For more than fifteen days, about three hundred warriors of the Atokal people made their way through thick forests of sugar and red maple. Descending and ascending along parallel mountain ranges, surrounded by a subtropical winter climate. Everyone was hungry, thin and exhausted from the long hike. None of them really spoke, if we from the point of view of a civilized person from Agernox or another country that is accustomed to perceive speech, but they spoke with gestures and grunts, because that was quite enough for them. Moreover, with the nearest neighbors, they used the language of war and weapons.
In another five days, they had to make their way through podzol, which then changed to peat bogs. Mosquitoes and other insects flew around them in a huge and angry flock. Hungry snakes, three or more meters long, were waiting for them in the bushes. Nevertheless, the people of Atokal were used to this and easily destroyed the predators, and in the evenings, they cooked their meat on the fire in order to get soaked and survive. Bats, sitting upside down on the branches of trees, watched what was happening and did not interfere in any way.
The leader of the Atokal people, who is also their commander-in-chief, wore a thorn on his head and a turquoise cloak. His close warriors wore red capes with a white stripes, and they had leather sandals on their feet. The rest, less distinguished warriors, put white cloaks with a scorpion embroidered on them on their shoulders and walked mostly bare feet.
The leader called the most famous warriors to him. They sat around the fire while the others rested, and then he took out a map of the area, ran his finger along the supposed path and poked twice at the place of the supposed enemy. In addition, he mumbled something that worried him, everyone else nodded and went to bed. They put out all the fires and everything turned into a green-white blackness. The guard changed every couple of hours.
The next day they met a clear blue river, filled their canteens with water, caught small fish and set off on their way, surrounded by aspens, poplars and oaks. It was getting colder with each new day. A snowstorm caught those at the most inopportune moments, they had to stop, set up camp and hope that nature would soon stop raging. To do this, the leader even took a shaman with him, who at such moments jumped and beat a tambourine, singing strange songs, more like the heart-rending cry of birds. Sometimes Atokal's squad met Virgin deer or possums, for them it was a real festival and feast, and sometimes, when the hunt failed, they starved, having lost a couple of warriors, but they did not want to understand the true cause of their death. The weak die, the strong live, and that is the law. They did not bury the dead men, but simply left them to the mercy of the scavengers.
Five days later, they found themselves in front of a coal basin with alternating sandstones, shales and coals. There was no vegetation or animals. Hunger struck a new disaster, for the supplies were quickly running out. Even those who had the experience of a few wars behind their backs, had their health shacked. They moved without stopping, just to get through this dangerous and unfriendly place faster. They passed by abandoned mines and quarries, bypassed strange craters in the ground that go deep down, and one particularly observant warrior noticed blue crystals shining in the sun, wanted to lower and take a couple as a souvenir, but the leader did not give the go-ahead. Their suffering finally ended when the coal basin was left behind, and they reached the final stretch of the road.
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Two days later, from the top of a wooded mountain, they saw their goal, about half a day's journey away. A small settlement of the Atsokmuchlan people was located near the riverbed in a gorge between the mountains. There were a lot of people, and uncountable houses. They were engaged in agriculture, domesticated wild horses, and led a calm and serene lifestyle. The soldiers of Atokal hooted in fear, but the leader calmed everyone down. He ordered two days of hunting to be arranged so as not to attack on an empty stomach, besides, he wished his loyal subordinates to recover their strength. The result of the hunt was as follows: several raccoons, one black bear and a lynx. On the last evening, they held a small celebration and thought about a strategy. Morale has risen significantly.
On the third day, at noon, the Atokal attacked Atsokmuchlan with all their strength, hooting and shouting like a pack of crazed wolves. They held spears and bows in their hands, dozens of poisoned arrows behind their backs, and necklaces of small skulls and teeth around their necks. The army of darkness broke in, disrupting the order of the civilian population. There was a commotion, women and children ran chaotically, and the leader of the Atsokmuchlan people named the Praying Hedgehog mobilized his soldiers, put them on horses and mules and fought back.
The bloodshed began. They killed everyone indiscriminately. Some of the Atokal warriors came in from the flank, thereby taking Atsokmuchlan by surprise. They managed to injure the leader, and the warriors retreated. The horses fell one after another from the well-aimed shots of the bows, pressing their owners to death. Moreover, if they were lucky enough to survive, then the enemy finished them off. The Atokal warriors ran after the Praying Hedgehog, trying to kill as many of his people as possible along the way. Angry, wild, hungry. The houses caught fire, the screams of women, old people and children were heard and seen everywhere.
There were no more than one hundred and fifty Atsokmuchlan warriors, and even then, Atokal killed with the help of the sudden attack no less than fifty warriors. Frightened and not battle-hardened guards of the settlement didn’t have enough experience to give a full-fledged resistance, and all what they could do was saving their people at the cost of their lives. However, the settlement was destroyed, ash swirled in the air, and food supplies were lost forever. The river, flowing from south to east, turned red. Rain clouds were coming from the western mountains. A downpour began. The sun disappeared. Everything turned into primordial gloom.