Disclaimer: See Prologue

Chapter 3: The Council of Elronion

When Frodine finally woke up, Gadolinium was waiting for him. Frodine tried to sit up, but he had a stiffness in his chest that kept him down. He realized that not being able to sit up was quite an improvement over not waking up at all. It had taken all of the great Basen King Elronion's power to save Frodine's life. He had been stung by a radiation weapon of the Polys'. Frodine nearly died of its poison. That he was awake was a cause for great celebration and happiness in Rovendellum. Gadolinium explained carefully to Frodine where he was and what had happened to everyone. As Frodine began to understand what had taken place, the door to his room burst open. "Frodine! Mr. Frodine! You're awake!" Samarium ran towards Frodine's bed and knelt down next to it. "We were quite worried about you for a while there. I'm glad you're all right."

"I'm glad too, Sam. Now I wonder, though—what am I to do from here?" Gadolinium spoke next.

"Elronion wishes to hold a council with many great leaders of many great races. He wishes that you might represent the Moles in this great council. I will be there, representing the Alchemists. I'm sure you know what we will be discussing. Will you come?"

"Yes, Gadolinium, if you think I ought to."

Later that day, the great kings had assembled. Bromine, the favored son of the steward of the Covalents, was there. While the Bases and the Bohrs had Kings, the Covalents had stewards. It seemed that a long time ago, their king had ridden out into battle against Silicon in an age long past. He and his son were both killed, leaving the Covalents' land of Gandar without a King. The House of Stewards, whose job it was to rule the kingdom when the King was away, took control, but never actually claimed the title of King.

Many great Bases and Bohrs were there, along with Gadolinium, Bromine, and Frodine. The Great Basen King Elronion sat at the head of the council and asked for silence from the muttering group. "Good people of the Bohrs, Bases, and Covalents. I thank you for coming here today. As you know, the great Vial, the stronghold of Silicon, has been found. Frodine! Bring it forth!" Frodine arose, pulled the Vial out of his pocket, and placed it on a platform in the middle of the circle. He sat back down. Elronion spoke again. "This Vial must be taken to Morphine and destroyed. Many here would advocate using it rather than destroying it, but all of our ionization potentials are far too low to handle the power of the raw element contained inside. We could not handle it if we tried. Besides that, Silicon's current plan to enslave Middle Earth can be stopped through this Vial. A three-fold success will be reached should we succeed in bringing the Vial to the dilution plant in Morphine: one, the Vial itself, a container of temptation, will no longer endanger the inhabitants of Middle Earth. Two, it will stop Silicon's current plan to dilute Middle Earth. Three, it will actually destroy Silicon forever. Our only hope, then, if we wish to remain strong, is in its dilution. One of you must take it to the dilution plant in Morphine." Here, Bromine spoke up.

"One does not simply walk into Morphine. There are thousands of Acids roaming around the land in between here and Morphine. Its borders are guarded by thousands more. Not with ten thousand soldiers could this be done. And besides that, as everyone knows, all opposed to Silicon who enter the land of Morphine come under his spell of dullness and lack of feeling. In this state, it would be a simple thing for Silicon to recover his Vial, in which case he will be twice as strong as before."

Elronion spoke again. "I understand your fears. Yet, it must be done. Ten thousand would not accomplish the task; you are correct. That is why only one or very few should take it. And, as to your second objection, the drug of Morphine, as it is called, only controls those Silicon knows are approaching and wishes to disable. One person entering Morphine in secret might be able to evade Silicon's searching eye, thus evading the drug, and succeed in diluting the Ammonium." Here, a tall, comparatively young Base stood up and spoke.

"I will take it."

At this, several of the Bohrs became enraged. The feud between the Bases and the Bohrs was bitter. The leader of the Bohrs stood.

"I will die before I see the great Vial in the hands of a Base!" It seemed that an enormous fight was breaking out. Frodine did not like it when anyone was angry. Now, there were at least twenty beings (all much larger than him, I must say) yelling and fighting each other. Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath, trying to ignore the shouting. Suddenly, as though thrust forward by something superior in mind and will to him, he jumped up and shouted out in as loud a voice as his quaking heart could muster (which was really quite loud, considering his size).

"I will take it! I will take the Vial to Morphine!"

At this, everyone fell silent and stared at him. He spoke again. "I have borne its power for many miles now, and have suffered the sting of those who seek it. I do not long for the power it would give me. I am not tempted by its strength. I will take it to Morphine—though I do not know the way." Argon, the brave Covalent who had taken him to Rovendellium, regained his composure and spoke.

"Then I will accompany you, brave Frodine. You will have every bit of electricity I can share." A Base approached him as well.

"I do not have as much electricity as he does, but I will neutralize any acids we come into contact with for you." A Bohr followed.

"Bohrs cannot neutralize Acids quickly, and neither can we share electricity, but I can guide you to Morphine. We Bohrs never fear "unknown" paths, for our education consists mostly of studying all the ways of this land. I carry many models of Morphine and its surrounding lands in my head alone. I can guide you well." Bromine and Gadolinium also said they would accompany Frodine. Elronion smiled.

"You shall be the Fellowship of the Vial!" Everyone cheered. In the midst of the hubbub, Samarium, Moly, and Polo ran into the crowd.

"We're comin' too!" shouted Poly.

"Frodine ain't goin' nowhere without me!" cried Samarium.

Elronion spoke, not unkindly. "Very well. I see we cannot separate Frodine from his friends whatsoever, even when he alone is called to a secret council."

Moly spoke. "Sorry about that, Sir. We couldn't just be abandoning our friend though, could we? We had to know what was going on, so that we could help Frodine out. And we will! Now—where're we going again?"