The Blood of Eternia

Chapter Six

Inside the castle, or rather what they had come to know as some sort of Starship citadel, Teela gazed upwards at the Great Crystal, lost in thought. Her father, Man-At-Arms, came into view beside her.

"I got here as soon as I could. How fares the Queen?"

"Not good, the Sorceress is trying her best with the medicines available to her, but with the power of Grayskull depleted, she too has grown increasingly weak, and the castle is vulnerable. You should be outside leading the royal guard against what remains of Skeletor's forces"

"My men can take care of themselves. How can this crystal help us?"

"The Sorceress says that once the key is inserted into the crystal, it will be instilled with the necessary formula required to produce anti-bodies so Marlena's earthly body can fend off the more otherworldly infections"

"All fair's in love and germ warfare" Duncan remarked.

Teela was not one for obfuscation.

"That's something Orko would say, if he were a little meaner"

"A little gallows humour never hurts anyone until their hour comes 'round at last daughter mine" Duncan assured her

Teela could tell, whoever this truly was, wasn't even trying.

"Say, that civilian you helped earlier before the ambush, did he recover?"

"Nobody dies when a man with these kinds of arms is around" Duncan replied.

"All I need to know" she said

Teela elbowed Man-At-Arms in the waist and kicked him to the floor, she unsheathed her sword and pointed it at him.

"Nice try, but I saw that 'civilian' reduced to dust, he was nothing but a shapeless empty decoy"

"My dear, all that matters is that my plan takes shape"

Duncan's form slowly morphed and shifted into that of Skeletor, the shaping staff firmly in hand.

Teela swung her sword at him, Skeletor deflected it with his staff and found an opening with which to send it directly into her sternum, he grabbed her by the scruff of the neck and slammed her into the bed of a nearby wall, knocking her out cold.

As she slipped into an unconscious state, Skeletor looked upon the immense crystal, mesmerised by its majesty.

"All that is required now is the key"

"That, demon, is something you will never possess"

Skeletor turned to find Eternia's noble leader, the crystal key in hand, descending down a spiral stairwell.

"Why Randor, it is good to see you up and about. I can't say the same for your wife"

"You poison, hunt, and now mock my beloved, the heart that beats across all Eternia, you must dread each waking day knowing your actions will not assure you tomorrow"

"I fear no future now that it is known to me, and yours is no exception. I have it on good authority that today is the last you will spend on Eternia"

"Maybe so, but if my time has come, it shall be spent buying the others enough time to stop you"

***

On board Starship Eternia, Darius was seated at the controls, setting some kind of sequence, as He-Man and Hydron watched on.

"What exactly is he doing over there?" He-Man asked.