The Realms of Faerie. Linda Massola

ever faithful goblins, Losing-it and Lost-it were in charge of making sure the Hatchlings were fed. Very few of the A to Z goblins had survived the raid and most of the very evil ones had perished. Those that had survived were used as slaves and in their spare time, guarded the gold.

      Drabon never gave Ratbonia a thought, but more than once regretted the loss of Scowla. She would have been a lot quicker to formulate a plan of revenge than Putrida. However, Putrida had eventually come up with a truly ingenious plan. He still had Scowla’s old crystal ball, which helped them keep up to date with the happenings in the Kingdom of Fairy. He noticed in anger how his Changelings had reverted to their mortal bodies and now had no recollection of their time in Gloomia.

      ‘They had so much potential!’ he wailed to Putrida.

      ‘Forget them! Who cares?’ she replied crossly.

      Putrida wasn’t as clever as Scowla, but she wasn’t stupid like Ratbonia had been. You couldn’t put anything over Putrida. She was so delightfully evil! It had been Drabon’s idea to create Hatchlings in order to rebuild the army of Whorls. But it had been Putrida’s idea to capture Mab and Oberon. Night after night she had gazed into the crystal ball, observing Mab and Oberon’s movements.

      ‘It’s almost Midsummer’s Eve,’ she announced. ‘Mab and Oberon are on their way to the forest. They plan to contact their child in the Land of Mortals. We must leave for the Kingdom of Fairy and capture them!’

      ‘Capture them? Just like that?’ Drabon blinked at her in astonishment.

      ‘Of course. We must capture them when they are in a trance state. They will be very vulnerable and won’t even know what is happening!’

      ‘Of course!’ Drabon clapped his claws in excitement. It had also been Putrida’s idea to create hoods to place over the heads of the unsuspecting Mab and Oberon.

      ‘You have to cover their eyes,’ she explained. ‘Fairy eyes are very powerful!’

      On Midsummer’s Eve as Mab and Oberon sat under the trees in an entranced state, preparing to contact their child in the Land of Mortals, they were taken completely unawares. Drabon and Putrida silently descended and placed black hoods over their heads then put a holding spell on them. Quickly they lifted their captives into the dark sky and headed for the caves of Gloomia where Mab and Oberon were placed on the great stone slabs especially prepared for them. Then Drabon worked his spells. The hood was removed from Oberon’s head and Drabon directed his chants towards his blank staring eyes. In a matter of minutes, Oberon’s body turned to black obsidian stone. Shaking in excitement, Drabon turned his attention to Mab. Quickly, he sent out the same spell towards her.

      ‘Look! What’s gone wrong?’ Putrida cried to Drabon in surprise.

      Instead of Mab turning to black Obsidian stone, her body was turning into white crystal.

      ‘She’s supposed to turn into black Obsidian. What went wrong?’ asked Putrida.

      ‘Who cares?’ Drabon replied in annoyance. ‘Crystal – Obsidian – who cares?’ Then he instructed the goblins to guard the statues with their lives.

      ‘Yes, yes and there will be more gold!’ he promised them, seeing their greedy looks. It was so easy to do a gold creating spell.

      In the Castle of Feathers in the Kingdom of Fairy, the search continued for Mab and Oberon. Deep down everybody suspected that the Gloomians were probably at the bottom of all this, but they still continued their search day and night.

      Chapter 3

      Within minutes of the children arriving in the Kingdom of Fairy, their wings began to grow, so they took to the air. Andrew and Tristan each held one of Dominique’s hands as they flew towards the Castle of Feathers. The kingdom was strangely quiet. Normally, fairies of all shapes and sizes would be flitting about.

      ‘Where is everyone?’ Zara called to her friends.

      ‘Look!’ Ella pointed in dismay to the battlements of the castle. Only six feathers were flying; one for each of the fairy children. Mab’s violet feather had disappeared. They landed softly in the courtyard and as soon as they did, Lottie ran out to greet them.

      ‘Laura, my child!’ she cried hugging her.

      ‘Where is everyone? Where are Mab and Oberon?’

      ‘Come my children – come inside. We have much to tell you.’ Lottie led the children into the castle. Soon, the fairy parents came to greet their children.

      ‘Mab and Oberon have disappeared,’ Isabella told them sorrowfully.

      ‘Disappeared? What do you mean disappeared?’

      ‘They flew into the forest on Midsummer’s Eve planning to contact you,’ Esmeralda explained. ‘They never came back.’

      ‘We searched and searched,’ Aurora told them. ‘Janus and the army of Ciduries looked for weeks. They have just disappeared!’

      ‘We are so glad you have returned,’ Arabella told them. ‘We were unable to gain access to Mab’s giant crystal ball to find her whereabouts. Unfortunately Tatiana was the only one apart from Mab who could access it.

      ‘We didn’t want to worry you about Mab and Oberon when we contacted you,’ explained Isabella. ‘We thought we would be able to find them long before this.’

      ‘We must find them,’ said Ella. ‘Where is Janus?’

      ‘He will be back later tonight. Perhaps you can devise a plan between you to find them. We are sure that Drabon and Putrida are behind their disappearance. In the meantime, I am sure you would like to be re-united with your friends. They have changed greatly while they have been here with us.’

      The mortal children had indeed changed. Gone were the haunted looks. Now they exuded confidence. Tristlin and Georgina were becoming excellent horse handlers and were eager to join the army of Ciduries when they were older. Isabella was teaching Zariana how to create beautiful clothing designs and Lorelei and Drew were being taught to cook the delicious fairy food by Lottie. Ellabella had elected to learn how to care for the animals of the Kingdom.

      ‘Wait until you see Elvis!’ she told them.

      ‘Elvis!’ Laura couldn’t wait. She missed talking to her old friend. When Ellabella led them into the courtyard, they were in for a surprise. Their friend Elvis the mortal horse was now in possession of wings! ‘Elvis, you can fly!’ Elvis gave a little whinny. ‘He says it is the only way to travel!’ Laura laughed. ‘Oh, he also says that if Dominique gets on his back, he will take her for a ride!’

      Dominique didn’t wait to be asked twice. While she soared above the battlements on Elvis’s back, a long way to the south, in the caves of Gloomia, Drabon and Putrida were congratulating themselves. In their presence and under maximum security of the remaining goblins were the latest treasures of Gloomia – the great stone statues.

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       In the River of Forgetfulness, Willow smiled a secret smile.

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      Chapter 4

      It had been a very long time since anyone had ventured close to the banks of the River of Forgetfulness. The river was becoming sluggish. Willow knew it could only mean one thing. The balance of the Kingdom of Fairy had been compromised. The river was sluggish and the water no longer ran clear. She knew the power of the Whispers was diminishing. When Willow closed her eyes and looked into the Castle of Feathers, she saw the absence of the violet feather on the battlements. Closing her eyes once more, she searched for Mab in the kingdoms but could only find the beautiful crystal statue in the caves of Gloomia. Beside it stood the black Obsidian stone statue