mean, HOW?! IT'S. MADE. OUT. OF. WOOD! BURN IT DOWN!"
As Belthors voice faded away all Kittrina could hear was the sounds of her and Carnivus pads pressing against the snow, she forgot how unforgiving the Darksmoke tundra could be, they had only been running a short while but her feet already ached from the coldness of the snow. Thankfully it didn't have to last much longer she could see the burning torches of the guards standing inside Darksmoke.
* * *Glimmer sat next to Adora watching as she snored softly, she thought, like most times, she would've had a hard time convincing her to rest, the way the day had started she also wasn't surprised that Adora fell straight to sleep once her head hit the pillow.
She looked over at Bow as he stared intensely out the window with his arms crossed. She wondered what he was looking at.
"Anything interesting?". She whispered
"Maybe? Come and have a look", Bow said without taking his eyes off what he was looking at.
Glimmer got up and walked over, standing next to Bow as she looked out the window, she could see two tall feline creatures in the courtyard telling the guards something and they kept pointing out into the forest.
"What's going on?". Glimmer asked curiously.
"No Idea, it doesn't look good".
"Maybe they need help, we should go down and see!".
Bow shook his head, "After the day Adora has had, we have to be careful about both of you using your powers here"
Glimmer folded her arms, "Are you suggesting I can't fight without my powers?",
Bow smirks, "No, I'm suggesting we keep your powers under wraps until we know what's going on with Adora".
Glimmer narrows her eyes, "Oh you mean these powers?".
Glimmer blinked out into the hallway, coming face to face with a stocky snakeman, she screamed.
Kobra flailed his hands trying to get Glimmer to calm down. Paw was of no assistance laughing in the background. The door opened and startled Kobra enough his hood flared open and shot gas into the open doorway. Bow made a high-pitched grunt and collapsed into the hallway.
"What did you do!". Glimmer said frantically.
Paw pushes past and kneels to look at an unconscious Bow who was already dribbling, "You knocked him out". He starts laughing again.
"WHAT!". Glimmer screamed.
"I'm sorry he just popped out of nowhere!". Kobra said, trying his best to sound apologetic.
"How and why is he unconscious!".
Glimmer's shouting had woken Adora, she stumbled tiredly into the doorway wiping her eyes, she looked at Kobra and Paw standing over Bow. Before Glimmer could say anything she launches at Kobra and pushes him up against the wall.
Kobra turns his head away and closes his eyes, "Whoa, whoa, it was an accident I swear!".
"Yeah, calm down princess, it's only sleep mist, he'll wake up soon….maybe". Paw says playfully.
"MAYBE!". Glimmer shouts.
"He's kidding! Paw please tell Adora your kidding". The desperation evident in Kobra's voice
Adora's eyes widened. "How do you know my name?".
Paw walks over to Adora and looks her up and down, "Mum seems to think you're She-ra, you don't look tall enough to be She-ra".
Bow groans as he slowly wakes up.
"Bow!". Glimmer kneels beside him, helping him to sit up.
"See I told you he'd wake up". Paw said smugly.
Adora loosens her grip on Kobra, who gingerly steps sideways taking a deep breath before punching Paw in the shoulder.
"You still didn't answer my question". Adora asked, still not convinced they were friendly.
"All you need to know is my mum knows who you are so that makes us friends, see, simple". Paw retorted.
The sound of raised voices echoed down the corridor. Paw's ears drooped as his playful demeanour turned into concern, as he was about to leave Kobra put a hand on his shoulder and stopped him.
Bow came and stood beside Adora, his eyes still looking a little sleepy, "There were people outside talking to the guards, do you know them?".
Paw nodded silently as the voices outside became louder, Adora was certain she heard Madelene's voice without saying another word she left the others in the corridor and made her way downstairs.
"We might need to revisit that rule you had about using our powers". Glimmer whispered as she walked past Bow.
As Adora made her way to the courtyard she could see Madelene arguing with someone, she hung back a little as she watched the woman's tail whip back and forth as she frantically pointed beyond the gate.
"Kittrina you know for a fact that gate has been frozen solid the entire time I have been here!". Madelene said.
"Belthor is after my son Madelene, you have to do something". Kittrina replied roughly, in a voice equally as frustrated.
Madelene turned her head as Erska started giving a deep guttural roar, bearing his teeth at whatever was coming from beyond the gates. Belthor appeared riding his purple jaguar Erska took a few steps forward, Thad had to gently pull on his fur to stop him.
Belthor scoffs in response to the motley crew of guards that stood in the courtyard, "It's little wonder you hide from me, you call this an army?"
"What do you want Belthor". Madelene said ignoring his snide comment.
Belthor slides off his mount, "Give me the boy and I will leave this place in one piece"
Madelene shakes her head, "You know I'm not going to do that"
Belthor's staff materialises, "Vine Jungle is mine, so that means those Felisians and their meddlesome child are mine!". Belthor points his staff at Kittrina and Carnivus.
Madelene draws her sword, "And Darksmoke is mine, so they are under my protection, that means you need to turn back around and leave….now!".
Belthor's playful smirks vanished, "Is this the thanks I get for letting you play house in this castle for so long?".
Madelene narrowed her eyes at Belthor, holding the hilt of her sword tightly against her waist as she fought the urge to take it out, "Letting me? That's an interesting way to say you were never allowed in this castle, I dare say you're pushing your luck now merely standing in the courtyard".
"Well in that case allow me to push my luck a little further", Belthor holds up his staff, the dark empty eyes of its skull starting to burn a deep red, behind him a long line of heavily armed Eternos guards rode into the courtyard.
Madelene turned as she heard approaching footsteps, to her surprise Adora, Bow and Glimmer had come outside. She couldn't help but feel happy when Adora came and stood beside her.
"You shouldn't be out here right now Adora, It's too dangerous", Madelene whispered.
"I can look after myself", Adora says with a roughness to her voice.
Madelene gave her a pained look, "I do not doubt that".
"Adora, Madelene may be right, look at them", Bow said as his eyes scanned the guards.
Adora followed Bow's gaze looking at the guards noticing their white and gold armour, initially she didn't see what the big deal was until she noticed the strange familiar red crystal and its tendrils spreading along on their chests and their matching bright red eyes.
"They're all infected?". Adora whispered, she still found it hard to believe what she was looking at, she had hoped the Northern Reach would have been the last time she ever encountered it.
"Any sonic arrow lying around?". Glimmer whispers to Bow
Bow shakes his head and whimpers, "I mean fighting one infected She-ra is bad enough but fighting an army!".
"We may not need to fight all of them", Madelene whispers, she looks over to Thad and nods slightly. Thad then loosens his grip on Erska and the large cat takes off running directly towards Belthor and his mount, forcing him to dive out of the way before Erska tackles the other big cat to the ground.
Belthor slams his fist on the ground, "GET THEM!". He holds out his staff and immediately the guards behind him run towards the castle and a battle ensues.
Madelene readies her sword, "Remember don't hurt them just take out their crystals!". A guard comes running towards her and she responds immediately by kicking them in the chest, knocking them to the ground, she stands over them and grips the crystal, and with a few grunts pulls the crystal up far enough to expose its tendril, Madelene cuts the crystal free and throws it to the ground.
Adora had to be careful as she got into a sword fight with one of the guards, making sure not to let it touch the crystal. Eventually changing her sword into a bow staff gave her the distance advantage she needed, she made light work of several guards leaving Bow and Glimmer to remove their crystals.
Even though the guards of Darksmoke were messy fighters they were slowly starting to gain ground as Belthor started to lose some of his guards that were freed from their crystals, unfortunately, this small victory was short-lived because out in the distance Adora could see more red-eyed guards coming on horseback.
"Ma'am I don't think we can hold them off much longer!". Shouted one of the guards.
Madelene paused for a minute, "Everyone back up!". She waited for them to fall back before putting her fingers in her mouth letting out an ear-piercing whistle. Suddenly lightning cracks and flashes amongst the clouds accompanied by the sound of thunder. A large dark shadow passes above the castle and then over the courtyard.
Adora's eyes widen as she watches dark teal claws descend from the sky, and then a tail and then wings.
A DRAGON!
The beast hit the ground with a thud causing the ground to shake, he thundered past the others lightning could be seen sparking from its teeth, the dragon swept up Madelene with its tail and perched her on its back, bright blue light starts to form in its throat, opening its mouth a large thunderball hits the snow and causes some of the approaching horses to short circuit, bucking and flipping their guards into the snow.
Belthor responded immediately by pointing his staff directly at the dragon and sending out a large purple bolt of his own that hits the dragon directly in the face causing it to flinch, the dragon roars and sends out another bolt of lightning towards Belthor which he tried to stop causing an explosion in mid-air.
"We need to help her and try and bring down that gate!". Kittrina shouted.
Adora watched as Madelene and her dragon fought off more of the guards, sending some of them flying back into the forest. She held her staff in front of her and turned it back into a sword, "FOR THE HONOUR OF GRAYSKULL!".
The words made Madelene turn around, she stared in awe as She-ra approached her and easily cleared the distance from the ground to the top of the gate, and started slashing at the ice surrounding the portcullis. Madelene wasn't the only one staring, Belthor stood outside the gate in stunned silence.
Several archers run in front of Belthor and begin shooting arrows at the dragon, some of them lodging in their feet, the dragon responds by swinging its tail around causing a small tsunami of snow to trap them under.
She-ra gives a few final slashes causing the ice to finally shatter and bringing to gate crashing down trapping a few guards inside the courtyard who get easily overcome. Jumping back down to the ground She-ra stands at the gate and stares directly at Belthor, she could tell by the look on his face he wasn't expecting that, he almost looked scared. He snarls and points his staff at her.
"This is not over Madelene, You have no idea what you've unleashed". Belthor shouted.
Madelene smirks, "Neither have you!"
Belthor huffs in frustration turning around and taking off back into the forest with his guards behind him. She-ra made sure the gate was secure and turned to see Madelene sliding off the dragon as it started to limp away from the gate, she put a hand on its nose and bent down, and started removing arrows lodged in its feet and legs.
She-ra took a deep breath and approached, trying to hide the fact she was nervously excited about getting close to a dragon
"I...I can help".
Madelene stood up and stepped away as She-ra knelt beside the dragon, she could feel the dragon's gaze looked up and was staring directly into its bright yellow eye,
"It's ok", She-ra said soothingly and placed her hands on the dragon's leg.
Surrounding herself and the dragon in bright healing light for a few moments, as the light dissipated, the dragon stamped its feet a couple of times testing its balance. The dragon looked back at She-ra as she changed back into Adora.
I am Shadow Wing, Thank you for your help She-ra, or should I call you Adora?
The dragon tilted its head, Adora smiled.
Adora is fine
The dragon bows.
I will let Granamyr know what happened here today.
The dragon spreads its wings and immediately takes off causing some of the stumbling guards to fall back over, Adora watches Shadow Wing disappear back up into the clouds accompanied by a clash of thunder and lightning.
Adora kept looking up at the sky, adrenaline still pumping from what she just saw, "Who is Granamyr?".
"How could you know that name?". Madelene stands beside her following her gaze.
"Shadow Wing just told me".
Madelene smiled, "Well that is going to take a lot more planning and preparation, but for now I think we need to round up and check on our new friends here". She points behind Adora to a small group of guards, giggling and making snow angels, one had their arm draped over Bow's shoulder talking incessantly about dragons.