John and Elizabteth's Quest
by Megan and Cameron Tidd

Chapter 3

Elizabeth awoke, not sure if what she’d just heard in her mind was really a dream or not. Some of it had been a dream, that was certain, but not all of it...The voice in her head, telling her to give up the ring....The voice was young, but had sinister undertones to it. Massaging her temples with her fingers, she closed her eyes. She wasn’t receiving any more voices in her head. She glanced over at John, who still lay asleep in the next bed. Did he hear that voice too? she wondered. Sighing, she lay back on the bed again, staring at the ceiling.

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In a hallway not far from the room where John and Elizabeth lay, Link and Zelda were still discussing the voice they had just heard. "Link," Zelda began, worried, "that ring has a lot of power in it. It may even be stronger than you!" Link nodded. If that ring was strong enough to help the girl survive the stormy Hyrulian water, it must be a very strong ring indeed. "Maybe we should ask the girl about it," he suggested to Zelda. "Yes, but not until later. I need to see something first." With that, she turned and walked quickly down the hallway to where the library awaited. Link trailed after her. Upon entering, he saw she was taking a thick book down from one of the numerous shelves. Leaving through the pages with quick fingers, she soon reached the page she was looking for. Her eyes intense, she began to read what was in front of her. "It says here," she began, "that the ring the girl wears is the Ring of Fate, also known as the Golden Ring. It was made a few hundred years ago by a wizard who used it as a means of protection. It dissapeared for a time then. Every once and awhile, though, it would come up again in books of legends and lore. Nobody knew for certain what became of it though," Zelda’s eyes met Link’s, "until now." All was silent for a moment. Then, a voice came from the doorway. "Princess Zelda." Zelda turned. Impa stood, with her usual stern look and folded arms. "I have told your father of the girl and boy’s arrival. He told me that if they are to stay at the castle, they have to learn a few things. Princess, your father has requested that you help make the girl into a proper lady. Link, you are to teach the boy the art of swordmanship." Looks of shock and dismay crossed Link and Zelda’s faces. "But, Impa, we don’t have time for that now! Just a little while ago, we heard a telepathic voice, saying something about this ring." Zelda held up the book. Impa read the book’s contents. Nodding, she said, "Yes, I thought I was feeling some telepathic vibrations awhile ago, but I couldn’t quite make them out." Zelda continued, "Whoever sent those messages must be very dangerous. They want the ring, Impa, and Din only knows what they’ll do to get at it."
A dismal silence settled in the room, and this time, nothing interuppted it. Everyone was thinking of that strange ring, and the person who wanted it so badly.

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Indra had decided to bide her time. It would be a bit risky to try and enter the castle with her parents watching her every move. It wasn’t as if she could simply say, "Oh, yes, I’m leaving for the castle now." It simply wouldn’t work. She had to think of a way to sneak out of the house without anyone suspecting anything. While she sat and thought, she could hear her little brothers and sisters arguing over something stupid, as they always did, her father was drinking Heer and wished to be left in peace, and her mother was off in town somewhere.
Making sure no one would see, she went to her machine. It was crude, built basically of old firewood and whatever she could rip off from the local blacksmith. "Piece of junk," she muttered, kicking at it. Her raven colored hair fell over her face as she removed the two rings she already had from the pocket of her black dress. One was blue, the color of the ocean, and the other was red, like the one she needed so badly, but instead of having a gold setting, this ring had silver as its backing.
Three hollows were in the machine. Placing two of the rings in two of the hollows, she watched as the machine take on a faint glow. As soon as she was able to sneak into the castle to get the third ring, all the power would be hers....A thin smile broke out across her cruel mouth, and she began to laugh.

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