A/N: Here is the Council of Elrond, finally. I know most are probably looking forward to this, and I was too. (It's one of my favorites) Read and Review please. Also, sorry for leaving ya'll out earlier, but thank you for everyone who favorited, reviewed, and alerted this story. It means a lot to me.

Disclaimer: Don't own and don't make money from it. There, I said it.

It was finally time for the Council. The fate of middle-earth would be decided that day by a council made of Men, Elves, Dwarves, Hobbits, and one young woman. Ranelen stood up from her seat and hurried off. She had gotten lost in her thoughts, and now she was afraid that she was going to have to walk in front of everyone due to her lateness. Her only hope was to get there before everyone else.

And she almost did. She tore down the last hallway and stopped momentarily to catch her breath. After a second of making sure that she didn't look to windblown, Ranelen hurried onto the small terrace where the Council would be held.

Lord Elrond was already there, but he didn't say anything about her lateness. He only smiled encouragingly and gestured for her to take a seat beside him. Sometimes it seemed that he knew her better than she knew herself.

The second to arrive was Gandalf, the Grey wizard she had met previously. He walked deep in thought, and it was as if he didn't even see her as he went to sit down. The old man was too busy with his thoughts as he tried to remember everything he had been told that would give aid to this moment.

Next were the group of Elves from Mirkwood. Two were known to her, but one she had never seen before. He was handsome for an elf, with intense blue eyes and long blond hair he tied back.

The two she knew glanced over her without much thought, as if they didn't care what she was. However the third looked at her with a question in his eyes as he tried to grasp her mysteries with a slightly puzzled smile.

After a second's hesitation he sat down and immediately Aragorn walked in. He nodded in turn to all present except for the unknown elf who he smiled at and Ranelen who he looked at curiously but shrugged and sat, leaving the decision of her presence in the Council to Lord Elrond.

Followed by Aragorn were Gloin, his son Gimli, who seemed to have not suffered too badly with all of the trees, and the Gondorian. The dwarves took their seats with a couple of hostile glances at the elves, but the Gondorian looked around the room with an air of haughtiness, as if he were ashamed to have to be in the same room as creatures lower than him.

Immediately the darkness that Ranelen had been feeling congealing in him disappear under anger at his attitude. He acted as if he were a king visiting a dirty hovel with pigs. Ranelen wanted to get up and slap the look off his face but a quiet voice told her that it would do no good to upset the Council before it even began.

After the Gondorian several Elves arrived. One was Glorfindel and he smiled for apparently he knew Elrond had reaffirmed his invitation to her. The other Elves following him didn't seem to pay much attention to her at all. Instead they were speaking softly together.

Frodo was the last to arrive. He walked in and took his seat beside Gandalf quietly and looked around. His eyes fixed on Aragorn and a slight smile settled on his young face.

Elrond stood and said, "Strangers from distant lands, friends of old, you've been summoned here to answer the threat of Mordor. Middle-Earth stands upon the brink of destruction. None can escape it. You will unite, or you will fall. Each race is bound to this fate, this one doom. Bring forth the Ring, Frodo."

Everyone watched intently as Frodo shyly stood and laid the small gold ring on the stone. As he set it down, it seemed to Ranelen to issue a loud scream, as if it hated the touch of that which was crafted by the Elves. She flinched and bit her lip from crying out as the scream grated on her ears.

Frodo quickly took his seat once more, and the scream ended. Ranelen looked around feeling echoes of the pain still resounding in her head. Not to her surprise she saw everyone looking at the ring with varying expressions. The unknown Elf looked at it curiously, the Dwarf Gimli stared at it, and the Gondorian watched it as if he were planning something.

The Gondorian stood up and said as he walked around, "In a dream, I saw the Eastern sky grow dark, but in the West a pale light lingered. A voice was crying: 'Your doom is near at hand. Isildur's Bane is found.' Isildur's Bane…"

He reached out a hand for the Ring dazedly, and Elrond shot up shouting, "Boromir!" At the same time Gandalf stood slowly saying, "Ash nazg durbatulûk, ash nazg gimbatul, ash nazg thrakatulûk agh burzum-ishi krimpatul!" As he spoke it seemed that thunder echoed. The sky grew dark, the earth shook, and it seemed to Ranelen she could hear a quiet whisper of a horrible voice whispering darkness into her mind, but before she could understand anything it was saying, it stopped.

Elrond put a hand to his head. The Gondorian, Boromir, backed up and looked about. The unknown Elf grasped the arms of the chair and looked at the Ring with new fear and respect in his eyes. He closed his eyes and seemed to be trying to withhold himself from the darkness the words of Gandalf had brought about.

The light came back and Boromir sat down. Elrond looked at Gandalf and said with slight fear and admonishment in his voice, "Never before has any voice uttered the words of that tongue here in Imladris."

Gandalf said, "I do not ask your pardon, Master Elrond," as he watched Elrond sit back in his chair, "for the Black Speech of Mordor may yet be heard in every corner of the West! The Ring is altogether evil," the old man declared as he went back to his seat and sat down.

Boromir stated, "It is a gift. A gift to the foes of Mordor." He stood up and began to walk around trying to meet everyone's eyes to press his point. "Why not use this Ring? Long has my father, the Steward of Gondor, kept the forces of Mordor at bay. By the blood of our people are your lands kept safe. Give Gondor the weapon of the Enemy. Let us use it against him."

Aragorn looked at him and said as if explaining to a child, "You cannot wield it. None of us can. The One Ring answers to Sauron alone. It has no other master."

Boromir said haughtily, "And what would a Ranger know of this matter?"

Ranelen almost stood up to defend him, but she caught a glance from Elrond. She knew he was telling her not to immerse herself in this fight. If she couldn't control her actions, she would be asked to leave, having been sent by Galadriel or not. Instead she loosened her grip on the arms of the chair and stayed wisely silent.

However the unknown Elf didn't react as well as she did. He stood straight up, holding himself with regal bearing, drawing Boromir's attention to him. "This is no mere Ranger. He is Aragorn, son of Arathorn. You owe him your allegiance," the Elf said with a hint of the true anger he was feeling slipping out from the careful check he had on his emotions.

Everyone who didn't already know Aragorn's heritage turned to stare at him in awe or surprise. Boromir said in disbelief, "Aragorn. This is Isildur's Heir?"

"And heir to the throne of Gondor."

Aragorn frowned, apparently having hoped that their wouldn't be any excitement at the Council due to his lineage, and waved his hand in a lowering motion as he said, "Havo dad, Legolas." (Sit down, Legolas)

Boromir turned back to him and declared, "Gondor has no king." He went to sit down, looked Aragorn in the eye, and said spitefully, "Gondor needs no king."

Ranelen watched as Legolas sat down. She knew who he was now. He was Legolas Thranduilion, son of King Thranduil and Prince of Mirkwood. For him to have come meant his father understood the graveness of the situation. He was more handsome than she had expected, but it was no surprise. The Elves didn't ever understand their own beauty, and failed to describe it well. Blushing slightly because she had been staring, Ranelen looked away, but not before she caught Legolas' eye. He gave her a friendly smile; then both turned their attention back to the Council.

Gandalf spoke. "Aragorn is right. We cannot use it."

"You have only one choice," said Elrond as he stood up. "The Ring must be destroyed."

The younger Dwarf Gimli growled impatiently, "What are we waiting for?" He stood up with his axe, walked over, and swung it down hard on the Ring. Before he could even touch it, his axe shattered and fell apart, sending him backwards.

As the axe came near to striking the Ring, before it shattered Ranelen heard a horrible roar and the terrible voice from before. She winced at the pain and shook her head, trying to dislodge the horrid noise inside it.

"The Ring cannot be destroyed, Gimli, son of Gloin, by any craft that we here possess. The Ring was made in the fires of Mount Doom. Only there can it be unmade. It must be taken deep into Mordor and cast back into the fiery chasm from whence it came. One of you must do this," Elrond declared, watching everyone's reactions.

Momentarily it was quiet then Boromir spoke quietly. "One does not simply walk into Mordor. Its Black Gates are guarded by more than just Orcs. There is evil there, that does not sleep. The Great Eye is ever-watchful. It is a barren wasteland riddled with fire, ash, and dust. The very air you breathe is a poisonous fume. Not with 10,000 men could you do this. It is folly."

Legolas stood up immediately and said angrily, "Have you heard nothing Lord Elrond just said? The Ring must be destroyed!"

Gimli glared at him and said, "And I suppose you think you're the one to do it?"

Boromir said just as angrily while he stood up, "And if we fail, what then? What happens when Sauron takes back what is his?"

Gimli clambered to his feet and said hatefully, "I will be dead before I see the ring in the hands of an Elf!"

The other Elves stood and were shouting, the Dwarves and Men got to their feet, and everything was chaos. Nothing would happen if the Council acted like this. It seemed nowhere could peace last, and it made Ranelen angry. They were acting like small children, fighting over a toy.

Legolas

"Enough!" a commanding voice cut through the disorder and chaos. On the far side of the Council the young woman stood. "You wonder, Gondorian, why the Ring must be destroyed? Because of this! Here in the Last Homely House you argue! You act like children, but expect to make decisions for our world! This does not have anything to do with Elves or Dwarves or Men or Wizards! This Council is to decide the future of Middle-Earth, not bicker about past grievances! You have let the Ring coil around your hearts and inflame them with unjust anger! How are you to do anything, let alone defeat Sauron, when you only argue?"

"Who are you?" Boromir asked the question everyone wanted to know. Legolas also wanted to know and was slightly annoyed that the Gondorian had beat him to it. The woman was beautiful, apparently intelligent, and very opinionated.

"My name is Ranelen. I am one of the Galadhrim, and serve Lord Elrond. I was invited to this Council, and it is a good thing. You need to stop acting like babies, and grow up!" She didn't flinch or look away at the gazes resting on her. Instead she met everyone's eyes with her own steely ones.

Lord Elrond waved his hand and said, "Sit down, Ranelen. Your opinions have been heard." He seemed to have no emotion, but she inclined her head respectfully and sat.

Ranelen

Frodo stood up and said, "I will take it. I will take it. I will take the ring to Mordor. Though, I do not know the way."

Gandalf walked over saying, "I will help you bear this burden, Frodo Baggins, as long as it is yours to bear."

Aragorn stood up and pledged, "If by my life or death I can protect you, I will." He walked over, knelt before Frodo, and clasped his hands in his own. "You have my sword."

Legolas chimed up as he walked over, "And you have my bow."

Gimli hefted his weapon and said, "And my ax." He walked to Frodo and stood behind him beside Legolas who rolled his eyes at the Dwarf.

Boromir walked forward and said, "You carry the fates of us all, little one. If this is indeed the will of the Council, then Gondor will see it done."

A shout came from the bushes as Samwise Gamgee ran to take his place, standing beside Frodo. He looked around and declared forcefully, "Frodo's not going anywhere without me."

Lord Elrond did his best to hide a smile as he said, "It is hardly possible to separate you, even when he is summoned to a secret Council and you are not."

Two more shouts came from the hallway, and two Hobbits ran forward. As one ran he said, "We're coming too! You'll have to send us home tied up in a sack to stop us." They stopped beside Frodo and Pippin said, "Anyway, you need people of intelligence on this sort of mission… quest… thing."

Merry said something quietly to him but Ranelen missed it, as she heard a voice like starlight. Go with them, it said softly. She got up and walked slowly to Frodo. Ranelen crouched before him and whispered so only he could hear, "Do you wish me to go on this Quest with you, Frodo Baggins?"

He said just as quietly, "Very much so, my lady." He stared at her with hope in his eyes so she said loud enough for everyone to hear, "And so I shall, Frodo Baggins. After all, did not Peregrin say that they needed people of intelligence? Perhaps we may talk some on this journey and discuss our mutual 'intelligence', for I will go with you."

Immediately Boromir protested. "You cannot let her go with us! She is a woman! She would only slow us down! What does she know of the real world away from the safety of her home?"

Ranelen whirled around and fixed an icy glare on him. She said in a voice colder than the dead, "Do not speak of what you do not know, Denethorian. I have seen more of this world and its cruelties than there are nightmares to haunt your sleep. If you do not wish me to go, then find another reason. I have lived away from comfort and safety for most of my life so I am not some court lady that will allow others to fight for me. I will take care of myself, and expect no one else to do so."

She stood up beside the Hobbits and Elrond looked them over, apprasing each carefully in his eyes. He said, "Ten companions. So be it. You shall be the Fellowship of the Ring."

Pippin smiled broadly and said innocently, "Great. Where are we going?"

Ranelen couldn't help the laugh that escaped her, just as Lord Elrond couldn't help but notice how everyone's faces softened as they heard it. Some had a small smile, like they were reminiscing of past happy days. Others had a large smile, as if this were the best day of their lives.

Elrond pulled himself out of his thoughts and said, "This Council is finished. The Fellowship shall set out as soon as provisions may be gathered. Go, prepare your things and say farewell." He looked at Ranelen and said, "Come. I need to speak with you."

A/N: That's it for now! Please Review. I like to hear your thoughts, opinions, criticism, and ideas. Til next time!