by Zuheb Alep
Benjamin nodded, agreeing with every word. “If we go and rescue the children ourselves, we can prevent a battle from taking place. Each passing day is a threat to the safety of the missing children. Please don’t tell Edgar, Herman or Nadine. I appreciate that they’ve been very supportive, but I know they’ll disagree with me on this. This lady will take us there in her balloon and we won’t need to involve anyone else.”
The band tilted their heads in thought, some rubbing their brows, some folding their arms.
“Well, what do you all think?” Benjamin continued. “Do you agree that we should do it?”
After a few minutes, everyone nodded their heads in agreement.
Benjamin sighed and smiled with satisfaction.
“Where will we meet the lady from the bar?” asked Ruby.
“At the pub, first thing in the morning. Her name is Eva, and she’s an aeronaut. She’s got a balloon around the back; Kelindra and I saw it. I’m going to pay her half the fare tomorrow and then the rest when the job’s done.”
“You’re paying her?” Musab queried in surprise.
“Well, obviously it’s not free. I’ll use the money I won from the kite-fighting tournament.”
“Your siblings will be extremely worried,” Ruby pointed out.
“I’ll leave a note behind.”
“Okay, and then what? What’s the plan?”
“How do you mean?” Benjamin replied.
“How are we going to rescue the children when we get there; my brother, my cousin and all the others?”
Benjamin smiled, turning to face the fireplace. The warm orange light made his skin glow. “We’ll do it the way April Goldenberry did,” he said.
*
It was terribly cold as they flew high up into the rosy sky of the rising sun. Benjamin and his band were huddled up in pairs, leaning against the walls of the square basket below the red balloon. It was a windy morning, and everyone except Eva was stiff with the cold. When they had flown over the mountains of the Orellion Kingdom, Eva shouted: “How are you doing, children?”
“It’s cold! So cold!” Kelindra was shivering as she spoke. Benjamin would have agreed but his mouth was numb. The others looked miserable, their teeth chattering noisily like pattering rain. It was obvious that they regretted coming.
“Just as I thought.” With one hand, Eva threw some furs onto the children for extra warmth.
“How can you stand it?” Kelindra asked her. “Aren’t you cold?”
“I’m used to it,” responded Eva, checking the altitude. “I’ve flown in skies much colder than this. Don’t worry, when we land it’ll be warmer; it’s always colder in the sky than it is below.”
The balloon dropped suddenly, causing the children’s stomachs to heave. Benjamin felt uneasy, knowing that they were descending at high speed. Eva was right, though; it was growing warmer. Although still clinging to one another, the children were shivering less than before. Benjamin threw the fur aside and propped himself up, his legs wobbling in the fierce gust; clutching the railings, he swayed in the wind. He looked over the side and saw that they were nearing the ground.
“Hold on!” called Eva, as the basket landed with a gentle thud. Benjamin grinned at the sight of his companions toppling over one another, but he was sobered by the thought that Kaileena and Prince Adam were unable to share the joke. He helped his companions out of the basket and then climbed out himself, plunging knee-deep into the snow. Nothing was visible except white ground and blue sky. He sighed. This was going to be more difficult than he’d thought.
“Where’s Halamaband?” he grumbled.
“Just there.” Eva pointed south. “See the icy rocks on the horizon? It’s about two hours’ walk from here.”
Benjamin could see nothing. He narrowed his eyes to no avail, hoping he hadn’t made a grave mistake. Still, the worst was over and they must go on. The closer they drew to Halamaband, the sooner he would find his friends; this thought helped him to stay positive. Looking around, he found his companions grimacing at the news; the thought of a long walk in the snow held no appeal.
“Come on, let’s go! This had better be worth the money you’re paying me.” Eva had rolled up her balloon into a container at the top with just the push of a button. Apparently she intended to leave it there.
“Don’t worry, it will be,” replied Benjamin with flushed cheeks. The thick clothes he wore were doing their job and keeping him warm; he was now almost sweating.
Down here, the wind was calm and gentle. They were able to walk properly without being blown over. Benjamin took the lead with Eva by his side, Kelindra following close behind while the others straggled in the rear. It was hard work walking through the snow with just a stick and a pair of boots. Everywhere else was pristine white, and the trail they were making stood out. As they struggled on, Benjamin realised that two hours was an optimistic estimate. Fifteen minutes after they’d started, the muscles in his legs were aching with fatigue.
It wasn’t long before Benjamin asked for a rest stop. They ate what spare food they had brought with them and trudged on. The water they had brought froze solid, forcing them to melt snow in their mouths to quench their thirst.
After a long trek which left them breathless they finally saw a faint long outline of jagged rocks made out of ice, sprawled across the east and west like a large fence. They were shrouded in mist, making them hard to distinguish from the sky. These must be the icy rocks. When they reached the rock formation, craning their necks to marvel at its height, they crawled their way through a gap Eva had found.
“Here,” she said, lighting a torch. The cracks in the walls of the icy rocks were stained with snow and narrow, barely wide enough for a baby. No one could move their torso, only their legs. After what seemed like hours, Benjamin grew tired and wished he could just sit down to catch his breath, but the space was too narrow. Eva warned him to stay quiet. Their exhausted companions whimpered at every movement, cursing the fate that had brought them here.
“Nearly there.”
The news was heart lifting. Eva’s torch had gone out, but they could see well enough as there was now light on the other side – a way out! They emerged from the gap to a view of a hill spread out before them; this they ascended, legs pounding harder than ever. At the top, they hid behind a large boulder.
“There’s Halamaband,” Eva said quietly, pointing at some huge buildings surrounded by wire fences, barely discernible from their vantage point.
Benjamin plopped down on the ground inhaling huge breaths, then frowned as he took in the view. A large stretch of dark land stopped at a deep crevasse. There were three bridges spanning it, and on the other side silver buildings could be seen, their windows glowing in the dark.
“We only have to walk a little farther and cross over those bridges to reach that place.” Benjamin sounded eager, as if this was all he had ever wanted. He leaned forward, his eyes bristling with hope. “My brothers, our siblings and friends: they’re all in there!”
He crunched the hardened snow between his fingers as he got up. With his back straight and his heart set on his destination, he lurched forward until a hand stopped him. It was Eva.
“Wait!” she said. “Look!”
Benjamin followed the direction of her finger, hearing a faint revving sound in the distance. A line of white lorries came into sight and turned right, going over the bridges. There were at least ten of them.
“There’s no ice there,” said Musab.
Benjamin realised he was right; both Halamaband and the ground near the three bridges were covered with dark, damp sand.
“That’s probably due to the heat coming from that building,” said Eva. “The ground never freezes for about a mile around it. Before this was built the icy rocks were much bigger, more like mountains. Even the snow rarely falls here. Sometimes in the night it does, but it
melts by the following morning.”
“Do you think there are children in there?” asked Benjamin, indicating the lorries.
No one said anything.
Benjamin drew a deep breath and leaned forward. It was now or never. “Let’s go,” he said.
Checking that he had all his things, especially his long knife, Benjamin took a step forward. This was it. In a few minutes he would see everyone, and he couldn’t wait. He’d come too far to back out now. Taking another step and another, he crept around the boulder then stopped dead.
A deafening scream cut through the cold air. Clapping his hands over his ears, Benjamin spun around. The scream hadn’t come from a distance but from right beside him; it was Kelindra. She was shrieking like a banshee, her body thrashing around like someone possessed by a demon. What was wrong with her? Benjamin watched aghast as she fell back against the snow with a loud crash, writhing like a fish gasping for water.
“Kelindra!” he yelled.
“Are you all right?” asked Ruby and Amberina in unison. The children and Eva stepped back in alarm.
Again Kelindra cried out in agony, breaking the silence around them. The children covered their ears in fright.
“Kelindra!” Benjamin yelled again. He ran forward to see what was causing her pain and fell back at the kick of her boot. Her body shot straight into the air, levitating in an impossible fashion. As Kelindra hovered, her shrieks continued at a pitch high enough to be heard from a distance. Benjamin thought it would never stop. Her arms were stretched out and her legs dangled like strings above his head.
“Kelindra! What’s happening to her? How is she levitating in the air like that? Why is she screaming? Make it stop!”
“Is it Kelindra’s birthday today?” Hamish asked Ruby and Amberina. They nodded.
“What has that to do with it?” muttered Benjamin in confusion.
“Is she thirteen today?” Hamish continued.
The girls nodded again.
Hamish turned to face Benjamin. “It’s the Inheritance of the Ifrahail! This is what happens to people when they inherit it on their thirteenth birthday.”
“But she’s not a lonely child or an orphan!”
Kelindra seemed to be getting worse. Black and white smoke began to seep from her body in fearsome spirals.
“She’s so loud!” yelled Ruby.
“The noise will give us away!” shouted Amberina, gesturing at Halamaband. As she spoke, the gates flew open with a loud bang and out came two cars, heading directly for Benjamin and his companions.
“We have to get out of here!” Eva said, pulling at Benjamin’s wrist. The members of his band were already running towards the gap at full speed, leaving Kelindra behind. Worse, the cars were travelling so fast that they’d already driven over the bridge. Kelindra’s screams went on and on as they approached. She looked terrified, but her mouth was stretched open as she screeched while her eyes flared red with rage, a sight Benjamin would never forget.
“Come on!” shouted Eva again, dragging Benjamin by the wrist.
“I can’t leave her behind!” he yelled, writhing around to free himself.
“We have to leave her! We’ve no choice but to run, dear. There’s nothing we can do!”
Eva wouldn’t let go of him; she was too strong. Benjamin groaned in frustration, shaking his hand with all his power to escape from her grasp. No one was listening to him. Whether he got kidnapped or not didn’t make any difference; he was going to get into those buildings one way or another. Looking at the others, he saw Musab sprinting at the front, legs flashing, followed by Amberina, who was pulling Ruby along.
But where was Hamish?
Benjamin saw him then, crouching behind the boulder like a small deer. Why was he not running with the rest?
“Hamish!” he screamed.
The cars skidded to a halt beside them. They were caught.
“No!”
Eva heaved Benjamin onto her shoulders and ran towards the gap at such a speed that no one could catch her.
“No!” Benjamin cried again. He couldn’t believe that they were leaving, after all they had risked to get here. “No, no, no!”
The last he knew was Eva knocking him on the head. He saw no more.
*
Benjamin hoped it had all been just a dream, one so bad that he was afraid to wake up. If he didn’t see Kelindra and Hamish with the rest of his companions, he would find it hard to forgive himself. He had sworn to be responsible for them, only to end up failing again. How many times must he keep losing people? Was he just not strong enough to be a leader?
Sluggishly he lifted his eyelids and saw Eva steering. They were on the balloon, but where were they going? Benjamin didn’t know; were they travelling to Halamaband or returning to the ship? He looked around and saw his companions huddled up against the walls. They were crying, icy tears piercing their cheeks. Kelindra and Hamish were nowhere to be seen. So it wasn’t a dream after all, he thought sadly.
“How could you!” he roared, struggling to stand up.
“Ah, you’re awake,” Eva said, looking at him.
“How could you leave my friends behind?”
“It was either them or the rest of you along with them.”
Benjamin scowled at her. How could she be so calm?
“So what?” he said. “Whether I got kidnapped or not, I had a plan! We could have saved the children before a war started. We shouldn’t have left!”
Eva looked at him with raised eyebrows. “More likely we shouldn’t have come in the first place,” she muttered.
Benjamin looked at his companions once more, who were cowering behind their warm blankets. The saddest of all were Ruby and Amberina; they had lost their dear friend. A tear froze on Benjamin’s cheek, but he brushed it away. That wasn’t going to help bring back Kelindra and Hamish. They were gone, left behind in that awful place. He looked into the distance and saw the three looming mountains of the Orellion kingdom. They were going back to the ships. Benjamin wanted to beg Eva to turn the balloon around and considered doing so, but too much damage had been done and he could see that his group wanted nothing more than to return to safety.
Strangest of all, Kelindra had received the Inheritance of the Ifrahail. Benjamin had not expected this at all. She was definitely not a lonely child or an orphan; she had some friends and a family. There was only one explanation: she had gone through some troubled times in her life. Maybe this was why Abel had warned Benjamin to stay away from her.
When the balloon had landed in the vast back yard of the pub, Benjamin thanked Eva for her service before apologising for his outburst. He paid the rest of the fare and was the first to jump out; before anyone could stop him, he disappeared through the back door. Full of regret and despair, he rushed through the town to get to the ships. The others tried to catch up with him, but he was too fast. Eva went back to her duties in the pub, and that was the last they ever saw of her.
Sprinting up the gangway, Benjamin reached the upper deck and stormed through the corridors to Edgar’s cabin. He threw the door open and sat on the sofa to grieve, burying his head in his hand.
“What’s wrong?” asked Herman, putting his arm around his brother. “Where have you been? You worried us with this note.”
Benjamin looked up and said, “We lost Kelindra and Hamish.” He recounted everything that had happened, no longer caring if it got him into trouble. One by one his remaining companions entered the cabin, all sad and worried.
When Benjamin had finished, Herman sighed, disappointed that Benjamin had left without telling him. Nevertheless, he said, “Don’t worry. I have good news; we’re going to rescue the children first thing in the morning.”
Chapter 11
The Orellions
Edgar and Herman had smuggled the smallest suits of armour they could find into the ca
bin the day before. Benjamin and Musab watched Sebastian and Jordanna leave for battle the next morning, then dashed to Edgar’s cabin to get ready. With Edgar’s help, Benjamin dressed himself in an orange suit. Then Herman helped him to put on the gleaming suit of armour which was slightly bigger.
The others were ready too, all equipped with sheathed swords and rifles, their faces filled with fear. They tried to hide it, without success. None of them had fought in a battle before, since they were so young, but this was something that they couldn’t pull back from. It was now or never; the missing children needed them.
“You’re not fighting,” Edgar said to Benjamin and his companions. “We are. You’re going directly to rescue the children. Keep the weapons and armour, though, in case you need to defend yourselves.”
Nadine offered Benjamin a gun, but he shook his head. He wasn’t going to use any weapon except the long knife Herman had given him; he knew that should be all he needed.
The bell rang to signal it was time to leave. Benjamin’s nerves throbbed with alarm, but he was ready for it. Following his elder siblings out of the splendid cabin as his companions trailed behind, Benjamin insisted that they all disguise themselves with veils, helmets or scarves. At the threshold, they could hear marching through the corridors. The soldiers were heading for a stairway leading downwards. Benjamin drew a deep breath and joined in.
The stair was long and dark. It was exciting to be part of an army, yet it made Benjamin’s heart falter too. He was going to pass through a battlefield and didn’t know if he would live to see another day. They arrived at the entrance to a huge hall at the bottom of the ship. It was breath-taking to see the ten red zeppelins in the centre.
Groups of bulky men were heaving guns and air-balloons into each one.
Edgar nudged Benjamin. “Form a single line,” he said. “Pass it on.”
Benjamin complied and they all traipsed up a steep ramp into one of the large airships. It wasn’t as splendid as Benjamin had thought it would be, compared to the way it looked on the outside; the walls were dark and the floor provided lots of free space to move about. It smelled strongly of dried rubber.