Origin of a Hero Read online

  CONTENTS

  TITLE PAGE

  THE WORLD OF ETHERIA

  ADORA

  SHE-RA

  THE HORDE

  THE REBELLION

  CHAPTER 1: ADORA AND CATRA

  CHAPTER 2: PRINCESS GLIMMER BREAKS THE RULES

  CHAPTER 3: SNAKE!

  CHAPTER 4: COMMANDER’S PET

  CHAPTER 5: EVALUATION DAY

  CHAPTER 6: A BITTERSWEET REWARD

  CHAPTER 7: BACK IN BRIGHT MOON

  CHAPTER 8: INTO THE WHISPERING WOODS

  CHAPTER 9: BOW’S PLAN

  CHAPTER 10: ADORA’S VISION

  CHAPTER 11: LIGHT HOPE’S CHALLENGE

  CHAPTER 12: FOR THE HONOR OF GRAYSKULL!

  CHAPTER 13: THE FIRST ONES

  CHAPTER 14: ADORA’S CHOICE

  TEASER

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  COPYRIGHT

  On a planet called Etheria, two forces battle for control.

  The Horde, with its skillfully trained soldiers and advanced technology, has one goal: to conquer all of Etheria in the name of Hordak.

  The other force, the Rebellion, is made up of princesses from across the planet and has been fighting to maintain harmony and freedom for all of Etheria’s inhabitants. But a series of heartbreaking defeats left their alliance broken, with the princesses looking out for their own kingdoms instead of working together.

  Hidden among them all is a hero to be. Her destiny was written by the First Ones a thousand years ago. Now she is about to rise again, and the future of Etheria lies in her hands.

  As her story unfolds, meet her and some of the characters who will help determine her fate …

  Raised by the Horde, Adora believed she was doing good. But when she finds a mythical sword that unlocks her power as She-Ra, Adora is driven to fight for Etheria as a leader of the Rebellion.

  ABILITIES: Adora is a clever problem solver, a fast and athletic soldier, and a brave fighter.

  When Adora raises her sword and pledges to fight “for the honor of Grayskull,” she is transformed into the mythical warrior princess She-Ra. Adora retains her personality and sense of self, but she’s taller and stronger—and has much better hair.

  POWERS: Super-strength, shape-shifting sword, limited healing powers, connection to the ancient First Ones of Etheria

  Catra and Adora were both orphans and were close growing up in the Horde; they thought of themselves as sisters. Catra is a prankster with a villainous streak that she is forced to explore once Adora discovers the sword.

  ABILITIES: She’s cunning and fast, with catlike reflexes.

  This scheming sorceress was the closest thing Adora and Catra had to a mother when they were growing up. Her mask hides more than her face … it hides the secret to her mysterious past.

  POWERS: Sorcery and control of shadows

  The evil leader of the Horde is bent on world domination. The Horde recruits rarely see him, as he prefers to plot from the depths of his lab.

  ABILITIES: He has a brilliant technological mind.

  The princess of Bright Moon is driven to find her own path and is an enthusiastic leader of the Rebellion. She has inherited magical powers from her mother, but her magic is limited, which can make her feel insecure at times.

  POWERS: Teleportation, energy blasts, sparkle powers

  Glimmer’s best friend is a good guy who values loyalty and honor above everything else. He will do anything for his friends—and even complete strangers.

  ABILITIES: He’s an expert archer and a whiz with technology.

  She is Glimmer’s mother and the immortal queen of Bright Moon. After the tragic death of her husband at the hands of the Horde, she is overprotective of her daughter.

  POWER: Flight

  “Look, Catra! This one is shaped like a perfect circle!”

  Adora scrambled across the pile of rubble toward Catra and dropped the shiny stone into her palm.

  For best friends, the two girls looked as different as night and day: Adora, with her sandy-blonde hair in a neat ponytail and her slender build. Catra, with her feline ears sticking out of her wild mane of dark brown hair, and her striking eyes: one turquoise and one golden yellow.

  Catra held the blue stone up to the light between two fingers, her nails as sharp as claws.

  “Nice one!” she said.

  “Keep it,” Adora told her.

  Catra grinned. “Nah—you can keep it. It matches your eyes.”

  “Aw, you are so sweet,” Adora replied.

  “Ew! You did not just say that about me. Take it back!” Catra protested.

  Adora laughed and slipped the stone into a pocket on her utility belt—part of the standard uniform for Horde recruits.

  Adora had been wearing a similar uniform since she could remember. Shadow Weaver told her she’d been abandoned in the Fright Zone as a baby and adopted by the Horde. That was all she knew about her past.

  She didn’t think about it much. There was little time for daydreaming when you were a Horde recruit. They trained from sunup until long after the sun went down. But there were a few pockets of free time here and there. Those she usually spent with Catra.

  Adora got back to searching the rock pile for treasures. The two girls had discovered the rubble stash when they were little. Even though they were teenagers now, they still came back. The stones were bright spots of color in the Fright Zone, a sprawling compound of cold metal buildings and spiraling black towers, all bathed in a dank, smoky haze of pollution from the factories. Topping it all off was a constant low, mechanical hum that never stopped. The rock pile was a haven, a place all their own.

  Of course, it was hard to keep anything secret from Shadow Weaver.

  “What are you doing, wasting your time in that pile of trash?” she’d asked the girls.

  “It’s not trash!” Catra had argued.

  Adora had backed her up. “The rocks are pretty!”

  They’d proudly showed her the smooth stones shaped like clouds and beetles and sprockets. Shadow Weaver had laughed.

  “They’re nothing more than chunks of silica altered by the heat of the weapons foundry,” she said.

  But she hadn’t stopped them from going there.

  “Have you found anything?” Adora asked Catra.

  Catra kicked the rubble. “Nothing.”

  The tech device on Adora’s wrist let out a beep. “Hey, we’ve gotta run! Training starts in three minutes!”

  Catra leapt off the rubble pile with feline grace. “Last one there has to mop the barracks!”

  Adora jumped to her feet. Catra made everything a competition. “No fair! You’ve got a head start!”

  She raced across the Horde compound, located in the heart of the Fright Zone. Catra was fast, but she was showing off, jumping across the metal rooftops of the soldiers’ quarters. Adora simply ran as fast as she could, taking a direct path to the training center.

  Breathless, she arrived at the door at the exact moment Catra jumped down from the roof.

  “Tie!” Adora announced.

  “Really?” Catra asked. “Because I’m pretty sure my foot touched the floor right before you got here.”

  Adora grabbed her by the arm and pulled her inside. “Come on! We don’t want to be late.”

  The two girls ran into the training room and slid into their seats next to Lonnie, Kyle, and Rogelio, members of their cadet team. Strong and tough, Lonnie wore her hair in long braids. Rogelio, a green lizard humanoid, combined agility and raw power in training exercises. Then there was Kyle. The skinny boy with a mop of light brown hair was always trying to keep up with his teammates.

  A buzzer blared, announcing the start of the session.

  “All right, recruits,” began Commander
Cobalt, a tall, imposing leader covered in blue fur. “Today we are taking a break from learning about our evil princess overlords to review Beast Island.”

  “Isn’t that where Catra’s from?” joked Octavia. The tall girl with tentacle arms on her back led another team of recruits.

  Catra growled and lunged forward. Adora pulled her back.

  “Beast Island, again?” asked Lonnie. “We’ve been hearing about it since we were little.”

  “That’s right,” Commander Cobalt said. “We teach it every year so you don’t forget. Break a rule and you will be sent to Beast Island. End of story.”

  “So, um, what kind of beasts are we talking about?” asked Kyle. “Nobody ever really says.”

  Rogelio grunted in agreement.

  “Dangerous beasts,” Commander Cobalt replied.

  “Yeah, but how dangerous, exactly?” Kyle asked. “Like, incinerate-you-with-one-fiery-breath kind of dangerous? Or chase-you-around-until-you-get-tired kind of dangerous?”

  “Stop asking so many questions, cadet!” Commander Cobalt barked. “That goes for everyone. You sit. You listen. You remember. No questions. Got it?”

  “Yes, Commander,” everyone responded. Catra looked at Adora and rolled her eyes. Adora giggled.

  The commander glared at the girls. “I highly suggest if you want to get anywhere in the Horde, you take this training seriously.”

  Adora straightened up. “Yes, Commander!” she said crisply.

  Commander Cobalt spent the rest of the session reciting a long list of things that could get you sent to Beast Island.

  “Disobeying a direct order from Hordak. Entering secure zones without permission. Stealing ration bars …”

  Adora took careful notes. She’d heard a rumor that Shadow Weaver was going to choose a new force captain soon. She wanted to make sure she was considered.

  Keep your eyes on the prize, Adora, she told herself.

  Finally, a buzzer sounded.

  “Yeah!” cheered Kyle. “Lunchtime!”

  The students filed out of the building. As usual, the recruits stuck with the members of their training teams. Adora, Catra, Lonnie, Kyle, and Rogelio stepped out into the afternoon heat together.

  “Anyone know what kind of ration bars we get today?” Kyle asked. “I hope it’s the beige ones.”

  “Beige? Are you crazy?” Adora said. “Everyone knows the gray ones are the best.”

  “I kind of like the brownish-greenish ones,” Lonnie said.

  “Ugh!” Catra cried. “Those taste like … like bugs!”

  “Really? Have you ever eaten a bug?” Lonnie asked.

  Catra grimaced. “Are you serious? No way!”

  Lonnie turned to face Rogelio, walking backward. “I bet you’ve eaten a few bugs, Rogelio. What do you think? Are they tasty?”

  Rogelio shrugged his scaly shoulders.

  Adora smiled. She felt pretty lucky to be assigned to this team. Everybody had their strengths and weaknesses, but they all worked together pretty well. She was glad to call them not only teammates, but friends.

  Pounding footsteps pulled Adora out of her thoughts.

  “Lonnie!” Adora grabbed her and pulled her out of the way just in time. A squad of Horde soldiers marched past the group. They looked unstoppable in their head-to-toe gray armor. Helmets hid their faces, with a panel of glowing light where their eyes should have been.

  “I heard they’re liberating a place called Elberon today,” Lonnie whispered. “It’s an outpost of Bright Moon.”

  Adora shuddered at the words Bright Moon. The capital of Etheria was run by princesses—cruel rulers who wanted to bring darkness and destruction to their planet. The Horde had been bravely fighting to take control of the kingdom for years now.

  “I wish I were going,” Catra muttered. “See the world outside the Fright Zone for once.”

  “Me too,” Adora agreed.

  She watched the squad march off, led by their brave force captain.

  That’ll be me someday, Adora vowed to herself. When I’m force captain, my team will kick some serious princess butt. We’ll free Etheria from their harsh rule forever!

  Thud!

  Princess Glimmer landed on the floor of the room she’d been staying in for the last couple of weeks. She had managed to successfully jump from the rocking chair to the side table. Then she’d leapt and grabbed the chandelier hanging from the ceiling. It had swung back and forth wildly, and she’d lost her grip.

  She jumped to her feet as the door opened. A woman in a forest-green gown, with hair piled on top of her head and wings fluttering on her back, rushed in.

  “Your Highness, are you all right?” the woman asked. “My attendant tells me you’ve refused to come to the harp recital. And then I heard that terrible crash!”

  “I’m fine, Mayor,” Glimmer said. She blew a stray strand of pink hair away from her face.

  “If you’re fine, then please join us for the recital,” the mayor of Elberon urged.

  “I can’t. I’m training,” Glimmer replied, jumping back onto the rocking chair. She struggled to keep her balance.

  The mayor sighed. “I don’t understand all this training, Princess. Elberon is the safest village in all of Etheria. We are far from Bright Moon and were never attacked even once during the great wars of the past.”

  Glimmer leapt toward the high dresser, grabbing the top with her hands and then pulling herself up. “My mother sent me to Elberon to protect you,” she replied with a grunt. “And that’s what I’m going to do.”

  “In that case,” the mayor said, “I humbly request your presence at the harp recital, where everyone will be. If we were to be attacked, what good would you be to us here in your room?”

  Glimmer jumped off the dresser and somersaulted across the rug. Then she hopped to her feet.

  “Fine,” Glimmer said. “But I am not going there to have fun. I will be there as a guard whose duty it is to keep the entire room safe!”

  “As you wish, Princess,” the mayor said. She left the room, sweeping her long skirt after her with a flourish.

  Glimmer hurtled over an ottoman and followed the mayor outside. They joined a throng of winged villagers in brightly colored clothes, all of them headed for the celebration hall.

  Glimmer shook her head as she watched their happy faces.

  The people here act like nothing is wrong. Like the Horde isn’t attacking all over Etheria more and more every day, destroying the peaceful, joyful planet we have worked so hard to build. These people go to their tea parties and harp recitals and pretend the Horde doesn’t exist. It’s a good thing Mom sent me here.

  As soon as she had the thought, Glimmer realized something: Maybe that’s exactly why Queen Angella had sent her to Elberon—because it was safe. Glimmer had begged and pleaded to have a bigger role in the resistance against the Horde. And instead of putting her on the front lines, her mother had sent her to the most boring village on all of Etheria.

  Glimmer sighed and entered the hall. She positioned herself by the doorway while the others took their seats. As the harpist began playing a slow, joyless tune, Glimmer scanned the room for suspicious activity, but the only thing she caught was a small boy yawning.

  His yawn was contagious. She leaned back against the wall, her eyes fluttering. The music was so mellow that after a while, she could hardly stay awake. Her eyes fluttered again …

  “The Horde is coming!”

  Glimmer snapped to attention. The harp music stopped. Everybody turned to see a breathless villager dressed in green. Glimmer could tell from his uniform that he was one of Elberon’s sentries from the guard post at the edge of the woods.

  The mayor stood up. “Arturo, what is this interruption?”

  “We saw them!” he replied. “Making their way over the ridge, heading toward the forest. A platoon of soldiers, and a whole bunch of strange machines. It’s the Horde, for sure!”

  Glimmer ran forward. “We need to get the children to
safety right away!” she cried. “Then everyone else needs to grab a weapon and—”

  The mayor interrupted her. “Arturo, are you sure it’s the Horde?”

  “It’s them,” Arturo said. “But I’m afraid we can’t fight them, Mayor. They outnumber us.”

  Panicked, the villagers began to all talk at once.

  “I’ll go with Arturo and join the sentries!” Glimmer shouted to the mayor. “We’ll need to stop them before they make it past the woods.”

  The mayor shook her head. “You heard Arturo,” she replied. “We must retreat.”

  Glimmer’s purple eyes flashed. “Retreat? You’re just going to let the Horde take over?”

  “We have no choice,” the mayor said.

  “Of course we do!” Glimmer cried. “We can fight!”

  Heart pounding, Glimmer grabbed Arturo by the arm and pulled him outside toward his horse.

  “Princess, come back here!” the mayor yelled. “That’s an order!”

  Glimmer ignored her. She and Arturo climbed up and took the reins.

  “Hurry!” Glimmer cried. “We don’t have much time!”

  Arturo hesitated.

  “I’m a princess, Arturo,” Glimmer said. “I outrank the mayor. Let’s go!”

  Arturo nodded and spurred the horse on. They rode until they reached the forest. He stopped the horse at the outpost—four tall sentry towers that rose above the treetops.

  They jumped off the horse and raced to the top of a sentry tower. Glimmer shouted out questions as they climbed.

  “What kind of weapons do you have here?”

  “Bows and arrows, mostly,” Arturo replied. “The four of us are pretty good shots.”

  “Four,” Glimmer repeated. She silently cursed herself for not checking this outpost before. If the only thing that stood between Elberon and the Horde were a few arrows, the village was in big trouble.

  Instinctively, she extended her arms. Glowing sparkles jumped from her fingertips. She’d practiced using her sparkle powers before, but never in a real battle.