The evening passed in a haze. Lexa's legs moved automatically, her tongue spoke of its own accord as geda after geda asked her what happened. She saw very little of Anya, who was in deep conference with the other top geda. Ian, Juram and Tohru were dead. Geda stepped forward and prepared the bodies, wrapping them in white sheets, a pyre built quickly. Everyone seemed to take stock in the menial tasks in a useless attempt to distract themselves from the events of the afternoon. Scouting shifts were doubled to watch for the Reapers in case they returned, though Lexa thought they wouldn't. The Reapers were wildly unpredictable, they wouldn't strike the same place twice in an afternoon unless it was a highly unusual occurrence.

Lexa was shuttled from task to task, seeing flashes of the other sekons. Ophus and Yunto remained in Corin's tent for the entire evening, not once emerging. Lexa had seen Yunto. Physically, she thought he looked ok on the outside, but there was no telling what happened to him on the inside. Plus, he would need to step up. He had been Juram's sekon, being trained as a healer.

At one point Lexa and Costia saw each other, as Costia was helping the other sekons carry wood for the pyre. Their eyes met, but there was no time to talk. Lexa wasn't even sure that she would be able to.

The light continued fading from the sky as Lexa eventually found herself without any tasks to perform. She wandered through the village, but nothing was distracting her. Finally she found herself outside, at the edge of the village, scouting into the trees. The torches around the village had been lit for light, but the light extended only so far out, creating a soft bubble of activity and safety. The dark woods before her, Lexa's eyes cut through the darkness, alert for any sign of movement.

"Lexa," a voice whispered in Lexa's ear. She turned. Anya was standing behind her, tall, gaunt and tired. For the first time, Lexa looked at her first and saw a sekon. Her face was exhausted beyond anything that had happened. Her tired eyes looked at Lexa, scared and afraid. Lexa walked over to her sekon, her head coming up almost to her shoulder. Anya's arms encircled hers, and sekon and first stood together.

"Sit," Anya said after a long time. She sat on the ground, folding her legs underneath her. Her hands sat, unmoving on her thighs, her eyes half open. She remained like this for a span of time. Lexa waited. Her first would speak when she needed to.

"The village has been struck a large blow this day," Anya said. Her voice remained low and even. "A blow that will take some time, but we will recover from. Ophus has lost the use of his legs, at least for the time being. Yunto will make a full recovery, and Corin will be his new first. He will still be trained as a healer."

"Why are you telling me this?" asked Lexa.

"Because," Anya said, and her eyes flashed up, brown meeting hazel. "And I am telling you this before it is announced to the village, because it will be after the vigil tonight. But the geda have discussed it, and together have decided that I will become the new heda."

Lexa was unsurprised. Anya, next to Ian, had been the best geda in the village. She was a brilliant warrior, her strategy was unmatched, and her weapons skills rivaled that of Tohru himself.

"This means," Anya said. "You will be the sekon to the heda."

Lexa blinked, unsure of what this meant.

"I know. It doesn't seem like a lot, but it is. Sekon to heda is a very intense position to fill. We will be running the village alongside training you. But I think you will be able to handle it. What you did today..." here Anya paused, searching for words. "If you had not done what you did, there is a large chance that I would be among the dead. We were taken off guard completely. Your horse is unrivaled in sense, she knew far before any of us did that something was gone. And you were able to get help as you did. And for this..." once again Anya stopped, staring at the ground. She shook her head several times. "And for this I am in debt to you and Naya," Anya finished.

Lexa looked at the ground. For any other situation she would be soaring. But not at the price that she had had to pay. "I understand," she said.

"I will still be your first," Anya said, reaching down to fix Lexa's messy braids. "I will be your first as long as I live, until you become geda. That will never change. It's just, we'll have other work to do alongside it. I hope that you'll be ok. I hope I will be ok..."

Lexa said nothing, but let Anya fix her braids. Anya finished, tying back her hair and smoothing down the little curls. "Come," Anya said, standing and brushing the dirt off her. "We have a vigil to lead."

The two of them returned to the village, Lexa still processing everything that had happened. The village was silent as the two of them joined the others.

The geda had formed a crowd before the pyre that had been built earlier, the three bodies laid on top, wrapped in pure white. Corin stepped forward, as the temporary head of the village.

"Oso kamp raun getha. Pul stedaunon op, en oso mem op. But we must move forward from this tragic blow dealt to our village, and emerge stronger than before. Ge smak daun, gyon op nodotaim!"

The village collectively bowed their heads in agreement. Corin turned to the pyre, and held up the torch to light it. "Yu gonplei ste odon," she said, and the village echoed it back. She reached forward and touched the torch to the pyre. The oil soaked wood lit instantly, and flames grew higher and higher until the light was almost too bright for Lexa to watch. Corin pulled back from the heat as the flames burned fast and hot.

After what seemed like a few seconds, the flames died down, the pyre now a pile of burnt wood and ash, bits of white cloth floating up and away from the camp on the currents of air.

"We need a leader," Corin said after a long silence. "Our heda, Tohru, was killed this afternoon, protecting the warriors that needed him the most. In battle, our strongest geda were killed, fighting until the end. Tohru, Ian and Juram died noble deaths, and because of their sacrifices and their skill, Anya, Ophus and Yunto survived to fight another day.

"The successor to Tohru has been determined. The remaining geda have all agreed upon one to lead us against these dark times, and will shepherd us to victory against the Reapers. Geda Anya, please step forward."

Anya squeezed Lexa's hand, and then walked past the village up to where Corin was standing at the front. She turned to face Corin.

"Geda Anya, do you swear to protect this village until your dying breath?" Corin asked Anya.

"Sha op," Anya said. I do.

"Geda Anya, will you lead this village through times of peace and times of war?"

"Sha op," Anya said. The village watched silently. Even breaths seemed to pause.

"Geda Anya, will you lead our village as one among the tregedakru, taking orders from the Commander himself?"

"Sha op."

"From this day forward until your death, upon the village's decision, I pronounce you heda. Belaik heda, Anya!"

"Ai laik Heda!" Anya yelled to the village.

"Yu laik Heda!" the village called back in one voice.

"Step forward," Corin said. Anya knelt in front of Corin. Corin removed a bit of metal from the pyre. It was the wheel symbol of the heda. They were the navigator, the wheel marked them on their forehead. If Anya made a noise during this process, she could no longer be heda. The heda was the calm in the storm.

Corin stepped forward to Anya, holding the metal wheel with a small pair of tongs. She reached out and placed the wheel on Anya's forehead. Lexa saw the skin turn red with the heat, but Anya remained motionless, despite the fact that the pain she felt was immense.

And then it was over. Anya stood, the mark on her forehead remained behind. Corin handed her the heda's sword, and she drew it with a yell. The village let out a cheer. Anya was there as the heda. She would lead the village against the mountain men. And she had Lexa to help her do it.