Spirits of the Wildflowers

by Parris Match

  Coiedeh’ah and the brothers, with their fear-bound prisoners in tow, began the still long straight journey to the Golden City.

  Into the second day of their return trip, Hodaie’ah started to complain to Coiedeh’ah, “Iicooah will be angry”.

  “So!”! Coiedeh’ah explicitly grunted.

  Hodaie’ah was obsessed by what Iicoo’ah would say or how he may react to the overly bloodthirsty carnage on Bacoo’ah’s plain.

  Coiedeh’ah was indifferent.

  “We have done the wrong thing”, muttered Hodaie’ah.

  Mile after mile, the no-see-um mosquito, Hodaie’ah, would sidle-up to Coiedeh’ah and peevishly whine in his ear.

  “How are we going to explain this to Iicoo’ah?”

  Coiedeh’ah had always covertly thought of the glib flippant Hodaie’ah as a weak insignificant lackey, a smear of accidental excrement scraped from your moccasin; an idle opinion also shared with the boisterous grunts and guffaws of a few of his familiar village cronies; and Hodaie’ah’s reserved and clean conduct in the aggressive campaign, that they had just finished, was proof of his parasitic weakness again. Even Hodaie’ah’s own closer brothers paid limited attention to him, giving him critical sideling averted glances and moderate declining respect.

  “Iicoo’ah will be angry”, droned Hodaie’ah.

  A leading capital guard of five brothers, followed by Hodaie’ah, then Coiedeh’ah, next behind a trudging contingent of bloodied warriors, submitted after by the timidly-connected line-in-tow of fresh ruddy captives, and then concluded by the remainder of the brothers in rear-guard; monotonously plodded in a forced single file, along the crumbling spine ridge of a range of steep-sided rocky low mountains. Hodaie’ah’s constant continual complaining anal voice, before and under Coiedeh’ah’s nose; “Iicooah will not understand”; nearby annoying buzzing… … ……, an incessant vexation, a waft of passing bad odor, back to Coiedeh’ah’s buzzing ears.

  “Iicoo’ah will be angry”, repeated Hodaie’ah.

  In a moment of unrelenting irritation, Coiedeh’ah swatted the pestering gnat, whacking him in the back of the head with his executive well-used scarlet club. Hodaie’ah’s knees buckled and he crumpled across the narrow restricted mountain-goats hoof tracks. Coiedeh’ah disdainfully leaned over, grabbed him by his long bloodied hair, twisted his head, and looked into the attractive neat Hodaie’ah’s upturned face. Blood now oozed from his nose, his mouth stood agape, startled whiteeyed terror, returned the assassins’ unconcerned contempt; the squashed handsome colorful insect was still breathing in quick shallow gasps.

  Coiedeh’ah indifferently discarded and kicked this easily disposable whining nuisance, from his very intolerant pathway, over the sudden edge of his rigid stone platform. Hodaie’ah’s, still living, gagging and retching body, speedily rolled down the abruptly loosened, craggy rock strewn severe slope. With an, weariest blood-spattered, indifference too, the warrior brothers watched Hodaie’ah’s showy flopping body, twirl and awkwardly tumble down the steep disintegrating incline; his last parting tale and complaint, an end exhaust of dust, to trail behind his bawling descent, and then they the apathetic fraternal brothers calmly continued their trek, uninterrupted to their Golden City.

  A swift messenger was dispatched to Iicoo’ah, before Coiedeh’ah and his initiated and corrupted warriors reached the Golden City; to notify Iicoo’ah of their soon arrival, and as a trifling afterthought, that the honorable Hodaie’ah had lost his life. Iicoo’ah met the caravan of brothers with victorious offerings of water and food before they entered the Golden City; he was delighted in his anticipation and could not hold himself in check.

  “Which one is Oceh, son of Bahcoo’ah, Challenge to our claim?” Iicoo’ah asked of Coiedeh’ah, coyly.

  “None of these filthy heretics and traitors”, Coiedeh’ah answered with a sneer.

  Iicoo’ah was taken aback by Coiedeh’ah’s evading response.

  Coiedeh’ah motioned to the brothers under his command to sit; all of the brothers including the ones from the Golden City flopped in place, round about, and waited for his direction. Coiedeh’ah started to squat on the middle ground, indicating to Iicoo’ah to do the same. Acknowledging Iicoo’ah with a slight nod of his head; with a heavy sweep of his hand, Coiedeh’ah, in a discourteously offhanded demeanor, ordered the people who had carried out the water and provisions, to distribute them to his brother warriors; “Serve my brave and potent brothers first”, he generously proffered. The people of the city, spread amongst the brothers giving them water to drink and passing-out the food that they had brought, averting their eyes to the presence of the downcast captives. Iicoo’ah took note of the masterful influence Coiedeh’ah had over all of the brothers and sat in mute intimidation.

  After being served, Coiedeh’ah spoke just as he wolfed down his food;

  Coiedeh’ah described the assault on Bahcoo’ah’s homeland; he said the yellow-fancy-cloaked corn snake had slithered away, to remain hidden in some ground-dog hole, and that they could not find him. He gave a clear picture of the carnage that took place; as many people that it would take to fill all three arenas of the Golden City lay dead on the desirable plain; the traitor’s reddish-purple blood, stinking guts, and shattered busted carcasses, blanketed the pristine countryside. “We, the brave and the honorable, justified warriors of the Sun, killed all of the men, women, and… children; we bashed them, without count or mercy, in their corrupted heads as they tried to escape our hatred; we tore their deceiving different faces away, with a single swing and strike from our mighty clubs. We drove our spears into their glutted bellies, raised them up and watched them flail; vengeance suspended in the polluted air that they breathe. My brothers crushed the seed pods of the perverted, spitting on these pestled sacks of a kind, damning the variant shades and color that they had produced. We held the spoiled and tainted children by their little feet, and smashed their contaminated heads against the rocks”. “I, Coiedeh’ah, superior warrior chief of the People of the Sun, make a firm oath;” “I will return to this seat of malignant heresy and rid our land of all these treacherous selfish parasites”.

  Iicoo’ah pressed his hand to his dulled painful brow, feeling ill from the grisly description of the barbarous wanton savagery that must have taken place on the rivers verdant alluvial plain. Then is when he noticed the dried blood and hair on the war club that lay beside Coiedeh’ah, and the spattered blood and bits of flesh on the butchers’ loincloth. Iicoo’ah could not fully grasp the horrid beast, he had unleashed; he only knew that he began to feel clutching pangs of breathless panic, deep within his chest.

  Iicoo’ah asked Coiedeh’ah, meekly whispered under his breath; “What of Bahcoo’ah?”

  Coiedeh’ah answered condescendingly, “I will put my hand on the shoulder of my big brother, Bahcoo’ah”.

  Iicoo’ah, Coiedeh’ah, all of the corrupted brothers, and the demeaned pale captives did enter the Golden City. The celebration of the winter solstice would not start for another eleven days, Coiedeh’ah and Iicoo’ah patiently passed the time in reserved expectancy on the arrival of the other Story Tellers of the Nation. Iicoo’ah began again asking Coiedeh’ah of his intent in the eradication of Bahcoo’ah.

  “What of Bahcoo’ah?” questioned Iicoo’ah?

  “I will find Bahcoo’ah, and kill him!” affirmed Coiedeh’ah.

  “When will you deal with Bahcoo’ah?” pressed Iicoo’ah.

  “In the early spring, I will march onto the green floodplain, find the concealed snake, and kill Bahcoo’ah”; Coiedeh’ah replied.

  Iicoo’ah had learned of Hodaie’ah’s disastrous end result; one of Iicoo’ah’s disquieted brothers described the quick disposal of Hodaie’ah to him. Coiedeh’ah never mentioned Hodaie’ah, and Iicoo’ah did not raise the very subject in question, for known fear of the blunt rude answer. Iicoo’ah knowingly understood he must, in restrained secrecy, prepare himself.

  Coiedeh’ah had enough private time, before the
select assembly for the winter solstice, to over chew upon his own certain position. ‘I am Coiedeh’ah, most powerful man in the nation’. ‘No other brother is as potent as I am’. ‘Iicoo’ah is a weak ineffectual lizard, no better than the destitute filthy vermin we sacrifice to the Sun-Spirit’. ‘Iicoo’ah, my useful comrade, is also very cunning, a faulty practiced manipulator; given time he would gather consensus and the necessary forces, to proceed against and eliminate me’.

  ‘He must kill Iicoo’ah ’.

  The grand persuading ceremonies of the winter solstice took place; as usual, proper to the sensibility of witness, that no blood was to be spilled upon the ground. Coiedeh’ah stood before the brothers in the arenas and explained the essential duty that he was performing for the Nation; his decisive pursuit of the despicable enemy of the people, Bahcoo’ah. He angrily stated, that the people could not permit, “Anyone”, to tear down the unwritten traditions of their inviolable Nation. Coiedeh’ah declared that the filthy badger, Bahcoo’ah, was selfishly mesmerized by the diseased influence he could hold over the people; that Bahcoo’ah would risk the wrath of the Most Eminent Spirits for his own self-interest. Bahcoo’ah was a wicked shameful abomination, and he, Coiedeh’ah, humble ‘Servant of the People’, would hunt him down, and kill this cowardly traitor, for the enduring survival and the further security, of the deserving People of the Sun.

  Iicoo’ah, with disguised imperceptible diminishing reluctance, followed Coiedeh’ah into the lower chambers of the many tiered arenas, explicitly corroborating everything Coiedeh’ah had revealed to the people. Iicoo’ah knew he must display an agreeable united front, without the slightest hint of disapproval, until he could organize the trained security force necessary, to deter Coiedeh’ah’s carnivorous taste for dictatorial power. Coiedeh’ah’s growling overloud commands, dripping-blood tipped fangs, and dominations feigned sexual humping, could not be loosed again; until Iicoo’ah was prepared to assert and maintain his authority.

  The many other Story Tellers and their brothers, as well as the people of the Golden City remained mildly agitated; but eagerly accepted the explanation of their highly respected Story Tellers; the elitist Iicoo’ah and the powerful Coiedeh’ah. The deep-seated apprehension the people felt in their innermost core, the fearfulness and uncertainty in their hearts, was from another endurable source; reliable profound trust, as the utility of water, was slowly sinking into the lifeless sands of the desert.

  When the urgent plea and ceremonial ritual of the winter solstice was over, the Story Tellers from throughout the nation prepared to return to their families. Coiedeh’ah and his brothers and the other Story Tellers and their brothers, from the mountains to the south, left the Golden City for the long journey to their homes. The people of Golden City, silently but begrudgingly, supplied them ample rations for their journey, upon Iicoo’ah’s insistent authority; the obvious limited supply of provisions becoming a noticeable concern. Coiedeh’ah, when leaving, assured Iicoo’ah, that he would return towards the end of spring, then quick march to Bahcoo’ah’s discolored territory, and eradicate him, and any other twofaced heretics he found.

  Iicoo’ah was relieved to see Coiedeh’ah depart the Golden City, he had much to do; in the late spring, when Coiedeh’ah would come back to the Golden City, Iicoo’ah and his people must display a sure impression of superiority; together in numbers, powerful stature, and firm determination.

  On the long way back to his home, Coiedeh’ah had time to closely evaluate the support that he would expect from the added residing Story Tellers, accompanying him to the ensilaged corn-granary of their mountain stronghold in the south. He asked the Story Tellers for conscripted volunteers, that he would train as able warriors, to attack and eliminate the remaining traitors on the river-plain; primarily, including, the arrogant haughty, despicable Bahcoo’ah. The blood-drunken bragging warriors who had participated in the slaughter, adding the rabid ecstasy of their own savage exploits, for the enraptured brothers who had not been present at this gory event. Coiedeh’ah, holding his quick temper in abeyance, subtly observed the reactions of the other Story Tellers, taking note of any hint of hesitation, weakness of resolve, or a careless, slip of the tongue, be natural criticism. Several easily submissive Story Tellers immediately offered their willing assistance to rid the nation of these traitors, the others followed one by one. Coiedeh’ah was generally pleased with the enthusiastic response of his brother Story Tellers, but would keep a wary eye on each and every one of them.

  Arriving at Coiedeh’ah’s village, Coiedeh’ah spoke to the entire contrived confederacy of the southern range of mountains, reminding them to send him the young recruits he had asked for; just before the divided face of four new moons, soon after the many villages first planting. The Story Tellers nodded in recognition and agreement to do so.

  The great Coiedeh’ah had three sons, too young to accompany him on his crusade; self-superior abused heirs to his bitter heart, savage memberships to his base pride. Satisfied by their fathers dictatorial greed, but with night-dreams of jealous mistrust, quick selfish violent anger, and lasting hateful revenge; those planted seeds would be their constant bedfellows.

  Coiedeh’ah invited the brothers of the discarded Hodaie’ah to stay as his guests for one more day, so they could feast to glut, recall their manly performance, and celebrate their victory on the bloody plain. By his instigation and with tactical persistence, Coiedeh’ah encouraged Hodaie’ah’s brothers to select a new Story Teller, from amongst themselves, to ensure the continuity of their people, and to sustain his right to command. The corrupted, mean-tempered brothers chose Domaie, proven to be the most ferocious of the blood-thirsty warriors; from this day forward he would be known as Domaie’ah.

  Iicoo’ah gathered the nine brothers, who had accompanied Coiedeh’ah on the campaign to Bahcoo’ah’s homeland, in private assembly, away from the protected ears of the people. Iicoo’ah made it quite clear, that what had taken place therein the savage plain, under no circumstance, could be permitted to occur to their people of the Golden City. Uncivilized malicious cruelty and chaos within the tribe did not have an allowable seat in the sacred Golden City. He instructed the nine brothers to each muster and train ten brothers, creating a stately guard, a hundred strong minus one, to protect their Golden City from any hostile incursion. Iicooah assured the special brothers that they and their seasoned recruits would receive extra rations to retain their strength and resolve. The brothers had witnessed and participated in the wanton brutality on the bloodstained plain; the encouraged madness they had been part of could not befall their families, they would not shirk their sense of duty to their brothers and sisters, or to the Golden City. The warrior brothers of the Golden City trained incessantly, becoming a formidable armed force to be reckoned with; Iicoo’ah, as commander-in-chief, conveyed to the pampered elite guard that their manly presence and their manifest pride was enough to deter any thought of diseased disorder.

  The coming of the balance of Springtime, nigh equal to light or darkness.

  The warrior-recruits that Coiedeh’ah had requested started to arrive into his village, from the winding interior depressions and hollows of the great mountain range. They trickled then tumbled out of the many paths through the mountains maze of silted canyons, and of tedious ruts; for three days they came, a raging muddled flood of anxious volunteers; those pressed dull clumps of clay; that the population of Coiedeh’ah’s village grew settled, to exceedingly large. As each small harnessed team of agitated jesting brothers entered the village reservoir, the rousing eagerness of camaraderie intensified, creating a rising feeling of sportive public approval and unlimited potency. Coiedeh’ah was full-chested with satisfaction and man’s puffery; he clearly grasped that, He…, Coiedeh’ah, was in the popular position of accepted power.

  Two Hundred and Twenty-five brothers would be the armed forces under Coiedeh’ah’s command. Coiedeh’ah appointed ten brothers, including Domaie’ah, as lieutenants, to train and le
ad the recruits into warfare, with Coiedeh’ah remaining the supreme commander-in-chief. The wide-eyed brave, easily manipulated, brothers who had in the end, enthusiastically shared in the war of cleansing on the tainted plain of dissent, took precedence in the selection of Coiedeh’ah’s subordinates. Contact with Iicoo’ah was forbidden, incidental trade and communication ceased with the Golden City. After two weeks of intensive training, the army of Coiedeh’ah marched in the direction of the Golden City; additional preparation and jostling exercises in the practice of warfare, would take place along the way. Coiedeh’ah rightly assumed and received visible unchallenged decisive command.

  An unnoticed forward guard was casually advanced far up the main trail towards the Golden City, obscurely circling the little villages along the winning course, to prevent any startled fleeing field-mice from warning anyone of the coming onslaught.

  Stopping at the scattered villages on the way to the lofty domed Golden City, Coiedeh’ah and his warrior brothers systematically confiscated the majority of the peoples stored food, leaving the very thin inhabitants overtaxed in their wake; probable starvation was their final malevolent careless fate. If any slight objection was brought to Coiedeh’ah’s haughty attention, he offhandedly, with a wave of his hand, ordered the immediate sentence of death upon everyone in the corrupted village; easy practical rehearsals for the leading event.

  In purposely passing beneath the phallic symbol of their nation on a byway trail, the tall crimson strata-ringed pillar stabbing into the pure blue sky; Coiedeh’ah raised his tightly-closed-fisted arm, defiantly declaring; “My potent rigid brother warriors of the Great Spirit”, “I will lead you to a glorious victory over our enemies”, “We will cleanse this nation of all its limp weak-stemmed traitors”. The brothers willingly and fervently acknowledged Coiedeh’ah’s absolute authority.