Astrid dashed through the trees, desperately searching. "Anna, Anna!" She reached the cliff and looked around. "Anna!"

As if in response, she heard a body fall on the ground behind her. Whirling around she saw that Anna had appeared lying on the leaves.

"Anna!" Astrid rushed to her and helped her up. "Are you okay? Where's the Ring?"

"I got it," she held out its chain in her fist.

Astrid took a deep breath. "Thank the gods. Merida came back to the camp, said you'd run off. Everyone's looking for you right now."

"Astrid, we have to leave. She tried to take it, Merida attacked me over the Ring."

"I thought so." Astrid held out a couple of sacks, which she had filled with food, a waterskin, and a pair of blankets. "She said she'd gotten in an argument with you and scared you off. By the look in her eyes, though, I figured something else had happened. Are you alright?"

"Yes, but we have to leave," Anna repeated. "Now. If we go back to the camp another one of them could fall for it. It's too dangerous."

"I know, that's why I decided to pack for us." Astrid felt a sick tearing in her stomach. They hadn't had a chance to explain it to the others, she wouldn't be able to say good-bye to Hiccup. She had no illusions about their mission - they could very die before they saw each other again. Yet, she'd prefer that over seeing him turn into a monster. "We don't have to return to camp. I'm sure Jack will explain it to them."

"Yeah, he'll explain." Anna looked back, her face sad. "I just hope Elsa understands."

"I do," said a voice to the side. Astrid turned and saw Elsa coming out of the trees. "I understand that I'm not letting you go without me."

"No, you can't." Astrid stepped in front of Anna, wielding her axe. "You'll try to take it.! Go back to the camp, tell them we're leaving."

Elsa did not do so. Instead she stepped forward, her eyes soft and sad.

"Listen to us," Anna pled. "Listen to me! You don't know what it'll do to you Elsa. We saw it last night, you'll turn into a monster."

"You really expect me," Elsa ignored them, "to let my sister set foot in Mordor with only a stranger for company? You need a little more help than that."

"But you can't help." Astrid held her axe more forward. "Think about the prophecy! Look what the Ring did to Merida, it drove her mad, she just tried to kill Anna for it."

They backed up, and Elsa paused. "Anna, please don't run away from me."

Astrid scanned her face, wrought with sorrow. Then she heard footsteps behind her as Anna began to approach her sister. "No, what are you doing?"

Anna did not answer, but she drew close to Elsa. With a shaking hand she showed the Ring. "Look. This is why you can't come with us. Don't lie, you can feel it already trying to eat at you. It's too dangerous."

Astrid clutched her axe, holding it ready to swing at a moment's notice. Elsa stared at the Ring, then into her sister's eyes as she answered:

"You're right. I look at this, I close my eyes and I can see what it's promising me. I could be a powerful queen, Arendelle would never worry about war again. Nobody would treat me like a freak, I'd never be scorned or ridiculed."

She reached her hand up, and Astrid raised her axe. Her heart pounded as she watched Elsa take Anna's hand...and curl the fingers over the Ring, hiding it from view.

"But those promises come at a cost, a cost that I cannot look past. I'd lose my humanity, and I'd lose the most important thing in my life: you. If I try to take this Ring, I'd have to hurt you in the process. I've already almost lost you twice before," she shook her head, "and I do not want to risk a third time."

She took the fist holding the Ring, and pushed it close to Anna's heart.

"I don't care what any prophecy says. I don't care about what the Man in the Moon said. No ring, no Dark Lord has any kind of power that would make me hurt my sister again."

Anna tried to speak again. "I'm sorry, but it's too-"

"And even if you say 'no'," Elsa crossed her arms. "I'm still going to follow you. No matter what you try to tell me, I'm coming with you."

Anna looked at Astrid. They both shared the same understanding.

Jack perched on a branch, watching as the trio talked among themselves. He knew what they were discussing.

"Come on…"

They began to move along the cliff together, over to where it sloped down to the land below. With a sigh Jack leapt into the air and returned to camp, arriving just as Hiccup came running from the trees.

"I couldn't...couldn't find her," Hiccup leaned against a trunk as he caught his breath. "I looked all over to the east, no sign of her going on?"

He and Jack approached Merida, who was sitting on a log with her head buried in her hands. Thick red curls sheltered her face, and she was trembling. Rapunzel sat beside her, resting a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"It's my fault," Jack could barely hear Merida, she mumbled so badly. "It's all my fault she's gone."

"Look, you were just talking to her," Hiccup said. "If she got upset and ran off, then it's just-"

"No," she shook her head, making her curls bounce around. "I let the Ring get to me. I wanted to protect my home so bad that I was willing to listen to anyone who offered to help me...or anything. I tried to take it with force, I almost killed Anna for it."

Jack felt a shudder ran through the whole group, and a stab of fear struck at him when he realized just how close they had all come to a worst-case scenario.

"That prophecy was right," Merida's voice broke apart. "I'm just a pawn for Sauron. I couldn't even control myself."

"Hey," Jack knelt in front of her, trying to peer through her hair to find her eyes. "Listen to me, you were desperate. You still are, and you're scared. You had a moment of weakness. That doesn't make you a weak person." She didn't respond. "It was one mistake. Life will go on, you'll find a way to make up for it and move forward." He paused. "Trust me, if anyone knows, it's me."

Merida finally looked up, brushing her hair aside. Her proud mask had finally cracked, her eyes glossed with shame.

"Anna and Astrid are going off on their own," he continued. "Elsa's going with them."

"Wait wait." Hiccup's brow creased. "Astrid left with Anna? Without telling me? Without saying anything…" he quickly began to unravel, running his fingers through his hair. "She wouldn't just go without-"

Jack cut him off. "It was for the best. If they had come back here, the Ring would have tried to ensnare another one of you, especially you - you've already carried it for too long." He noticed the hurt look that Hiccup wore. "It doesn't mean that you'll never see her again. I'm sure that Anna and Astrid and Elsa will make it."

"What about Elsa?" Rapunzel asked. "What if she tries to take it?"

"From what I saw," he turned to stare after them, "I think she'll be okay."

There was a heavy silence. A lonely breeze floated through the trees, its soft voice singing a lonely song. Finally Merida asked, "What do we do now?"

"Head back to North's workshop?" Hiccup volunteered.

For a minute it seemed to be the unspoken agreement. But Rapunzel stood up. "No. We need to go to DunBroch." Everyone looked at her. "Merida's fears are real, her home is in trouble. Pitch Black is laying siege to the land, and he'll win unless we stand up to him.

"Now listen to me," she broke off Jack before he could say anything. "Evil might be strong right now, but that doesn't mean we can't be strong too. And it doesn't mean the evil is stronger than us. The Ring is on its way to be destroyed. We can't escort it to Mount Doom, but we can fight against Sauron anywhere else we're needed. And right now we're needed in DunBroch. That's how we can help Anna and Astrid and Elsa. Let's go south and face Pitch Black together!"

Jack slowly stood back up and looked her in the eye. He could see her waiting for his response, ready to confront him if he tried to disagree. Instead he smiled.

"Now that's the spirit we need."

Everyone seemed to brighten, but none more than Merida. She rose from her seat and wiped her eyes. A fire seemed to light again, not the raging inferno that had tried to consume her, but a lantern offering more hope than she had seen for a long time.

"Merida, can you find your way home from here?"

She smiled. "Get me to the forest, and I can take you to my father's castle with my eyes closed."

"Good. Then let's go at once. Together."

"Together," echoed Hiccup.

"Together," agreed Rapunzel.

"Together." Merida readjusted the quiver on her back. "Shall we pack up?"

Jack marveled at the change that unfolded around him. The Ring's departure had transformed them: the shadows had retreated from their faces, the evil whispers and doubts and anxieties had been silenced in his mind. A warm feeling swelled inside of him, and a smile managed to bubble to his face. They packed as quickly as possible. All the time, Jack felt a new strength gathering inside of him, and soon he looked at the other three, all itching to leave.

"Let's head to DunBroch."

Anna passed the Ring to Astrid. "Here you go,"

Astrid passed it over her head, and felt its weight settle on her. "Got it." With that she set back into her meal, finishing off the last of a bunch of berries.

The forest below the cliff had started thick, but had quickly thinned as they walked. Now they sat at its edge. Wide open steppe unfolded before them. The river lay below, with the dirt road strung along its bank. Across the water lay more plains, and beyond them a thick gnarled wood which carpeted the earth.

That was not their path though. As she chewed, Astrid turned to the left, and saw for the first time the distant peaks of the Ash Mountains. Far in the distance, their faces popped above the horizon, their heads hugged with low clouds. The blue sky darkened above them. Finally seeing their destination sent a shiver through her.

"That's it," she pointed. "In the distance."

Anna and Elsa followed her finger. Anna took a deep sigh. "Well...we're not getting any closer sitting here."

Elsa set a hand on her sister's shoulder. "It'll be alright. We're going there together. And once we do, the Ring will be gone." She gave a soft smile. "Come on, let's get going."

They packed their bags again and crossed the grassland, keeping the river in their sights, turning their steps to Mordor.

Here ends the first part of the history of the War of the Ring.

The second part is called "The Mount and the Vale", an account focused on the journeys to Mordor and the Warren, the great Battle of Dunbroch, and the deeds of the Four.

The third part, "The Sun's Crown", tells how the great kingdoms aligned in the War, and shows the final defense against the Shadow as well as the fate of the Ringbearers.

THE GATHERING OF THE FOUR

Alright, the first volume is done! There we are!

I want to thank my best friend Domosage (once again) for his help with my fanfiction, as well as my friend helenmarie95 for revising several chapters throughout the process. And of course, thank you to the readers who left reviews. Your feedback is essential, and I truly appreciate all of you!

Now, my current/future projects: as you can already tell, I'm planning the second and third volume of this fanfiction, but I'm going to be putting them on the backburner for now. At the moment I'm writing a Gravity Falls and a Bolt fanfiction, as well as my book.

Once again, thank you for reading my work, and I hope to see you around!