Читать книгу The Realms of Faerie - Linda Massola - Страница 4

‘I feel sorry for that creature,’ Laura sighed.

The large Guarami fish was contained in a smallish tank.

‘Mary is quite happy in that tank,’ the shop owner said. ‘She’s been in it for twenty years!’

‘Twenty years!’ Ella echoed.

‘She’s very happy,’ the shop owner said defensively. ‘She has lots to eat. We even feed her strawberries for treats. She’s very happy,’ she repeated.

‘I still think its cruel keeping a big fish like that in a tank that’s not much bigger than she is for twenty years,’ Dominique muttered under her breath.

‘She’s not happy you know,’ Laura told her friends later as they were making their way back home.

‘She’s not?’ They had forgotten that Laura had the gift enabling her to communicate with animals.

‘No. She … she doesn’t belong here.’

‘Course not,’ said Tristan. She needs to be in a river somewhere. She needs to be free to swim and roam wherever she wants …’

‘No,’ Laura interrupted. ‘I mean she doesn’t belong here in our world. She comes from the Kingdom of Fairy!’ Her friends stopped in their tracks. The Kingdom of Fairy was their true home, but it had been many months since they had returned.

‘What do you mean her real home is in the Kingdom of Fairy?’ Georgia asked.

‘That’s what she said. She says that she was brought here against her will twenty years ago. She needs our help to go home.’

‘You mean we have to kidnap her and return her to the Kingdom of Fairy?’ asked Zara.

‘Maybe Tristan can use his gift of invisibility and steal her,’ Georgia suggested.

Laura shook her head. ‘Not a good idea; too risky for Mary. She was sent here through a magical spell. She said that we need to ask Mab to help. She will know what to do.’ The children looked at each other and smiled.

‘That means we have to pay a visit to the Kingdom of Fairy,’ Dominique said.

Laura nodded. ‘Oh, by the way, her name isn’t Mary!’

‘It isn’t?’

‘No – it’s Lyssa!’

‘Lyssa,’ the children breathed.

‘Tell Lyssa not to worry; we’ll help her,’ Ella said.

For the next few days, the children were in a flurry of excitement. School assignments were hurriedly finished and plans to cross over into the Kingdom of Fairy were being made. Ella began to mentally call her fairy mother, Mab informing her that they were coming.

A couple of days later, the fairy children stood in a circle with Dominique and blew on their colored feathers. They had crossed over so many times now that they had perfected the art. This time, they arrived right in the middle of the courtyard of the Castle of Feathers and were quickly surrounded by delighted fairies. Hearing the commotion in the courtyard, Tristlin alerted the other mortal children that their friends had arrived. Mab and Oberon greeted them warmly and Lottie, Laura’s fairy mother had baked special treats with the help of Lorelei and Drew.

‘It is so lovely to see you,’ Tatiana smiled, ‘but what brings you here?’ The children looked at each other.

‘We missed you,’ Ella began, ‘and…’

‘Yes, yes,’ laughed Mab, ‘but come now, there is another reason isn’t there?’

‘Yes,’ admitted Ella. Then the children told them about the fish Mary who was being kept in the Land of Mortals, only her real name was Lyssa and she was from the Kingdom of Fairy.

‘Lyssa?’ Mab and Tatiana looked at each other quickly. ‘You have found Lyssa?’

‘I … I guess so,’ Laura said.

‘And she is well?’ Oberon wanted to know.

‘She is well, yes. But she is not happy. What’s so special about Lyssa anyway?’

‘How did she get to the Land of Mortals?’ Tristan interrupted. Mab took a deep breath.

‘Lyssa is very special but hers is a sorrowful tale. Many years ago, the Realm of Marissima was ruled by the Lion-men with Theodora as their queen.’

‘Oh, yes. I remember,’ said Dominique. ‘There are statues of Theodora all around the caves on Marissima.’

‘Yes and there is a statue of Theodora over the waterfall where you cross over from the River of Forgetfulness,’ said Ella. ‘But Marissima is mainly a water world,’ Zara pointed out. ‘Why was it ruled by Lion-men?’

‘It is a strange place for Lion-men to rule,’ Georgia added.

‘Ah,’ said Mab. ‘I need to tell you a bit of the history of Marissima and the Lion-men. Many eons ago, the Realm of Marissima was not a land of water. It was a lush land where the Lion-men roamed freely. High above in the sky, a huge firmament was in place.’

‘A firmament? What’s a firmament?’

‘A firmament was a great body of vapor and ice which formed a canopy over the land. It protected the Lion-men from the harmful rays of the sun and produced very stable weather on Marissima. A long time ago, a great cataclysm occurred. The firmament above was disrupted and most of Marissima was inundated with water. The Lion-men who survived, escaped to the caves on higher ground.

There was peace for a long time. Eventually, Willow and her Whispers moved into the waters and created their own underwater grotto. When the Lion-men ruled over Marissima,’ continued Mab, ‘it was a very peaceful place. Willow and her Whispers helped to keep the balance of power. All this was possible with the help of Lyssa.’

‘How do you mean?’ asked Ella.

‘Lyssa is a dreamer. She dreams the peace and tranquillity in the waters of Marissima. When she left, Marissima was very vulnerable.’

‘But why did she leave?’ the children wanted to know.

‘Ah, that is another story,’ Oberon told them. ‘In the Realm of Olombo, we had the Lizard-men and the Crocodile-men. These creatures are not as evolved as the Lion-men. As you know, they are war-like races and continually fight among themselves. Silurion, the leader of the Lizard-men seeing that Marissima was now a water world, decided it was time he challenged the Lion-man leader Theodora for the right to rule. Silurion was very greedy for power. He had been sharing Olombo with the Crocodile-men with whom he was continually at war and now he wanted Marissima for himself. He also knew that it would be impossible to enter the waters of Marissima while the dreaming fish, Lyssa was there.’

‘So he kidnapped Lyssa? What happened?’ they wanted to know. Tatiana gave a sad little laugh.

‘Silurion knew that Lyssa was too powerful to be killed by a Lizard-man and that it would have been impossible for him to enter the waters and kidnap her. Instead, he created a spell.’

‘A spell?’

‘Yes, Silurian decided that he needed Lyssa out of the way. If he had sent her to the Kingdom of Fairy, he knew that Mab would help her. If he sent her to Olombo, then Mamba the leader of the Crocodile-men might use her against him. No, he was very cunning. He decided that the best place to send her was to the Land of Mortals. Over there, nobody would be any the wiser. So he cast a spell and sent her into a river in the Land of Mortals.’

‘Obviously, someone fished her out and sold her to an aquarium,’ Mab sighed. ‘How lucky for us that you stumbled across her!’

‘Maybe Lyssa dreamed herself into the tank; she might have even dreamed the possibility of the fairy children finding her,’ said Tatiana. ‘Anyway, with Lyssa out of the way, Silurian moved into the waters of Marissima and challenged Theodora. A huge battle ensured, however the Lizard-men had the advantage of being able to swim faster in the waters. Also the Lion-men were very vulnerable to Silurion’s evil magic when Lyssa was removed as she was no longer able to maintain the dreaming of peace. Eventually, the Lion-men were forced to flee to the caves of Olombo.’

‘Olombo? But Olombo is the home of the Crocodile-men,’ Tristan said.

Mab nodded. ‘Yes. Unfortunately, Mamba, their leader imprisoned Theodora and her Lion-men in the caves and surrounded the whole valley by a huge force-field. They have been unable to penetrate the force-field and have been held captive on Olombo for a very long time.’

‘So that’s how the Lizard-men came to rule on Marissima,’ said Ella.

‘So you see, we have to get Lyssa back,’ Mab told them.

‘We also need to rescue Theodora from Olombo,’ Oberon reminded her. Dominique giggled.

‘Wait a minute; didn’t Mab shrink Mamba their leader?’

‘I certainly did,’ she smiled. ‘He is no longer a threat. He is just a tiny crocodile. Dentron is now the leader of the Crocodile-men.’

‘Dentron?’ Dominique shuddered, remembering their encounter with Dentron and the Crocodile-men on the rocks in Marissima.

‘Yes,’ Mab said grimly. ‘I think it is time we paid Willow a visit.