The Horror of Old Days, part two.
She was ready to believe it was just a bad dream. The peace and beauty of her native kingdom and, most importantly, the closeness of her beloved wife made the memories fade slightly. She was aware that the Swarm existed, that it roamed the stars somewhere, the Lord Admiral himself had confirmed it. But she couldn't do anything about it. She was just a flower princess, as Mermista and Huntara sometimes called her. She could fight if she had to, like when someone wanted to hurt her loved ones, but she hated it, hated making others suffer. She loved beauty and joy. She loved life…
And now it looked like she would have to fight again, and against an enemy she didn't know. She was only happy that she had her friends and wife by her side. For a moment, she feared that she and Scorpia would have to face this new threat alone. She could almost feel the evil approaching. Mermista would probably say she was imagining something, but she had always been sensitive to such things. She felt when Adora pulled the sword from the stone, and when she broke it, and even when Shadow Weaver died. She had the impression that some malevolent power reached out to Etheria to take something away. Now she sensed a similar power approaching them. When Adora decided to leave with Lady Cala and that rather scary woman with the strange sword, she wanted to protest, to say that they couldn't handle it on their own, but she didn't dare, she didn't want to seem like a coward. Therefore, when Glimmer returned with Catra, she felt an indescribable relief, but then she looked into the eyes of both young women and saw the terror in them, and she shuddered, for there were few things in this world that could terrify Glimmer and Catra so much. For reasons she didn't understand, they decided to take this strange old woman with them, her name was probably Razz or something like that. She wasn't sure if they would be able to defend this woman and fight at the same time, although Madam Razz looked much more alert than usual this time. When Scorpia explained to Glimmer and Catra what Adora had done, the cat girl bristled and said in an angry tone.
„I don't like this woman. There's something suspicious about her... Glimmer, will you take me to her?" she looked at Glimmer, but she shook her head.
„I don't know if I would be able to find it underground. I've never been there... I'd have to at least see a photo of them." Glimmer said in an apologetic tone, but seeing the Grand Marshal's gloomy face, she added. "Don't worry, Adora will handle everything, you are needed elsewhere."
Catra nodded, but without much conviction. Glimmer took her hand and they disappeared together in a flash of light. During their short absence Madam Razz looked at her and said in a hard voice.
„Hey, you control the lifestone, right? I need you!"
She approached the older woman.
„How can I help you?" she asked carefully, and Madam Razz began to draw a strange complex circle on the ground.
„Could you create something similar, only bigger, much bigger, preferably from the hardest wood you can?"
For a moment she wondered if the woman was crazy, and then she understood.
„You want me to create a magic circle! How big?" she asked and Madam Razz said.
„Imagine the biggest circle you can. This one is supposed to be bigger!" the old woman exclaimed. She did as she was told, or at least she tried, because it wasn't easy to get the trees of the Whispering Forest to grow in such a specific way. She also tried not to think about why such a large magic circle was necessary. After a while, Glimmer returned and looked at her work .
„Is this a magic circle!? I hope it's enough." said the queen in a concerned voice .
„How do you hope it's enough? Is it that big?" she asked in a frightened voice, and when Glimmer simply nodded grimly, she groaned in resignation.
„Don't worry, honey, your plants and my lightning will stop everything." said Scorpia, hugging her tenderly.
It took maybe a minute of waiting before they heard the approach of a small Anti-Gravity craft. Two people were sitting in it. The passenger was a Vespidas woman from the Singing Jungle, but her long cloak was covered with strange symbols she had never seen before. Her eyes were gray, as if made of metal.… Someone had deprived her of her antennae… poor one, she only recognized her now. She was one of Lady Cala's companions they had met on Carurystal. They didn't come to Brightmoon because they wanted to explore Etheria or something like that. But the driver... He was a huge man, as tall as Scorpia, with blood-crimson hair and ice-blue eyes that seemed to glow with an inner glow that sent shivers down her spine. He was armed with a sword and a dagger. He carried a rifle with a scope on his back.
„Kane... So you're back... „ Razz said suddenly, threateningly looking at the man and tightly gripping her Staff. The newcomer looked at her for a moment and then said with surprise.
„Razakaz! I didn't expect to see you yet... But maybe I should have... But I'm glad we met, because this fight will require all of our strength." his voice was surprisingly melodious, completely incongruous with someone of his appearance. Glimmer turned to him and said.
„Excuse me, but who are you and what are you going to do here!? We're about to have a tough fight here and we can't guarantee your safety!" the Queen's voice was mixed with fear and irritation. The newcomer bowed courtly to her and said in a polite tone.
„I am Kane Adamson, Archduke of Carurystal. My companion is Rechiza, a Warper from the Pact worlds and a hunter of Dark magic users. I came here to help you." as he introduced her, the woman bowed low to them, but she seemed grim but also determined.
„The same Carurystal that Lady Cala comes from? You mean you are this woman's suzerain?" she asked, honestly surprised. Kane nodded.
„As far as I know, there is only one Carurystal in the galaxy, and I am the ruler of the entire planet, although I am currently on vacation." he said gently and smiled slightly. Together with his wife, her eyes widened. Someone so important came here alone and unannounced! Glimmer didn't seem intimidated though, she just said with skepticism in her voice
„If you know how you can help ... but it's something terrible... I doubt you've ever seen something so terrible!"
Kane smiled nonchalantly and said.
„You can't even imagine what I faced, but I didn't come here to brag. What are we dealing with? – he looked at them inquisitively with his cold, blue eyes.
„This is one of the Chaugnar Faugn brothers. said Madam Razz with uncharacteristic seriousness.
The man swore so badly that her ears turned red, and then he said.
„There is no denying that it will be difficult, but we have a chance... We together with Razakaz will help you... You are a Sorcerer Queen, right? The three of us will try to cast a binding spell and then send him back to the Dark Void." he said in a matter-of-fact tone, as if he were a scholar talking to his students. Glimmer clenched her hands angrily and said, barely containing her irritation.
„It's great, Mr. Kane, that you have planned everything so well, but I am the Queen here and I am in command!"
The man bowed apologetically and said in a conciliatory tone.
„I ask your majesty's forgiveness, my manners have become a bit rusty in the last... Years. I don't doubt your... competence and bravery, but in this particular field, Mrs. Razakaz and I have much more experience, so I am asking you to accept our help!"
Glimmer looked at him for a moment, then said.
„ I agree to cooperate with you, although mainly because Madam Razz wants to cooperate with you. I hope I don't regret it!"
Kane just smiled in response.
Asindesa di Vir didn't hesitate any longer. As Heart Gift screamed, she charged at Lady Cala , striking a sweeping blow with her sword. She didn't understand what exactly happened here, but she was sure that Adora wouldn't deliberately murder anyone. There had to be more to this story, but she didn't have time to find out the truth now. The time had finally come to end the nefarious existence of the creature called Lady Cala , but the blonde aristocrat dodged her attack with superhuman agility and then giggled.
„I would be happy to fight you, fair knight, but unfortunately I am bound by a certain agreement between your beloved and a being even nobler than me." she said gracefully, dodging the next attacks of the Hell Knight. Suddenly she performed a neat pirouette and ran away into the maze. For a moment she wanted to run after her and catch her, but she saw that Adora was on her knees, sobbing spasmodically. She had to help the girl before she dealt with Lady Cala. Besides, the Aristocrat seemed to be perfectly oriented in this damned maze and the pursuit would be pointless. She walked up to Adora and offered her her arm and said.
„We have to go. I don't like this place at all . I sense a great threat here, and not only from this fucking bitch." she said sharply to the girl, but the girl didn't seem to listen to her. She just kept repeating words.
„I killed her. I murdered her. It's my fault." she seemed to be in a kind of catatonia. The lady of blades cursed and tried to force the girl to her feet, which was not easy at all, because she did not want to cooperate and she weighed too much. She had seen soldiers in a similar condition before, those who had been broken by the hardships of fighting. She knew it would pass after some time, or at least the victim of such a breakdown would sooner or later return to some sort of mental stability, but it would take some peace and quiet, and she doubted she could afford such a luxury. For a moment she wondered if the girl had ever been in a similar state before. "Is it you who hurted her like this, my love? Is this one of the sins that haunts you?" she thought and felt a twinge of pain as she remembered the woman she loved so much.
After a few moments, Adora fell silent, she just started staring blankly ahead and following where the Lady of Blades led her. That's good, too. They were moving painfully slowly, but with a bit of luck they would finally find a way out of this hundred times cursed Labyrinth, or maybe someone would find them here, she could only hope that they wouldn't be left with nothing but dried corpses. Unless something catches up with them first. Such dungeons have far too often become home to monsters from among the Dark Between The Stars.
The moment she thought about it, she heard a loud crunching noise. She cursed so badly that it would put the devils in hell to shame. At the same moment, Heart Gift materialized in front of them . The AI girl was crying, her hair was mussed, and holographic tears were flowing down her cheeks, which melted into oblivion as soon as they fell from her face.
„I'm alone... because of you I'm ALONE." she said in a quiet, breaking voice and hid her face in her hands. Adora groaned and cringed herself. The Hell Knight sighed heavily, she was a warrior who did not back down from even the most terrible foe, but she had no idea how she could help the two despaired girls.
„I am Asindesa di Vir and I don't come from here...„ she said to Heart Gift , trying to make her focus on her. – I don't know who Light Hope was, and I haven't heard much about Mara, although what I do know indicates that she was a brave and noble woman. – she had the impression that Lady Cala wasn't lying about this one thing. – Adora is also a brave warrior, a worthy successor to your mother. She wouldn't hurt Light Hope unless she was forced to... She suffers from what happened just like you do." she hoped that she would calm down the girl at least a little. For a moment, she thought she had succeeded as Heart Gift stopped crying, but then she looked up and looked them straight in the eye.
„Suffering... „ she said slowly and thoughtfully, as if she wanted to get a good taste of the word, understand all its nuances and aspects, and when she felt ready, she continued. "Yes, I already know suffering... as well as grief and sadness... Now it's time for others to feel what I feel now..."
„Heart Gift ... This is not a solution... This way you will not find any relief, at best you will vent your anger on innocent people...„ she was truly scared now. She had no idea what this Si could do, but the increasing shuffling didn't bode well.
„You say innocent... My mothers were innocent, but they were murdered, considered traitors ... erased. Innocence means nothing then. If this Adora considers herself a worthy successor Mara, let him prove it and fight with the ONE WHO PURIFIE!" said SI in a voice so mature and full of bitterness that it hurt her heart, and then a monstrous shape emerged from the darkness behind Heart Gift , and the Hell Knight screamed in terror.
Calamity felt truly happy for the first time since she learned the truth that she had been robbed of her destiny. The sight of the anguish on that lousy thief's face filled her heart with true pure joy. Not only was there justice in it, although she didn't care much about the fate of the dim-witted AI's Mother, the thought that Adora had to look into the eyes of the child of the creature whose death she caused was truly wonderful. And the greatest was yet to come... Because of this, she felt she had to stay as far away from the center of events as possible as Heart Gift unleashed her childish fury on the pathetic usurper. She also knew that it was not wise to be a messenger bringing bad news. There was also that damn Hell Knight with that damned sword of hers that made even her fearful. No… It's better to disappear as quickly as possible into the maze of corridors that lie beneath this ridiculously charming castle.
She wasn't sure if she had done the right thing in luring Adora and Asindesa di Vir into this trap, but she might not get such a wonderful opportunity again. Of course, explaining to everyone what happened to Adora won't be easy. Perhaps it would be wise to simply leave Brightmoon and look for a safe place where she could hide from the wrath of the Princess Of Power friends, and the chance to look into Catra's eyes when she learned of her wife's fate was impossible to pass up. Even if she risked death by doing so. She was sure that apart from Adora, there were beings here who could take her life, just mention Lady Sorrowflame . But is it a measure of humanity to give up concern for one's life in favor of higher values?
The bigger problem, however, was that Nyarlathotep might feel that she had broken Teir agreement with Shadow Weaver twice. Although it will be Heart Gif that will take the lives of both women, not her, her hands will be clean. But will the Creeping Chaos be understanding enough to take such nuances into account? Especially since she didn't do much to further the Great Outer God's plan. What if Shadow Weaver had better luck? If she is now Nyarlathotep's favorite, who will give her to the Dark Sorceress to appease her? The Lady of Shadows perhaps knew ways to hurt her.
While she was immersed in these dark thoughts, she found herself in a large room full of strange drawings on the walls. She immediately recognized the art of the First Ones. It was very interesting, she had never found any decorations or other art in these corridors before ... It was so interesting that she stopped to look at them. The first one was of She-Ra, she grimaced in disgust at what she saw, but then frowned. There was something strange about this image, as if something didn't sit well with her. Only after a moment did she recognize what she was looking at. The proportions of this She-Ra were different. Not exactly typical of a human being. And she had eyes! Four eyes! Most of Etheria's Native Fauna had more eyes! This Other She Ra, surrounded by beings similar to her, was receiving envoys of beings similar to humans, probably the First Ones... But didn't the inhabitants of Etheria claim that the First Ones were the original colonizers of Etheria ? Shadow Weaver once told her that there was always a She-Ra... She smiled because she had just learned an extremely interesting part of The Story of Etheria . Another piece of the puzzle fell into place... She smiled, feeling another wave of joy filling her heart.
Asindesa di Vir uttered another string of curses as she saw the creature approaching them. It was a huge Crab-Spider, as big as a tank. She wasn't sure if it was biological or mechanical, probably a combination of both. She knew little about the creations of the First Ones, and no one knew much except the inhabitants of this planet and perhaps the Anacites . Unfortunately, the only resident of Etheria who was close enough to help her was now in a state of catatonia.
„Adora, I know it's very difficult right now, but I could really use your help. Or She-Ra's help„ she said to the girl, but she just stared blankly ahead. She seemed to be doing a bit better, at least she was standing on her own. However, she did not have time to wait for the girl to return to full mental faculties. She both had to deal with this enemy on her own. Fortunately, she was an excellent warrior, had an excellent but very mysterious sword, and her dress uniform provided protection comparable to light armor. During the wars with the Swarm, she had faced much greater dangers, although not often, and now she had to watch out for Adora, defend her, because she was unable to do it herself. She clenched her jaw tightly and spread her legs in a defensive stance. She waited for the movement of the mechanical guard, who stood there for a moment, shuffling his legs as if trying to find the perfect position to attack. He finally reached out at her with his pincers, but she made a curtain to deflect the attack. To her surprise, the sword widened so that she could better defend herself, and then she counterattacked, and then the blade lengthened and she plunged it into the creature's armored body, cutting it open. She looked at her weapon and, thinking about it, mentally ordered it to become a glaive. She obeyed her command, so she smiled widely at the sight of the elongated blade and attacked the First Ones' creation herself. She carried out attack after attack, dynamically changing the shape of her weapon as needed, at the same time commanding it to become a shield when she needed to defend herself against the crab-spider's blows . She cut off one piece of armor after another, gradually gaining the upper hand. Finally, she revealed the inside of the machine and, transforming the blade into a long lance, pierced it through. The creature stilled, so she drew her weapon and took a few deep breaths and wiped her forehead. She was about to walk over to Adora and tell her that everyone was safe when she suddenly heard the crunching noise again and turned towards the mechanical corpse. She was horrified to see countless swarms of tiny crab-spiders crawling out from under it and heading towards them. She turned her weapon into a warhammer and tried to crush them, but it was like stopping a comet with her hand. She stepped back towards Adora, fully aware that they were about to be torn to shreds.
„Adora, do something, otherwise we will die. If you don't want to do it for me, then do it for Catra! – she shouted at the heroine of Etheria. Adora said quietly.
„For Catra...„ and she blinked several times and looked around the room as if she had only just now seen where she was, stretched her hand out in front of her and called.
„For the Honor of the Grayskull!" And there was a flash of light, and the girl took the form of She"Ra, and then she stuck the blade into the floor and a wave of power spread in all directions, destroying all the crab spiders . Suddenly, such an event occurred that the hell knight trembled.
„I have to find Catra ... She's in danger,,, I have to be with her." she said, and grabbing the Lady of Blades' hand, she vanished into the light with her.
They say waiting is the worst. Until recently, she believed it... Until she saw a creature that emerged from the darkness of the night. The monster was terrifying just by its presence, but she also sensed its unnaturalness. This creature did not belong to the natural world. She was downright hostile to her, as if she came from a completely different reality. A wave of nausea washed over her, she felt her dinner returning to her mouth... The beast looked towards them, or rather towards Rechiza , and stretched out its trunk towards her. Then Scorpia threw a bolt of lightning at it and began to float in the air, and then the soldiers showered it with a cloud of bullets, and two rockets were fired. The lightning strike shocked the monster, but the bullets had no effect on it. Then she summoned plants that wrapped around the monster and brought it down to earth, and then the woman with the mechanical eyes spoke words in a strange foreign language and a strange swirl of air appeared around the monster. Meanwhile, Glimmer, along with Madam Raz and Kane, were chanting a spell in some strange, unknown language that sounded as unnatural as the monster looked. Was such magic evil? Is it good to use evil magic against evil? Who did they work with if they knew about such dark matters? And since when was Madam Raz called Razakaz? It was all almost unimaginable.
The creature trumpeted loudly and a wave of sound threw her wife away, she screamed in fear, and then the creature jerked and freed itself from the plant bonds and stretched its trunk towards her. She screamed as she saw the toothy circle approaching inexorably, but then Scorpia rose up and threw a large ball lightning bolt at it, sending it flying several meters away.
„Get away your dirty trunk from my wife!" the Scorpion heiress roared, sending more lightning bolts towards the monster. Blood was flowing from her nose and ears. Seeing this, she felt a wave of rage wash over her. No one will hurt her wife! This time she summoned large thorns that wrapped around the monster and squeezed him as tightly as possible. Thorns as long as a human arm pierced the monstrous torso of the monster, from whose body flowed black ichor, the stench of which flooded her so much that even though she was in the heat of battle, she had to empty her stomach. But she didn't loosen her grip on the monster, she couldn't for anything in the world let him break free! Rechiza ran to the monster and cast another spell. The ground collapsed under the attacker, she felt something strange, the stench of death and decay coming as if from very far away, from some distant and very evil place. Another Dark Magic. The monster jerked and then roared again, this time she felt a terrible roar. She let out a strangled scream and her legs gave way, feeling like every bone in her body was going to break. She could no longer keep her grip on the monster and it began to flap its wings, slowly floating in the air. The circle she had helped create began to glow brightly as Glimmer and the other sorcerers shouted words in a foreign, unnatural language. Several magic missless shot out of Rechiza's hand, but they had no major effect on the beast. It rose into the air and roared again, but then a beam of Energy hit it. It was one of the Lord Admiral's ships, relatively small but still larger than Darla, that joined the fight. The hit threw the monster many meters beyond the circle.
„We have to get him back into the circle or the spell won't work." she shouted and, despite her wife's protest, she ran towards the monster, stood at the edge of the circle and started screaming at the monster.
„Hey, scabby! Look at me, you disgusting creature!" she waved her arms towards the monster and jumped up and down, at the same time forcing the trees to hit him in the back. Several guards assisted her in trying to lure the monster into the circle. It was going quite well. The attacker turned his hateful gaze towards them and jumped towards them, but everyone scattered, avoiding the monster's attack. The creature was almost in the circle... But it seemed to start to understand what they were planning and didn't want to cross the edge. Scorpia, who was floating in the air, flooded him with a wave of electricity. However, the Beast did not intend to approach them...
And then a gargantuan shadow covered the battlefield. She felt as if death itself had brought it on. She looked up and saw another nightmare. It was a dragon, a real dragon! She had seen several such creatures in old pictures carved in wood and stone, but none of them conveyed even an ounce of the terror that loomed over them. The dragon was gigantic, even bigger than the monster they were now fighting. He radiated such a terrible aura of evil and death that she felt her heart sink. It opened its mouth and flooded the other monster with a wave of black flame. It enveloped not only the monster they were fighting, but also several guardsmen and a large area of the Whispering Wood. The guardsmen's bodies turned to dust, as did the plants and everything that stood in the way of the black fire... she herself miraculously avoided this fate by dodging deeper into the circle... She felt a wave of pain flowing from the Whispering Wood wash over her. She looked up and saw that the creature was still standing, although it was severely weakened and injured.
Then the dragon fell on him after it made a circle. Long, metal claws dug into the dear monster's body, tearing it apart. The impact of the impact pushed both creatures into the center of the circle... Just as Glimmer finished casting the spell.
„Run!„ the queen shouted with fear in her voice. The dragon managed to dodge, but she was too far from the edge of the circle, which now blazed with a bright flame of an indescribable color. She was trapped together with a nightmare.
„We have to break the circle!" Glimmer screamed in despair, but Kane shook his head.
„It's too late, if we break the circle now, everything will be wasted. I'm sorry about your friend, but there's nothing we can do..."
„After her death, the power of life will pass to the next host, chosen by the Nirvanus shard. This is the way of things... Let's continue the spell before the younger brother of Chaugnar Faugn will be free." said Madam Razz in a hard, cold tone. Glimmer started screaming at Kane , and Scorpia pursed her lips and, wincing in pain, stepped into the circle and hugged her.
„Calm down, my dear, we are in this together, dearest... „ she said and threw a bolt of lightning at the monster. She pulled herself together and formed thorns again and wrapped them around the Beast. For a moment they thought they would win, because they stopped the monster for a moment. But after a while it roared and pulled, tearing out the plants. He looked towards them, and in his dark eye sockets they saw their own doom. He reached out towards them with his trunk towards them…
And then there was a bright light and a shining figure jumped into the circle.
„Adora!" the princesses and the queen shouted. But it wasn't Adora, but some young man in an outfit very similar to the one worn by She-Ra... He drew his sword and screamed at the monster.
„Don't approach them, you... Nasty!" and a beam of light shot out from the sword, piercing the monster. It roared, for the first time in pain instead of anger, and disappeared in a burst of light. Silence fell over the battlefield…. When she regained vision, the boy had disappeared. Apparently what happened to the monster was that all that remained was a stinking goo. The dragon also disappeared, and in its place stood only Lady Sorrowflame . She was completely naked and very beautiful. Madam Razz looked around, smiling serenely. She looked a bit more like her usual self.
"Oh Angie! Why aren't you in bed yet! Everyone is worried about you!" scolded Glimmer, who looked at her and smiled sadly.
„Today Razz I won't sleep anyway... I had a very bad dream."