The Surround

Warm flesh twitched beneath him, echoing the steady vibrations of his own skin. His breath came uneven and broken in his ears. The warmth of the spilled blood, he could see, had begun to soak the ground; the sharp scent of it filled the air as did the keening of the wind across the hills and through the trees. It came to him like the cry of a woman at her finish. He shivered from both the wind against his dampened skin and the spectral wail.

His arms felt boneless, his legs trembled and his lungs burned from exertion, but he roused himself from his stupor. His right hand still held onto his knife, the handle of it pressed firmly into his palm. It had become a part of him, as much as the trees, rocks and moving waters of the forest.

"Brother," he began. His voice came thick, coarse and unsteady. He had lost track of time and another violent rush of wind, followed by a pounding in his ears that was not from his own heart, reminded him of it. He would have to hurry. He swallowed and began again. "Brother, I honor your life force and the bounty you do bring." He made a cut and with a grunt and some effort, pulled the head from the body. "My family shall weep for you and praise the food you will bring." The words came slowly as he laboriously formed the words on his tongue and lips.

The blade caught the faint light of the moon through the thick canopy. He saw that it was stained with blood, as were his hands. My family, he thought with a wrenching thump in his chest. "I release your spirit to return to thrive amongst the land. I pray that your seed does grow to walk among the living band." The words came easier now. His breath had begun to return and with it, his steady hands. "For your gift of food I say to the entire of the Surround. You have lived and shall live on in the in the lives of those you have been bound." Wetness left tracks along his cheeks and neck. He paused in his prayer as he worked the innards free from the body and eased the sack out from the cut he had made into the cavity. "Go with peace, and know you are honored."

He looked up from the carcass, but was not startled to see the woman who stood just beyond a lattice of branches, within a copse. She watched him with her great eyes, round and pale as if the sun shone from behind them. Her lips were tense as if she would speak, but she did not. The wind which had seized the forest caused the branches and leaves to wave about, but stillness and silence enveloped her. Her mass of wild hair floated round her face as it often did when she woke in the mornings. His mouth had gone dry in the recollection of its softness and he could not form the words which had dammed in his head. Then, she was gone, and with her going, left him in silence. The breath of the winds were gone, along with her laments.

©2012-2013 Jade Saelee