Finding Contentus

Chapter 61: Risein

★★★★

They moved through the valiant valleys and the coffee fields to reach one of the pathway entrances to the Koko village of the Khona tribe, protected by the hardest blackwood walls and the toughest wired fences laced with poison in Petora.

The Koko village resembled a small town due to its size and variation in structures. A trademark of which consisted of their ecological and temperature control friendly mud houses for the majority of the residents.

The survivors were blessed by rows upon rows of wooden statues called Khors that automatically showered freshening water on their bodies upon entry to the village. The Khor statues depicted the fallen male and female leaders of the Khona tribe of taste.

Some statues they already saw by the coffee fields as rare signs that were planted there to signal tasteful harvests and farming, second only to Beafa's farm.

Everyone gasped and made way for them through the wooden and rocky paths to stop by the main compound. Anxiously greeting them by the outside of the three story Ma mansion was Amma and Maame, the blood sisters and leaders of Mamzo Khona and the whole Khona tribe in general.

Charlot, the morale speaker of the tribe made her way to assess the commotion. She appeared from the C shaped wooden walkway that led up to her illuminated and funky wooden tree house behind the Ma mansion.

While being carried by Chelsee, Ishthrylla was completely oblivious to everything that had been happening. Her head wasn't just spinning like a merry-go round, or swimming against vicious currents of waterfalls, it was down right plummeting in a circular ring of fire.

"Ish! Ishthrylla!" Chelsee dropped her by the spinning stoop of the Ma mansion to closely examine her face.

Ishthrylla made no responses to Chelsee's motions whatsoever. She wasn't dazed or concussed, she just wasn't all there to begin with. Her eyes looked out of focus, directionless, empty...

Fallen.

Like all visible light had experienced a blackout that would never turn back on again.

"Mum!" An uncharacteristic cry could be heard from Ellenn, running over to Tabz who was carrying her mother Ashlyn. Her face was dripping with blood from the right side that—

Had an ear missing, she was also missing her right hand.

"Charlot! Charlot!" Tabz called for her to help heal the unconscious Ashlyn with tears that were held in his tree brown eyes. She did so without hesitation, applying herbs to the gaping hole by the right side of her head and staring at her missing hand.

"We've got another!" Everyone moved as Sevy carried Connor while Fufu placed him down next to Ashlyn. S'bu was crying in the midst of healing his wounds. He also catered to Connor's missing left eye and left leg that had been chopped off.

Holly, Lea, Roisin and Chlo looked down at their father at a loss for words, on the verge of breaking down but doing all they could to be strong.

Charlot whistled. "I've taught you well S'bu. Very well. If you didn't seal the internal and external bleeding when you did on these two..." Charlot stopped when she saw the distress in Ellenn's eyes at how close to death Ashlyn was, had it not been for S'bu's emergency healing.

She also saw how aghast Lea, Holly, Roisin and Chlo looked when it came to Connor who was drifting in and out of consciousness.

Nina and Linde rushed through the distraught crowd in the compound, adamant to help, despite how scared and shocked they looked.

"Nina, go to my tree house and look for a hanging skeletal hand and leg that will be up the wall lights with all the other bones. Linde, in my drawer you'll find my calcium bottle of amputative spirits. Bring them both to me. Quickly!"