The Shaman decided that he would extinguish the situation by playing a spiritually superior leader and deal with the warrior as soon as they set foot in the village.
"What troubles you my boy?", he asked letting out a sinister chuckle desperately trying to sound wise. The warrior who spoke up was at a loss of words. He didn't expect him to react this way. A red eyed rage with rapid and creative profanities was very much anticipated. The apprentices watched in horror as they knew what could transpire out of this improper exchange. The hunters were oblivious to all that was being said and done.
"What happened in the temple? Why are you leading us and not the Chief?", a younger warrior spoke up. There had been whispers among the men about a quarrel between their political leader and the spiritual one. The foggy state the Chief was in afterwards, had further consolidated the rumor.
The Shaman felt that things were quickly getting out of hand. He had just made up the words that would deescalate the situation. There was chaos among the men. They were having loud arguments and a few were even getting physical. The tribal leaders were, as usual, heavily ornate paper weights. The Shaman understood that the stern and commanding persona was not going to work on them after what had just happened, so he shifted to a rather softer side.
"Calm down children! One shouldn't feel disheartened in the glorious path of service of the Gods", he managed. The group was restless to see the end of the non-natural speech. The Shaman saw it on their faces but chose to continue.
"There come hardships, tests in the path of light yet the strong servants of the Gods never fail their masters", he went on.
"But how is you consuming all the supplies and starving the apprentices, a test from the gods?", a warrior interjected. The Shaman was at the end of his patience and when he saw that the interferer was the same senior warrior who had started the quarrel, he finally lost it. He grabbed the hilt of his sword and was determined to use it on the neck of the warrior. He advanced with the horse in a state of fury. The warriors were under an oath to never lift a weapon on the custodian of the temple but it didn't expressly stop them from parrying a blow inflicted by him. He shifted himself in a defensive posture optimal for parrying a slash coming from a horseback. A sharp noise of dry leaves and twigs cracking snapped the group out of the affair. The group yielded a brief silence followed by numerous screams of "Panther!". The previous attack had crippled their morale and this time there was no formation or distinct lines of defense that exhibited any plan. There was utter pandemonium among the men. The senior warriors barked orders that went unheard. Where most of them began praying, a few even tried to climb the trees. Even the dogs went rabid seeing the men in such panic. The leaders from the tribes made a run for it. Their horses desperately and barely making up for the pace demanded by their masters.
"You damned Cowards!!", the Shaman cried out. The tribal leaders, ignorant to the profanities hurled at them by their religious leader, rode on in the opposite direction and faded out of sight. The Shaman unmounted his horse and desperately tried to contain the situation, failing miserably. They all ran around like headless chickens. The Shaman, drenched in rage, grabbed his headdress and bashed it on the ground with all his might. He let out a deafening scream and crushed the headdress with his sheathed sword, shattering it further with each blow. The scenes snapped the men out of their panic attack. Not that he meant to do it but the theatric paid off, though he was just venting out his anger on a headdress that he wouldn't need in a few days. The men had finally calmed down. The warriors scolded the younger ones for panicking and not following the orders. A few sat on the ground trying to recalibrate their heads. A heavy fog of dust, an annihilated headdress and a panting Shaman with his unfurled hair on his face, failed to sum up the disaster that had occurred just minutes ago. The Shaman dawdled for a while to give the men enough time to recollect themselves. He gazed at them with a look of utter disappointment and disgust, wondering what he was going to do with a lot where a large piece is dependent on his orders to the letter, another piece simply defies his commands and the rest are too stupid to even carry out the simplest of orders. Time passed swiftly. The men realized the absence of the tribal leaders. How they had abandoned them, further left their courage threadbare.
"Are we done making a fool out of ourselves?", the Shaman finally spoke out, almost pausing long enough to encourage an answer to the rhetorical question.
"That could have easily been the blasphemer himself and your cowardliness provided him another opportunity to escape his absolution", he continued, while mounting back on his horse.
"Now find out what caused that noise!"
The warriors regrouped into a formation while the hunters went to check it out. The group waited for a while until they returned from their search, hopefully in one piece. The group held their breath half expecting a roar followed by a bunch of desperate screams. The hunters returned with an encouraging news for the group. There were footprints in the dirt. The Shaman had probably been correct that the noise had come from their escapees.