All was silent in the forest save for the quiet chirping of insects and the occasional rustle of animal life.

A red flash burst through the underbrush, breath coming in gasps as he tore through the forest. A hurried glance behind, his acute ears picked up on his pursuers. He accelerated, bursting through the sun-dappled greenery at rapid speeds in his attempt to escape.

"It's okay—we'll get you somewhere safe!" Orko told the infant-sized bundle in his arms. He pulled back the blanket it was wrapped in to reveal its form.

A smooth, large, pearly-white egg.


HOURS EARLIER


Eternia was still recovering from King Hiss's invasion three weeks ago.

Despite this, the forest was fine; It recovered quickly, because living on Eternia meant you had to recover fast when catastrophic disasters happened. Moss Man helped to heal it as well, of course. Despite massive swaths of the land having been trampled by Serpos's mighty tail, it was now all rustling insects and fresh green scent as Orko drifted aimlessly through the trees.

Orko hadn't been present during the attack, even though he was the only magician they had (besides the Sorceress who was always stuck in Castle Grayskull). Instead, he'd been sent away with Queen Marlena, the courtiers, and the citizens of Eternos City to the caverns in Drisdos. Drisdos had massive underground bunkers, a cavernous system connected to Subternia that was big enough to house the citizens temporarily. More importantly, the entrances were too small for Serpos to get their heads through.

The battle against the Snakemen was a long flight, then an even longer time waiting to hear if the Masters had won, if the kingdom and Grayskull were safe. In the meantime, Orko had done magic for everyone to distract them while they waited. He pulled out every trick he knew (and several he didn't), mucking up his spells twice for every time he did it right; Although, to everyone gathered there it didn't seem to matter much either way. Towards the end of his tricks, more people were starting to pay attention and even laugh, which spurred Orko on despite how tired he felt.

When the queen walked out and signaled for him to stop, the entire cavern went quiet. The cheer that went up when she announced that they'd won was deafening.

He'd thought that was it. Hiss was gone and Serpos was a mountain again (he never thought he'd be thankful for Snake Mountain!), so everyone was safe and there was nothing to worry about for a while. Even Skeletor needed a break to recover from that. But when they got back, there was so much ruin. Parts of the palace were destroyed, again, as well as several towns and villages; they were lucky Serpos approached the palace from the side the capital wasn't on, or else it would have been so much worse. Everyone had been busy for days with construction, rebuilding, training, politics, diplomacy. All things that Orko wasn't involved in and couldn't help with. He was rarely needed around usually, but now it was extreme.

Of course, it made sense that his friends would be busy. The Snakemen had destroyed so much when they woke up Serpos. Everyone was stressed trying to fix all the problems the Snakemen had caused. Orko had thought maybe they needed magic to cheer them up, or maybe he could do small tasks to help out—but no. Every time he offered to help, he kept being sent to do something on the opposite side of the palace, then waved away from that side of the palace when he got there.

He'd tried one last time the other day. Man-e-faces was in charge of reconstructing a wing of the palace. Orko went up to him, and before he could even ask how he could help, Man-e handed Orko a sandbag and told him to hold it, just for a second. Then he'd turned away to talk to someone else. Orko held it, waiting, his arms starting to hurt from the weight, but Man-e kept talking to other people, then more people, then turning Monster to lift this, then Robot to analyze that, and never got back to him. He'd forgotten about Orko entirely. Orko shoved the sandbag into his sleeve and left.

No one even noticed he was gone.

So today, he'd decided to do something else. If they didn't want him there, at least there was someone who might appreciate him! The Sorceress probably got lonely in that castle. Maybe he could do some magic tricks for her, or she could help him out with his studies.

But then again, she was likely busy as well, so Orko trailed on a more meandering path to Grayskull than he usually would have taken, stalling to avoid a rejection he was starting to believe was inevitable.

Orko's mood steadily grew gloomier, as it tended to when he was alone for too long, when his thoughts were derailed completely by something white and smooth shining against the fertile soil of the forest floor.

An egg. A big one.

Orko hesitated, floating back several feet as he stared. A dragon egg—Except—It didn't look like a dragon egg.

Orko floated closer now, studying it. He'd carried around dragon eggs for the better part of the day once, and this didn't look anything like them. There were no stripes, and the texture was smooth, less bumpy. Orko touched it curiously, then recoiled as he realized how bad an idea that was.

He looked around frantically, anticipating a giant mother lumbering through the canopy to roast him alive, but nothing happened.

He sat down beside it.

There weren't many of Eternian creatures that were more dangerous than dragons, so it had to be something better, something safer. Man-at-arms would know what it was.

Orko picked up the egg. It was heavy, but small enough he could still carry it in his arms. Well, he couldn't walk into the palace holding it, someone would stop him and start asking questions, so Orko shoved it into his sleeve with some difficulty. It would be safe there.

With that, he bolted back towards the palace, ears held higher than when he left it.

...

Duncan was tired.

Sleep did not come easy after the invasion. If not for Zodak's intervention, either Randor would have surrendered the palace to Hiss or Stratos's face would have been melted off.

Even when Skeletor had broken the Mystic wall and attacked the kingdom unexpectedly, that situation had been better. They had suffered similar damages to the palace, but at least they'd been able to drive the Evil Warriors into an uninhabited area. This time, their attackers had a literal god on their side. A god. It almost made Duncan laugh; Not because it was funny, more the 'hysterical, adrenaline fueled' kind of laugh that happened when your sixteen-year old prince had to fight a god while you tried to keep all of Eternos from being eaten alive.

Currently, Duncan worked on security measures for Hiss's prison. Hiss had been beheaded, but Snakemen regenerated. Very easily, as they had found out. Randor had decided not to take the chance again.

Rattlor had escaped, seemingly fled along with most of the Snakemen to parts unknown. He was likely in the Dark Hemisphere by now. All kingdoms of the Light Hemisphere were on high alert— Even ones that had been...Shyer about joining the council. Having a mountain turn to life and threaten to eat everyone tended to do that to you. However, other kingdoms that had previously allied with Randor readily were questioning if allying with the side that could awaken gods was a better plan. Negotiating with the Snakemen was madness, but others didn't see it that way.

Someone was behind him.

Adrenaline shot though his muscles as in a split-second he was ready for attack—the screwdriver flipped in his hand turning into a deadly weapon he could drive into the intruder's throat—

"Man-at-arms, you wouldn't believe what I found—"

Duncan grit his teeth, forcing down the frayed-nerves that came from someone suddenly existing in a space where only air had been previously. He didn't turn around. "Aren't you forgetting something?" he asked, voice sharp.

"Forgetting? What...What could I..." There was a moment of silence, broken only by a slight jingle of—well, of whatever on Orko's person always made that little jingling noise.

"Oh!" Orko swooshed off.

Silence.

There was a belated knocked on the door. Duncan sighed.

"So anyway, I have something super important—" Orko continued, drifting back.

"What did I tell you about sneaking up behind me?" Duncan asked, spinning around and facing the jester with a stern look.

Duncan wasn't good with magic. One glance at Orko told that he dripped magic from every orifice —very powerful magic which he had little to no control over. Teleporting was the least troublesome ability he had.

The jester stared back at him with guileless amber eyes. "Um, not to, but—"

"Not to," Duncan emphasized, "because it's very unsettling. There are people who aren't going to notice it's you in time."

"King Randor doesn't mind. Or Adam," Orko offered.

"I do." Duncan folded his arms, deciding to change the topic before Orko could argue any more. "What is it you need?"

"Okay, so—" Orko flung out his hands before him like he was addressing a crowd of people instead of just one. "You know how everyone is busy since Serpos attacked, right? Well, the other day I went to go ask Man-e how I could help him rebuild the eastern wing of the palace, and he said he would tell me what to do in just one second but then he turned away from me and—"

Duncan blinked and lost track of the story completely. He stared at Orko, trying to tune back into the enthusiastic rambling. Duncan tried to listen to Orko, he really did, but it was difficult when Orko presented information in massive blocks of words you had to sift through with a comb to find the point.

"—that maybe the Sorceress gets lonely when she's in Castle Grayskull by herself all the time! I mean, that's a great idea, right?"

Duncan picked it up. "You can't go there. Eternos and surrounding areas are still on high alert."

Orko froze. "I...can't?"

"No, you can't, the Evergreen forest is dense and easy to hide in. You could be attacked by Snakemen still lingering after the attack." Duncan narrowed his eyes at Orko. "You didn't go there, did you?"

"No!" Orko said. "Of course not! Why would I go to the Evergreen Forest?" Duncan narrowed his eyes more.

"Okay, maybe-"

"Orko!"

"But that's not the point!" Orko backed up as Duncan stood. He grabbed Orko by the arm and marched for the door.

"But nothing, Orko!" Duncan pulled him up and looked him in the eyes. "It's dangerous out there, more so than usual. You can't go out there just because...Man-e did something!"

"That's not even what I'm talking about!" Orko whined, staring back at him. "I found something-" "Whatever it was, forget about it—don't go back to the forest!" Duncan pushed him out of the lab.

"If you're bored, clean your room. I don't want to hear any more about this!"

"But the—"

Duncan slammed the door.

He leaned against it, back thumping against the metal and sighed. He ran a metal-plated hand down his face.

Okay. He didn't get eaten by Snakemen. Now that he knows he'll get in trouble, he's not going to,

Duncan thought.
Then, Why was he born with no sense of self preservation?

Duncan made his way back to his workbench and sat down, flicking back on the light he'd shut off to talk to Orko. Not the most pleasant conversation, but Duncan put that in the back of his mind.

At least that was the end of it.

...

"—egg!" Orko finished, but it was no use.

Man-at-arms had shut the door completely, and he couldn't hear Orko with his tiny human ears. Typical Man-at-arms. Maybe he could tell Stratos about it. Wildlife and nature were some of his primary interests; Every time Beast Man trotted out a new monster, Stratos was the first to identify it. Stratos would know what it was.

All was silent in the walkway outside Man-at-arms workshop, save for the gentle breeze and distant bustle of people hard at work. Something about the silence carried with it a pause, and Orko hesitated.

Stratos was probably busy after all. He'd brush him off just as Man-at-arms had done, and Orko would be pushed outside and told to do something else. Stratos might even leave for Avion without telling him, and he'd be there, waiting...useless. And if he didn't, well, nobody wanted Orko to do anything nowadays. If he told the Masters about this, they'd take it from him and that would be it. They wouldn't let him help with whatever needed to be done with it—They might even be angry with him for moving it!

No, he wasn't going to tell the Masters. He was an archmage of the Crimson Council, and being on Eternia didn't change that. He could handle this by himself, then they'd all see how useful he was and wouldn't send him off to a cave next time the palace got attacked!

He dropped the egg off in his room. it took him a while to find it amid the contents of his sleeves, but he found it again in the end and deposited it softly onto his bed. He wasn't sure, he realized, if eggs needed heat or open air, or something else—He'd found it in a pile of leaves, so in an attempt to imitate those conditions, he ended up wrapping the covers all around it on his bed and cracked open the window to his room, which was off to the side, in the bathroom. His room had originally been a storage area for the royal suite, so it was long and oddly shaped, and only had that small window to the side. He hoped that was enough.

After that, he snuck out of his room and headed to the palace library.

After some hours of research, Orko gasped, loudly slammed the book he was holding shut, then cautiously peeked it open again as if it were about to bite him. He stared at the pages for several minutes, his unusual stillness and quiet indicating deep thought. Then he turned back to the shelves removed books with more purpose to his movements, and he left the library with a stack almost as tall as himself.

Orko could barely contain his excitement as dropped the books off in his room, then left to gather more materials that would come in handy. It was time to hatch the egg!

...

Somewhere in the Dark Hemisphere, a crystal began to glow.

Evil-lyn emerged from her private bathing room in a purple robe, rubbing a washcloth across her face and short white hair. She bit back a yawn, the back of her hand coming up towards her mouth as she turned her gaze lazily across her chambers.

She saw the crystal.

At once, all hint of tiredness slipped from her features. She marched for the crystal, holding out her hand to summon her staff from where it leaned against the wall. She knelt down in front of the small table she'd positioned it on, knees bare against the smooth volcanic rock.

Hardly daring to hope, her fingers brushed against the crystal's surface. She blinked, her eyes turning a vibrant magenta as she gazed into its aura and listened to what it told her with senses few on Eternia could even comprehend. Her breath quickened. Just as abruptly as she dropped to her knees, she rose, light fading from her eyes.

"Interesting," Evil-lyn said to no one. "How very interesting."

With one hand she raked her nails across her damp scalp, summoning her helmet in a flash of violet. She got dressed as quickly as she could, and left for the vehicle bay, walking as fast as possible without drawing undue questions.

It was time to pay Eternos a visit.