a magician and a heritic

Ezekiel de le Poer · 02-15-2011, 01:47 AM

[html]

He worked as if in a trace, each cut a meditation, a ritual. There was careful thought in each movement. The people he had lived with, primitive in their ways, had given him a deep education when it came to the use of all things. Ezekiel had quickly been trained to identify plants and know the ones he could use for medicine. Skinning and tanning were skills he had no experience in, but after two years his talents were remarkable. While his fingers were not as nimble as some, he knew how to work leather and hide.

Each part could be used. The stomach was suited for holding water, though Ezekiel would not need such a thing now that he was home. Still, he gutted each part carefully. Even if he did not need a water sack, there might be use for such a thing. The singular knife he carried was more than enough for the other cuts, slicing the deer’s skin from its hide in a few select spots before he began peeling it away. He had to stop only now and again to cut sinew, but the folded hide was soon placed neatly near the raven.

Brushing his hair from his face with an arm, the golden coyote sighed and moved to the most important task. He cut the heart out of the animal, then dug a shallow hole near his kill. Speaking lowly, using a more subtle hand gesture to communicate, he offered an odd combination prayer to the spirit of the dead animal. Marlowe watched him do so, cocking his head. The low-speech was not lost on him. Ezekiel buried the thing and then paused, finally sensing eyes on him.

Login




Remember me Lost Password?