When the girl is born among the marsh folk, she has a weak heart and body. Her mother forbids her from playing with the others, as she doesn’t want her to have a heart attack. Weak girls aren’t worth much, as normal girls can still do household chores for their family. At least a weak boy could be offered up to the sun, as a gift from his community. However, the sun doesn’t want any girls, much less a weak one. Ultimately, the girl is traded off by her father. She runs away after finding out, but her father catches her, telling her that she’ll be worth more if she complies.

From then on, the girl travels with the travelers. She gets traded around a lot. She learns the dialects of every land she comes across. She ends up in a village by the sea and is owned by a merchant who finds her useless. Soon enough, when she is fourteen, the angels—hairy, encased bodies—descend on the village. The village’s holy woman gathers everyone before them. The angels demand the strongest people of the village to help them build bridges, or else everyone will perish. Specifically, they ask for around twenty. The merchant then kicks out the girl. Their interest piqued, the angel asks the girl where she’s from. They end up taking her, along with the others, although she is spared and brought onto their ship, whereas the others are behind her, screaming. She is told not to look back.

On the ship, which is dark, the angel talks to the girl. She explains that she knows many tongues. She helps it disrobe and finds blood on its body. Overcome with fear, the girl becomes sick, and the angel tries to comfort her. From then on, the girl accompanies the angels, serving them as a translator who can communicate with many people across the land. She tells every village the same that hers was told, that the strongest are needed. Still, she is told to never look back. As such, she never knows what the bridge is like. Eventually, she becomes fluent in the tongue of the angels. She overhears them talking about the kiss of death, a power of the angels which can obliterate entire cities, such as those which refuse to comply.

Soon enough, the angels visit the girl’s old town. She descends and asks them for their strongest. She sees kids she recognizes, though they don’t recognize her. Her father appears and recognizes her, though the angels bring her back up to the ship before he can reach her. On the ship, the girl sneaks around until she reaches the top of it, where she can see the bridge: an unending chain of countless bodies reaching out to the horizon, lifeless and preserved. She watches her village’s men get added to it. In fear, the girl leaves the ship and runs away, escaping the angels even as they try to find her.

On the ground, the girl stumbles upon a baby. She holds it and keeps it warm. She sees the bridge above her, stretching faraway. She returns to the angels, with the baby, and complies with their mission. However, she tells the villagers she meets to carve words into their hearts which record the history of such violence, all while the angels don’t know. They don’t suspect that she can or has been doing anything wrong. One day, the angels disappear, but the bridge remains. That’s when the prophets come, saying that they would use the kiss of death in order to wipe out those left on the land. Now, the girl tells the story of the angels, hoping to never forget them.