“We are called the Vagri. That is the name of our people.”
Matthew shook his head. “No, I mean your name. What do you call yourself?”
The girl seemed to laugh. “Kiva.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Kiva. That’s what we say on my planet when we meet another person. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” He gulped and took a breath. “And my name’s Matthew.”
The girl nodded. “I know.”
She smiled a strange smile—there seemed to be some hidden meaning in it. But before Matthew could ask her what she meant, how she knew his name, she said, “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Matthew.”
Now it was Matthew’s turn to laugh. His laugh quickly turned into a wince when the shaking in his chest jarred loose the pain and the sensations of his body came thundering back.
“Don’t talk anymore,” Kiva said, concern shrouding her eyes. “It will be over soon.”
Dunne came back with a shallow metal bowl in her hands. Kiva nodded to a place on the ground next to Matthew’s shoulder. Dunne set the bowl down.
Kiva called another of the girls over.
“I need grass,” she said. “One long blade. A dead one, almost completely dry.”
The girl nodded and went in search of what Kiva wanted. She came back soon after and handed a long, browned blade of grass to Kiva. Kiva took it and, holding it over the bowl, rubbed it to dust between her hands. Then she called the boy named Po—the one who’d put an arrow into Matthew.
“Your knife,” she said. “I know you have one.”
Po crouched, reached inside the sheath of woven grass binding his feet and pulled out a small dagger hidden inside. He handed it to Kiva.
“What’s going on?” Dunne moved to stop Kiva.
“Hold her back,” Kiva said, and the two girls moved toward Dunne. They held her by the shoulders as Kiva hunched over Matthew’s pale body.
Holding her hands over the metal bowl, Kiva put the knife against her palm and wrapped her fingers around it, then yanked it out of her clenched hand as if from a sheath. Balling the empty hand into a fist, she squeezed her blood into the bowl. It came out dark gray, almost black, the color of melted lead. With two fingers, she smeared the blood into the dusted grass, making a wet paste.
“I need to get a better look at the wound,” she said.
Matthew nodded and pulled away the cloth that had crusted against his skin. He drew a hissing breath through his teeth as the air touched the wound. He felt the warm trickle of fresh blood running down his side.
“Don’t look,” Kiva said.
“I won’t.”
There was the sound of tearing cloth as she ripped his shirt open. Then Kiva daubed her fingers in the mingled blood and grass at the bottom of the bowl.
“This will hurt,” she said.
“Wait, what?” Matthew said, lifting his head from the ground.
But it was too late.
Kiva daubed her bloody fingers on Matthew’s wound.
It was as if she had put acid on his skin. He closed his eyes and let out a scream. Pain gripped his chest like a claw, taking root and growing, spreading from the wound to his whole torso, then his whole body—his legs, his arms, his head. The pain flowed up his neck and into his head, and for a moment he thought his skull might explode from the force of the agony that filled it.
Through the pain, he felt Kiva put a hand on his bare shoulder to steady him. Her other hand slipped gently into his.
“Hold on to me,” came her voice. “It will get worse before it gets better.”
Matthew responded with an even louder groan, and his hand clenched tight around hers.
In the midst of the pain, images began flashing across the inside of his eyelids.
A wasteland—a parched, cracked desert, baking under a scorched sky.
Lightning splitting the sky, arcing jagged to the ground from the dusty clouds.
Below, humans staggering back and forth, some crying out for water—others for death.
The end of humanity, of everything he’d ever known.
And then he was brought from the desert to the stars—where he stood on the landing bay of a space station and watched through the opening as electrical storms raged on the Earth below.
“You have to choose,” came a voice beside him, and in the vision Matthew turned to see his mother and Sophie standing next to him.
They met his eyes, and a chill passed through him when he saw their skin—it was blue, cold, and dead. Ice crystals glistened on their cheeks like stars.
“You have to choose,” Sophie said, repeating what their mother had said seconds earlier.
Matthew shook his head. “But I don’t know how.”
Neither Sophie nor his mother said anything. They turned away from Earth and looked into the landing bay. Matthew followed their gazes to see massive ships hulking in the still darkness—and somehow he knew that these ships were waiting for him.
Waiting for his word on the transceiver to launch into space and bring what remained of humanity to this planet.
Matthew’s hand clamped tighter around Kiva’s. The muscles in his back seized, and his body lifted off the ground, became a bridge rooted to the dirt only by his heels and the back of his head. Kiva moved closer to him, her free arm clenching his body tighter to her own.
“Shhhh,” she said, though he wasn’t making any sound. “Shhh.”
Slowly, his muscles unclenched and he sank back to the ground. His eyes opened. He gasped once, then panted as he found his breath again. His chest heaved.
“What the hell was that?” Matthew asked as the last of the pain left his body. Kiva’s face hovered above his.
“I think it worked,” Kiva said. “I’ve never tried it until now, but I think … I think you’re healed.”
Matthew’s brow knotted. He propped himself up on his elbows and looked from Kiva to Dunne, who stood just a few paces back, the other girls still pressing against her shoulders and holding her where she stood.
Dunne stared at Matthew with a stunned look on her face.
“My God,” she said. “I can’t believe it.”
Matthew propped himself up further and turned his eyes to his own body, to the place where the arrow had entered his chest. Kiva moved away and knelt in the grass, sitting back on her heels to watch him.
His hand wandered down to the spot. He felt with his fingertips at the place where Kiva had smeared her blood. At first he prodded gingerly, then pressed down on the wound with all his might, testing for pain. He didn’t find any.
He glanced up at Kiva for a long moment but didn’t say anything. Then he looked back down to the spot and began rubbing furiously at it. The caked grass and dried blood crumbled away.
Underneath, the skin was smooth and new. The wound was gone. There wasn’t even a scar.
Matthew was completely healed.
“How?” he asked. His head snapped up. “Who are you?”
Kiva rocked back, shifting her weight from her knees to the balls of her feet, and looked down, shielding her eyes as she slowly brushed the dust from the skirt of her dress.
After a moment, she stood up and offered Matthew a hand. He took it and she helped him to his feet.
“I’ll show you,” she said.
41
kiva
Kiva walked away from Matthew and huddled with Po, Thruss, Rehal, and Quint.
“We’re going to take them to the village,” she said.
“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Thruss asked.
Kiva hesitated. She wasn’t sure if it was a good idea or not. But something made her want to do it all the same. She couldn’t explain why. Maybe it was that after everything that had happened—Po putting an arrow in Matthew’s chest, and Kiva healing him—she thought bringing the Strangers to their village might be the gesture of trust needed to begin making peace.
“There will be no danger to the Vagri,” she assured them. “Po, I want you and your men to co
me with us to keep an eye on them. Especially that one.”
She nodded toward the Stranger who’d had the weapon.
“If he tries anything,” Kiva said, “you have my permission to kill him.”
Po nodded. Kiva turned and walked to Matthew, who was talking with the woman.
“I’d like to go back inside the ship before we leave,” Matthew said.
Ship. That must be what they call the bird that brought them to Gle’ah.
“I want to change out of these bloody clothes, and Dunne needs a few things. One of your men can come with us if you want.”
Kiva shook her head. “No, it’s fine. I trust the two of you. But he needs to stay out here, where we can keep an eye on him.”
She nodded toward the other boy, still standing with his hands raised at the end of one of the Forsaken’s spears. Quint still had his weapon.
“That’s Sam,” Matthew said. “And I understand. But that little girl …”
“My sister,” Kiva said. “Quint.”
“Well, you should tell her to be careful with that gun. She could hurt herself.”
Gun, thought Kiva.
Matthew and the woman—Dunne, he’d called her—went into the ship. They came back out a few minutes later, Matthew wearing a new blue suit, one not torn or stained with his blood, and Dunne carrying a smooth, rectangular object in her hand.
“Don’t worry,” Matthew said when he saw Kiva looking at the object. “It’s just a bioscanner. It can’t hurt anyone.”
Kiva nodded her assent, though she didn’t understand the word he’d used.
“All right, let’s go. I’ll lead the way.” She glanced at Matthew. “Matthew, will you walk with me?”
They tramped silently through the grass for a long stretch. Kiva used the time to read everyone’s thoughts. Thruss and Rehal were on edge, still afraid of the Strangers and nervous about what would happen when they got to the village; Po and the Forsaken were alert, ready to attack the Strangers at the first sign of provocation; and Quint—well, Quint seemed to think this was all a great adventure.
Kiva couldn’t read the minds of the Strangers quite as clearly. From the one Matthew called Dunne she sensed excitement and curiosity at what she might find once Kiva led them to the village. The boy who’d attacked them—Matthew called him Sam—was a mystery. When Kiva reached into his mind with hers, all she found was a yawning absence, a dark void that made her shiver every time she looked at his face.
But Matthew’s thoughts she could read clearly—so clearly it was almost as though he was speaking aloud as he walked at Kiva’s side.
How did she do that?
Kiva glanced sideways. Matthew was feeling gingerly at the spot on his ribs where Po had shot him—where Kiva had daubed her blood to heal him.
“I didn’t do it,” Kiva said. “The Ancestors did.”
Matthew looked at her. “What’s that?”
“You were wondering how I healed you,” Kiva said. “But I didn’t. The Ancestors did.”
“The Ancestors?” Matthew said. He blinked and gave his head a little shake. “But I didn’t say anything.”
“I heard your thoughts,” Kiva said. “That’s another thing the Ancestors do.”
“Are they the ones helping us communicate with each other?” Matthew asked.
“I think so.”
“So they healed me, they let you read other people’s thoughts, and they’re allowing us to communicate with each other even though we don’t speak the same language. But how?”
Kiva looked forward. “They just are. In our village, the Ancestors come to girls and speak to them, show them visions, or allow them to hear the minds of others. After that, the girls join the women as the leaders of our people. The Sisters.”
“The Sisters,” Matthew repeated. “And you’re one of the Sisters, then?”
Kiva shook her head. “No. Not just one of the Sisters. The Ancestors are stronger with some than with others—and they’re stronger with me than with anyone in my village. I am the Vagra.”
“So the Sisters lead the village, but you’re the leader of the Sisters. The Vagra. Is that right?”
Kiva nodded.
Matthew retreated into his own thoughts, and Kiva let him be. They walked in silence once more. Soon, they came to the place just outside the village where Kiva always went to listen for the voice of the Ancestors. This was where she’d first seen her vision of the Strangers, where she’d first seen Matthew’s face.
Kiva slowed.
“Matthew,” she said.
He turned to her.
“Do you remember this place?” she asked.
He looked around. Kiva held her breath as his eyes passed over the hillock where, just a day ago, he’d come upon her from within a shared vision. But his eyes only grazed the spot, and when his gaze came back to her his face wore a befuddled look.
“I don’t think so,” he said. “I’ve never been here before. Why should I remember it?”
Kiva opened her mouth without making a sound. Her cheeks burned.
Maybe there was no connection between her and Matthew after all. Maybe it was all in her head.
“Nothing,” she said, and walked on ahead of Matthew. “It’s nothing.”
Matthew’s footsteps rustled in the grass as he ran to catch up with her.
“Wait,” he said. “I’m sorry. I offended you, somehow. I don’t know, maybe—”
He broke off speaking, but Kiva heard the echo of his thoughts coming from behind her.
But there is something familiar about this place, isn’t there? About Kiva. I do feel like I’ve been here before, like I’ve met her—but that’s impossible, isn’t it?
Kiva held her breath when she heard this thought. She longed to speak to Matthew about this feeling of familiarity, to ask him what he did and didn’t know about this place, about her—but they weren’t alone, and they were drawing close to the village.
Kiva’s questions would have to wait.
When they reached the top of the rise and the huts came into view, Kiva knew immediately that news of the Strangers had spread throughout the village. Morning had broken hours ago, and normally the village would be full of men working in their gardens, children chasing each other through the narrow lanes between huts—but instead, everything was empty. The Sisters, coming back from the pit, must have spread news of Kiva’s vision as they came into the village. And Edela and Ferrin must have told even more of the Vagri that one of the Strangers had attacked them. Kiva sensed the fear rising from the huts like smoke. She could practically smell it.
“Thruss, Rehal,” Kiva called. They came to her.
“Yes, Vagra?” they said together.
Kiva moved a few steps ahead of Matthew and bowed her head, spoke low so he couldn’t hear.
“Go to the Sisters’ camp,” she said. “Tell them we’re coming. Tell them I’ve brought the Strangers here so we can learn about each other and make peace. Make sure they know the Strangers have no weapons, and that we have Forsaken here to keep them from hurting anyone. Can you do that?”
Both nodded, and Rehal began to walk away.
Thruss stayed behind. “Should I tell them about what happened out there?”
“You leave that to me,” Kiva said. “The Sisters don’t need to know everything right now. Only those things that are helpful. You understand?”
Thruss bowed her head. “Yes, Vagra,” she said, then followed Rehal to the Sisters’ camp.
“What about me?” Quint asked.
Kiva knelt to a crouch and spoke to her sister at eye level. “You’re the most important of all. I need you to stay with us. If people see you with the Strangers, they’ll know that there’s nothing to be afraid of.”
“But I am afraid of them,” Quint admitted in a small voice.
Kiva bent her head closer to Quint’s ear and pitched her voice at a conspiratorial whisper. “I know. So am I, a little.”
The girl’s eyes widened. �
��You are?”
“Yes. I’m afraid of a lot of things. Of the Strangers. Of the Forsaken. Sometimes even of the Sisters.”
“Of the Sisters? Why?”
“I’m afraid that they won’t think I’m a good leader. But I try to be brave. And that’s what I want you to do. Do you think that you can be brave right now?”
Quint nodded solemnly. “Yes. I can.”
“Good girl,” Kiva said. She squeezed Quint’s arm and stood, then moved to speak to Po. She put her mouth close to his ear and spoke so that Quint couldn’t hear her.
“Keep close,” she said. “I want one of you guarding each of them. No mistakes.”
“Yes, Vagra,” Po said.
“Let them go where they want, and see whatever they want to see.” She glanced at Sam, who was surveying the village with black, expressionless eyes—then looked back to Po. “But if they try to hurt anyone, kill them.”
42
matthew
Matthew cast his gaze over the village. It was surrounded on all sides by the ridge they were perched on. The circular depression the village was set in looked like a crater. The village itself was laid out in circles, too. From the high vantage point on the ridge, the village was reminiscent of a target: a broad outer ring of some one hundred squat mud huts giving way to an empty space, and then a smaller circle of huts in the center.
“I don’t like this,” Sam muttered behind Matthew’s shoulder.
Matthew turned to face him.
“Yeah, well, I don’t care what you think,” Matthew said, louder than he intended. “The last time you didn’t like something, you almost got me killed, remember? It’s only because of her that I’m alive.”
Matthew looked toward Kiva, who was moving down the hill into the village and talking in whispers with the other two girls.
“But we’re unarmed,” Sam said. “We can’t defend ourselves. They could kill us.”
“They could have killed us already,” Dunne said. “But they didn’t.”
“She’s right,” Matthew said. “We’ll be fine. As long as you don’t act like an asshole and do something stupid again.”
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