Lupina IV and the Ring of Power: Part Three

by thegreatlupelover

The Quest Begins

As I lay waiting for my body to allow me to drift off, I felt something funny. There was a hard lump right under my head. I sat up. Something must be under my pillow, I thought. I sat up and picked up my pillow. I gasped in surprise. Under it lay a tiny, locked treasure chest. I tried to pry it open, but I couldn't. Then I remembered: Myra had given me a Magic Key when I left. "Never know what it might unlock," she had told me. "It could come in handy at school."

Quietly, so as not to wake the others in the nearby rooms, I tiptoed over to my desk and slid open the secret drawer. Inside lay my Magic Key, the ruby glistening in the light from the moon that shone through my window. I picked it up and went back to the little chest. I slipped the key into the keyhole. It fit perfectly. With a little twist, I unlocked the chest and opened it up.

Inside lay a scroll. It was an old, tattered piece of parchment, rolled up and tied with a green thread. Overcome with curiosity, I untied the thread and unrolled the scroll. I stared at the intricate lettering.

"An echo calling, early morn,
The birds have just begun to sing,
Echo calls to one who was born
To wield the power, gain the ring.
A quest this Lupe must undertake,
With her 3 friends, stalwart and strong,
To seek the ring, for faeries' sake,
This ring of power, gone so long.

A wand of light,
An orb of fire,
A circlet of air,
A necklace of water,
A staff of earth,
An amulet of darkness,
And a ring to rule them all."

I read the poem twice over. "And a ring to rule them all." Was I supposed to find the ring? If so, how? "With her 3 friends..." Which friends? I fell asleep puzzling over it.

***

I was drifting over the land. I seemed to be going somewhere, but I didn't know where. Around me, the Elemental faeries flew. They were chanting the poem.

"This ring of power, gone so long." Then the Light Faerie spoke alone.

"A wand of light," she said.

"An orb of fire," added the Fire Faerie.

"A circlet of air," the Air Faerie continued.

"A necklace of water," the Water Faerie recited.

"A staff of earth," the Earth Faerie sang.

"An amulet of darkness," chanted the Dark Faerie.

"And a ring to rule them all," finished a voice I couldn't place.

I drifted down into a clearing. The Faeries landed around me. "You must collect the six items," the mystery voice said, "and use them to produce the ring." The Faeries drifted away. I woke up in my bed and blinked.

I crept into the next room and roused Rosy. "Shh," I said. "I'll explain later. Come on." Without questioning me she got up. Her glossy Cloud coat glistened in the moonlight.

Soon we had roused Lily and Emala. Lily winged silently along and Emala blended into the shadows. I wrote a hasty note and left it by the side of my brother Nyoki's bed. He was the most trusted of my brothers and always knew how to handle a situation.

I put the note in a good spot and we set off. I knew these three were the friends I should take with me on my quest. Then I took out the scroll and read the poem. "I've got to collect the first six items, and then I'll be able to get the ring," I said.

"What's the first item?" Lily asked.

"A wand of light... let's see... that would be the Wand of the Light Faerie!" I replied. "Where could we get that?"

"I think I know a place," said Rosy. "It's somewhere in Faerieland, where everything is made of light. In the center, there's a Light Palace, and in that is the Wand of the Light Faerie."

"So we need to go to Faerieland?" I asked. Rosy nodded.

"We've all got the ability Flight, don't we?" Emala added.

"Yeah," the rest of us chorused.

"Well then, let's go!" I declared, and leaped into the air.

***

Before long, we were in Faerieland. I looked around. "Which way do we go now?" I asked Rosy.

"Um... I think it's supposed to be somewhere off to the East," she replied. We set off. Soon, we came to the edge of the main cloud mass of Faerieland. We activated Flight and flew East. After an hour, a blinding bright light appeared on the horizon.

"That must be it!" Lily cried.

As we got closer, we could hardly see from all the bright light. "I'll use Nighttime," Emala said. "It won't be able to make it totally dark here, but we will be able to see." She did so, and the four friends continued. Now they could see quite well.

Before long, they came into the city of light. Emala had to use Night Time again before they could continue. Finally, they came to the center of the city of light, where the Palace was located.

At the gates of the Palace stood the Uber Light Faerie. "What are you doing in the City of Light?" she asked suspiciously.

"We have come to find the Wand of the Light Faerie, supposedly located in this palace," I replied. The Light Faerie considered.

"I will give you the Wand," she said, "if you can defeat me in a battle. I battle Lupina IV, for she is the main member of this strange party."

I stepped forward to face the Light Faerie. We looked at each other, using magical powers to search for weaknesses. I spotted one and used my ability Demon Breath. The Light Faerie staggered backward. The stench was overpowering. She used Sun Ray. I held my eyes in a stare with her, and although her Sun Ray was possibly the brightest ever, it did not blind me. I used Lava Spit. She was hit and her HP went down a little. She then took out a Nova and threw it at me. The searing bright light enveloped me. I restored myself and attacked with my Lupe Moon Charm. The Light Faerie staggered backward and slumped to the ground.

"You... win..." she gasped out. I made some water of life for her and then passed into the castle.

The floor was made of light. It felt warm and silky under my bare paws. I climbed a grand light staircase and entered a huge room. In the center of the room, lying on an alter made of light, was the Wand of the Light Faerie. I picked it up, marveling. It was beautiful, exquisite. I slipped it in my pack and turned.

"Come on," I told the other three. They were staring at me. "What's wrong?"

"You're... you're..." Lily whispered.

"You're inside an orb of light," Rosy finished. "Wait... no... it's fading... now its gone."

As she said it was gone, a sudden surge of a substance much like the light floor ran through me. I suddenly knew all the Light abilities, not just Magic Torch, Flash, Bless, and Restore.

"Well, let's go," I said, pulling the scroll out of my pack. "The next item is an orb of fire... that would be the Orb of the Fire Faerie. C'mon, we're off to Fire Faerie Volcano."

To be continued...