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Wolf Eyes and Wounded Eagle now were seeing the river bottom begin to change color. It had gone from a greenish gray to a dark brown and black. It was time for them to leave the river path and take to the ridges, where there were fewer eyes. Wolf Eyes led the way, and Wounded Eagle marked the path so the rest of the war party could follow.
They climbed to the top of the ridge. From there, they could see the river below and the opposite bank and the hills that rose above them. The top of the ridge was covered in large and small pines that made for good concealment. The forest floor was covered with pine straw, which made the walking quite good. They traveled this ridge until it began to drop off. It would be downhill now until they reached the banks of the Yellow Leaf.
Wolf Eyes and Wounded Eagle, with the war party behind, made their way down the slope of the ridge and across the creek of the Yellow Leaf. They were very close to the village now. They had bypassed several sentries that had been positioned around the village. They had avoided discovery to this point, which had cost some of the sentries their lives.
The war party now surrounded the rear side of the village, from the opposite bank of the Yellow Leaf, on the western side, to the hill that looked over the river and the village, on the eastern side. The river side of the village was the only way to escape for the Creeks.
The time of the day was dusk, and night would follow shortly.
Wolf Eyes and Wounded Eagle were talking in conference with Proud Cougar. They used sign language to be silent.
“We need a small contingent across the river to capture any escapees that might swim the river,” said Wounded Eagle.
“Agreed,” said Proud Cougar.
“Wait till nightfall to get the warriors across the river,” said Wolf Eyes.
At this moment they heard a great commotion of people talking loudly from within the palisades of the village. The attention of the conference was drawn to the heightened commotion in the village.
After a moment, Wounded Eagle said, “They know we are coming.”
Women and children started to run from the palisade and into the woods. A large number of people escaped. They still remembered the night raid that happened the previous summer by Wolf Eyes and Wounded Eagle. There were more guards placed at the entrance of the palisade, and more warriors manned the towers.
“We must attack now,” said Proud Cougar.
Thus the order was given, and the war party charged in, from three sides, to the walls of the palisade.
The dusky, almost-night air filled with war cries terrorized the village inhabitants. Many of the villagers ran out the entrance of the palisade. Women and children, the too young, the too old ran for the forest and to the river. The river was full of people fleeing the attack. Most of the Creek braves stayed behind to defend the village.
The war party charged out of the forest and through the cornfield. The corn was new seedling, just breaking through the ground surface. The attackers were met with volleys of arrows from the walls and the towers. They found safety close to the wall, where they worked their way to the entrance. The entrance was so well defended that they made little progress against it.
They assaulted the towers and made progress there by shear numbers, shooting arrows into the ports of the towers.
Proud Cougar sent torch throwers to throw torches over the wall, onto the tops of houses and the roofs of the towers, setting them on fire.
By staying close to the wall, they were able to hold these positions by picking off Creeks as they leaned over the wall to shoot. Some Chickasaws attacked with arrows, while others took on the task of dismantling the wall. After a while, the number of defenders lessened to the point where they could throw ropes with shafts attached to try to pull the walls down. This was met, for some time, with opposition until the ropes were used to scale the walls. When Chickasaw warriors gained entrance to the walls, the fight was short. Because the Creeks were outnumbered, they were quickly defeated. Some were killed trying to escape.
As the dawn light came over the land from the east, the smoke from the charred village filled the river valley. Scalped bodies of Creek warriors littered the ground. Chickasaw braves threw these enemy bodies on the fires that still burned. The braves combed the remains of the village for anything of value. The Chickasaw casualties were light, primarily because of the attack at night. Setting fire to the village had made the defenders vulnerable, because they could be seen better than the camouflaged war party of the Chickasaws. Being surrounded, the defenders could not escape the lights of the fire and thus could not escape the attack of the Chickasaws.
Since morning had come, they searched the surrounding forest for any survivors. Women and children that they found hiding in the forest were taken captive. There were no male survivors over the age of thirteen that were captured. There were male survivors that escaped. One person that Wolf Eyes was primarily interested in was the aliktce, a known consort of the underworld. The old man, witch doctor had put the curse on the village of Nunnimingo. How was it that this old man escaped? His body was not among the dead. Wolf Eyes put out the word that he would like information about this man, and everybody in the war party searched and kept their eyes open for any clues that might lead to his whereabouts. The house of the aliktce was found in the burned out village, but no clues to his whereabouts were discovered.
The captives were terrorized to the point of mental submission. Not to submit to every demand would mean instant death. Many of the captives watched as every act of defiance was met with extreme cruelty. The adult women and preteen boys were held down and had bones broken in their feet, so that they could not run. They were beaten and cursed with every threat imaginable. Then they were tied, hobbled and gagged for the return trip to Nuktala.
Litters were prepared to carry the bodies of slain Chickasaw warriors. The stored corn was bundled and put into captured dugout canoes, readied for transport. The Chickasaws left nothing at the site that could be used. Runners were sent back to Nuktala to bring the news of how the battle had gone.
When all was ready, the war party moved out and made their way back to Nuktala. They brought with them their slaves and the bodies of their slain brothers. The slaves were made to walk on their broken feet. If one were to survive this journey, it would take perseverance of the pain. Falling out of line could be construed as an act of defiance, punishable by death.
Because of an east wind, the Chickasaw war party traversed a smoke filled valley, but their hearts were joyous, and they celebrated victory. Wolf Eyes, Wounded Eagle and Red Talon strutted, showing off their collected scalps. They sang a victory song as they traveled.
In times of peace, the Chickasaw braves could be very compassionate with strangers that were in trouble, or friendly with tribes that they had good relations with, but in other times of war, the call of the wild demanded savagery that was necessary for survival.