Sword of the Ancients
							A Mineternia Tale
                                                     By Hordak Alpha

		The Lyrithian Council laughed at the proposal made by the two inferior women.   "Align with the kingdom of Eternos?" asked the Alpha of the Council,   "Never shall we ally ourselves with a kingdom that sends two females as its representation."              Queen Marlena of the House of Eternos and Teela stood before the members of the council taking the insults with great patience.      To be a good diplomat one had to show a cool level head no matter if those you were proposing an alliance with were a bunch of female hating men.     The Lyrithian government was under total rule by men and women were totally loathed and were mere slaves within the walls of the community.        Queen Marlena cleared her throat and said   "Please, hear me out completely.     All civilizations across the light hemisphere must band together if we are all to survive."                 "Why exactly must we band together?" sniveled the Alpha of the Council as he sipped from a goblet filled with gorgonian brandy.            "Goddess Teela'na has forseen a great invasion from the dark dimension of Despondos soon to come our way." said Teela,   "If we are to survive such an invasion from the ancient Horde then we must pull together all of our resources and warriors to combat the threat."           Queen Marlena nodded in agreement.  "Eternos cannot defeat such an ancient darkness alone."    

              The Alpha of the Council set down his goblet and steepled his fingers in thought.   All of the members of the council were dressed in long robes of lavender with a red sash.     "I see." said the Alpha of the Council,   "We do think of all mortal women as lowly creatures except for The Goddess.   She is a product of the divine almighty force that created Eternia and the heavens around us.     We shall accept your proposal of alliance on one condition."    "What would that be?" asked Queen Marlena.                   "The two of you must retrieve the Sword of the Ancients and bring it back here before the council." said the Alpha of the Council.            "Where exactly is this Sword of the Ancients?" asked Teela.             "Deep within the caverns of the underground world of Subternia." replied the Alpha of the Council,   "It is a weapon rumored to have been cast down from the heavens by the Almighty to tempt the ancient beings of the world with a great power.         A man found the sword by accident and gained great power.         In turn he declared himself a god and turned the peoples of his civilization away from the Almighty and created his own, blasphemous, religion.            The Almighty struck down the man and cast the Sword of the Ancients deep into Subternia close to the very heart of the planet."                         "Okay," said Teela,   "It shouldn't be too hard to find the sword then."       The Alpha of the Council grinned.     "The sword is encased within a rock of solid koridite and only one of true purity and with favor from the Almighty may be able to pull the sword from the stone."  

         A mob of lavender robed men came out from the shadows and surrounded Queen Marlena and Teela.   "What is the meaning of this?" demanded the Eternos queen.      "There is a slight catch." said the Alpha of the Council,   "Neither of you can be aided by weapons, supplies or..." he paused and grinned,  "clothing."            The mob enfolded Teela and Marlena and robbed them of their weapons, any supplies they did carry and tore the clothes that they wore to shreds.        Even the trinkets and boots the two women wore were taken from them.      The mob receded back into the shadows and Queen Marlena and Teela now stood before the Lyrithian Council completely nude.           "This shall be a true test for the two of you." said the Alpha of the Council,   " Accomplish the goal set before you and we can talk about alliance with your government.  Fail the task and you can forget all about it."          Teela's face turned bright red with anger and was about to tell the council leader what she thought about the whole situation when Marlena placed a hand on her shoulder and motioned for her to keep silent.       "We shall take up your task and win it." said Queen Marlena.                  The council members chuckled.      "The council guards shall take you to an entrance into Subternia."                  The guards motioned for the two nude women to follow them.          Queen Marlena took a defiant and royal look to her face and,  without a single hint of humilitation in her eyes, followed the guards with Teela following at her heels.

         "I can't believe this." said Teela as she and Marlena made their way through the cavernous catacombs of Subternia,   "They went out of their way to humiliate us.    They think of us as..." before Teela could finish Marlena hushed her.       "If you bow to humiliation you accept defeat." said Marlena,   "We must play the game as it is,Teela, and win the game we shall."            The council had been "kind" enough to provide the women with a single torch to light their way through the perilous catacombs.     "They told us a certain place and direction to look for the sword so I assume that the council knows exactly where it is." said Marlena.          The ground below the bare feet of the Eternos women was covered with slimy green moss and sharp rocks.        With each step the soles of their feet were cut.     Still they pressed on.           After a few hours of hiking through the caverns Marlena and Teela came upon a brightly lit chamber.               The light came from the glowing korodite crystals that occupied the chamber.          Teela and Marlena looked around for a single sign of the Sword of the Ancients but did not find it.          They hiked through the chamber some more and Teela sighted the sword embedded up to the hilt in a massive chunk of korodite. 

      Suddenly out of nowhere Orko, the trollan magician of Eternos, appeared out of nowhere.        Teela shrieked at the sight of Orko and desperately tried to cover up her nakedness.      Marlena did not and calmly addressed Orko.   "Orko, an unexpected surprise you have played upon us."                Orko nodded.   "I've been waiting at the transport for hours and I figured I'd look for you two."   Orko then stopped short and cast his gaze upon the bare women.   "I wasn't expecting to find you both this way."                 An ill wind suddenly began to blow through the chamber.     The cold chill of the wind was not welcome to the unclothed women.                Out of the shadows stepped a cloaked figure.       "Those who come for the Sword of the Ancients shall find only death." uttered the creature.    It was a Guardian Wraith, an ancient species of demon spirit that had been rumored to be placed near powerful artifacts.      Marlena stepped forward and said  "Begone demon.   We shall retrieve the Sword of the Ancients and there is not a single thing you can do to thwart us."            The Wraith chuckled  "Many have traveled to these ancient catacombs and have said similar.    As you see their bones decorate this chamber just as much as the korodite."      The Wraith gestured around and Marlena, Teela and Orko looked around at pieces of skeletal remains dotted the very ground around them.      

         Marlena handed the torch she held over to Teela.        With royal defiance Marlena made her way towards the buried sword.              The Wraith swiftly hovered over to Marlena to block her way.          The gust whipped up by the motion of the spectre sent a cool chill across the queen's exposed front.         "Turn back now or be destroyed." said the Wraith.              Marlena closed her eyes and passed right through the demon spirit.          Marlena grabbed the handle of the sword and began to pull.          Without effort at all Marlena pulled the Sword of the Ancients from the korodite and held it aloft.            The Wraith chuckled in amusement.   "It seems you are favored by the forces of the divine.   Let us see if you can leave this chamber alive with the sword in tow."                 The Wraith disappeared and the korodite mounds began to shutter and shake.              Orko covered his eyes in worry and Teela looked about.    Marlena calmly handed the sword over to Teela.      "I am not much of a sword fighter I'm afraid." she said as the korodite mounds began to take shape and move.       All of the mounds joined into one and formed a terrifyingly large crystaline creature with jagged korodite crystal protruding from it's body.             Teela gulped.    "You expect me to take on that thing?" she asked.          Marlena nodded.    "You shall come to no harm for you are the daughter of Goddess Teela'na.        Blood of the almighty forces of the universe flow through you."             Orko was about to lend aide with a spell of some sort until Marlena stopped him short with a gentle pull on his shoulder.        "We cannot interfere, Orko.    Teela must be the one to slay the beast."                Teela rolled her eyes and then cast her gaze upon the crystal monstrosity before her.

            Teela gripped the Sword of the Ancients tightly.         Suddenly she was filled with a great sense of focus and power.            Her body began to move as if the spirit of the very sword were in control.            Orko was astonished as Teela suddenly leapt into the air with an agility equal to that of He-Man or She-Ra.            Teela watched in awe as her own body moved and dodged each and every attack mounted by the crystal beast.       She moved with an incredible speed that her own mind could not comprehend.         Her body was merely the vessel of the spirit of the sword as Teela's consciousness took a backseat to watch the action unfold.          A massive sword of jagged korodite formed into the powerful hands of the crystal creature.     It swung the massive blade down towards Teela and with precise reflex the divinely possessed warrior girl swung the Sword of the Ancients up and blocked the powerful downward slash from the korodite sword.           Teela held firm and kept the sword in a locked clash with divine strength.       The crystal creature withdrew and was about to mount another assault when Teela moved forward at super fast speeds and cut two downward slashes through the creature.           The crystal creature shattered to pieces and Teela now was in control of her body once more.            "Go along your way now." came the voice of the Wraith as it echoed through the chamber.    " Proven your worth you have."

            Sometime later the council stood in shock as the two nude women emerged from the caverns with the Sword of the Ancients in tow.          "By the Elders you have done it." said the Alpha of the Council.           An angry look glazed across Teela's face and she hurled the sword through the air.        The whirling blade caught fast into the waiting hand of the Alpha of the Council.          "Earned your alliance you have." he said.           Marlena grinned slyly.     "I have thought long and hard and have decided to withdraw our request for an alliance."           The Alpha looked shocked and remained silent.           "Your society is full of hatred and cowardice." said Marlena,   "You have shown such through the actions you took to attempt to humiliate us by taking our clothes."              The Sword of the Ancients glowed brightly and the Alpha screamed as his hand was seared.             As he let go the sword vanished.         "Eternos will not ally with you for your demeaning and cowardly treatment of the women of your society." said Marlena,  " You all deserve whatever fate is in store for you.   Meanwhile Eternos and the rest of the allied governments shall remain safe in the coming storm."            Without another word Queen Marlena, Teela and Orko left the council chambers and left the Lyrithian Council to think on Marlena's words of truth.