SABIS the SURVIVOR

Chapter 6: Ribs and Spines

Chapter 6: Ribs and Spines

Sabis pirouetted as he placed the hard shell under the red river of liquid that ran out of his prey. By the time the shell was two thirds full, his prey had stopped writhing and its eyes had become frozen in a milky stare.

Sabis knew there was not a lot of time for what he needed to do next. First, he carefully placed the mostly blood-filled shell to the side where it would not be upset. Then he made a vertical cut from just underneath his prey's neck all the way down to its hind region. Sabis cut a deep swath with his blade. His blade's edge already dulled by use, he needed to use extra force to separate the many redundant tissue layers that this creature wore, likely to guard against the frigid climate.

Sabis pressed so hard on the handle of his steel blade that the palm of his right hand bruised.

"Mother Earth, with your guidance and wisdom, make my hand and blade become one. Let it be."

As he whispered his prayer, Sabis reached into the prey's thoracic cavity with his left hand and tore out the heart muscle.

"Ah, your heart is thick and strong!"

He then turned it over to access the softer posterior section and with a firm poke, he thrust the blade in between the lines that coursed across the surface. As he did so, the tip of his blade pierced clean through the anterior muscular section and nicked his left palm, though he barely noticed the prick of the blade penetrate his calloused skin. The blood on his blade tip now mingled with his prey's blood and immediately formed a hardened dark red fibrinous web while ejecting out the straw-coloured serous portion.

Sabis then lifted his blade up to his mouth and uttered his thanks,

"Mother Earth, the giver of all that we drink, I thank you for this gift of life, and may it sustain me and bring me back from the brink."

He opened his mouth wide, licked the trickling blood clot and serum from his knife tip and then lifted his prey's heart ceremoniously to his lips and sucked the remaining unclotted lifeblood from the heart.

Feeling the heat enter into him buoyed his spirit.

"Perhaps I can capture some of your family members," he spoke to his prey's carcass.

This journey so far had been all about keeping warm and remaining alert for the unknown dangers that lurked in SkyGod's domain. But now that he had smitten his prey, Sabis viewed his journey with some lust. He looked up to the sky and announced:

"I can feel your heat SkyGod and I have tasted from your heart."

Sabis then gutted and de-boned his prey as fast as any tribe member. Alternating between his hands and blade, he dismantled his prey's carcass and stripped the spine and rib cage of its reddish-brown sinew and yellowish-white connective tissue.

"Let's see an Elder de-bone this prey any faster. I think not!"

Sabis needed to build a fire. With the hilt of his knife, he dug a small pit to protect his fire from the wind. He placed two small rocks at the bottom of the pit with some space in between them. Around the rocks, he lay the ribs of his prey in a circular fashion and on top of the ribs, he placed more rib shards arranged in a pyramid shape. Then he shaved pieces of his prey's iron-rich liver and let the pieces fall onto the pile of ribs and stones. He then ripped a small piece of his mossy tunic and wrapped that around a smaller stone.

Quickly and deftly, he punched his blade edge against the side of the wrapped stone until a spark emerged and ignited the fabric. He gently blew his hot breath onto the nascent flame until it multiplied. Then using a leftover prey rib, he maneuvered the burning stone underneath the rib pyramid, in between the two foundation stones. Then he prayed:

"It is in our blood, it is in our heart, dear Mother Earth, this fire is a part of my pledge to you that I shall not stain the memory of my ancestors, nor show disdain ever for you. Let it be."

Now that he had a fire, he set to work on the carcass to harvest all of the usable parts. He carefully teased away the mesh-like covering of the entrails and laid them over the shell with the prey's blood. Of the remaining ribs, he took the longest one and, using the already separated connective tissue, fastened it to the hard spinal column. This improvised spear could be used for capturing and subduing more prey.

Sabis then turned to the dense hide. He rubbed the hide length-wise repeatedly to thin it out some, cut it into two equal parts, and then wrapped a generous segment around each ankle and foot so that they were covered completely with the thick and water-proof hide.

He took the remaining liver part and other vital organs and skewered them with the remaining ribs. Then he held them over the fire for a while and finally feasted on his prey.

It was time to move on.