by Ektaa Bali
“Yes, with every burp as well. This is Pancake. He’s a quokka.”
Sonakshi gasped and reached for Pancake, who stared at her with his mouth hanging open. Pancake reached for her, and soon he was in her arms, gazing up into her eyes with wonder.
“He’s never seen a unicorn before,” laughed Vidya.
“Well, you wait,” laughed Sonakshi back. “I haven’t even turned into my unicorn self yet.”
Pancake sat in Sonakshi’s hands, staring at her honey-coloured face as they walked through the forest. Soon, they reached the edge of the cliff, and Sonakshi handed Pancake back to Vidya. She exploded in a thrill of golden light, and before they knew it, Vidya and the other kids were grinning at Sonakshi’s golden eyes in her unicorn form. Lily let out an excited “Ooh!”
She was the colour of silvery moonlight, with opalescent wings tucked by her side and a glittering diamond horn that caught the light, making it sparkle magically. Pancake squealed when he saw Sonakshi, and gasped, pointing a clawed finger at her and jumping up and down in Vidya’s arms.
With a whoop of joy, Sonakshi gave two powerful downward strokes of her wings and leapt into the air. Vidya and the other Fae kids laughed at the sight of her having such joy at flying in the open air. They followed quickly after, fluttering their wings rapidly to keep up with her.
Vidya met Sonakshi on the other side. The other girl had transformed back into her human self, and the group rushed into the palace, Pancake chattering excitedly.
* * *
Vidya wasted no time. She led Sonakshi immediately up to her parents’ room first and found Toad and Luna in there, shrieking as baby Mahiya, lying on her change table, let out an almighty squelch. The two girls screamed. Toad held a loose nappy over Mahiya, but her head was turned away and screwed up in a grimace. Vidya watched in horror as a bright red spark flew from Mahiya’s hands, through the air, and onto Luna’s dress. The girl looked down as her dress caught alight, and she screamed, slapping herself to get the flame out.
“Oh, mother earth!” Toad cried.
Vidya and Sonakshi burst into a fit of laughter at the scene, and Toad groaned loudly at them.
“You try to change this one’s nappy!” she grumbled loudly, leaning down to get a clean nappy. “There’s always poo and fire everywhere!”
“Thanks, Toad,” laughed Vidya, wiping her eyes. “I’ll do the next one.”
“No, it’s okay,” said Toad, fastening the new nappy on, then lifting baby Mahiya and planting a kiss on her cheek. “I’m getting good at it now. Besides, you’re busy saving the Kingdom.”
She turned, and upon seeing Sonakshi, froze on the spot, baby Mahiya gurgled in the air.
“Are you—?” Toad began.
“Hello,” said Sonakshi. “I’m Sonakshi.”
“The unicorn Princess!” cried Luna, her mouth hanging open.
“Yes,” said Vidya, dragging Sonakshi past Luna and toward the bed where her mother lay. “She’s here to see if her magic will do anything for our problem.”
“Right,” said Sonakshi, nodding. “Stand back everyone.”
The three girls, with Toad holding baby Mahiya, moved right back to the edge of the room.
Sonakshi shook herself, and in a flash and a gasp from Luna and Toad, turned into her unicorn form. The three girls watched as Sonakshi carefully lowered her glittering diamond horn onto Queen Salote. Her horn touched the queen’s forehead and flashed brightly where it met her skin. Queen Salote coughed once, then rolled onto her side and kept on sleeping.
Vidya groaned. “That’s okay, Sona, try my father next, he’s lying on the floor on the other side.”
Sonakshi carefully walked around the bed, and the girls followed to watch. She repeated the move, but this time, the King gasped loudly, his eyes opening, looking around widely.
“Father!” Vidya rushed forward.
King Farrion grasped onto Vidya’s arm and looked her right in the eyes.
“They are taking the Fae magic, Vidya!” he cried out. “They are taking it!”
“Who is?” Vidya cried.
But the King immediately let go of her arm, head falling back onto the carpet with a thump, and began snoring once again.
“Do it again, Sona!” cried Vidya. “Do it again!”
Sonakshi hurriedly leaned down again, but this time, after the bright flash of light, the King did not stir.
Vidya stood, breathing shakily. She ran her hands through her magenta hair and leaned on Sonakshi for support. The unicorn Princess nuzzled Vidya's neck comfortingly. Pancake scrambled up to Vidya’s shoulder, patting the girl’s face.
“That was scary,” said Toad, patting baby Mahiya on the back. “At least it worked for a moment.”
“What do you think he meant?” asked Luna.
Vidya straightened and shook her head. “Someone is stealing the Fae magic. We all heard him.”
“How could that be?” asked Luna. “How do you steal it?”
“Magic is a funny thing,” said Sonakshi with a distant look in her eye. She flashed back into her human form and looked down at King Farrion, snoring peacefully now. “The witch Mankini tried to steal my magic through my blood. And she almost did it.” Sonakshi shivered.
“Fae is magic is different,” said Vidya thoughtfully. “But not that different. Our magic comes from the earth, we just have to figure out how somebody is draining it.”
Sonakshi blew air out of her mouth. “You’d better find out soon,” she said. “This type of thing can’t go on forever. What if they drain it completely?”
The three Fae girls looked at each other with worry. “We’ll find out,” Vidya said, more confidently than she felt.
“The Fae King has the strongest magic of the adults,” mused Sonakshi. “I could feel the difference. Not enough to keep him awake, but enough that I could wake him for a second. I’m guessing that’s why he was the last adult to go to sleep in the first place.”
“Hopefully, that means he’s the first to wake up then,” said Vidya.
Vidya led Sonakshi out of the bedroom and back down the stairs into the great dining room where a few kids were sitting eating some food they had clumsily prepared. The two Princesses went to join them.
“Baby Mahiya is so cute,” said Sonakshi, inspecting a glass of ghostberry juice. “I’m glad I got to meet her.”
“We’re still trying to figure out where the sparks come from,” said Vidya. “No other Fae babies do it.”
Sonakshi cocked her head to the side. “When I look at her, I think of… lava. Like the stuff that’s deep inside the earth.”
Vidya shook her head. “That mystery will have to wait until this is over. I have bigger things to worry about than Mahiya farting.”
Sonakshi giggled, and Vidya couldn’t help but do the same.
The two girls sat deep in thought with Pancake sitting between them, eating a strawberry.
“I’m sorry it didn’t work more, Vidya,” said Sonakshi sadly. “I really thought it would. A unicorn’s horn is supposed to be the most powerful healing tool in the world. I’ve used it heaps since I discovered that.”
“I guess the Fae magic can’t be healed that way,” said Vidya, softly.
“Oh, I almost forgot,” Sonakshi fished into her purple backpack and brought out a tiny glass container with swirling silver liquid inside. “I collected some tears for you.” She handed the container over, and Vidya held it in her hand, staring at it curiously.
“Your tears are silver?” she asked.
“Yeah, who would’ve thought, hey? But anyway, the point is, my tears are useful, swallow them and they give you unicorn powers for a short period of time. So, I was thinking if you needed it for healing, or flying faster… it could be of use.”
“Wow,” Vidya said. “That’s a brilliant idea, thank you for that.”
“No worries.”
“I just never thought anything like this could happen, Sona,” said Vidya wistfully, staring at the silvery
liquid. “The Fae magic is as sure as the sun. What if it goes away completely?”
Sonakshi absently patted Pancake on the head.
“You’ll do what you do best, Vidya. You’ll read, you’ll think, and you’ll figure it out.”
Vidya looked at her unicorn friend in appreciation and nodded. She had just really hoped Sonakshi could fix this situation, but she should’ve known it was all bigger than that.
“You’re more than a friend to me, Sona,” Vidya said. “You’re a sister.”
Sonakshi burst into tears and threw her arms around Vidya.
“Please let me know what happens,” Sonakshi said, releasing her as Pancake squeaked in protest as he got squashed between the two girls.
“Here, take these.” Vidya took out a bunch of messenger leaves from her pocket and handed them over. “Then you can write to me whenever you like.”
“Let me know if we can help anymore,” Sonakshi said. “Father has plenty of guards—”
“Human grown-ups can’t come in here,” reminded Vidya, shaking her head. “And I don’t want you to get caught up in anything dangerous here.”
Suddenly, the kids next to them let out a cheer, and the two girls looked at where they were pointing.
Daisy and Luna emerged from the palace kitchens holding two large cakes.
“It’s not burnt!” said Daisy proudly.
“Well, it is a little,” admitted Luna, plonking hers down on the table. “But its covered in icing, so that’s okay, right?”
“Right,” nodded Daisy. “Mum’s gonna be so proud of me, when she wakes up, I’m going to be an excellent cook!”
“Just whatever you do,” said a boy with spotted black and white wings. “Please don’t make that thing you made last night again.”
“Excuse me,” Daisy said, affronted. “I thought that was a lovely broccoli stew!”
The kids made gagging noises.
Vidya shook her head. The Fae kids were doing well without their parents so far, with the older kids making sure no one burnt the place down, but, reminded herself, it had only been a day and a half.
After feeding Sonakshi cake and the green mess Daisy called ‘broccoli stew’, Vidya rounded up the team again, and before long, they were flying toward the Fae forest. Landing, Sonakshi turned back into human form, and they trudged through the trees.
They had been walking for ten minutes when Sonakshi stopped and turned to peer into the dark forest.
“Did you hear that?” she frowned.
The others stopped and listened.
“I can’t hear anything,” said Vidya, scratching Pancake’s head where he sat in her pocket.
Sonakshi shrugged. “My unicorn hearing reaches a super long way away, so it could’ve just been a platypus in that billabong a few kilometres away.”
They continued walking, but within two seconds, Vidya heard it too.
“I heard that!” Vidya exclaimed, peering in the forest. “It sounded just like someone was saying—”
“OI!”
Vidya jumped and immediately turned, heading in the direction of the voice. Willow and Sonakshi called for her to stop, but Vidya pushed through the bushes into the dark of the forest. That voice did not seem sinister, it had seemed sort of nasally. Vidya felt Sonakshi close behind her, followed by the angry grumbles of Lily and Willow.
Vidya stormed through a line of bushes and found herself in front of a Fae pond. She knew it was a Fae pond and not a regular pond because of the way the blue water glowed with its own light. It was small enough that Vidya could’ve jumped over it easily. There were many Fae ponds all over the Fae realm. They had been created by the first living Fae as a connection to the merpeople of the great oceans of the world. Through a Fae pond, a mermaid or merman could swim up from the ocean and speak to the Fae. They were supposed to be tricky to find out in the ocean. It took real skill for a merperson to find them, let alone the right one. But it was something that was passed down to children from their parents. But it was not the Fae pond that caught Vidya’s attention; it was what was next to the pond.
Sitting on a large wet rock next to the pond was the strangest creature she had ever seen. He was some sort of fish, except he was fat and blob-like. It reminded Vidya of a sunken ball of jelly, and she had certainly never seen a fish with a nose that big and fat before. He stared at them back in an unimpressed sort of way with bored, black eyes. Then, to her shock, he opened his mouth and spoke.
“I have a message,” his voice was nasally, like his nose was blocked due to allergies, and he droned as if he was very annoyed at having to be there.
Vidya and Sonakshi stared at him. The others gathered into the clearing.
“I said, I have a message,” the fish repeated, annoyed. Vidya had never spoken to a fish before, but his lips were definitely moving. Animals of the Fae spoke all the time. She supposed fish that lived near merpeople probably could talk as well.
Vidya stepped forward hastily, “Yes, sorry, sir, I didn’t hear you properly.”
“Yes. Well, I’m in a hurry. It’s for the Princess of the Fae.” He squinted at her. “Are you the Princess of the Fae?”
“I’m Princess Vidya, yes. And this is Princess Sonakshi.”
The fish’s black eyes widened at this, and he gave what looked like a nod, but it was more like a twitch because he did not have a head to nod.
“I have heard of you,” he said to Sonakshi. “Her royal watery-ness, Princess Meera of the Western Pacific merpeople has an important message,” he droned on.
“Princess Meera sent you?” asked Sonakshi. She turned to Vidya. “I met her on the way to Fiji. She saved the boat you loaned me from capsizing, Vidya.”
The fish twitched again.
“Yes. Well. The message is this: Emergency. Bunyip sighting near the Fae pond. Eating creatures. Be careful. Investigating now. I’ve sent Bob to tell you.” He flapped a small fin. “Bob is me.”
“A Bunyip?” said Lotus in disbelief. He crossed his arms. “There has not been a Bunyip here since King Fern and Queen Talia of the merpeople locked them up two hundred years ago.”
Bob twitched. “It appears that they have woken up. From the magical spell laid on them.”
“All of them?” asked Vidya, “How many are there exactly?”
Lotus shook his head “It’s just not possible, Vidya. I highly doubt—”
“I mean, it could be true,” interrupted Willow. “Vidya, do you remember what Master Sunny—”
A roar pierced the air. A terrifying, spine tingling, heavy sound that made the earth beneath them tremble.
Vidya’s heart froze in her chest.
“Oh no,” Bob droned, “They’re coming!”
It was Lotus who sprang into action first, “Princess Sonakshi, to the portal, now!”
Vidya thought fast, and she whipped out a messenger leaf and jammed into Bob’s mouth.
“For Meera to send me a message later,” she blurted.
Sonakshi and Vidya then bolted, hearing a splash as Bob must have flopped back into the water. Pancake shrieked on Vidya’s shoulder, and she hoped he held on tight as the two Princesses and the three Fae kids sprinted through the bush, dodging branches and jumping over logs.
Vidya and the other Fae propelled themselves forward even faster, using their wings. Vidya grasped Sonakshi’s hand, dragging her forward.
“We’re close!” she cried and veered left, Sonakshi panting behind her.
Vidya spotted the portal tree in the distance. “There!”
They jumped over another log and cleared a bush, and Vidya stuck her finger into the trunk, drawing the doorway. Light flashed, and she grabbed the doorknob just as it appeared. Vidya pushed Sonakshi forward at the same time she pushed the door open. As soon as Sonakshi was through, Vidya slammed the door shut. A scream came from behind her, and Vidya turned to see Lotus, also turning to see who had screamed. A black hulking figure threw Lily through the air. The small girl spun in the air but flapped he
r wings and rose, flying into the trees. Vidya’s heart stopped. The beast thundering through the bushes was black with sleek skin from the neck down and four muscled legs. It rose onto its hind legs and roared from a mouth like an enormous dog with huge sharp yellow canine teeth. He stared at them all with huge, angry eyes. It was exactly like the creature in the book Master Sunny had shown them.
“Fly!” Lotus shouted taking a running jump. “Fly!”
Vidya and the others shot into the air as another earth-shattering roar filled their ears. Pancake screamed, and Vidya caught him just as he tumbled off her shoulder. She stuffed him into her pocket, and, panting, she met the four others above the treetops.
“Bunyip!” cried Willow, supporting a slumped Lily. She cradled one of her arms and winced in pain. “It’s really a bunyip!” The trees beneath them shook as the Bunyip tried to climb up.
“Back to the palace!” cried Vidya. “Go, go, go!”
Princess Sonakshi stumbled through the portal tree. She turned around and just managed to get a view of what was behind Vidya before she slammed the door shut. That creature was horrifying. She called out with a sob.
“Father!”
She stumbled through the forest, not believing what she had seen. She could see her father and her guards camped through the trees.
“Father!”
King Devin jumped up from his seat on the log and, seeing Sonakshi through the trees, he ran to grab her.
“What happened Sona? Are you okay?”
Sonakshi huddled into her father’s arms and heard the rushed footsteps of Captain Sampson and his men.
“What happened?” her father repeated.
“M-monster.” Was all she could say. “I hope Vidya and the others flew away safely.”
“You’re safe now, love.”
He patted her on the back, and she felt calmed instantly. She was safe here, that… Bunyip couldn’t get through. The portal was closed.
She stepped away from her father and wiped her eyes.
“The mermaid Princess Meera sent a message through the Fae pond,” she explained. “And then we saw it—it chased us. They said it was called a Bunyip.”