Mehìró: The Panther Beyond The Walls

Chapter 2

The story of The Great House Of Panthers was a tragic one. According to her grandmother, Their house, House Eshe of Panthers was the ruling house. They ruled justly and fairly and their people loved them.

The Mehìró Kingdom prospered under their reign but they were many greedy eyes who had set their sights on the throne. Their grandfather, King Uwané was killed mysteriously one night, he went to sleep and never sold up leaving mama alone. Jamila felt her heart ache when she saw the tears that formed in the corner of Mama's eyes.

When mama discovered it was an assassin from The House of Annipe, the court said she refused to believe her because she was a woman. As Her son their father with his wife their mother from one of the smaller branches of their house rose to the throne, the rebellion spread across the Mehìró.

Mama tried everything to protect them but it was of no use during a festival the Palace was attacked all those who stood for Her father were killed on the spot their house members were murdered but their fate was supposed to be much worse. Her father, her mother who was pregnant at that time with her oldest sister Zuri and mama were all banished to beyond the walls.

The rebellion believed that they would die a long drawn out death by starvation of the beasts would kill them. Fortunately they wondered into Ushirô were they were warmly welcomed. Her mother gave birth to Zuri, shortly afterwards she had Kia, then her, and her three younger sisters, her father died after her youngest sisters birth and her mother soon followed.

Jamila couldn't explain the rage that bubbled within her after hearing the story and seeing the pain in Mama's eyes. She vowed to herself as soon as she could shift (which according to mama should be around 10 winters) she would make those rebels pay.

The winter winds weren't letting up and yet another misfortune befell the people of Ushirô. A strange sickness, yet deadly sickness. It causes hacking and breathy coughs which often left one out of breath, mucus mixed with blood trailed down the infected's  nose, sometimes the person wouldn't be able to breathe fighting for oxygen until the person died of suffocation within three days.

The sickness ravaged Ushirô combine with the plague, it turned the people into monsters.

One day Jamila decided to brave the winds and go to mama Mela's hut to ask for some herbs, she was the only other woman apart from her grandmother who grew herbs. She pushed away the flimsy curtain that shielded the door and entered the hut. The hut was empty devoid of mama Mela and her children. Jamila decided to go to their backyard.

As she neared the backdoor, she heard hacking noises. The sound of a butchers knife cutting meat. A sound she was used to as she often followed her grandmother to the village to help her sell some of her crops. Which was odd because no one in their family was a butcher or a hunter for that matter.

The horror that met her eyes when she finally saw what was happening in the backyard. Mama Mela was butchering her dead husband, she was cutting of his limbs and handing it over to her sons who skinned it and dropped it in an earthenware pot. Jamila watched in horror as they disemboweled him adding his innards to the pot of his flesh. After standing there for so long. She screamed and ran.

That night Jamila dreamt that she was the one being butchered instead of Mama Mela's husband.

As the winter winds raged on, cannibalism became the norm, sick family members where disemboweled, skinned, cooked and eaten. In fact because of this people were able to start selling meat and the impact of the plague was starting to lessen.

After watching Mama Mela hack her husband to pieces, Jamila begged her siblings not to eat the meat that people where selling, which meant they had to settle for eating leaf soup. Every night Jamila went to sleep wondering what so delicious about human flesh that the people of Ushirô eat it without out disgust.