Chapter 4: The Ring Bearer,The Council,The Fellowship And The Task Force

It was October 24 and Captain John Price, Captain John Mactavish, and Nikolai were sitting in the great hall where Elrond introduced them a couple of months ago. They found that the people inside were increased and there were other visitors than them: they saw three younger hobbits that knew Bilbo according to their chatter, dwarves, a man which the hobbits call "Strider", elves, The daughter of Elrond, and a very old man in gray which Bilbo told them was a wizard named Gandalf. The three men were observing the scene and they especially observed "Strider". The man went to them and said,

"Foreign men in Imladris are a rare sight. Did you come here for Lord Elrond's counsel?"

Price replied,

"No were not, we came here two months ago by accident and the lord of this place bade us to stay here for some reason that he can't tell. It is about some very delicate situation that he says need men like us."

"What are you?"

"We are soldiers I am Captain John Price, these men are Captain John Mactavish and Nikolai. And call us by our last names"

Price said as he pointed the two men beside him. Then Strider introduced himself,

"I am Aragorn son of Arathorn, I am the captain of the Rangers of the North."

"It is good to meet you Aragorn. Why do those hobbits call you Strider?"

"That is what I was called at Bree."

Their chat was cut short and Aragorn have to leave them when someone arrived: it was a hobbit and he was hailed by his companions and he was introduced as Frodo Baggins. And a feast is held to honor him and his friends for their safe passage to Rivendell. They later knew through Aragorn that he went with the four hobbits and he told that they were chased by black riders and Frodo was stabbed by one of the riders that endangered his life and their rescue by the elf lord Glorfindel. The three men just ate quietly and then they decided to leave and get some sleep But as they were walking, they were met by the four young hobbits and one said to them,

"You must be the men that old Bilbo was talking about, I am Frodo Baggins by the way and these are my relatives Meriadoc Brandybuck and Peregrin Took and my servant Samwise Gamgee."

"Well I am Captain John Price"

"Captain John Mactavish"

"Nikolai"

They shook hands and when they invited them to come to the Hall of Fire but Mactavish just replied to them as he yawned,

"No thank you lads. Listening to these elves making beautiful music and telling stories is splendid for the likes of you, but not for us... Listening to them makes us quite drowsy and its already getting late so goodnight to you."

Soap ended with another yawn and they went on their own destinations to spend the night.

The next day, the men woke up very early. Captain Price looked at his watch and it was 0500 they got up and readied themselves... To patrol Rivendell. The thought of the Black Riders made them quite uncertain of their place though Aragorn reminded them that Imladris has powerful folk living it but they take no chances. Besides this time of the day is a good time to get some exercise which they regularly did during their stay there. So as they made their round at the entrance they saw a man: He was exhausted and his clothes looked like he walked very far yet he seemed to be soldier of old times and he seemed to be looking for Imladris so Price, Soap and Nikolai approached him and said

"You seemed to be very weary friend, did you get here on foot?"

"Aye for I lost my horse when i forded the river so I have to walk. Is this Imladris?"

"Yes and look there are the elves, they'll help you out. It is good to meet you Sir, I am Captain John Price, and they are Captain John Mactavish and Nikolai"

"I am Boromir, son of Denethor the Steward of Gondor. At last I am in Imladris. It is good to meet you too Captain."

With that Boromir left them as he was assisted by the elves.

"Well let's move on, and have some breakfast."

Declared Price. The three headed back to their room and took their breakfast. The three were still bored so they took a stroll round Imladris and they noticed that more folk were coming in from different places so they decided to walk back to the house and that is when they heard a bell and afterwards they were now sitting in the porch with an assortment of people:men, elves, dwarves and Frodo Baggins. The mood of the meeting was serious. It seemed to Captain Price and Captain Mactavish that something very important was going to be discussed and so they listened very intently to gain intel.

Elrond introduced each of every one of them to those present and so he started and others told their tales about the growing trouble abroad. It was like listening news at a radio first thought Price. Then the topic changed in what seemed to be very important to them. It was about a ring. Price narrowed his eyes because of his surprise at it when it was shown by Frodo to the council. Mactavish glanced at it and looked at Frodo and thought,

"That ring is a WMD? How?"

And the discussion continued and the three knew afterwards of Aragorn's identity and job.

And the council continued on how the ring got into Frodo's hands which came from his uncle, Bilbo from a journey long ago. The discussion then turned to the rings of power and who owned them and what they did and afterwards after another series of personal accounts about a creature named Gollum and his escape, the betrayal of the Gray wizard, Gandalf and his get away from Isengard to Rivendell. Then later to the surprise of the three, Frodo volunteered to go to Mordor to destroy the ring.

Another two months have passed and Elrond now chose the companions that will go with Frodo Baggins to Mordor which were: Gandalf, Aragorn, Frodo, his two cousins Merry and Pippin and his servant Sam, a dwarf named Gimli, an elf named Legolas who came from Mirkwood, Boromir of Gondor and they were the Fellowship of the Ring. At length Elrond came to them and said,

"Now is the time that we will need men like you. You shall join the fellowship and help them in your own way."

"Will the company let us join them?"

inquired Price.

"Yes we would, three soldiers is a good addition to the Company Captain."

Said Gandalf. So the three men went back to the Mh-6 helicopter to get their gear: 30 kilos of supplies like food, water, winter jackets, spare ammo, spare clothes and other supplies that they needed including cigars, cigarettes, binoculars, tac-lights and three compasses which Nikolai stashed in their three bags when he left Afghanistan and they put on their combat uniforms they wore at Site Hotel Bravo but Nikolai was still in his flight suit but now he wore a bullet-proof vest. For their weapons, Nikolai brought two M4A1s with M203 grenade launchers and forty double magazines and five spare magazines for each rifle and 12 M203 grenade rounds for each M4 and Nikolai had an AK-47 rifle with a GP25 grenade launcher and with the same amount ammo with that of Price and Soap. Their handguns had 15 magazines for each of them. The three of them also took combat knives including the one that Soap tried to use against General Sheperd before he was stabbed. Their bullets were all Full Metal Jacket rounds because they were the most powerful ammo he could find in their safe-house back in Afghanistan. After they loaded their bags on their backs they went back to the Company. With a great blow of Boromir's Horn the and a reminder from Elrond the Company and the Task Force Left to begin their greatest mission.