The Shadow of Amulets

The Elder Forest

"no, please. I'm telling you the truth... I don't know who that person is. Just...please...don't kill me" a man said while begging on the ground. His face was covered in blood as he seemed to have been beaten.

There was a moment of silence.

"Well it seems you don't have the information I want after all," the person said. "Yes, that's right. I've been telling the truth since the start, so could you----------". The man begging on the ground stopped talking suddenly. It was because an arrow went right through his body. His body then just fell over as he was shot dead. Blood was running out of his body and soiling the ground." A quick death is the most pleasant. Be thankful" the figure said as he walked off and disappeared...

Link's POV

"Alaan wake up, it's morning," I say as I nudge him with my foot. "Huh...where are we... This doesn't look like the castle..."Alaan said confused and dazed." It's like you complete forgot THE JOURNEY TO FIND THE AMULETS" I shout making him jump up. "Oh yeah, I forgot about that haha. That explains why we're in the wild" Alaan said rubbing the back of his head.

We both wash our faces at the nearest lake, eat some food Alaan brought with us and we began to leave. The sun rose from the east about an hour ago and it was early morning. We continued to keep travelling. "We're almost to the Elder Forest and that's where we're gonna find the second Amulet." Uh, Link" Alaan said. "Yeah?" I replied. "You haven't told me how you know about this 'Elder Forest'. Alaan asked. I paused for a few seconds and then began to speak.

"I stumbled upon the Elder Forest when I was very young. While I was living with my Father, we had this part of our training where we would both go to an unknown part of the Forest and try to live out there for a few days. It was to strengthen awareness and increase survival ability. "Woah!! and you call that training, sounds like a recipe to get yourself killed. And at that age, your dad must have trusted you massively" Alaan said with wide eyes. "I guess you could say his training methods were...unusual" I reply with a chuckle. "More like crazy," he said. We both started laughing. We continued to journey for the next few hours while we were talking about random things.

The sky looked like it was about noon and we had just arrived outside the Elder Forest. "Well, here we are," I say. "This forest's humongous. That Amulet could be anywhere" Alaan said slightly worried. "That won't be an issue. I have an idea where it will be" I reply. "And where would that be" Alaan replied back.

"At the heart of the forest...The Elder Tree" I say slowly.

That name sank in while Alaan thought about it.

It took about 30 minutes to find the Elder Tree. "Woah! That tree's huge! Now the name makes sense" Alaan said tilting his head up and up until he could see the top. "It was given its name for its abnormal size and the fact that it's the oldest tree of them all" I reply. "I'm not surprised honestly, it definitely looks much older than the rest," he said.

As we were approaching the forest, I immediately stopped as I heard some movement. Alaan stopped too. "Why did we stop," Alaan said in confusion. "Because we're not alone," I said with a serious expression. There was silence for a few moments as I was trying to hear the person's movement.

To my surprise, the person appeared behind a tree and held a bow to us.

"Who are you!," the person said quickly and calmly. As the stranger spoke, that person looked familiar but I couldn't see properly as there was some distance between us.

"An enemy already!. Man, that was quick" Alaan said.

The person began walking towards us and at that point, I noticed who that was. The long silky black hair gave it away.

It was Elvia...

My eyes widened in shock and relief.

"Elvia! It's me" I shout as I pull down my face cover. Elvia stood there for a moment like she was in shock.

"Link?..." she replied as she looked closely. She then put her bow down and pulled down her hood and face cover.

Elvia walked up to us and waved. "Sorry for almost shooting you. I thought you were a bandit. There's been a lot of them lately" she explained.

"It's fine, I was quite on edge too when I heard your movement" I replied. "Well, next time you won't be so lucky. I normally strike instantly" she said. "Well, I guess I'll have to dodge instantly" I replied with a small laugh.

"Ahem *cough* *cough*. You kinda forgot to introduce me to your friend Link" Alaan said interrupting. "Oh, I almost forgot. Elvia, this is my friend Alaan from the castle" I say as I introduce him. "Actually I'm much more than just his friend. I'm more of the ultimate warrior of my castle. My sword pierces right through people until they can't stand!! " he said as he looks up in the sky filled with energy. "Um, you seem quite motivated haha. Nice to meet you Alaan" Elvia said. "He's pretty much always like that," I tell her.

"Wait Link, how do you know her?" Alaan asked.

"I met her the same day I found the Amulet". Elvia eyes widened for a second. "Turns out, she was there when I found the Amulet and later she helped me escape when I was kidn*pped" I reply back." Wow your super kind Elvia, helping a stranger and all" Alaan said. "Don't get used to it. I only did what I thought was right in that situation" Elvia replied back looking away.

"There's one thing I'm wondering. And that is why you're here" Elvia said. "I could ask you the same thing" I reply. She paused and then spoke. "I asked you first Link," she said. "She's got you dude" Alaan added in. "Fine," I say. I take a deep breath and then speak. "We're here to find the other Amulet..." I say slowly.

Elvia froze for a moment and then looked like she was in thought.

"The other Amulets...?" she replied slowly as she looked like she was deep in thought. "Yes, we realised that --------". I was cut off by Alaan. "Hey man?!, it's top-secret info, you sure we should tell --------". Alaan was cut off by Elvia. "Yes you can...because I know there's an Amulet right here..." she interjected. "And I'm sure you've already figured that out, that's why you here" she added. Alaan and I were shocked and speechless for a few seconds.

"Wait...how do you...know where this Amulet is?" I say confused. "Yeah, how do you know? I thought only we knew about the Amulets" Alaan added on.

"Look, I'll tell you both later but right now I think we should at least find the Amulet," she said quickly as she started walking back to the tree. "I guess we should" I agreed.

We both walked over to Elvia who was concentrating on the tree.

"Stand back," she said as she looked at us. We moved back without knowing what she was gonna do.

She pulled out her bow and aimed it at a specific part of the tree which looked like the centre of the tree. She released her arrow which shot right at the tree and made a bang.

There was silence for a few seconds but nothing happened.

"What! How? It should have worked. What went wrong?" Elvia said slightly annoyed.

"What we're you trying to do," I asked. She looked at me for a few seconds and then sighed. "Fine, I'll tell you. I was sure I had to apply a certain amount of force to the tree's centre to get the Amulet" she explained in a slightly sad tone. "And how is it you know this stuff?" Alaan interjected. "She will tell us later Alaan but let's trust her for now". I said. "Now you said a certain amount of force right" I added. "Yeah...and I'm sure it works" she replied. "Well then.. let's apply more force," I say with a grin.

I looked at Alaan and nodded. "Get ready Elvia," I said to her. A few moments later and I spoke. "Now! Shoot" I say shouting at Elvia. She released her arrow to the centre and then straight after I pulled out three arrows and shot them to the tree. "Now Alaan!" I shout to him. "Right!" Alaan said as he charged at the tree and struck the centre. "VALHALLA" he shouted as he hit the centre. It caused a small shock wave. "Wow, that was amazing guys," Elvia said. "That was nothing, you should see" Alaan stopped as we all heard something. The Elder tree slightly rumbled and then a bright light shone and we saw the Amulet appear from the tree and it fell to the ground. Elvia ran to it and picked it up.

It looked rather similar to mine, however, it was purple instead of green. "Well, it looks like we've found the second Amulet". I say looking at them both. "Uh..Link, somethings happening with it," Elvia said quickly. I looked at her and she instantly dropped the Amulet it illuminated in purple light and just like last time a massive light emerged from the Amulet which then shot up into the sky. It was much louder this time and there was a sudden charge of wind gusting over us while the light was shooting through the clouds. "Not again!!!" I shout as we three were closing our ears from the loud sound looking at the sky.