Eli couldn’t stop looking every which way as they walked into the city. The ice glistened from their glow lights illuminating everything. Eli had only ever known light from their star. Bright and angry, this light was different. It was softer, comfortable to look at. It didn’t burn at his retinas. 

He followed Veer as people stared and gasped and stepped away from him. He tried not to meet any of their eyes, but occasionally he would and they’d rush away quickly whispering to each other. Something felt different here, he couldn’t quite put his finger on what it was exactly. 

He met a woman’s eyes, her skin was wrinkly, her hair white. Eli looked away quickly, clearly some sickness had plagued her. Perhaps this was what came of the decay on this side of the world. He saw another pair of wrinkled people hobbling away from him quickly. The decay on their side of the planet only happened to the insides of people, then they died. But here decay happened to the outsides too it seemed. 

“Where is this Sayer?” Eli asked stepping closer to Veer and away from the decaying people. 

“It’s just Sayer.” Veer said glancing at the people who watched him pass with the outsider. “Sayer is his code name.” 

“Why do you all use code names?” Eli asked. 

“To protect our identities. No one knows your real name unless you give it out freely. Then if we’re ever captured we can’t give away information if we’re being tortured.” 

“Tortured?” Eli asked, his brow furrowing. Were the ice dwellers tortured by his people? He was sure the government couldn’t have hidden such a big secret for this long. 

Veer said nothing, just continued walking. 

“Thank you.” Eli said. 

“For what?” 

“For telling me your real name.” 

Veer glanced towards him before he nodded. “You’re different from the other wall dwellers, Eli. I can see it.” 

Eli couldn’t help the smile that was trying to tug at his cracked lips. He had always been different, all his life he had been an outsider. Until now it had never been a good thing. He looked up as a man passed them, he wasn’t wrinkly and hobbling like the others, just around his eyes and mouth. Whites peppering otherwise auburn hair. 

Eli gasped and grabbed Veer’s arm. “He’s old.” He whispered. 

Veer glanced towards the man before raising a pale eyebrow at Eli. “What?” 

“How old is he?” Eli watched the man walk away. 

“I don’t know, maybe fifty?” 

“How… how is he still alive?” Eli gasped. “How has the decay not begun in him?” 

“The decay?” Veer asked. He didn’t know what Eli was talking about. 

Eli met the other boys pale white eyes. “How do your people die?” 

“The same way yours do I’m guessing? Natural causes, old age.” 

“No.” Eli said harshly. “No our people do not die from those things. There are only two ways to die in the sectors. Being removed for infertility, or decay.” 

“I don’t know what decay means, Eli. We don’t have that here.” Veer glanced around, people were giving them a wide birth as they stood in the middle of the bridge. “Come on. You need to see Sayer.” 

Eli couldn’t understand it, why didn’t these people get the decay? Was it their sun? Was Knox aging their insides? Could a star really do so much? 

They walked through different bridges, veering every which way and shooting turning to stairs randomly before finally reaching a huge ice castle at the edge of the massive city. Eli’s wrist was burning with pain, it had definitely been re-broken from the climb, and Veer’s numbing drugs were wearing off. He held his wrist against him, trying to hold it in place. 

They began climbing steps towards the entrance of the massive castle, Eli couldn’t think of any other way to describe it. The building made of ice looked like the castles of the old world, but instead of stone and brick they were held together with only the landscape. Veer pulled open the heavy door and waited as Eli stepped through. 

“You don’t have to tell him your name if you don’t want to.” Veer said quietly as people whispered around them. “It won’t change his decision either way.” 

“Rogue.” A woman that looked to be about his mother’s age was rushing towards them. She was glaring at the pair of them. “Sayer is angry.” 

“I know.” Veer said. 

“He’s requesting to see you immediately.” 

“He’s injured.” Veer glanced towards the boy. “He needs medical attention before speaking with my father.” 

Eli’s head shot towards the other boy. His father? He had assumed Veer was unimportant, like him. He was the son of their leader, his pull on this city had to be powerful. 

“Come with us, boy.” A handful of tiny old people hobbled towards him. “We’ll heal you before you meet with our leader. It is only fair a man goes before him in full health.” 

“Veer.” Eli turned to the other boy. Gasps surrounded them as they looked at Eli. 

“You’ve told this outsider your name?” The woman hissed, pulling Veer towards her. 

“I have.” Veer said calmly. “I trust him.” They were all silent around the pair of them. Veer turned and met Eli’s eyes. “Go with them. They’re healers. They’ll fix your wrist and your ribs and reheat you.” 

“I don’t want to leave you.” Eli said, glancing towards the old men and women who were all glaring at him. 

“I have to meet with Sayer now, you can’t be there. But I will see you again, don’t worry.” Veer said. He followed the woman the other direction and up a large flight of ice stairs. 

“This way, child.” An old woman said reaching her hand towards another hallway. He followed the group of healers down a hall and into a medical room. It was very different from the medical rooms in sector zero, they were quiet and far less scientific and technical. He was led to a soft leathery seat and asked to remove his cloak. 

“What is this thing?” one said throwing it into a bin. “I’m shocked you survived the ice with such a useless cloak.” 

Another pulled his wrist up and began unwrapping it. “Take a breath, child.” 

Eli took a single breath and groaned at the pop of his wrist popped back into place. They brought a machine over and put his wrist inside it. It was hot, hotter than he’d ever experienced.

“What is that?” He winced at the heat. “A laser?”

“We don’t use lasers here, wall dweller.” The healer said pulling his wrist out again. It was completely healed, it didn’t even hurt any longer. “Remove your sweater.” 

They did the same to his ribs and gave him a tonic that warmed him from the inside out. He had never in his life felt such a warmth. 

Eli was walked towards the large stairs again, the woman who had taken Veer was waiting for him. “Come with me.” He followed her silently up the stairs until they reached another door. She opened it for him and he stepped through, Veer was there, leaning against the wall. He was no longer wearing his massive cloak and hood. 

“Come here, child.” A voice came from further into the room. Eli looked at Veer who stayed where he was. 

Eli stepped forward towards a large ice desk. The man was writing on something. He had the same white hair and eyes as Veer. “Rogue found you, outside the wall. You had been chased by a miom.” It wasn’t a question, so Eli said nothing. “You found one of our caverns, that was very fortuitous for you. Fortuitous as well that you were found by someone like Rogue and not a hunter, you would have been killed before you awoke again.” 

Eli said nothing still, pulling at his sweater sleeve and waiting for a questioned to be asked of him. 

“Do you know why you’re alive, wall dweller?” The man asked. 

“Because your son saved me.” Eli said. 

“No.” The man said. “That is why you’re here. You are alive because you knew to run. You are alive because you did not stay by the wall like all the others. How did you know to run from the heat seeker?” 

Eli wasn’t sure how to answer, who wouldn’t run from such a horrifying creature. “I didn’t want to die to it.” He finally said. 

“You wanted to live?” Sayer asked. 

“Yes, for as long as I could.” 

The man stood and walked to the other side of the desk. He was huge, Eli had to look up to meet his face, older than his own mother ever would have lived to. “And you know my child’s name.” He said. 

Eli glanced back towards Veer, who hadn’t moved from the wall. 

“Our names are sacred. We do not share them unless we trust a person with our life.” the man said. “Why does Veer trust you with his?” 

“I don’t know.” Eli admitted. 

“I do not trust you with mine.” Sayer said. “You may call me Sayer. What can I call you?” 

Eli said nothing, unsure what name he could give but his own. 

“Think hard on whether or not you trust me with your life.” Sayer said. 

“Do I have a choice? Aren’t you deciding now if you’re going to kill me?” Eli asked. 

The man laughed, the same staccato laugh as Veer’s, but it rebounded around the empty ice room. “I won’t kill you, even if I decide your death, that is the responsibility of the one who found you.” 

Eli looked back again towards Veer, who met his eyes. 

“He will do what he’s told to do, whether he wants to or not.” Sayer said, redirecting Eli’s attention. “Now, what shall I call you.” 

“Can I pick anything?” Eli asked. 

Sayer nodded. Eli thought for a while, only one name coming to mind. He had been scared of it his whole life, but perhaps he needed it now. “Ghost.” He finally said. 

Sayer nodded. “Alright Ghost.” He leaned against his desk. “You know where our home is. You know how to climb the mountain. How can I let you live with this knowledge? How can I know for certain that you won’t send your military to my doors?” 

Eli thought for a while before clearing his throat. “My people… my government betrayed me. They were trying to kill me.” 

“Because you couldn’t reproduce, correct?” Sayer asked. 

Eli looked down before nodding. “Yes.” He finally said. “I fell through the wall trying to run from them. They gunned down my mother in the streets, she’d done nothing wrong apart from try and protect me. I couldn’t go back over the wall even if I wanted to, they’d kill me. Furthermore, I owe your son my life. He saved me, and kept me alive until now when I certainly would have died. If not from the heat seeker than from something else.” 

“And what will you do with this debt you owe?” Sayer asked. 

“I’m not strong or useful really—“ 

“Oh that remains to be seen, Ghost. I believe that you are far more powerful than you know yet.” Sayer said. 

“Well either way. I can’t do much, I can’t be of much help. But I would do anything I could to pay back my debt to Veer. I would give my own life for his if I had to. And, if you do decide on my death… I’ll throw myself off the mountain to spare him having to kill me himself.” 

Sayer said nothing for a while, and Eli didn’t dare look back at where the other boy stood. He wasn’t sure what had prompted him to say all of that, it just came out without him thinking clearly, like his brain knew what had to be done. 

“No man takes joy in killing here, Ghost. Even our hunters and fighters do not wish to kill another being. Your willingness to spare Veer that burden is very commendable.” Sayer said. He tugged on his white beard before sighing and standing. “I will allow you to live, for now. But know this, if you betray us. If you betray my son, I will kill you myself.” 

Eli let out a breath and nodded. “Thank you, sir.” 

Sayer said nothing more to him. “Take him away, show him to a bed and make sure he is fed. Get him fitted with a cloak and gear, we can’t have him freezing to death.” 

The woman was suddenly there, pulling on his arm. He turned and followed her out the door. He glanced towards Veer once more, he was now stepping forward towards his father. He wanted to talk to him, ask him what he said to make his father believe in Eli, but he didn’t have the chance.