Unchosen Champion

Coop had let his guard down for a split second, and the High Priest sought to take advantage immediately; he had been waiting for the opportunity, but he sold his potential victim short.

Coop twisted back toward the lunging Kul-Hau, moving like he was in molasses, but powering through in order to defend against the latter’s ambush by raising the tip of his spear directly toward his sternum. The High Priest of the Cult of Chakyum, and self-described Voice of Kukulkan, was already committed to his attack, displaying a pair of sharp talons between his fingers that would have torn into Coop’s kidneys if his ambush had gone unnoticed. The Priest desperately tried to abort the maneuver once it became obvious that the lightning bolt distraction hadn’t been enough to occupy Coop’s attention for long enough to catch him by surprise.

Coop was barely able to adjust his stance in the time that the Priest closed the gap, with his own muscles screaming in complaint at the sudden demand to move. His experience with the Battlemaiden had taught him not to underestimate his own speed, so he moved with purpose, exactly the amount necessary and not an inch more. He told himself there was no need to panic, even if the Priest was demonstrating some truly extreme acceleration.

In the end, the Priest barely manipulated his own momentum enough to avoid a self-inflicted death, shifting wide of Coop an instant before impaling himself on the firmly-held ethereal spear. The tip of the spear tore a long bloody strip across his ribs before he crashed into the bushes far behind Coop with a loud series of curses. The awkward flailing would have been comical if he hadn’t attempted to assassinate his audience.

When his head popped back above the bushes, Coop was facing him with his shield up and spear forward. The Champion was locked in.

“I… I underestimated you.” The High Priest admitted with shame dripping from his stammering voice. Leaves were caught in his feathery robe while he shoved his way back toward the clearing while giving Coop a wide berth. He side-eyed Coop and the barely held-together facade of friendliness disappeared. A more comfortable, but nasty scowl embedded itself onto his face as a replacement for the previously strained grin.

“I won’t forgive you.” The cultist declared as he returned to the clearing, as if Coop had apologized for something. He lowered his head to look at Coop from beneath his eyebrows. “You think you can stand alone against Chakyum?” He scoffed darkly. “Think again, before you make a fool of yourself.”

Coop grunted, swiveling the ball of his back foot in the charred dirt as he prepared for another bout while noting that the Priest didn’t seem to be aware of the stirring army back in Corozal. The Cult of Chakyum, like the High Priest in front of Coop, was focused upon his presence and nothing more.

The corner of Coop’s lips twitched as his greedy smile threatened to appear. The rarely seen battle freak that drove him to grind was bubbling beneath the surface. The short demonstration of speed had Coop eager to test himself, and the Cult promised to give him even more challenges in the future.

If Coop attacked, he could be upon his opponent in four steps, but he waited to see what the Priest would try next. Coop was keeping track of the dry cloud that lingered above the battlefield, filled with enough energy to continually spew lightning against the tips of the blackened tree branches without end. Until he had a better idea of how much control the Priest had over the lightning, he was hesitant to overly expose himself. As it was, he braced for an attack. He had enough experience around Charlie’s lightning to give it a healthy amount of respect, regardless of his overwhelming magic defenses.

The High Priest was also fast enough that Coop wasn’t entirely sure he would catch him should he attempt his own assault. It seemed like he needed to bait an attack from his opponent and successfully counter if he wanted to win. Coop was game.

One thing was certain. He was completely done with speaking to these cultists. Rather than try and decipher clues behind their words that would help him find and confront their leader, he would just rely on the Jaguar Sun. The next fool that tried to lower his guard with conversation would be in for a nasty surprise when Coop initiated the fight immediately. All these Priests would die.