The Realms of Faerie. Linda Massola

Ella said.

      ‘This is very curious – listen,’ Janus said reading aloud.

      ‘A mortal child will offer its life to save the Kingdom of Fairy!’ The children looked at each other in dismay. Who? How? They wanted to know, each secretly hoping that they hadn’t been chosen for this destiny. The last prophecy was the one that puzzled both Tatiana and Janus.

      ‘It says that The Kingdom of Fairy will unite with the surrounding kingdoms creating one kingdom of peace!’

      Later when they were all back in the great hall, Tristan wanted to know if that prophecy included the Gloomians and the Goblins. ‘Can’t see that happening!’ Tristan said.

      ‘The Chronicles always state the truth,’ Tatiana told them. ‘I seem to have forgotten the wisdom of the Chronicles in the past,’ she shuddered.

      ‘Yes, but you remember them now,’ Janus told her. ‘We do not have all the answers yet, but what have you learned from the Chronicles?’ he asked the fairy children.

      ‘Well, we know that new life has to be preserved for the balance of the kingdom, so that rules out destroying the Hatchlings,’ said Andrew. ‘

      And we are very powerful and we can create what we want by focusing on a positive outcome, which is peace!’ Zara said.

      ‘Yes, so if we want to rescue Mab and Oberon, we have to get into our feelings and believe it can be done!’ Ella said excitedly. Suddenly the children began coming up with lots of ideas.

      ‘If we can’t destroy the Hatchlings, why can’t we put a spell on them to change their brains for the better?’ suggested Laura.

      ‘Yes, maybe we could put something in their food!’ said Lorelei. ‘Drew and I could bake some little fairy cakes with Lottie, then she could put a spell on them!’

      ‘Then I could take them into the caves and feed them to the Hatchlings while I was invisible!’ Tristan said excitedly. They all began talking at once. It seemed everyone had an idea now!

      ‘I knew they would come up with something!’ Janus beamed at Tatiana. She smiled back at him. It would take a long time to gain his trust again, but at least she had made a start.

      Chapter 5

      In the caves at Gloomia, Drabon and Putrida were still congratulating themselves on the capture of Mab and Oberon. Daily, they gloated over the silent statues with Oblong, and the few remaining Whorls.

      ‘When we have replenished our army, we will descend on the Castle of Feathers and take it for our own!’ Drabon told Putrida.

      ‘Yes, yes. Those stupid fairies will have no hope against us without Mab and Oberon’s magic. We will be in control of the Kingdom of Fairy as well as Gloomia!’ she said excitedly.

      However, all was not well among the surviving A to Z goblins. With Drabon’s army of Whorls decimated, they felt unprotected.

      ‘What will happen to the gold if the gnomes attack us?’ they cried among themselves. The gnomes were large in numbers and lived in the toadstool houses in the foothills of the caves. They had never attacked the goblins before.

      ‘That’s because the Gloomians outnumbered them!’ said Losing-it.

      ‘Yes, and now we have no protection, they are sure to advance on the caves and steal our gold!’ Lost-it agreed.

      ‘Well then,’ Drabon said overhearing their complaints. ‘Do something about it. Attack them before they attack you!’

      ‘Attack them?’ Losing-it asked. ‘How? There are too few of us!’ Drabon sighed. ‘I am destined to be around stupid Beings! Use your brains idiot – use your brains!’ It didn’t do for Drabon to be displeased with them and Lost-it instantly jumped to Losing-it’s defense with an idea.

      ‘We don’t have the numbers to attack, but we could burn their villages!’

      ‘Yes, yes, we could burn the toadstools just as a warning!’ Losing-it jumped up and down in excitement. ‘That’s more like it!’ said Drabon munching on his toenails.

      Losing-it and Lost-it gave a sigh of relief. Since they had lost their Changeling charges, they had no particular job to fulfill, thereby losing Drabon’s respect daily. A raid on the toadstool village would restore Drabon’s admiration for them.

      Down in the Village of Toadstools, Zebulon the leader of the gnomes was discussing the events of the past few months with Lori, his wife. As leaders of the gnomes, Zebulon and Lori lived in a brightly colored red and white spotted toadstool. The lesser gnomes were relegated to the grey toadstools. The long red cap with white spots that they wore over their ancient wizened faces displayed the fact that they were leaders. Even their child, Orin wore the special cap so that he could easily be recognized as the child of the leaders of the people.

      ‘It has been very quiet up in the caves lately,’ Lori told her husband.

      ‘That’s because there are so few of them now,’ Zebulon replied. ‘It would be a very easy matter to take the gold!’ he mused.

      ‘The gold? What do we want with more gold?’ Lori asked.

      ‘Why we would always ensure our prosperity if we possessed all the gold,’ he told her.

      Lori just shrugged. They had each other. They had Orin and they had an abundance of food and water. They were able to live in peace too. What more did they need? What was the prosperity her husband was always talking about?

      As each day passed, Zebulon looked up at the caves and his greed festered. It wasn’t hard to convince the gnomes to rise up against the Glooms and the goblins now that their numbers were down. There was much gold to be had!

      ‘We must give them no inkling of what we are planning!’ he told them. ‘We do not want to evoke Drabon’s rage and risk a spell from him which could destroy us. Therefore, we must strike when he is least expecting it!’

      The gnomes in the Village of Toadstools were not noted for their quick-thinking abilities. As a result they spent many weeks formulating plans, then discarding them and never really coming to a definite conclusion. As they procrastinated, Losing-it and Lost-it assembled the few remaining A to Z goblins along with the very small number of remaining Whorls. On a moonless night, they charged out of the caves down the mountain side bearing torches of fire.

      ‘Don’t set fire to the red and white toadstools,’ Drabon instructed them. ‘We need to leave the toadstools belonging to the leaders to show them we mean business!’

      He and Putrida then joined in dropping their torches of fire from the sky while the goblins ran below at ground level. Screams were heard as the gnomes realized that their village was burning. Drabon and Putrida shrieked in excitement.

      ‘That will teach them a lesson!’

      ‘The children, the children!’ the gnomes cried, desperately trying to reach the toadstools allotted to communal living before the smoke overwhelmed them.

      When morning came, Zebulon and Lori surveyed the smoking remains of the village in shocked silence. ‘The children – we have lost so many children,’ they wept openly.

      ‘And the homes – it takes so long to grow new toadstools. These poor people will be exposed to the elements for months!’ Lori cried, hugging Orin to her.

      ‘We will rebuild!’ Zebulon shouted to his people. ‘When we do, we will march on the caves of Gloomia and show the goblins no mercy!’

      Chapter 6

      In the Castle of Feathers, Lorelei and Drew had been busy helping Lottie to make the batches of fairy cakes which would be fed to the Hatchlings in the caves at Gloomia. As each batch was completed, Lottie stood over them and did her spell.

       I now proclaim that these fairy cakes will banish all evil from the minds of those who