"What? The Totonac fleet?!"
At scout Mountain Bird's shout, old militiaman Chiwako was jolted in alarm, his heart clenching violently as if suddenly seized tight by the great hand of fate. Without the slightest hesitation, he immediately gave the order.
"Tavalu, have the warriors put on their armor! Sailors, board the Longships and prepare to fight! Move!"
"Yes, captain!"
Tavalu immediately picked up the conch horn and ran toward the camp while blowing a "toot-toot" blast. Very soon, the quiet camp burst into clamor, hurried figures running everywhere.
Then Chiwako reached Mountain Bird's side in two strides. He gazed toward the river mouth in the north; the faintly visible specks were gradually drawing closer, but he still could not see them clearly.
"Mountain Bird, you've got good eyes. Quickly! Count them clearly for me. How many boats are coming behind them?"
"Big canoes... twenty, twenty, twenty, twenty, twenty... and some smaller boats..."
Scout Mountain Bird narrowed his eyes and counted a hundred big canoes in one breath. Hearing this, the old militiaman's heart pounded, and a powerful sense of danger surged into his chest.
"A hundred big boats? Each big boat can carry six people, so that's at least..."
"At least six hundred Totonac warriors! Counting the ones on the merchant ship, there'll be even more! They came prepared... They must know the details of our fleet!"
Divine Inspiration Priest Mekat's expression turned grave, his eyes growing dangerous. The entire fleet together had only one hundred sixty people. And the reliable Kingdom Warriors who could fight numbered only a little over forty. Six hundred against one hundred sixty—with a gap this huge, this battle... He suddenly turned around, looked at the tense and uneasy Maya merchant Tikalo, and barked a stern question.
"Tikalo, your merchant ship brought the enemy here!