Beta told the seven Tuata to sit on the backs of the seagulls and to hold on tight. The friends understood immediately that a dizzying journey through the air lay ahead of them, but they could not afford to turn down the offer of a flight with the seagulls. They knew only too well that it was the only way they could reach the top of the cliffs. The large white birds flapped their wings and shot up into the sky. The poor Tuata pressed themselves even closer to the seagulls and closed their eyes with fear. They only opened them again when they heard the voice of the kind fairy nearby telling them that the flight was over and that they could now let the seagulls go.

Beta and the seven Tuata thanked the tall, handsome, brave and strong bird-people warmly and then they flew away once more up into the sky. As the bird-people were said goodbye, they told Beta that they were always happy to help her due to her kindness and warm heart, as many years before she had saved one of them.

Seeing that the Tuata did not understand a word of what the seagull-people were saying, the fairy smiled and decided to tell the friends the story of how she had become friends with the magical bird-people.

Once upon a time, many years ago, while walking along the seashore, Beta had found a baby seagull with a broken wing. She realised that the young bird was only just beginning to learn to fly and so was unable to cope with strong winds. The bad weather had carried him too far from home and damaged his wing. The young bird had hidden himself helplessly under a large stone and was crying out plaintively when the fairy spotted him. Beta felt very sorry for the unhappy little bird and decided to take him home with her. She did not know whether the baby seagull would survive, but she could not leave him all alone on the seashore. The fairy thought that it was better to try to do something good than to do nothing at all. She picked up the poor little bird, laid him in her basket and carried him back to her house. At home, Beta bathed him in warm water, fed him well, bandaged his broken wing, made a soft little nest for him in her basket and placed it near the stove for warmth.

By the evening the little bird was already looking a bit happier: he had dried out, fluffed his feathers up and was sleeping peacefully in the basket. Beta could now relax as she knew that she had saved the life of the little seagull. To help someone in trouble or to save someone’s life is the happiest thing that a fairy can do, and so when Beta looked at the bird she had rescued she was filled with joy. Covering him with her woolly knitted shawl, she went to bed in a very happy mood.

The next morning a real miracle took place in Beta’s house. When she woke up and went to check on her little patient, instead of a bird she saw a small child in the basket.

Although all fairies are magical and are rarely surprised by miracles, such an unexpected transformation from a little seagull into a small child still worried Beta. Then she suddenly remembered the stories that the Ruler of the Sea, Nuada, had told her about the mysterious seagull-people that lived on a distant sunny island, and she realised that the day before on the seashore she had picked up not just any young bird, but a very special bird. The fairy stood and looked at the little boy with his bandaged arm and thought about what she should do next. Should she take him back to the seashore in the hope that his parents would find him there? But what if they didn’t find him? Then the little bird would be frozen by the wind among the cold stones and die. Beta could not allow this to happen. She decided to keep the child, bring him up herself and when he was old enough and strong enough to fly back to his own island, then she would let him return to the seagull-people.

From this day on, Beta began to look after the little bird as if he were her own child. She fed him, put him to bed, sang songs to him, told him stories, sewed and knitted beautiful clothes for him and took him for walks. Thanks to the fairy’s care and concern, his broken arm healed very quickly and soon he began to use it just as skilfully and freely as his healthy arm. When the boy was a little older, Beta taught him to read and write, and soon afterwards she began to teach him science and magic. The seagull-boy was an inquisitive and talented pupil who grasped the scientific and magical knowledge quickly and easily, and Beta was always pleased with him. It is true that he sometimes scared her with his unexpected transformation from boy to bird and back again, but the fairy was never angry with him: she knew that the little boy was just playing with her.

And so the years passed and the fairy’s pupil grew up. The little boy he became a tall, strong and skilful young man, and one bright spring day Beta realised that it was time for him to return home to the seagull-people. She told her pupil this and he was ready to carry the fairy across the sea on his shoulders as a seagull, but Beta, just to be on the safe side, decided they should take a different route. They went down together to the bottom of the sea, where they spoke to her old friend Nuada, and he led the fairy and her pupil straight to the distant sunny island.

When Beta arrived at the top of the high cliffs on the back of the seagull there was a great commotion in the city of the bird-people. They all began to run from house to house to tell one other that their little bird had not been dashed against the cliffs and drowned in the sea all those years ago. He was alive and healthy, he had grown up, and now he had returned!

In honour of the miraculous rescue of their little bird and his return home, and also of the kindest fairy in the world, the seagull-people declared a holiday in their city. Over a celebratory meal they promised to always help the fairy and to rescue her from any trouble she may find herself in.

“And as you can see, the seagull-people kept their word”, said Beta and beamed cheerfully at the seven Tuata.

The fairy went on to tell them that her pupil, the dear little bird-child, often flew to visit her and always called her ‘mother’.

Beta then told the Tuata the secret that only a good person was able to see the bird-people and their city, while a bad person only saw cliffs beside the sea and seagulls soaring high up in the sky. The bird-people were always happy to make friends with good people, but they did not like people with cold and evil hearts. Wicked, uncaring people were not allowed into the city or the world of the magical seagull-people.

“And they can tell immediately, with their sharp, penetrating stare, who is a good person and who is bad”, said Beta, bursting out laughing, and she told the seven Tuata some stories about the life of the seagull people. The Tuata listened to the fairy with great interest while they continued on their journey.

The travellers could make out the white city of the seagull-people lay behind them in the distance, and before them lay a wide, unattractive plain covered with burnt, withered grass and a scattering of stones. There were no trees or bushes to be seen anywhere and the wind blew right across the empty plain, but in the distance something sparkled cheerily and invitingly, like a large mirror, and the Tuata guessed right away that this was a lake. The friends cheered up and hurried towards it in the hope of resting on its shore, washing themselves with its clear, cold water and replenishing their supplies of fresh water, but disappointment awaited them. When Beta and the Tuata finally reached the lake, the water in it seemed murky and tasted salty. This made the seven tired Tuata feel sad again, and they sat down in silence on the deserted sandy shore of the lake. As before, it was only the fairy who did not become downcast or seem at all tired. Instead of sitting with her friends and resting a little, she began to pace up and down the shore of the lake and ponder deeply over something. The Tuata sensibly refrained from asking the fairy any questions as they did not want to interrupt the train of her thoughts. Then the fairy stopped suddenly, called them all to her and explained that she not only knew where and how to find fresh water, but also how to build a bridge across the large lake to avoid having to walk around it. She said that she had remembered an ancient spell that could turn salty water into fresh water and this should help them, but the Tuata were a little sceptical.

“Dearest Beta, do you really think that the sounds of the spell will make the salty water fresh, and the words of the spell will turn into a stone bridge?! It is hard to believe this”, said Bradag with uncertainty in his voice, but the fairy said nothing. Without paying any attention to the doubts of her friends, she went up to the edge of the lake, half covered her eyes, and in a whisper uttered the ancient spell over the water. She then took out a small bluish-grey stone from the pocket of her cloak and said loudly:

And then the fairy did indeed throw the stone as far as she could out into the lake, and a miracle occurred right in front of the Tuata’s eyes: in the place where the stone landed a high, rocky island rose up from the water and a bridge stretched from the island to the shore of the lake.

The Tuata began to clap their hands in amazement and delight and ran up to Beta and set about thanking her for her calmness, resourcefulness and wisdom, but the fairy stopped them. She knew that the magic bridge would only last a short time and could disappear at any moment. The fairy of course did not think it was necessary to tell the Tuata about this, but simply advised them not to waste precious time; once they had all crossed to the island, however, the bridge melted away behind them as if it had never been there. It was only Beta who noticed this, however, for as soon as the Tuata had reached the island they had started to explore it. Although it had seemed bleak and lifeless from a distance, under every stone on the island there was in fact a spring with clear, cool water.

The Tuata and the fairy cheered up immediately, filled their empty flasks with fresh water, washed away the dust from the journey and began to splash about happily in the water. But what they did not notice was that not far away, on one of the stones, sat a fair-haired, blue-eyed man, who was watching them and smiling. Kana was the first to notice him and she whispered this to Beta. The rest of the Tuata then looked where Kana pointed and also saw the man who was wearing a light-blue cloak. The Tuata immediately fell silent, eyeing the stranger with curiosity, but the fairy guessed right away that this was Dan himself, Master of the Pure Springs, Streams and Lakes. She had heard about him more than once from the Ruler of the Sea, Nuada, and the seagull-people. And her former pupil, the seagull, had flown to visit her one day, and brought as a present the small bluish-grey stone; he then told the fairy the secret of how Dan crossed from one shore to another and built whole islands in the middle of lakes with the help of such stones. When she was gathering her things for the journey, Beta had had the foresight to take the smooth rounded stone with her. She had read once in an old book how to turn salt water into fresh, and now all this knowledge had proven very useful. Beta waved cheerfully to blue-eyed Dan.

It appeared that the Master of the Springs, Streams and Lakes had also heard about the kind fairy from the seagull-people. He greeted her joyfully, thanked her for helping him turn the salty lake into fresh water, and then asked the travellers where they were going and why. Having listened to the replies of the seven Tuata and the fairy, Dan promised to help his new friends in whatever way he could. But could he do anything to help the travellers? It seemed that he could. Dan presented the fairy and the Tuata with a small jug of pure spring water that never ran dry. Such a jug would always be useful on a long journey. The Master of the Springs, Streams and Lakes also gave Beta several more bluish-grey magic stones just in case the friends needed to cross any rivers or lakes in future. After this Dan took the seven Tuata and the fairy to the far shore of the lake in his boat and said that he would be very happy to see them all again on their return journey.

When Beta and the Tuata turned round to say goodbye to the Dan, they saw that he and his boat had already disappeared and the rocky island in the middle of the lake had sunk back down into the water. Everything was very quiet and peaceful.

The seven Tuata would have liked to stay on the shore for a while and listen to the silence, but the fairy hurried them along. The Sun was already sinking towards the horizon and ahead of them lay a forest that would be better to reach before nightfall.

As the last rays of the Sun lit up the Earth, Beta and the Tuata finally reached the edge of the large forest. It rose up over the plain like a high dark wall. The friends entered the forest by a barely noticeable path and moved ahead slowly, constantly glancing from side to side. The forest around them was dense, very dark and gloomy, and seemed rather unfriendly. The wind whistled through the treetops, owls hooted all around, something rustled and murmured continuously in the branches, blue, yellow and red lights flared up and then disappeared again in the darkness, everywhere smelt of dampness and the seven Tuata were terrified. Having only just entered the forest, they wanted to get out of it as soon as possible but the end was nowhere in sight.

It gradually grew dark and the poor Tuata realised they would have to spend the night in the dense, gloomy and frightening forest. When they emerged into a small clearing amongst the trees they wasted no time in lighting a campfire and sat down around it, huddled up close to one another, and of course, to Beta. All seven Tuata were secretly very glad that the wise, decisive and kind fairy was with them right now. The Tuata knew that the darkness was afraid of light and that evil spirits never came near a brightly-burning campfire. Nevertheless, without Beta they would not have felt as safe and secure, even with a campfire.

All night the fairy told the friends magical tales, and humorous and meaningful stories about the lives of people and fairies; she softly sang ancient songs and recited poetry, and the time until dawn passed quickly.

With the arrival of morning the seven Tuata and Beta ate a hasty breakfast, put out the fire and set off on their way once more. A little tired after the sleepless night, the Tuata walked slowly and often stumbled over clumps of grass or the roots of trees. Only the fairy remained as cheerful as ever and strode through the forest without any sign of tiredness. She continually reassured, comforted and encouraged her friends, fed them sweets from home and gave them water to drink from the magic jug, and thanks to her efforts the Tuata were able to press on through the dark and gloomy forest for several hours.

The forest finally came to an end and the travellers emerged into a brightly-lit green meadow. All around them they could hear birds singing, there were flowers everywhere and there was the wonderful smell of honey in the air. The Sun’s rays danced merrily on large drops of dew and a multi-coloured rainbow kept appearing and then disappearing over the meadow. After the gloom of the forest depths the open sunny meadow seemed especially warm and inviting to the friends. The Tuata forgot about all their worries, clapped their hands with happiness and began to dance round and round. Then all at once they dropped onto the grass and fell asleep immediately.

The friends did not know how long they slept, but when they woke the Sun was shining just as bright over the meadow and the birds were still singing, but nearby the Tuata saw some unfamiliar and very unusual people. They were all dressed in light, delicate clothes that seemed to be made from fine morning mist. When they walked, their light, nimble legs barely made an impression in the grass, and if these unusual people encountered a particularly beautiful flower in their path, they would simply float over it like graceful butterflies. The Tuata gazed at these strange people with curiosity, and the people themselves regarded the seven Tuata with great interest and smiled welcomingly at them. Every so often they tried to say something to the seven friends in their melodic language, which sounded just like birdsong, but the Tuata understood nothing and shrugged their shoulders helplessly. Only Beta understood their language and could even speak to them. And so the strange people all gathered round the fairy and began to talk with her and then discussed things amongst themselves. Once they had agreed something with Beta, they suddenly flew off and Beta explained to the seven Tuata that these strange flying people were meadow-elves and that they were her distant relatives. The fairy told them that the meadow-elves were a cheerful, kind and friendly people, and that in their meadow land they tended flowers and grasses, looked after hard-working bees, danced in the evenings, greeted the sunrise with songs and still knew the secret of preparing special cakes which gave strength and good spirits to all travellers. She also told the friends that the elves made their cakes from flower pollen, honey and freshly-collected dew.

“When the elves found out where we were going and why, they decided to treat us to some of their wonderful cakes. And while the elves are busy preparing them we could take a walk through the sunny meadow, breathe the air that is as sweet as honey and look at their beautiful flowers”, suggested Beta, and the Tuata agreed with delight. The friends set off at a leisurely pace through the warm, flower-filled meadow, stopping to examine the flowers in detail. The Tuata saw bluebells, camomile and irises, but many flowers they did not recognize, so they asked Beta about them. She knew the names of all the flowers and grasses in the meadow and the Tuata were amazed at her knowledge, but the fairy said nothing to them about this and just smiled back at them. You see, she could not be a magic fairy without an understanding of nature and plants.

An hour or two passed before the kind elves returned to the meadow. They treated their guests generously to the wonderful cakes and gave them hot tea to drink. For the journey the elves gave Beta and each of the seven Tuata a small linen bag of their cakes, and told them that there was still a long way to go before they reached the palace of Lugus.

Then they led their guests to the edge of the vast flower-filled meadow and warned them that ahead of them lay the dangerous land of Grona, where elves also lived, but not such kind or friendly elves. The meadow-elves explained to the friends that the land of Grona consisted of marshes and swamps, and anyone who became bogged down in these would become a slave of the crafty marsh-elves forever. The marsh-elves used their slaves to make new jackets and shoes for them, do all their housework and look after their large underground herds of cattle. If a cow strayed into the marsh, the marsh-elves would immediately claim it for themselves and declare a holiday as a result of this, because the marsh-elves liked fresh warm milk more than anything else in the world.

The meadow-elves also said that people usually avoided these marshes, but the shortest route to the palace of Lugus was through the marshes and swamps of Grona.

When they heard all this the seven Tuata started to worry how they would be able to pass through the marshes and swamps safely, but the beautiful golden-haired queen of the meadow-elves reassured them. She revealed to Beta and the Tuata the secret of the crafty marsh-elves. It turned out that they were afraid of the magical powers of an ordinary meadow flower: white clover. If the marsh-elves touched it they would lose the ability to speak or move for a whole hour, and so they would not harm any travellers who carried the leaves and flowers of white clover. And the beautiful elf-queen handed each of the seven Tuata and Beta a sprig of white clover and embraced them. Then the meadow-elves wished the friends a safe journey in their melodious language.

Everything turned out exactly as the queen of the meadow-elves had predicted. As soon as the Tuata and Beta crossed the border of the marshy land of Grona, the gleeful marsh-elves began to run towards them from all directions. They were ready to pinch and tickle the travellers, tug at their sleeves, pull on the tails of their cloaks and urge them on towards the swamp. However, when the elves saw that Beta and the Tuata were holding flowers and leaves of white clover, they stopped in their tracks and sighed with disappointment, then looked at the cautious travellers with a mixture of hurt and annoyance and sat down at a safe distance from them on mounds of grass in the marsh. Occasionally the elves called out loudly or whistled to try to cause the travellers to lose their way and fall into the swamp, but at the start of the path through the marsh Beta had instructed the seven Tuata to follow in her footsteps without fail. Because she was a magic fairy, Beta could see through water and earth, and so she knew exactly which ground was hard and which was dangerous swamp. The Tuata realised this and so they followed Beta slowly and carefully, but also bravely and confidently.

And so they passed through all the obstacles and dangers of the marshy land of Grona and found themselves once more on firm and dry ground. When the Tuata looked back they saw that the furious marsh-elves were waving their fists at them. But the friends were not frightened by this. On the contrary, they found it funny, and waved farewell to the marsh-elves with their white clover, and were about to throw it away when the fairy stopped them. She told them that the clover would come in useful on the return journey. At first, Ruta, Kana, Bradag, Krudlakh, Gaire, Ebor and Anun doubted this, as they thought that by that time the white clover would have become wilted and dry, but Beta reminded the friends that the clover was a present to them from the meadow-elves.

“Such flowers never wilt and never dry out”, she said, and the seven Tuata had no reason to doubt the fairy. On her advice they put away the magic clover in the pockets of their waistcoats and set off again on the path without looking back.

Soon a range of low, rocky hills appeared on the horizon and the friends started to hear a rumbling sound in the distance. This was the River Ton crashing and roaring. It was not a particularly deep river, and it would have been possible to wade across it if it were not so wide, fast and turbulent. The river Ton flowed between two rocky banks, rumbled and foamed around large stones that protruded from the water, and then burst out into the sea.

When the Tuata approached the high and steep banks of the river, they suddenly realised that it would be impossible to wade across it or even cross it in a boat. There was also no bridge to be seen and the Tuata began to lose heart. They started to discuss what to do next, but the noise of the water drowned out their voices. In their distress the friends completely forgot about the bluish-grey magic stones that had been given to them by kind Dan. It is just as well that the fairy remembered them. Having looked down at the swift and raging river, she took one of the little bluish-grey stones from her pocket, threw it far out into the water and a bridge suddenly appeared across the river. The friends hurried across it, and when the last of the Tuata had stepped onto the opposite bank of the fast-moving River Ton, the bridge turned into a bright rainbow that shone over the river. The travellers then continued on their way, and with each step they climbed higher and higher into the hills.

The seven Tuata eventually grew rather tired and sat down on a large stone beside the path to eat some of the elves’ wonderful cake and drink the water from Dan’s magic jug. Beta then said: “I think we have reached Uim, the land of caves. As far as I know, gnomes live here. These are a small but very hard-working race of people who live and work deep underground. The gnomes mine different valuable metals and precious stones, but they love and value green emeralds most of all. They believe that the special magic powers of emeralds protect gnomes, elves and people from bad things. However, gnomes also like anything green. My dear pupil, the seagull-child, told me that the gnomes usually wear green jackets and green caps. I suppose everyone likes different things… The gnomes hide all of the treasures that they have mined in underground caves and no-one has yet managed to find these treasures. I believe that the gnomes are very friendly to people, as long as they do not try to deceive them or take away their treasures by force. We are not going underground in search of gold and silver so they have nothing to fear from us, but all the same I should warn you in advance: if you see bars of precious metals or beautiful sparkling stones in the underground passages and caves, then it is safer not to touch them.”

“But why do we have to go down into the gnomes’ underground caves at all”, asked the surprised Tuata.

“I’m afraid that we can’t avoid it. The land of Uim is not only a land of caves, but also of mountains. Ahead of us lie mountain peaks so high that the snow on them never melts, and a cold, biting wind always blows through the gorges. We cannot cross mountains like this, so we have no choice but to go down into the caves”, replied Beta firmly.

“But I heard that there are not only good gnomes, but evil ones too. My grandfather told me that evil gnomes lure travellers in, and then force them to work in their mines and never let them return. Dear fairy, is this true?” asked Ruta timidly, and even shivered at these unpleasant thoughts.

“I believe this does happen. There are evil gnomes. They dig for metals underground and very rarely come to the surface. I have never seen such gnomes myself, but have also heard about them”, said Beta thoughtfully, and the seven Tuata fell silent. They began to look round warily and listened closely to every sound, but the fairy suddenly smiled cheerfully and promised the friends that if they were watchful and careful along the way then nothing bad would happen to them.

“In the ancient books I once found the secret of the good and evil gnomes: the good gnomes paint their passages and caves in their beloved green colour, whereas the evil gnomes paint theirs grey. As long as we don’t hurry through the underground passages and caves, but calmly and carefully examine everything around us, then we are sure to find ourselves among friends. But in order to better distinguish green from grey, I would advise you to equip yourselves with torches before we go underground”, said Beta firmly. And so Bradag, Ebor, Krudlakh, Anun and Gaire quickly headed off to a nearby forest to gather some suitable branches and resin in order to make torches. They soon returned and set about making some torches from the dry pine branches.

When everything was ready the friends set out once again on the steep, rocky path, climbing higher and higher until they reached a narrow and dark crack in the cliff. This was the entrance to one of the caves.

Beta immediately lit the lantern that she had brought with her from home, the Tuata lit their torches, and they all began to examine carefully some signs and markings on the walls of the cave. Once they had made sure that the signs were only in green paint, the friends cheered up: they had been very lucky to find the right cave straight away. However, there were several passages leading from it, and how would they choose the right one?

On the fairy’s advice the Tuata lit some extra torches, and in the bright light of the flame they found that one passage was painted a green colour. They all set off slowly along it. As soon as the passage forked the Tuata again lit more torches and thoroughly investigated the colour of the new passages. In this way the friends gradually moved deeper and deeper underground. All around them it was exceptionally quiet and dark.

But what was that noise ahead of them? The friends stopped, extinguished their torches just in case, leaving just Beta’s lantern, and began to move ever more slowly and carefully along the green wall of the passage, holding their breath as they went. In the distance they could see different coloured lights, and could hear some kind of singing, the sound of music and the stamping of small feet. The Tuata listened and decided that only good gnomes could dance so cheerfully and sing such happy songs. The friends moved forward again, but this time a little faster and more boldly. The passage opened out unexpectedly into a large high cave, where coloured torches were burning, cheerful music was playing, and small people in green jackets and caps were singing and dancing.

When they saw their unexpected guests, the little people stopped singing and dancing and the music in the cave died down. The gnomes stood rooted to the spot and frowned. They could not understand who these people were who had arrived during their festival, and why they had come. The gnomes looked at the fairy and her friends in puzzled silence, and the Tuata, who had never seen gnomes before, also said nothing and gazed wide-eyed at the little people in their green jackets and caps. Several minutes passed like this. Beta was the first to break the awkward silence. The fairy strode bravely up to the kind gnomes, gave a little bow and wished them good day or good evening and a happy festival.