The Scout-Story.
Tyon quietly and studiously recited all the curses he had heard in his life, while strangling the last of the patrolmen; that one was very large, and struggled to the end like the blasphemous barbarian that he was. Tyon stopped cursing for a while, remembering that a warrior must be silent during the battle; but he forcefully muttered out one last long and contrived curse (the main idea of which was that his enemy was to go through a thousand transformations, each more painful and humiliating than the last) when his enemy tried one last time to break his hold... and collapsed, suffocated. Tyon cursed again. It didn't matter now, did it? Around him, the slaughter was already over. Corpses of barbarians and Rajai scouts alike littered the jungle clearing. One last enemy stood, bloodied and tired. He lunged at Tyon with his stone axe; Tyon dodged and drove a knife through his enemy's abdomen, then remembered some basic decency, pulled it out and drove it into the chest. He repeated the same with the other enemy corpses. No matter what, blood must flow.
Staggering, cursing (the battle was over now, after all) and spitting, Tyon crawled back into the jungle; but the rituals gave him some sense of purpose, at least. His party was slaughtered, but he survived. And he still had knowledge - how fortunate it was that he was the map-bearer, that he had that green leaf on which the lay of the enemy land was scribbled. That would be useful. He carefully took out the map-leaf and pierced with his sharpest stone the spot where Rajai corpses lie. Perhaps they could be recovered later. Right now, there was a different priority.
He hid, for now, and rested; then he journeyed towards the small nearby river, hunting along the way. By the end of the day he had eaten, drank and found a place to rest. Things could have been worse.
In the days that followed, Tyon journeyed through Anjawa territory. He added more spots to the map; he found some fortified Anjawa villages on the way, and he saw warriors there. He avoided patrols; it was folly enough to attack them in full force when unsure of victory, but to attack them alone would be senseless. He did kill some traders, and a warrior that has wandered off too far from his village alone. Meanwhile, Tyon also left Rajai signs on the trees, and looked for those of other groups.
Finally Tyon found one such sign. He left his own, and added the "end" sign; he also wished there was some way to clarify that he was going to meet up with the other party, but he would speak of this idea later, if he remembered; for now, this would do.
And Tyon set off, following the signs. He added a river that separated that sign and the next one of that party to the map; that should suffice if their map is in good order. Aside from that, he merely travelled as fast as he could. When he finally came upon the final sign, he was exhausted, but still gave the pitta's shout. It was replied upon. Gathering his last strenght, he travelled in the reply's direction, and was relieved to find the scouting party in good order, as well as resting. He rested with them, and gave them his map. For the rest of the day he soldiered on, breathing heavily but still trying to keep up the pace with the party that silently accepted him. It was only on the next morning that he was able to properly report:
"My scouting party fell afoul of major blasphemer patrols. We fought off the first one, but another came to reinforce it and we were slaughtered. I alone survived, and have travelled here to continue my duty and to pass on my knowledge."
"This is bad," - replied the party leader - "the blasphemous resistance is stronger than expected. They themselves are stronger than expected."
"Aye, and if the rumours of them having allies to the north are true..." - one of the other scouts joined in.
"Silence - I have not asked for your opinion, Indor." - growled the leader, clearly annoyed with that particular scout, whom Tyon also noticed to be rather undisciplinned - "However, the situation is indeed difficult. That makes getting the information to the Rajaraja all the more important. Tyon, is it? You shall join our party. We shall continue our operations, and see if we could gather more information about the southern territory of the blasphemers; the size of their land too is greater than one might have expected. Malla, during the next big rest you shall copy his map to our reserve map. Then you shall travel with it to the north."
"Already?" - asked Indor, while another scout, presumably Malla, nodded.
"Ofcourse, ofcourse! This is important information, and the cycle is nearly over!" - barked the leader - "Alright then." - he said, standing up and turning around to face the main mass of the scouts - "Tyon of the eastern-middle scout party shall join us, while Malla shall depart us later this day to deliver the map north. He shall pick those who shall accompany him. The rest of us will proceed as before!"
It would take over two months, but eventually Malla would reach a border fortress, and would delive the information to the local war-lord. Then Tyon's hard-conquered knowledge will join what the other scouts had conquered before and now, in a single report that the new ruler, Rajaraja V, had received. Thoughtfully he nodded, asked some clarifying questions and then sat on his bamboo throne again, absentmindly fiddling with his long stone knife. Finally, he stood up again.
"There might be some adjustments to the plan, but the rest will remain as before. The Golden Bird has ordered it, and we shall not stray from our course. Send out the messengers to all the war-lords; the Conquest Proper shall begin in two months."