The Shadowlands (Book)

## Book description

"Adora, Bow and Glimmer have two parts of the fabled Pirran Pipe. Now they must seek the final part on the emerald isle of Keras. The Pipe is their only chance of saving the thousands of people enslaved in the Shadowlands, for it is said to be the only thing the Dragon Lord fears in his own domain.

But *can* the Pipe be made whole? And if it can, will its ancient magic still prevail against the enemy's sorcery? Or are the companions walking into a trap? Filled with doubts they move on, knowing that, whatever happens, their quest will end in the darkness and horror of the Shadowlands itself."

## Plot

Adora, Bow, and Glimmer have obtained two of the three sections of the Pirran Pipe, which is stated in legend as the only weapon that could be used to combat the Dragon Lord in his own domain, where he is keeping thousands in captivity, including their friend Catra. Penn, the Auron history-keeper, and the other Aurons row the Best Friend Squad up to the Forbidden Way, an entrance that separates the islands of Auron and Keras. As the three Etherians enter the Forbidden Way (the Aurons and Kerons have decided on an implicit truce that neither can enter the other tribe's territory), they are attacked by scores of airborn leeches. Unable to fend the creatures off, the three use Bow's cloak as a cover. As they are knocked unconscious, the companions drift past the Forbidden Way into Keron territory. The flash of light repels the leeches and saves the three from a horrifying death.

When they wake up, they are surrounded by the Kerons, who were able to manipulate moths to create weapons. After brief introductions are made, Adora, Bow, and Glimmer are led into the Kerons' underground city by the Piper, a woman named Tirral. The companions were brought into a council, where they quickly ask the Kerons for their piece of the Pirran Pipe. Tirral agrees to lend them her treasure, but first states that the Kerons must first obtain something in return: the Sword of She-Ra. Adora immediately agrees, as the group will be in the Shadowlands soon and it is death to take the sword beyond the borders of its realms. Tirral is shocked into baffled and furious silence when Adora agrees, knowing from the tales of Doran the Dragonlover, which she, like all Pirrans, knows by heart, but is forced to agree with the trade in order to maintain her tribe's respect, despite claiming that the Sword is powerless underground. After she plays the Pipe for the first time in centuries, she discovers that the companions cannot play a flute, and she claims that it will be useless for them to take the third part of the Pipe. However, her son, Emlis, volunteers to journey with the three up to the Shadowlands.

The Kerons take the group into the grey seas that are beneath the Shadowlands, and prepare to transport them upwards. Tirral warns the group that Pirra can never be reclaimed, and tells them to save the Pipe for when it is most needed, as the minute the Dragon Lord hears it, he will take only minutes to adjust. The group are then transported into the Shadowlands, sealed in by a shutting spell that permits people to enter, but blocks them from leaving. They immediately seek cover to avoid being spotted by dragon of the Forsworn, but Emlis is kidnapped and attacked by strange, carnivorous beetles. A new terror arises when monstrous humanoids attack, but they are briefly cowed by the appearance of the Dragon Lord's brand appears in the sky. The four seize their chance to escape, but are pinned between the humanoids and a massive, multi-headed beast. Adora, however, goads the humanoids into attacking, tricking them into attacking and wounding the beast, which reveals itself not to be multi-headed, but carrying its young in pouches, which make short work of the humanoids. Having been feeling a sadness since their arrival, Adora has all the four touch the Pipe, whose aura counteracts it.

They discuss their next move, but Adora is pulled into an underground cavern by a quartet of four escaped prisoners; Jalis warrior Gers, who resembles the deceased Glock; Brianne of Lees, a champion athlete fighter of the Rithmere Games kidnapped to fight in the Shadow Arena, yet escaped but been left embittered after being told that her hometown despised her for allegedly abandoning them to spend her winnings in peace (the cover story for the kidnapped Games champions); Carniolan, a HiveWing weaponsmith taken prisoner by Queen Wasp for sympathising with the Metamorphous Resistance, then sent to the Shadowlands to serve Wasp's master; and a former potterer named Mikal of Del, who goes by the name Claw due to his hand having been mutated into strong talons - a precursor to the creatures outside, the Wild Ones, who are really mutated Etherians who have been driven to madness, becoming animalistic and with no trace of their humanity left. Claw had escaped before his mind was lost. The escaped prisoners suspect them as spies, but when Glimmer reveals their knowledge of Glock and returns most of their families talisman (save, of course, the mouthpiece of the Pipe), Gers believes her and persuades his friends. The friends subsequently discover that the four were members of an underground Resistance formed by Adora's girlfriend, Catra, after she was captured and brought to the Shadowlands. The prisoners lead them to their main hideout, but it has been destroyed by Grey Guards and the inhabitants (some of which are would-be-assassins of Adora's), including Catra and Melog, taken prisoner. Claw, Gers, Carniolan and Brianne are grief-stricken, as is Adora, Glimmer and Bow, who fear Catra might have been killed. They emerge, and they head towards Factory, but are attacked by a Vraal.

The four rebels instantly instinctively burrow into the mounds outside the Factory, while Adora, Glimmer, Bow and Emlis hide behind them. Then, they learn to their horror, that the mounds are composed of the still-living and decaying bodies of Grey Guards, who feebly attempt to capture them, and send up a cry of reporting them to the Dragon Lord, attracting the Vraal's attention. Quickly, the group escape into the Factory itself. The Vraal attacks the building, distracting the nearby Guards. Glimmer seizes the chance to hide in a room apparently forbidden to Grey Guards, filled with bodies forming in vats. They notice the Carn Pod, despite members of them being outside in the mounds, but are interrupted when they have to hide from 3-19, a Grade 3 Ol in the guise of Fallow and Prandine, and a woman Bow discovers to his shock is Catra, now on the side of the Dragon Lord. The conversation reveals that Grey Guards last for a limited time, and are then replaced and thrown away, and that Catra is now part of what is referred as the "Conversion Project", which is intended to replace the services provided previously by Grade 3 Ols, who the Dragon Lord has lost faith in as a result of how his invasion of Etheria was severely compromised by the unintentional actions of 3-19's kinsmen: Fallow and Dain. As the Team listen, Catra triumphantly mocks her partner, sarcastically warning him to take care and revealing his kind had lost the Dark Lord's faith and when 3-19 begun to note in a strangled whisper he had heard of delays in the Project, Catra inquired if he saw a fault in her or Melog, then moving on with the inspection, neither beings, nor Melog, sensing the Best Friend Squad. Adora, Glimmer and Bow are horrified by what has happened to the fourth member of their crew and Adora shows quiet rage as she wonders what the Dragon Lord had done to Catra to turn her into one of his creatures.

They find the aforementioned project in another room: hundreds of pale worms with scarlet heads - the same creatures as the one in Amarantz's brain in the previous book. A Dread Gnome, Pi-Ban, one of Claw's friends and a Resistance fighter of Catra's group captured with his friends, begs them to free him from his cage, but they are unable to, and as Bow and Adora struggle with the cage, Glimmer asks Pi-Ban about Faith, her sister. Pi-Ban also comments that he only knew of Faith from a passing mention of her by the Baks escorting him to his cage after three of the Baks were killed by the Vraal, which had pursued a fourth from the Factory. Adora, Bow, Glimmer and Emlis are forced to hide when the word is given that the Conversion Project is to be unveiled, which brings Catra, Melog and 3-19 hurrying to transport both Pi-Ban and the mysterious worms to a determined location. While they hide, Glimmer and her friends hear Catra cooing over the worms, declaring delightedly that she had just learnt that their time had finally come. Thus, Grey Guard Pods under the command of Catra and 3-19 respectively set off with the crates and the cage, both of which are to be transported to the Shadow Arena, though the Baks disagree with 3-19 over whether the covers should be pulled down.

As they are taken to the Arena, they see the audience is composed of what includes the 13 Forsworn, Dark Ones, Grey Guards, Wild Ones, Ra-Kacharz, and Grade 1 and 2 Ols and crowds of people composed of every slave the Dragon Lord has taken. Catra, Melog and another converted Resistance fighter, Hellena, explain the Conversion Project to the assembled prisoners and Adora realises that the worms are designed to infiltrate the thousands of captives' minds, brainwashing them, after which the Dragon Lord plans to send the prisoners back to Magicar, Etheria and the other kingdoms so they can silently and subtilty infect the rest of the populations. The companions therefore realise that Catra is not a traitor, but a convesion victim who has been brainwashed, along with Melog, and must be saved. While they are doing so, Claw attempts to rescue the group, but is told instead to infiltrate the prisoners and pass on a message to wait for a signal and make for the hills. Unfortunately, the plan goes awry when the Dragon Lord arrives, and the terrified Guards, despite 3-19's orders, attempt to cover the cage as per policy, discovering Adora, Glimmer, Bow and Emlis, they knock the group out with sparking rods, and only Emlis escapes.

Locked in the cage with Pi-Ban, the group get their first sighting of Faith, and Glimmer and Bow argue briefly about not telling each other about secrets that they kept. The cage is then uncovered, and the Dragon Lord immediately uses his powers to flatten everyone in the central arena save the Ols; leaving 3-19 to open the Conversion Project. The Ol hesitates after Adora warns him that the Project will replace him, and is thus struck down, releasing the Project. With one note from the Pirran Pipe, Adora destroys the Project, freeing Catra, Melog and Hellena from the Enemy's grip, and holds back the Dragon Lord, the Forsworn and their 13 dragons, but she is unable to do more than stall the Shadow Lord as the slaves begin and revolt and Jalis prisoners free the group. Glimmer calls out to Faith to grab the keys, but Faith tells her in the voice of the Dragon Lord that their is no escape, jeering at how Glimmer had led herself and her friends into "her" clutches, then revealing herself to be nothing more than a phantom that fades away. Emlis is revealed to have hung onto the bottom of the cage and the young Keron plays the Pipe, staying the Enemy with his playing of home, and alerting the Kerons to their plight. They transport every single captive into the underground seas, and the combined magic of the Plumes, Aurons, and Kerons rescue the thousands from drowning, Penn herself rescuing Bow, Adora, Glimmer, Catra and Melog. Before the group are spirited home, Glimmer, Adora and Bow are given soul-stones to allow them to remember their adventures as Doran did, and Catra is given one to, and then they are transported to Mysticor.

The released slaves are greeted with delight by the people and Catra is hugged by Scorpia, who she teases for almost unintentionally breaking her ribs, and Entrapta. Glimmer apologies for believing the lie that had been Faith. Bow reveals that the sword that Adora had been baring a copy of the true sword; the real one had been with Marilen, Adora's distant cousin, and thus the next in line to the She-Ra. They have discovered many other First-Born descendants of Maea as well, ensuring Adora's safety in one regard. Bow is also informed about the gossip that Marilen was to be his bride, as she goes to apologise to Josef and Ranesh. The young man was quite surprised and asked his friends if they had believed such a thing, though Adora swiftly removes herself from the conversation to embrace Catra, the two girlfriends reuniting with a long and passionate kiss. Glimmer however, tries to casually dismiss it as gossip, but Bow vows to marry for love, sharing an unspoken agreement with Glimmer. They think in satisfaction that now they can rebuild.