They had been walking for almost three weeks, barely stopping to rest and eat. No one had come to find them yet, that could change at any moment though, Eli knew. They’d come in contact with a single heat seeker, they were easy enough to avoid with their night goggles. Veer had found a far larger cavern, one created by the hunters years ago. The harshness of the chill made Eli miss his squiel leather blanket back in his small hole in Moonmire. He wondered, if they even did return, if he’d be allowed to stay or if he’d be banished for going somewhere he wasn’t meant to and taking along with him the only living heir to all of Moonmire. 

They didn’t speak of Veer’s lineage or his responsibilities after that very first night, which now felt like months earlier. Instead Eli told Veer every single detail he could think of regarding life inside the wall. 

“It’s always light, but its not like the soft glow of the orbs, its harsh and angry.” Eli had said one night. 

“How do you harvest grains?” Veer had been shocked to learn of their unnatural harvesting methods. Truthfully Eli knew very little apart from what he’d read in school. Harvesting was excruciatingly boring, but Veer found it fascinating. The ice dwellers only harvested what the land already provided, which was very little. They killed and ate wild squiel, they liquified crophn, tiny little furry creatures that secreted the liquid gold all wall dwellers had considered such a delicacy. Eli had to choke down every glob of tartan after that. 

In turn, Veer talked about growing up in all darkness. It was different for them now, they had Moonmire, which was illuminated and glittering. “We once had a moon, did you know that?” 

Eli shook his head. 

“It was called Hesper. It shone beautifully all the time, lighting the night with it’s glow.” Veer said. “It burned out though, as the light of Knox burned brighter and scorched half the planet, Hesper died. After that our skin began to grow lighter and lighter until we illuminated the darkness ourselves.” 

“That’s sort of beautiful, in a very sad way.” Eli said. 

“It sort of is.” Veer agreed. 

“So… you glow?” Eli smiled as Veer scoffed and nudged him. He like making Veer smile. 

“A bit, only in complete darkness. It’s actually pretty useless now that we have the night goggles, but at one point it was how our ancestors kept from losing one another to the night.” 

“Can I see?” Eli asked. 

Veer looked at him before nodding. Eli reached for the orb, shrouding its light with his cloak. Veer did the same to the other. It took Eli’s eyes a moment to adjust before the faint glowing of Veer’s skin was all he could see. It was lovely, almost like the light orb was within him. Eli reached out, pressing his cold fingers to the skin of Veer’s luminescent cheek. 

Veer flinched at the chill before heat crawled up into his cheeks, blood red against the light. He pulled the light out of his cloak and his skin dimmed into its normal translucency, his cheeks still burning red. 

Eli removed his fingers away from the other boys face before reaching into his pack, pulling out two tubes of tartan, handing one over. It really was a brilliant food, even if producing it was disgusting. 

“When will we reach the gas lakes?” Eli asked. 

Veer cleared his throat. “Maybe in a week? I don’t know for certain.” 

“Have you never seen them?” Eli asked. 

Veer shook his head. “Not up close, no. After my grandmother died, and as more and more ships scavenge there we don’t travel past the final checkpoint. We’ve hit that two days ago.” 

“How will we go closer without breathing in the gasses?” Eli asked. 

Veer reached into his endless pockets and pulled out two masks for both of them. “These will filter out the gas. They haven’t been used in years though, so… I am unsure if they will work properly anymore.”

“Perfect.” Eli shook his head and shoved one into his own pack. 

“No one has been this far out in almost ten years, you can’t blame me for having little knowledge of it.” Veer said before nestling closer to Eli, resting his head against Eli’s hood and closing his eyes. “You should sleep, we’ll need to cover a long distance tomorrow.” 

Eli nestled against Veer as well, his own head fitting perfectly into the crook between Veer’s shoulder and his neck. It had become very comfortable sleeping so close to Veer. The added body heat aside, it made Eli feel safe.

The closer they got to the gas lakes, the hotter it became. Eli had pulled down his hood and wished desperately he could shed his cloak. 

“How do the Miom’s not gravitate towards here?” Eli asked, his voice muffled through the gas mask. 

“They can absorb the gas through their pores, if that happens they died just like the rest of us.” Veer said. 

Eli huffed and followed, his hair catching the sweat that was gathering at his neck. He actually missed the cold. 

“What do you plan to do once we actually reach the gas lake?” Veer asked. 

“I’m going to get a sample.” Eli said. 

Veer stopped and turned Eli by the shoulder. “You can’t. It’ll burn the flesh off your bones if you get close enough to get a sample. Don’t tell me that was the plan all along?” 

Eli shrugged. “I have gloves don’t I? The wall dwellers take samples all the time. We need to test whatever is in this gas.” 

“Eli… you can’t be this stupid. The wall dwellers have ships and technology to extract the gas—“ Veer stood straight up, his entire body rigid. 

“What?” Eli asked. 

“Get down to the ground.” Veer commanded as they both fell the ice. Eli could feel the rumbling now as a massive ship flew over them. 

“They’re here.” Eli said. 

“Don’t move. We don’t know how much they can see. But our cloak will conceal us well enough unless they’re looking for humans.” Veer said. 

“They won’t though, right? Not this far out?” Eli asked. 

“I don’t know.” 

The ship disappeared over a ridge, but the rumbling still shook Eli’s bones. They waited only minutes before the ship zipped past them, the sound deafening as it carried away the toxic poison. 

“The gas lake must be just over there.” Eli pointed. “Come on.” He pulled himself up and reached a hand out to pull Veer up as well. 

They climbed higher, pulling themselves up rocks. Eli gasped, scraping his hand against a sharp rock, slicing through his thick leather gloves. 

“Watch out,” Veer said climbing past him. He paused at the top of the ledge, staring out. Eli climbed up the rest of the way, his mouth falling open in his gas mask. The toxic lake was far greater than he’d imagined, spanning across the horizon. Eli squinted to see the other end, barely visible. It was lighter here, the odd blue and green color of the lake luminescent against the night sky. 

“We made it.” Veer gasped. 

Eli said nothing. They had watched a ship drop in this way, that proved even more as to what the wall dwellers were doing. He felt anger bubbling in his at all the dead and decaying people just inside the wall, thinking nothing of their shortened lives. 

He climbed over the rocks and began sliding down the ice and snow. He pulled his gloves off and began hunting in the pack his mother had packed him. He found the glass vial he’d been looking for. 

“What are you going to do?” Veer asked, suddenly beside him. 

Eli reached for his Moonmire knife, made of  mountain stone and ice. He slowly stepped closer to the lake, it bubbled and boiled around him. He swiped a hand across his forehead, he was drenched in sweat. He couldn’t help but wonder if this heat alone would kill them.

“Take my hand.” Eli reached a hand back towards Veer. “Hold me steady.” 

“This is crazy. We have proof enough now, don’t we? We should just go.” Veer was grabbing Eli’s hand in his, his grip strong. 

“I have to see this through. My mother wanted me to see this through, I know it.” Eli leaned forward, his knife in hand. Very slowly, making sure not to disturb the gas further, Eli dipped the end of his knife into the liquid. It sizzled, but didn’t burn up, just as he’d expected from something as strong as Moonmire steel. Slowly he pulled the knife back out, leaning it away from his as he scooted back on his knees, using his other hand to hold the vial steady. 

“Don’t let it touch your skin.” Veer warned, now kneeled beside him, watching as the blue-green liquid dripped onto the ice, steam shooting up from where it hit. 

Eli tapped the edge of the knife against the vial, three drops of toxic poison sliding down the side before settling into the base. He finally took a deep breath, that would be enough. He wiped his knife against the powdery snow at the base of the rocks before re-sheathing it. 

“What now?” Veer asked. 

“We take this back to Moonmire so they can run tests. I’m sure they’ll figure out that it attacks our blood.” Eli hoped they’d run the tests. They really had no reason to do anything to help him. But perhaps the knowledge will help them take down the government. Veer had said they were gearing up for a war against the wall dwellers. 

“I’m sure they’ll do what they can.” Veer said. 

Eli capped the vial and wrapped it in a cloth before shoving it back into the deepest part of his pack. He’d done it, he hoped his mother was proud, wherever she was now in the afterlife. 

“Do you think they’ll allow me passage back to Moonmire?” Eli asked as they began climbing back up the rocks. 

Veer said nothing for a moment. “Well, you’re with me. So I’d like to think that will at least allow you passage back inside. What my father chooses after that though I don’t…” he paused, leaning his ear out towards the lake. 

“What?” Eli asked, trying to listen as well. 

It was silent for a long moment, before someone screamed. 

“Help!” It sounded far off, but echoed around them. 

Veer’s eyes got wide. “We have to run.”