Читать книгу The Realms of Faerie - Linda Massola - Страница 6

The great marble statue of Willow loomed overhead as Mab, Oberon and the fairy children made their way behind the waterfall at the mouth of the River of Forgetfulness. As Mab and Oberon held hands and chanted, one by one, the children slowly disappeared. They reappeared on the sandy shore in the Realm of Marissima and their wings began to dissolve.

The ageless statue of Theodora sat watching them as they quickly made their way into the shimmering blue, green sea, knowing that they would easily be able to breathe under the water. Laura quickly retrieved the water whistle from her pocket. Within minutes, Lido and his sea-horses appeared to welcome them.

‘Look, Lido has a family now!’ said Dominique, pointing to the tiny sea-horses following Lido and his mate. Quickly they mounted the sea-horses and sped on their way to the musical waters. The children kept glancing over their shoulders, half expecting Silurion and his Lizard-men to jump out at them. Seeing their concern, Lido communicated to Laura that the Lizard-men rarely came into these waters, they preferred to swim in the waters near their caves.

Don’t worry, he told her, we are staying well away from that part of the sea!

Eventually, the beautiful melodic sound of the musical waters greeted them. Jumping off the sea-horses, the fairies swam lazily in the warm waters until the Whispers spied them and temporarily released the force-field surrounding the castle. Then they followed them down into the grotto. The children had forgotten how beautiful the castle was. Today, the sparking jewels encrusted on the stone walls seemed to shine even more brightly.

‘Lido and his sea-horses will take you through the kelp fields,’ Willow told the fairies later. ‘Hopefully, the Lizard-men will not even be aware that you are there! In the event that they are, remember that you have much power in your possession to disarm them.’

‘True,’ replied Ella. ‘However, we do not want the opportunity of using our magical gifts against them. I don’t know about anyone else,’ she said, ‘but I don’t have any desire to meet up with Silurion!’ The others quickly agreed with her, remembering their last visit to Marissima.

‘There is a bridge which connects Marissima to Olombo,’ explained Willow. ‘The sea-horses will be able to take you as far as the kelp fields. It will take you a bit of time to swim through them, but as long as you keep the sun on your left overhead, you will be going in the right direction. Eventually, the kelp will become very dense, then you will know that you are only a few meters from the bridge to Olombo.’

‘Is there no other way to Olombo apart from swimming through the kelp fields?’ Zara wanted to know. Willow shook her head. ‘Marissima is a water realm,’ she reminded them.

‘No choice then really, is there?’ remarked Georgia.

‘Once in Olombo, you will be in great danger from the Crocodile-men,’ Willow warned them. ‘You must remain alert and on your guard.’

‘I choose to remain positive,’ Ella announced. ‘Between all of us, we are very powerful. Don’t forget the advice of The Fairy Chronicles,’ she told the others. We must remain positive and focus on the outcome we desire. In this instant, it is to rescue Theodora and return her to the Realm of Marissima. We must not let any thoughts of failure distract us!’

The others nodded in agreement. They had spent many weeks studying the wisdom of The Fairy Chronicles with Mab and Tatiana. Suddenly, their fears dissolved.

‘We are very powerful,’ said Ella. ‘Even you Dominique, when you want to be!’

‘It will take you a couple of days to get through the kelp fields,’ Willow explained.

‘A couple of days? What do we do for food?’ Andrew wanted to know. Willow rolled her eyes. It was well known that Andrew loved his food.

‘The kelp contains all the nourishment you will need. When you are hungry, just break a piece off and eat it!’

‘Yuk!’ Andrew replied making a face. Willow looked at him quizzically. Not a very fairy like comment, she decided.

‘Don’t say that until you have tried it,’ Georgia told him.

After a sumptuous meal which was more to Andrew’s liking, the fairies once more headed out of the grotto and jumped onto the backs of the sea-horses for their journey to the kelp fields. Willow and the Whispers waved to them as they closed the force-field protecting the castle from the Lizard-men.

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From behind a huge rock near the entrance to the kelp fields, an old crone watched in amazement as a line of sea-horses carrying seven fairies passed her by. Unseen by any of the fairies, she suddenly clapped her hands.

‘The child, the child who tricked me has returned! Wait until Silurion hears about this!’ the crone Merrow cackled in delight from her hiding place. Then she jumped down from the rock and swam swiftly towards the caves of the Lizard-men.

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