River Baker and the Warriors of Rala

by Mali Baker

  She looked down at the piece of paper and carefully unfolded it from the dart Kit had made it in to. There in Kit’s handwriting were the words:

  Wherever you go, whatever you do

  May your guardian angel watch over you.

  River let Kit’s words repeat a few times in her mind as she watched the white butterfly hover in front of her.

  ‘We can’t go that way, River – we need to get back on track,’ Sedina said.

  River knew she was right: although it made no sense to her right now, she somehow knew she had to get back on the path. Without further fuss, she folded the piece of paper into a perfect square and fitted it tightly into her pocket, the same pocket that was still holding the tiny golden butterfly. She gave a slight nod of her head to indicate she was ready to leave. Sedina and No Name turned to face the same direction as River. Not so surprisingly, she now effortlessly picked up her right foot and began walking, following the white butterfly back towards the path.

  Sedina looked at No Name. He was watching River take her first few steps back in the right direction. His wise eyes were twinkling and she could tell, despite the fact that there was no expression on his face, that he was very happy. She couldn’t resist a tiny clap of her hands and graciously began skipping along behind River, wings buzzing quickly, taking her into flight every few steps.

  River heard the claps and couldn’t help but feel a pang of happiness trill through her body. She had finally received the applause she had been waiting for.

  CHAPTER 14

  Indigo House

  ‘I see you’ve met Adora,’ Sedina said, gesturing at the white butterfly that swooped in the air at the sound of its name.

  ‘You know this butterfly too?’

  ‘Yes, of course, and “this butterfly” is a she. We go way back, don’t we, Adora?’

  ‘Yep,’ Adora squeaked.

  River couldn’t believe the butterfly spoke, and that she had a name. Adora flew around River’s head in a circle and then landed on Sedina’s long, dark plait. She happily swung there as they all walked back towards the path.

  ‘What are you thinking about?’ Sedina asked River.

  ‘Kit.’ River had so many questions, but didn’t know where to start.

  ‘It won’t be long until we get to where we are going,’ No Name said, ‘but when we do…’ He paused.

  ‘What?’ River said, knowing there was more. ‘Please tell me. If it has anything to do with Kit, I need to know.’

  No Name glanced at Sedina. ‘Where we are going, there will be things that you don’t understand. You will need to have a lot of patience, my dear.’

  River picked up the pace so she could keep up with him. She had to take two steps for his every one. ‘Is Kit OK?’

  ‘I believe she is,’ he said.

  ‘Is she where we are going now?’ River hoped, but deep down she knew Kit could be anywhere by now, and, for whatever reason, they weren’t following Eleon’s trail.

  ‘No,’ he said, bluntly.

  A pang of pain shot through River. No Name came to a stop suddenly. He threw both arms to the side, making a T shape with his body. Sedina and River jerked to a standstill. They had arrived back at the path.

  ‘River,’ he said, keeping his gaze forward, ‘if we go to the left, as you can see, we will end up back at the gate.’

  River squinted to see the gate in the far distance. All she really wanted was to get Kit and go home.

  ‘And if we go to the right – ’ he turned to look at her ‘ – well, this road is unknown to you yet, and I can tell you it won’t be the easy road but…’

  He paused. River’s eyes moved from left to right. ‘All I care about is saving Kit,’ she said. ‘What way will lead us to her?’

  ‘Neither one,’ Sedina said.

  ‘What? So why are we walking this way?’ River was getting angry: why were they stalling?

  ‘What I meant to say is, neither route will directly lead us to Kit. Both of them could, but neither path guarantees anything.’

  ‘What way do you think we should go?’ River asked, resting her hand gently on No Name’s forearm. She wanted him to carry her in his arms, the way her dad used to when she was younger. Whatever way he thought they should walk, that was the way she wanted to go.

  ‘I can’t tell you, River. I wish I could, but you need to make the decision.’

  River searched both directions for a clue. The gate, and the thought of going home, was very appealing…

  Adora flew from Sedina’s hair, brushing past River’s cheek, and took off into the sky. Elegantly, she flew in and out of the trees that dressed the path, eventually resting on a hanging branch that bridged the start of the path to the right. River smiled as she thought back to Kit chasing Adora around Eddie’s garden. ‘This way,’ she said, pointing to the right. ‘We need to go this way.’ Without waiting for a response from Sedina or No Name, she ran towards Adora. Adora jumped off the branch at the sight of River coming towards her, luring River further along the path.

  Adora landed on the door of a very small house. River stopped a few steps away from it. She had gone far ahead of Sedina and No Name, but they were just about in sight now.

  ‘Indigo House,’ she said aloud, reading the plaque at the side of the door. The house reflected a bright purple light into the bright blue sky. The colours merged beautifully into each other. She walked up to the door and placed her hand on the handle.

  ‘River, wait,’ Sedina shouted, flying fast towards her. There were two tiny windows either side of the front door. A dim white light shone through them, making the house warm and inviting. Suddenly River desperately wanted to sleep. She began to push down on the handle, but Sedina stopped her.

  ‘Wait!’ she panted. ‘I – well, we,’ she said, nodding at No Name and placing her hand on top of River’s, ‘need to tell you something.’

  No Name joined them. ‘Let her in,’ he said.

  ‘What?’ Sedina was shocked. ‘But – ’

  ‘Sedina,’ he said, louder than he had spoken before, ‘let her in.’

  Sedina took her hand from River’s and let her go ahead and open the door.

  The inside of the house looked different from how River had imagined it would look, and it was much bigger than she had expected. The walls were made from what looked like a bunch of purple rocks, thrown together in no particular fashion, making it look very home-made. The house was lit with candles that flickered as the wind from outside flew in from the open door.

  River quickly stepped inside, followed by Sedina, Adora and then No Name. ‘What is this place?’ she asked.

  ‘We built it,’ Sedina said, proudly.

  ‘I can see that.’

  ‘It’s our base,’ No Name said. ‘A place we gather when times like these occur.’

  ‘What do you mean, “times like these”? I really have no idea what’s going on.’ River was exhausted physically and emotionally; she just wanted answers.

  ‘River,’ said No Name, ‘you are no longer who you once were. We have known this day would come for a very long time.’

  ‘But I’ve just met you,’ River said. ‘How can you have known anything about me until earlier today?’

  ‘We are not from your world,’ No Name said, carefully, clearly not wanting to scare River.

  ‘I kinda figured.’ River had known this since the moment she had seen Sedina’s wings.

  ‘We are called the Warriors of RALA. We protect and look out for people like you, those who are able to visit our world.’

  It was all a bit too much for River to take in. Another world? How was that even possible? Feeling overwhelmed, she searched the house for somewhere to sit. She saw a chair next to a fireplace at the far end of the room, so she headed towards it. There was a picture of a girl hanging above the fireplace. She gasped and cam
e to a halt. ‘Who is that?’ she said, knowing exactly who it was but unsure whether to trust her tired eyes. Her heart started thumping uncontrollably as she forced herself to edge close enough to see that the girl in the picture was holding something; it shone so brightly that it reflected in the picture. River thought back to Eleon at the stream and the crystal he had put into the water.

  She couldn’t piece it all together. Why was there a picture of her Great-Auntie Violet, with that crystal in her hand, hanging over the fireplace in Indigo House?

  CHAPTER 15

  A World Away from Home

  ‘I don’t understand,’ River said. ‘How? When? I mean, how was Violet here and why is there a picture of her hanging up above the fireplace?’ She was so confused.

  ‘Once upon a time, River,’ No Name began, ‘Eleon and Violet were the best of friends. In fact, she was one of his only friends.’

  ‘Violet was friends with Eleon?’ she said, screwing up her face.

  ‘Yes,’ No Name replied. ‘They spent hours together. He visited her in the garden and she would come and see us, here in RALA. We shared stories of our world, and she told us ones of hers.’

  Even though River knew they were from a different world, she hadn’t thought of herself as actually being in that different world now, with them. It was so hard to conceive that she was a whole world away from home.

  ‘One day, Violet, many years after we first met her, came to us. It was her sixteenth birthday, or her Earth Day as we call it. We were planning a big surprise celebration for her in the garden, but when she arrived she wasn’t her usual self. She was jittery and we could tell she’d been crying.’ He lowered his head remembering. ‘Violet had planned to bring her sister, your grandmother, into the garden.’ River’s heart melted at the mention of Nana. ‘It would have been the first time we met her, but when we got there Violet was alone. I don’t think your grandmother really believed we existed.’

  River could understand that. To be honest, if she hadn’t been standing in Indigo House herself, next to No Name and Sedina, she too would have found it hard to believe that such a world existed.

  ‘Violet was what we call a Warrior Princess,’ No Name said.

  ‘A Warrior what?’

  ‘Your great-aunt, she was a Warrior Princess,’ Sedina said, respectfully, as if she were talking about a member of the royal family.

  ‘Let me continue,’ No Name said, leaving River baffled. ‘Violet learned to travel to our world when she was a young girl. Her room has always been a portal for your family, but only those who are drawn to opening it can ever see beyond the room’s simplicity. We hoped your grandmother would be able to see us, but Violet couldn’t convince her to even try. Worse than that, her parents thought Violet was going crazy.’ He shook his head, disappointedly, before carrying on. ‘Violet said, when she came to us that last day, that she didn’t have time to explain everything, but she didn’t think she would be coming back to RALA.’ He pointed at the picture and River gazed up at Violet. ‘She’s holding the crystal of RALA in that picture.’

  ‘What’s the crystal of RALA?’ River asked.

  ‘It’s the most powerful crystal ever to exist,’ Sedina said. ‘It gives all us Warriors our powers. It generates the light that you have seen many times on this journey so far. Without it RALA can’t survive; we wouldn’t exist.’

  ‘When Violet first came to RALA she spent a lot of time in the company of the crystal. It helps Warriors understand how to use the light. It speaks to you without words.’ No Name looked up at Violet. ‘She was a great Warrior.’

  ‘Wow,’ River said. It felt as if she was in a fairytale, it was all so fantastical.

  ‘Violet left us this.’ Sedina held up an envelope. ‘She wrote it the last time she opened the portal to get to us. That was her way into RALA: using a magical pen and paper that was left to her by her grandparents; they were the first of your family to find RALA.’

  River stared at the envelope, desperate to see what was written inside.

  ‘Before fleeing the garden, she gave this to me and told me not to open it until the next member of her family came to us. You are the first one to arrive – and Kit, of course.’

  Sedina passed the envelope to River and she took it. Dazed by what she was hearing, River sat down in the chair. Violet had been travelling to a different world, this world, all those years ago, and now, somehow, River had ended up doing the same, because Kit had used the butterfly pen and reopened the portal!

  ‘Before she left, Violet told me,’ No Name said, ‘that the world she lived in didn’t accept her for who she was. They didn’t believe she was telling the truth and thought she had made RALA up.’ He looked down at the ground and for the first time his face filled with utter sadness.

  ‘After her birthday we never saw her again, and we don’t know what happened to her.’ Sedina spluttered. ‘For a long time we waited, hoping she’d come back. Days and months went by. Years and then decades.’

  River felt their loss as though it was her own. She felt the longing they still felt to see Violet again.

  ‘It’s been fifty-six years,’ Sedina said, shaking her head, seemingly still as shocked as the day Violet had left. ‘One day we let go; we had to accept that she wasn’t coming back. But Eleon, he grew angry and resentful. After Violet left, he never settled. He always felt as if he was lost between the two worlds.’ Sedina choked on her words and began to cry. ‘Eleon loved her, River. He loved her so much and together they planned to unite both worlds in some way.’

  River put the envelope down on the chair and stood putting her arms around Sedina, hoping to comfort her. Her body was shaking uncontrollably, and more and more tears fell.

  ‘Eleon waited and waited by their tree in the garden; it was their meeting place,’ Sedina wept. Eddie, River knew the tree she meant was Eddie. Sedina was hysterical by this point. She was sobbing like a child – it was a familiar sound. And then, like a lightbulb switched on in River’s head, it all started to fit together. Sedina was Eleon’s sister, the one he had talked about. Sedina had the crystal. They hadn’t been playing a game: he had stolen it and that was why he had been hiding in the bush. He’d lured Kit and River in so he could capture them.

  But why? If he had a crystal, why did he need them? River let go of Sedina.

  ‘Why has he stolen the crystal?’ River directed the question at No Name.

  ‘He wants to travel between the worlds, and the crystal is the only way for us Warriors to leave RALA. We can’t use the pen to travel, as you can. Eleon became determined over the years. His mind has become so twisted with grief that he believes Violet left him here on purpose. Violet and Eleon planned to escape to one world or the other. We didn’t know this at the time.’ He looked over at Sedina and she sheepishly looked at the floor. ‘If we had, we would not have permitted it,’ he said, sternly, making sure he was understood. River got the impression Sedina had known about their intentions.

  ‘He was so upset it turned him crazy. His heart broke and he let it destroy him.’ Sedina whimpered. ‘I just want my brother back.’ Her tears fell like a waterfall, creating a puddle on the floor in front of her.

  For a split second River felt sorry for Eleon. Then she remembered that he had Kit. ‘And I just want my sister back,’ she said, pushing her compassion to one side. She turned to face No Name and felt every ounce of his strength and courage fly into her body. She was willing to do whatever it took to get Kit back from Eleon. But first there was another thing she needed to understand.

  ‘Why has he taken Kit?’

  ‘He really wanted to take you,’ No Name said. ‘But, without realising it, you trusted your instinct about him. You didn’t trust him from the start. He was not expecting that.’

  River still didn’t understand. ‘But why did he need either of us?’

  ‘The crystal can only be used to trave
l between worlds by someone with pure intentions, someone who is going to use it for good. At first when he stole the crystal Eleon didn’t realise that; he thought asking the crystal to take him would be enough, but it isn’t: he needs someone to take him there. His best chance of leaving RALA would be you or Kit. No Warrior would help him; it would put RALA in too much danger. The crystal is only to be used in an absolute emergency and should return to RALA the same day, otherwise its powers start to fade.’

  ‘Oh,’ River said.

  ‘RALA is a place that can only be seen by those determined enough to see it. Even though Kit did the writing, you opened the door. You are very similar to your great-aunt: inquisitive, adventurous, stubborn.’ No Name laughed. ‘You even look a bit like she did at your age.’

  The room fell silent for a moment.

  ‘Will you read the piece of paper Violet left with us, River?’ No Name asked.

  ‘I don’t think I can –’

  ‘Read it,’ he said, changing his tone and cutting her off firmly.

  River slowly opened up the envelope, unfolded the piece of tatty paper and haltingly read what it said.

  Though you cannot see me

  It doesn’t mean that I am gone

  I live within these girls no less

  They are here to ease the storm

  The darkness that surrounds your world

  Will end in coming nights

  As long as they conceive in them

  The truth about the light.

  She flipped the paper from back to front, over and over. ‘What does it mean?’ she asked, lifting her head from the paper, but no one was listening to her. Sedina and No Name were too busy dancing around in a circle, and Adora was weaving in and out of them.

  ‘I knew it!’ No Name said, championing himself. ‘I always believed it in my heart.’

  River looked at them as though they were loopy. What on earth were they celebrating at a time like this? No Name grabbed her, both hands, firmly on either side of her shoulders. He shook her with his face in line with hers. She had never seen him up this close before, and she certainly hadn’t seen him look this happy.