Chapter 27
Adora and the others arrived back home in Bright Moon after retaking Salineas, repairing the Sea Gate and the Pearl. Force Captain Octavia would hear about it before long and attempt to enter Salineas but the Rebellion won't give her the chance. Mermista and Sea Hawk have gone to Octavia before she can even make a move.
Meanwhile, they've come back to utter chaos unfolding. Entrapta rushed down the stairs to meet with them, Queen Angella was by the Moonstone, protecting it with a shield of light. The ground periodically shook violently.
"What's going on?" Glimmer asked. Entrapta was in a frenzy, her hair typing furiously on her comms pad.
"Something bad!" she had said.
Adora immediately assumed the worst. "Is Catra behind this?"
"No, at least I don't think so," she shook her head, "Catra is currently at an outpost just outside the Whispering Woods checking stock. These tremors are coming from something massive. It's been happening for a few days, we got reports that people in Geolon were attacked after unearthing a great monster when they dug too deep into the mountains. The beast ploughed through Plumeria and is tearing up land on the other side of Bright Moon."
Bow gritted his teeth together. "You didn't think to send us a message about this?" He asked, holding up the comms pad.
"Well, during the beast's rampage, it destroyed communication towers, meaning the signal has been either bad or none existent. I did try to send a message through," Entrapta said, her face looking a bit sullen. The ground shook beneath them, a great roar echoed across all of Bright Moon. It was a deep, rumbling, roar.
Glimmer had gone pale, Bow froze where he stood. "We can't waste any time then, let's go!" Adora shouted over the noise of scared villagers running for their lives. Bow and Glimmer were right behind her as they charged forth past waves of screaming citizens running for their lives.
On the other side of the castle was a serene area, or at least it was. It was filled with farmland, little villages and coastal towns. On the opposing side from the Whispering Woods. South of there was the harbour they had come from. Rampaging through the quiet countryside was a giant worm like creature, its hard skin a deep purple. All along the shell of the worm were crystals of varying colours, either flat or sharp, shimmering or dull, scratched or pure. In the bright light of the sun, those gems glittered like jewels. At the very tip of its tail were giant spikes formed from those crystals, each tip as sharp as a sword's edge. It was like an explosion of hardened gems went off on the tail, it was ripping through homes like it was nothing.
Its face was nothing spectacular, when it roared, three rows of sharp gem-like teeth showed face, its eyes were dark obsidian. The worm almost looked lost, like it was rampaging due to fear after being awoken and it now doesn't know where to go or what to do.
"It's the Geo Worm!" Entrapta said after catching up with them, Frosta, Perfuma and Scorpia in tow. She looked so blessed to be laying eyes upon such a creature. "I thought it was nothing but a mythological creature, that's what the stories say it is, but it's obviously wrong.
"Ugh, what is a Geo Worm?" Scorpia asked carefully.
Entrapta gazed at the beast with such wonder. There was a time when Adora looked upon Catra the same way. "It's an ancient being that was said to protect the mountains of Dryl. The Kingdom of Dryl is known for mining minerals and technology and gems from deep within the mountains, it holds many First One's secrets and also an array of jewels and metals that can be used for many things. Geolon is the city that mines the gems and jewels, that's how they make their money. My half of the mountains were more technological in its excavations."
Frosta groaned, "Get to the point, Geek Princess. We don't have a lot of time to stand here and chat."
"So there was this legend I was told as a child that the first ones made a guardian of the mountains. The First Ones had dug into the mountains and found something, we never knew what it was they found but they made the Geo Worm to protect it. The city of Geolon was built not long after, that's where the city gets its name from. It's guardian. They made it out of the gems within the mountains. Its tail secretes a poison, be careful not to touch the sharp spikes on the tail." Entrapta then cackled like a mad scientist but stopped after seeing the horrified look on Perfuma's face. "Sorry."
Adora wasn't waiting around to hear any more of the story, she needed to act, and quickly. She didn't want to be a hero, but wasn't going to let the people of Etheria down either. She would protect them at all costs. If they need a hero, then she would be one, if only because she too wished for peace on Etheria. She ran down the beige stone stairs towards the monster going in circles, her hand grasped the top of a wired fence that dug into her hand and she hopped over it, onto yellowed fields. Glimmer and Frosta were calling out her name but she wasn't turning back, not now.
As she neared the monster, she raised her sword skyward. "For the Honour of Grayskull!" The blinding flash of light that changed Adora into She-Ra, caught the beast's attention. Slowly, it turned to her, black diamond eyes searching her soul for something to feast on. Glimmer and Frosta caught up with her, Snowflake's hand grabbing her shoulder.
"What are you doing?" Glimmer said, rather angrily. "You can't just charge into battle without us, we need to make a plan."
"This is what I know how to do. Don't worry, I got this," Adora said with a smug look on her face. Overly confident as usual. She charged forth.
During her training with Light Hope, she figured out that her sword can change shape if she focused her power into Teela Na's gemstone in the middle of the hilt. Together with the blue gem on the sword and the rem one on her winged tiara, the magic flowed like a waterfall to a river.
The sword became engulfed in a golden light as it shifted its shape to resemble a shield, winged in its design. The worm flicked its poisoned tail at her upon first sighting. She brought her shield up to deflect the large gem spires on its tail. It worked, strangely enough. The tail hit the shield, she was knocked back a touch but then with all her might, she pushed the tail away. It roared at her instead.
She-Ra changed her sword into golden rope, she'd never lassoed anything in her life but she was determined to give it a go now. She made a loop with the rope and as the worm dove at her with teeth in full view, she leapt out of the way, throwing the rope over its head. With as she could muster, she pulled, keeping the worm pinned to the wheat field. Bow fired one of his special tech arrows at the tail, where it released one of Netossa's magic nets.
The glowing white net stuck perfectly to the tail, all the while the worm thrashed to be free of the rope. She-Ra holds on tightly. She didn't want to hurt the creature, she would rather they subdued it and took it home where it could sleep for another few millennia. Netossa's net couldn't be pierced through, not through any gaps. It created like a full on cloak designed as a net. It was more to ensure no one got nicked by the tail. Frosta created ice shackles, locking the creature to the ground. It stopped moving, breathing heavy.
Bow fired another net at its face, now that it was calm, to fling another net over its mouth. Like a muzzle almost. It did not like that. Entrapta, not sure why she was even there, got up close to inspect one of the crystals.
"Fascinating! The crystals are ingrained with First One's writing." Her hair got a notepad and pen and started writing. "I wonder what secrets we could uncover if we decipher this."
She-Ra turned to Princess Glimmer. "If we managed to put this thing to sleep, could you teleport it back to the mountains?"
Glimmer had a bead of sweat on her head, inspecting the worm. "Maybe. It's awfully big, but I suppose it's worth a try."
"Good, now how do we get it to sleep?" Bow asked, getting in closer, arrow at the ready.
Glimmer chuckled nervously. "Good question. Entrapta?"
"Oh, I have no idea. We can try my sleeping gas and see if it works but since this thing is essentially just a giant gem, and it doesn't have smell receptors, it probably won't work," she said. The worm grumbled, a low rumbling growl seeped into their bones.
"I could electrocute it," Scorpia offered, electricity sparking at the end of her pincers. The worm did not like that suggested. It roared again, snapping the net around its face and with all its strength it pushed up, breaking through the ice shackles and pulling She-Ra along with it. She clung to the rope hoping to subdue it again but it just grabbed it with its teeth and flung her into a brick wall that was partially torn down. She grunted as her back slammed against the cold stone. The rope returned to its original form, the sword.
The worm turned and with its sharp teeth tore the net away from its tail. She-Ra rose up from the rubble of the cottage, wood splintering and pot shards stuck in her skin. She ran to help her friends as they tried to fight it. Entrapta ran as quickly as she could. In a flurry of both fear and rage, the worm lashed out with its. It was about to hit Bow. She-Ra pushed him out of the way, the tail connected with her body, cutting away at bits of her skin. Hot blood trickled from several cut wounds. There was one on her face, several on her leg and a few more on the right hand side of her torso.
She reached for her sword but for her, it was already too late. The poison acted quickly. It spread through her veins like fire through a forest, and it burned her as such. She screamed in agony as she fell to her knees, She-Ra vanished in a golden glow and Adora was left clutching her abdomen to stop the bleeding.
Her vision blurred.
Adora looked up at the worm struggling against the Rebellion. Perfuma and Frosta managed to cage it within thorns and ice. Roots and frost. Bow fired reinforced nets, Glimmer teleported away and came back with a giant blanket which she draped over the cage. To simulate the darkness of the cave. All went silent.
She heaved breath after breath, Adora felt a wave of hot and cold pass over body, she was shaken and weak and lightheaded. Her hands were stained with her own poison coated blood. Adora tried to stand, she was nearly successful. Nearly. It was as she went to straighten her back that she fell backwards onto the field, her head lolling. She couldn't even find the strength to form words.
"Adora!" Glimmer called, teleporting to her side in a puff of sparkles. She took Adora's clammy hand, squeezing tightly. Bow kneeled down, lifting her onto his lap.
"She got nicked by the tail," Bow said. "It was supposed to be me," he said drearily.
"Let's get her back to the castle then, surely Entrapta knows of a cure," Perfuma said. Bow stood, lifting Adora into his arms. She was limp, unresponsive as her eyelids slowly closed over.
