The Realms of Faerie. Linda Massola

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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      Chapter 5

      The crone, Merrow was still congratulating herself on the deal she had made with Silurion. He had given her a huge supply of fish, saving her the effort of obtaining them for herself. In return, she had alerted him to the whereabouts of the fairies and supplied him with the vital ingredient, Lintel, needed to make Lobash.

      The pungent smelling herb only grew on the walls of her grotto and the Lizard-men with their great claws were unable to gain access to the tiny crevices where it grew. Merrow knew all about Lobash. It was extremely poisonous to fairies and water-sprites, causing them to fall into a sleep from which they were unable to awake. Eventually, as the poison settled in their system, the unfortunate victim would die. She knew of a water-sprite many years ago who had been captured by Silurion and poisoned. Eventually the sprite had died.

      Merrow shrugged. She cared little for water-sprites and even less for fairies. If Silurion had decided not to give her anything, it wouldn’t have mattered. To get back at the fairy child who had tricked her was reward in itself. But why were the fairies headed for the kelp fields? Obviously they were going to Olombo as there was no other place for them to go. But why Olombo? The only thing of interest to them would be the Lion-men, but surely seven fairy children were not going to confront the Crocodile-men! It was all very puzzling. She decided that she wouldn’t waste any more time thinking about a reason. Then she had another thought. If the Lizard-men were planning to capture the fairies before they reached Olombo, then maybe she would try to capture the powerful fairy child. She chuckled to herself. Yes, yes, she wanted the child who had tricked her. This time, she would be more prepared and not be tricked again!

      As she thought through her plan, the fairies were riding through the waters. Eventually, the kelp fields came into view. It was time for Lido and his friends to say goodbye. The sea-horses had no desire to maneuver their way through the sea of kelp. Seeing the look of apprehension on everybody’s face, Ella said quickly, ‘don’t worry, we won’t get lost. All we have to do is keep to the direction of the sun on our left. We should reach the bridge to Olombo in another day. At least we won’t have to travel in the dark,’ she reminded them.

      The sun never set on Marissima, it just faded to a dull glow. Keeping the direction of the sun on their left did make it easy for them and on the way they were amazed at the beautiful variety of tropical fish that lived among the kelp.

      ‘Willow told me that the kelp is very nutritious and feeds many varieties of fish,’ Laura said, breaking off a piece and eating it. ‘You should try a piece, Andrew.’

      Andrew made a face which communicated to everyone that he would have to be pretty desperate to eat kelp. On and on the children went through the kelp fields until the fading light reminded them that it was time to rest. They floated down to the sea-bed and slept until hours later, the bright sunlight shinning on the water awoke them. After a hearty meal of kelp, they were ready to continue on their way.

      Andrew had awoken ravenous, as usual and was left no other option than to try the kelp. ‘It’s surprisingly good!’ he mumbled with his mouth full.

      They were swimming single file now as the kelp was quite thick in parts. Ella was at the lead, with Tristan following along closely behind her. The others followed a little distance behind. They all swam silently, using their concentration to maneuver their way through the kelp.

      Chapter 6

      Deep in the caves surrounding the seas of Marissima, Silurion and his Lizard-men were hard at work as they took turns at stirring a huge cauldron.

      ‘This time, they will not get away,’ Silurion told his friends in satisfaction. ‘Thanks to the Crone, Merrow, we will be able to destroy the fairies once and for all.’

      ‘How dare they enter the waters of Marissima,’ the Lizard-men muttered among themselves.

      ‘It is a particularly strong batch of Lobash,’ Silurion said taking a deep sniff. Then he moved his head back in disgust. This batch of Lobash was exceptionally revolting. When the mixture cooled, the Lizard-men began to shape it into small balls. ‘A couple of whiffs of one of these and the fairies are doomed!’ Silurion said gleefully.

      ‘You … you mean it will kill them?’ Silurion spun his huge head around in the direction of the voice and sighed. His young son, Horrendous the Second was a great disappointment to him. ‘Of course it will, you idiot!’ he said cuffing the unfortunate creature on the head. The other Lizard-men standing around began to snigger. They considered Silurion’s young son a fool.

      ‘It’s what we do!’ Silurion yelled, seeing the look on his son’s face. ‘We are Lizard-men! We rule – we are powerful – we hunt – we kill – got it?’

      Young Horrendous the Second nodded as he shuffled slowly out of the cave.

      ‘He certainly doesn’t take after my father,’ Silurion told his mate, Slitha. Horrendous the First had been a brutal Lizard-man. ‘It’s all your fault,’ he told Slitha accusingly. ‘You haven’t been firm enough with him. Now all we have is a misfit who prefers to meditate in the sun!’

      ‘My fault? You idiot!’ Slitha angrily swiped Silurion with her scaly tail.

      The other Lizard-men moved quickly out of the way. When Silurion and his mate argued, someone always got hurt.

      Chapter 7

      Merrow panted in excitement as she tried to keep up with the Lizard-men as they silently approached the line of fairies. She detected a small ripple in the water around her but she knew the fairies would not notice it. You have to have lived all your life in the waters of Marissima to detect subtle changes in the water.

      Where was the powerful child? She squinted in frustration. Her eyesight wasn’t so good these days. Obviously the child was some way ahead of the others. She stopped in the water, undecided what to do next.

      Drat! She spat into the water then fumbled in the folds of her tattered clothes and produced her much treasured fish bone.

      As the Lizard-men pounced, she quickly pointed the fish bone towards the last child in the line ahead. A huge net descended on Georgia who screamed in fear as she watched the silent Lizard-men quickly emerge from the kelp and grab her friends from behind, one by one. Merrow acted swiftly, retreating from the kelp fields, using her fish bone to magically drag the net containing Georgia behind her. She realised she hadn’t captured the powerful fairy child, but this one could be used as bargaining power!

      As Merrow fled with her captive, the Lizard-men had placed their huge claws containing balls of the deadly Lobash quickly over the mouths of Tristan, Andrew, Laura and Dominique, causing them to instantly lose consciousness. They had been given strict instructions from Silurion not to place the Lobash over the tallest fairy with the short chestnut hair. He meant Zara. Last time, he told them; this one had been able to use the power of her mind to control them into doing what she wanted them to. She would be very useful to them indeed. ‘Make sure you cover her eyes, she is very powerful!’ he concluded. As a result, a blindfold had been placed over her eyes and her hands were bound behind her back. Zara was now being taken back through the kelp fields kicking and screaming through the gag in her mouth.

      So silent were the Lizard-men, not even causing a ripple in the water that Ella up ahead had no idea her friends had disappeared behind her. Further away, the crone, Merrow shrieked in delight as she began pulling the net with her precious cargo down towards her grotto. Georgia looked around in dismay