"Praise the great and mighty Chief Divine! Praise the great and mighty Priest! Respected Utadori High Priest, Small Feather bows to you!"
"Hmm, is it you again? Small Feather, where is your father, Feather Prince? He took the Kingdom's aid and went to ambush the Great Mountain Eagle Chieftain, but there has been no news for half a month!… Now, what exactly is the situation with your Feather Clan?…"
"Ah! Utadori High Priest Sir! Several hundred of the Great Mountain Eagle Chieftain's defeated soldiers have already fled back. You sent troops northward and captured the Yoe Tribe; you must have known about this as well... Oh oh! You ask the whereabouts of the Great Mountain Eagle Chieftain? I have him here! He's right here, in this grass basket. My father instructed to bow first and then personally offer him to you!…"
"…"
In the Chieftain's wooden house, a row of Kingdom's Warriors stood nacingly with axes in hand. The Utadori High Priest sat at the top, expressionless, looking down at the kneeling youth.
Small Feather knelt at the bottom, wearing seven or eight Hummingbird Talismans, with three Hummingbirds tattooed on his face, five more on his arms and chest, signifying utmost loyalty, a one-man bird's nest. He respectfully bowed nine tis to the Utadori High Priest before picking up a grass basket, lifting it high above his head.
Two warriors inspected the grass basket, exchanged a glance, and then bowed their heads as they approached. The Utadori High Priest lifted the cover cloth and glanced briefly, his eyebrows furrowing slightly. Inside was, as expected, a pile of indistinctively bloody, li-preserved heads, exactly seven in total.
"Small Feather, you only brought seven heads?…"
"Ah, High Priest Sir! Just these seven heads. One is the Great Mountain Eagle Chieftain, and the other six are important chieftains, capable warriors! As for the other heads, they aren't as critical, the clan simply buried them…"
"Really buried them? Or captured them without killing?…"
"High Priest Sir! How would a small one recognize those Yoe chieftains? But, my father said, they won't be coming back anyway, just a matter of late or early death!…"
The Utadori High Priest squinted, looking at the respectful Small Feather like an eagle before handing the grass basket to the Bee Eagle Priest, speaking.
"Bee Eagle, take a careful look! Is this the Great Mountain Eagle Chieftain?…"
"Chief Divine as my witness! Long hair, tattooed face, scar on the forehead, fierce countenance… Yes! It's him! The other six are all renowned tribal chieftains, known for their bravery, yet they all were packed into this grass basket by the Feather Clan…"
"Hmm… Feather Clan, having arrived here from the Highland battles, truly capable fighters…"
The Utadori High Priest nodded, ordered the heads taken away, and once again looked at Small Feather, speaking gently and kindly.
"Small Feather, your Feather Clan has done well! Hmm, as promised before, after this battle, you will be sent the last batch of supplies and weapons, to support your northward move!… Next, are you coming to fetch it yourselves, or should we send it to your camp?…"
"Ah! Respected High Priest Sir! Father and the clan are no longer around the Yoe Tribe!…"
"Hmm?!…"
"Chief Divine's blessing! Two months ago, following your orders, we continuously sent small mixed units to harass the Yoe Tribe… then, a month ago, the Great Mountain Eagle Chieftain officially dispatched his tribe, two thousand n chasing us all the way!…"
"We fled desperately, fighting for the Chief Divine, losing two to three hundred mixed units! Then, my father led the Clan Warriors to ambush in the valley, the first wave of Feathered Arrows killed the Great Mountain Eagle Chieftain! Then, for the Chief Divine, everyone went all out, surrounded over a thousand Yoe warriors, and only four to five hundred escaped… But the tribe's casualties were tragic! So many died! Nearly half of them!…"
Small Feather stamred, appearing harmless, wiping tears while narrating the ambush, appealing pitifully. Yet the Utadori Priest did not believe the casualty numbers he spoke of.
According to the returning tribal warriors, the battlefield was three hundred li northeast in the valley. The "Mountain Tribes" were insidious and fierce, occupying strategic positions and allied with many Wilderness small tribes. In this battle, the Yoe Great Tribe suffered heavy losses, the chieftain and elders perished, while truly armored enemies killed numbered just dozens! From pursuit to ambush, the primary casualties of the opposite side were mostly armorless Stone Spear mixed soldiers…
"Chief Divine's rcy! High Priest Sir, please have rcy!... After a tragic victory, Father counted the heads, ah, the clan has only half remaining! With so few left, how dare we demand supplies and weapons from you? I fear the Kingdom's Warriors prepared in the camp will consider the clan as 'Mountain Tribes', treat us as 'bandits' and kill us all… then use our heads to win favor with the Yoe Tribe…"
"Father said, the supre Priest Sir, the last batch of supplies and weapons, the clan will not receive. What's left of the food, frugally consud, should be enough to reach the northern mountains! And if not, aren't there still eight to nine hundred Yoe prisoners? Each weighs one to two hundred pounds, plenty to eat… Timing it right, the clan should have already gone north a thousand li, into the Opata people's mountain valleys!…"
"Father also said! Failing to collect the final supplies and running with just loincloths is the fault of the Feather Clan! He instructed to bow to you, and to stay in the camp to serve as your servant or slave! He said, if you are not pleased, tomorrow you can sacrifice and kill , dig out my heart and throw it into the fire, pleasing the Chief Divine… Boo hoo hoo! Father is so cruel! Boo hoo hoo! I really don't want to face the Chief Divine!…"
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