บท 49: The Battle
The Kalek warriors had set up a camp with the Lang warriors near Kisum two days after the two tribe heads met. Lu tribe was at the center of the two tribes. It could take only a day or two for the powerful warriors to arrive at Kisum at their maximum speed if they used the cutoffs they knew.
Since it could take them a week or more if they used normal paths, they used horses and followed the crossovers. Even though horses were few in every tribe, quite a number had been reserved for war purposes.
The warriors had been training together for two good days and nights. The day for the great battle had finally arrived.
Just as the sun rose from east, under the two tribe commanders' dictation, the warriors marched taciturnly towards the Lu tribe camp.
The Lu warriors had woken up at the first cock crow and were busy training. Warriors from the clans had joined them the previous day. The commander and his three assistants were issuing instructions here and there. The tribe head sat at a large stone near the training ground wearing a blue face.
Cha! Cha! Cha!
Suddenly, rains of arrows started descending on the training ground. A few Lu warriors were caught off guard and they died instantly. The Lang people always smeared poison on their weapons. When these weapons landed on their opponents, no matter where was pierced, the victim had to die.
"They are here. Furthermore with the Kalek people." The tribe head stood and examined the dead people from afar. After seeing the arrows that were on the victims, he was able to infer who was able to pull this off. His look became barbarous as his breathing hastened. He was extremely angry.
He had been to several battles with the two tribes for several seasons. He knew how their weapons looked like. The commanders were not any different from the tribe head. They looked like a female cheetah whose young ones had been stolen from her.
"COVER!"
The general commander ordered and immediately, all the warriors formed an exquisite formation that looked like a bowl with a flat base placed upside-down. The formation was covered with cattle hide shields.
The arrows fell once again but this time round, they fell on the shields. The raining continued for some time until it stopped. It seemed the Lang and Kalek warriors were run out of the arrows.
After who knows how long, the Kalek and Lang warriors made their appearance. They were powerful people on powerful horses. In the lead were two elegant men clad in giraffe skins and other two human dynamos clad in lion skins.
The Lu warriors were at once inundated in fear. Most of them started trembling violently and sweating profusely. They had been into battles but not against a combination of two tribes.
"Fear! Fear is smothering that a warrior should always guard against. This daemon can make strong warriors lose to weak ones in a battle. It can make one see illusionary things on his path making him weak before his opponent. Kill it and you will win every battle!"
Many Lu warriors were still trembling at the sight of their opponents when an authoritative voice resounded in the air, following which a middle aged man walked in front of them followed by another middle aged man. The former was extremely powerful and the killing intent he emitted showed the amount of blood he had shed. As for the latter, he was graceful and emanated an authoritative aura. It was clear the man in front was the Lu tribe commander while the one behind was the tribe head. The one who had spoken earlier was the commander. The tension in Lu tribe warriors dissipated the moment the voice quieted.
The two tribe warriors soon reached near the Lu warriors.
"Lokoit and Luvembe. Why do you attack me? Hadn't we not agreed on maintaining peace amongst us?" Lu tribe head asked with a frown.
"Hrmm! You say we agreed on what basis? Let me tell you Amollo, after this is over, this land will be ours. The Luwa lake and the gold will also be ours." Tribe head Mudembi harrumphed before saying proudly.
"What do..." This angered Amollo, he wanted to talk but was interrupted by Lokoit,
"We are not here to talk or negotiate with you Amollo, the reason why we are here is to finish your warriors then we can harvest the products of our fight in your tribe."
The two tribes had to win the battle in the battlefield before going to the tribe to kill the ordinary tribesmen.
"Then let us make everything fair. Let your warriors fight without horses. We do not have ours with us."
Amollo requested and the other tribe heads agreed with him almost immediately. If his warriors won this battle, all those horses would belong to the Lu tribe.
The Lang and Kalek warriors alighted from the horses and drove them outside the field of honor.
"ATTACK!"
After they were done, two fierce voices reverberated simultaneously in the air. What followed was the Lang and Kalek warriors charging dementedly towards the Lu warriors clinging tightly to their swords and shields. Behind them, they left immense clouds of dust. The two tribe heads were absorbed by the warriors and were hardly seen thereafter.
"ATTACK!"
The voice of the Lu commander also echoed and the Lu warriors dashed towards their opponents holding tightly their short spears and shields while shouting furiously.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The sounds of weapons clashing resonated. The warriors were involved in an intense battle. Dusts fogged the field of battle. Warriors from both sides fell one by one. Blood spill on the ground increased as more men fell. Wails after wails of men were heard from time to time.
The Lu tribe head who was covered by his warriors shook his head as he saw his warriors fall one by one. Even though the other warriors were falling as well, the rate at which his were doing so was high. It was very clear he was losing in this war.
"Atweyo Odhiambo."
He saw one of his assistant commanders fighting ferociously with other five people. He called out his name when he saw him being pierced by three swords at the same time. Of course Odhiambo had killed the other two people.
He wanted to join the battle but was intransigently stopped by the warriors concealing him. In the end, he only held his head and watched as the battle continued.
"Ha!"
This time he saw what jolted him. He saw a very familiar person confront one of the Lang tribe vice commanders. As the fight between the two intensified, he saw the familiar fellow falling on the losing side.
"Okoth Ang'wen." He shouted and jumped out of his cover.
Since his focus was on Ang'wen whom he was going to save, he failed to see Kalek warrior's spear that headed towards his thigh. The spear thrust him on his right thigh sending him on the ground. Okoth who had heard the tribe head call his name turned only to see the tribe head groaning in pain on the ground. Withal, he exposed his back to his opponent who did not have mercy. The opponent's sword sank on Okoth's back all the way to his belly. He spurted blood and fell on his knees.
The battle was so intense that no one noticed such happenings, except the warriors who were covering the tribe head.
"No!"
As the warriors rushed to help their tribe head up, the tribe head cried out on seeing Okoth's one leg on the grave. He struggled to stand to go and kill the one who had caused such thing to Okoth when,
Whaaa!
A large bird appeared not far away from the battleground. Very few people noticed it but he clearly did. The mysterious bird had monsters on its back that scared him stiff. Those around him noticed his state and turned their heads to where he was looking at. They fainted when they saw five monsters resembling lions, a large grey bird with white wings, a Jadefeathered eagle walking majestically towards them. On one of the monsters resembling a lion, they saw a young man who wore a scarlet furred skin. His look was cruel and the aura around him ferocious. The killing intent his eyes produced was so condensed that those who did not faint but noticed them stifled.
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