Chapter 5
Kim opened her eyes and looked around. She wasn't in the room in the ambassador's residence anymore. There was a river, green hills, grapevines and the bright shining sun was dazzling her.
"I guess you are Kim Possible." said a voice.
Kim needs a long moment to get used to the light but than she saw an old man with a long white beard. Around his body he was wearing a long grey cloak, in his right hand he holds a long ash-tree stick he used for walking. On his head there was a grey hut and he also had a eye patch for his right eye. This stranger looked smilingly at Kim and holds his free hand to her. "Let me help you to stand up."
"Where am I?" asked Kim. "And where is Ron."
"I will tell you. Everything at the right time. You will need this knowledge for your mission."
"You know about the mission?" asked Kim surprised while she took his hand and got up. "How can you know about this?"
"I know a lot that nobody knows." the stranger replies. "Let us take a little walk and I will tell you …."
They walked along the river. The waves of the river slammed softly against the shore, the bright sun shined down to earth and made the cobwebs, which were dew-sprinkled, looks like old women hair. Kim and the stranger walked through dew-sprinkled grass, passed vineyards and saw some strange creatures drinking vine there.
The stranger looked towards Kim. "What do you know about this mission?" he asked.
"Not much." she replied. "Only that it will be an international catastrophe when we don't come for help."
The stranger nodded. "Yes, it will be. Not only for the Germans or the world. For every creature, even those you don't see with your eyes." He looked to the strange creatures in the vineyards. "It's even a catastrophe for them."
Kim looked to those creatures, which are looking like some kind of birds with long tails and neck. They also have some kind of bugle on their head. "What are they?"
The stranger stopped and looked at them. He smiled. "They are the most peaceful creatures in the world." he said. "Elwetrische is what the people in this area call them. They don't know anything about money or power. They are happy when they have their freedom and …" he laughed as he said this "… their bottles of wine. Peaceful creatures." He looked to Kim. "They are also in danger when the midget will get the full power of the ring."
"Midget?"
"Let me tell you how this world was made …
"A long time ago, as everything was nothing, the world was made out of fire, water and soil. The great earth mother Erda bound those three elements together to make this world you are walking on now, Kim. At this time the world was peaceful and innocent. In one river I gave the gold of the world for protection. I gave it to this river we're walking along now. This gold is the gold of the world. It keeps the world together and keeps the world innocent. The three daughters of the river should protect it."
"And what is the name of the river?" asked Kim.
"It's the Rhine, Kim, and I gave the gold to the Rhine's daughters. They protected it well for thousand of years."
"What happened than?" Kim was alert now.
"The midget stole it." the stranger replied. "And he made the one ring out of it. The one ring to rule them all."
"How?"
"There is only one way to forge the gold to a ring." the stranger stared now to the other shore of the river. A cold wind blow through Kim's hair and let the cape of the stranger flapping. "If you want to made out of the gold the ring you have to doom the love."
Kim looked shocked at the back of the head. "He doomed the love?" she asked still in shock. The stranger nodded. "After he had made the ring he fight down the midgets and made himself to their leader. They had to work hard for him to raise his wealth. My brother and I stole the ring and the gold, he let mined, from him and hided it in a cave. The midget doomed the ring and everyone who will get it. Unfortunately, a young man found it. He put on the ring and turned into a dragon which protected the ring and the gold for many years. Acquisitiveness and jealousy were his motivation. Later, a young warrior, Sigfried, a descendant of the extended family I founded, went out to become a hero. He killed the dragon, tooked the ring and went on. One year later he got killed by his own family. They wanted to have the ring. Acquisitiveness and jealousy - the curse of the ring."
"What happened afterwards?" asked Kim, fascinated about the story.
"The ring got lost." he answered. "Until 1940. A young German soldier found the ring and gave it to his general. He gave it to the leader of the third Reich, Hitler. They needed a long time to find out how the ring works and as they found it out, Germany was defeated and Hitler dead. That is the curse of the ring!"
"And what happened after that?"
The stranger looked at Kim. "Later Kim, later. Not the right time for you to know now. You will get to know it. Later and not from me, Kim."
Two ravens sat on his shoulders. "I have to go now." the stranger said. "We will see us again…"
Kim woke up and sat straight in her bad. She looked wildly around and realized that she was in her room in the ambassador's residents again. It was dark outside. Suddenly, she got up quickly, tooked her Kimunicator and said: "Wade, what do you know about the Rheingold…"