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 and tried to force her way out of the net.
‘It won’t do you any good!’ the old crone cackled. Obviously this child didn’t have any magical powers; otherwise she would be using them by now to free herself.
‘What do you want with me?’Georgia cried.
‘Actually, I don’t think I want anything with you really, unless … unless you can make spells,’ she replied hopefully.
‘No … I can’t make spells. Let me out!’ she shouted.
‘I think not!’
‘But … but you can’t just keep me here!’
‘Oh, but I can,’ Merrow replied. ‘I am happy to wait until I can do a deal with Silurion. The special child in exchange for you!’
‘The special child?’
‘The daughter of Queen Mab. She tricked me once before, but no more. I have not forgotten. Nobody tricks Merrow and gets away with it. I will do a trade with Silurion for her. He cares not which fairies he has. He simply wants to destroy all of them if he can.’
‘You are mad!’ Georgia told her angrily.
‘Silence!’ Merrow pointed her fish bone towards Georgia and she instantly slumped to the ground. That will shut her up for a while, Merrow told herself. It was time to pay Silurion a visit and do more bargaining.
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