“Champion of the Unchosen.” The person who approached Coop spoke. Their voice was calm and they waited until they drew close to speak, still completely hidden beneath their loose clothes.
The soft tone of the words revealed the first hint that the figure was a woman. Her robes had completely masked her form, and other than the hand holding the walking staff that doubled as a falcon perch, there were no other clues that a human was beneath the pile of fabrics at all.
She used her empty hand, hidden by a wide sleeve, to pull the thick beige veil off of her head, keeping the walking staff secure with the other. Coop watched close, not particularly worried, but wary all the same, inspecting her as she planted her feet square in front of his.
[Human (Level 191)]
[Sentinel of Stars (Mind)]
[Astral (Bound)]
Her level wasn’t particularly amazing compared to the champions of the Assembly of Settlements, and it was falling far behind what the residents of Ghost Reef were collecting, but it was still relatively high. The wandering Sentinel was only a step below the pinnacles of humanity that his companions represented. That was respectable in Coop’s mind.
When the veil fell to her shoulders, the Underlayer illumination finally reached her face. Her dark brown hair was cropped short, as if it had been shaved just a few months earlier, and she kept her eyes closed while she ran her fingers along her scalp, exhaling with honest relief. Thick black eyebrows, darker than her hair, matched the color of her long eyelashes, which fluttered open once her face was free from the cloth.
The way she spoke, as if it was inevitable that they would meet, caused Coop’s eyes to subtly narrow in suspicion. The first words she had spoken were a simple declaration of his presence. He was trying to decide if he should know her, but once she opened her eyes he knew there was no way he would have forgotten this person.
She stared back at him with irises that were an unnaturally piercing blue, a color that Coop thought would glow in the dark. He had only recently noticed the Saker Falcon’s eyes take on the same color, spotting them from a huge distance, better signifying the pair’s connection.
The Falcon’s eyes had returned to those of a regular bird of prey, yellow and focused, but he didn’t need any more confirmation that they were a team after it made itself at home on her staff. The bird ignored Coop as it pulled on the metal bits that were hanging from her potential weapon, releasing them so that they jingled in the heavy Underlayer air. When Coop returned his attention to the woman, he found her gaze fixed on his own.
Coop wasn’t sure exactly where he was, somewhere beyond the edge of the African territory. Whether he had already reached the Middle East was uncertain without a settlement marking his journey. No matter what, he was pretty confident that she had also traveled a long way before arriving at the edge of the Assembly of Settlements, but the way she locked in on Coop left no doubt that she was specifically seeking him out.
“Yes?” Coop responded. “I guess that’s me.” He confirmed her opening words after a few moments of hesitant observation, comfortably flipping his spear onto his shoulder as he spoke. “If you need help, just point me in the direction of your settlement. I’ll take care of the invaders. If you’re looking for safety, you just need to…” Coop glanced around as he realized his directions were gradually getting more and more complicated.
“Well, if you head that way,” he gestured vaguely to the northwest, ignoring the distant contours of the tunnel in favor of general directions. “You should find some European settlements, from there, they can direct you to Iceland, then it’s a straight shot to Ghost Reef.” He kept it as simple as possible, pointing helpfully as he described the checkpoints.
She suppressed a smile at his effort, politely letting him finish his directions before speaking again. “Thank you, but we intend to help you.”
Coop tilted his head to the side, glancing at the bird, feeling like she could explain things more clearly. She didn’t seem like the conversational type, but that was fine with him.
“Alright, sure. All I really need is to be pointed toward some invaders, though. That would help plenty.” He suggested.
She shifted her upper body, directing Coop to follow in the direction she had come from. “Let’s walk.”
Coop matched her unbothered stride, a bit puzzled with her demeanor. “You can really just point.” He suggested again. “It’ll be a lot faster for me than just walking.”
She slowly shook her head, subtly smiling as she gazed into the distance with her icy eyes contrasting against her darker features. “No need to rush. My Master is coming.”
Despite her calm voice, Coop stopped mid stride. Someone being called Master had him immediately recalling the structure of the Cult of Chakyum and the Lich. He double-checked her aura, seeing if he had missed some Oath-related racial evolution.
[Human (Level 191)]
[Sentinel of Stars (Mind)]
[Astral (Bound)]
He hadn’t, but her Bound title had gone under his radar since it was one he had seen a few times before, and it was shared by her animal companion. Juliana and her Black Jaguar, Felix, had the same title, so it wasn’t something that raised his suspicions on its own. However, given the context of being Bound and having a Master, Coop was suddenly feeling alarmed.
He could feel the heat emanating from his body in waves as his bloodthirst rose. He suddenly thought that his experience thus far in the Underlayer was a fluke. The remnants of humanity cooperating with each other relatively amicably had been too good to be true. Visiting Europe and Africa back to back and finding broader coalitions must have been a stroke of pure luck.
He looked straight at the Sentinel of Stars, who had drawn a step ahead of him, putting his hand on her offhand’s clothed forearm, opposite the staff. “Don’t worry. I’ll definitely kill your Master.” He assured her.
“Huh?” She blinked in confusion at his sincerity, stopping and spinning as he halted her forward progress. She stepped back as Coop’s aura overwhelmed her confidence and she fully comprehended his words. The Saker Falcon spread its wings as well, like they were suddenly experiencing turbulence despite the stifling atmosphere of the Underlayer. The bird took flight to get away.
“Wait…” She started, turning his words over in her head. “I didn’t… Please don’t do that!” She pleaded, eyes widening as she grew desperate. She stepped away from the Champion, glancing from him to the horizon and back. His battle readiness returned as easily as a change in facial expression, apparently catching her off guard.
“Whatever hold they have on you? I’ll break it.” Coop continued, trying to give her the confidence to escape. “You can come to Ghost Reef. We’ll find a way to free you, and we’ll obviously protect you.” He reached out, offering to guide her away.
“No, no, that’s not… I misspoke!” She continued. “It’s my fault, I am too used to being alone. Please, let me explain!” Her voice grew urgent, raising her palms toward Coop while letting her staff fall and abandoning the enigmatic confidence she had greeted him with in order to take responsibility.
Coop waited, though he remained suspicious. Would it really be a surprise if she was prevented from reacting negatively toward her Master?
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“I speak of the Great Khan, leader of the Grand Horde. I am his Ranger General, Wangmo Thaye.” She clasped her hands together, insistently. “I promise that he is a good man. He has saved many lives and given us all hope that we can unite and resist the alien invaders. He only wishes to meet with you. He claims to have an important message that he was instructed to relay to you by a being of divinity. I have been seeking you for most of the event in order to have you meet.” She took a deep breath after rushing to get everything out before she let any misunderstandings fester.
Coop wasn’t entirely convinced by her assessment of her Master, especially because the man called himself the Great Khan and his army the Grand Horde. To Coop, neither had entirely positive connotations, though neither designation was as bad as the God of Death. He thought whatever she said would have to be understood through the context of the Cult of Chakyum. Still, he didn’t want to jump to any conclusions, so he withheld any further judgment, especially if they would be meeting soon. If Coop needed to fight, he could decide then, when he laid eyes on this Khan.
“What’s the Grand Horde?” He asked now that she was in the mood to explain. “It doesn’t sound particularly good.”
“It’s a nomadic army that has secured almost all of Asia. We have incorporated all those who traveled from what was once Turkey to those from the edge of the broken peninsula of Korea.” She answered quickly, glancing over her shoulder in the direction she had been leading them before furtively returning her attention to Coop.
“Hm. I see” Coop muttered. The EEC had definitely informed him of such a force clearing settlements throughout Asia and he had seen the results of their small settlements finishing the event one after the other, but it made him more curious. “What about Gangcheon?” He wondered, recognizing that it was a Korean settlement, but its score hadn’t progressed.
“They are an independent nation that we have limited but friendly communication with.” She answered, with her eyes shooting back and forth from the horizon to Coop. “Listen, Master Coop, no Mister Coop… Champion of the Unchosen, you won’t bare your weapons against the Khan will you? It would only result in a tragedy for the entire human race, no matter what happens.”
Coop shrugged. “I won’t unless I have to.” How could he be sure this wasn’t another Lich situation without assessing the man? But there was no use in telling her that. Once he reached this Grand Horde, he’d have to make his own judgments.
She sighed, seeming worried. “Okay, that’ll have to do, because they are almost here.”
Coop’s eyebrows rose at her comment, but she was kneeling to pick up her staff, turning so that her back was to Coop once again. When she stood, she fixed her veil and shook the dirt off her weapon before the Saker Falcon returned to his perch. They silently waited, staring off into space. Coop was about to ask what she meant after her cryptic declaration, but he realized why their attention had switched to the horizon.
In the distance, a cloud of dust was rising. She must have had incredible senses to notice it before him. Coop stood next to her, and as they watched, the haze roiled, growing larger and larger until it must have been a hundred miles wide. It was like a storm.
Eventually, Coop could hear a rumbling that had him expecting a volcanic eruption. It grew into an intense rolling thunder. When he started to feel the vibrations in his feet he really started to get the sense that he might actually be in danger.
That’s when Wangmo Thaye spoke again after seemingly regaining her calm. “I first spotted you a week ago, but because the border to the African settlements is closed, I requested reinforcements to make sure the Great Khan’s desire to meet with you would be fulfilled. It was fortunate that you returned north rather than further south. We have avoided what may have resulted in conflict between the warriors of the two largest continents if they would not have heard reason.”
It seemed crazy that they would have escalated to open warfare just to relay a message, but the assimilation was a crazy time. Coop glanced over at her to confirm that she was serious, but she was watching the approaching dust storm with hope-filled eyes, the complete opposite of what he would have expected an Oathsworn to view the Lich with.
“Knowing him, he would have personally led the charge, so maybe you will meet sooner than expected.” She added, apparently feeling bolstered by the thunderous dust cloud after Coop made her worry about his bloodthirst.
Coop tried putting on a brave face to watch the storm as it escalated. Eventually, the dust gave way to a charging cavalry of midnight black stallions. They were flanked by what seemed like countless other horses. As it turned out, calling the organization a horde was perfectly apt. Coop barely kept his jaw from dropping as the Underlayer transformed from a sea of dirt to a sea of horses, kicking through the soil with an intensity that made even him nervous. He rotated his spear in his hand, keeping it on his shoulder in a more confident position than he actually felt.
As they drew closer, he realized that for every rider, there were three horses that they actively swapped between, making the army of millions seem even larger. As a result of changing steeds midride, all the horses were fresh and able to maintain speeds that even an enhanced human would struggle to match. This was as mobile an army of such a size could ever hope to be.
The show of force was intense and overwhelming. Coop’s confidence slowly seeped out of him, and if not for the way the ground shook beneath what might have been as many as a hundred million hooves, he thought his knees would be visibly shaking on their own. The fact that Wangmo Thaye and the Saker Falcon seemed at ease was the only reason he didn’t attempt to flee or prepare for battle.
He took a deep breath through his nose and out of his mouth, centering himself. There were almost as many different flags and banners as there were people among the sea of horses. Coop didn’t recognize a single one, but the overall message was the same. A large number of people from thousands of different places had banded together into an improbable army.
Once again, Coop was amazed by what humanity could cobble together from its own ashes. He couldn’t imagine so many disparate groups of the continent willingly coalescing without the pressure of an apocalypse and beneath a particularly persuasive personality. Coop had even more concerns with the so-called Master of this army, concluding that they must have had an incredible presence to suppress the inevitable partisanship of so many different people. Was it mass manipulation, or was it some kind of charisma? Coop felt like he would need to judge quickly.
He wanted to ask more questions of the Sentinel, but it felt like it was too late. The enormous cavalry army would be upon them soon enough and he would have to shout above the escalating sound of their stampede. All he could do was watch as they rushed toward the two drifters. If he tried to run, they would follow. He had the impression that they would circumnavigate the globe as many times as he led them. Of course, at this point, he would fight before retreating, even against this horde.
The riders simply bypassed the two standing figures, making room for those who would follow as they surrounded Coop and Wangmo Thaye. They made sure to give the pair plenty of space as they slowed to a stop.
Then, the whole situation grew even stranger. The first riders hopped off their horses and planted one knee in the dirt, bowing respectfully toward the center, where Coop was, still holding the reins of their horses while giving him a better view of the vast army that had spread itself all around him. Only the horses made any sound, huffing and rearing as the excitement of their charge gradually dissipated.
Wangmo Thaye followed suit with the other soldiers, dropping to a knee, leaving Coop standing in the middle of a huge and expanding circle of horses that probably reached both sides of the massive cavern. One gigantic charger entered the clearing as the perimeter settled down. It was ridden by an older man with a wispy white beard that grew from his chin and mustache and flowed halfway down his leather-clad neck. Coop inspected him, assuming this was the Great Khan that they called Master.
[Human (Level 225)]
[Warlord of the Apocalypse (Body)]
[Disorder (Scourge)]
[Mongolian Warhorse (Level 305)]
[Doombringer (Strength)]
[Force (Bound)]
“Yikes.” Coop whispered, clicking his tongue as he gathered their information.
The Great Khan didn’t seem evil as he jumped off his horse and took long excited strides toward Coop, practically hopping as he did so. The generous smile on his face was disarming, bunching up his plump cheeks, but neither his class nor his defining title provided additional assurance.
Even his horse seemed like a danger. Its thick black mane was braided and its tail flicked back and forth as if it was agitated to have stopped. Its eyes had a subtle red glow that leaked mana and Coop had the thought that it was possessed. The horse snorted as if it knew Coop was judging it, so he looked away.
The rider openly sought Coop and his Ranger General, all smiles. Then, to throw Coop off even more, the Warlord of the Apocalypse followed suit with his army, suddenly kneeling before Coop, putting the Champion of Ghost Reef in the center of millions of people paying the utmost respect toward him, somewhere in the middle of nowhere within the underground.
“What the hell is going on here?” Coop muttered, drawing a look from the Saker Falcon who had thankfully remained on its perch, held upright by the Sentinel of Stars.
“Champion of the Unchosen! I, the Great Khan of the Grand Horde humbly greet you! Please hear me, for I carry a message from the divine!” The older Warlord shouted for the sake of his army’s hearing, keeping his eyes fixed on the dirt.
“Huh?” Coop couldn’t understand what was happening. Every time something new transpired, he was even more confused. “Dude. What is this?” He addressed the man directly.