Kavio (10 Years Old)
"Look at the Dwarf Tavaedi!"
Children working in the fields with their parents pointed at Kavio and laughed behind their hands.
"Dwarf! Dwarf!"
Kavio ignored them. Back home, ten-year-old Tavaedies were as common as acorns under an oak tree. But here, he was as strange as a third thumb.
He crossed the fields and came to a hill of packed dirt that looked to him like a giant ant mound. Climbing it was fun—but the top was the best part. There, the ground was like a checkerboard full of square holes. Some holes were just dips in the clay with logs holding the sides up. Others already had big, flat stones set around them.
This is what kivas looked like before they were buried.
Even better—he had the hilltop all to himself. No other children came up here. The men who should have been working had dropped their ropes, logs, and baskets to grab weapons and stand guard. They were watching his father's army, camped in the woods nearby. Father thought Kavio was back at camp, doing chores.
Kavio played at fighting imaginary enemies. He didn't see the men until one grabbed him from behind. Sour milk breath hit his ear. A dirty hand clamped over his mouth. Before he could fight, they had tied him up like a goat.
At first, he wasn't as scared as he should have been. He thought this might be another one of Father's tests. Or maybe just a prank from local children. But then they shoved him into a ditch at the edge of one of the pits. When he looked up, he saw the wild face of the man who had once chased him around the Tor of the Sun. And in that moment, he understood.
He was going to die.
Fear crawled into his throat and belly, sharp like pinching crabs.
"Your father was a murderer," said the man. His teeth were yellow. His eyes were too white. Kavio gave him a name: Rotten Tooth. "Your father killed my son. I will take his son from him."
"My father never murdered anyone!" Kavio screamed. "He's a hero! He fought the real murderers!"
"You're all murderers," said Rotten Tooth. "Your whole tribe is guilty. You will die here. No one will ever find your body. No one will take your bones to Obsidian Mountain. No one will avenge you."
Kavio squirmed at the bottom of the pit.
The kiva, when finished, would be sealed in stone. Huge stones would form the floor, walls, and ceiling. Two tall, flat stones already stood near him. Half of each stone stuck out above the dirt. Kavio was lying in one of the empty places between them—a deep trench cut into the edge of the pit.
He didn't understand the men's plan until he heard them groaning with effort, moving something heavy just outside the pit.
They placed thick wooden blocks at the pit's edge. Nearby was a big cube-shaped rock. It wasn't as large as a megalith, but it was still as tall as a man and very heavy.
"We'll use the smaller stone to move the bigger one," Rotten Tooth said. "Just like we'll use your death to move your father. Killing you will give us power over him."
Kavio's wrists burned as he fought the ropes beneath his back. But he couldn't look away from the stones above him.
A single megalith could crush fifty horses. It would crush one boy easily.
The men rolled the megalith off the logs and onto the wooden blocks. Then they lifted a notched log—like a ladder—and leaned it against the megalith. Slowly, they pushed the cube-shaped boulder up the log. It wobbled like a fat aunt climbing a tree. Then it slammed down on top of the megalith with a boom so loud the ground shook.
Kavio panted. He yanked at the ropes. Tried to roll out of the trench. But all his twisting only wedged him deeper into the dirt.
The men laid the notched log flat along the megalith like a ramp. Then they pushed the cube forward, notch by notch, toward the far end. Right above Kavio's head.
He wet himself.
They tied ropes around both stones to hold them in place while they removed one wooden block beneath the megalith.
"Control the drop!" Rotten Tooth shouted. "If it falls too fast, it might crack!"
The cube's weight made the megalith tilt on the last block beneath it. The men strained to hold the ropes.
Kavio dislocated both his thumbs, slipped his hands free, and pushed himself out of the trench.
"Wait! Stop! He's moving!" Rotten Tooth screamed.
He jumped into the pit, holding an obsidian dagger. "I wanted your last sight to be the stone crashing down. But I can slit your throat first."
"We can't hold it much longer!" one of the men at the ropes yelled.
Rotten Tooth rushed Kavio. They fell into a wild fight—no skill, no control, only rage on one side and panic on the other. Kavio kicked, jabbed with his fingers, and bit. He screamed.
The black dagger flashed. Kavio smelled sour milk. Felt something warm splash across his chest.
"The rope is breaking!"
Before the warning ended, the stone giants dropped like thunder into the pit.
Kavio shoved Rotten Tooth aside and rolled the other way.
The crash was like an earthquake. A blink later, the boulder split with a cracking sound like lightning. Dust rose in a thick cloud, hiding everything.
When it cleared, Kavio crouched in the far corner of the pit, covered in blood and piss.
Nothing of Rotten Tooth remained.
Only one hand lay stretched out from under the upright megalith.