Nineteen
Castle Grayskull
Planet Eternia
22 September 2017
Sorceress clawed her way back to the conscious world. Dreams swirled about her unconscious mind of journeys around a future time trapped in the computer of a starship. A disastrous return trip through a time/space vortex ending in a stationary orbit behind a moon orbiting a backwater planet way beyond the borders of Horde space. Faces drifted in and out of her mind's eyes of doctors, military leaders, politicians, interrogators all trying to determine if she was who she claimed to be.
Doubts surfaced about the coincident arrival of a starship with its lone passenger just as a Horde fleet suddenly halts its assault upon Earth and pulls out for no discernable reason. While the starship was damaged, it proved to be within Earth's capability to rebuild it and make it functional with heavy modifications.
Sorceress was allowed to become a part of a command being put together to use the starship and go out in search of six legendary weapons capable of taking the fight to the Horde. Wise and fatherly General Eugene Hammond navigated these turbulent waters with a skill Sorceress only remembered seeing in an Eternian king.
A whirlwind of events followed. Assembling the platoons; scientists and technicians; maintenance corps to take care of the starship, vehicles, and equipment; and locating the other five individuals identified in her dreams who were to be the chosen ones, to take ownership of the six weapons and begin fighting back, floated in and out of view. The montage continued through the adventures since acquiring the battlesuits. Through it all, Sorceress still felt this was just a dream, like reading an engaging work of fiction meant to entertain.
Inhaling sharply, Sorceress stretched her arms, pushed out her legs, rotating ankles to stretch tight muscles. Settling down, Sorceress cracked her eyes open, startled to see the familiar face of Doctor Susan Blanchard, Chief Medical Officer for Guardian Command, leaning over her.
Cracking her best warm smile, Susan replied, "Welcome to the real world."
Sorceress frowned. She found the predilection for her new friends to constantly quote movies annoying at times. Of course, they would be quick to point out her occasional quotations. "Did I say anything?"
Susan shrugged. "Lots of muttering. Must have been some dream."
"How did you get here?" Sorceress asked. Privately, she felt disappointment that the dreaming montage had turned out to be real. The changes in her life over the past several years, not to mention the past six months, had wrought such change in her personality that the feeling of disappointment disturbed her.
Serving as Guardian of Castle Grayskull was a high honor. Deemed worthy of being entrusted with the secrets, knowledge and power stored within, the chosen woman must have the qualities needed in order to use that knowledge and power wisely. More importantly, she must know when not to use them. It was not an easy life living alone in the castle, but it was a sacrifice each chosen woman had been willing to make.
There were times when it was good to have friends who cared. Sometimes it was better to have someone a little closer to talk to. Someone who listens and doesn't judge.
Friends like Doctor Susan Blanchard.
"Well, I walked up the stairs, opened the door, stepped in, and here I am."
Sighing, Sorceress elaborated, "I mean to the castle."
"Spirit."
Of course. The Spirit of Grayskull had become more involved of late, interfacing with the castle instead of being an intermediate observer.
As much as the Sorceress wanted to just stay in bed, she knew she could not stay there. Doctor Blanchard would not allow it in any event. The fur blanket was cast aside. With slow deliberation, the doctor assisted the Sorceress in sitting up and swinging her legs over the side of the bed. Adrian had not been seeing things when he thought the woman's costume had changed from the avian look into her pink satin nightgown. Now that she was facing the window, Sorceress saw she was not alone. Queen Marlena watched from the far side of the table.
Sorceress was surprised to be standing the fur area rug that should be over in front of the window. Then a shiver raced through her body from head to toe. She was actually cold. The environment inside the castle was climate-controlled, and yet Sorceress felt chilled. She stepped off the rug onto a floor that was equally cold to bare feet.
Marlena strode over to the armchair sitting under an awning against the wall opposite the table, shook out a throw blanket and draped it on the seat. Doctor Blanchard, having anticipated this, grabbed another blanket from the table, shook it out and wrapped it around the Sorceress' shoulders. Once settled in the chair, Susan wrapped the blanket over the Sorceress' legs and under her feet. Doctor and queen then brought the two chairs over from the table and sat facing the castle's guardian.
Sorceress slowly warmed up wrapped in the fur blankets. Her eyes kept wandering over to the rug with its custom-designed image of the castle lying next to her bed. It should not be there. She knew neither of her companions had moved it. So, who did?
"Feeling better?" Susan asked.
Sorceress nodded, still distracted.
Queen and doctor shared a knowing look.
"I guess there was something else to do," Sorceress muttered.
"Right," Susan said, not sounding sympathetic.
"Happiness is overrated," Sorceress moaned.
"Right," Marlena said, mimicking the doctor.
"I'm really better off alone."
"Wrong!" queen and doctor snapped in unison.
Sorceress winced not so much from the women seated before her, but from the voice of Falcon practically screaming in her brain. The medallion materialized, resting against the woman's breastbone attached to the customary silver chain.
"Falcon?" Susan asked, a whimsical flicker reflecting in her eyes.
A nod.
Shifting her gaze to the queen, Susan asked, "May I?"
Nodding, Marlena answered, "By all means."
"That's a nice area rug," Susan started, addressing the Sorceress. "You made it with magic, I presume?" When the woman nodded, the doctor continued. "You keep glancing at it as though it belongs somewhere else."
"It should be over by the window."
"Well, when I arrived, I found him sleeping next to you," Susan revealed. She did not have to elaborate as to whom she referred.
Eyes widening, Sorceress said, "He would never take such liberties." Besides the fact that her bed was only wide enough for one occupant.
"On the rug," Susan emphasized, rolling her eyes. Secretly, she had phrased her statement to elicit exactly that reaction.
"Oh." It slowly dawned on the Sorceress that the doctor was having a bit of fun at her expense.
"I'm sick of this," Susan growled. "The two of you have been dancing around this subject since the mission to the penal planet. It's no secret that something has developed between you two. That's not a bad thing. Personally, I think the two of you just suck at this sort of thing."
Blunt and to the point like blunt force trauma.
"I watched you two during the fight," Marlena spoke up. "Antics aside, I have not seen a pair so in sync with one another since Randor and I fought during the Horde incursion."
Sorceress remembered that well. While she had not fought in that brief war, her husband had. It was toward the end of that multi-year war that he went off to join the biggest battle that would eventually break the back in the invasion. Dannon would not return from the battle. "It was during the Great Unrest, months of battles against would-be warlords struggling to claim their own domains, that I met my future husband," Sorceress said.
"Wait," Marlena said, holding up a hand to halt the Sorceress' narration. "You fought in The Great Unrest?"
Sorceress nodded. "I left the castle briefly to explore some villages. I was welcomed at Pelleezeea and found myself at peace until an evil warlord named Prahvus invaded. The Pelleezeans tried to fight him off themselves, but I had to step in to stop him and his followers. While my powers were reduced, I was still more than a match for him."
The queen's eyes widened so much that threatened to pop out of their sockets. "That was you? We heard an unknown sorceress fought and defeated Prahvus, but no one knew her name or where she had come from. A red-haired woman."
Sorceress shrugged slightly. "I don't like to brag."
"Well, when an opportunity comes along, you gotta grab on tight and enjoy the ride," Susan pointed out.
Sorceress frowned. It annoyed her that people continued to pry into her private life. One the other hand, they were not blind to the feelings she and Adrian danced around. Dannon did tell her she would find love again, meaning he did not want her to continue living alone. In the past, some women have had a brief life bearing children and passing the mantle from mother to daughter. It was rare, but it did happen. She hoped Teela would one day replace her as the Sorceress.
So why did she hesitate so much to grab the opportunity Susan claimed? Sorceress knew why, but she refused to face it.
Leave it to the queen to hit on the real reason.
"You're afraid of dishonoring the memory of your husband," Marlena said.
The doctor frowned. "You told me he said you would find love again just before he finally made the transition to whatever awaits us after this life."
Sorceress nodded her accent, not trusting her voice to keep steady. She swallowed a sudden lump in her throat.
Suddenly, Marlena got it. It was not so much as what Dannon had said as it was that he had stuck around for so long instead of making the journey to whatever the next level of existence awaited everyone once their time in this life ended. Sorceress never dealt with the emotional rollercoaster of love lost.
"Go to him," the queen insisted. "Times like this, sometimes all you need is a friend." She paused to let that sink in. "Besides, I'd like to have my husband back."
Smiling at the Sorceress' confusion, Marlena elaborated. "When that Cobretti fellow was kicked out of here yesterday, he went to work on the consoles in that commander center, or whatever you call it. Randor discovered a cache of spare crystals in storage under the platform. Teela got lucky linking that communications console into the system the colonel's troops use. The crystals quit working when the battle was all over. They succeeded in getting the console working again. Now, they are trying to rebuild the entire chamber." Marlena shook her head. "Randor is acting like a kid again. I think he's reliving the days when he and Duncan used to make all kinds of devices. Didn't matter whether or not they worked. It was the experimenting and creativity that he enjoyed." Marlena grew a bit wistful talking of their younger days.
"Is there anything you wanted to do with your husband that maybe never came about?" Susan asked.
Eyes narrowed; Sorceress pegged her with a half-hearted stared. "Like?"
Susan shrugged. "I dunno. Long walks by the lake or ocean. Maybe spending a day by the lake. Or a night under the stars?" Susan's suggestive tone was not lost on the Sorceress.
Either way, there was no avoiding the inevitable. She and Adrian would have to have the talk they had been dancing around for months.
Queen and doctor stood when the Sorceress pushed herself out of the chair. They intended to leave her to change in private. Throwing off the blanket draped around her shoulders, the Sorceress used a bit of magic and transformed the nightgown into the usual bird costume they had come to know so well.
"Showoff," Susan grumbled.
Marlena smiled.
"I get that a lot," Sorceress said, absently.
The high from making the communications console serviceable again with the cache of crystals King Randor discovered lasted the rest of the day. Adrian chose to ignore the repeater consoles on the command platform because they served no useful purpose without a full crew to staff them all. The pair settled on trying to restore the other control stations with the number of crystals available to them.
Day two did not go as well.
All burned crystals were pulled from their trays and stacked up by the command platform. While Gabe's team could create control crystals for the Eternia, the ones used in a battlestar, this technology Adrian figured dated back to the Great War had different imbedded programming. Without that data, imprinting them was impossible. The tech team only recently discovered how to give the crystalline structure color during the formation to color code everything used in the Eternia's control systems; Gabe planned to swap those out during a future upgrade.
Princess Anyssa offered to ask Commander Harana to look into the specs on the consoles and see if her tech teams could produce replacement crystals. Thanks to the memories and other data transferred into his brain upon taking possession of War Wing, Adrian had general impressions of where all the tech originated from. It would take an archeologist versed in ancient tech from the Pretoria Research Base to confirm his suspicions.
"You're enjoying this a little too much," Adrian commented. Both of them were hot, sweaty, and more than a little dirty from rooting around inside control consoles that had not been opened up in, well, a long time.
Besides a cache of crystals, they also found replacement circuit cards and other electronics for the technology. Several consoles appeared to have never been active since installation. Replacing circuit cards, buttons and switches, and crystals did not have the desired effect. So, the crystals were removed, and the pair moved on to the next station.
Unfortunately, there were no manuals for how the consoles were wired, or the layout of the circuit boards. All the pair could do was match up the spares with what they found in the guts of the consoles. Not the best method under which to conduct repairs, but sometimes one got lucky.
That luck was running a bit short today.
The last station on the list was the large one directly in front of the command platform. Replacing all the burned crystals was not enough. The activation switch turned out to be damaged and was replaced. Other controls and circuits required replacing. Even then, only a few panels actually lit up. Adrian still could not fathom the purpose of the collection of control stations. Only the main console on the command platform had proven useful thus far. All these other stations had to have a purpose, otherwise why install them in this chamber inside the castle? A future command post? A command-and-control chamber for military operations? Without a reference of where the technology had been salvaged from, it was anyone's guess as to the ultimate purpose of this setup.
Calling it quits, king and Guardian gathered up the burned crystals and placed them in a container under the command platform. The Val-kyrie would retrieve the case at a later time to examine and create replacements. Tools and test equipment were returned to the appropriate boxes.
It was not long after the pair settled in seats up on the platform that the trio of women arrived.
"I heard about a soldier being severely wounded," the Sorceress was saying.
"He survived," Doc Blanchard replied. "With help."
"Oh?"
The queen elaborated. "Skeletor and Evil-lyn used their magical abilities to heal the injuries enough for him to be evacuated to Earth."
"That's where I came into this," Susan confirmed.
"So, Skeletor owes Colonel Markson another favor," Sorceress mused. "That probably did not go over well."
"Not quite," Marlena said. "Skeletor owes Randor, which is even worse."
The king appeared at the top of the command platform stairs. He looked tired, dirty, and happy. He smiled at his wife, who struck a pose with fists planted on shapely hips.
"Have you finally satisfied your need to tinker?" she asked, eyes narrowed.
"For the moment," Randor answered, limping down the steps.
Marlena folded her arms beneath her breasts and glared. "Why are you limping?"
"Well, I tried Adrian's maintenance trick on a console that would not activate," Randor replied, sheepishly.
"Did you forget he was wearing a suit of power armor at the time?"
"No. I just thought it didn't require that much force."
"Did the console ever activate?"
"No. It needs more work than either of us are capable of performing."
Sighing with mock exasperation, the queen took Randor's right arm across her shoulders. "C'mon. I don't know whether to soak your foot or your head," she muttered. "I suppose we'll start with the foot. Then I'll ask the good doctor here to see about surgically putting some common sense back into you." While Marlena rambled, Randor looked back up at the platform, made eye contact with Adrian and winked.
"We just take out the crazy parts," Susan said. "It usually balances out."
"Then explain Adrian Cobretti," Sorceress challenged.
"It's not an exact science," the doctor commented. "And before you ask, Jake Rockwell is beyond help." Trailing behind the royal couple, Susan turned to the Sorceress, mouthing 'go on' while jerking her chin toward the platform.
Adrian made himself busy at the primary console; the only one functional. He had no idea what most of the controls were linked to, but he was able to discern the function of several panels besides the one for the shield and projectors. Teela had activated the dedicated communications station, which had subsequently failed later. A basic control panel was tied into that station. Now that the main station was operational, the specific repeated controls on his board worked. There was even a hole for what Adrian presumed was for something akin to thumb drive, a small data storage crystal. Feeling all along the edge of the console, he discovered several hidden drawers. All were empty except one containing small clear rods of crystal two inches in length. Data crystals.
The Sorceress mounted the stairs stealthy as a cat. She was careful not to scrape a heel against the metal grate steps. It took over a minute to reach the platform where she stood still, watching.
"I can hear you thinking," Adrian commented without turning around.
Once again, Sorceress wondered how he did that. She suspected it had something to do with using the Pool of Power to heal the injuries he sustained during the mission to liberate He-man and She-ra from the Penal Planet Hel.
Sorceress walked over to the lefthand console. Frowning, she looked for a way to swivel the chair.
"Left side. Lever to release the chair," Adrian said helpfully. Again, he did not look.
Sorceress slid into the chair, felt around for the release lever, and swung around. She was startled to see Adrian had already swung his chair around to face her. This was getting annoying, and a little unnerving.
Both suddenly started to speak, stopped. Sorceress gestured for Adrian to go first.
"Feeling better?" He knew using magic sapped her strength. Fighting the robots had taken more out of her than any battle previously.
Sorceress nodded. "I heard you stayed by my side waiting for me to wake up. Until the doctor kicked you out."
"Yeah. She thought I should be doing other things. Did she read you the riot act?"
A nod. "She was rather blunt."
"Well, Susan excels at blunt-force-trauma when it comes to certain subjects."
Not wanting to dive right into the main topic just yet, Sorceress discussed his project. "She mentioned you know where all this came from."
"Well, more of feeling than actually knowing."
"So, tell me. Don't think about it. Just say what comes to mind." She knew how elusive the memories transferred from the battlesuits into the minds of their new operators could be. Sorceress had tried meditation on several occasions to delve into those memories; however, something about the transfer prevented easy access until something relevant occurred. Like the repeated nightmares all six of them began having weeks ago. While the large robots were a modified design, they could be the ancient enemy called a Shadowdemon returning to haunt the galaxy.
"The feeling I have is all this came from a warship," Adrian said, sweeping his right arm to indicate the collection of technology. "A battleship's flag bridge for a fleet admiral. Those energy projectors muddy the waters. Those things raise the probability to a dreadnaught. I have no idea why for that upgrade. So, a dreadnaught's flag bridge and weapons."
Sorceress nodded. "This chamber is certainly old enough. Skeletor used a different one when he made his trip to Earth. That chamber has since been dismantled. It is possible all this dates to the Great War. Which would require someone familiar with the technology of the day."
"Anyone come to mind?"
A slow shake of her head. "No." Sorceress rose from her seat, walked over to the main console, and looked over the controls. Reaching out, she touched the activation switch for the round platform. "Come with me." She turned away and strode off down the steps.
Curious, Adrian rose and followed. He found her standing in front of the raised platform next to the circular plate from which Sorceress had used the energy projectors so effectively.
"I did not find any auxiliary controls to employ the weapons. It didn't look like any of these other consoles are set up to exclusively operate the shield and projectors," Adrian explained.
"I did not expect to," Sorceress replied. Gesturing to the platform, she said," Let's try and experiment. I have a suspicion."
Shrugging, Adrian stepped up onto the disk and turned around. Nothing. Nada. Zero. Stepping down, the Sorceress took his place. Half-moon rings in the platform's surface lit up. The next moment a column pale yellow light shot up toward the ceiling exactly as the last time.
"Just as I thought," she said, stepping down. The platform powered down a second later. "It appears to be keyed to a creature of magic. Specifically, the Sorceress of Grayskull, though I would expect anyone imbued with magic could activate it."
Adrian frowned. "Meaning if the enemy strikes again, only you can use the weapons. Design flaw? Or intentional?"
"My credits are on intentional." Her attention was drawn to the communications console. "Should that be blinking?"
It was then that Adrian heard the soft beeping issuing from the console on the platform above. The pair walked across to the comm station to see what was up. A white indicator light flashed every two seconds for attention. The pair looked at one another, silently asking each other if they should answer the incoming call. Who would know there was technology in the castle that could receive a specific transmission?
Sliding into the chair, Adrian studied the panel. Sorceress leaned in from the left to help. He was conscious that he did not smell the best, having spent most of the day sweating under and around control consoles all day. On the other hand, the Sorceress had the fresh smell of a field of lilacs. The perfume was not overpowering, just a pleasing whiff. And distracting when coupled with her close proximity.
The blinking light lay in a section for transmissions incoming and outgoing. Raising an inquiring eyebrow, Sorceress simply shrugged she shoulders.
Adrian tapped the button to open the channel. "Helloooooo?" he asked, a bit dramatically.
A brief pause of dead air almost had Adrian wondering if there was really someone on the other end. Then, an oddly echoing voice answered. "Is this the Guardian from Val-kyre? The one in the black and silver armor?"
"Do we know each other?"
"Not socially. If the situation had been different, we would have discovered each other's combat skills."
Red Eye.
"So, you called to schedule a match?"
A derisive snort. "Hardly. My orders are to delivery an information file to you."
Sorceress shrugged at Adrian's inquiring look. Her guess was as good as his. Adrian told the woman to standby, closed the audio channel and felt along the edge of the console.
Frowning, Sorceress asked, "What are you doing?"
"Should be here somewhere, Adrian muttered, ignoring her. She jumped at his exclamation of success. Opening the small drawer, Adrian plucked a crystal rod measuring half an inch in length from the collection of about a dozen, slid the drawer closed.
One end of the rod was rounded while the other had a blunt point. On a hunch, he dropped the pointy end into the round opening in the section for sending and receiving data. The clear crystal lit up.
Opening the channel, Adrian said, "I'm ready." He checked to make sure the panel was set to accept the transmission.
It was. The light under the crystal went out when the data transfer commenced. For a brief moment, Adrian feared the comm panel had failed, but a surfacing memory told him that was normal operation. The transfer completed moments later. The crystal lit up again along with an audible beep.
"We have a common enemy," the unseen woman said. "This data should help you to identify who it is and take steps to neutralize him."
"Plenty of action for others to get in on," Adrian proposed. "The more the merrier."
"We are not in a position to assist. However, if you have any contacts within the Horde military, they should be more than able to help."
The channel closed before Adrian could say anything in response.
"Well, that was – odd." Adrian eyed the crystal. He reached out to pluck it from the slot with the intent to take it up the main console on the platform to call up the data for review.
His hand never made it. Sorceress caught the hand and pulled a reluctant Adrian out of the chair. "Come on. It can wait."
Not entirely resisting, Adrian protested. "But we need to see what's on it. Could be the answers we are looking for."
"Gabriel will arrive some time tomorrow. Once his team begins examining those robots, we will have more information. It can wait." She stopped at the foot of the grand staircase. "Now, go get cleaned up. We have something more important to do."
That pronouncement made Adrian cautious. "A date?"
"Not exactly. Now go clean up and meet me at the first landing."
"Right here?"
Sorceress nodded, glancing sideways at the group of soldiers arranging equipment and supply cases near the wall separating the throne dais from the main chamber. Falcon stood guard at the end of the narrow wall. The AI turned the head in her direction, eyes flickering.
Sensing he was not going to win this discussion, and with the command center now securely sealed, Adrian reluctantly trudged up the steps, turned left at the landing and headed for the spacious quarters he occupied. Oddly enough, her willingness for whatever private time she had in mind had the opposite effect. His trepidation stemmed from the 'chats' Doctor Blanchard had had with each of them individually.
While she waited, Sorceress sought further pointers from Gunny Apone in the use of self-defense moves. Several forms of the thumb lock proved effective and did not rely on brute strength. And they were easy to learn.
By the time Adrian reappeared, the Sorceress knew enough about the moves to practice later and become proficient enough to react without thinking. She thanked the gunny for his time and joined Adrian at the first landing. Hoots, hollers, and the odd catcall followed the pair when the Sorceress grabbed Adrian's left hand to led him off up the stairs toward the eastern tower. Everyone knew the Sorceress' private chambers lay in that direction.
Queen Marlena and King Randor watched from the back near War Wing, who stood on the right side of the massive magic screen.
Everyone shut up in a heartbeat as if someone had flipped a switch. Said switch was Gunny Apone bellowing at the soldiers to knock it off. No one dared defy a gunnery sergeant. Not unless they had a death wish.
"Sorceress," Apone called. In the sudden silence, his baritone voice easily crossed the distance at a normal speaking level, which almost sounded like a shout.
"Gunny," Sorceress answered back.
"Got any chambers needing cleaning? Preferably ones only accessible by a portal?"
Sorceress thought about that for a few moments, her right hand never letting go of Adrian's left. "None come to mind, but I'm sure there is one. If not, I can always get the castle to create one."
"Good to know. Thanks." The gunny's point could not have been clearer to the soldiers. Apone nodded. An added twitch of his left eye was the man's surreptitious way of winking without actually doing so.
Sorceress nodded back, and the pair continued up the stairs. Adrian was surprised, and relieved, when she continued past the door to her private chambers. Wait. The stairs did not go all the way up to the roof of the tower. Sorceress confirmed that fact, adding she had changed the layout months ago. She remembered a time during the battle with Evil Seed when she, He-man and Skeletor had to climb the outside of the tower in order to be in position for the three of them, and Orko, to use their magic to blow up a massive iceberg in the sky. The effect created a brief cold wave, allowing He-man and his allies to finally defeat the master of vegetation.
Now, the stairs ended at a wooden trap door that easily swung open with minimal effort.
Waiting for them was a basket full of food sitting on a folded blanket and a pile of fur blankets at the north side of the creneled battlement. By the angle of the sun, Adrian estimated they had at most several hours until sunset.
"No ulterior motives," Sorceress assured him, closing the trap door.
Together, they laid out the blanket and unpacked the basket. Nothing like a picnic up on a castle tower. Not exactly a choice place to go, but the view of the Evergreen Forest to the south and the surrounding countryside in the other directs was so spectacular that the detritus from battles with the Horde and the unknown robots did not detract from it.
Dinner consisted of meat rolls Adrian likened to a hot pocket, several different cheese wedges, a log of meat similar to salami, bread loaves, and an assortment of fruits; a nice selection of Eternian cuisine.
The meat rolls and logs were lightly flavored, similar to the buffet the Sorceress created in the library. While the Sorceress had made the feast using magic, it was in no way lacking for taste or texture. The real surprise turned out to be the wine. Sorceress conjured up several flavors for Adrian to try.
Conversation was light. Sorceress revealed a little more about her life before becoming guardian of the castle. She thought it boring talking about doing the same thing day after day in the desert. The highlight for Adrian was when she talked about what came to be called The Great Unrest. If she had told the story of how she defeated Prahvus even with weakened magical abilities six months ago, Adrian would have been hard pressed to believe it. After seeing glimpses of what she was capable of doing since they recovered the six battlesuits, well, Adrian hardly batted an eye.
They traded stories about their respective lives. Mused about previous missions and locations punctuated by stretches of awkward silence. Sorceress mentioned Doctor Blanchard's comment about their skill at this sort of thing. A shared chuckle broke the tension that had slowly built up.
The sun was sinking below the horizon when they packed up the basket, folded up the blanket, and laid out the furs. Once the bedding was down, Sorceress confessed to her old desire of laying out under the stars. Something she had wanted to do with her husband, but never had a chance to do because of his untimely death fighting the Horde invasion.
Sorceress removed the headdress and set it aside. She shook out a full head of shoulder-length hair that was the reddest shade Adrian had ever seen. A gentle breeze kicked up, fanning hair out behind her as if she were posing for a photoshoot. Without thinking about it, hesitantly, Adrian and the Sorceress leaned close and eventually locked in their first real kiss. Eyes closed, head tilted to the right, Sorceress surrendered to the moment. Adrian slid his hand up to caress her right cheek, his tongue snaking out touching hers.
Suddenly, Sorceress stopped, eyes popping open and straightened up as the reality of the moment set in. Arousal drained away to be replaced by uncertainty bordering on horror. Adrian stammered to apologize, but she shushed him, hand placed gently against his chest.
Shaking her head, voice cracking, she said, "No. I-it's not you…" Her mouth continued to form words, but nothing came out. Embarrassed, she tried to turn away.
Adrian could have let her go, but seeing that she was breaking down, it seemed like the wrong thing to do. Instead, he grabbed her right arm and snapped her back into a comforting embrace. At that moment, Sorceress could not hold back the tears any longer.
The crushing reality that her husband was gone, had been gone for thirty years, slammed down upon her with mindless brutality. Resting his left cheek on top of her head, Adrian held the Sorceress while she sobbed, wailed, and cried into his chest. He was her sole support as she slumped against him like a ragdoll. Wetness spread on his left side as the shirt soaked up the tears. At one point Adrian chanced a look at the blackened sky to see stars twinkling in the night.
Time lost all meaning to the moment of two hearts connecting. One painfully aware there was nothing he could do for the other long overdue for shedding the anguish of a love lost. Having never been married himself, Adrian had no idea what to do or say, so he quietly held her for as long as she required. Strength gradually returned to the woman's body. Sorceress slipped her arms around him and held on tight, no longer sobbing, just the occasional sniffle could be heard. Eventually even that ceased as she pulled herself back together.
Sorceress finally let go and straightened up. She avoided making eye contact with Adrian, not out of embarrassment, but because Sorceress did not want him to see her red and puffy eyes from crying. Adrian looked away briefly, but when he looked back, the headdress was replaced on her head and the calm, motherly demeanor had fallen into place like a shroud.
The air had grown a bit chilly with the gentle breeze, so each slipped a fur blanket around their shoulders before laying down. Speaking as if nothing had happened over the past few minutes, the Sorceress pointed out what constellations were visible in the night sky. Being a clear night, there was much to see. Short silences between explanations lengthened. After the brief story of the Twin Stars, the silence grew so long that Adrian thought she had either run out of briefs on the visible stars, or she was simply enjoying the beauty of the speckled sky.
Adrian turned his head and found out the truth. Sorceress had rolled onto her right side, pulling the blanket up around her head. She was now sound asleep. Returning his attention to the sky, Adrian contemplated the evening's events. In a few moments he came to the unavoidable conclusion.
"Way to go, Cobretti," he sighed. "I shouldn't have kissed her."
Don't be so sure, a voice that was neither male nor female spoke in his mind.
That was weird. That was not War Wing. He was currently shut down in the electronic equivalent of sleep. While the Val-kyrie upgrades gave the suits the ability to vocalize rather than communicate telepathically all the time, there had been no instance of an AI telepathically talking to anyone other than their operator. So, the speaker could not have been Falcon. She currently slumbered along with War Wing. The Spirit of Grayskull never communicated without appearing first. That left the castle itself, though there was no way of confirming that.
Shoving the thoughts away for another time, Adrian stared up at the sky and took in the field of unfamiliar stars. It was times like this that he appreciated how uncomplicated life could be. Being out there among the stars demonstrated how small and insignificant people were in the grand scheme of things.
At some point Adrian drifted off to sleep. He woke briefly hours later feeling like a weight had settled on him. Well, on the right side of his body, anyway. Something also lay across his lower ribs. Cracking his right eye open, he was able to see what lay against his right side since his head was propped up on a folded blanket for a pillow. It took a moment to realize the gray mass in the crook of his shoulder was in fact the top of the Sorceress' headdress.
Sometime during the night, the Sorceress had rolled over, crossing the distance separating their bodies and snuggling up to him. The words of the phantom voice came back to him. Then there was King Randor's advice about sharing the Sorceress' life without really having to understand the world in which she walked.
Maybe he had not messed things up so badly after all.
177