The Realms of Faerie. Linda Massola

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.

      Chapter 3

      Flying high above the forest of Gloomia, Mab, Oberon and the fairy children began to hear the familiar whispering; the River of Forgetfulness was not far away. Now that Drabon and his army of Glooms no longer inhabited the forest, Gloomia was beginning to take on another quality. Some of the remaining Hatchlings and Gloomians had returned to the forest, living their lives in a totally different way than they had during Drabon’s reign of terror and violence. Mab was now seeing the benefits of uniting all the outer realms into the Kingdom of Fairy. Willow had sensed that the fairies were on their way and had been popping her head in and out of the water in anticipation for the last hour.

      ‘They are here! They are here!’ she whispered excitedly to her Whispers as the fairies began to fly down to the banks of the river. ‘Greetings!’ Mab called to them.

      ‘Greetings!’ the loud whisper went up among the water sprites. ‘What brings you here, oh mighty queen?’ Willow inquired.

      ‘I have some very important news for you,’ Mab began.

      ‘Important?’ Willow raised an eyebrow, flicking away a long wet tendril of hair.

      ‘It’s about the fish, Lyssa!’

      ‘Lyssa?’

      ‘The children have found her in the Land of Mortals!’

      Willow looked from one to the other of the children.

      ‘The fairy children have found Lyssa? They have found the wondrous fish?’

      ‘Yes, the child, Laura communicated with her. She needs our help to return to us!’

      ‘The fairy children have found Lyssa!’ Willow whispered to her Whispers who bobbed up and down in the water in excitement.

      ‘The fates of the fish Lyssa and Theodora the Lion-queen are entwined,’ Willow told the fairies. ‘To free Lyssa, you must also free the Lion-queen. If one is imprisoned, the other will surely receive the same fate; this has already happened. If one dies, the other will follow. Lyssa cannot live without Theodora and Theodora cannot live without Lyssa. Lyssa is the dreamer of peace; Theodora is the one who manifests the peace!’

      ‘So … so we need to return Lyssa, right?’ asked Ella.

      ‘Before we can return Lyssa, we need to bring Theodora back to Marissima,’ Willow explained. ‘We cannot create a spell to return Lyssa unless the Lion-queen has been freed.’

      ‘There is no choice; the children must go to the Realm of Olombo,’ Oberon said.

      ‘Olombo? But …’ the children looked at each other in dismay. ‘Oberon is right, we don’t really have a choice,’ Ella sighed. ‘If we don’t try, Lyssa is doomed to die in