“He-Thing.”

He-Thing stirs,

lost in dreams.

But it’s the voice

of the Emperor.

He-Thing wakes.

He is twenty-one,

a man now,

today is his birthday.

His head throbs in pain.

The world wobbles.

He is in his bed in his room

in the palace.

It is night.

His father,

Emperor Leotas the 23rd,

son of Madosine the Weak,

sits at his bedside.

“Welcome back, Alam.

his father says.

“You fell off your robo-horse.

Do you remember?”

He-Thing remembers.

It was Tiderunner,

the most strong-spirited,

most stubborn

robo-horse

he has ever encountered.

He had control of the machine

for ten seconds, maybe;

and then Tiderunner started

bucking.

“I should have that robot

destroyed,”

Emperor Leotas mutters.

“No, father!”

He-Thing protests loudly,

despite the fog of his pain,

“I can tame him.

Just...

give me time.”

The Emperor sighs.

He is in his sixties now,

and has had his

battles with time,

as any man does,

and he knows

there are more sorties

ahead.

“I have not come to you

to talk about robo-horses,”

Leotas says.

“My son,

you are a man now,

and as a man,

you must do a man’s work.”

The Emperor peers at his son.

Leotas’s blue eyes

have paled with age,

as his blond hair has,

while his voice has gotten grittier,

and his fingers are never still.

“I must send you on an errand,

far away,”

Emperor Leotas says.

“But father,”

He-Thing says,

“Zolantos

is on the other side

of the Empire.

It will be months

before he returns.”

“Zolantos,”

the Emperor speaks,

“Will not be going with you.”

A mission without Zolantos!

Without his teacher...

Without his protector...

Under his own autonomy...

“Thank you, father,”

He-Thing says,

unable to disguise his pride.

“I will not fail you.”

“Of course you will not,”

Leotas says.

The Emperor’s eyes

become lost

for a moment.

“Have you heard of a place

called Gorilla River?”

Emperor Leotas asks his son.

“I have not.”

“I doubted you would,”

says Leotas.

“An inconsequential place,

on the outskirts

of civilization,

North of the Quivering Mountains.”

“Beyond the Desert of Puzzles?

The Emperor nods.

“Yes. It is far —

but it is still our domain.

Our vassal,

the Baron Zoneex,

has taken control of these lands,

but has been experiencing

resistance

from a tribe of androktones, the Amazi,

ferocious pagan warrior women.

These are fierce, perverse

creatures,

and should not be underestimated.”

“What do you wish me to do, father?”

He-Thing asks.

“Go to Gorilla River.”

the Emperor say.

“Go to the Amazi queen.

Convince her to make peace

with the Baron.”

He-Thing bows his head.

“I will do as you will, father.”

The Emperor frowns.

“There is something else.”

He motions with his hand,

and a servant comes out of the shadows,

carrying Emperor Leotas’s sword,

the Nebule Blade,

outstretched in his hands.

“But father!”

He-Thing exclaims.

“The Nebule Blade is your sword!

I cannot take it!”

The Emperor shakes his head.

“I am old,” he says.

“You are young.”

“No, father,” says He-Thing,

“Do not ask me to take the sword,

you are not old!”

The Emperor grimaces.

“I am not giving you a gift, Alam.

I am bestowing upon you

a duty.

The Nebule Blade is your birthright.

It is not to lighten your burden;

but to increase its weight.”

The servant pushes the sword

out to He-Thing.

Our hero hesitates,

reaches out,

and takes the fabled sword

into his hands.

He has not held it

since he was just a child,

and his father let him handle it

for the smallest moment.

“Long has this sword

passed down through my fathers,” says Leotas.

”And now it passes to you.”

to be continued...