We Have the Power!
Copyright© 2026 by Carlos Santiago
Chapter 19: After the Battle
“There are better things ahead than any we leave behind.”
— C. S. Lewis, from a letter to Mary Willis Shelburne dated June 17, 1963. Later published in The Collected Letters of C. S. Lewis, Volume III: Narnia, Cambridge, and Joy, 1950–1963, edited by Walter Hooper. HarperCollins, 2007. Also published in Letters to an American Lady, edited by Clyde S. Kilby. William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1967. Copyright © The Estate of C. S. Lewis. All rights reserved.
The moments after He-Man slaying Skeletor birthed a silence that lingered within Castle Grayskull. The ambiance was heavy for this reason. Of grief, relief, disbelief, exhaustion, death, and even happiness, the room filled up with those emotions in an unequal measure.
The shattered chamber still bore the scars of battle, but they all witnessed as Adam said the phrase to return the magic to Grayskull. All of the damage he had sustained was undone by the power of the castle. Nevertheless, the look of adoration never left Evil-Lyn.
Adam was, to her, just as powerful and important as He-Man was to the rest of them.
“ ... It’s over,” Man-at-Arms whispered.
Marzo slowly shook his head.
“No,” the old wizard corrected quietly. “This battle is over, but as you know well, Duncan, there will be more battles to come.”
The words settled upon the room. The Defenders of Eternia knew that the little man was telling the truth, and for them, even despite the painful conclusion of this day, the declaration was all the more meaningful.
Sorceress stepped forward slowly. The blast she had endured from Skeletor had been a painful one; nevertheless, as one of the guardians of Grayskull, she knew her vigil was more important than temporary pain.
Her gaze rested upon Skeletor’s fallen form.
At length Duncan bent down and retrieved Skeletor’s Havoc Staff from the floor and motioned to the corpse. He turned toward Stratos.
“Will you help me?”
The winged king inclined his head.
“What do you need?”
“Skeletor deserves a burial. He might have been our enemy, but no one deserves to rot where they died, and I would not want him ruining this castle.”
Mekaneck stepped forward.
“I’ll help. I am sure being able to scout out places in the Dark Hemisphere will be helpful while we carry its most powerful warrior with us.”
Stratos folded his wings.
“I’ll fly him there. Lead the war, Man-at-Arms.”
Duncan wrapped up Skeletor within a dark cloak. He picked him up, and the three Defenders walked from the area.
When they departed, Ram Man scratched the back of his helmet as he walked toward an exhausted Adam. His usual confidence was strangely absent, having been replaced by a nervous uncertainty.
“Uh...”
Adam looked up when he saw the closeness of the warrior to him. Only a moment ago, all the prince cared about was that he and Lyn had survived the engagement.
Ram Man rubbed one armored boot against the rubble.
“I reckon...” he sighed. “Look, Prince Adam. I’m sorry.”
Adam blinked.
“For what?”
Ram Man looked embarrassed.
“I made jokes that you weren’t He-Man right to your face. I shouldn’t have compared you two. It wasn’t right”
“Well, I’m not,” Adam said, flashing a tired smile.
“Huh?” Ram Man shook his head. “I’m sorry. What I mean ... I kept thinkin’ He-Man was the hero, and I was rude to say that in front of you.”
“Ram Man,” Adam said slowly. “You couldn’t have known I was him.”
Ram Man smiled sheepishly.
“Maybe not. But because of me, you felt you needed to prove yourself, and you almost died for nothin’.”
Adam’s eyes watered ever so slightly. He had not expected a Defender of Eternia to say such words
“Thank you,” Adam said. “But you don’t need to apologize. It all worked out in the end.”
Ram Man extended one enormous hand.
Adam accepted it.
The giant warrior pulled him into an embrace that nearly lifted him off the floor.
“You’re a heck of a hero, kid!”
Ram Man laughed, and Adam found himself smiling.
For her part, Lyn stared in bewilderment at the heroes. She wondered how those morons ever had given herself or Skeletor a problem.
Even as she asked the question, she realized that she would no longer view them as a problem.
Teela stood apart from the others. When she had recovered herself, she had her arms crossed and never allowed her eyes to leave Adam.
So much made sense and did not make sense at all.
Like Ram Man, she had made ridiculous statements. The only difference was she had taunted him, mocked him, derided him, and belittled him and his efforts ... when all along, he had been the hero the whole time. Without him, not only would the day have been lost, but Skeletor would still be alive.
If she had not been so foolish or arrogant, she might have considered the possibility that Adam was good enough the whole time.
Finally, after she knew Ram Man was done, she crossed the chamber.
“I’m sorry.”
Adam looked surprised.
“You too?”
She nodded.
“I’ve spent these many weeks comparing you to He-Man, saying how you weren’t good enough.”
A bitter laugh escaped her at the foolish thought.
“I suppose that’s strange, considering...” She gestured vaguely toward the Sword. “ ... you’ve been him all along.”
“It wasn’t entirely your fault,” Adam said, lowering his head.
“Oh?”
“You couldn’t have known, and Sorceress had asked me to keep my identity a secret. Not much of a point now. Is there?”
He looked past Teela, and Sorceress looked back for a moment before shrugging in uncertainty.
A long moment dropped, and neither spoke before Teela laughed softly.
“I suppose I owe you quite a few apologies, then,” she said. “I was inconsiderate. I didn’t think about what it must have been like to be you.”
“I’ll settle for one,” he said, chuckling.
She punched him lightly upon the shoulder.
“Deal.”
Her smile faded as she turned toward Lyn. The former witch of Skeletor stood quietly beside Adam. Despite Teela’s misgivings, Evil-Lyn looked as though she was exactly where she belonged.
Teela folded her arms at that notion. A part of her chest beat with a jealous cadence before disappearing. Teela was a childhood friend of Adam, and there might have been an intention of the rulers and Man-at-Arms. Regardless of those factors, when she saw them, and how they fit so well together, there was no cause for envy.
The two were where they belonged. Unfortunately, that led Teela’s brain into asking a whole different question. She faced the former-villain.
“So...”
Lyn met her gaze without hesitation.
“So?”
“ ... Does this mean you’re one of the good guys now?”
The remaining Defenders glanced toward the pair.
Then she slowly shook her head.
“No.”
Teela raised an eyebrow.
“No?”
“I’m not on the side of Eternia, she said simply. “I’m on Adam’s.”
While that was not the answer Teela expected, she did not look away from Lyn. Lyn did the honor of not looking away from Teela, either.
“If Adam serves Eternia...” Lyn said, shrugging. “ ... then I suppose I will help, but I do that because he matters to me, not because I care about your kingdom.”
Adam held Lyn’s hand.
“I can work with that,” Teela said
Lyn smirked.
“I suspected you might.”
“Good,” Marzo said, clapping his hands together. “Now that this is all well and sorted, we need to figure out about what we do next.”
“Next?” Lyn wondered.
“Yes. You and Adam are a pair. Everyone here knows Adam is He-Man, but there are still other dangers, not to mention, you all will have to tell this to the king and queen. They are important. No?”
“Aww!” Adam said, slapping his hand against his forehead. “What’s Dad gonna say when he find out I’m He-Man.”
“What’s he gonna say when he finds out you’re dating Evil-Lyn?” Teela asked with a laugh.
The journey back to Snake Mountain was quieter than any of them remembered. The Evil Warriors ran as quickly as they could from Castle Grayskull and the Heroic Warriors. By the time, they were deep in the Dark Hemisphere, they were practically limping into their once-great hideout.
Beast Man led with his head lowered. Mer-Man limped beside Webstor while Clawful occasionally glanced over his shoulder as though expecting Skeletor’s laughter to suddenly echo across the rocks or even for He-Man to burst into the room.
Neither such an event occurred.
The Havoc Banner of their deceased leader lingered, and his victories were all they had to remember him by.
Beast Man slowly climbed the steps before the throne.
“ ... Boss?” he asked quietly. “I’m so sorry!”
The others grieved in their own way. Trap Jaw banged his fist against a rock for all the good it did him. Mer-Man did not weep, but he saw no point in staying, so he walked out of the
The room descended into silence once again.
Only Tri-Klops remained standing.
His single mechanical eye swept slowly across every face before resting upon the empty throne.
Unlike the others ... he was thinking. He left without much grandeur or ceremony. Let them mourn the loss of the great Skeletor, but the war was not over. One battle was not the entirety of a conflict, and one soldier, even a great leader such as Skeletor, was not the entire army.
He turned and disappeared through one of Snake Mountain’s countless corridors.
No one followed him, which was good, for they would have found a secret that very few knew about. There was a chance Evil-Lyn knew, and she might tell her new love, but that did not matter, for unless He-Man came for them right then and there, he could not stop what was to be done.
The corridor narrowed before ending at what appeared to be an ordinary stone wall.
Tri-Klops reached into a narrow crack between two ancient stones. Probing with his hand, his fingers found a hidden lever.
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