Chapter 14

“Elder, the Tamul tribe is a herd movement and two runs (22km) to the south of our tribe. They have a forward party that numbered four hands of men, but after the brave men of the Il’ Clan defeated a band of them in battle, they now have two hands of men, and we have a prisoner to guide us to both their forward base as well as their main tribe.” Tana-il said with flourish, chest puffed, not hiding any of his pride.

“Felling two hands of men with less than the same is quite the accomplishment!” Mana-tula exclaimed. “After we defeat this ‘Tamul tribe’ you will get first pick of the rewards!”

This was met with small murmurs of discontent from the other clan leaders, but none dared raise their voice in opposition. When word of enemies approaching was delivered, none wished to risk their men in an uncertain confrontation, so only the Il’ clan sallied out, and not even with their full number! Leaving a few hunters behind to ensure their clan’s survival should they return to Aki during the battle.

“How many hunters do they have in total?” The elder asked.

“A similar number to ours Elder, but after we defeat their forward party, there will be less. Then all we must do is kill off their hunters as they go out to find food to whittle their numbers down further. Finally, when they are weak from starving, and few men to defend themselves with, we can walk in and claim the spoils for ourselves!” Tana-il stated with confidence.

“I must pay more attention to this one…” Sama-tula thought, “Should he become ambitious he could be a problem.”

“That is an excellent idea!” The elder said with a glint of admiration shining in his eyes. “This one has more wits, and back-bone then the rest of them combined!” he thought.

“When do you believe we should begin the operation? And can this prisoner be trusted?” Sama-tula uttered, breaking his silent musings, and asking the important questions.

“We will start now, Honorable Tula.” Tana responded, “It is getting dark so the forward party will likely search for their missing tribesmen come the first sight of Aki’s grace on the morrow. The best chance we will have is to attack tonight while they aren’t too suspicious yet.”

“Very good…” Sama-tula murmured, “and how many men will you need for this entire expedition? The Tula clan will provide what you lack!”

This brought forth quite the commotion amongst the other clan leaders, usually the Tula hunters acted as the policing force and defenders of the tribe, by offering up men for this expedition, the Honorable Tula had expressed the importance of this expedition to the security of the tribe.

“The Su clan will offer two hunters!” The pudgy clan head exclaimed.

“As will the Lan clan,” said another clan leader.

Not to be outdone, all the clan leaders began yelling about the ways that they’d support the expedition, all in the hopes of looking good in front of the Honorable Tula.

Tana-il lightly sighed before saying, “Respectfully, Honorable Tula, the Il clan believes that we can handle the entire expedition on our own. Considering that only we were willing to step forward in the moment of need, it also makes sense that only we partake in the glory. As the old saying goes, ‘he who doesn’t hunt deserves no meat.’”

Sama-tula looked in Tana-il’s eyes, searching for some deceit or flickering emotion that would reveal his thoughts. All he saw was pride, and a general disdain and disgust for the other clan heads, something that he could agree with.  The Il clan had served the Tula clan since inception, there was no reason to doubt them now.

“Very well, I the Honorable Tula, give the Il clan full right to pursue and decimate the Tamul tribe. There are many of them to your few, do not disappoint, or there will be consequences for your entire clan.” Sama-tula said with a dangerous glint in his eyes.

“Of course, Honorable Tula!” Tana exclaimed with a respectful expression.

After that the meeting flew by quickly, it’d been an emergency meeting regardless, so there wasn’t much more to say. The Il’ clan once again requested additional food and supply aid, this time it was granted. The reason being that they’d just one a great victory for the Tula. Also, they understood the Il’ clan would get a lion’s share of the spoils once they conquered the Tamul tribe. To perhaps be ‘gifted’ a bit more than the rest, they sought the Il’ clan’s favor while they could.

Once the meeting was adjourned Tana began walking in measured steps towards the entrance of the Tula tribe. As he passed by the many yurts filled with the rustlings of people preparing for bed, he acted calmly and naturally. When anyone greeted him or paid respects, he acted in a way fit for a clan leader, and an important member of the Tula tribe. Finally, as he saw the entrance of the tribe, guarded by two of his clansmen, he began to smile. He gave them a nod then walked a bit farther, heart hammering in his chest. Convincing the Honorable Tula to let him take on the expedition alone was the hardest part of this entire ordeal. Had he denied the Il’ clan that right everything might have gone sideways for both him and his clan.  

He looked at the gathered hunters, two hands of men, his entire clan’s fighting force minus the guards. Staring at each of them in the eyes solemnly, he began to speak, “Many of you believe that we will soon march to face at least a similar number of hunters to our tribe. You believe that we will march through the night to achieve an impossible task. You believe that many, if not all of us will die… right?”

The men glanced at each other, noticing the fear that they felt reflected in one another’s eyes. A few of them nodded assent to the clan leader’s conjecture.

“How will we face a force that outnumbers us by so much?” one brave clansman asked.

When he heard this question, Tana couldn’t help but smile broadly, “I will tell all of you the true plan now, but you must swear secrecy, with Aki as your witness. Should you ever break your oath, you will be cursed to burn for eternity in the skies of the great darkness, just as all the other oath breakers… will you swear?” he asked, a grim expression replacing the smile on his face.

The men looked around nervously, but soon swore one after the other.

“There are no more than less than four hands of hunters remaining in all the Tamul tribe.” Tana whispered. “The advanced party will easily be wiped out by us tonight, which will mean they will only have two hands of hunters left. But their tribe is a similar number to ours, that means most of the tribe is women and children!” Tana exclaimed.

The surrounding men murmured in excitement, access to a large supply of women and children meant that they could expand their families by having their pick of women and raise servants by taking in any of the children that weren’t culled. Moreover, due to the perceived danger of the mission, they’d get to keep many of the war spoils! As long as they could keep their deceit to the tribe a secret, this would be a boon to every Il’ clansmen!

After seeing the looks of excitement and approval on the faces of his men, he knew he’d made the right choice. The Tula tribe was rotting from within, it was time for the Il’ to begin planning for its own independent future.

“Hunters… MARCH!” Tana ordered.