Chapter 14: The Tribe Across The River
Yet again, I found myself living in the trees, and hunting small animals. This time though, I wasn't just hunting for myself.
'I need to drop these squirrels off at Chief Tyu's hut before everyone wakes up.'
As I ran toward the village, I made sure to watch out for animals that could kill me along the way. Luckily, I didn't encounter anything on my way to the Chief's hut.
'I'll leave these at the front door so that it's easy to find. Hopefully, they're in the mood for squirrel today.'
As I was about to rush back to the forest, I heard chanting and yelling coming from the north. I took an interest in it and stealthily made my way around the village. It was unlikely that anyone would be up at this time, but just in case, I made sure to take the paths that people least go down.
When I made it to where the yelling and chanting was coming from, I paused and scowled at what I saw.
'Has the pressure from the tribe across the river gotten this bad?'
Standing next to the river, were 30 men ready for battle. Most of them held spears and bows that they acquired from the envoy last year. At the front of the crowd, was Chief Tyu, giving a speech about their upcoming battle.
"WARRIORS! The tribe across the river has already taken 10 of our men's lives, and now they threaten to take our families as well. Just across this river lies an army that is twice the size of ours! Will we cower, and allow them to take our children's futures away?!!" Chief Tyu screamed out lighting a fire in all the men.
"NO!!" Screamed the men.
"Will we allow them to walk all over us?!!"
"NO!!"
"Will we falter when faced with death?!!"
"NO!!"
"THEN LET'S KILL EVERY LAST ONE, AND SHOW THEM THAT WE WON'T TAKE THIS LYING DOWN!!!" Chief Tyu screamed at the top of his lungs.
"YEAHHHHH!!!" Screamed his soldiers.
'To be honest, that speech almost lit a fire in my heart as well, but I'm not ready yet. I still have to gain more strength... to the point where I won't be able to lose, even if I fought them all at once.'
As I started heading back toward the forest, Chief Tyu said one last thing... it was about my Father. Although I didn't want to listen to him, my body stopped on its own, forcing me to listen.
"We'll fight this one for Zakkar, and make sure that everything he wished for comes true... FOR ZAKKAR!!" Chief Tyu bellowed out one last chant.
"FOR ZAKKAR!!" His men shouted in unison.
'I hate this feeling, being unable to do anything just because you're weak. I want to help them, I really do, but I know I can't. I'll be a liability on the battlefield, if it comes down to saving my life, I know they'll protect me to their last dying breath. Just one slip-up and I could be the result of why our tribe would cease to exist.'
I pointed my head toward the ground and started walking back to the forest. The whole way there, I suppressed the tears that were threatening to flood out.
When I reached the tree line I put my hand to my eyes and took a deep breath in.
'Even though I'm mentally 29, I feel as if I've been acting more like a 4-year-old as the days go by. Crying at the mere mention of your deceased Father's name! I'm weaker than I thought, I guess there's no helping it. I'll go check out the battlefield... but I have to remember… I'm only going so I can witness what a battle is truly like.'
*****
Since Chief Tyu and his men left way earlier than me, I arrived at the battlefield late. The battle took place only a couple miles north of the village in a desolate grassland. There wasn't anything to hide behind, besides the occasional small bush or tree. This made for a head-on battle where nothing was hidden from the enemy. With a slight breeze and the sun beginning to peek over the horizon, the warriors on both sides fought tooth and nail against each other.
It had already started, and all I could do was watch from the bushes. My eyes were wide open from the shock of the battle, and my body trembled at the sight of it all.
Bodies littered the ground in pools of blood, and the soldiers just stepped on the corpses to attack their next foe. Complete anarchy, nothing could have prepared me for what a real war looked like.
Being surrounded by death all my life clouded my judgment. I thought I would be able to kill everyone that stood in my way, but who am I kidding? If just the sight of a real war put me in such a sorry state, what did I think I could do when I was actually on the battlefield?
'So this... is what a real war is like! Why did I ever think I could take a human's life so easily? I could barely come to terms with killing squirrels, so then how did I end up saying I would kill them all? I truly am... pathetic.'
In the end, I stayed and watched every second of the battle, I saw both friend and foe die alike. With every stab, slash, and shot, another person dropped to the ground, dying beneath the feet of whoever killed him.
When it was all done and over, our side gained a minor victory. Even though they were outnumbered by 30, Chief Tyu alone broke through their forces. We suffered only 15 casualties because of him, while the opposition lost 45. Although we made the numbers tighter, we lost a valuable warrior. Chief Tyu, sacrificed his life so that his men could escape, and live on to protect the tribe.
When it came down to it, the enemy would have won the battle if they had kept on fighting. His men were drained, while the enemy still had enough stamina to finish the fight. Knowing this, Chief Tyu jumped into the middle of the battlefield and fought off the remaining soldiers while his men escaped. Unfortunately, he didn't last more than a minute, but that minute bought them just enough time to escape. He was... a true leader.
"So... In the end, you died too, huh Chief? Is this how my Father died? Protecting everyone so that the tribe could live to see another day. I see now, the words you spoke that day were true. You both died protecting the tribe... so know this, I won't allow your deaths to be in vain." I said with a cold voice while looking at the tribe that had killed them.
After the battle was over, I just sat in a bush hiding from the remaining soldiers. I didn't know what to do, I wanted to leave, but my body just remained still. I was frozen solid from the fear of dying. If I was spotted by the remaining soldiers, I would be chased down and killed. My barrier may be strong against a single opponent, but if I were attacked by 15, then what?
'I guess... I'm more afraid of death than I thought. This battle did help though... now I know what to expect for the next one. Next time... I'll be the one leading the charge.'
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