That night, as we settle down for sleep, something keeps me from the nothingness of slumber. Every time I close my eyes, I see the Skinwalker's milky-white jaws stretched in a sinister smile. I see each bony vertebrae in its back. It is the stuff of nightmares, except I am awake.

I can still hear the rain gently pattering outside, the worst of the storm long gone. Sighing, I turn over on my pallet and look into the fire burning low in the fireplace. The rising embers are mesmerizing, and the soft glow is comforting. I can almost forget that I am an outsider in this environment.

Which makes me think; am I really so different? What dictates that I still don't belong? I've spent a week in the Outlands and learned some of the survival basics of its inhabitants. Is it my experience and memories from Herald that keeps me a foreigner?

I realize that I want to belong. I yearn to continue experiencing this other world undiscovered to me. But what would that mean for my life in Herald? Would they even let me back in? If not, it would force Markee and I to truly be outcasts. The thought makes my heart quicken, strangled with anxiety.

"Sophie?" Luke's voice snaps me out of my reverie. "What's wrong? You're breathing awfully fast."

I pivot to look at him. He is laying sideways, eyes on me as his head rests on his rucksack. The way his hair falls across his eyes makes my fingers itch to brush it aside; how dare it conceal those gorgeous green orbs.

"I'm okay," I croak. Clearing my throat, I clarify. "Just thinking. What if I'm stuck here? What if I can't get back into Herald?"

Luke's face is blank for a fraction of a moment before he turns to stare at the ceiling. "You don't have to worry about that. No one can keep you from where you belong."

I frown. "But what if they do? What if I can never go home?" At my words, Luke turns toward me. My eyes jump to his lips, pursed in an attempt to hide a small smile. "What? What's funny?"

"Nothing," he says, turning to bury his face in his arms.

I reach over and tug on his shirtsleeve. "Come on, what was that?"

His reply is muffled, and I laugh. He peeks out, the mirth in his eyes fueling my laughter.

"You could always have a place out here, you know," he finally says, and my laughter abruptly stops. "Sol seems quite protective of you. I'm sure you could live with her if you could not return to your home."

Does he really think I would be okay out here? Would his people accept me? "What If I don't want to live with Sol?"

Luke cracks a smile. "There are other villages. Or would you rather live in Keir?" I quickly shake my head no. That would be like living in a den of wolves.

Leaning back to look at the ceiling once again, Luke takes in a breath. I watch his chest rise and fall for a few minutes. The actions are hypnotic, and it is not long before my eyelids become heavy. How easy it is to relax, to let my guard down with Luke. When I hear his voice next, I can hardly tell if I am dreaming or awake.

"Wherever you end up, just know you are always welcome around me. Whether it be out in these woods, traveling between villages, or bunkering in Keir, you can stay with me."

"You mean it?" I mumble. Unable to quiet my fluttering heart, I reach out toward where he lay.

"I do."

My heart and my hand are filled with warmth, and although my eyes are closed, I know what his fingers feel like entwined with mine.

And it may be my favorite thing in this transitory world.

The next morning, we say goodbye to the little hunting cabin and the cave shelter with it as we head out toward the crest of the slope. According to Luke, Perseca is only two days away.

Every new day brings new strength in my limbs and new knowledge for my inquisitive mind. I almost pity Luke for having to deal with all my questions, from the littlest fern to the tallest tree, I want to know it all. My thirst for knowledge keeps building up more and more every hour I spend with him in the Outlands; it is unquenchable.

Though, some curiosities drive me more than others, including a question I've been wondering for some time now.

"Why do your people allow Herald and the Council to keep you all out? Surely you can force your way in with numbers," I query.

"And risk lives? Not to mention compromise safety? Your system is structured to keep all invaders out. If we disrupt that system, what other safety measures will fail? We don't want to doom Herald, and the influx of refugees, to the Skinwalkers." Luke's steps get faster as he gets worked up, and I have to jog a bit to keep up.

"Now, individually, gradually, some of us try to breach your wall," he continues, anticipating my next question. "Many have attempted it, trying to blend in and live amongst you. Not many succeed."

My steps falter. True, we have had reports of small invasions in the past, but what about those who were never caught? How many Outlanders are living in Herald right under the Council's noses?

"And you?" I ask, skipping up to match Luke's pace. "Have you ever crossed the wall?"

He grunts, uncomfortable. He doesn't answer until I nudge him with my elbow.

"It was always the one place I forbade myself to go."

"Why?" I ask, genuinely curious. He doesn't seem like a man who lets boundaries hold him back. Plus, Herald is a place with many resources and safety. It would all but guarantee his survival.

He takes an audible breath. "Why would I enter a place that is adamant about keeping me out? Taking refuge inside Herald is a pipe dream. Your people want nothing to do with us. You all believe we want to harm you, when in reality, we just want to escape hardship. Escape death. The few who make it in are lucky."

My cheeks inflame, embarrassed. I, too, once thought that. We assumed that anyone who entered Herald from the outside only did so to bring the walls down, therefore compromising our safety. Sitting here before Luke, I am ashamed.

His voice loses its rough edge as he continues. "In addition, I could never seek asylum there just to leave the rest of Natio behind. Vulnerable. I could never live with myself." He looks over to me, and I push my shame aside to meet his eyes. "My place is out here, fighting for my people."

The determination behind his eyes and sense of honor rolling off Luke makes me proud he stayed behind. It makes my knees weak. He has instilled in me the drive to make progress in Perseca toward defeating the monsters that plague the entire human race.

"I want to fight, too." For his people who are still fighting the battle, still fearing for their lives. And, for the truth behind Herald's occlusion from the rest of Natio.

The smile that Luke aims at me nearly knocks me off my feet. For such a serious guy, seeing such a joyous expression on his face makes it hard for me to look away. I can feel his beaming grin seep into my skin, infusing my bones with the same delight written all over him.

He tips his chin up the path. "Then we have a mountain to climb."

It's not until mid-afternoon that we take our first break. In my mind, the more we stop to rest, the more we delay our arrival in Perseca. Luckily, the rain cooled down the terrain, so we aren't dying of heatstroke, but the humidity it brought makes me uncomfortable. Still, I would rather choke on the thick air than be sweating all day.

After we crested the range, it was easy to follow the downward slope to lower elevation. Now, the landscape is an alternating pattern of gentle hills and sudden, steep drops. We take a late lunch beneath one of said cliffs. Over time, the dirt has eroded, making a concave divot in the earth in which we sit in the shade.

Munching on my dwindling rations, we share some of the berries Luke and I scavenged along the way. The fruit isn't as sweet as I expected, but Luke advises me that we picked them before they were fully ripe. I can hardly care, as long as it's edible. I chuckle to myself. I truly feel like an Outlander, making do with what is available.

"What do you miss about home?"

His question makes me jolt. Home.

Everything has changed, and home does not mean what it used to mean. Home was waking up and going to school and running around Herald like it was our playground. Home was with my friends, my parents, my brother. But none of that is possible anymore.

We tend to miss most the things we can never have back.

Luke patiently waits for me to say something as I contemplate my answer. And it is simply:

"I don't know."

Luke looks at me curiously, as if I must miss something. But he doesn't understand.

"I'm not who I was in Herald," I explain, shifting to face him. "The things I loved about Herald are the same reasons I'm out here. Of course I miss my parents, and my friends. I miss the life I had growing up there, but..." I breathe, tasting the words in my mouth before I say them aloud. "I don't think my life will ever be the same there. I've been to the other side, I've seen what it's like on the Outside, and I don't think I'll ever be content with going back to the way things were before I knew the truth."

It takes Luke only a split second before a warm smile crinkles the corners of his eyes. "You are something special, Sophie."

My face heats. "Your aunt said the same thing to me."

This earns a laugh out of him. "That woman knows her stuff, obviously."

I shake my head and stand, dusting off my pants–the same pair I've been wearing for days. "You don't know where I can find a laundromat out here, do you?"

Luke stands and gathers up his things. "No, but I think it's time," he says.

My eyebrows knit themselves together. "For?"

He brings his nose to his shoulder and grimaces. "A bath."

I've never laughed so hard in my life.

◊ ◊ ◊

"Just a little farther," Luke beams. I have the strangest sense of déjà vu and it ignites my blood.

Luke led me up and down a winding route of trees and bushes until we reach a babbling brook, water flowing over and around the largest, smoothest river rocks I have ever seen. For the past hour, we've been following it as it widened and deepened, and I am itching to dip my feet in.

"Just wait, this will be much better," Luke assures me. Ever since Luke mentioned a bath, I can't think of anything better than cleaning off my dirty skin in the stream's cool water.

Gradually, my ears are met with a cresting sound, one that brings me back to when I first stepped into the Outlands. My muscles tense in the slightest way, remembering the pounding steps of the Outlanders stampeding through the forest, getting louder and louder.

This sound is similar, yet not the same. A roaring sound. Is it a train? Do they even have trains in the Outlands? Soon enough, I can no longer hear our footsteps on the ground.

I look to Luke, my eyes wide and anxious. The amusement on his face soothes my nerves, but makes me nervous in an entirely different way.

Luke takes my hand in his and leads me along the stream until we can no longer follow it.

Because it plummets. Ten, twenty, thirty feet straight down into a sparkling pool at the bottom.

My mouth opens, lips move, but I can hardly hear my own voice say the word.

Waterfall.