Chapter 10: His Name Is Cael

The boy's name was Cael. He refused to explain how he had gotten over the Wall, but he didn't refuse food, and after eating he became slightly more willing to talk.

He was from a village on the other side called Nether's Reach, where the Wall was not a mystery but a border — patrolled, marked, and feared. Crossing it was forbidden. "Then why did you?" Sera asked.

Cael looked at his hands. There were faint marks on his palms, like old burns. "Because she told me someone on this side was going to break the Wall. And if that happens, everything on my side dies."