Though Heroes Fall - Part 10

The Sorceress scries                                                                   The work of : thepolishgirl.deviantart.com



5.3

 

“Welcome, loyal Man-at-Arms; I am glad to see you: you and your daughter.”

The Sorceress greeted them with a wanhope smile, though it was perhaps a little warmer as she looked on Teela, approaching the steps slowly with an unwonted expression of awe on her face. She turned to Orko who hovered at her shoulder.

“Master Orko, now that we have decided upon our course, be so good as to have Teela take you to the Armories and help you to select such equipment as your quest may require.”

“But I don’t need any equip– Ah! Yes, the Armories, of course; yes indeed. I’d be glad of Teela’s help – I do get so dreadfully muddled up over these things.”

When the sound of her feet had echoed into the emptiness of the vast stone vault, when they were again alone, Man-at-Arms was at once grave.

“Lady, what is it that you must tell me that Teela should not hear? Have you news?”

“After a fashion, yes. You see, I have – read things; patterns stir afar in the fluxes and there is still a great darkness over what I fain would find – and yet –” she paused and looked sidelong at his watchful expression. “Not all things can be concealed – and some thoughts, some feelings may be divined, even through such webs of dark sorcery. I wish that I had better tidings for you, but I fear that He-Man is in great danger – and in pain.” Her gaze fell to her hands folded in her lap. “And my thought cannot reach him, though I have tried and tried to break the barrier. He must feel himself very alone – and deserted.”

“Lady, I tried to prevent his going – Elders witness me that I did. Had it been up to me then Adam would have been locked in a cell and the Sword kept from him until I had his word not to attempt this exchange!”

She smiled at him then, though somewhat sadly. “And yet I seem to recall a young man doing something not altogether dissimilar, not all that many years ago. Do you tell me, Duncan, that you would really have locked him away – and not felt a pang of sympathy as you remembered your own past?”

“I would have felt the pang,” he acknowledged stolidly. “But I would still have closed and locked that cell door.”

“And perhaps you would yet have been right to do so.” She sighed again. “What makes Adam truly Adam – and also He-Man – is that urge to set right wrongs, to lend aid to those who have need, to be a champion for all the free peoples of Eternia. He has the innate courage of his ancestors and the heart to apply it for good. But he is very young and that ardent idealism has not always stood him in good stead. His heart outstrips his head at times and leads him astray: it has certainly done so on this occasion. And yet – how could it be any other way with him, being as he is? That which makes him worthy of the Power and a true hero also renders him open – and thus vulnerable.”

“He has a lot to learn, that’s sure,” answered Duncan feelingly.

“What is in your mind? You wonder, do you not, if I have done wrong?”

“Lady, I mean no disrespect – but he is indeed young, and impetuous and headstrong and – many other things besides. His heart tends to govern his head far too often: I agree that it makes him what he is – but my chief concern currently is where he is – and what is being done to him!”

“I am sorry, Duncan. I did not mean to add to your load; but I know just how close you are to the boy – and I know also that you have had your doubts all along about his being granted the Power.”

“I – accept that it was – necessary: I needs must place my trust in your deeper knowledge of these matters. And we were hard-pressed at that time and badly needed a champion. Yet all was – of necessity – done in such haste that I doubt the boy truly understood what he was taking on. And sixteen is very young to acquire such awesomely weighty responsibilities. I cannot help but wish that the crisis had not come upon us before he was ready – or at the least older. Oh, I know that He-Man has superhuman strength and skill – but, deep down, he remains Adam – and for Adam I am responsible. I have seen how it has affected him – and how he has grown to meet the burden. It amazes me constantly that he manages – mostly – to pull off the act that he does; and yet I know that the tension of his duality can be very hard to bear and causes him no small anguish. He does not often complain; but I know him – and I can tell.”

“Indeed so; it cannot be easy for a spirited boy to be a hero – and yet be widely thought an idler and even a craven. Particularly for the heir of a king himself brave and well-versed in war and with high expectations of his only son. I grieve that the need to protect him from his foes – and to ensure the protection of those about him – depends on such subterfuge; but it could be no other way. I had to forbid the truth, hard as that must seem to him. And, Duncan, there were other – and far deeper – reasons as well.”

The sudden significance in her tone lifted his bowed head. She nodded and went on.

“You see, it is not only from the malice of the enemy that Adam must be protected, but from the Power itself.  It is far too great for any man to wield indefinitely, for it burns and consumes the very spirit which is its host. It is the harnessing of much timeless might, channeled of old through the minds of the Wise – and in its sheer concentration it is dangerous; corrosive to he – or she – who bears it. That is why He-Man cannot always be He-Man, but must ever and anon revert to being Adam, his true self; it is in great part for his own protection. In that guise he is safe from the harm that the Power would otherwise inevitably do to him. You know for yourself that being He-Man is a great burden – and that is only the outward and obvious danger. That which is hidden would be yet greater, for it was not meant for mortal man to wield. Thus Adam in his innocence shields and protects He-Man – though he does not fully know it.”

“But, lady – surely he should have been told of this?”

“How could I, in pity, burdened as the boy already was? Had he not cause enough to be afraid? As you said yourself, Duncan; sixteen is very young to acquire such responsibilities; it is also young to acquire power of such magnitude. Without Adam, the constant bearing of it would in time destroy He-Man.”

“He – feels the strain, I can tell,” said Duncan slowly. “At times he has even spoken of it to me. He said that it was like being pulled hard in two directions at once – and that it hurt.”

“There will always be tension where two inhabit the one body, the one mind – even if both are not present at one and the same time. But the Power called him – I was only the conduit of its will. I had – have – to believe that the Elders whose strength he wields are with him – and that they will not desert him in his need; even if we cannot do as we would wish and fly at once to his aid.”

“He is not yet a year into this fight; it is little enough wonder that his good heart leads him to ill decisions. But I want him to have time, lady – time to be the boy he really is without forever being placed in danger; time to grow and to learn wisdom and – yes – to love. And I fear that he will be denied these things.” He sighed. “Grayskull makes such heavy demands – but that is hardly for me to tell to you, is it? You, who have sacrificed so much.”

“Of that we shall not speak. The Power gives and the Power takes away; ever it was so – and ever will be. But I at least was granted a time to love – brief though it proved. Brief; but not fruitless.”

Man-at-Arms bowed wordlessly.

“Yet you are right, Duncan; the Elders called upon him and granted him their strength, the Sword and the skill to wield it and to become the embodiment of those facets of the Power. But they did not grant him all. Their strength and prowess in arms they passed to him, yes; but not their wisdom. I know that he wonders why it is – even resents – that the gift is incomplete, that the knowledge of the Elders is withheld from him. He thinks that he could rid Eternia of Skeletor had he but access to that added power – am I not right in this?”

Duncan nodded unhappily. “And could he?”

“Very possibly he could – and yet doing so would make him by far the most powerful being on Eternia, without peer or rival, equipped with both strength and knowledge. The critical balance would be thrown: complete victory would follow – and He-Man would then have the crushing burden it would bring in its wake; that of unrestrained power. Would you do that to him, Duncan?”

“You fear that it would prove too much for him?”

“As you fear that he is already endangered by what share of its strength he has – and that not the greater part. If he cannot exist as He-Man indefinitely for fear of being consumed, then how much the worse the destructive effect would be were he to possess all that Grayskull could offer. The strain of housing such might would soon cause him physical harm that went well beyond mere pain. You have heard him speak of the sensation he feels as he transforms, as the Power comes to him and fills his being; he describes it as like ‘living lightning’ and as ‘molten fire’ in his veins. That effect would be magnified to a terrible extent – and I doubt that there would be any relief from it after the shift; indeed, it would only grow more and more intense and unbearable. As for the impact on his mind, that could prove yet greater. It would strip his spirit and burn his soul away – for illimitable power is a most perilous thing. Imagine the constant temptation of it, the compulsive urge to use it. He would try to do only good, for that is his nature – but would in time become impatient that he could not remake the world in the image of that goodness; and he would be tempted to employ ever greater force to bend all to his will. First a little: thence to more – and more. It is thus that tyrants are born – even those who start with the best of intentions and resist temptation longest; in the end he would still come to use his might for ill. And none could stand against him; not unless the Elders should come again. And if possessing the strength of the Elders alone is a threat to him, then imagine how much faster he would succumb had he their knowledge as well. He would become the Power – with disastrous consequences, for him and for the world. Such boundless might is not meant for mortals; it is far, far too perilous. It corrupts all in the end; it would corrupt even He-Man – and Adam too would fall. No, Duncan – well-meaning and worthy as he undoubtedly is, the Prince cannot be granted such overweening might – for the good of all; not least his own.”

“I – I didn’t know this. I didn’t understand.”

“No; nor at first did I – not fully: not until Zodac warned me of it, and the reasons. But I knew from the outset that a limit must be set upon the extent of the Power that Adam should be permitted to wield – even if that left him in some respects vulnerable. That needed no warning.”

She sighed – and looked down at her hands lying pale in her lap.

“And Zodac?”

“Zodac is of the belief that due balance must be in its essence maintained, and that the rule applies equally to Grayskull as to Skeletor – who will thus not be driven away as He-Man dreams, that their struggle might end. Not, that is, unless the Champion should gain access to the Power in its entirety. Which must never, ever come about.”

“And shall you tell him why the granting of the knowledge, of the full might, must be denied to him?”

“One day I shall – and I pray that the day will not be long removed. You see, Duncan, there are other reasons too – even beyond these.” She leaned forward slightly, her voice more urgent. “I too am concerned as to his whereabouts – deeply. And by the fact that I read strong echoes of pain in what comes through to me from afar.”

“You mean that he is – that they are –?”

“We must accept the likelihood that he is being put to the question; nothing else would account for the patterns of feeling that come to me; they are faint and episodic, but also intense and very vivid – and I fear that they speak an unpalatable truth which we must none the less face: He-Man is undergoing torture.”

“I – I feared as much – I guessed that they had taken him for that very purpose, curse them. But I could see no good reason to voice my concerns; not while there was still hope.”

“There is, I hope, still that,” she replied; but her own look was somber. “I do not like to speak of this – but feel compelled. You see, should he – break – then there will be a limit to what he can tell to them – No, hear me out, Duncan; this we must face up to though it grieve us sore. That is another – and more immediate – reason why the gift was not of the whole, but of only a competency, a part of the Power: that, even under duress, he could not reveal all.”

Duncan stared at her, his eyes wide.

“You mean – you mean that we’ve taken a boy of just sixteen years, given him the strength to fight his battles, but not the knowledge that would ensure that he actually wins them? The wisdom to avoid them? And now he’s in the hands of the enemy and they are – hurting him – and we can’t get to him and so he’s become a threat to Grayskull? Is that what you mean, lady?” His voice and look were both angry and bitter.

“Perhaps you are right to chide me; and it may be that I acted wrongly in my good intent. But the Power did call to him – of that there can be no doubt. He was indeed chosen – and it must have been for a reason.”

“A better one, I hope, than suffering torture on behalf of a power that has ill-equipped him to defend himself against what he must now endure!”

“Yes, Duncan; a better one than that. He has the Power – but he is not – nor ever must be the Power; if they break him – if he should die – then the Power will yet remain to light upon another champion. It thus defends itself against the mortal frailty of its hosts. But it will not leave him lightly – be sure of that.”

“So – ruthless, lady? In the cause of good?”

“The Power we serve must, perforce, be so – even as the Enemy is ruthless; for how else shall Grayskull be guarded?”

“With the blood of untried boys?”

“If needs be, then yes. For needs must. The Power of the Elders, here present on Eternia, must be preserved at any cost – yes; even at that of Adam’s life.”

Her voice, in contrast to Duncan’s, was unroused; but no less implacable for that – and he turned abruptly away from her.

“But it remains my hope that it will not come to that.” Her tone, softening, brought back his shadowed gaze. “As I said; he was chosen and the Elders did not grant him their skill and strength for naught.”

“Then I hope they help him – or, better – help us to find him. That will serve; the rest we can do ourselves.”

The Sorceress sighed. “That is also my prayer.” She paused and shook her head. “But I accept your rebuke; I did as I thought best and gave him what I was permitted to grant – no more; but no less, either.”

“Oh, lady; lady – I am as guilty as you; I brought him here that fateful day and have shared the secret – and much else – with him since. If there’s to be blame, then it isn’t yours to bear alone, for I’m as deep in this as you are.” He shook his head in frustration. “But it gnaws at my vitals to think of him alone and in pain.” A sigh heaved itself up from his bootsoles. “The damnable thing is that I just can’t help thinking of him as young Adam – and it makes me want to go out and break heads until he’s free and safe again. That it was his own fault that he was taken makes it no better. We are to blame, for making him what he is – and that too soon.  And now it is too late.”

“When Adam accepted the Power –”

“Accepted? He did not want it – not at all! He was sixteen and afraid; his every instinct was to refuse, to run from it; but he would not abandon his father. It was not out of any desire for such power or else any wider sense of duty that he took up the burden, but out of love!”

“And it is because he took up the Power in love that he has sustained so little hurt from it.”

“So little hurt! Creator’s breath, lady – they are torturing the poor lad!”

“I understand how this must be for you, Duncan; you have stood a second father to him all these years.”

“Why, if I could get my hands on Evil-Lyn right now I’d wring her neck for her, so I would!” Duncan span about and his tensed fingers mimicked the motion.

But the Sorceress was silent, her eyes withdrawn and her look absent. When her voice came it was remote, hollow – as if from afar.

“For as with love it began, so with love shall it end.”

Duncan, stock-still, stood and stared.

“My lady –?”

The Sorceress shifted, and her eyes returned to the time and place where Duncan too was.

“I cannot tell. And yet – I feel – sense – something. More I cannot say. Matters stand ill indeed – and yet are, perhaps, not quite as they seem. Or so it to my seeming seems.”

“I – don’t understand.”

“Nor yet do I. Of such stuff are dreams and the eyes of prophecy see not all things that shall be. Yet I feel that there is hope for He-Man still.”

“I hope so, too – by all that’s sacred I hope so! But what can we do? What do I do? I feel – helpless to help him. Surely the Power can –?”

She shook her head with an infinite weariness.

“I fear not: I cannot reach him – and I sense that his strength and spirit are both waning as well. For reasons that I do not understand, he cannot hear me when I call to him. It must seem, to him, like betrayal.”

“It – must.” Duncan had calmed at her words – and now he paled. “He must feel dreadfully – alone.”

“Alone and abandoned. Yes.”

“Why – why doesn’t the Power act – bestir itself to save him? The boy has done all that was asked of him, hasn’t he? Why will it not do more to help?”

“I – think – that it is in part that my own thought cannot penetrate the sorcerous weave which enshrouds his whereabouts. Rarely have I faced such a strength; I cannot even discern its source – beyond that Evil-Lyn is wielding it. It is a force which I do not comprehend.”

“But – the Power! Surely it can pass through – act to reach him and lend him the strength he needs to break free – or at the least bolster his resistance until we can come and have him away?”

“I – I cannot be sure, But it is in my mind that, by acting so impulsively, deliberately doing what he knew to be unwise – even wrong – Adam has stepped from his ordained path – and made it harder for the Power to help him.”

“But – you know why he did it! Yes – it was inane, and I told him so – but why would the Power cut him off for one error like that? Especially as the boy’s heart was in the right place!”

“The way of service to the Power is one of obedience to its needful demands. And the path that must be trodden is both narrow and steep on occasion: this you know for yourself, Duncan; as indeed do I. By allowing his heart to overcome his head and setting aside his duty Adam has erred; he has strayed from the way. That which is personal and vital to us is not always of such great import to the Power – which sees both further and deeper than we can ever do. We cannot know all its purposes, which are subject only to the Will of the Creator.”

“And so he’s being left to endure torture as a punishment for letting his heart overrule his head is he? Why?”

“I claim no certainty on this, Duncan. But it may be so.”

“He offered himself in exchange for Teela – for our child!”

“Yes; he gave up his own freedom for hers – and in doing so has placed himself in the gravest of peril. And perhaps Grayskull too.”

“The boy was doing what he deemed right – even if his reasoning was wrong. He redeemed the girl: does that mean nothing?”

“It means that the Champion of the Power is, owing to his own actions, no longer able to fulfill his duty to this place. He has strayed out from his path; do you wonder, then, that he is lost?”

Duncan’s heated voice fell – but grew yet more intense.

“You surrendered your daughter for the sake of your duty; must Adam also be sacrificed on the altar of Grayskull?”

Only one who knew her as well as Duncan could ever have detected the flicker which passed through the Sorceress’ eyes in the face of such stark words; none the less she hesitated but a moment before making her reply.

“I did not say that; nor do I believe it. But Adam’s own rashness placed him in this situation – when it was avoidable. And it has made matters more difficult by far. There would have been other ways of bringing back Teela – as you yourself told him. And, had he come here to me, then I would have made that clear – and explained why he, as Champion of Grayskull, could not be permitted to venture himself as if he were any other boy concerned for one he – was fond of. But Adam refused to come here: he deliberately avoided my counsel, knowing full well what it would be. And as a result his headstrong act has endangered not only himself – which as heir to his father’s throne he had scant right to do – but also those many others who depend upon He-Man for their defense. And to do that he had no right at all. That is what I meant when I spoke of understanding the difference between what is personal to us and what our high duty to the Power dictates. As He-Man he is more than merely his own self – and he must learn to act accordingly.”

“I am quite sure that this harsh lesson will not be lost on Adam,” said Duncan grimly. “But for that learning to have value he must first be rescued.”

“For my part I doubt that he is completely beyond all help – and I shall continue to petition that we be permitted to find him. Yet who can truly know the will of the Power – or the means by which that will shall be enacted?”

“Then why doesn’t it act – and help the boy?”

The Sorceress looked at his grave and angry face – and again shook her head.

Duncan added a little more to the wearing of the flagstones then turned to look at her close – and his brow furrowed deep.

“There’s something else, isn’t there? Something that you aren’t telling me.”

“The truth is, Duncan, that I do not know why not. Always it has acted to lend him aid in his extremity of need: always it has enabled him to overcome what has been sent against him – even when his own resources failed. But now it withdraws itself from him, its host; I can sense the Power returning to its source – leaving him.”

She sighed – and her head fell. And Duncan drew a deep breath.

“Which means that – that the Power is saving itself, withdrawing from him as does a garrison from a fortress that cannot be held. Meaning in turn that it expects Adam to fail – to break under torture – to reveal the secrets entrusted to him!”

“Not – necessarily. It may be more to do with the influence of the sorcery which surrounds him; or else with what is – is being – done – to him.”

“Damn Evil-Lyn!” His voice, loud in his anger, echoed through the vault; it seemed the silent shadows leaned closer to listen. “One day I shall settle accounts with the witch for this!”

“But today is not that day. We must consider calmly – and seek a way.”

“There must be something we can do – right now – today!”

“Not until we can locate the exact place where he is being held. I have scried into each and every plane of power, surveyed every last movement of the magical flux; but, as yet, to no further avail. All I can find for sure is the island of which we spoke. One island amid the many. That the rest lies hidden is no accident.” She looked quickly at his face and went on. “I shall not cease from casting until I find him, though. Be assured of that.”

“But how long –?” Duncan did not complete the question, knowing it absurd even as he spoke. He lapsed into silence and prowled the well-worn flagstones in frustration. “Surely there must be something we can do?” He sighed and looked at her – an expression she remembered from of old, when matters had stood differently between them. “Adam fretted most terribly for Teela – and now I fret for him! And as for Teela –”

“And as for Teela – who will be returning here before long; we must not let her know of this.”

“You think I would? She’s impossible anyway at present – thinking it’s all her fault that she’s lost both He-Man and Adam.”

“Which, for the present, she has,” sighed the Sorceress. “Fault or no. But neither Teela nor you should feel any great guilt; it was Adam’s own impetuosity which ran his neck into this noose. And for that he is paying the price.”

“Then the price is heavy – too heavy!”

“That may be so – and so he too may feel.”

“Little wonder if he does!”

“You judge the Power unjust, Duncan?”

“I judge it – stern, my lady. The penalty being demanded of one so young and warm hearted is – harsh. And – yes: I do feel guilty, whatever you say. I should have prevented his going! Had there been even the slightest foreboding that the Power would fail him like this, then I most surely would have done! And if that meant clapping the lad in irons and barring him in Eternos’ deepest dungeon, then I would have done it – aye, and willingly too – that he should be spared this cruel fate!”

“I believe you. Indeed I do. But calmly, now – calmly; it is too late for such regrets and there is no purpose in might-have-beens. Matters stand as they stand and we must deal as best we may with what we have.” She paused and shook her head. “And that, I fear, is little enough.”

“So what do we have?”

“Hope. And faith. Those alone.”

“I would prefer something more concrete.”

“I know. But never underestimate the power that lies in hope – or what faith can compass.”

“Lady – you spoke of Zodac. Would he help us? He has the power to do it.”

“I have sent to him – but he is deeply engaged in other matters and far off. He answers that he will come – and come he will; but we should not hope overmuch that he will do so in time.”

“Then we can rely only upon ourselves.”

“And, Elders willing, upon their aid. And upon that element of the Power which is still within He-Man. He is not altogether defenseless, Duncan – and nor is Grayskull. He swore an oath to be its champion and that vow has strength – while yet the Power is in him.”

“He will not break his word, lady. Why, if he were capable of doing so then he would not be undergoing this ordeal at all!”

“True; the oath binds and is further strengthened by the enchantments placed upon him even as he took it; it is not only the strength of his character which makes him feel revulsion at the thought of breaking of his word, but also the spells set within him. And yet they are not unbreakable, those enchantments.”

“Couldn’t they have been stronger, then?”

“Yes; of course. But only by taking away his free will utterly, effectively enslaving him to his oath without his own volition. And that would rather have defeated its own purpose, would it not?”

“Well – yes; yes it would. I take your meaning.”

“The price of making one’s own judgements is that sometimes those judgements are poor – as his was in this case. But he at least had the free will to decide; no spell prevented that.”

“But – if the spell which guards his tongue can be broken, then it comes down to willpower in the end.”

“And his will is strong. And yet we cannot tell what is being done to him; he is under siege, Duncan – body and mind alike – and the pressure of that assault is both subtle and relentless. Even the strongest fortress, the most indomitable of wills, may be overcome by stealth as well as by storm; the combination can be hard to resist – and I confess that I fear for him.”

“As do I, lady; as do I.” Duncan’s face was stark in its understanding.

“And so I must ask you, Duncan; you who can best judge. Hard as this will be for you to answer, you must tell me truthfully: do you believe that He-Man, alone, far from the source of his power and shorn of his sword, may yet still hold out?”

Man-at-Arms put his hands to his face and rubbed in a way both weary and agitated. “I – just don’t know. I hope so – Ancients, how I do! And yet –” He broke off and and frowned into the unknowable distance. “He is brave, strong and determined – and fiercely loyal. He will not give way readily because he understands how vital his silence is. But he knows too little of such things to be well-prepared for them. Once again his lack of knowledge and of experience will tell against him. And if Evil-Lyn is involved that will mean sorcery – alchemy – and of the most skilled and subtle kind. How he will fare against that – and her sly cunning – I really cannot judge.” He rose abruptly and stalked the stones in an angry fashion. “He’s not yet seventeen; nothing but a boy when all’s said and done – a boy!”

He span on his heel and his arms spread themselves wide in sheer frustration.

“Damnation to darkness – I cannot bear this! We must do something!”

“And we shall – when we may. Yet at least there is this; even if he should fail and reveal to them what he knows, then this castle will still hold. He does not know sufficient of its secrets for it to fall, even should he break.”

Duncan turned and stared at her – a blazing look, but she held up her hand before the angry words were spoken.

“We must think on such things; we absolutely must – for if Grayskull were to fall then night would come to Eternia; night without end. That is why, Duncan; because the defense of this place – and of the hope it represents and the eternal power it guards – must come first; always.”

“But he will be suffering to keep those secrets because he thinks – he really thinks – that they are essential to your safety here!”

“Yes; that is so.”

“You knew that this would happen!”

“No; I did not know it.” The Sorceress bowed her head. “But the possibility was always there – and so due precautions had to be taken.”

“And if they do break him, maim or kill him, then, lady, you will simply choose another champion, will you?”

“Yes, Duncan, I will: and you will help me; as before.”

Her words fell like pebbles into a long-sealed well. His angry pacing ceased and he turned to her again, with wonder drawn tight in his bloodless face.

“Do you feel – nothing?”

“I feel everything; that is why I am here.”

 It was said calmly, without inflection, but it made Duncan stare – and then he nodded slowly, and bowed.

“Forgive me, lady; I did not understand.”

“The demands of the Power are indeed great – and we are all bound by them, even unto death. And it may well be that Adam’s time as its champion is already drawing to a close; I cannot tell. But this I can say –” She leaned forward in her throne. “I believe that the Elders will not desert us – and will yet aid him; for they chose him, the descendant of heroes and kings of old. It is indeed a terrible test for a young man – even one so imbued with the Power – but I believe that, in some unforeseeable way, he may even yet emerge from it.”

“But you can’t be sure, can you? And even if he does come back to us, then in what state will he be – and when?”

“I cannot say; truly, it is only a feeling that I have; faint and indistinct, like the echoes of a dream drawn from the recesses of another’s mind – but it is there.”

“Then I hope that it is true, lady. Ancients, but I do.”

“Your daughter returns with Orko. We must put up a front on our feelings for her sake. Do not tell her of my hope, for it may yet prove stillborn and I would not have her hurt further. But, Duncan, before they come I must make one further demand of you: you have the Sword of Power in your possession?”

“Yes, lady; he gave it to me when he set out.”

“Would you give it over to me, to make use of as I hope will prove best?”

“He gave it to me to keep – and I promised him that I would hold it for him – until he – returned.”

“Nonetheless, I ask it of you now.”

Duncan looked at her, his eyes narrow – and was silent; and then slowly he nodded.

“It came from Grayskull – and I know that he would want it brought back here should he – fail to return. Yes, lady: I will give you the Sword.”

“Then I am glad: our bond of trust is not yet broken, in spite of all. And so I will tell you this; I do not intend to keep the Sword here to bestow upon another champion.” She smiled faintly. “My head tells me to do just that – but my heart offers another counsel – and to that I respond. Heads have failed us in this matter – but hearts may yet prevail. The Sword of Power was given to Adam – and to him it must go. His spirit is strong upon it – all his hopes and fears and struggles are writ thereon. And, for its own part, the Sword will be seeking to go to its wielder. And so my hope is that it will – in the right hands – find its way to him. And, armed with that blade and all it contains, then He-Man may yet free himself.”

“And whose hands are the right ones for this task?”

“They approach even now; Orko will bear the blade to its wielder.”

“Orko! But – lady – are you sure?”

“Yes. I am. Sure enough. And here he comes now, with your daughter.”

There was no time for Man-at-Arms to express his grave doubts. But he hoped fervently that the choice of the Sorceress would prove more fitting than he feared it would.