To be called by Mhambi Meshindi, God-king of the Zulu nation was to be honoured. Or maybe punished.

Phumulela Khayalethu waited in the antechamber for the God of the Zulu to ask for his presence. Even from this distance, he could feel the roiling titanic Presence that indicated the God’s displeasure at whatever news his predecessor had brought.

Finally, the gate was opened by the guards and the man came out, walking slightly unsteadily. Phumulela could recognize him. One of the youngest generals in the God’s armies, Shaka kaShenzangakhona. A good strategist and fearless leader… but not a Chosen. Despite his prowess, he would never be a main power in the Divine Kingdom.

But whatever he’d come in to announce, it did not disappoint the God too much. It took some to make the God displeased, but when that happened… mundanes died. Chosen died.

Phumulela entered and knelt in front of the God’s seat, and waited to hear why the One had called upon him.

“Ah. Phumulela Khayalethu. I have been notified of your preparations.”

“Your trusted Chosen have done much for me, Mhambi Meshindi. For one so fresh from his tier six, they spared no time and no resource and brought me through many lairs of that tier. They even brought me to a Great Hunt, and I witnessed a Legend being fought. Although for this one, I wasn’t allowed to use any of its treasure.”

He could very well remember that one. The Legend had 100 more levels than he did, and almost all he could do was to run, spear it when told, and run out to avoid the terrible Screaming the bird-like emitted when it opened his beak.

His thousand tooth-filled beak. Phumulela had seen many strange enemies in the Labyrinth, but that beak still marked him as the most terrible thing he’d seen.

“But now, you are ready. Come with me, Phumulela, for now I have a new task for you.”

Phumulela nearly blinked, as a notification came. An invitation.

Assistance requested by Mhambi Meshindi?

Yes

No

Phumulela’s swallowed and accepted. His old team descriptor vanished, to be replaced with one far more sparse… and terrifying indeed.

Team

Professions

Health

Mind

Mhambi Meshindi

Steadfast Astute Vanquisher (8286)

3,788,712/3,788,712

2,672,119/2,672,119

Phumulela Khayalethu

Tempered Shieldmaker (711)

24,288/24,288

17,711/17,711

“Now come. You will Fast Travel to Marendota, which you should know well now.”

They were standing on an outdoor lair’s last redoubt. Mhambi Meshindi turned and spoke to the honour guard that had accompanied them until that point, and gave his orders.

“All of you, leave now. Leave me alone with the Chosen.”

Phumulela watched with increasing dread as the guard filed out of the small valley, leaving him alone with the… Steadfast Astute Vanquisher.

Some parts of his mind insisted that this looked like some sort of Profession from the Labyrinth. Even more, parts still gibbered at the knowledge of the extent of the God-king’s levels.

Movement attracted his attention. Rocks and cobbles were shifting across the ruins of the lair. Then, to his surprise, a loop of metal filled with light rose out from the rubble, turning until it was vertical.

A Gate. A strange one, encrusted in ways unlike any he’d seen.

“They see it from afar, and think I open it. They do not know that it is not I who open it, but they who close it,” the God said enigmatically.

Then, without another word, he entered the Gate. Phumulela hesitated, then followed. It was obvious that this was what was asked from him.

The travel across had been a humbling experience. The enemies were strange - floating rocks that seemed to belong inside a man's shape without filling it, and extremely high level. Seeing Mhambi Meshindi casually stride among them and destroy them as they made their way was truly extraordinary. The contents of the chests were all far too high for him to use, but the God-King said he could keep them for the day he'd be able to.

As they were getting close to the Gate, Phumulela spotted two Chosen. The two were spread apart, and looked idle in the enormous paved-stone expanse of the Motofen tier six… trunk zone, as the descriptor called it.

“Greetings, Chosen of the Zulu Kingdom. Here is Phumulela Khayalethu, whose coming you were told the last moon.”

The two Zulu saluted their God, studiously avoiding any form of respect for Phumulela until they’d honoured the God-king.

“Phumulela, you will relieve Zenzele here of his watch for the next moon. Before he leaves, he will instruct you on the details of your duties. But first, come with me across this Gate. I took you through those seven guardians here so you could cross, and then come back and acquire the Gate as a Fast Travel. Now, follow.”

Phumulela swallowed, then bowed, before following Mhambi Meshindi across that weird-looking Gate.

The new zone, Tarilfen, was stranger than any he’d seen, and he’d thought Motofen, which he just had left, the strangest already. They were on a small plateau, and as Phumulela looked, he could see that the drop from the edge… did not end. He could not see any terrain below, only boiling clouds stretching endlessly, with lightning illuminating them from inside.

“Do not fall. If you do, then after a while, your health will go to zero. Then, once your resurrection time has ended, you would vanish from the team. Any who falls here never comes back.”

Now that Phumulela looked, he could see what looked like huge spears of ground… coming out of the sky below. There were rope bridges with metal plates tied to them stretching between a number of those long vertical chunks of earth.

“When you cross back to Motofen, acquire the Gate, so that you can easily travel to your new post the next time. This is the duty I picked you for, the which my helpers prepared you for. For the next moon, you will keep watch of the Gate, as instructed, before being relieved in turn.”

“What am I to watch for?”

“Those who would come through here.”

“Through here, God? Who would? This is a secret zone of your realm, I can see. Surely, no one else would wander this?”

“They may never come, or they may. This is is why I have you to stand watch on that side of the Gate. As soon as you see anyone coming through, Recall. Do not wait, do not hesitate. If you do not run, you will be killed in seconds and will be left to suffer the Final Death. They will not enter from the zones around. No, They will come from the higher tiers, which is why you watch that Gate from this side, unseen.”

Then, the nine-feet tall bald black figure of the God-King, Mhambi Meshindi, turned and entered the Gate just as the team descriptor vanished.