EPISODE 1, CHAPTER 2:
The Attack on Elberon

Twelve years had passed since that unusual day; Glimmer had grown into a breathtaking young woman, and Bow had grown into a rather handsome-looking young man. Orko had done some growing of his own, but otherwise, he looked similar to how he had when he first came to Etheria.

And of course, he had never strayed from his mission of trying to find the sword-wielder. But as time went on, it began to seem more and more hopeless.

Even though she and Orko were in a relationship now, Glimmer was still curious about what Orko was doing on Etheria. Sometimes she heard him mention a sword, but every time she asked, he would change the subject.

It was odd being with someone like Orko; he was such a strange individual—clumsy, but incredibly kind. He had a great many duties, but often lazed about when he had a chance.

Not to mention, she was the only person in Bright Moon, maybe even on Etheria, who got to see what his face looked like beneath his scarf. She would never tell anyone, though; it was her special little secret.

As Glimmer grew, so did her eagerness to join in the war against the Evil Horde. But since her father, King Micah, had vanished a few years ago, her mother Queen Angella had become a bit more protective of her daughter.

And so she couldn't do much, other than help Orko in his search for the one who was supposed to use the Sword.

Of course, that was why she and Orko were in Elberon today.

Princess Glimmer landed on the floor of the room she'd been staying in for the last couple of weeks. She had managed to successfully jump from the rocking chair to the side table. Then she'd leapt and grabbed the chandelier hanging from the ceiling. It had swung back and forth wildly, and she'd lost her grip.

She jumped to her feet as the door opened. A woman in a forest-green gown, with hair piled on top of her head and wings fluttering on her back, rushed in.

"Your Highness, are you all right?" the woman asked. "My attendant tells me you've refused to come to the harp recital. And then I heard that terrible crash!"

"I'm fine, Mayor," Glimmer said. She blew a stray strand of pink hair away from her face.

"If you're fine, then please join us for the recital," the mayor of Elberon urged.

"I can't. I'm training," Glimmer replied, jumping back onto the rocking chair. She struggled to keep her balance.

The mayor sighed. "I don't understand all this training, Princess. Elberon is the safest village in all of Etheria. We are far from Bright Moon and were never attacked even once during the great wars of the past."

"Just because you haven't been attacked yet, that doesn't mean it won't happen," responded Glimmer. "I'd rather be prepared for a fight, even if it seems unlikely. And you forget, no matter where we are on Etheria, the Horde is always a problem."

"In that case," the mayor said, "I humbly request your presence at the harp recital, where everyone will be. If we were to be attacked, what good would you be to us here in your room?"

Glimmer jumped off the dresser and somersaulted across the rug. Then she hopped to her feet.

"Fine," Glimmer said. "But I am not going there to have fun. I will be there as a guard whose duty it is to keep the entire room safe!"

"As you wish, Princess," the mayor said. She left the room, sweeping her long skirt after her with a flourish.

With a sigh, Orko followed behind Glimmer. He was concerned about many things. From Glimmer's safety, to finding the new wielder of the sword, to the many dangers threatening the kingdom. Sure, Orko wasn't the strongest, but he had enough heart to push him into battle if it meant keeping others safe.

They joined a throng of winged villagers in brightly colored clothes, all of them headed for the celebration hall.

Glimmer shook her head as she watched their happy faces.

The people here act like nothing is wrong. Like the Horde isn't attacking all over Etheria more and more every day, destroying the peaceful, joyful planet we have worked so hard to build. These people go to their tea parties and harp recitals and pretend the Horde doesn't exist. It's a good thing Mom sent me here...

As soon as she had the thought, Glimmer realized something: Maybe that's exactly why Queen Angella had sent her to Elberon—because it was safe. Glimmer had begged and pleaded to have a bigger role in the resistance against the Horde. And instead of putting her on the front lines, her mother had sent her to the most boring village on all of Etheria.

The thought angered her. She wasn't some damsel in distress, waiting for someone to save her from the terrible Horde. She knew she could handle herself! She could fight! She could negotiate! She was could actually help defend her home!

Orko looked over at Glimmer, and he could sense her frustration. He knew she wanted to do something to drive the Horde back, but her mother was adamant about these sort of things.

As the harpist began playing a slow, joyless tune, Glimmer scanned the room for suspicious activity, but the only thing she caught was a small boy yawning.

His yawn was contagious. She leaned back against the wall, her eyes fluttering. The music was so mellow that after a while, she could hardly stay awake. Her eyes fluttered again…

"The Horde is coming!"

Glimmer snapped to attention. The harp music stopped. Everybody turned to see a breathless villager dressed in green. Glimmer could tell from his uniform that he was one of Elberon's sentries from the guard post at the edge of the woods.

The mayor stood up. "Arturo, what is this interruption?"

"We saw them!" Arturo replied. "Making their way over the ridge, heading toward the forest. A platoon of soldiers, and a whole bunch of strange machines. It's the Horde, for sure!"

Glimmer ran forward. "We need to get the children to safety right away!" she cried. "Then every able-bodied citizen needs to grab a weapon and—"

The mayor interrupted her. "Arturo, are you sure it's the Horde?" she asked.

"It's them," Arturo said. "But I'm afraid we can't fight them, Mayor. They outnumber us!"

"If we can't fight them, we need to evacuate before they arrive!" instructed Glimmer. "Call for aid from anyone who can help us!"

"Gli—the princess is right," replied Orko. "Round up the citizens and get outta here!"

The Mayor nodded, and hurried everyone away as best as she could.

In the distance, Glimmer overheard someone shouting. "ATTENTION, ELBERON! YOU ARE ABOUT TO BECOME THE NEXT TERRITORY OF THE HORDE EMPIRE!"

Glimmer and Orko gave worried looks as they ran to the window to see who was yelling that, and leading the Horde soldiers to attack. They both saw that from the front of the line was a girl around Glimmer's age with short blond hair, blood-red eyes, and scary black armor; she carried a fiendish-looking staff in her hands, and her armor bore the emblem of Hordak.

"I am Force Captain Despara, and let all those who hear my name tremble in fear!" she bellowed as she donned a helmet that resembled Hordak's miserable mug.

As he and Glimmer looked upon her, Orko sudddenly experienced a peculiar feeling. Somehow, this girl seemed familiar to him, despite the fact he had never met her!

Could it be...? he pondered, curious.

But he didn't get a chance to finish, as Despara came riding forth on a massive, red and black-colored creature that looked like a giant preying mantis! It let out a horrible, cybernetic screech as it flailed its scythe-like forearms.

"Yiii!" Orko yelped. "Wh-what...what is THAT?!"

"It's the Mantisaur—Hordak's personal steed!" Glimmer exclaimed. "I've heard stories about it...but to see it in real life—!"

"If that's the case, this girl means business!" Orko looked around, panicked. "What are we going to do?!"

As he turned to his left, he saw Glimmer getting an all-too-familiar smirk of determination on her face. "Oh, no...No-no-no-no-no!" he exclaimed. "I KNOW THAT LOOK!"

"What look?" Glimmer asked, smiling sweetly.

"That look that says I'm gonna go do something crazy and impulsive, even if it means I'm risking my life!" Orko replied.

"This village needs a hero," Glimmer replied. "And you know who it's gotta be!"

"Oh, really? Then pray tell, what exactly IS your plan, oh valiant Princess Glimmer?" asked Orko.

"I'm just gonna raise a little hell, is all." Glimmer smirked.

Orko sighed as he shook his head. "Oh, trolly-molly..." he muttered.

Six gigantic, spiderlike robots led about two dozen troops. They weren't a huge army, but with their robots, armor, and laser weapons, they might as well have been two hundred.

Glimmer looked at the other towers. The three sentries had their bows loaded and arrows pointed at the incoming threat.

"Aim for any weak spots you see," Glimmer instructed Arturo. "I'll try to jam their circuits."

"How will you do that?" Arturo asked, getting into position.

Glimmer grinned. "It's a princess thing."

"They're advancing!" one of the sentries called out.

The Horde robots scrambled down the hill on their metal legs. They stopped and scanned the forest edge with laser eyes. Then they aimed their cannons at the sentry towers.

"Prepare to fire on my command!" instructed Despara. The Horde Troopers nodded, and readied their laser crossbows. "Ready...aim—" Despara began.

Suddenly, a barrage of arrows shot down as the cannons' lasers flew up. Some arrows harmlessly bounced off the robots. One lodged in a port behind one of the spider-robots' heads, sending sparks flying.

"Hit the ports!" Glimmer yelled. "And watch out for me. I've got to get closer."

"Princess—" Arturo began.

Glimmer closed her eyes and concentrated.

POP!

She teleported from the top of the tower down to the hill. Her whole body tingled with energy as she landed. She'd remembered to charge up her power gem before leaving Bright Moon, so she didn't want to waste the energy in Elberon unless she really needed them...like now.

As Glimmer found her bearings, a robot leaned over her. She flung out her hands and shot out a light blast, hitting it straight in the optics. The robot sparked, fizzled, and crumpled to its knees.

This caught the attention of Despara. "Who in Hordak's name...?" she muttered as her telescopic lenses tried to lock in on Glimmer's energy signature.

"What are your orders, Force Captain?" inquired a nearby trooper.

Despara was left speechless for a few seconds before she responded. "GET THAT PRINCESS!"

The Horde Troopers aimed and fired on Glimmer, who darted & rolled to avoid the crossbow fire. Once she was certain they'd ceased fire, she got up and made a break for it, hoping to lead the Troopers away from any possible casualties.

Fortunately, it worked; the Horde Troopers began charging after her, while Despara kept on continuing her attack on the rest of the Elberonites.

She had a look of concern in her eyes, but knew that she couldn't go getting second thoughts...not on the battlefield. That was a good way to end up dead. At this point, her mission HAD to be completed at any cost.

Glimmer soon found cover behind some large rocks and peeked out to survey the machines. As she did, her eyes landed on Despara.

One good shot...that's all I need to throw her off... she thought to herself.

Aside from light blasts, Glimmer could also concentrate her light into solid objects: ladders, battering rams...you name it. And in this case, she was going for a boomerang.

She began to gather the energy into her hands as she took careful aim at the blonde warrior.

"Gotcha, brat!" shouted a creepy-sounding, distorted voice.

Before Glimmer got a chance to turn around, she was suddenly grabbed by two wriggling, suction-cuplike appendages with horrible tongues wrapping around her arms. Standing behind her was a hideous, green, slimy-looking creature with a mouthful of sharp teeth and beady red eyes. It was none other than Leech—the menacing master of power suction!

The second he got his mitts on her, Glimmer could feel her own energy slowly slipping away.

"Ohohohoho...looky what I have here: the princess of Bright Moon!" sneered Leech. "Hordak will probably promote me for bringing you back!"

But Glimmer was still willing to try and fight back for as long as she could remain awake. "L-let...go of me...!" she grunted as she struggled to break Leech's grip.

"Forget it, princess! Nobody's going to save you," hissed Leech. "And you'll be cooling your heels in a Fright Zone prison by the end of the day!"

As Glimmer continued to struggle futilely, her body began to grow pale with each passing second.

"HEY!" shouted a familiar voice. Leech turned around to see Orko, glaring over at him. "I'm only saying this once: LET! HER! GO!"

The slimy green menace chuckled at this, before he burst into full-blown laughter.

"You're—HA-HA-HA!—you're kidding me, right?" he guffawed. "Oh, I'm so-o-o-o scared! As if I'd be intimidated by a pipsqueak like you! As if you can do anything to stop me!"

A dark gleam shone over Orko's eyes. "That's what YOU think..." he remarked, as Glimmer's body began to turn pale.

As he began to gather his power, there was a sudden rumbling of thunder in the air.

"Orko from the Magic Lands, give to me a helping hand," he chanted, wriggling his fingers. "Though this fiend is big and frightening, strike him with a bolt of lightning!"

The trollan wizard put his hands out, and from them electrical energy shot forth, hitting Leech head-on.

FRAZ-ZZZZZZAAAAAK!

Leech's body was lit up by the electricity, before he lost his grip on Glimmer and was sent flying backward 20 feet. By the time he hit the ground, his entire body was charred and smoking.

"D-don't...EVER...touch her..." Orko grunted as he floated over to Glimmer and helped her up.

Glimmer smiled at the Trollan. "...my hero..."

"It's what I do," smiled Orko, as the other Horde Troopers surrounded Leech's burned body.

"Whoa, that little guy took Leech down!"

"Is he dead?"

"Nah, he's still breathing!"

"He was kinda creepy anyways..."

Despara paid the Master of Power Suction no mind, she kept her eyes on Orko and Glimmer. How could such power come from something so small?

If she was able to subdue him, he would be taken to the Fright Zone. Shadow Weaver could figure THAT out...maybe.

"We need to get outta here..." Orko grunted, as Elberon was now in flames.

"A-are the people safe?" Glimmer groaned. "We gotta m-make sure the people g-got out..."

"They're safe!" called Arturo as he brought over a horse & rider, and put Glimmer and Orko on it. "But what matters is making sure YOU two don't get captured!"

"Wh...what about you?" asked Glimmer.

"We'll be fine," Arturo nodded. "Now GO!" he drew back and whacked the horse on its flank, making it whinny loudly, and gallop away.

As the horse and its passengers took off, Despara watched them flee.

"They're escaping, Force Captain," stated one trooper. "Should we pursue?"

"...let them leave," Despara responded firmly. "Elberon is ours. Their escape shall serve as a message to the rest of Etheria."

"Of course, Force Captain," nodded the trooper. "And what of the survivors here?"

"Round them up, and bring them back to the Fright Zone," Despara instructed. "Hordak will be most pleased."

The troopers all nodded, and got back to work.

Orko could only watch from horseback as Elberon got further and further away. Once again, the Horde had claimed another bit of territory.