shanmonster | Magda

Rana is dead. She died giving birth. The baby is strong. I pulled it from Rana at the moment of her death. I give the boy child to its father, Larnal.

I am slick with blood and shit. The baby cries lustily. Larnal looks at me.

“Find wet nurse and baby live. No find wet nurse and baby die.”

He nods and starts to leave.

“Not forget for make offer. Bring pig or dog or other animal.”

He nods again and heads toward the village.

I turn back toward Rana. She was strong once, and though she is dead, that strength shall not be wasted. Some was passed on to her son, and if he lives, he will earn even more of it. Rana's body is sprawled in front of me. I pull her up and lean her against the wall of my hut. With my stone knife I hack off her hair. I put the hair in a pouch and take it inside. It will not go to waste. I slide the knife back into my belt and look at her bald corpse. There is much strength in her yet. I strip her then heave her up and over my shoulder. She is heavy, but I too am strong. I carry her over to the stone cauldron and dump her in. Then I fill the cauldron with bucket after bucket of water from the stream. I bring a hot coal from the brazier and light the tinder beneath the cauldron. Only when the fire has caught do I wash myself.

That night, when the stone has finally heated and Rana's bath simmers, Larnal returns with a dog on a lead. It is a young one, not yet full-grown. Larnal glances at Rana for a moment then looks back to me. I take the dog from him and drag it over to the killing tree. It keens and whines, tail tucked firmly to its belly. It knows its fate. I beckon for Larnal to follow. “Where is baby?”

“With Vina.”

I nod. Vina had a baby four moons ago. It died three nights past, and she has milk yet in her dugs. “Stand by rock.” I gesture to a boulder near the tree.

I tie the dog to the killing tree and fetch a sack of bone ash. I trickle it in a circle around the tree. The dog whimpers. I put the sack into my hip pouch and pull out the sacred ligature. I press it to my lips then straddle the dog. With a practiced movement I wind it around its throat and pull. The dog struggles, tries to bite, but I dig my heels in and pull more tightly. Its claws dig into the dirt sending soil and pebbles flying. The scratching slows along with the dog's heartbeat. When it is still, I unwrap its throat and bind its hind paws, throwing the rope over a branch. I haul the dog up and tie off the rope.

A thin sliver of moon rests atop the village. I hear a cock crow in the distance and the answering caterwaul of coyotes. I lift my robe and draw it aside, exposing my left thigh. I pull the dagger from my belt and stare up at the moon. “Blood clear ground. Blood clear air.” I slide the blade edge across my thigh. Thin rivulets of blood trickle down my leg. I stand steady until the blood reaches the ground, and then I stab into the dog's abdomen, pressing deep and slicing downward. Guts coil out, slowly at first, and then with increasing speed.

I study the pattern they make. Larnal stands still and silent.

When I've learned all that I can, I grunt and dip my thumb into the viscera, stepping out of the circle and walking to Larnal. I daub blood first on his forehead, and then onto his beard.

“Child not grow to be fighter. Him not be strong of limb.”

Larnal steps back like he's been hit. He shakes his head. “No. That not right. Him strong like Larnal. Larnal strong.” He points to his battle scars. “Larnal kill many enemy. Son kill enemy!” He is angry. He doesn't believe me.

“No, him not strong like that. Him strong here.” I tap my head. “And him strong here.” I tap my liver. “When him start walk, bring him here. He become shaman like Magda.

Larnal scowls but grunts assent. He looks back over to the cauldron. “And what of Vina? If him not get bone club, what you do with her?”

“Larnal not worry. Vina help baby. Bone good for more than club. Bone make good magic stick. Bone make strong magic for strong child.”

Mollified, Larnal nods and returns to the village. I gather the dog's intestines and add them to Rana's bath. I get the skinning knife from my hut and go back to the killing tree. I have much to do before the night is through.