Upon their return to Ansora three days later, Monti and Matthew disappeared off to make up their brotherly differences, while George went down to the thermal lake and Breanna went home to see her sisters. Arvin was left to go out shopping for some more rope, safety equipment and a few spare nuts and bolts for his airship. That evening, the news arrived that Ralin Merlett had successfully made the dangerous ascent up the tallest mountain on the continent.

The news spread like wildfire, and soon the streets of Ansora were filled with many colourful decorations and lit up with hundreds of lanterns. Ralin was due to arrive back around midnight, and everyone was buzzing with excitement. Arvin quickly gathered up his crew and learnt that Monti and Matthew had gone climbing together to settle their differences and that they were now on good terms. As it turned out, Matthew had sprained his ankle badly from his jump and hadn’t told anyone. Monti had seen that he’d had it seen to, and he’d forgiven him for doing such a reckless stunt. Much to Matthew’s disappointment, everyone had forgotten his stunt and were now even more excited about Ralin’s arrival back.

The crowd was thick when Ralin first arrived, so Arvin and his crew weren’t able to see him. Instead, they headed out to the platform, where the big celebrations would take place. When Ralin appeared, he looked just as any explorer did after they came back from a long trip, covered in dirt and with both a head full of long, ragged hair and a beard that dropped to his mid-chest. He was polite to all and loved telling his most hair-raising stories to the kids, who loved them.

Out on the platform, music started up and Arvin looked round, to see that Monti had disappeared. Aside from being a fantastic rescuer, Monti was also an amazing singer and his voice soon filled the deck. Everyone began dancing as people appeared with trays of ale, beer and wine. Soon, everyone was filled up on alcohol and thankfully a barrier had been put up between the pillars so that none could fall off the side into the valley below.

George was dancing alongside Breanna while Arvin performed some break dancing moves, and Matthew embarrassed them all. Ralin was in the centre of the action, and he came close to going over the edge as people lifted him and cheered. Over the next week, Ralin would detail his entire expedition so that people could learn from his experiences. As the early morning came around, Arvin and his crew dragged Monti off the stage and went down to the thermal lake. There they sang, danced and made a fool of one another. Eventually, Matthew, Monti and Arvin fell asleep on the lush grass while George and Breanna snuck back up the stairs.

“Arvin! Arvin wake up!” Breanna called loudly as she shook him awake.

“Breanna? What is it? What’s wrong?” Arvin asked in a daze.

“It’s Saoulhul. They’re going to lock their gates,” Breanna told him in fear. She and George had heard the news from a passing merchant at 7am that morning and they had rushed down to the thermal lake to wake the rest of their crew. Before Brenna could say a word more, Arvin climbed to his feet and turned to see George waking both Monti and Matthew.

With haste, they went up to the airship deck and got ready to leave. Ten minutes later they were in flight, accompanied by around a hundred dirigibles and more aeronauts joined by the minute. Five days it took to travel there, and Arvin was fearful that they would be too late. They pushed on through the days and the nights, so that by the setting sun of the third day they could see the outer lanterns of Saoulhul lit up on the landscape.

As the neared the city, they heard the commotion from inside and they saw hoards of people climbing out between the closing gates. Arvin then identified figures who were holding people back and stopping them from leaving, so he closed his gas valve and began descending towards the city. His crew followed him as the gates were closing quickly on the edge of tier 1, coming perilously close to the glass walls, and soon they would cut off the people’s only escape out of the city.

As the aeronauts neared Saoulhul, they could make out individual people hurrying to get out. They made a hard landing nearby before they ran to the gates.

“No!” Arvin cried out as he ran to the last slither of tier 1 open to the world, and he managed to get one person out before the gates closed over tier 1 and left everyone else trapped. Monti stood by the edge and looked down into the centre. Despair filled his heart as he saw all those who were realising their fate. After a few seconds, the gates closed with a heavy thud and they heard machinery grind and click below them as the permanent locking mechanism was engaged. “No,” Arvin whispered.

“We were too late,” George said as the other aeronauts landed and began helping those who had made it out of Saoulhul in time. Arvin’s crew became quiet as they also went to help and Arvin did a rough headcount. He put the number of people who had escaped at around 2,000. Saoulhul had a population of 26,000, or rather it had.

Brenna was helping one of the merchants who had gone into the city to trade and he’d just made it out in time.

“What happened, to make them close the gates like this?”

“It was your explorer friend.”

“Ralin?”

“Yes. He came here just six days ago and he proceeded to tell as many people as he could, of his expedition. He bought some items at the market and left as swiftly as he had arrived. That evening for us, however, Saoulhul was locked down. Each tier was quarantined and everyone was given a stay at home order to make sure that MA was contained. Merchants like myself were not allowed to leave and we had to sleep on the floor of the school. Yesterday evening it was announced that they were going to permanently lock the gates, and so many fled upwards. Some were arrested and beaten as they tried to leave. I was one of the last to get out.”

“Where else has Ralin been before he came to Ansora?”

“He came up from the south, and I believe that he stopped by Lila to get some supplies.”

“Thank you, that’s very helpful. Do excuse me for a moment,” Breanna said before she went to find her crew. “We have to go to Lila,” She told them as they gathered round.

“Do you think they’re going to do lock their gates as well?” George asked.

“Yes. Ralin visited here to get supplies and it pushed those in charge over the edge, regarding containing MA. If Ralin’s presence here exacerbated this idea of safetyism, then other cities may have followed suit.”

“I think that you may be right. We must go with haste,” Matthew said and they started up their airships.

By sunset, Saoulhul was a distant shape on the horizon and the aeronauts were making good speed. They were hoping that Lila was still a good and fair city despite all that had happened, as that was how they had last seen it three weeks ago, and that if they were going to lock their gates they would not do so with such aggression and malice that Saoulhul had shown to their people. They travelled light and with few supplies, and the north-westerly wind meant that they were making great strides over the land. As the days passed, the aeronauts tried to sleep, but they were restless and anxious.

They pressed on and by the morning of the sixth day, Lila was appearing on the horizon. As predicted, masses of people were leaving the city but unlike Saoulhul, they were not rushing or leaving with haste. Rather, they were helping one another and there appeared to be several policemen on the surface assisting those who were finding it hard to climb out by themselves. This was a great relief to the aeronauts that people were leaving the city without the chaos that had been evident at Saoulhul.

By midday, Arvin and his crew managed to land near the cities gates. People around them were laying out and arranging their belongings, before repacking them into bags fit for long-distance travelling. People turned, smiled and happily acknowledged the aeronauts, with some saying hello and exchanging words of kindness with them. Children ran up to the aeronauts and hugged them as they made their way to the gates.

“We’re going to see much more of you now. Flying in the skies in your magic machines,” One said.

“We’re out and the sun is so bright. Mum says that if you look into it you will go blind.”

“It’s cold out here, but the city felt so warm.”

“I bet it did,” Monti said with a smile. It had been a long time since he’d interacted with any children from a city like this.

“I can run as much as I like and mum won’t be able to stop me!”

“Good morning,” George ventured to the policeman as they reached him, and they waited to assess the tone of the situation.

“Good morning. What may I do for a group of aeronauts?”

“Forgive me for assuming, but are you locking Lila’s gates?” Arvin asked.

“We are, at midday tomorrow. We have made all of our residents aware and so the police force, have been diverted to help those who wish to leave to do so.”

“You’re helping people to leave?”

“We have always had connections to the outside world and our population is mixed and diverse. For those who feel like they have enough knowledge to survive out here and do not wish to stay in the city, we respect that. So we have set a date and a time, and given all those who want to leave time to do so. Everyone who is going to stay will do so of their own free will.”

“And what about you?”

“I am leaving. I love Lila, but I am not of the mind that we should be trapped within our own invention. I have seen substances and drugs that do far worse things than this MA business, and I fear what may become normal if we trap ourselves in with no outside influences.”

“That is good. We have just come from Saoulhul, who have locked their gates, and they were forcing people back as they were withheld from escaping. Most have been trapped in the city and very few made it out.”

“They were forcing people to stay?”

“Yes. I feared that you might have done the same.”

“Our history runs deep with connections to the outside. As much as we have become timid, we still praise and remember those who worked outside of our gates. Blood is thicker than water or, indeed, particles in the air. There are worse things than MA, but this commitment to the outside will be the bravest things that our current generations will do. Saoulhul does surprise me as they once were the start of the spice road and have connections to the outside as well.”

“They have become wary of the outside and they do not have such a close connection to it. Their history lies in outsiders coming to them and stories bringing excitement and joy. They feel that MA is much more of a threat to them for they have forgotten the joyous stories that come from hardship and they live now without knowledge.”

“That is a shame. We have been kind to our people, but if Saoulhul has taken drastic actions I fear that Auksand will be worse. Word has spread to them of Ralin and I do not know what they will make of it. They have always been very wary and believed that life should be easy and free of harm, unmoving if you like. Because of this, I fear that MA has taken a hold of them in ways that they did not expect, and as such they will take drastic action against it. If word has also reached them of both Saoulhul and ourselves locking our gates, they will undoubtedly also lock theirs.”

“Then we must go, for if they are going to lock their gates also we might already be too late.”

“Good speed my friends, and may you be careful, I would hate for any of you to be trapped against your will.”

“Thank you, farewell!” Arvin called before he and his crew quickly made their way back to the airships.

As exhausted as they all were, they knew that Auksand was the city most at risk. Arvin had experienced first-hand Auksand’s way of living without risk and how severe their reaction to MA was. He thought of Talia, and if she had come to realise what was going to happen and what it would mean. Places like Auksand had not been ready for MA, and for someone who was very safety focused, taking actions with a lower level of caution may well be reckless and dangerous.