The Betrayal
(Episode 23)
She stood up and began scouting the entire surrounding for a substitute or anything that could extend the boy’s life a little longer. She spotted a plant at the base of a boulder. She ran to it and plucked some of its leaves. She squashed it and squeezed the juice into his mouth and rubbed the crumpled leaves on the injury. Lilian dropped down beside the boy and held his hand and begged him to stay with us. Amitabh gradually began to shut his eyes. The earth stood still in that instant.
I turned to look at the path one last time with heightened fear and behold, Kammahayak was running towards us with a bunch of leaves in his hand. I yelled. Everyone else turned to the direction and whooped with joy. Hayakharet collected the leaves and rubbed some between her palms. She added a little water to make a paste and smeared it over the wound. It made a sizzling sound and vapour evaporated from the injury. Amitabh screamed. Hayakharet raised his head and put some of the paste into his mouth and washed it down with some water. No sooner than he swallowed the herb that he began to convulse. We all jumped back and exchanged looks and then looked at Hayakharet’s face.
She smiled. “The Ntunja is working. Leave him.”
We all relaxed and fixed our eyes on the boy. He gradually calmed down and slept off. After about twenty minutes, he woke up and was looking vibrant! The Ntunja really worked magic. I had never seen such healing powers in my life. I then understood how Fiona’s wounds could have healed so quickly.
Immediately we saw that Amitabh had regained some of his strength, we continued our journey. Before long, Hayakharet informed us that we had gotten to our destination, and it was at that point she and her warriors would go back to face their own troubles. We didn’t understand her at first until we started hearing the honking of vehicles from a distance. She pointed to the bush ahead of us and explained that the moment we walked through it, we would burst out by the side of the express road.
We looked at each other, and tears of joy rolled down our eyes. It was then I realized how tattered we looked. We couldn’t thank the warrior princess enough. Just like Michael, she was an enemy turned saviour. One after the other, we hugged her and kissed her forehead. However, when it got to my turn, she clutched me to her bosom and didn’t want to let go. I felt a few drops of tears drop on my shoulder. I felt her pain. As a show of appreciation, I kissed her, not on her forehead, but her lips. That was the only parting gift I could give her. Her face became alive with unfathomable joy.
I turned to the others, grinning like I just won a jackpot. And indeed I just won back my life as one. It was late evening now. The sun was already getting ready to call it a day. Looking at the faces of my friends, I could feel what they were feeling right now. It was just like my people would say: if someone rode a horse in our bellies right now, he would never stumble.
“I think we should take a selfie,” I said out of the blue.
Sis Elizabeth carried me up with her eyes and hit me on the ground several times over. She curved her mouth in disgust and hissed, “Selfie kọ, Instagram ni. Hian!” She held her beret and continued marching forward.
Everybody laughed.
What was it with this woman, and that beret? God! Even with all that had happened, she didn’t lose it for once!
The laughter had barely left our lips when Ubong suddenly gasped. An arrow pierced his heart. His eyes bulged, and blood trickled down a corner of his mouth. He held the arrow, fell to his knee, and then his face, driving the arrow deeper inside.
Hayakharet swung around. However, before her warriors could do anything, spears ran through them, and they crashed to the ground beside her. I looked at the direction the arrows came from, and my heart ran to my mouth when I saw warriors surrounding us—supreme commander’s army no doubt!
Hayakharet turned back to look at me. I saw disbelief written all over her face. How on earth did they find us? She must have been wondering
To be continued … Watch Out for the Next Episode!
