102. Cooperation
The Bear Tribe did not keep Mo Fei waiting long. When he noticed that among their emissaries there was a young man with an intimidating air, he immediately knew who had come.
The gates of Storm City swung open. Behind them stretched ranks of black, heavy-armour cavalry, their presence striking and unsettling. Seventy thousand of those mailed horsemen had been deployed, along with thirty thousand lightly armoured elven crossbow riders. Outside Mo Fei’s temporary quarters, he had also stationed thirty thousand heavily armoured berserker infantry from the Empire, carrying giant axes and newly arrived, and they too exuded a fearsome aura. In silence stood over one hundred and twenty thousand warriors, and the air itself seemed thick with killing intent.
“The Death Empire is truly as feared as they say. This time, I have truly seen it,” he said when the gate opened. And indeed, the newcomer was exactly who Mo Fei had expected: Udos Naping, the new chieftain of the Bear Tribe.
“We meet again. It has been some time since we parted; never did I think we would meet under such circumstances,” Mo Fei said with a smile.
“Young chieftain—no, I should address you as Chieftain,” Udos Naping said.
He nodded as he stared at the ordered ranks of the Death Empire’s host. “My army lacks the commanding presence of the troops of your Death Empire. If our numbers were equal, I would have to admit defeat.”
“Your words are direct and frank, Chieftain,” said Mo Fei, “but even if your tribe fields more men with this fortress behind them, you’ll gain little against them.”
“True. Still, surely you cannot have all come inside that city?”
“How do you think we got here?” Mo Fei laughed lightly. “At any moment, I can place an elite detachment at your side, Chieftain.”
It was a clear, open threat to the new Bear chieftain.
“Oh, I would truly like to know how your more than one hundred thousand came. I sent men to every coast and every pass of this continent’s tribes. Not one saw how you arrived. Yet the townsfolk of this little city said your army came out of a black hole, which I find hard to believe.”
“Ha!” Mo Fei roared. “That is a magic array. It lies beside the old square of this city. If I wish, I can summon the entire Death Empire army in a single night. On my side of the world such arrays have not been used in years; this world probably knows little of them. There is no harm in sounding a little grand.”
“Ah, a magic array. I would like to see it. I heard few use them these days. I never imagined you could relocate an army this way. It seems I have underestimated your abilities.”
Udos Naping had still thought Mo Fehi was merely a figurehead, with someone else pulling the strings—otherwise....
“That one array need not be seen,” Mo Fei interrupted. He drew a spatial magic scroll from his satchel and slammed it to the ground. A small spatial gate flickered into being.
“Chieftain, would you care to see a glimpse of the Death Empire’s domain now?”
At the sight of that spell-gate, Udos Naping finally believed Mo Fei’s claim that he could, whenever he wished, place a vanguard at the chieftain’s side.
He managed a wry smile. “No need, then. I came with business to discuss with Your Majesty. Let us not delay.”
Seeing the point had landed, Mo Fei offered no more demonstrations and led the Bear chieftain into his large field tent.
“Sit. I do not know why Your Majesty came in person today,” Mo Fei said. His dwelling usually held nothing meant for guests, yet Aerin still came in with fruit and set it before Udos Naping.
“Your Majesty already knows my answer,” Udos Naping said, not mentioning his errand at once. “How do you rate our Bear host?”
“Honestly,” Mo Fei replied, “even if I were to summon all the forces of the Death Empire, it would be only a little over two hundred thousand, still far short of your numbers. I have seen your troops. Good men, all of them. Their combat power is perhaps less than ours, but they make up in numbers; and theirs is no weak strength. As things stand, your army outmatches ours. Still, you know our fighting power as well as I know yours. If I bring in another hundred thousand, we could grind your tens of thousands into mutual ruin. You would not want that, would you, Chieftain?”
“The way you speak is sound. I have long seen the ferocity of the Death Empire. As long as I remain in this position, I do not wish to be Your Majesty’s enemy under any circumstance. That is why, when I took over the forces, I only trained them instead of attacking while you were still building the city. Had I struck then, when your footing was not firm, you might have fled across the sea back the way you came. Would you not agree?”
Udos Naping thought a moment, then added, “I know your cavalry is formidable. Many of our Bears are unaware of that. They are pressing me to drive you out the moment you are not fully settled. Yet with them urging me on, I would fail. If I had had full control of all our people from the moment I took command, you would not have remained on this continent. At the least, we would not be standing in this open hostility.”
Udos Naping understood he would never again have a chance to uproot Mo Fei’s stronghold. In the beginning he had believed he could negotiate the Death Empire out of this continent. But now they had taken such a favorable position. Whatever they claimed, they would not leave; if I were in their place, I would not leave either, and besides, behind this place stood a potent empire.
“You are right. Had you come to me at once and spoken, we would not now be here. Yet it was those fools who made you lose that opportunity, did they not?”
“Correct. But now they can no longer trouble me,” said Udos Naping with a laugh. “The dead, of course, can trouble no living man. We still have the chance. Why must it be a fight to the death? We can cooperate for greater gain. Is that not better?”
“I am practical, so I shall speak plainly,” said Mo Fei. “I set up this city for two reasons. First, to keep the Bear tribe in check so you do not wake up one day and come to our side for trouble. Second—well—the scenery here is fine. My Aerin likes it. Because your lands are not very friendly to us, not even fully safe, I made this little sightseeing castle for her.”
He said it without blinking; anyone would see it was a lie, and no one would believe a fortress was raised for a woman’s pleasure. Yet Aerin, standing nearby, flushed scarlet, pinched him hard, and fled.
“What Your Majesty does, I understand,” Udos Naping said, regaining composure. “But I came today so you should know this: if one day our Bear Tribe must come to your continent again, we will not bring war. Believe me on this.”
“As long as you remain in this position, I believe you. As for the rest, I do not.”
“I will make this a tradition. So long as the Death Empire exists, the Bear Tribe will never launch war against any place where it has a foothold.”
Mo Fei understood the meaning beneath his words: if your strength were not enough, others would still come.
“Then I can assure you as well,” he said. “So long as the Bear Tribe does not do anything that harms the Death Empire or its allies, we shall not wage war against the Bear Tribe either. Does this assurance satisfy the Chieftain?”
“It does.”
Both men burst into hearty laughter.
No written record was made; yet between two powers mighty enough to shape the world, this was binding enough.
“This visit is not only for this matter,” Udos Naping said. “Do you know why I did not disband that army?”
“At first I thought you kept up pressure on our Storm City,” said Mo Fei, “but now I see there was another purpose, though...”
“I do not like fighting on my own continent, including war against the Bull-Head Tribe. Our feud should have ended long ago. In ages past, the strong subduing the weak is almost expected. Even when the Bull-Head Tribe was powerful, they did as others had done before—oppressed other peoples. But now that we have grown strong, we direct our strength only against that tribe, and toward no other.”
He continued, “Beyond our two continents lie many powerful empires. The nearest one, from what I know, is now drowned in chaos, day and night in turmoil. That land is rich in diamonds and platinum. It is, like your world, split among many empires. I hear one rises each day and another falls. I sent men to witness it. There they fight openly for those diamonds and that platinum. Yet I still cannot understand: what are these things, these so-called diamonds and platinum, that are worth killing and being killed for every day?”
“I do not understand them well either,” Mo Fei said, “but if people will give up their lives for them, they must be valuable indeed.”
“Likely so,” Udos Naping nodded. “My thought now is simple: let us settle our matters between us, then settle our matter with the Bull-Head Tribe. Then we go together to that continent and see it for ourselves. What do you say?”
“I too wish to see such riches,” Mo Fei laughed with open joy, “but I have no desire to go there to shed blood—provided they do not come to stir trouble for us.”
“Good,” said Udos Naping. “Then it is agreed. Once this side is fully resolved, we go.”
“Yes.”
Their two hands clasped tightly, a grip that signaled the true reconciliation of their two continents. On either land, no single power could truly destroy the Bear host, even one as fearsome as the Death Empire. Why not, then, join hands and push outward together into unknown continents, shifting their disputes elsewhere and making their own side all the more peaceful and still?