Eli followed the woman out and down the stairs. He was being led out of the castle in the mountain and panic struck him. “When can I see Veer?” 

The woman shushed him. “Do not speak his name. Do you have any idea how many people you made privy to who he is today?” 

“S-sorry…” Eli said. 

“Rogue is the future leader of this city. Very few know his given name.” The woman clicked her tongue in anger. “Why he told you I cannot understand.” 

“I asked.” Eli said. 

She stopped and glared at him. “You do not ask our names again. That is something we must choose to give you just as you must choose to give yours. Names are sacred here, they are precious to their owner. Rarely does anyone outside of a person’s family know their given name.” 

“Did you know his name?” Eli asked. 

“Of course I knew his name. He is my son. I gave him his name.” She glared down at the ice below her. “And now you, an outsider, a wall dweller have given his name to healers and who knows who else.” 

“I didn’t know they were that sacred.” he admitted. “I am sorry. I never would have asked for his name had I known. Our names are our identifiers across the wall.” 

“You’ll find a great many things are different here, child.” He followed her across the bridge and up what felt like hundreds of stairs before finally reaching a small stack of ice caverns. “This will be your room for the time being. If you are permitted amongst us, your biometrics will be added to ours and you will be allowed to build your own ice cavern amongst our people.” 

A young man walked in setting down an array of things. Before he began measuring every part of Eli. 

“Your cloak will be made and you will be given a task. Everyone here works, we are always repairing and expanding our city. Meals are served all together, someone will come and get you to show you where to go. What are you called?” 

“Umm… Ghost.” Eli said. 

The woman nodded. “You can call me Onyx.” She turned quickly and left just as the man finished up, leaving Eli alone as well. 

There was no door to his room, only a small alcove with a toilet and a basin with trickling water. His pack was already waiting for him, sitting neatly in the corner. He sat down on the bed, the blankets were thick and heavy. Made of squiel leather, he could tell. There were two light orbs in his room, both dark. He rubbed one with his fingers until it lit up, he’d seen Veer do it enough over the month they traveled together. 

“Hi.” A voice came from outside the room. 

Eli looked up to see Veer standing just outside. 

“Can I come inside?” He asked. 

Eli nodded. 

Veer stepped in and sat on the bed next to Eli. 

“I’m sorry that I said your name in front of all of those people.” Eli said quickly. 

“You didn’t know any better. I don’t hold it against you.” Veer said. “Did… did you really mean what you said to my father? About owing me your life?” 

Eli nodded and looked towards the other boy. “If I haven’t said it, thank you for keeping me alive. And for bringing me here.” 

Veer said nothing, but looked away. He glanced towards his pack. “You won’t need to carry that soon, there is a built in pack in the cloaks.” 

Eli nodded and looked towards his pack. “Onyx says that I’ll be assigned a task, what does that mean?” 

“Don’t worry too much, I’ve requested you on my reconnaissance team. It’s being processed now.” Veer said. 

“Why would you request me, I know nothing about this side of the wall, remember?” 

“And yet you have a surprising knowledge of our animals and of the history of Thill.” Veer said. “And besides that, I trust you. That makes up for your lack of experience.” 

“Why…” Eli paused, unsure how to ask Veer. “Why didn’t you kill me? You could have, why didn’t you?” 

Veer sighed. “I’ve seen other wall dwellers before, they’re dumped over the side of the wall furthest from us sometimes by ships.” 

“Sector One.” Eli said. “They house the military.” 

Veer nodded. “They do nothing. They don’t try to run, they don’t try to get up even. They just sit there and freeze to death or they’re consumed by the heat seekers. You know why the heat seekers are so close to the wall?” 

Eli shook his head. “I always thought it was because the sun was so close.” 

“It’s because that’s where they’re fed. They know that every now and then, humans are tossed over the wall to die and they can fuel themselves with their heat.” Veer shook his head and shivered. “It’s disgusting, what your kind does to their people. Leaving them for dead like that.” 

“It is.” Eli agreed. 

“You fell, I watched it happen from my outpost. And you didn’t just sit there, you healed your wounds and you began walking. I had never seen a wall dweller walk before. When I heard the Miom coming I took shelter, I figured you’d die to it. But you ran.” Veer looked at him. “You ran, and then you somehow found our cavern. You have this drive to live inside of you that I’ve never seen from any other wall dweller. I couldn’t kill something that had fought so hard to live.” 

Eli said nothing, he didn’t know why he had tried to survive so hard. He couldn’t imagine sitting there and waiting for his death, but why did the others? Why didn’t they try to live as well? Why would they allow themselves to be consumed by a miom, did they not know any better? He glanced towards his pack and pulled it into his lap. He hadn’t actually looked through it yet, only taking out things he needed as he went. He turned onto the bed and dumped its contents out between them. 

Veer turned as well and looked at what his mother had packed that she was sure would help him survive. His water sack that was still solid. Veer grabbed that and put it underneath his blankets. “We’ll make sure you get a better sack, this one is too thin, but this should thaw the water.” 

The knife he had threatened Veer with when they first met. Medicines for different ailments, and a small leather bound book. It was a real book, not with holograph pages but with light pieces of typed up papers. This was old, very old. He had read of journals once, they had pens for you to write with which were then transcribed on the pages letter by letter.

“What is that?” Veer asked. 

Eli opened it and saw a date of over fifteen years ago. “I am finally with child.” He read aloud. “I can feel him growing inside of me and I know he is healthy.” He gasped. “This was my mothers. She must have kept it for when she lost her mind.” 

“What does that mean, lost her mind? Is that part of the decay that plagues your kind?” Veer asked. 

“Yes, which I still do not understand how your people age and grow old. Over the wall, it is rare if a person lives to fifty. In fact its almost entirely unheard of. Most die by forty, some women will live to maybe forty five or so.” 

“What kills them?” Veer asked. 

Eli shrugged. “No one really knows. Your insides decay and rot, starting with your brain. Eventually you turn septic, and then days later you just die. That’s why we have children so young, they can be raised and cared for before the decay really begins and then can have their own children. But… I don’t understand why it’s only on the light side. Perhaps the sun is killing us, I don’t know.” 

“Will you die of the decay?” Veer asked. 

“I can’t see why I wouldn’t. Perhaps because I’m no longer in the sun I will live longer, if that is really what’s killing us. But I can’t imagine that a star has that much power.” 

Veer shook his head. “Perhaps it’s something else. Something you’re consuming or breathing in that’s different.” 

“Yeah maybe.” He slid his fingers against the pages of his mothers journal. 

“Well, I hope you don’t die in twenty years.” Veer said standing up. 

“Do you think I’ll still be here in twenty years?” Eli asked standing up as well. 

Veer shrugged and smiled, his muscles taught against his translucent cheeks. “You never know, we may decide to keep you.” 

Eli smiled too, it felt weird to do so after everything that had happened, but he did none the less. “I think I’d like that. If you kept me.” 

Veer nodded and cleared his throat, turning away. “This way, I’ll show you where we eat.”