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.
………………………………………………………………………
In the River of Forgetfulness, Willow smiled a secret smile.
……………………………………………………………………....
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 that was Oberon.
Willow pulled her breath in sharply. Observing the fairies in the Castle of Feathers, she realized they had no idea what had happened to Mab and Oberon. She herself had no idea what spell or if indeed any spell could restore Mab and Oberon. She also realized that here in the River of Forgetfulness she was helpless. Unless of course … the fairy Tatiana! She was Mab’s only sister. Willow knew she had acted wisely when she had allowed Tatiana to become a sprite instead of simply draining her soul and letting her wander for ever among the mangroves in the forest of Gloomia.
Tatiana as a sprite had lost all memory of her time as a fairy in the Castle of Feathers and indeed as Scowla the hag in the fortress of Gloomia. In the kingdom below the River of Forgetfulness, her days were spent singing and dancing without a care in the world. When summoned to Willow’s presence, she was surprised. She was not unhappy in her new life. Did Willow have someone else who needed to be dragged into the River of Forgetfulness? Was she entreating her to do this? Willow looked deeply into Tatiana’s eyes before running a watery hand in front of them. Tatiana’s eyes opened wide as she viewed the pictures that appeared in front of her.
‘Remember who you are Tatiana – remember!’ Willow was whispering.
Tatiana saw Mab and Oberon and the Castle of Feathers. Then she saw Janus and smiled.
Willow waved her hand again. This time, Tatiana saw herself as Scowla in the fortress at Gloomia and she shuddered as events came back quickly to her. She saw herself being dragged down into the River of Forgetfulness by Willow as Mab watched sorrowfully from the banks with the other fairies. ‘Why are you showing me this?’ she asked sadly.
‘You need to remember who you are,’ Willow whispered. ‘You need to understand what has happened to Mab and Oberon. You need to return to the Kingdom of Fairy to warn the fairy children!’
‘You mean I can return?’ Tatiana opened her eyes even wider. This was all beyond her wildest dreams after the damage she had caused.
‘You have a chance to earn back your life as Tatiana,’ said Willow. She once more drew her hand over Tatiana’s eyes. ‘Observe how Mab and Oberon have been turned to statues in the caves of Gloomia. You need to return to the Castle and warn everyone. Offer your help!’ she whispered urgently.
‘I … I have a second chance! It’s unbelievable!’
When the fairy Tatiana, who had once been the evil witch, Scowla of Gloomia and lately one of the Whispers in the River of Forgetfulness, turned up at the Castle of Feathers, Janus greeted her in shock. He had tried to forget about his wife over the many months since she had disappeared into the River of Forgetfulness. Now suddenly, he was standing face to face with a new, softer Tatiana; the Tatiana of old who never had plans of usurping Mab. He could not believe his eyes. How could she be here? How did she escape from the River of Forgetfulness?
‘Willow released me,’ Tatiana explained. ‘She … she wants me to help you rescue Mab and Oberon.’ Oberon looked at her thoughtfully. Could he trust the new Tatiana?
‘Please – see for yourself. I can help you look into Mab’s crystal ball. Look into the caves at Gloomia, you will see that I am telling the truth!’ she begged him.
Janus assembled the fairy children and their parents into the large hall and presented Tatiana to them.
‘It’s Tatiana! Don’t trust her!’ urged Arabella.
‘Don’t forget what she tried to do to Mab in the past …’ began Aurora.
‘Wait Tatiana!’ Zara held up her hand. ‘Come forward!’ she commanded. Tatiana approached and faced Zara. The other children knew what she wanted to do. Zara had a special power. Her mind was very strong. She would be able to look into Tatiana’s eyes and see if she was lying. Zara’s fairy blue eyes bored into Tatiana’s equally blue fairy eyes. She is searching my soul, Tatiana thought to herself.
‘She tells the truth,’ Zara said simply. ‘Come!’
Then Tatiana led everyone towards Mab’s crystal ball. As she trained her eyes into the ball, Tatiana called on the powers of the light to show them where Mab and Oberon were. Suddenly the caves at Gloomia came into sight. Then everyone gasped as they saw the two statues side by side on the stone slabs. On the left was a black obsidian stone – unmistakably Oberon. On the right was the beautiful white crystal statue of Mab. In another part of the caves, they saw hundreds of Hatchlings that the goblins, Losing-it and Lost-it were grooming to become the future army of Whorls. As the pictures faded, the children sprang to life.
‘We need to go there – we need to rescue them!’ Tristan announced.
‘Not so fast!’ Janus cautioned. ‘We need to formulate a plan. You forget that the statues weigh many tons. We have to create magic powerful enough to break Drabon’s spells!’
‘You are all very powerful,’ Dominique reminded them. ‘You will be able to come up with a way of rescuing Mab and Oberon, I’m sure of it!’
‘She is right,’ Tatiana told them. ‘First of all, we must look at your gifts in order to put them to the best use.’
‘How are we ever going to get into the caves?’ asked Georgia.
‘Well, that’s easy. Tristan can become invisible, remember?’ Ella said. ‘And I can morph into something as small as a flea!’
‘True, but you can’t work magic on Drabon – only Tatiana can do that!’ replied Laura.
‘Yes, but Tatiana wouldn’t have any hope of getting into the caves unnoticed!’
‘Perhaps we need to work on them in a different way,’ Zara suggested. ‘Like how?’
‘Well, what
