Coop was 150 miles north of the Corozal Outpost, deep within the relatively dry interior of the Yucatan Peninsula. Knowing that a settlement event was coming had lit a fire beneath him. Windchaser was immediately returning to Ghost Reef, relaying messages with Jones so they could decide how to proceed. In the meantime, Coop would push himself to accomplish his goals step-by-step, with the help of the dawning Jaguar Sun, before any deadlines reached them. Still, Coop was laser-focused on speeding up Tzultacaj’s resistance movement, and he had been given a clear mission for how to best help: eliminate priority targets.
Compared to the jungles and coastal mangrove habitats where he had spent most of his time in Central America, the humidity was markedly decreased in the interior of the Yucatan. It seemed like he had acclimated to the higher humidity because he found the dry air stifling, reminding him a bit too much of the Avatar of Huracan and his heat-based abilities. It seemed like the wildlife agreed, with fewer examples of birds and mammals appearing as he went. He was mostly finding snakes and lizards that were quick to retreat when they detected his presence.
The Northern Maya Lowlands stretched in all directions around him, bordered by the coasts of the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico on three sides. The tropical forest had gradually given way to lower shrubs and grasses while retaining small groupings of trees better adapted for extended dry periods. The Lowlands weren’t quite like the Savannah, as they were still more forested, but there were similarities present within the groundcover. Without the thick jungle canopy crowding out shorter species of vegetation, both of the other ecosystems could sustain healthy layers of underbrush and grasses. On the other hand, the jungle’s groundlayer was a bed of damp leaves, loamy dirt, and splayed out roots. Walking beneath the jungle canopy felt more like being in the interior of a cave, but the Lowlands and the Savannah never let him forget about the clear sky above.
Coop was sitting on a branch in the crown of one of the taller trees, assessing his opponent’s base with his ethereal spear resting in the crook of his arm and up over his shoulder. His other arm braced against the dry bark of the trunk next to an abandoned woodpecker hole. After his brief respite in Ghost Reef, he was already on the hunt. This time, it was another Priest located by Amanda and Mikey B.
Back in Corozal, Juliana, the local leaders, and his own scouts all agreed on selecting this one for his first individual outing because of the massive landmarks identifying the cultist’s base. It was something Coop couldn’t miss, as long as he was in the correct general area. None of them had complete faith in his pathfinding abilities just yet, but what he lacked in navigational skills could be made up with the speed granted by his mistjumps.
Furthermore, the other potential locations they suspected of being Cult strongholds were yet to be confirmed and were often determined to be vacant upon further investigation. It was rare enough to find a cultist openly advertising itself the same way that Huracan had, but this one was similarly conspicuous. Other locations had been strangely empty when they checked, necessitating a recalibration of their search strategies. To Coop it sounded like the lesser Priests might actually be abandoning their hideouts, but it would take time for the Jaguar Sun to confirm anything in the wild territory of the Yucatan.
Dan was coordinating with Amanda to create proper maps that displayed the points of interest in the region. They had a big board posted in the middle of the Outpost that Amanda had used to draw an updated map. Dan was adding pins in the directions that he felt unusual mana fluctuations, establishing what was essentially an overlay of suspicious slices on Amanda’s accurately depicted geography. Juliana’s warriors were scouting everything out in order to confirm exact locations while they established a holding pattern to wait for word from Tzultacaj that would trigger their campaign, but their hunts hadn’t yielded results just yet. Naturally, they collectively agreed to send Coop on the easiest to find confirmed target for his solo trip.
The fact that the Priest was dominating the Lowlands so openly had the locals anticipating another High Priest. The lesser Priests and even the Acolytes tended to come and go, gathering what they wanted before retreating to seclusion where they consolidated their power. Most of the Priests had already learned that they needed to be confident in their security before eschewing subtlety, or else the Jaguar Sun might come for them. The local warriors may have been diminished, but their previous exploits hadn’t been forgotten by either side.
However, High Priests appeared to be confident in their strength, living openly without fear of the Jaguar Sun. Juliana predicted that they would be strong enough to individually crush their uprising, and that meant she and the other Jaguar Elites would need to deal with them first. Coop wasn’t sure if he could argue the opposite. The Avatar of Huracan would have certainly presented a problem and even the Envoy had been confident enough to challenge all of Ghost Reef by himself.
Juliana seemed surprised and concerned that so many of the cultists were reaching another echelon of strength, where they openly flaunted their positions without fear of reprisal, but for Coop it was all the same. If anything, he preferred they advertise themselves in such a manner. It would be easier for him to find and confront them.
A few dozen mistjumps away from Corozal and he spotted his target from high in the air. The scouts had been right about the prominence of the base. He squinted at the singular dark cloud in the otherwise completely clear sky and frowned. The chain of lightning bolts that streamed down did nothing to make the place inviting. He shrugged to himself. At least, it was easy to find.
Compared to the other Priests, this one was closer to Cancun than Corozal, in an area famous for the presence of Chichen Itza. As far as they could tell, it was the last major cult stronghold so close to the rapidly growing Outpost. Any other Priests nearby would be hidden away like the one that had formed her enclave deep within the Butterfly Cave. The Jaguar Warriors were scouring the area, slowly stretching outwards from Corozal as they planned their own momentum-based hunt. Regular Priests would already be no match for them, even if they were caught in their strongholds. Once the Jaguar Sun’s leader arrived, they would be raiding on their own, driving deeper toward the heart of Chakyum’s territory.
Coop was bound to be busy, but it seemed like, with the way the Jaguar Sun planned to take the fight to the Cult, he wouldn’t be shouldering the entire responsibility of defeating Chakyum by himself. He hadn’t realized it at the time, but when Tzultacaj and Juliana went their separate ways to meet up with the other two warriors, they had actually gone to reactivate their forces and essentially declare war. Tzultacaj had assessed Coop highly enough that he saw his presence in the region as an advantage they shouldn’t waste.
Coop had been given the impression that there were only a handful of the elite fighters remaining in Central America, and while he hadn’t been wrong, they were influential enough to draw support beneath their banner if they made their intentions known. There really were only a handful of traveling fighters capable of traversing the dangerous wilds by the time Coop arrived on the shore of Belize, literally only four according to Juliana, but that didn’t mean that other willing allies hadn’t already hunkered down to make their stands against what seemed like an inevitable death. It was those that were on the brink of collapse that were now gathering for a final push against the Cult of Chakyum. They preferred to go out with a bang rather than a whimper.
Once again, Coop was worried that he had unintentionally triggered a major upheaval, but they weren’t there for him. In fact, the vast majority of them had no idea who he was. Despite having the option available to them, they were uninterested in simply evacuating to his settlement. The ones that would have evacuated were the ones that weren’t making the trip to Corozal in the first place. The sleepy town had become a gathering point for something greater.
The war host was prepping for a difficult campaign through the jungles of Central America, one that they had attempted once before. Even though they had been defeated, something was palpably different this time, but it wasn’t a positive change; it was desperation. They felt like their window of opportunity was closing, so they had to try now or forever abandon whatever hope they had left. The Cult of Chakyum was already pulling away, leveraging the settlement in a way that the Jaguar Sun couldn’t. That made them people with nothing left to lose, a clear target, and the will to struggle to the end. Coop was glad they were on the same side. He had to imagine they would make frustrating enemies with the way they weren’t giving up with the cards stacked against them.
Coop’s role in the whole conflict seemed simple; tackling singular objectives like the one in front of him. While he shared a parallel purpose with the Jaguar Sun, his primary mission was to make sure Ghost Reef was safe. His purpose didn’t preclude participating in another, larger war, but if it spilled over to the same period as the settlement events, he would need to keep his priorities straight and return to his island. Juliana assured him that they understood. As far as they were concerned, the Cult was their mess to clean up, and it was their inability to get the job done that had allowed their influence to spread far enough to get Coop involved in the first place.
“Priorities...” Coop mumbled with a shake of his head, taking a deep breath as he brought his focus back to the present.
With his purpose clear, just like The Battlemaiden had demanded, he concentrated on the storm that roiled in the distance. A massive, blackened tree was being repeatedly struck by unnaturally straight bolts of lightning. The tree’s charred form rose from the Lowlands, like an alien claw stretching upwards with jagged fingers, desperate to touch the lone cloud that lingered above. It was more than a simple landmark, unmistakably defining the entire region with its distinct presence. The contrast of the smoking black wood against the verdant green and rich yellow tapestry made it impossible to miss, even without the storm.
Coop wasn’t sure what kind of tree he was looking at, but it was enormous. It may have started as a banyan tree, but it seemed as if mana and lightning had corrupted its form, splitting the bark from crown to root like popcorn kernels in a microwave. There were no leaves remaining on its limbs and Coop wasn’t even sure how it could still be alive, burned as it was. It seemed more like a charcoal sculpture than a living tree.
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The trunk was wide enough to cover an entire office building, consisting of hundreds of individual root extensions that had fused together. However, the tree’s height didn’t match. The branches only reached a few hundred feet in the air, but given the width of the combined trunk, they should have extended thousands of feet into the sky, at the very least. The trunk was hollowed out, revealing an open area inside, charred as black as the exterior.
Coop briefly entertained the idea that the tree was actually the exposed wrist and hand of an enormous titan hidden in the ground. It would need to be many times larger than the Primal Construct’s Siege Boss. Thankfully, Presence of Mind made it clear that the tree itself wasn’t an entity he would need to fight, but the thought reminded Coop to remain cautious. He didn’t really know the full extent of the Cult’s powers.
Around the base of the tree, the ground was equally dark. The vegetation of the Lowlands had been forced to give a wide berth to the monumental tree. Every once in a while, one of the lightning bolts would avoid the branches and reach the ground, shooting down like an arrow shot from the heavens. At first, the wild bolts seemed random, but as Coop watched, he realized they were striking Ruin Nebulas at the edges of the clearing whenever the monsters made the mistake of testing the limits of the electrified domain. The Primal Constructs were annihilated by the electric point defense system and their mana drifted up into the cloud above, bolstering the storm further.
Coop hadn’t seen any other movement while he watched, but if the Priest was home, it seemed obvious enough where he would find them. Unlike the Savannah, he hadn’t detected any strange mana in the air due to grand unseen rituals, but he would remain vigilant. The air was energized by electricity instead and it seemed clear that the Priest’s domain was restricted to the range of the storm. He had no idea what was cooking inside. Flipping his spear back into a ready position, he opted to visit this Priest and find out for himself.
Rather than blindly leap into the Priest’s lair, Coop dropped from the tree and landed in the tall grasses, reminding himself to be diligent. He took it relatively slow, keeping an eye out for traps as he strolled through the brush and considered how to avoid being struck by the lightning. Mists gathered around him as he went, but they were merely a thin sheet, easily ignored as they drifted through the thick ground cover, leaving him with plenty of mana to play with in combat. The black tree loomed ahead of him as he picked his steps carefully.
When Coop neared the open space in front of the enormous trunk, he hesitated at the edge, keeping an eye on the cloud above. He hadn’t triggered any traps, but the Priest was waiting for him, arms crossed, in front of the center gap in the tree, as if he had sensed Coop’s approach.
“I know you!” The Priest announced, grinning openly as he crossed the clearing toward Coop. As he got closer, Coop noticed that his canines were elongated to points, more like the fangs of a snake than human teeth.
Fittingly, he wore a headdress that was shaped like a serpent’s maw, opened wide enough for the man’s face to be nestled inside, with the bottom jaw below his neck and the top resting down from the crown of his head. He had an open feathered robe that trailed all the way to the back of his knees, and covered the back of his arms down to his elbows. Other than leather wraps around his waist, wrists, and ankles, he had no other clothes.
Physically, he had long limbs and he was a few inches taller than Coop, but he was thinner. The man had a light tan and was covered in a sheen of sweat. It was like he had been having an intense workout just before Coop arrived and the way the veins bulged in his neck ruined what must have been meant to be a relatively friendly greeting. Coop felt like the Priest was just barely holding back from revealing his true feelings. Unlike Huracan, he didn’t have any glowing tattoos, and his presence was significantly less threatening. Less threatening, on a surface level at least.
Coop couldn’t decide if the Priest’s outfit was more bird-themed or snake-themed, but he knew that was due to his own cultural ignorance. He inspected the Priest while his shield manifested in his offhand.
[Oathsworn Human (Level 100)]
[Sky Bite (Agility)]
[Chosen of the Victorious Impact]
[Charged (Slayer)]
“I don’t know you.” Coop responded with less enthusiasm than the man’s greeting, unsure if the man’s demeanor was meant to disarm him.
“That’s fine!” The Priest kept smiling, stopping far enough away to respect Coop’s wariness with his eyes flicking to the freshly manifested shield as if taking note. “The name that was bestowed upon me is Kul-Hau, I am the Voice of Kukulkan, but I am unimportant. I feel humbled to meet you Mr. Coop. My Master has promised to reward any of us that brings you to him.”
Coop narrowed his eyes, searching the Priest’s words for a trick. “You’ll bring me to Chakyum?” He asked, suspicious of the way this encounter was going.
“Yes! Of course!” The Priest answered eagerly, clenching his teeth as the disrespectful way Coop spat his master’s name grated on his ears. “And I will be greatly rewarded.” He concluded, visibly calming himself. “Master has taken note of your achievements and wishes to have you in his presence.” He extended his arms as if basking in a spotlight. “A great honor!”
Coop shrugged, unimpressed by the offer. “Just tell me where to find him and I’ll go there myself. Don’t see why I’d need you to escort me.”
The Priest chuckled mirthlessly before responding. “I need to bring you, or else I might not receive my reward. I certainly wouldn’t slow you down and the distance is quite far, not to mention his most loyal attendants would expect to have you introduced by someone of my standing.”
“Just point me in his direction. I can figure it out from there.” Coop pressed.
“Impossible.” The man firmly declined, smile disappearing as he became short with Coop despite his efforts to present himself in a friendly way.
“What does he want with me?” Coop asked, but as soon as the words left his mouth a bolt of lightning arced toward him.
Coop’s eyes flicked up toward the lightning, but he didn’t duck as it shot over his head and destroyed an Elite Ruin Nebula that had been approaching the clearing. Coop had been aware of the monster for some time thanks to the thin layer of Fog of War and the empowerment of his senses provided by Presence of Mind.
“Apologies!” The Priest shouted, regaining his composure in an instant and painting the fake smile back on his face. “Wouldn’t want one of these despicable invaders interrupting us.” He grinned with his eyes squeezing almost shut. “As for my Master; he merely recognizes your power. You see, he has a plan to win the assimilation, but it requires… cooperation.”
“Heh.” Coop shook his head as the Priest repeated the Envoy’s tainted words. Coop agreed with the sentiment, but already knew the words of the Cult weren’t to be taken at face value. “Cooperation?”
“Absolutely.” Kul-Hau smiled. “If humanity is to earn its place in the cosmos, we must combine our strength beneath a powerful banner. We can’t have someone like you killing my brothers and weakening our chances before their value has been fully realized. You must join us.”
Coop felt his eye twitch as the Priest’s words triggered a vague memory. It felt like he had copied some of his words, but he couldn’t quite place where he had heard them before. Coop shrugged again, this time to himself. The Priest may as well have been spouting generic drivel.
“I already told your Envoy that I wouldn’t be subordinate to your Cult.” Coop declined a bit more firmly.
“Not subordinate.” The Priest shook his head. “Together, parts of a whole.” He demonstrated by clasping his hands together. “We’ve already lost so much. There’s no reason to continue our conflict. Violence only begets more violence… and it plays into the hands of the invaders. I’m sure you can see that.”
Coop frowned at the warped sense of cooperation Chakyum was spreading. By now, Coop could understand that it was a euphemism for a pyramid scheme of experience with Chakyum at the top. It was simultaneously the opposite of what the Champion of Empress City had practiced, while resulting in the same outcome. Rather than gathering people and using them as a sacrificial buffer to protect the Champion, Chakyum seemed to be gathering people to bolster his own power. If anything, these Priests might be the biggest suckers of the whole scheme. Either way, Coop believed it was too selfish of a plan to accomplish their stated goals for the greater good, and he had no interest in throwing in his lot with theirs.
“Are you a High Priest?” Coop angled to get more information while he could. “What makes a Priest a High Priest?”
Kul-Hau sighed before he answered, still trying to accomplish whatever goals he had for Coop. “I am.” He admitted. “It is a matter of power. Even you could achieve it if you took the Oath, though you would certainly need guidance.” He looked down on Coop. “It would be better to allow my Master to teach you.”
Before Coop could respond, another lightning bolt arced in their direction. This appeared to be going over his left shoulder, but he hadn’t detected any monsters. Coop’s curiosity had his head turning before he even thought about it, wondering what was getting zapped.
As soon as Coop’s neck flexed to turn his head, the air around Kul-Hau shimmered. A pair of talon-shaped daggers appeared in the High Priest’s hands, between his pointer finger and middle finger, long enough to eviscerate a man. He lunged forward with lightning ripping across his skin. The Priest’s body erupted in movement, like a sprinter trying to take the lead at the start of a short race, at the exact moment that Coop took his attention away. Kul-Hau avoided Coop’s shield and angled toward his more exposed right side.
Coop abandoned his curiosity and his eyes flicked back to the High Priest, catching the latter’s movement out of the corner of his eye. Kul-Hau was extremely fast. Fast enough that he could rival Camila, easily faster than Coop, and certainly faster than the previous Icon of Mana that had given Coop so much trouble.
However, that’s all he was. There was no trick to his speed, where shadows or time itself seemed to be manipulated like in the Icon’s kit. His movements weren’t defying physics the way Camila could generate momentum from nothing. It was just raw acceleration. The rest of the world was a blurred kaleidoscope as he zipped forward.
Two steps into his ambush, still aiming for Coop’s blindside, the High Priest’s eyes shifted up to Coop’s face and he realized he was caught. Coop may have stood like a statue, relative to the Priest’s rate of movement, but Coop’s eyes told the story. In the fraction of a second that the action began, they stared at each other, with Coop seeming disappointed and the High Priest shocked with disbelief, humiliation, and fear.