Aragorn felt all the blood drain away from his face when he heard what Gandalf said. He gazed at the Wizard with disbelief. "Gandalf, are you certain of what you speak of?! This seems rather incredulous to me."
Frodo said nothing. He merely looked at Gandalf in a way that seemed to suggest that the old man had finally gone mad.
Gandalf chuckled, but it was not as lighthearted as it was supposed to be. "I can understand why you are so shocked. But that is the truth of the matter. Lady Eli herself has told Elrond about it, and apparently, Lady Camille has told Prince Legolas and King Thranduil of Mirkwood about her predicament. They came, but they do not know their purpose. However, Elrond and I believe that we do."
Now Aragorn was all the more confused. "I do not understand, Gandalf. You speak in riddles to us."
"Ah yes, you want a complete explanation," Gandalf said with a sigh. "Very well then, I shall take up the first part of this tale.
"Long, long ago, before Hobbits walked the lands of Middle-Earth, before Men awakened and settled here, and before the Elves first got the notion of traveling here, there existed the Four Great Spirits.
"Unfortunately, it is not known exactly WHAT these Four Spirits looked like, or what their names were. All that is known about them is that they governed the four elements – earth, fire, wind, and water – and with their powers created the land that is now known as Middle-Earth.
"Under their rule, Middle-Earth was a beautiful and flourishing Paradise, untainted yet by the Shadow or anything that was evil. However, this was not to last, for one day, the Four Great Spirits just disappeared. It is not known for what reason they left, or why they decided to leave, but they were gone. They were long gone by the time the Elves first arrived here from Eressea in the Far West."
Aragorn had listened to this strange story very carefully, paying attention to every detail. He had never thought it possible that Middle-Earth had been the work of spirits. But it does make sense, in a way.
Elrond spoke then. "I shall now take up the second part of this tale. There is a poem that foretold of the making of the Rings of Power and the rising of Sauron. It runs thus in the Common Speech:
"Three Rings for the Elven Kings under the sky
Seven for the Dwarf Lords in their halls of stone
Nine for Mortal Men, doomed to die
One for the Dark Lord on his Dark Throne
"In the land of Mordor, where the Shadows lie,
One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them
One Ring to bring them all, and in the Darkness bind them,
In the land of Mordor, where the Shadows lie
"But from the Other-World they shall rise
Seeking to challenge the Dark Lord
Summoners of Spirits, they shall rise
Seeking to challenge the Dark Lord
"Bound by friendship strong and true,
Make the sky change its hue
From dark and cold to light and warm
They shall lead all through the storm.
"Fairer than any yet to be seen,
One shall become a mighty Queen,
And the other, meant for greatness,
Shall receive honor of no less
"Dragons bow at their command,
Great is the power in their hand,
As the darkness grows ever deeper,
So shall Spirits rise from slumber.
"This poem, which has been handed down amongst the Eldar for as far back as I can remember, is actually a prophecy, declaring that during a troubled time, two Summoners would come from another world known as Other-Earth, and that they would seek to challenge the Dark Lord. As the prophecy says, they shall be 'fairer than any yet to be seen', and shall be 'bound by friendship strong and true'.
"And the prophecy speaks of their great powers. 'Dragons bow at their command'; as it says, and this can only indicate persons with magical powers well beyond what can be conceived by Men or even Elves. With such powers, then they might be able to hold back Sauron's evil for a much longer time, or maybe even defeat him completely."
"So you are saying that Lady Camille and Lady Eli are the Summoners referred to in the prophecy," Aragorn muttered, to which Elrond nodded in reply. The Ranger sighed, and closed his eyes in thought. That seems right. 'Fairer than any yet to be seen'…for girls who are supposed to come from the race of Men, they are indeed much too fair. They could pass off as Elves, and even then, they look lovelier than the other Elf-maidens. Only Arwen and Lady Galadriel can surpass them in beauty. And they are indeed from another world, or so Gandalf and Elrond say…
"But if that is the case," Frodo said, "then what will we do with the Ring?"
Gandalf smiled kindly at the Hobbit. "We shall discuss that tomorrow, at the Council. I called you two here because I wished you to know the truth about those two girls."
Aragorn nodded, and stood up, knowing that this meeting was dismissed. However,
his mind was still whirling from the information that he had heard. What
role will they play in the Ring's fate?
AUTHOR'S NOTES: Uh, yeah, this was a short chapter compared to the previous ones, but the point of this was just to tell the story of the Four Great Spirits and the prophecy concerning the Summoners. In the next chapter, the Council of Elrond takes place, and there will be LOTS of surprises for Camille and Eli, especially where a certain Ring and a certain Fellowship are concerned… Oh yeah, and this time, you get to watch as our usually soft-spoken and ever-so-polite Summoners show the world their TRUE selves after they learn just WHAT the others have been talking about behind their backs evil laugh!!! Watch out Middle-Earth; an angry Camille and a mad Eli are NOT things to be trifled with…especially if they're BOTH mad AND have hangovers at the same time cackle!!!!!! Ja!