Who Fears Death

The narration shifts to the person who has been recording Onye’s story. At first the narrator refuses to leave Onye, but then Onye changes into a tiger, and she runs away. She realizes Onye could escape whenever she wants, but she won’t “Because of what she’d seen during her initiation. She was like a character locked in a story” (379).

The next time the narrator sees her is as they are burying Onye in the sand to be stoned to death. The people taunt her, and the narrator sees “a tall bearded [Nuru] man with a partially burned face, what looked like a severely mangled leg, and only one arm” (379); the narrator is certain it’s Daib based on Onye’s description.

As the rocks begin to hit Onye, a light flows from her and the sand around her body melts. The narrator refuses to say more, though: “Those things are only for those of us who were there, the witnesses” (380). Chaos erupts, and everyone runs away.

The narrator returns with their twin; they had been raised in Chassa as nonbelievers, as their parents believed all of their society was wrong. As they return to the site of Onye’s execution, the narrator’s sister finds herself floating in the air.