There was a long silence as Jack's question lingered in the air. Astrid couldn't think of what to say, but King Robin ventured to speak first. "So we have to decide how to use an item, that we can't use?"

Hiccup answered, "I'm just guessing, here, but if no one can use the Ring, then we have to make sure no one finds it."

Robin nodded, but did not answer, like he was irritated at having to acknowledge the Viking. "The Royal Treasury at Corona. It's the most secure place I can think of, and you have my word that-"

"Excuse me," Elsa stared at him. "I don't see why you should keep it."

"And do you believe you're a better candidate?"

"Maybe," Hiccup interfered to prevent further conflict, "since we live on an island on the other side of the world, we could guard it?"

Robin seemed outright offended at this prospect, and Merida blurted out, "What about if you get raided, and they take it? I know that DunBroch could guard the Ring, and with the other clans we will have an unbeatable wall around it!"

"Please," Elsa was visible trying to stay calm, "Arendelle has a very strong navy, and we can defend better than you can-"

"Aha!" Robin pointed. "You HAVE been militarizing!"

"Father, don't!" Rapunzel got up and forced his finger down. "Not right now."

"I don't think we should trust either of these people," Merida gestured at Elsa and Robin. "Especially him," she pointed at the king, "all he's been doing is talking down to us the whole time! Hiccup, Astrid?"

Astrid narrowed her eyes. She had felt some condescension from the king, but she felt another issue at hand. "Yeah, we get that a lot, Viking name precedes us. But why should we trust you?" She saw Merida's face turn thunderous. "You stole the Ring from us a couple of days ago, what if you do it again?"

Hiccup quickly caught on. "Ah, what we're trying to say is-"

"I understand completely what you're trying to say!" Merida jabbed her finger at the Ring. "You want it! Going to use it to fight off the Berserkers, and then move on from there?"

Astrid saw Jack move to quell their argument, but she didn't care. Yet she didn't have time to retort before Elsa spoke:

"I personally don't feel comfortable with either of your peoples taking it. I don't know enough about your kingdoms to have confidence in trusting them with this very important task."

Jack and North both tried to interfere nearly simultaneously; their words were drowned by Robin speaking again, "I still insist that Corona be placed in stewardship of the Ring. If we are to speak on confidence and comfort-"

"Father, stop it!" Rapunzel blurted out.

"No, I'll say it, I'll say it here for everyone to hear:" He stood and pointed at Elsa and Anna. "To leave the Ring in Arendelle's hands will be a grave error. After the Enchanted Winter, we have seen proof-"

"It was an accident!" Elsa grew tired of explaining this to people, and she began to feel her emotions bubbling.

"You nearly killed my daughter! After we just got her back after almost two decades!" Robin's voice was mingled with both fury and grief. "You almost froze her, you...witch!"

His words sparked the room into explosion.

Anna leapt out of her chair and began berating the king for his stupidity and ignorance, while Elsa's face was thunderous and offended. Rapunzel was still trying to convince her father to calm down. Their images reflected in the Ring's golden edge, their faces and limbs distorted and colored. Around its other side, Hiccup was shouting at Jack, North, and the Sandman, pointing at Robin and Anna's argument and yelling about "politics, they'll be convinced to use it". Behind him, Astrid and Merida were seconds away from pulling their bow and axe against each other. Then their reflections swiveled around again to the Ring's other edge again, confronting Elsa and Robin - one of the monarchs had hurled the word "savage" against them both, and they were determined to find out which. The elves could be seen scampering out the door to escape the chaos, while the dragons circled close behind their riders, snarling at whomever they were arguing with. Skewed figures tinged with gold, at each other's throats, circled around the Ring's edge.

Finally over the cacophony, a voice could be heard:

"Enough!"

The yelling continued. The voice came again, deafening this time:

"ENOUGH!"

The harsh tone of North's command caused everyone to pause. Astrid had been waving her axe under Merida's chin, Merida had been slowly nocking her arrow, and Elsa's clenched fists were covered in frost.

"All of you, not another word!" He had pulled out his swords, and pointed them around. The Sandman pantomimed zipping his mouth shut, and crossed his arms in annoyance.

Jack stood, shaking his head at them all. "Don't you guys see what you're doing? You're walking into the same trap I did. You don't want to have this - and if you do, then it's too late." Astrid realized what he meant, and a dull shame fell smoldering onto her. "What just happened in here? That's what Sauron wants. And if we do that for him, if we can't cooperate...he won't need to get the Ring to defeat us. It's already destroying us right now."

The small gold band sat on the table, drawing everyone to it. Even Jack's gaze rested a little too long on it.

"Hiding it isn't enough," he clenched his jaw and looked around again. "Even if we hide it for ten thousand years, Sauron will still build his power. He can wait." He glowered at the Ring. "We have to destroy it once and for all."

Nobody moved. Everyone stared. Finally, Hiccup motioned to Toothless.

"Here, bud," he pointed. "Can you give us the hottest flame you can for a few minutes?"

"It won't work." North's words made the Night Fury pause.

"Hiccup, remember?" Jack nodded. "Back on Berk, you had Toothless give us a flame for a few minutes? It didn't do anything."

"It was a low one." He motioned again to Toothless. "Here, let's see, right here, melt it down!"

Astrid watched the dragon hunch over the table, spewing bright violet plasma onto the table. Within two minutes, the Night Fury had burned a hole right through, and the Ring fell to the ground.

"Ah!" Hiccup looked embarrassed at having ruined a piece of furniture. He looked over to see North's patient, yet sharp face. "Uh, Astrid? Nadders have a hotter fire-"

"Pick it up," Jack said. Hiccup did so. "How does it feel?"

Hiccup considered it in his palm. "...not any hotter."

"No dragon's fire can do the job," North spoke. "At least, the job you wanted to get done." He cast another glare at his table, which still had a few tiny tongues of flame. "At the same time, no weapon can scratch it. Only one forge is hot enough to melt the Ring..."

"Orodruin," Rapunzel whispered. "The Mountain of Fire."

Everyone stared at her. She caught their stares and quickly explained.

"I've been to the Ash Mountains, they're just south of Corona. Just behind them is a volcanic plain, and the volcano is supposed to have the hottest fire in the world."

"That's right," Jack nodded. "Corona is just north of Mordor..." He pondered something, but finally shook his head.

"What, what?" Hiccup insisted.

"It won't work. If someone could take the Ring to Orodruin, that's the place where it was made; that's the only place it can be destroyed. But we can't fly in - there are ballistas, archers, and Sauron himself. By now he'll have built his tower again, and he'll see us coming."

"What about the globes?" Merida asked, motioning to North. "When you saved us, you had a globe in your coat, and you opened this hole in the sky, and-"

"The snowglobes can't help us," North replied. "Sauron has one of his own, and he can see if we use ours, where we go, especially if we travel all the way to Mordor." He stroked his beard. "We could fly to the edge of his land, and then enter on foot. But who?"

No one spoke for a long moment. Astrid bit her lip, thinking hard to herself. None of the Four could take the Ring, they'd fall for it. The Guardians couldn't take it either. She willed herself to stand.

"Astrid?" Hiccup's voice squeaked. "Astrid, no."

"I will take it," she declared.

"Please understand," Jack motioned for her to hold on, "it's a terrible journey. On top of goblins, Mordor itself is a waste. Unbearable heat, smoke and ash everywhere. No water, no plant life for miles on end."

The images conjured in Astrid's head, but she took a deep breath. "Someone has to."

"But only one person?" Elsa stepped forward. "If you failed, what would happen then?"

"Someone one would have to take it up." Anna stepped past Elsa. "Someone like me."

"Wait, what? No, Anna, it's too dangerous, you can't!"

"You said it yourself, she shouldn't be alone, and I think I'm the only other person who isn't cursed or magical. Astrid," Anna held out her hand, "can I join you?"

Astrid was surprised, but cautiously accepted the handshake. "The three of us, then?"

"Three?"

Astrid gestured to Stormfly.

"Oh, right!"

"Uh, five." Hiccup broke in. "You're not going anywhere without me. And I really think that I should take the Ring."

"No, you have an evil poem that says you can't." Astrid pushed him away. "Not to mention you've already been spending too much time with it."

"Look, you never leave my side, and I can't leave yours. Toothless and I are in, and I want to carry it."

"Hiccup," Jack spoke carefully. "Can I talk to you in the other room?"

Hiccup glanced at Astrid. She jerked her head to say "Go on", and he left the room. As the door closed behind them, discussion had already resumed.

"If he ends up going," Elsa started, "I don't go anywhere without my sister."

"Look," North rubbed his temples, "first we have to decide if it's even good idea for the Four to-"

"If they go, I am too!" Merida took her bow in hand. "The fate of my kingdom is tied to this thing; I deserve to make sure it's dealt with."

"Me too," Rapunzel spoke.

"No!" Robin insisted. "Rapunzel, I won't have you running off to get yourself killed!"

"I can fend for myself. Don't forget the stories I told you about the frying pan, they were true too."

"Rapunzel-"

"The Ring affects me too! Didn't you hear the prophecy? 'Chained to the Cursed Ring of Pow'r'. Even if I didn't go, I couldn't be free. I deserve to make sure I get my freedom!"

Robin stared at her with a pained expression, his mouth struggling for words. "I...I just don't want…" Finally he pursed his lips and nodded. "Very well. If you so choose…"

North stared at the group.

"I can't tell you enough how dangerous this is," he whispered. "Are you sure you're all up for it?"

Different degrees of consent came to him, but everyone did give a positive response.

North looked at the door. "As soon as Jack and Hiccup come back-"

At that very moment, the doors swung open, and Jack came in, resting his consoling hand on Hiccup's shoulder. Hiccup's face had turned pale, and he seemed slightly sick.

"Hiccup?" Astrid started forward, but he gestured he was fine, albeit with a shaky hand.

"Y-you, and Anna…" he gulped. "You and Anna have to carry the Ring." He shielded his eyes from it as he came close. "I'll go with you, but...I won't take it. You two, have to. If you want to," he added quickly.

"And I'm coming with you," Jack added. He turned to North and the Sandman specifically. "We need a Guardian with them, and Sandy's busy, and, well…" He nodded, "...maybe this is my chance to make things right?"

North and Sandy nodded slowly. "If that what you want," North said, "then perhaps it's for the best."

"So," Jack turned around again. "I heard talking in here. Who else decided to jump on? Who's going, let me see." Six hands raised into the air.

Astrid looked around at the group. Two Vikings and their dragons, a queen and three princesses, and a winter spirit...she couldn't believe her eyes. Then she looked down. With a rush of excitement and dread she picked the Ring from the table, holding it by its chain.

"Nine of us," she mused aloud, "to face the Nine Riders."

Astrid sighed, and slipped the chain around her neck. The Ring was heavy, and it bore down on her. But now a fire lit in her heart, and she refused to fall under its burden.

"So when do we leave?"