Chapter 2: By the Power of Grayskull...

“知人者智，自知者明。勝人者有力，自勝者強。” / “Knowing others is intelligence; knowing yourself is true wisdom. Mastering others is strength; mastering yourself is true power.”

— Laozi (Lao Tzu), Tao Te Ching (Dao De Jing, The Classic of the Way and Virtue), Chapter 33. Original text composed in Classical Chinese, traditionally dated to the 6th century BCE. English interpretation by Stephen Mitchell. Published in Tao Te Ching: A New English Version. Harper & Row, New York, 1988. Copyright © 1988 by Stephen Mitchell. All rights reserved. Original Classical Chinese text in the public domain.

He attacked the city without restraint. The populace was not ready for a magical strike from Skeletor.

Times of prosperous victory had dulled many of the warrior spirits that had once lived within such a place. While there were many injured, there were few casualties. Only one was targeted to be taken, and that was King Randor.

The Defenders of Eternia stood firm and fought. On this day, they would not allow the honor of their king to be lost simply because they were caught unawares.

For his part, Randor drew his laege broadsword in preparation to do battle with Keldor once more. It was a sad detail that he did not understand the transformation his once-nemesis had gone through.

Sorceress lifted her staff and struck its jeweled end against the ancient stone.

There was only the weakest sound of a tap, and it did not echo, which should have scared Adam, but nothing about the day was going how he had expected.

Instead, the castle itself answered.

A low rumble traveled beneath Adam’s boots when the cracked floor of the throne room separated from his section, making it so he was standing on a unique platform. Stone slid aside with impossible ease and precision. Down below was not the darkness he would have come to expect but rather a radiant light created by massive crystal formations. They were scattered in the depth with every color imaginable across the weathered walls.

Sorceress made a motion as they floated downward.

“This is the heart of Castle Grayskull where the some of the greatest secrets of the Universe lay hidden, Prince Adam,” she said softly.

Adam stared into the impossible abyss.

“I ... don’t suppose there’s another way down?”

She merely looked at him as if to say he knew the answer.

A resigned breath left his lips as he stepped onto the floating stone beside her and began a descent into a world he had not expected to see on that morning.

Above, Duncan remained at the edge of the opening. He put his hand on his belt, inching closer to the grip of his mace. There was this look of worry and adoration on his face that Adam had not expected to see.

The deeper they traveled, the more Adam understood that the magic of Sorceress was a part of the fortress he had so often taken for granted.

It was as though they were descending through an abyss that might never end. Towering crystals surrounded a circular platform that looked nearly identical to a bunch of other random standing places. Each glowed in its own way, and Adam mistook part of the back walls for an enormous window to see the night sky.

Only Then when he looked more closely that he realized there was no windows but rather entire galaxies drifting in the backdrop of this secret basement of the castle.

He staggered back half a step, breathless.