Chương 37: Ravage and rampage
Zaelia was contemplating the other villages around, their attitude, their evolution, and their improvements. She saw that they started to regroup and build defenses. They had better weapons recently. It would take a few years more only before her people will not be able to handle them anymore. They had the advantage for now but, to her, the tribe was lacking ambition and intelligence. They were stuck in the past and what happened. They wanted to preserve the true glory of God but they didn't search further. She knew their constitution would not be sufficient for long.
There was so much to do. She stood up and went outside with her bottle to drink. She sat on the floor in front of her tent and watched the sky. There were beautiful stars and somewhere, maybe one of them, was the Golden City that they all wanted to join. She didn't even know what they were truly doing up there. It was said that when gods were attributed zones and temples by Archanium they were helping the people of their zone against demons and other extraordinary catastrophes.
They said that the new gods promised to not come back to the mortal lands to give them a chance to prove their valor and ascend on their own.
Zaelia didn't care, she just wanted her tribe to shine, to be glorified and told in stories. For her, humans were the people who had to submit unanimously to Archanium and its glory, which is why she didn't want to become a goddess one day. She wanted the world to know who they were. However, when she looked at the tribe, all she saw was a bunch of brutal nomads who would soon die out if they didn't evolve like the rest of the world around them. Their strength would soon not be enough and she was worried. She was the only one to see it, the elders were refusing every discussion.
She finished her bottle and came back to her tent, she threw her tired body on the cushion and fell asleep like a cadaver. On the next day, she was awakened by someone who entered her tent. An elder came to her.
"Zaelia? Have you awakened, my child?"
She recognized the sweet voice of the elder Zephira. She tried to jump on her feet immediately but she failed due to her hangover. She almost tripped on the little table in the middle of her tent. Zephira laughed a bit.
"You should drink less, you know."
Zaelia scratched the back of her head without saying anything about it. There were plenty of emptied bottles all around her. If she was a good strategist and a well-organized person when she had to lead the raids or have ideas to improve the tribe, her tent was another subject. She was not even able to find a piece of fabric to put on her naked chest, she just stayed in front of Zephira in the mess of her tent searching with her eyes for something to wear.
Zephira took the first cloth clean enough to be acceptable she saw on the floor and gave it to her, laughing loudly.
"The elders want to talk to you. Be ready."
Zephira was about to leave the tent when she added with a smirk.
"And don't be too aggressive this time."
Zaelia sighed. She couldn't stop herself from thinking: "Again!? What did these ancestors want this time? I didn't do anything." followed by "Oh my head...".
She didn't let anything appear on her face and watched the cloth in her hands. She dressed up and tried to put a bit of order on herself before leaving her tent to follow Zephira. She remained silent during all the time they were walking, she was in deep thought and mostly affected by her hangover.
As she was walking, she watched the people all around her, and to her, that was a forfeiture. Once upon a time, they were the strongest, and now, they were reduced to "this". She clenched her fist in anger but she knew that if she spoke openly the elders would exile her and Zephira would not be able to stand for her alone. That was a terrible feeling to see every day the failure of the elder's ideas and be able to say nothing.
When they arrived at the tent, Zephira took place with the other elders and left Zaelia alone in the middle of the circular place. There were seven elders in total. Zaelia said nothing, waiting to hear what they had to reproach to her. One of them stood up and spoke to Zaelia with a distant and angry voice. They had a common point, they all hated each other. Zaelia disrespected them and they only had hate toward her.
"It was decided that we will give you a chance. A scout reported to us about a town further in the South East. We want you to take a group of fifty persons of your choice and lead a raid there. They seem to have good weapons and solid armor, and they are quite numerous. If you succeed, we will maybe consider your ideas for the tribe."
Another elder finished after taking a deep and long breath. They didn't even try to hide that they were upset by her presence.
"This town is outside the desert. At the border. There is a minimum of two days of walking to go there. You better be prepared. "
Zaelia was deeply shocked. At first, she was happy to understand that they would finally listen to her but then she understood. Fifty men against a trained and armored town? That was pure suicide. Were they trying to get rid of her? She was an arrogant young woman, and so, she raised her head proudly and accepted the deal. She would find a solution later. She was excited and terrified at the same time. She had to find a way to be more confident, if not, nobody would follow her outside of the desert. She said in a falsely sure voice:
"I will do it. Thank you, Elders."
After that, she left rapidly and went back to her tent without throwing an eye around her. She had a low head hiding her face under her long black hair. She took a bottle and drank it in one go, her hands were shaking. She paced frantically trying to find a good idea for such a situation. That was incredibly messy in her head. She never imagined leading a raid outside the desert, for sure, that was what she wanted but maybe not so suddenly, and in such conditions, she knew nothing about these people and now she panicked. She needed to vent, so she took a second bottle with her and left her tent.
She went to the main place of the camp, where there was alcohol, the music, and the dances. She sat on the floor with the other young people of her age and she drank with them, enjoying the evening.
This was hilarious to her. She pushed the elders in their tracks for years and now that they answered she was terrified. Fifty men. She couldn't stop thinking about it. She was watching around her, fifty men would not be enough. She didn't know the exact situation of the town they mentioned but from what she understood, that would be extremely complicated.
For sure, it will be a unique experience, and for this, she was excited. She finally had the opportunity to make the elders bow in front of her ideas. She would be the first to do a raid so far from the tribe.
She decided to shut up her thoughts, she finished her bottle and threw it on the floor breaking the glass, she stood up and spoke with a loud voice heard by everyone.
"We are going to the border! We are going to attack a town outside the desert!"
People kept silent for a minute before a few of them started to whistle and cheer, and the group followed them. That was an incredibly exciting moment, maybe the last one. She burst out laughing at this constatation.
She watched the sky whispering to herself.
"I am so dead."
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