Ipama Betrayal Chapter

The Ipama led the Cren servants through the unmarked jungles dragging their prisoners along. The Cren still believed their new friends were loyal to them and their deity that died long ago and still lived on in some descendant’s body. It was foolish for anyone to trust an Ipama tribe with their lives, especially ones that sacrifice you on the face of the cliffs at the gorge. Many victims were sacrificed to Sleechers, and Vugar. Others were hung on the walls of the gorge left to be feasted on by the monsters in the holes at night. It was a nightmare that would send brave warriors shrieking into the afterlife like frightened little children.

Ilkabad could tell the Ipama were steering them off course, taking them deeper and deeper into their territory. To this Angoth it was obvious they would become sacrifices at the caves and the cliffs on the island. It was mainly the men the Ipama would sacrifice. The women they captured were used for breeding to replenish their numbers. Whichever tribe held captured females never shared them with other tribes. Those tribes would get theirs from slavers who hid in the islands and reefs nearby to escape the Angoths and Veeks patrolling Crowsian waters and other islands. He looked at his cousin who was still unconscious from the blow he received to the head.

Evnar’s head bobbed up and down as the Ipama carried him along beside Ilkabad who managed to stay awake throughout their journey through the jungle. An army of ten thousand warriors could get lost in such a jungle. Its thick brush made it difficult for travelers and explorers to find their way except for the Ipama who use the tree tops. That army of ten thousand would die in a massacre as they enter Ipama territory. The remnants would be hunted down and slaughtered or run into some predators like jaguars or leopards that hunt at night. Some might be lucky enough to reach the caves and wind up in the claws of the Vugar. Ilkabad pictured the entire scene as the Ipama continued to lead them astray. He turned to his cousin again whose head was still bobbing up and down.

“Evnar, Evnar!” Ilkabad tried to wake up his cousin by calling his name. There was no need to speak softly since most of the Ipama didn’t speak their language. Very few understood their dialect, but never bothered to shut them up whenever they captured them. “Evnar!” he called his cousin again who still did not wake up. Ilkabad managed to kick his cousin who woke up from the touch.

“What, where are we?” He asked confused, he had been unconscious since their jungle trek began from the Lessiiv.

“We are deep in the jungles of Kruskor Island. The servants of the Cren Order believe the Ipama are their friends and have allowed them to take us off the path forged in the jungle.”

“Ipama make paths in the jungles when did they-?” Evnar tried to ask, but Ilkabad cut him off.

“They didn’t the Cren idiots cut the path to the river and made some friends along the way. Now they have given the Ipama the authority to take us to wherever they wish.” Ilkabad informed Evnar.

“They can’t trust the Ipama.” Evnar grunted still in pain from the bruises he suffered in the battle over the Lessiiv.

“No one can! Even if you gave the tribe what they demanded you’d still be hanging off the cliff waiting for the meal time.” Ilkabad said as he spotted a leopard and her cubs hiding inside a dead tree that was as big as a house with a large hole in its side. It was a soothing sight for the Angoth warrior. A mother huntress and her cubs taking cover in a large tree they had made into their home. He kept the thought in his mind hoping his gods would have mercy upon the hunters of nature on this island. Creatures like the Leopard only lived as nature intended them. Where creatures like the Ipama lived like monsters.

Ilkabad looked up and noticed something wasn’t right or something was not going the way some would believe it was going. In the trees he spotted Ipama warriors of another tribe watching them enter their territory. It was no surprise that the Cren fools knew nothing about the various tribes of the Ipama on this island. They were entering another tribes’ territory even though the Ipama escorting them knew it. The Ipama escorting them wore masks made from coconuts with one side painted. Other tribes had other means of differentiating their own tribe members from others. Ilkabad could remember exactly what details to look for, but Visdiar educated him well in telling which tribe from the other.

He looked at Evnar who was staring up at the trees seeing the same thing he was seeing only different warriors watching them. None of the Ipama carrying them seemed to care whether they were being watched or not. To them it was off to the areas of sacrifice. If they were lucky they could avoid dealing with the other tribes that is if they could get to the sacrifice grounds quick enough. Ilkabad learned this from the Crone Visdiar who was a witness to such events as a child. Her own mother had to breed with the tribe until they were rescued by Veeks expanding into the islands.

Ilkabad glanced up one more time seeing a few more Ipama watching. He could not tell the difference from this distance, but if one looked closely they could tell the tribes apart from each other. Each tribe painted their masks or faces a certain way to separate themselves from each other. He looked forward again and saw they had come to a clearing in the center of the jungle. If Visdiar’s stories were true they were half way to the sacrifice grounds.

The Ipama stopped and dropped the prisoners acting as though they needed to rest. One of the Cren Servants spoke to one of the leading Ipama talking to him in the Ipama language. Another Cren Servant stood at the edge of the clearing and rose his chin up as if he saw something. He drew his scimitar and raised it high over his head then moved out of the way. Out of the jungle came another group of Cren servants armed and armored. Two hundred of them that managed to get through the jungles with Ipama guides from the same tribe.

As the Ipama set him down Ilkabad looked up and saw Ipama of different tribes looking down at them. Each one waited for a perfect moment to strike the Cren and the other Ipama over the sacrifice victims. His gaze returned to the Ipama and Cren soldiers around him. He noticed one of the Ipama was focused on a Cren soldier gripping his weapon. Another next to a Cren warrior swung his war club at the dark hooded servant. The war club bashed the Cren’s skull in and the first Cren servant fell dead. Other Ipama attacked the Cren Servants who responded to the assaults. Several Cren went down each one killing a few Ipama.

The armored Cren warriors plunged into the fight that started in the clearing. Cren Servants and Ipama died all around them as they killed one another. Lessiiv sailors and Etrasian women watched their captors fight each other to the death. Cren servants were overwhelmed by the Ipama while their armored counterparts plunged into the fight in the clearing. Their Ipama captors were butchered at the hands of the armored Cren warriors who did not see the other Ipama tribes in the trees. It was a quick fight since the Ipama did not stand a chance against the armored Cren warriors.

Two hundred Cren warriors now had custody of the prisoners from the Lessiiv ship. A few of the hooded figures managed to fight off the Ipama and survive the onslaught. Dozens of Ipama fell to their blades during the short battle that went on in the clearing. The remaining Ipama guides fled into the jungles meeting a ruthless end at the hands of the other tribes. Ilkabad could still see the other tribes had not bothered to jump in taking their time to make the right move. He did not bother telling any of the Cren Warriors anything about this island’s Ipama population.

“Damn those traitorous Ipama! They tricked us into trusting them!” one of the Cren Servants kicked the corpse of an Ipama.

“You were the ones who trusted them in the first place!” An armored Cren warrior accused the hooded servants.

“So did you!” the other retorted back.

“To get here, none of this was our plan! You and your priests believed these creatures expressed their loyalty to Cren.”

“It was not our fault how were we to know they would betray us!” the servant shouted.

In the trees more and more Ipama emerged looking down at their targets. It was only a matter of time before the Ipama struck their new targets in the clearing. Both Cren Servant and warrior continued to argue about coming to this island.

“If we had let the Lessiiv go further into the island they would have made it out and escaped!” The armored Cren yelled.

“Our mission is complete is it not?” the hooded Cren snapped at the armored warrior.

“Then we should kill them here and now!” one of the armored warriors suggested. He stepped forward and placed a hand over his sword, but the leading Cren stopped him.

“Know your place!” he growled.

Out of the jungle a mass wave of Ipama jumped out and attacked the Cren Warriors. Hundreds leapt down from the trees attacking the armored ones first. Each one was caught unawares of them being watched until the Ipama were on them. The armored Cren fared better than the ones who only wore hoods and tunics over their bodies. Each Armored Cren killed dozens of Ipama before being dragged to the ground. Those who weren’t overwhelmed killed the Ipama aiding their brothers in arms. The clearing became a battle ground between a few hundred Cren versus thousands of Ipama who kept pouring out of the jungle around them.

Ilkabad watched as the Ipama hit their armor repeatedly before they were cut down. A few Cren Warriors met a drastic end as the Ipama forced them down and bashed them with sticks and stones. War clubs dented the armor leaving a bruise or making them dizzy. One Ipama picked up a Cren sword and shoved into the gap between helmet and breast plate. Soon others did the same thing taking the Cren warriors from behind as they surrounded them. Each armored warrior kept up the fight killing scores of Ipama. By the time fifty Cren warriors lay dead hundreds upon hundreds of Ipama lay dead at their feet.

These Ipama tribes continued the same tactics in the attempt to ware down the Cren warriors as they fought to fend the savages off. None of the captives took sides. Both the Cren and Ipama would kill the prisoners. The Ipama wanted their sacrifices where the Cren would force them into slavery and have them killed later or let them die while serving as a slave. Either way the crew of the Lessiiv would still lose.

More Ipama continued to jump in against the Cren warriors who had killed up to a thousand Ipama by now. Their unarmored foes fell quickly to sharpened blades compared to the weapons made from bone, stone, and wood. Ilkabad focused on the Ipama closely noticing the difference in their face paintings and their masks. He counted three separate tribes of Ipama attacking the Cren warriors who were starting to lose after killing thousands of Ipama in the clearing. The bodies piled up around them creating a wall of corpses. As Ilkabad and his companions watched the fight the Ipama soon blocked their view then presumed to jump on the warriors. Some jumped from the trees others were thrown on to the Cren warriors.

When it was all over fifty seven Cren warriors remained with their armor dented and ripped off their bodies. They now found themselves in the same position as the crew of the Lessiiv. Each warrior was tied up and thrown beside the other prisoners. Most did not look up or make eye contact humiliated by what they called savage monkeys. When the last of the Cren were killed or forced into submission the Ipama jumped in the air whooping and shouting with excitement. There were three tribes with plenty of sacrifices.

Lessiiv’s crew, and passengers and her Cren pursuers were now in the hands of three separate Ipama tribes. The only question that remained in Ilkabad’s mind was which tribe got the sacrifices. He could see the argument starting to boil into a conflict as some Ipama shoved each and shoulder each other. More of them started to argue in their own tongue over who was going to get the sacrifices.

Two of the tribes banded together they lost the most warriors. The one with the most warriors had come into the battle later. It was hard to tell whose territory they were in or if one of the clearings was the border between all three tribes. A tall tribal chieftain entered the clearing with more warriors, he belonged to the one with the most warriors who wore paint on one side of the face. Another tribal chieftain came with what had to be his guards or something each one had a necklace of bones same as the others of their tribe. There was no third chieftain that came, perhaps they were the furthest away from their territory.

Both Chieftains looked at the sacrifices then confronted each other. In a blink of an eye all three tribes went at each other. Ipama killed Ipama over the numerous sacrifices in the clearing. The one with the largest number of warriors concentrated its power on the weakest of the two rival tribes. As the smaller tribe was being overwhelmed some of its warriors went after their ally. One of them jumped on the chieftain knocking him to the ground then bashed his head in with a war club. He jumped back up and attacked another Ipama and died in the process.

Leaderless the other tribe with bone necklaces fled into the jungles leaving their ally to their deaths. The larger tribe slaughtered the remaining ones as they fled into jungle to escape death. The battle between the three tribes was surprisingly short, but saw more death than its previous battle between the Ipama and the Cren Order. There was a pile of bodies from one end of the clearing to the next and covered about half of the clearing. Some of the bodies were in the jungle where scores of Ipama fought on the ground and in the trees.

The victors over the clearing claimed their prize and immediately set out. Each prisoner was dragged onto his or her feet and hauled along. Each one saw them take their fellow captives into the jungle most of them did not know where these beasts were taking them. Ilkabad knew where the Ipama always took their captives. He was not about to tell the others anything. Everyone would find out after another plunge into the jungle. Nightfall came when they were well past the clearing. Each prisoner were kept in the center of a ring of Ipama so they would know when one tried to escape. From what Visdiar told Ilkabad and his cousin he knew the Ipama were not stupid creatures. Those hairy savages knew how to keep prisoners from escaping.

It was not their way of binding prisoners, but the formation they slept in when on the move, or carrying prisoners. All were set in the middle while they sat in several rings of bodies so one would trip over them in case they got free and tried sneaking away. Ilkabad looked around where he could see the Ipama underneath the brush in several rings around them. He was placed in between Olverd, and Senestra. His cousin was placed somewhere behind him. Next to Olverd was a Cren officer who lost parts of his armor including his helmet, which was worn by one of the Ipama.

After the two battles in the clearing the Ipama took weapons, and pieces of armor from the enemies they killed. Plenty of them claimed the weapons of the Cren Warriors who fought them. They even looted the bodies of other Ipama they had killed over the sacrifices. He saw the crimson red on the armor in the dark. Helmets and arm braces could be seen. A few cuirasses could be seen as well under the brush of the jungle on the sleeping Ipama. Ilkabad could not sleep that night and watched the Ipama sleep as he observed the jungles around them. It was quiet save for some birds in the jungles and the snoring of several Ipama in the outer ring around them. Ilkabad leaned back and tilted his head gazing up at the trees. As he sat there the young warrior thought of Levanna wondering if she would see him again.