The closer Isceradin and Phameas got to the Inu’naabe village, the stronger the scent of smoke.
Isceradin’s heart weighed heavier in his chest. He was used to a certain smoky odor around the village to go with their cooking fires, but never this strong. Was there a forest fire burning somewhere nearby? It couldn’t have been the right season for wildfires in this kind of climate, too cool and not dry enough, but nature was always a capricious beast. Yet that was not the possibility Isceradin feared the most. There was one other answer that could account for the smoky smell, the one much worse than a natural fire.
Once he and Phameas reached the village, it became the most likely answer.
The smoke hung as a thick haze over the wigwams, all of which had their roofs blackened if not burned open. Mixing with the scent of burning was the scent of death and blood, for bodies lay all over the pathways. Men, women, children, even infants, all them speared, slit, or burnt to crisps.
Isceradin’s eyes flooded with tears, and not only from the sting of the smoke.
“You! You strangers did this!” a voice snarled.
It was the Inu’naabe named Kawiya, his face blazing scarlet with rage, a bloodied flint knife in his fist as he stormed toward Isceradin and Phameas.
“What, by Sheol, are you talking about?” Phameas said. “We weren’t supposed to attack you.”
“Oh, you didn’t attack us yourselves,” Kawiya replied. “You got the Shaawanaki to do it instead. And you’ll pay with it with your own lives!”
He lunged his dagger at Isceradin, but someone came up from behind to pull him back. It was Sukamek.
“Kawiya, calm down!” Sukamek said. “The Carthaginians had nothing to do with it. You know that.”
“But if it were not for them, the Shaawanaki would not have come here,” Kawiya said. “You know why they attacked us!”
Amangi, the village sachem, approached them from what remained of his wigwam with his head held low. “No, it is not their fault. They did not mean for this to happen.”
“So what happened here, O Sachem?” Isceradin asked. “Why does Kawiya blamed us?”
“First, some news you might consider good. It was not easy, but I was able to talk the other Inu’naabe sachems to agree to your ‘protectorate’, though they think of it more as an alliance. The news that is not so good is, the Shaawanaki found out about it.”
“They’ve been watching us this whole time,” Sukamek added. “I’ve found their scouts’ tracks in the woods across the river. This raid was their way of threatening us after our allying with you.”
“Then it’s a senseless way to do it, if I may say so myself,” Phameas said. “The wrath of Carthage shall fall on them soon!”
“I admire your passion, Phameas, but I would not underestimate the Shaawanaki if I were you,” Amangi replied. “Their warriors are many and they know the land better than you.”
“But we have iron, horses, and elephants. We could crush those dogs flatter than bugs!”
Isceradin shook his head. “All those advantages will be for naught if we are not careful, Phameas. O Sachem, your people do need justice, but you are right that war with these Shaawanaki will be risky for us all. We shall speak with our Senate, our village council if you will. Let us see if they prefer to protect or to attack.”
He handed the hunk of elk meat he had butchered to Sukamek. “Is your family all right?”
Sukamek turned to his wigwam, which his wife and son were busy repairing. “Unless the Shaawanaki launch another raid during the winter, they should be safe. I, and all my people, will make sure of that.”
“Then we will do whatever we can to keep you all safe. You have my word.”